Osburns: Cheyenne Indian Chief

This mural of a Cheyenne Indian Chief with a buffalo head dress was painted on the west wall of Osburn’s Gift Shop, Manitou Springs in 2003. When the original Osburns gift shop was built in 1947 the trolley turnaround (called the loop) was in the lot immediately to the west of Osburns.

Two murals, one of an Indian Chief and one of a Navajo weaving woman, were painted on this wall as an aesthetic benefit for the trolley patrons and as an indication of the nature of the merchandise found in Osburns.

When the original murals fell into disrepair the current owner of the business looked for an artist to rejuvenate the murals. Her daughter Kearston Corey, a painter who was showing her work in a local gallery, volunteered her services although she had not done a mural before. She decided to keep the same theme as the first mural but painted an original creation based on a photo of Cheyenne Indian Chief Two Moons by Edward S. Curtis. (Source: conversation with the artist)