Iconic large cabinet card, measuring 8" by 10", portrait of Chief Rain in the Face, photographed on horseback by David Francis Barry in Bismarck, Dakota Territory. One of the most well-known Lakota leaders of the 19th century, Rain in the Face fought in Red Cloud’s War and later gained national notoriety for his role in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. Barry’s photograph captures the former warrior in later life, mounted on a painted horse and dressed in a long coat and hat, his commanding presence undiminished.

The image likely dates to the early 1880s during Rain in the Face’s years of engagement with the U.S. government as a member of the Indian police force, a transitional period which Barry chronicled in multiple photographs. "Rain in the Face" is boldly printed on the mount, and Barry’s imprint appears vertically at right. Verso bears various notations including one that identifies him as “ex-Chief of the Sioux, now a member of the police force” and “Copyrighted by D. F. Barry.” A significant historical image by one of the foremost frontier photographers of the American West.