Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE SR.

Date

1964

Materials

OIL

No. Pieces

1

Length

13.9

Width

10.1

Description

DEPICTS HEAD AND SHOULDERS OF INDIGENOUS MALE. BLUE, BLACK, WHITE, GRAY, BEIGE, RED, YELLOW ARE THE COLORS IN THIS PAINTING.

Subjects

ART

Historical Association

FINE ARTS

History

"THE LATE MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE SNR BLOOD INDIAN TRIBE PAINTED AND PRESENTED TO THE LETHBRIDGE MUSEUM BY CHRIS GIBSON 1964". *UPDATE* IN 2014 COLLECTIONS ASSISTANT JANE EDMUNDSON CONDUCTED A SURVEY OF ART OBJECTS. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE ARTIST, CHRISTIAN GIBSON, WAS EXCERPTED FROM HIS LETHBRIDGE HERALD OBITUARY: CHRISTIAN GIBSON WAS BORN IN BELFAST, IRELAND IN 1887 AND EDUCATED IN LONDON, ENGLAND BEFORE ARRIVING IN LETHBRIDGE IN 1908. HE WORKED FOR THE CITY AS ZOO KEEPER AT THE EXHIBITION GROUNDS AND FOR THE ALBERTA RAILROAD AND IRRIGATION COMPANY BEFORE BEGINNING HIS 35 YEAR CAREER WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND COMMERCE IN 1913. GIBSON SERVED WITH THE 25TH BATTERY CANADIAN FIELD ARTILLERY FROM 1908 TO 1914 AND FROM 1914 TO 1919 HE SERVED IN ENGLAND IN FRANCE WITH THE 20TH BATTERY CFA. HE WAS ALSO VERY ACTIVE IN THE COMMUNITY AS A MEMBER OF THE KIWANIS CLUB, ALLIED ARTS COUNCIL, LETHBRIDGE AND DISTRICT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, PLAYGOERS OF LETHBRIDGE, ROYAL CANADIAN LEGION, PEMMICAN CLUB, MASONIC LODGE, AND THE GALT HOSPITAL BOARD. HE AND HIS WIFE LINDA WERE HEAVILY INFLUENTIAL IN THE RED CROSS SOCIETY’S LETHRBIDGE CHAPTER, AND HAD TWO CHILDREN, FRED AND DORIS. CHRISTIAN GIBSON PASSED AWAY ON MARCH 26, 1971. IN 2010 HIS DAUGHTER, DORIS BALCOVSKE, PARTICIPATED IN THE GALT MUSEUM’S FIRST ‘TREASURES & CURIOSITIES’ EXHIBIT BY SELECTING ONE OF HER FATHER’S PAINTINGS TO BE DISPLAYED. SHE SUBMITTED THE FOLLOWING NARRATIVE ABOUT GIBSON’S ASSOCIATION WITH THE GALT AND HIS PAINTING PRACTICE: “MY FATHER… WAS ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE GALT MUSEUM AND HELPED COLLECT MANY OF THE ARTIFACTS. MY FATHER WAS A SELF-TAUGHT ARTIST WITH OILS, WATER COLORS, AND ALSO PEN AND INK… THE FAMILY OWNS MOST OF HIS PAINTINGS.” SEE PERMANENT FILE P19694807000 FOR HARDCOPY OF GIBSON’S OBITUARY. SEE RECORD P19930031001 FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE GIBSON FAMILY. THE FOLLOWING BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THIS PORTRAIT’S SUBJECT, MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE, WAS DEVELOPED WITH INFORMATION FROM A LETHBRIDGE HERALD TRIBUTE ARTICLE FROM FEBRUARY 3, 1964, THE GALT ARCHIVES, THE MEDICINE HAT ESPLANADE ARCHIVES, AND THE ARTICLE ‘A WARRIOR’S ROBE’, WRITTEN BY L. JAMES DEMPSEY AND PUBLISHED IN THE AUTUMN 2003 ISSUE OF ALBERTA HISTORY MAGAZINE. MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE WAS BORN IN 1888 NEAR FORT MACLEOD, TO MOUNTAIN HORSE AND SIKSIKI, AND WAS GIVEN THE NAME CROW FLAG. HE ATTENDED ST. PAUL’S RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL ON THE KAINAI RESERVE AND THE CALGARY INDIAN INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. HE WAS A KEEN STUDENT IN READING AND WRITING, AND AN ATHLETE, RACING UNDER THE NAME OF MIKE DEERFOOT. AFTER HIS SCHOOLING HE BECAME A SCHOUT FOR THE ROYAL NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE IN 1907, SERVING IN THE MACLEOD AND LETHBRIDGE DISTRICTS. MOUNTAIN HORSE ENLISTED IN THE CANADIAN ARMY IN MAY 1916, FOLLOWING THE RETURN OF HIS OLDER BROTHER ALBERT’S BODY, WHO SUCCUMBED TO POISONING AFTER BEING GASSED TWICE IN BATTLE. MOUNTAIN HORSE IS QUOTED BY DEMPSEY, DESCRIBING HIS FEELINGS AT ALBERT’S FUNERAL: “REARED IN THE ENVIRONMENT OF MY FOREFATHERS, THE SPIRT OF REVENGE FOR MY BROTHER’S DEATH MANIFESTED ITSELF STRONGLY IN ME AS I GAZED DOWN ON ALBERT LYING IN HIS COFFIN THAT COLD WINTERY DAY IN NOVEMBER 1915. SOON AFTER THE FUNERAL I OBTAINED INDEFINITE LEAVE FROM MY WORK AS AN INTERPRETER AND SCOUT FOR [THE RNWMP] AND WITH MY BROTHER JOE MOUNTAIN HORSE AND A NUMBER OF OTHER INDIAN BOYS FROM NEIGHBOURING RESERVES, I ENLISTED IN THE 191ST BATTALION FOR SERVICE OVERSEAS.” MOUNTAIN HORSE TRAINED IN ENGLAND AND WAS SENT TO FIGHT AT VIMY RIDGE IN 1917. HE BECAME THE CORPORAL INSTRUCTOR OF A MACHINE GUN SQUAD AND WAS WOUNDED DURING A DRAMATIC BATTLE AT CAMBRAI, AFTER WHICH HE CONVALESCED AT AN ENGLISH HOSPITAL. UPON HIS DEMOBILIZATION IN 1919, MOUNTAIN HORSE WAS AN ACTING SERGEANT AND EARNED A DISTINGUISHED CONDUCT MEDAL. HE RETURNED TO HIS POST WITH THE MOUNTED POLICE, AND ALSO WORKED FOR THE CPR. IN 1933 HE DECIDED TO DEVOTE HIS TIME TO WRITING AND PUBLIC SPEAKING. HE WROTE THE MANUSCRIPT 'INDIANS OF THE WESTERN PLAINS' (SEE GALT ARCHIVES 20141051), WHICH WAS PUBLISHED POSTHUMOUSLY AS ‘MY PEOPLE THE BLOODS’ BY THE BLOOD TRIBAL COUNCIL AND THE GLENBOW MUSEUM. MOUNTAIN HORSE WAS ENCOURAGED IN HIS WRITING BY LOCAL ARTIST AND WRITER THYRZA YOUNG BURKITT, WHO HELPED HIM GET ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN LOCAL NEWSPAPERS. HE LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY IN LETHBRIGE - HIS DAUGHTER TRAINED AS A NURSE AND HIS SON WAS A VETERAN OF WWII. MOUNTAIN HORSE WANTED TO DOCUMENT HIS WAR EXPERIENCES IN THE TRADITIONAL PRACTICE OF A PAINTED ROBE, AND ENLISTED AMBROSE TWO CHIEFS TO PAINT THE STORIES ON COWHIDE. THE ROBE IS NOW HELD IN THE COLLECTION OF THE ESPLANADE MUSEUM IN MEDICINE HAT. MIKE MOUNTAIN HORSE DIED IN CARDSTON ON JANUARY 31, 1964. SEE PERMANENT FILE FOR HARDCOPIES OF LETHBRIDGE HERALD TRIBUTE AND L. JAMES DEMPSEY ARTICLE.

Catalogue Number

P19694807000

Acquisition Date

1969-11

Collection

Museum

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