The northern Plains Indians had three types of buffalo hides they painted: abstract geometric designs painted by women, exploit robes painted by men who performed brave deeds, and winter counts painted by men. While tepees and shields bore more spiritual symbols, the exploit robes depicted heroic deeds. The paint used to adorn the buffalo robes was usually made from pigments found in nature: berries, lichen and moss, vegetable matter, and soil. This dignified brave wore his robe proudly, reflecting on his moment of glory.

During the height of the mountain man era, a huge rendezvous was held in 1832 at Pierre's Hole, currently the area of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Named for "le grand Pierre" Tivanitagon, a Hudson's Bay Company trader, this valley or "hole" provided numerous beaver rich streams and plentiful game. This was one of the largest rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains with four hundred mountain men and several hundred lodges of Nez Perce and Flatheads, and over three thousand horses. Usually lasting over two weeks, these yearly gatherings provided trappers an outlet for trading and resupplying themselves, as well as for recreation and entertainment, gambling, contests, and games.

Horses were an integral part of the Native American society by the mid 19th century. The Plains Indian society was changed by it’s ability to move frequently, hunt  buffalo herds as they roamed, and quarrel with other tribes. Wealth and power often equated with the number and quality of horses the chief and his family owned. It was common, because of their value, to obtain horses by any means possible like the braves stealing “ under the cover of darkness”.