Seth Eastman

Seath Eastman (1808-1875) - born in Brunswick, Maine, 24 Jan 1808; died in Washington, D. C., 31 Aug 1875. He graduated twenty-second in the Class of 1829 at West Point and was assigned to the infantry on graduation. He was the first child of Robert and Sarah Lee Eastman.

His wife, Mary Henderson Eastman, author, born in Warrenton, Fauquier County, Virginia, in 1818. She married Captain Eastman in 1835, and resided with him for many years at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and at other frontier stations. Her portrayal of Indian life is the fruit of long observation and familiarity with the Indian character. She published:

• "Dacotah, or Life and Legends of the Sioux" (New York, 1849).
• "Romance of Indian Life" (Philadelphia, 1852).
• "Aunt Phillis's Cabin," a reply to Mrs. Stowe's "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1852).
• "American Aboriginal Portfolio." illustrated by her husband (1853).
• "Chicora and other Regions of the Conquerors and the Conquered" (1854).
• "Tales of Fashionable Life" (1856)
• Numerous stories and sketches in magazines.

Their son, Robert Langdon Eastman, born in Maryland about 1840; died in Washington, D. C., 9 November 1865. He was graduated at the U. S. military academy in May 1861, and, being ordered at once to the seat of war, was engaged in the battle of Bull Run. From that time he was on duty with the Army of the Potomac, rising to the grade of captain, till he was prostrated by disease contracted in the service. After the battle of Malvern Hill he was ordered to West Point, and, though suffering from illness, performed the duty of assistant professor of drawing and of ethics until it was impossible for him to continue.

Assignments:

• (1829-1830) - 2nd Lt., Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.
• (1830-1833) - Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
• (1833-1840) - West Point, New York. Assistant teacher of drawing.
• (1840-1841) - Seminole War, Florida.
• (1841-1848) - Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
• (1848-1849) - Fort Inge, Texas. Construction of West Texas fort line.
• (1849-1855) - Washington D.C. Illustrated "Historical and Statistical Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States", published in six volumes between 1852 and 1857.
• (1855-1861) - Fort Duncan and Fort Chadbourne, West Texas
• (1861-1863) - Mustering and disbursing officer for Maine and New Hampshire.
• (1863-1863) - Military governor of Cincinnati, Ohio.
• (1863) - Retired from active duty at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
• (1866-1867) - brevetted brigadier general, served on modified assignment in Washington, D.C., where he was commissioned to paint scenes of American Indians and United States forts for the Capitol.

Personal Description: Height: Build: Hair Color: Eye Color:

Links:

• Seth Eastman
• Handbook of Texas

Sources:

• John Francis McDermott, Seth Eastman, Pictorial Historian of the Indian (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1961)
• John Francis McDermott, Seth Eastman's Mississippi (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1973)
• San Antonio Express, June 5, 1949.
• A Seth Eastman Sketchbook (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1961)