Kee-O-Kuk, the Watchful Fox, Chief of the Tribe, by George Catlin, 1835 In the 1830s, artist George Catlin, convinced that Indian cultures would soon disappear, traveled the West painting Native Americans in their own environments. Keokuk, chief of the Sauk and Fox, struggled with the warrior Black Hawk (see “Indian Policy and the Trail of Tears” in chapter 11) about how to deal with whites. Black Hawk fought American expansion; Keokuk believed that war was fruitless.

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C./Art Resource, NY.