"The last eight years of Sitting Bull's life were a time of tribulation and turmoil, with him living as a prisoner of war and as a sideshow gimmick, awaiting a death that he had been told in a mystical vision would come at the hands of his own Lakota people.

The difficulties of that time were etched into his face and captured in about 50 photographs taken after he surrendered to military authorities in 1881.

In the 120 years since his death Dec. 15, 1890, Sitting Bull's stature as a leader who tried to help members of his tribe adjust during a troubled time has grown.

But the Hunkpapa Lakota chief and holy man who united the Lakota tribes during a battle for survival probably always will be best known for his connection to Gen. George Custer and the Battle of the Little Big Horn.

Frank Goodyear III, associate curator of photographs with the Smithsonian Institution's National Portrait Gallery, wrote an article for the Summer 2010 South Dakota History magazine. He has examined the portraits of Sitting Bull carefully.

"Even though he's perhaps one of the most iconic - if not the iconic - Native American leader in the last half of the 19th century, there still remains a mystery about his life," Goodyear says."

Get the Story:
Jill Callison: South Dakota Moments: Gazing into the eyes of Sitting Bull (The Sioux Falls Argus Leader 12/16)