Memory on Glass: D. F. Barry on Standing Rock, 1878 – 1891

D. F. Barry (1854 -1934) photographed Native American men and women, frontier scouts, soldiers, trappers and other pioneers, truly recording the panorama of folks who populated the American West at the time, as well as the forts and battlefields of the Plains Wars. (Barry developed a very close relationship with the Sioux, who nicknamed him ‘Little Shadow Catcher.’) 

The catalog of his subjects is a veritable list of who’s who on the high plains at the end of the 19th century with many of them having been involved in the Battle of Little Bighorn: Sitting Bull, George Armstrong Custer, Rain in the Face, Chief Gall, Red Cloud, and many others. He even took photographs of the aftermath of Little Bighorn and was, years later, the only photographer invited back to photograph the reunion on the battlefield. In later years, he also photographed the taming of the Wild West by recording images of Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley and others who traveled as part of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. The exhibit will feature new research about Barry’s life by MOR Curator of History, Michael Fox.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website

Whether you go or not,  Little Shadow Catcher: Icastinyanka Cikala Hanzi: The Story of D.F. Barry is profusely illustrated with excellent black and white photos. Less a biography than a slice of history, this book presents the interplay of frontier and civilization during the late 1800's. This meticulously researched volume tells all that is known of Barry's life from boyhood through to his final years in Superior, Wisconsin.