Fort Union Trading Post has received two traditionally painted buffalo robes. The artist, Mr. Darryl Growing Thunder is a member of the Dakota and Assiniboine tribes from Fort Peck, Montana said Park Ranger Loren Yellow Bird. The stories being displayed reflect the lifestyle of the Plains Indian warriors. The robes include two different eras; pre-1850 and post-1850 and were funded by the Fort Union Cooperative Association. The robes will be displayed as part of the fort’s living history programs according to Yellow Bird.
Historically, the Plains Tribes painted buffalo robes to record significant events as early as the late 1600s. One of the best examples of a pre-1850s painted robe is the re-creation of the legendary Mandan chief Four Bears on his war robe from the 1830s. The images on the robe depict various battle scenes that tell Four Bears life as a warrior.
Post 1850s robes are often best known and associated with the Little Bighorn battle. One of the new robes represents this time period with seven warriors representing the seven bands of the Lakota. An image of a captured horse from the soldiers they fought as well as 7th Calvary Company Guidon flag is depicted.
Fort Union operating hours are from 8:00am to 6:30pm CDT daily. Fort Union Trading Post is located 24 miles north of Sidney, Montana and 25 miles southwest of Williston, North Dakota, via highway 1804. While here also visit the reconstructed fort, trade room and bourgeois house.
For more information on Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site contact the park at 701-572-9083.
Reader Comments(1)
Badhand writes:
The latter period robe shows Custer's personal banner/guidon and not a company guidon, also Cavalry is not the same as Calvary Hill. The second robe shown is also more or less a modern fantasy piece that doesn't really reflect they way they were traditionally done. Thanks
03/03/2019, 12:09 pm