Charles S. Stobie papers

Collection

Identifier: VAULT-Ayer-MS-834

Staff Only

Abstract

Artist's journal, sketches and notes, essay, photograph, and letter of Charles S. Stobie, 1866?-1902. Journal kept at the Ignacio Ute Agency during Oct., 1900, and May-Aug., 1902, contains sketches of Ute and Navajo Indians and their dwellings, weapons, saddles, pottery, and clothes; sketches of scenery with notes on color and lighting; glossaries of Ute and Spanish words; a list of agency employees; and store accounts. There are also several single drawings (1899), a ms. essay regarding the Ute scalp parade witnessed in the summer of 1866, a photographic portrait of Stobie with biographical notes on the verso, and an 1890 letter from Captain Philip Reade of the 3rd Infantry regarding Stobie's descriptions of his Ute Indian paintings.

Dates

Creation: 1866-1902

Creator

Stobie, Charles Stewart, 1845-1931 (Person)

Biographical / Historical

Western artist and Indian scout. Raised in Baltimore and Chicago, and educated in Scotland, C.S. Stobie moved west to Colorado in 1865. He lived with the Ute Indians during 1866 and served as a scout for Maj. Jacob Downing in 1868 actions against the Arapahoes and Cheyennes. Stobie also worked as a scout at the White River Ute Agency in 1869 and hunted buffalo on the plains in the early 70's. He later settled in Chicago and concentrated on his art, painting Indian and frontier scenes from his sketches and memory. During 1900-1902, Stobie apparently kept a store at the Ignacio Ute Agency in Colorado.