Mato Tope, With the Marks of his Exploits, from Travels in the Interior of North America, 1839-43
Aquatint engraving
Ackermann & Co., London
Greenslade Special Collections and Archives
Olin and Chalmers Libraries
Kenyon College

"When he spoke, he 'walked rapidly about the room, with angry gesticulations, and swinging his tomahawk'" (Constitutional Journal, 28 April 1836). This quotation from an Arkansas newspaper, although it does not directly refer to Mato Tope, is typical of whites' perspective of Indians during this period as wild and untamed savages. The loincloth and headdress both hint at the image of the ignoble savage.