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Catlin gave up a successful law career to become a portrait painter. Then when a group of Indians passed through Philadelphia on their way to Washington, he decided to travel among the Native Americans and record their way of life.

Starting in 1832 he spent 6-7 years painting 500 canvases of 48 tribes. He had a limited palette of red, brown, black, yellow and small amounts of white, blue and green (traveled light; simple technique). He often painted quickly (long travel time; took time to convince people to allow him to paint them; avoid fights).

He traveled through South Dakota. In 1834 he searched for the source of the material used to make peace pipes (Pipestone, MN). This material is now named, "Catlinite."

His goal was to establish a museum and gallery to preserve the way of life he had experienced. He took his display to Europe but was eventually forced to resort to sensationalism (Wild West Show) which damaged his reputation. He mortgaged the paintings and finally closed the gallery (in 1851).

Catlin’s hope was for the U.S. government to buy the collection and display it. The Northern senators supported the idea but the Southern legislators opposed it. (Sympathy for the Native Americans would damage their plans for expansion of slave states.) The idea was rejected and the collection was sold to a Philadelphia boilermaker. However, the Smithsonian building which would have housed the works burned down. After it was rebuilt, the Catlin paintings were purchased.)