The article presents an attempt to reconstruct the image of indigenous people of the Upper Ob-Irtysh region. The research is based on the materials of regional press of the latter half of the XIX –the beginning of the XX centuries. Due to the absence of other sources of information, the periodicals acquire the vital role in shaping the image of the ethnic group or of the whole ethnos. The comparative analysis of “The Tomskie Gubernskie Vedomosti” and “ Tomskie Eparkhialnye Vedomosti” allowed the author to reveal the features that shaped general view of the Russian travelers and missionaries on the indigenous population of the south-east foothills of Altai Mountains. The article underlines the main characteristics of shaping of public conceptions, such as the place of inhabitance, anthropometric data and national character of the Altai people and also dynamics of development of the ethnic group. The analysis of the detected categories shows that in spite of similarity of many characteristics the image of the region and indigenous people of south-east Altai foothills presented by the authors of the publication had considerable differences. The study of the mutual perception of the Russians and the Altai people facilitates to expand the existing ideas about the determinants of the Russian domestic policy towards the region under study.