Object Record
Images
Metadata
Title |
Comanche Shield Cover |
Collection |
History Collection |
Catalog Number |
2004.045.001b |
Description |
Plains indian shield with outer leather cover - the leather cover is considerably damaged with parts missing. The shield is buffalo hide, American bison, with deer hide covers. The source of damage to both the outer cover and the shield is unknown. According to family history, this shield was picked up at the Battle of Packsaddle Mountain and came into the possession of Texas Ranger Dan W. Roberts. How Roberts came into possession of the shield is unclear. Roberts may have received the shield from fellow Ranger Sgt. James Moss, whose account of the Packsaddle Mountain battle was recorded in Roberts' memoirs. NOTES [Added 8/17/2020] According to research uncovered from a University of Texas Publication, this shield has been identified as Comanche. Apparently at some point in its history, (perhaps the 1930s) the shield was examined by an expert. "On the outer side of the buffalo skin appear painted designs. The central part is a turquoise color, while the outer edges are painted a dark blue. The central design, apparently that of a human being wearing a buffalo headdress, occupies the greater part of the turquoise colored section of the skin. Sewed around the shield, just outside this blue line, is a strip of red flannel some three inches in width. The stitches which hold the flannel also originally attached 91 feathers. At the bottom of the shield remains one of the two original horsetail tassels..." [See object file for further information] |
Date |
c. 1870s |
Artist |
Native American- Plains Indian |
Maker |
Native American |
People |
Roberts, Dan W. |
Search Terms |
American Indians Native American |
Credit line |
Donated in memory of Alexander Lamartine Casparis by the Albert Newton Family |