Sitting Bull, the Hunkpapa Lakota chief known by his native name Taton Kaiyotonka, is depicted in this cabinet card in a three-quarter seated pose, his direct and commanding gaze meeting the camera without concession. The photograph was produced by Bailey, Dix & Mead at Fort Randall, Dakota Territory, and copyrighted in 1882, placing it among the earliest and most historically significant studio portraits of the chief made during his captivity as a prisoner of war.

Sitting Bull wears a light-colored cloth shirt with long sleeves, his hair worn in two long braids falling over his chest, and his hands rest folded across his lap, one gripping what appears to be a pipe or short stick. The oval vignette format frames the subject against a plain studio ground, and printed text below the image reads "TATON KAIYOTONKA" with a cursive inscription reading "Sitting Bull" functioning as his autograph, accompanied by the printed declaration that the image is a true photo and autograph of "Sitting Bull," the Sioux Chief at the Custer Massacre.

Sitting Bull led the Lakota forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876 and surrendered to U.S. authorities in 1881, after which he was held at Fort Randall. Bailey, Dix & Mead issued a numbered series of 24 views documenting Sitting Bull and the Uncapapa Sioux encampment, of which this portrait is No. 1.

The reverse carries the full series checklist headed "SITTING BULL, AND TRUE AUTOGRAPH," a biographical note describing him as 43 years of age and 5 ft. 9 in., and the publisher's address: Bailey, Dix & Mead, Fort Randall, D. T.

From the collection of James Lee Soffer