Peter Rindisbacher

Peter Rindisbacher was born in Upper Emmenthal, Canton of Berne, Switzerland, on April 12, 1806. Rindisbacher began drawing at age six, then at age twelve he studied art with painter Jacob S. Weibel during a trip to the Swiss Alps.

In May 1821, his family immigrated to the Red River Colony in Western Canada. During the journey to the colony, Rindisbacher sketched landscape scenes and scenes of prairie life. While living in the colony, he made watercolors and sketches of landscapes and Native Americans living in the area and sold the images to help support his family. Around 1822-1823, Rindisbacher was asked to draw scenes of the British forts near the colony by Andrew Bulger, the governor of the colony. In 1825, a set of lithographs made from Rindisbacher's images titled Views of Hudson's Bay was published in London.

In 1826, Rindisbacher and his family moved to Gratiot's Grove in southwestern Wisconsin. While there, Peter continued to create art. In 1829, he was commissioned by the Indian Commissioner Caleb Atwater to create images of the Native Americans attending a treaty meeting at Prairie du Chien in Wisconsin.

In late 1829, Rindisbacher moved to St. Louis. While living in St. Louis, Rindisbacher published engravings of his western scenes in the journal American Turf Register and in Sporting Magazine. His first engraving was published in October 1829, and subsequent ones were published until March 1832. His images were also published posthumously in the History of the Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas McKinney and James Hall. Rindisbacher made miniature portraits and landscapes during his time in St. Louis. He was also a member of the St. Louis Grays, a volunteer military unit.

His work may also be seen at the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, Oklahoma; the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; the Library Archives Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; the West Point Museum-U.S. Army Center of Military History, West Point, New York; and the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Rindisbacher died on August 12, 1834, at the age of twenty-eight.