E. Irving Couse was born in Saginaw in 1866. He studied art at the Academy of Design in New York, the 'Ecole de Beaux Arts, and the Academie Julian, Paris. He painted numerous pictures of the life and scenery of the West and Native Americans. His work was shown at the Paris Salon and at exhibitions held in major American cities. He died in Taos, New Mexico in 1936