In the collection of Amon G. Carter since 1948, Indians is an upclose and personal study of a proud warrior and his family standing before a tepee on the plains. The American Indian was much admired at the turn of the century by both Americans and Europeans. This group of people represented dignity and nobility; people close to nature, simple and direct--perhaps the qualities we found lacking in ourselves at the time. Farny belonged to an age when paintings were easily appreciated by the uninitiated laymen and because his works were highly realistic and narrative, they were accessible to the romantically inclined.

According to Denny Carter, Farny was historically quite accurate in his depictions of the Indians, and often portrayed them in a mixture of hand-made clothing, trade goods and white man's gear, as they would have been accurate for the artist's period. Based on the jewelry, the studded leather belts worn by the figures, and the paintings on the shield and the tepee, Indians most likely depicts the Crow Indians. The moccasins worn by the main figure and the rolled blanket near the child in the background are not native Crow objects, and were probably acquired through trade. Farny also executed a gouache of the same size entitled Summoned by the War Chief (1900) which depicts a similar scene, although the Indian's expression is stronger and more assertive in the oil.

Theodore Roosevelt, a friend of Farny's, once remarked to the artist "...the Nation owes you a great debt. You are preserving for future generations phases of American history that rapidly are passing away." (C. Baltzer, Henry F. Farny, Cincinnati, 1975, p. 1)