An Eloquent Visitor from the Great Plains; White House History (Number 34) - Photo 3
Samuel F. B. Morse of New Haven, Connecticut, began his painting The House of Representatives in November 1821, while Chief Petalesharro was with his delegation in Washington and the Seventeenth Congress was debating highly significant Indian policies. Oil lamps are being lighted for an evening session. At the far right of the painting, from beneath the acoustical curtains that span the columned gallery, Chief Petalesharro can be seen as he watches the congressmen below forming within their own legal context the laws that will impact his future.
