FYI re Hudson River

Hi Everyone:

The information below is from the Visitor Services newsletter that Visitor Services Lead Andy Morrison puts out every week. He thought you might find it interesting and wanted me to pass it on to you.

 

On Tuesday, an older man came in who introduced himself in the galleries as a descendant of the McCray family. That’s right, the very same McCrays as Jane McCray herself!  Through his knowledge of the family history, he shared with me that the label on the wall is actually inaccurate. There are two discrepancies:

 - First, the young soldier fiancée that Jane was going to meet was actually a British soldier, not an American. This was why she was accompanied by Indians in the employ of the British army in order to safely make her journey. The trouble came when a warring tribe happened upon her caravan and attacked them all.  In the process, Jane was killed and then later scalped by the attacking tribe.

 - Secondly, when these Indians brought her scalp to the British, realizing what trouble they had caused, they handed over the scalp without compensation. Therefore no bounty was specifically placed on Jane McCray, nor was one ever paid.

That’s the history as he told it to me. It seems that the discrepancy comes into play because the painting is actually based on a poem written about the event. Both the poem and the painting, while trying to remain essentially accurate, have changed some of the circumstances in order to further incite the American anger toward the British; thus the blue-coated officer in the background rather than a red-coat.

 

 

 

Tara Young

Associate Curator of Education

 

TACOMA ART MUSEUM

1701 Pacific Avenue

Tacoma, WA 98402

253.272.4258 x 3016