SHOSHONE CHIEF

"I visited Herman St. Clair, the Shoshone Indian Chief, at Fort Washkie on the Wind River Reservation where he had consented to pose for me. When I arrived he was dressed like a typical white man on his day off from work. Then he went into the bedroom and donned his headdress and costume and was immediately transformed into the regal chief that appears in the painting. He was 74 years old and had just had a hip operation but was most accommodating and stood for me, although it was quite painful. He is part of a vanishing culture and I was fortunate to be able to record and paint him."