William S. Soule Digital Project

Scalped Hunter by William Soule

The photo on the cover page "Scalped Hunter" became popular in the American imagination after its publication in Harper's Ferry magazine, in 1868. The picture shows two men kneeling beside a frontiersman whose throat has just been slashed by a "violent native." The man on the left holds the reins of his trusty horse in one hand as he looks at the slain man in despair.  Even the horse seems a solemn spectacle. The man to the right sits upright, tall; this is not his first experience with frontier death. His hands are perfectly placed and his hat is tilted just right. The image captures the bloody death of frontier life, and Anglo suffering, but also bravery in the face hardship, just as North Easterners imagined it. Although there is no Indian in the photo his presence looms as the "savage" murderer. Soule's work helped sensationalize ideas of the Western frontier and simultaneously helped justify violence and dispossession against non-white peoples by depicting them as the agitators.   
The year after the publication of "Scalped Hunter," Soule was hired as a photographer for the US Army, and stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and Fort Dodge, Kansas. It is not clear what, beyond photography, Soule's assignment was, but this particular collection includes photos of Indian Chiefs, burned Indian villages, captives, landscape, and blurry images of what appear to be Buffalo Soldiers. Soule's images reflect the stereotypical beliefs held by most Anglo-Americans and further reinforced popular  misconceptions regarding Native Americans.    

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