Images of conflict pervade the pictorial art of the Plains Indians. Men proclaimed their deeds in drawings on robes and tipi liners. Later, as new materials became available, vivid battle scenes sprang to life on cloth and paper.
The best-known examples of Plains art are drawings made by Southern Plains fighters held prisoner at Fort Marion in Florida. Men from the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Kiowa tribes were arrested at the end of the Red River War in 1875 and held as hostages to ensure the peaceful behavior of their tribes. At Fort Marion, many turned their hands to recording scenes of battle and traditional life on the Plains, in army-issued ledger books.