William S. Prettyman was born in Maryland and migrated to Kansas in 1879. While living in Kansas, he photographed several Osage Indians who visited his photography shop. That event sparked a new interest for Prettyman, who then decided to travel into Indian Territory to photograph the tribes who lived there. In September 1883, he loaded his wagon with his camera, chemicals, glass-plate negatives, and other photography supplies and traveled to Indian Territory, where during the next few years he made several more trips, taking photographs of American Indians and settlers alike.