Walter Bone Shirt Ledger, circa 1890

Very little is known about Walter Bone Shirt other than that he was a Brulé Lakota artist and his Indian name was Never Misses. He is generally referred to in the ethnographic literature as Walter Bone Shirt, though census records indicate he was called Junior Bone Shirt. A few other examples of his ledger art are known to exist in private holdings and this collection of drawings has been attributed to him based on artistic similarities.

There is no written documentation about the origin of this particular ledger, but it is likely that John S. Parke acquired the ledger while serving as Assistant Adjutant General of Command at Rosebud Agency during the winter of 1890-1891. A 1938 note, written on envelope bearing the name Mrs. John S. Parke, and given to the University along with the ledger, refers to 'interesting set of coloured pictures (in crayon?) made by an Indian at Rosebud Indian Agency during Sioux Campaign in 1890.’ It is unclear who wrote the note or why. In 1962, this ledger book of ‘original Indian sketches’ was presented by John S. Parke’s daughter, Mrs. Ferdinand [Genevieve] Prochnow, to the Montana State University Library (now the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library at The University of Montana-Missoula) through the Friends of the Library. Mrs. Prochnow was living in Missoula at the time.