Fool Thunder stands in full-length pose against a painted studio backdrop in this cabinet card by D. F. Barry of Bismarck, Dakota Territory, made during the period when Barry was actively documenting Lakota and other Plains leaders at his studio near Fort Abraham Lincoln. The subject is identified by a printed label affixed to the front mount beneath the image. Barry's portraits of Native subjects from this era are among the most historically significant studio photographs produced on the Northern Plains.

Fool Thunder wears a white collarless shirt beneath a striped blanket draped and gathered at the waist, his long hair worn in two braids adorned with a wrapped ornament. He holds what appears to be a pipe or ceremonial object across his body with his right arm, and rests his left hand on a rustic branch-and-wheel studio prop. A painted backdrop features tropical foliage and an architectural screen, with an artificial rock formation visible at right.

The mount reverse bears the printed imprint "D. F. Barry, Photographer, Bismarck, D. T." in red ink on a cream floral-patterned ground. The subject identification label on the recto reads "Fool Thunder" in serif display type.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer