"Wounded Bull" - Native American Buffalo Hunt
Bronze Sculpture by James Marsico

The lasso the Indian uses is a long throng of rawhide, of ten or fifteen feet in length, made of several braids or twists, and used chiefly to in the running of the buffalo as a drag. It trails on the ground behind the horse feet, so that if a man is dismounted, which is often the case, by the tripping or the stumbling of the horse, he has the power of grasping to the lasso, and by stubbornly holding on to it, of stopping and securing his horse, on whose back he is instantly replaced, and continuing on in the chase." From the book North American Indians by George Catlin. Mr. Catlin was a famous American artist. He spent the years from 1831-1837 living among the Indians of North America, learning their languages, studying their habits, customs and way of life, and writing volumes of notes and drawing numerous life sketches for his paintings.