Missing links: Ledger book structure and two war books of the 1860s

Abstract

Scholarship on Plains Indian ledger art has traditionally focused on the content of drawings rather than the practices and interactions of warrior-artists, especially during the period of the Indian wars, from the mid-1860s to the mid-1870s. However, attention to the physical structure of ledgers used by Plains Indians, in particular, missing pages and transfer patterns, may lead to a new understanding of ledger art dynamics. Unlike reservation-era artists of a later date, the early producers of “war books” operated in a climate of urgency, often in concert with others from their own or allied tribes. Two war books, in particular, the Half Moon and Dog Soldier ledgers, offer evidence that artists working on a single ledger may have removed sections of the bound volume to provide a wider set of available drawing surfaces and a more efficient accommodation to several warrior-artists engaged in drawing personal acts of valor.