George Catlin appears at the center of this composition as a frontiersman hunter, outfitted in fringed buckskin attire and firing his Colt pistol at full gallop. In the background, Plains Indians use ancient weapons of bow and arrow and spear in their hunt. The message is clear. In this action-packed scene, Catlin conveys the superiority of the Colt repeating pistol, and at the same time, predicts the decline of the Indian way of life and the buffalo.