JUSTINSHEELY I THE SHERIDAN PRESS Executive director Kenneth Schuster goes through a stack of prints from the Treaty of Fort Laramie by 19th century American photographer Alexander Gardner shown in a storage area at The Brinton Museum Wednesday, March 7, 2018. NEW BRINTON EXHIBIT SHOWCASES RARE PHOTOS OF TREATY OF FORT LARAMIE BY RYAN PATTERSON RYAN.PA [email protected]

BIG HORN -Think of in the 1860s. You may envision a scene from an old movie or television show. Those shows likely draw inspiration from early photographs, courtesy of people like Alexander Gardner. The Brinton Museum opens an exhibit Thursday focusing on Gardner's work photo- graphing the Treaty of Fort Laramie 150 years ago in what is now southeastern Wyoming. The treaty was the first of its kind between the U.S. government and Native Americans. The exhibit lasts longer than most at The Brinton. It runs from March 15 to May 28 and will have a rare second showing in the fall from Sep. 2 to Nov. 9 to make sure as many people as possible view it and so all the local schools have a chance to visit. The 27 original Gardner photographs are part of a collection of more than 2,000 pho- tographs of the American West gifted by the Executive director Kenneth Schuster shows a print from the Treaty of Fort Laramie by 19th will of Forrest E. Mars Jr. to The Brinton century American photographer Alexander Gardner shown in a storage area at The Brinton Museum's EndowmentSEE EXHIBIT, Fund. PAGE B Museum Wednesday, March 7, 2018. JUSTINSHEELY I THE SHERIDAN PRESS A portrait of Iron Nation of the Brule from the Treaty of Fort Laramie by 19th cen- tury American photographer Alexander Gardner shown in a storage area at The Brinton Museum Wednesday, March 7, 2018. EXHIBIT: Portraits of Native Americans FROMl

"You just don't see these," curator of exhibitions and education Barbara McNab said of Gardner's images. "They're exceedingly rare." Museum director and chief curator Ken Schuster said some of Gardner's pho- tographs are worth six fig- ures. They are not all of the treaty, as some are photos of the area surrounding Fort Laramie. There are also portraits of members of the different Native American tribes present at the treaty sign- ing, an Indian burial and the vast Wyoming land- scape. In choosing how to display the photographs, McNab and Schuster lay the photos out and try to make the dif- ferent pieces tell a story. Executive director Kenneth Schuster holds a print from the Gardner was born in Treaty of Fort Laramie by 19th century American photogra- Scotland and, in addition to pher Alexander Gardner shown in a storage area at The Brinton taking western photos, he Mu um Wtdnesday, Marc.ti 7., 2018. was a Civil War photogra- pher. Gardner is probably most well-known for por- traits he took of Abraham in the 1870s and convinced U.S. Army, and Sitting Bull Lincoln. The federal gov- government officials the of the Oglala Lakota. ernment commissioned land was worth preserving. In addition to the exhibit, Gardner to travel with After the first Treaty of the museum will also host officials in the Indian Peace Fort Laramie failed to stop an educational symposium Commission and document conflict in 1851, another April 14 about the exhib- the Treaty of Fort Laramie treaty took place 17 years it. The symposium will for posterity. Gardner kept later. It was agreed to by discuss Gardner's oeuvre, his captions simple, saying the U.S. government and background on some of things like, "Near Deer the Lakota, and Gardner's photo subjects Creek." Yanktonai Dakota. It gave and events leading to the The photography process the Lakota ownership of the signing of the Treaty of Fort varied c;1.bit back then. and addition- Laramie. Today, anyone can snap a al land in South Dakota, Four guest scholars will picture in a second by tap- Montana and Wyoming. participate in the sympo- ping a smartphone. In the The treaty also ended Red sium, including Andrew 1860s, the setup and taking Cloud's War, which lasted Smith, who sold the of a single photo took two or about two years and pitted Gardner originals to Mars. three hours. the U.S. government against Keith F. Davis, a Sheridan · Photography also showed the Lakota, Northern native who is the curator of people the largely unex- and Northern a photography museum in plored West and that parts Arapaho tribes. Kansas City, will attend as of it needed to be protected. The treaty was first signed well. Photographers William April 28. Notable signa- A century and a half after Henry Jackson and Thomas tories included William the treaty of Fort Laramie, Moran captured images of Tecumseh Sherman, then the new exhibit offers a Yellowstone National Park a lieutenant general in the glimpse into the past.