Creator Biography

Winold Reiss, German-American, 1886–1953 (artist)

Great Northern Railway Co. (publisher)

St. Paul Book and Stationery Co. (authorized distributors)

Frank Bird Linderman, American, 1869–1938 (informational booklet author)

Preview

Creation Date

1947

Geography

American

Culture

Native American, Pikuni Blackfeet

Medium

Full-color print reproductions of pastel paintings

Credit Line

Purchase by the Department of Art History, 2025

Accession Number

2025.108

Description

This portfolio is a collection of 24 reproduction prints of pastel paintings by Winold Reiss, accompanied by an introductory essay written by Frank Bird Linderman. This collection, published by the Great Northern Railway, was intended to increase tourist activity in Glacier National Park. Linderman’s essay romanticizes the relationship between the Blackfeet people and the U.S. Government, writing that “the Peccunnies would have perished to a man” if the Government did not intervene (11). The construction of the Great Northern Railway, however, helped facilitate the government sponsored removal of Indigenous people from their land. The company also urged the government to establish Glacier National Park, and often used Native American imagery in its advertising material. A 1940 menu from the company’s dining car, for example, depicts two people from the Pikuni Blackfeet Tribe on the cover (2025.110).

Individual Digital Kenyon entries for the prints within this collection can be found at the following links:

(2025.108.1–2025.108.24)

Arrow Top

Many Horses, Little Rosebush and Baby

Double Steel and Two Cutter

Snow Bird–In Carrier

Not Real Bear Woman