Knife Chief, identified on the mount as Chief of the Pawnees and a performer with Buffalo Bill's Wild West, is depicted here in a full-length standing portrait on an albumen cabinet card by Anderson, Photographer, 786 Broadway, corner of 10th, New York. The image dates to the period of Buffalo Bill's Wild West shows, most likely the mid-to-late 1880s when Pawnee performers traveled with the production to eastern cities including New York.

Knife Chief stands in three-quarter view wearing a dark wool blanket robe belted with a wide beaded sash bearing a circular medallion design, a layered bone hairpipe breastplate, and a large circular peace medal suspended from his neck. Two feathers are positioned upright in his long braided hair, and he holds a revolver at waist level in his right hand. Beaded moccasins are visible at the hem of the robe.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West regularly employed Pawnee scouts and performers beginning in 1883, and the New York engagement of the show brought numerous Native participants before eastern studio photographers during the 1880s and early 1890s.

The mount face is printed in bold type: "KNIFE CHIEF." with the italic caption "Chief of the Pawnees. -- Buffalo Bill's Wild West." The reverse bears the imprint: Anderson, Photographer, 786 Broadway, cor. of 10th, New York.