User talk:Mike Cline/Articles Under Contemplation/John Louis Clarke

John Louis Clarke (May 10, 1881 - November 20, 1970) was a deaf and mute Blackfoot wood carver from East Glacier, Montana noted for his wildlife carvings related to Glacier National Park. His Blackfoot name was "Cutapuis" (The Man Who Talks Not).

Early life
John L. Clarke was born in Highwood, Montana on May 10, 1881 to Blackfoot tribesman Horace J. Clarke and Margaret First Kill (daughter of Chief Stands Alone). He was one of eight children and was the grandson of Montana fur trader Major Malcolm Clarke. Malcolm Clarke is most noted for his murder by a band of Piegan Blackfeet at his Prickly Pear Creek ranch north of Helena, Montana on August 17, 1869, an event that led directly to the Marias Massacre in January of 1870. During the 1869 raid on Malcolm Clarke's ranch, Horace, John's father was wounded.

At the age of two, scarlet fever left John deaf during an outbreak that killed four of his brothers. His education began in 1894 at the North Dakota School for the Deaf at Devils Lake, North Dakota. He also attended the Montana Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Boulder, Montana, the St. John’s School for the Deaf in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Fort Shaw Indian Boarding School. Although he learned wood carving in school, he never received any formal art education. Because of his affliction, he was given the Blackfoot name of "Cutapuis" or "Man who talks not" at an early age.

In 1888, while John was at school, the Clarke family moved to Midvale, Montana which later became known as East Glacier. John's father Horace became a prominent Blackfoot tribal leader and was instrumental in the treaty and land sale that ceded Blackfoot lands to the U.S. Government for the new national park. John returned to live and work in East Glacier in 1912-13. Glacier National Park had been created in 1910, and John Clarke began working as a guide for tourists in the eastern portions of the park.

Reviews

 * 1941, "...is generally considered the best portrayer [sic] of western wildlife in the world."
 * "When John L. Clarke finished carving a bear, you could just smell it." - Artist J. K. Ralston