 Couse's "The Captive" was shown in 1891 at his first solo exhibition, held at the Portland Art Association in Oregon, and then at the Paris Salon of 1892.This large, "salon size" painting was the first Native American subject by Couse, who later achieved fame in the United States for his paintings of the indigenous peoples of New Mexico.In 1991, "The Captive" was included in the National Museum of American Art exhibition entitled "The West as America," which created controversy by its curatorial interpretation of the artists' meanings and intents.