M A G A Z •: - Desert Magazine of the Southwest

With his artist's kit in a buckboard or a saddlebag,
E. A. Burbank traveled the Indian country and
painted so well that Charles F. Lummis wrote of
him, "He is by odds the most successful thus far of
all who have attempted Indian portraiture." That
was during the period when the Apaches were running
wild—but despite the bad reputation of the
Apache tribesmen, Burbank painted portraits of
nearly all their chieftains, including seven poses
of Geronimo. The artist is now living in comparative
retirement in San Francisco — but his work
may be seen in many homes and trading posts all
over the Southwest.
J^alnted
By RANDALL HENDERSON
N the walls of the colorful living room of the veteran
Indian trader Lorenzo Hubbell at Polacca, Arizona, I
saw some remarkably life-like character studies of Navajo
and Hopi tribesmen, done in crayon.
Lorenzo was showing me his collection of woven rugs and
pottery and other native artifacts—select pieces of the 6nest
craftsmanship from the Arizona reservations.
It was an interesting exhibit, but I kept returning to those
sketches. They were the work of an artist with far more than
usual skill in the portrayal of native character and costume. His
name was penciled lightly in the corner.
It was "E. A. Burbank."
Since then, I have come across many of the Burbank sketches
and paintings in the Indian country—at Gallup, Albuquerque,
Grand Canyon, and in remote trading posts deep in the
reservation.
Then one day shortly after the first number of Desert Magazine
appeared in 1937, I received in my mail a note from E. A.
Burbank—just a simple expression of approval for the new
magazine of the desert Southwest. Since then many letters have
been exchanged and while I have never met this artist personally,
I have learned enough about his work to have a great
admiration for his achievements. Much of my information came
from an old copy of Charles F. Lummis' magazine The Land
of Sunshine, out of print for many years.
Burbank was painting and sketching in the Indian region
of the Southwest during the same period Lummis was delving
into archaeology, and through his writings, trying to convince
indifferent Americans that desert Indians were something more
than mere untutored savages.
The Indians liked Burbank and trusted him. He painted
seven portraits of Geronimo, three of Naiche, and his canvases
included Mangus Colorado and practically all of the Apache
leaders of that period. Of the Apaches, he says:
"Of all the 128 different Indian tribesmen who have posed
for me, I found the Apaches the least superstitious, the most
honest and friendly. When I made an appointment with an
Apache, he always appeared at the time and place agreed upon."
Born in Harvard, Illinois, Burbank began his art training in
the old Academy of Design in Chicago in 1874. He studied in
•^i^^^— i mi iiiiiua^^^^^M^^
This picture oj E. A. Burbank wastaken
within the past
two years.
Munich from 1886 to 1892. His uncle was Edward E. Ayer,
first president of the Field Columbian museum, a trustee of the
Newberry library and the owner of one of the finest private
collections of Indian Americana in this country.
Through the interest of his uncle he turned westward to try
character portraiture of the Indians, first in Oklahoma and
then in the Sioux, Cheyenne and Nez Perce country. Eventually
he reached the Southwest and traveled and worked among
Apache, Navajo, Zuni, Hopi and other Pueblo tribesmen.
His first meeting with Charles F. Lummis was in Los Angeles.
"I wanted to meet the writer and editor who had been so
ably portraying the Indians of the Southwest," he said. "I called
at his office on Broadway and was directed to his home along
the Arroyo Seco. I had heard much of the unusual home he was
building there. When I arrived there I saw a laboring man
dressed in stone mason's clothing, and when I explained that
I wanted to see Mr. Lummis he replied, 'I am Mr. Lummis.'
"I spent the greater part of the day with him, and cannot
remember a more enjoyable or instructive conversation. He
had bought several acres of land and was building a large house
with his own hands. He was doing all the masonry and carpenter
work, including the making of doors and windows."
Later, in a magazine story, Lummis wrote of Burbank:
"Without the least disparagement to the art of Brush, Farny,
Remington and others ... it is entirely within bounds to say
that no one rivals Burbank as an historical painter of Indians
. . . One of the reasons why Mr. Burbank can paint Indians
lies back of his fingers, and was not learned in art schools. He
can not only see, but understand. They are to him not merely
line and color, but human character. More ignorant people,
MAY, 1941 31