Post by kingsleybray on Mar 17, 2011 18:19:42 GMT -5
In the Fire Thunder thread last year we exchanged facts and thoughts about a number of related families associated with the Oglala Oyuhpe band. I suggested that three men, all born in the mid 1820s, and who regularly co-occur in the cenusus record, may have been related as 'brothers', or alternatively cousins or even in-laws. Thse men were Owl Eagle, Foam (both born ca. 1824), and Shoot at Ghost (born ca. 1826). Ephriam was able to confirm that Foam was the father-in-law of Fire Thunder (born 1849).
From the Indian Scout pension files I have now learned that Shoot the Ghost was the father of Pumpkin Hill (born ca. 1848), a prominent warrior in the 1870s. he fought with Crazy Horse in the great battle with the Crows in May 1870, and indeed surrendered as part of the Crazy Horse village at Red Cloud Agency in May 1877. Moreover Pumpkin Hill was sometimes known as Crazy Horse Jr. In the Pine Ridge censuses his Lakota name seems variously given as Tashunke Witko (same form as the Oglala war chief) and as Tashunke Gnashkinyan - which might be translated as Mad, or Enraged Horse.
Shoots at Ghost first appears in the contemporary documents as the headman of a small camp (3 lodges) counted with the large "Minneconjou and Northern" village at New Whetstone Agency (later Spotted Tail Agency) in the winter 1873-74.
Owl Eagle is listed as a headman (14 lodges) among the host Brules at the same agency. In the Fire Thunder thread I suggested that he may have been connected to the Orphan band of chief Iron Shell.
In the census conducted at Spotted Tail Agency in January 1875, all three men are listed.
In the June 1877 Spotted Tail Agency census "Shot at the Ghost" is listed among the Sans Arcs recently surrendered from the north. Foam and Owl Eagle are both listed among the Brules. This suggests the possibility that, while Shoot the Ghost and his son Pumpkin Hill were involved in the Great Sioux War, Foam and (more definitely) Owl Eagle remained at Spotted Tail Agency throughout the hostilities.
Pumpkin Hill was among the Oglala who fled to Spotted Tail Agency from Red Cloud Agency in the aftermath of the killing of Crazy Horse, September 1877.
In the Fire Thunder thread we traced how a cluster of Spotted Tail Agency families - including Owl Eagle and Foam - late in October 1877 joined the Red Cloud Agency column during the removal of the two agencies to new locations on the Missouri River. They attached themselves to Red Cloud's own Bad Face band for a number of years.
Shoot at Ghost meanwhile evidently joined the breakouts (November 1877-January 1878) to Canada. Pumpkin Hill also was part of the breakouts. The two men are not listed at least under these names in the Sitting Bull Surrender Ledger completed at Standing Rock in September 1881, following the surrender of all but a small minority of the Canadian exile Lakotas. However Shoot at Ghost was among the Lakotas transferred from Standing Rock to Pine Ridge in spring 1882. He, along with his relatives Foam and Owl Eagle, settled among the Oyuhpe band communities along Wounded Knee Creek.
My reading is that these three men were likely born and raised among the Miniconjou and/or Sans Arc. An observation by swiftbird 659 in the Martin Charger (Sans Arc) thread indicates that Foam was a half-brother to John Split (Kasle), a relative of Charger's. Note also how Shoots at Ghost in 1877 surrendered with the Sans Arc. They made marriage and other connections to Southern Lakota bands (Oyuhpe Oglala, Orphan Brule) with close historic ties to the Miniconjou-Sans Arc.
This seems a productive family cluster to work on. Has anyone any further information - family history or documentary record - which can help to flesh out the bare bones?
From the Indian Scout pension files I have now learned that Shoot the Ghost was the father of Pumpkin Hill (born ca. 1848), a prominent warrior in the 1870s. he fought with Crazy Horse in the great battle with the Crows in May 1870, and indeed surrendered as part of the Crazy Horse village at Red Cloud Agency in May 1877. Moreover Pumpkin Hill was sometimes known as Crazy Horse Jr. In the Pine Ridge censuses his Lakota name seems variously given as Tashunke Witko (same form as the Oglala war chief) and as Tashunke Gnashkinyan - which might be translated as Mad, or Enraged Horse.
Shoots at Ghost first appears in the contemporary documents as the headman of a small camp (3 lodges) counted with the large "Minneconjou and Northern" village at New Whetstone Agency (later Spotted Tail Agency) in the winter 1873-74.
Owl Eagle is listed as a headman (14 lodges) among the host Brules at the same agency. In the Fire Thunder thread I suggested that he may have been connected to the Orphan band of chief Iron Shell.
In the census conducted at Spotted Tail Agency in January 1875, all three men are listed.
In the June 1877 Spotted Tail Agency census "Shot at the Ghost" is listed among the Sans Arcs recently surrendered from the north. Foam and Owl Eagle are both listed among the Brules. This suggests the possibility that, while Shoot the Ghost and his son Pumpkin Hill were involved in the Great Sioux War, Foam and (more definitely) Owl Eagle remained at Spotted Tail Agency throughout the hostilities.
Pumpkin Hill was among the Oglala who fled to Spotted Tail Agency from Red Cloud Agency in the aftermath of the killing of Crazy Horse, September 1877.
In the Fire Thunder thread we traced how a cluster of Spotted Tail Agency families - including Owl Eagle and Foam - late in October 1877 joined the Red Cloud Agency column during the removal of the two agencies to new locations on the Missouri River. They attached themselves to Red Cloud's own Bad Face band for a number of years.
Shoot at Ghost meanwhile evidently joined the breakouts (November 1877-January 1878) to Canada. Pumpkin Hill also was part of the breakouts. The two men are not listed at least under these names in the Sitting Bull Surrender Ledger completed at Standing Rock in September 1881, following the surrender of all but a small minority of the Canadian exile Lakotas. However Shoot at Ghost was among the Lakotas transferred from Standing Rock to Pine Ridge in spring 1882. He, along with his relatives Foam and Owl Eagle, settled among the Oyuhpe band communities along Wounded Knee Creek.
My reading is that these three men were likely born and raised among the Miniconjou and/or Sans Arc. An observation by swiftbird 659 in the Martin Charger (Sans Arc) thread indicates that Foam was a half-brother to John Split (Kasle), a relative of Charger's. Note also how Shoots at Ghost in 1877 surrendered with the Sans Arc. They made marriage and other connections to Southern Lakota bands (Oyuhpe Oglala, Orphan Brule) with close historic ties to the Miniconjou-Sans Arc.
This seems a productive family cluster to work on. Has anyone any further information - family history or documentary record - which can help to flesh out the bare bones?
