Hunting of the Grizzly Bear

Artist Karl Bodmer (Swiss, 1809 - 1893)

Author Prince Maximilian of Wied (1782 - 1867)

Date1832-1834

MediumHand-colored aquatint

Dimensions17 1/4 × 23 1/2 in. (43.8 × 59.7 cm)

ClassificationsPrint

Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2009.26.36

Accession number 2009.26.36

DescriptionDisbound from folio atlas volume of forty-eight plates

On View

Not on view

ProvenanceAuthor; to Frederick Schuchart, NY, 1844; (William Reese Company, New Haven, CT); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2009
Label TextThe expedition traveled upriver above Fort Union en route to Fort McKenzie, and Prince Maximilian noted in his diary on July 18, 1833: “After a while we saw one of the bears galloping on the sandbar (…) Mr. Mitchell, Dreidoppel, Bodmer, and Deschamps jumped into the dinghy and hurried over there. At this moment we saw a large bear coming out of the willows and going toward the shore, where a dead buffalo cow lay, on which it sat down and began to eat. (…) the dinghy went somewhat closer along the bank. Deschamps—a bold, experienced bear hunter—got out and crept low across the sand directly toward the bear...” Bodmer captured the dramatic moment before Deschamps and the other hunters shot and killed the bear. In order to provide fresh meat for passengers and crew, captains often hired hunters, who traveled ahead of the boat to search for game. They usually stashed their kills along the riverbank so that the lookout on the boat could pick them up. However, sometimes bears or other predators devoured or made off with a kill. Prince Maximilian, David Dreidoppel, and Karl Bodmer also participated in these hunts.