This version of The Trapper’s Bride was painted for Baltimore merchant Heinrich Oelrichs. Its composition is similar to those of the Eiteljorg and Hopkins (CR# 191C and 191E) paintings, but Miller has reduced the two tipis to one and replaced generic Indian figures with two men who resemble Metis hunters from Stewart’s party.
Miller has also made a few subtle changes which alter the tone of the painting. The bride and groom’s hands now touch, and the gestures of the Indian men behind the bride have softened. Her father no longer leans in to push the bride forward; instead, his open hand appears to guide her toward the groom. Likewise, the figure holding the calumet now stands patiently behind the groom and his companion. So positioned, his calumet creates a diagonal line behind the arms of the bride and groom, evoking the image of the crossed calumet and tomahawk (and clasped hands) that decorated government peace medals throughout the nineteenth century.
Like many of Miller’s patrons (including all of the other purchasers of The Trapper’s Bride (see also CR# 191, 191B, 191H), Oelrichs was a commissions merchant with business investments in the West. He moved from Baltimore to New York during the Civil War, and eventually sent the painting to his ranch in Wyoming. The painting is said to have lain, unstretched and forgotten, in a closet until the twentieth century, when it was purchased by early Miller historian Mae Reed Porter.
The artist; Heinrich Oelrichs; [?]; Clyde Porter Collection; Mae Reed Porter, Kansas City, MO; [M. Knoedler and Co., New York, NY (1960 – 1965)]; present owner
