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Literature: Quimby pp. 20-21; Truettner/IG 3; Letters pl. 284
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Notes: "[T]he eldest son of Black Hawk, Nah-se-us-kuk (the whirling thunder), [is] a very handsome young warrior, and one of the finest-looking Indians I ever saw. There is a strong party in the tribe that is anxious to put this young man up; and I think it more than likely, that Kee-o-kuk as chief may fall ere long by his hand, or by some of the tribe, who are anxious to reinstate the family of Black Hawk" (Letters and Notes, 2:211).
The United States Army, as Catlin must have known, would have been unlikely to allow Black Hawk's line to return to prominence. In 1848, Keokuk was succeeded as Chief of the Sauk and Fox by his own son, Deer's Hair.
In the Smithsonian portrait, Whirling Thunder wears a deerhair crest, which is absent in both the O'Fallon version and the protrait plate in Letters and Notes. However, in both the Smithsonian and the published portrait, the sitter wears several beaded necklaces in addition to the metal loop depicted here.