Little Bear, Steep Wind, The Dog; Three Distinguished Warriors of the Sioux Tribe about 1865-71 Western Sioux/Lakota oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.362,054    This image is a good example of Catlin's "cartoon" efforts. Here he took the original bust portraits of three Sioux warriors, painted out west in the 1830s directly from his sitters, and presented them as full-length figures. Relying on memory and imagination, Catlin re-creates their likenesses, but with more than thirty years between the originals and this work, probably took a few artistic liberties in rendering their clothing details. This work is itself a copy after the original in the cartoon collection. Mah-tó-che-ga, Little Bear, a Hunkpapa Brave 1832 Western Sioux/Lakota oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.84 Táh-téck-a-da-háir, Steep Wind, a Brave of the Bad Arrow Points Band 1832 Western Sioux/Lakota oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.86 Shón-ka, The Dog, Chief of the Bad Arrow Points Band 1832 Western Sioux/Lakota oil Smithsonian American Art Museum Gift of Mrs. Joseph Harrison, Jr. 1985.66.85    The three portraits above are of the Sioux warriors Little Bear, Steep Wind, and The Dog, who sat for Catlin during his 1832 Missouri River trip and provided him with a story that dramatized the power of his painterly "medicine." While Catlin was working on Little Bear's portrait, a three-quarter view that concealed nearly half his face, The Dog stopped by and observed that Little Bear was "'but half a man.'" Verbal hostilities accelerated from there.    The Dog followed Little Bear home and engaged him in a duel. Unfortunately, Little Bear's wife had emptied his gun of bullets, and he was killed. The Dog and his partisans fled across the prairie, pursued by the warriors of Little Bear's band. The Dog made his escape, but his brother Steep Wind, "a noble and honourable fellow," was killed, and Catlin, "who had made only one side of [Little Bear's] face!" was identified as the source of all the trouble. Fortunately for him, The Dog was located and killed after the artist returned to St. Louis.