|
Post by ephriam on Feb 5, 2014 7:57:25 GMT -5
Few Tails Sinte Conala (c1847-1891). Oglala: Oyuhpe Born about 1847, Few Tails was the son of Covers His Head. He accompanied George Sword on his diplomatic mission to the northern bands in the spring of 1877 and is listed the following year as a member of Red Dog's band of Oyuhpe at the Red Cloud/Pine Ridge Agency. His name was mistranslated as Small Tail in the 1886-1888 Pine Ridge Agency census. In the 1890 census, Few Tails is listed as a member of an Oyuhpe tiyospaye called the "Oglala" (not to be confused with the tribal name). Based on other family names listed within the "Oglala" tiyospaye, this group appears to be the remnants of the old Charging Hawk's band as described by Eagle Hawk in a 1939 interview. Some members of this band (Grey Grass, Crazy Ghost, Ghost Boy) appear to have fled into Canada in 1877 and did not return until the 1882 transfers. Other members of this band remained at Red Cloud/Pine Ridge as part of Red Dog's band (Few Tails, Foolish Woman, Knee, Sitting Weasel). This highlights the political divisions that cut across family/tiyospaye lines during the crisis of the 1870s. Few Tails was murdered in January 1891 by several "cowboys" for no apparent reason. His body has only recently been repatriated to the family and presumably reburied. Few Tails' wife is mentioned in the newspaper accounts of the murder as "Clown", however, all of the census records record her as Brings Her or Brings Her Horses, or something similar. She lived the remainder of her life on the Pine Ridge Reservation. The following photograph by Gus Trager is labeled "The Misses Few Tails," taken in 1891 after Few Tails' murder. I suspect that the seated woman is Brings Her Horses (Few Tails' wife) and the girl standing beside her is their daughter, Standing Track (later known as Clara Few Tails). There were at least five surviving children of the couple. The eldest son was later known as Kills Across. Another son became known as William Eagle Shirt; after participating in one of the early Wild West Shows, William settled in California where he was a prominent actor in several early silent films, including a 1914 film about Wounded Knee and another in which he played Sitting Bull at the Little Bighorn. Eugene Few Tails, listed in the 1890 census as Come and Set Down, is the great-grandfather of the Few Tail descendants who recently received their ancestor's remains.
|
|
|
Post by Dietmar on Feb 5, 2014 10:05:08 GMT -5
Thank you Ephriam. The newspaper article on this site states that Few Tail was a brother of Big Road and a relative of Young-Man-Afraid-of His-Horses: yesteryearsnews.wordpress.com/2009/01/12/the-wanton-murder-of-chief-few-tails/ BAD AS THE INDIANS. An Atrocious Outrage Commited by Cowboys. WANTON MURDER OF AN OLD CHIEF. Cowboys Kill a Friendly and Aged Chief and Wound His Wife — The News Terribly Excites the Reds at Pine Ridge and Makes It Necessary to Postpone a Grand Review and Prepare for Emergencies PINE RIDGE AGENCY, S.D., Jan 20 – When the treacherous whites in Bear Butte county wontonly murdered old Few Tails last week and wounded his squaw they committed an outrage that came near ruining Gen. Miles’ plans and stampeding the 5,000 hostiles who are in camp here. Few Tails was a relative of Young Man Afraid-of-His-Horses, the only hereditary chief in the Sioux nation, and the most powerful leader among his people. Few Tails’ wounded squaw arrived here Sunday, and almost immediately there was a commotion in the hostile camp. Complicates the Situation The scouts reported the situation to Gen. Miles, who immediately sent runners after Young Man. When that chief appeared at headquarters and learned of the ingratitude of the whites for the heroic work he had been doing in their behalf he refused to be pacified, and it took all the diplomacy at the command of Gen. Miles to win back finally the good will of the outraged chief. The situation has become so complicated that the quartermaster has ordered twenty days additional rations and the troops that were expected to come to the agency for a grand review have been ordered to remain in camp. An Indefensible Outrage This order for nations is as heavy as any that has been issued since the war begain. Few Tails was not only a relative of Young Man Afraid of His Horses, but a brother of Big Road, one of the most powerful sub chiefs at Pine Ridge. Big Road said yesterday that eighty cowboys had slaughtered the little band as they were returning, unarmed, from an eagle hunt, bearing with them Gen. Miles pass permitting them to be off the reservation, and that the squaw of Few Tails was the only survivor. Fired Upon from Ambush The little party was journeying south ward and had just started onthe morning of the 11th. They had gone but a short distance when they were fired upon from ambush by a party of whites. Few Tails fell dead. One bullet pierced his brain, and another missile struck him in the breast. His squaw was shot in the leg and breast and probably fatally hurt. The horses of one wagon were also killed by the volley. Few Tails’ corpse lay in the vehicle, while his squaw managed to crawl to the bushes, where she hid for a day before setting out on her painful tramp to Pine Ridge, 100 miles away. The rest of the Indians abandoned the other wagon and fled, and it is supposed that they, too, were slain. Review (Decatur, Illinois) Jan 21, 1891
|
|
|
Post by gregor on Feb 5, 2014 14:54:32 GMT -5
Thanks you both! We find a good report on the “Few Tails affair” in Roger L. Di Silvestro’s “In the Shadow of Wounded Knee”. This is what happened:
Equipped with a pass Few Tails along with his friend One Feather , the women of the two ( Clown and Red Owl ) and two children , had gone on a hunting trip in the Black Hills. On the way back to the reservation the small hunting party encamped on Alkali Creek , north - east of the Black Hills in the neighborhood of the Culbertson Ranch . On the morning of January 11, 1891 as the group set off to continue their journey , they came into an ambush . Few Tails was shot. The rest of the travelers , including Few Tails woman Clown , just managed to escape. In the late afternoon of the 12th January Lieutenant F. C. Marshall and some soldiers investigated the crime scene and find an abandoned car with the dead medicine man. Marshall finds beyond reasonable doubt that the Lakota have fallen into an ambush and were treacherously fired upon from behind a bush on the banks of the alkali Creeks . There were no signs that the Lakota had returned fire . During the investigation, a rider joins the soldiers , who introduces himself as Pete Culbertson . Culbertson comments on the investigation and openly admitted that he " ... had shot one of the f***ing pets of the government .... and if anyone wanted to be done, then he should just come" On May 13, 1891 a trail was opened against Pete Culbertson and his brothers in Sturgis. On July 2, 1891 the jury in Sturgis - " twelve good and honest men " – acquitted Culbertson and his cronies.
And here the story goes on:
Federal Register Volume 64, Number 188 (Wednesday, September 29, 1999)
Between 1891 and 1932, human remains representing one individual were removed from an unknown location by person(s) unknown. In 1932, the Deadwood Pioneer-Times reported that John T. Milek, a lawyer and publisher from Sturgis, SD had donated these human remains to the Adams Memorial Hall Museum, Deadwood, SD. In that article, these human remains were identified as Few Tails, an Oglala Lakota man slain by Anglo horse thieves near the Belle Fourche River in Meade County, SD in 1891. No associated funerary objects are present.
In 1994, these human remains were transferred from the Adams Memorial Hall Museum to the South Dakota State Archaeological Research Center for NAGPRA inventory and repatriation. Based on osteological analysis, these remains have been identified as Native American man between the ages of 40-49, most likely of Oglala descent. Trauma present on the skull and mandible are consistent with a violent death. Oral tradition of the Few Tails family and historical records indicate that the wife of Few Tails, who was present at the incident, survived and returned to Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Oral tradition also states the family was unable to retrieve the body of Few Tails following the incident. The human remains in the possession of the South Dakota State Archaeological Society show no evidence of inhumation. No evidence contradicts the identification of these human remains as Few Trails.
Sophia Few Tails Lone Hill, great- or great-great-granddaughter of Few Tails, on behalf of herself and her brothers Leonard Few Tails and Louis Few Tails, and her daughter, Donette Lone Hill, has claimed Few Tails' remains as a lineal descendant.
A very, very sad story
|
|
|
Post by ephriam on Feb 5, 2014 15:08:51 GMT -5
Here is photograph of Few Tails' son, William Eagle Shirt. linkIf you would like to see him in one of his silent movies, here is a Youtube link to The Invaders (1912).
|
|
|
Post by Dietmar on Feb 5, 2014 17:12:30 GMT -5
Few Tails was killed by Pete Culbertson and his brothers. Culbertson was tried at Deadwood but was not found guilty. He later ran an Wild West Show. Here are two portraits of him: Pete Culbertson aka "Indian Pete"
|
|
|
Post by gregor on Feb 6, 2014 5:08:21 GMT -5
It is (or was) a small world! According to www.lostbirdproject.com/story/story14.php…. Zintkala Nuni ( Lost Bird of Wounded Knee fame, 1890) ran away from Chemawa School (Salem, Oregon), but was returned. Shortly afterward, Zintka and some girlfriends were caught with two boys they had snuck into the women's rooms. Zintka escaped through a window. The 16 year old now started out, free and on her own, to find the woman she had never known. [About 1906] Zintka escaped to South Dakota, her homeland. Before she could join up with her Nation, she met Peter "Indian Pete" Culbertson (1870 – 1942, of Norwegian descent ), a showman. She joined Indian Pete's Wild West Show, and was soon earning a meager living. She rode horses, doing "top work," vaults and "drags." Like the others in the business of show, Zintka wore flamboyant clothes wherever she went, called "loudrags." …..
|
|
|
Post by kingsleybray on Mar 19, 2014 7:05:35 GMT -5
Re the sub-band named Oglala within the Oyuhpe band: Ghost Boy (born c. 1810 acc. 1890 Pine Ridge census)and Crazy Ghost (born c. 1855-56) were neighbours in this 'Ogalala' community in 1890. Men with the same names, Ghost Boy and 'Mad Soul', signed the 1825 Atkinson treaty as chief and head warrior respectively. Do we detect a continuity of band affiliation across the whole 1825-90 period?
|
|
|
Post by Dietmar on Dec 30, 2018 9:39:18 GMT -5
Few Tails Sinte Conala (c1847-1891). Oglala: Oyuhpe The following photograph by Gus Trager is labeled "The Misses Few Tails," taken in 1891 after Few Tails' murder. I suspect that the seated woman is Brings Her Horses (Few Tails' wife) and the girl standing beside her is their daughter, Standing Track (later known as Clara Few Tails). There were at least five surviving children of the couple. The eldest son was later known as Kills Across. Another son became known as William Eagle Shirt; after participating in one of the early Wild West Shows, William settled in California where he was a prominent actor in several early silent films, including a 1914 film about Wounded Knee and another in which he played Sitting Bull at the Little Bighorn. Eugene Few Tails, listed in the 1890 census as Come and Set Down, is the great-grandfather of the Few Tail descendants who recently received their ancestor's remains.
Our member delaneyapple has strong doubts that these are the daughters of Few Tails, and I have to agree. The identifications of the photographer (the Denver Public Library has him as Clarence Morledge, not Gus Trager) has been proven as not very reliable. Hence that his portrait of Big Road taken on the same occasion was identified as "Flying Horse".
Instead delaneyapple believes that the two girls are the daughters of Fast Thunder, Stella and Fannie.
I´m going to post some comparisons in the following thread:
|
|
|
Post by grahamew on May 21, 2020 14:30:26 GMT -5
Is this Few Tails' eldest son?
|
|
|
Post by Dietmar on May 21, 2020 16:38:13 GMT -5
Perhaps Grahame, but since many photographs from this series at the Nebraska Historical Society are incorrectly identified (probably by the photographer himself) I wouldn't be too sure.
|
|
|
Post by grahamew on May 22, 2020 2:05:55 GMT -5
Ah, the usual problem...
|
|