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Secondary sourceNewspaper article8 December 1877

Sitting Bull and the United States Commission

Harper & Brothers · 8 December 1877

A December 1877 Harper's Weekly front page with an engraved portrait of Sitting Bull during his exile in Canada.

This front page shows how the American press pictured Sitting Bull during his exile in Canada following the Little Bighorn.

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Front page of Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization, Vol. XXI, No. 1093, New York, Saturday, December 8, 1877. Title banner with engraved illustrations. Below are several engravings: a commissioners' camp, a tepee with wagons, a portrait of Sitting Bull in a fur hat, a wide view of a camp with tents and wagons, and a portrait of White Eagle. Caption reads Sitting Bull and the United States Commission.
Harper & Brothers, Harper's Weekly, 8 December 1877.

About this source

What it is

This is the front page of Harper's Weekly, "A Journal of Civilization," published December 8, 1877, by Harper & Brothers in New York. It includes several engravings: a commissioners' camp, a tepee with wagons, a portrait of Sitting Bull in a fur hat, a wide camp view, and a portrait of White Eagle.

Why it matters

The issue appeared while Sitting Bull was living in exile in Canada after the Battle of the Little Bighorn, as U.S. commissioners tried to negotiate with him. It shows how a major national magazine shaped American audiences' image of Sitting Bull at a pivotal moment.

Look closer

  • How is Sitting Bull portrayed in this engraving compared to the other images on the page?
  • Who created this image, and what was their purpose in publishing it?
  • What is left out about the commission's actual negotiations with Sitting Bull?

This newspaper article is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Sitting Bull (Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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