In 1939, Joseph Henry Sharp wrote a note to Frank Phillips about his portrait of Deaf Bull: "In the last Indian uprising against the Government, Deaf Bull was the last man to surrender and come in, resentful ever after. The front of his war shirt is made from enemy hair scalp locks. A dominant, implacable Indian of strong character. He used to come to my studio frequently to loaf and smoke and in the fall, on leaving, I hung all my Indian portraits around the walls. Deaf Bull happened in, went around, stopped rather defiantly a bit in front of each one. He finally came to his own portrait, looked at it and pointing his finger at it said, “there is the only real Indian in the lot, and the rest are cowards”; turned and stalked out."