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Post by kingsleybray on Apr 29, 2014 3:48:42 GMT -5
here is a link to a short film directed by John Cournoyer with interviews with present-day descendants of Spotted Tail. I was fortunate enough to meet some of these folks, including Mary and Sylvan Spotted Tail, at Fort Robinson in 2002.
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Post by montana1768 on May 1, 2014 1:06:33 GMT -5
Thanks for posting the link it was very interesting. Here are a few images for you. Not sure if you have seen the different variations of Taylor's depiction of Spotted Tail killing Big Mouth. Sorry about the size if they are too large.
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Post by kingsleybray on May 1, 2014 2:56:05 GMT -5
Thanks for these images by J. E. Taylor. Interesting to compare the two drafts. The figure of Spotted Tail is wearing notably different clothing - blanket, feathers in hair - in the two versions.
The fatal shooting of Big Mouth took place in the early hours of October 29th, 1869, in the Wagluhe band camp at Whetstone Agency. The account presented by Agent D. C. Poole explains the rivalry between Spotted Tail and Big Mouth, and hints at the Brule-Oglala rivalry dimension to their quarrel. On the night of Oct. 28-29, Big Mouth hosted a feast which involved a lot of bad whisky. When Spotted Tail left the feast Big Mouth followed him and fired his revolver - only to have the hammer snap on a failed percussion cap. Spotted Tail then fired his own revolver, and two of his followers struck the fallen man's body to count the coup. Although shot in the head, Big Mouth lingered on to die during the following day. Poole says that the Wagluhe band leadership was "divided between" Big Mouth's brother Blue Horse and the warrior Thigh (probably a head-akichita in the camp). A couple years later the Wagluhe band divided, part following Blue Horse settling at the new Red Cloud Agency (Oglala), Thigh's part staying with the Brules and settling at Spotted Tail Agency.
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Post by Dietmar on May 1, 2014 4:48:59 GMT -5
I would guess that Taylor initially draw the first image, which looks - if you will - more realistic, but later added feathers and bonnet to meet viewers expectations about Indian chiefs.
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Post by montana1768 on May 2, 2014 0:02:51 GMT -5
I would guess that Taylor initially draw the first image, which looks - if you will - more realistic, but later added feathers and bonnet to meet viewers expectations about Indian chiefs. You are probably right but the first one looks like the adjusted one to me at least. In the first image Spotted Tail looks more balanced and his attire just seems to fit more, especially considering the date of the event. I don't have the information to say for certain, especially since the second image was included in a book (Our Wild Indians, Richard Irving Dodge) that was published a year after the first image was created. Here is a link to the [pdf] copy of the book by Dodge, Our Wild Indians: Thirty-Three Years Personal Experience among the Red Men of the Great West
(Just click on the title of the book for the link if the link doesn't appear)
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