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Mrs. Putnam Catlin (Mary "Polly" Sutton)
From the collection of Smithsonian American Art Museum. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
In 1778, Catlin’s mother, Polly Sutton, and grandmother were captured by Indians at the surrender of Forty Fort, a stronghold built on a bluff above the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. There, the Battle of Wyoming had been fought against the combined forces of the British and Indians. Polly Sutton’s stories entranced her son George, and inspired his interest in Native American culture, as did visits to the Catlin home by various soldiers and explorers during the artist’s youth.
Smithsonian American Art Museum’s own descriptionSubjects
Credit lineMrs. Putnam Catlin (Mary "Polly" Sutton). 1825. George Catlin, born Wilkes-Barre, PA 1796-died Jersey City, NJ 1872. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Catherine Walden Myer Fund. CC0.
