[1] Couse (pronounced to rhyme with "house"[2]) was born to a farming family in Saginaw, Michigan.

At the turn of the 19th century, the Southwest, and New Mexico in particular, attracted numerous artists and writers because it remained untouched by national expansion efforts dictated by the American policy of Manifest Destiny.

The artists and writers of this era wanted to capture the last vestiges of the Old West before it disappeared altogether.

During his time in New Mexico, Couse studied and painted the lives and culture of the Taos Indians, a Pueblo tribe.

Another founding member was the artist J. H. Sharp, who adapted a chapel near Couse's house as a studio.

The adjacent properties are recognized jointly as the Couse/Sharp Historic Site, and are preserved and operated by the Couse Foundation.

Elk-foot, whose anglicized name was Jerry Mirabal, began posing for Couse in 1907 and was one of the painters favorite subjects because of his "physical beauty and ideal features.

"[7] 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.

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.