# Black Knife, an Apache Warrior

- By: John Mix Stanley (born Canandaigua, NY 1814-died Detroit, MI 1872)
- Date: 1846
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Paintings
- Dimensions: 42 1/2 x 52 in. (107.8 x 132.1 cm)
- Culture: Indians of North America
- Credit line: Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Misses Henry
- Museum: [Smithsonian Institution](https://americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=22852)
- Rights: [CC0 (Smithsonian Open Access)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/web/4336aa63ac9f244804503191b986ee13.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Black Knife, also known as Baishan, or by his Spanish name, Cuchillo Negro, was a celebrated Apache chief. His raids on Mexico made him a nominal ally of U.S. army battalions sent to the area following the outbreak of the Mexican War (1846--48). The Apache sought to protect their ancestral lands, which had become disputed territories between Mexico and the United States.