Many times over, shirts of Spanish Mail armor found their way out of Mexico and into the hands of North American Indians. It is reported that, either as spoils of war or in trade, one got as far north as the Blackfeet on the Canadian Border. Grinnell tells of a Pawnee (Carries His Shield In Front) taking an ironshirt from the “Invincible” (Resting On a Cloud) Southern Cheyenne.

As the story arranged itself in my mind, only the final victory would tell the tale as I envisioned it. For me, this piece takes me to the brink of poor taste. There is a dead man here. I do not like to show blood. If the viewers choose to imagine blood, they can. But, I feel death must be presented, in this piece, in the form of repose. This is a triumphant theme. The posture, the yell to victorious comrades, combine to show the exuberance, the exhilaration of victory.