Burbank was the only artist to paint
Geronimo from life. He painted or sketched more than 1,200 Native Americans from 125 tribes. Over a period of several years, he spent many months at the
Hubbell Trading Post, where he studied and painted Native Americans.
Burbank, Oklahoma, is named after him. In 1910, the Editor of
The Harvard Independent noted: "No other artist in the country has enjoyed the opportunities experienced by Mr. E. A. Burbank, now a resident of Los Angeles - the painter of Indian portraits, to meet face to face, and on their own ground, the once noted Indian chiefs America now so rapidly passing away. For the last twenty years Mr. Burbank has journeyed from camp to camp among the aborigines of the northwest and southwest, painting successively all the great warriors whose prowess has made their names famous in frontier history. It is, therefore, with considerable pride that The Graphic calls attention to a series of articles from Mr. Burbank's pen, describing his personal interviews with these once-powerful war chiefs, and illustrated by portraits from life, re-drawn in pencil especially for the Graphic, from his original studies. First in this notable galaxy was a picture and story of Red Cloud, the famous Ogallalla (sic) Sioux, recently deceased. Geronimo, the noted Apache chief who preceded Red Cloud the happy hunting grounds by a few months, followed". Burbank arranged for two periods of extended study in
Munich, Germany, with notable artists. In 1886-87 he studied with
Paul Navin and
Frederick Fehr. He returned a couple of years later, when he studied from 1889 to 1890 with
Toby Rosenthal. He also traveled to
Oberammergau, Germany;
Cardiff, Wales; and
Fort Sill, Oklahoma. As an adult, Burbank was diagnosed with
bipolar disorder, referred to then as "manic depression". He was treated at several different facilities during his life, most notably for more than ten years at the State Mental Hospital in
Napa, California. He died April 21, 1949, in
San Francisco, California, after being struck and severely injured by a
cable car on January 27. The accident occurred in front of the Manx Hotel (now the Villa Florence). He was first buried at Mt. Olivet Memorial Park, San Francisco, California, but his remains were reinterred at Forest View Abby in
Rockford, Illinois. In 1984 relatives had his remains moved and reinterred at
Mount Auburn Cemetery,
Harvard, Illinois. == Son of the Shadow-Maker ==