At the confluence of the Big and Little Arkansas Rivers in downtown Wichita stands a magnificent sculpture honoring the native American history of Kansas. This iconic sculpture is known as the Keeper of the Plains. It was created by a Wichita artist of Comanche and Kiowa descent, who had a remarkable career in the arts.
Blackbear Bosin is the artist who created this remarkable work. Much of the following information comes from the book Blackbear Bosin: Keeper of the Indian Spirit, by Bosin’s stepson, David Simmonds.
Blackbear Bosin was born in Oklahoma in 1921 to a Kiowa father and Comanche mother. His native name, which belonged to his paternal grandfather (a Kiowa chief), means Blackbear in English.
Young Blackbear Bosin attended a mission school in Oklahoma where he studied the collection of Kiowa and European art objects and dabbled in painting. He went on to the Chilocco Indian Agricultural School where he trained to work with sheet metal and then moved to Wichita with his wife. During World War II, he enlisted in the Marines.
In 1943, he fell ill and was hospitalized at the naval hospital in Hawaii. There, he took up painting again. His art was so well regarded that the hospital hosted a one-man exhibition of his works before his discharge in 1945.
Having regained his health, he returned to Wichita where he became an industrial designer and product illustrator for Boeing. He later worked in the training aids and arts department at McConnell Air Force Base. Meanwhile, he was building his career as an artist.
