George CATLIN was born on 26th July 1796 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. He died on 23rd December 1872 in Jersey City, New Jersey at the age of 76. Following a brief career as a lawyer, Catlin produced two major collections of paintings of American Indians and published a series of books chronicling his travels among the native peoples of North, Central and South America. Catlin began his journey in 1830 when he accompanied General William Clark on a diplomatic mission up the Mississippi River into Native American territory. St. Louis became Catlin’s base of operations for five trips he took between 1830 and 1836, eventually visiting fifty tribes. Two years later he ascended the Missouri River over 3000 km to Fort Union Trading Post where he spent several weeks among indigenous people. He visited eighteen tribes, including the Pawnee, Omaha, and Ponca in the south and the Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, Crow, Assiniboine, and Blackfeet to the north. From 1852 to 1857 he traveled through South and Central America and later returned for further exploration in the Far West.[Source : Wikipedia]

Weblinks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Catlin
 

Biographie française
http://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/article/Laroussefr_-_Article/11006778
 

Works of CATLIN, George (1796-1872)
Manners, customs, and condition of the North American Indians, 1841
Notes of eight years' travels and residence in Europe, 1848
The breath of life, 1861
Life amongst the Indians, 1861
O-Kee-Pa: a religious ceremony and other customs of the Mandans, 1867