John Mix Stanley was an American painter of landscapes, portraits and Native American life. He is best known today for painting American Indian life in the West before it was changed by early settlers. He was greatly influenced by both American history painting and European art. He was among the first artists to sketch western scenery and be allowed to paint portraits of various Indian tribes. Art was his passion, and as a granddaughter fondly remembered, he had one ambition or goal as a boy – to become a painter.

In the summer of 1848 he left San Francisco and traveled to Hawaii. Stanley is believed to be the earliest professional artist to visit Hawaii. He spent a year there painting portraits of aristocrats and members of the Hawaiian royal family.

In 1854, Stanley married Alice C. English and they had five children. From Stanley again lived in Washington, DC. In 1863 Stanley moved to Buffalo, New York, where he remained for a year and completed a large scene of the Civil War. In 1864 he exhibited the work in Detroit where he moved to and remained for the rest of his life.