Cronau, Rudolf, 1855-1939

Rudolf Daniel Ludwig Cronau was a German sent to the United States by a German newspaper to document American cities, landscapes, Native Americans, and life on the frontier. Known for painting the first life portrait of Sitting Bull.

Hawikuh, in present day New Mexico, was a Zuni pueblo thought to be one of the gold cities of Cibola.

Tizoc was an Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan who took power in 1481 and was poisoned in 1486.

From the description of Miscellaneous artwork for the Museum of the American Indian publications, undated. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64061277

Cronau was born in Solingen, Prussia in 1855.

He attended the Academy of Art in Dusseldorf, Prussia, before coming to the United States in 1880. He married Margarethe (Margaret) Taenzier in 1888. He settled in Phillips Manor, New York. Cronau worked as an American reporter for the Cologne Gazette from 1893 to 1899. He was a writer, traveler, and lecturer for most of his life, publishing accounts of his travels in the West and histories of the discovery and development of America, of German American settlement and achievements, the American Revolution, and Prohibition and the destruction of the American brewing industry. Cronau died in 1939.

From the description of Rudolf Cronau collection of autographs and autograph letters, 1858-1930. (Historical Society of Pennsylvania). WorldCat record id: 60337507