Life Among the Indias was written as a result of a demand for a book of facts on the character and condition of the American Indians. George Catlin (1796-1872) was an American painter, author, and traveler, who specialized in portraits of Native Americans in the Old West. Travelling to the American West five times during the 1830s, Catlin was the first white man to depict Plains Indians in their native territory. Contents: The Indians of America My Adventure With the First Indian I Ever Saw How the Indians Build Their Wigwams Indian Warfare — Scalps and Scalping Medicine Men — "Drawing Fire From the Sun" How the Indians Paint Themselves — The Prairies Catching Wild Horses — A Buffalo Hunt An Adventure With Bears The Mandan Indians — The Chief's Tale The Sioux Indians — A Challenge! Pipe-stone Quarry — "The Thunder's Nest" — "Stone Man Medicine" A Ride to the Camanchees — A False Alarm A Solitary Bide on "Charley" Across the Prairies A Journey Down the Orinoco — The "Handsome Dance" En Route for the Amazon — The "Medicine Gun" Rio Trombutas — Adventures With a Tiger and a Rattlesnake Still en Route for the Amazon — An Adventure With Peccaries On the Amazon The Indians of the Amazon — Poisoned Arrows Red Indians in London Red Indians in Paris