Seth Eastman (January 24, 1808– August 31, 1875) was an artist and West Point graduate who served in the US Army, first as a mapmaker and illustrator. He had two tours at Fort Snelling, Minnesota Territory; during the second, extended tour he was commanding officer of the fort. During these years, he painted many studies of Native American life. He was notable for the quality of his hundreds of illustrations for Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's six-volume study on the history of Indian tribes of the United States, commissioned by the US Congress. Eastman and his second wife Mary Henderson Eastman (1818 – 1887) were instrumental in recording Native American life. From their time at Fort Snelling, Mary Henderson Eastman wrote a book about Dakota Sioux life and culture, which Seth Eastman illustrated. In 1838, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician. Seth Eastman retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General for disability during the American Civil War. He was later reactivated when commissioned by Congress to make several paintings for the US Capitol. Between 1867 and 1869, Eastman painted a series of nine scenes of American Indian life for the House Committee on Indian Affairs. In 1870 Congress commissioned Eastman to create a series of 17 paintings of important U.S. forts, to be hung in the meeting rooms of the House Committee on Military Affairs. He completed the paintings in 1875, and eight still hang in the Senate Wing. Early life and education Seth Eastman was born on January 24, 1808, in Brunswick, Maine, the eldest of 13 children of Robert and Sarah Lee Eastman. He was sixteen when he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1824. He graduated in 1829 and entered the Army as a second lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Regiment. Career Eastman made his career with the U.S. Army. He became an accomplished artist and used his skills in mapmaking and recording Army activities. In 1830 he was assigned to Fort Snelling near what became Minneapolis in present-day Minnesota. A large installation with 20 officers and up to 300 enlisted men, the fort was deep in American Indian territory on the upper Mississippi River. While stationed there for three years, Eastman learned the Sioux language and captured many scenes of American Indian life in the territory. He painted and sketched prolifically. From 1833 to 1840,