Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, John Hauser was one of several early 20th-century Ohio artists known for paintings of Western Indians. His birth date is given as both 1858 and 1859. He is given credit for doing much to educate Americans about the culture of frontier Indians, including Apache, Navajo, Pueblo, and Sioux. He also did a series of portraits of Indian chiefs such as Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, Spotted Tail and Lone Bear.

Hauser was the son of a German cabinet maker and showed early aptitude for art. Before age 15, he studied at the Ohio Mechanic's Institute and at the Cincinnati Art Academy, and he later studied with Thomas Noble at the McMicken Art School. In 1880, he enrolled in the Munich Royal Academy of...