The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

Gift of the Native American Art Council in memory of Ilse and Henry Jacobson and Priscilla Zingeser.

The Elizabeth Cole Butler Collection.

By the mid-eighteenth century horses had spread throughout the Plains region. As Plains Indian peoples became expert horsemen, they began to create a variety of trappings for their horses. Derived from Spanish pack saddles, pad saddles were commonly made by peoples of the northern and northeastern Plains such as the Plains Cree. Pad saddles are usually rectangular or oval tanned leather tubes stuffed with grass or moose hair. A band of tanned leather sewn across the middle provides an attachment for the stirrups. Floral beaded decoration covers the corners, from which hang beaded panels that are often further embellished with yarn tassels.

Gift in memory of Isaac M. Bates by his children and grandchildren.