Rocky Bear, identified on the mount recto as "Chief of Oglala Sioux," stands in full-length portrait before a painted studio backdrop suggesting a fort exterior, photographed by Anderson at 785 Broadway, New York. The image dates to the mid-1880s, a period when Lakota delegations frequently traveled east for treaty negotiations and government meetings, bringing prominent leaders before studio photographers.

He wears a large eagle feather war bonnet with long trailing feathers, a fringed buckskin jacket belted at the waist, dark trousers, and moccasins. A cartridge belt crosses his torso, and he holds a long rifle upright in both hands, its stock near the ground.

Rocky Bear was an Oglala Lakota leader who visited Washington, D.C. in 1875 as part of a delegation seeking to address land rights, and he later participated in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show during its 1886 and subsequent seasons, which aligns with the New York studio context.

The recto mount bears the ink inscription "Rockey Bear / Chief of Oglala Sioux / Anderson / 785 Broadway, N.Y." The reverse carries the printed Anderson studio imprint with the motto "Negatives always Preserved. Duplicates Can Be Had at Any Time."