"Charles Bird King is one of the least known--yet one of the most important--artists of the precamera era in this country, rivaling George Catlin as a portrait painter who recorded the features and costumes of American Indians in the early days of the Republic. Between 1821 and 1842 King painted the portraits of more than one hundred prominent Indian leaders who were brought to Washington as guests of the government." "Commissioned by Thomas L. McKenney, founder of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the paintings became known as the War Department gallery of Indian portraits. They were placed in the Smithsonian Institution in 1858." "In addition to telling the story behind the King paintings, their conception and subsequent history, the author includes illuminating sidelights about United States-American Indian diplomatic history, as well as some fascinating human interest material about the Indian delegates who visited Washington in those early days." -- Book Jacket.