Rudolf F. Kurz

Rudolf F. Kurz (1818 - 1871)

Rudolf F. Kurz was a Swiss artist, born in Bern in 1818. He came to the United States for a period of time, finding work and adventure on the American frontier. He found his way to the Fort Union fur trading post on the Upper Missouri and from 1851-52 worked there as a clerk. While at the post, Kurz became a kind of social chronicler of life at the trading post, which included interaction with local Indian tribes. He made numerous sketches, drawings, paintings, and even a journal which later provided the images needed for a modern historical reconstruction of the site. Kurz returned to spend the rest of his life in Bern, Switzerland, where he died in 1871.