Chief Goose

[brian]

I saw this 1888 picture in the restaurant, Trappers Kettle, in Belfield ND. It was taken on the famous HT ranch in the North Dakota Badlands. The man sitting, third from the left, is A.C. Huidekoper, a friend of Teddy Roosevelt, and owner of the HT. The Native man, standing on the left, named Goose, caught my eye. Why was he in this picture, and who was he? I had done some research at St Peters' cemetery at Fort Yates prior to this time, and I had seen a marker there of a Chief Goose. The same Goose that led Custer to the Hidden Wood Creek site (used by the Lakota as a camp site for generations, and was the camp site of Major James McLaughlin and thousands of Lakota on the last buffalo hunt in 1882) outside of Hettinger ND in 1874 on the way to the Black Hills. And Ludlow cave, a sacred site, south of Bowman ND. When Goose led the troops to the cave, the men plundered the offerings left behind. There are petroglyphs nearby, one of Custer's men signed his name which still remains. Goose was used as a scout because of his knowledge of the area. I presume that is why he was at the HT ranch south of Medora ND. In later years Goose would return to the ranch, with others from Standing Rock, on Independence Day, to have a powwow and other related celebrations. Goose died in 1916 on his way home from the Little Missouri, probably on his way home from the HT ranch, but apparently the powwows continued for some years. I know an elderly lady in Bowman ND who still remembers them.

Attachments:

[kingsleybray]

Hi Brian, thanks for the interesting information on Goose. Like Fire Heart, Goose belonged to a prominent family of the Sihasapa (Blackfoot) division of the Teton Lakota. He was an informant of the ethnologist Frances Densmore. See her classic book TETON SIOUX MUSIC.

He was born about 1836. He is named as headman of a small band of 15 lodges living at Grand River Agency in 1871. (Grand River Agency was relocated to the present Standing Rock location in 1873.) He served as a US Army scout throughout the period 1876-82. In the census of bands enrolled at Standing Rock in fall 1876 he is named as headman of the band including the recently surrendered Kill Eagle who had fought at the Little Bighorn. In 1881 (SITTING BULL SURRENDER CENSUS) their relative positions are reversed and Kill Eagle is named as chief of the band. Kill Eagle's band was named the Wazhazha band.

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard said to me in 2008 that Goose took in children orphanned in various battles and set up his own camp, Goose's Camp, at the site of modern Selfridge, ND. This community was then sometimes known as the Orphan band. James Mooney's sketch map of the Standing Rock Res. published in his book on the Ghost Dance, marks Goose's camp in this location.

An earlier Goose (our man's father?) had gone to Washington as one of the Lakota delegates following the Horse Creek Treaty of 1851. There is a photograph of him in the thread here on the Treaty of 1851.

[Dietmar]

Brian,

your scan is very small, but from what I can see the Indian looks a lot like Goose, compared to the D.F. Barry portrait of Goose.


Here´s the 1851 daguerrotype of the earlier Goose:

[Dietmar]

These are David F. Barry´s portraits of Goose:

[grahamew]

Isn't the first one a Goff, Dietmar? Same background as his photo of Sitting Bull

[Dietmar]

Ah, sorry Grahame,

I think you´re right. I always mix up Goff and Barry.

[grahamew]

I have a copy in one of my files and it's labelled as a Barry!

[brian]

Sorry about my pic's small size, I have a bigger one somewhere in my personal library here. When I find it I'll post it.

[grahamew]

Here's another version of the second photo that Dietmar posted - with the background, we can see it's also a Goff photo:

[grahamew]

Goose's daughter (by Goff) 1881?

[kingsleybray]

SITTING BULL SURRENDER CENSUS p. 198.

Family 799 Goose

includes a daughter Left Hand, Ca-tka-win, age 20. This is 1881, same year as the photo. His other daughters age 10 and 4.

[grahamew]

Was he with Custer in the Black Hills? God knows I have the books, but I'm not near them at the moment... lol

[Dietmar]

You are referring to this picture, right?:


Black Hills Expedition 1874
G.A. Custer, John Burkman & Indian scouts:
l.t.r.: Bloody Knife, Goose and Little Sioux

Goose is often listed as Arikara, but from his looks here I believe it´s our man. I only recently have noticed that the Indian far right is identified by some sources as Little Sioux.
Does anyone have a higher resolution scan?

[ephriam]

Goose Maga (c1836-1916) first enlisted as an Indian scout in 1870 and served in this capacity for over a decade. He did accompany Custer to the Black Hills in 1874. "Whenever the whites have desired to do anything in this country that has been given to us," he told the treaty commissioners in 1876, "I have always assisted them to do it and I have always been the one to go with them, and have told them the names of places and countries that they wanted to see."

[grahamew]

"The Old Chief's Camp - Goose." Probably by Truman Ward Ingersoll (mid 90s?).

The same Goose?