Little Raven Family

[Dietmar]

Little Raven, 1871 by Alexander Gardner


Does anyone have detailed information on Arapaho chief Hosa (Young Crow), better known to history as Little Raven? When I recently tried to sort out photos of him and his family I´ve found some contradictory information.

The best source so far seem to be Loretta Fowler´s books on Arapaho history (for example: "Wives and Husbands: Gender and Age in Southern Arapaho History"). According to her, we have these family members:

father: Old Raven
mother: Backward

brothers: Trunk (a renowned warrior) and several others
sisters: Walking Backward and 2 unknown

Little Raven had at least 5 wives, the last three of them sisters of Chief Yellow Bear:

marriage 1: Yellow Hair (later divorced)
son: Deaf
daughter: Singing Woman

marriage2: Nabaissa/Blood Woman
son: Heap of Bears

marriage 3: Short Woman
daughter: Sitting Down

marriage 4: Beaver Woman
daughter: Curley

marriage 5: Good Woman
sons: Theok Raven, Little Raven Jr.
daughter: Anna Little Raven

His oldest son, Heap of Bears, later was prominent as a delegate to Washington.
However, in some early photos other sons appear, who are not mentioned in the list above.



Above is a photo by photographer William Soule, which shows Little Raven with his young daughter on his knees, trader William Bent and “two of Little Ravens sons” in 1868.
Usually there are no names given in published versions of this picture, but I also saved this scan:

“Little Raven & granddaughter, William Bent and Little Raven´s sons Archer & Manimick at Fort Dodge Kansas”


The inscription says that we have here the 2nd son of Little Raven and his eldest son, sitting far right.

There is another picture taken at the same session which is often labelled “Little Bear and Shield, sons of Little Raven”:



The Indian on left to me seems like the “2nd son” (Archer?) in the photo with Bent. Obviously the man on right is indeed a son of Little Raven: no other than Heap of Bears, who appears in other photographs in later years I will post later on.

Can anyone explain the discrepancies?

[Dietmar]

Here we have again Little Raven´s eldest son Heap of Bears, first as a delegate in Washington in 1872, about four years after the Soule photo was taken:



Heap of Bears by Alexander Gardner, 1872



Plenty Bears [Heap of Bears] & Old Eagle by Alexander Gardner 1873



Heap of Bears, mid-1880s

[grahamew]

I have to admit, the Heap of Bears in the second Gardner, doesn't look like the others. I've got a few more photos from the series you've posted at the top, but I think they were all labelled Cheyenne. Doesn't mean they are, of course... This is supposed to be Little Raven (standing at left):



This isn't Heap of Bears, is it?


His daughter, Wakeah(White Dove?):


Both are possibly by Chamberlain in Denver, circa 1870.


Little Raven. The date I have is 1872 and the photographer is from Philadelphia - but I suspect it's a decade later, possibly around the time of his trip to Carlisle to see his daughter, Annie, as shown in this Choate photo below:


I wonder if that's Annie on his knee in Dietmar's photo.

Another son of Little Raven. Pretty sure this is a Soule.



Soule?

[Dietmar]

Here´s a comparison of the Plenty Bears/Heap of Bears portraits:






Just a few minutes ago I´ve found this interesting interview of Arapaho Elder Jess Rowlodge, the over 80 years of age.

Interview of Jess Rowlodge (Arapaho) by Julia A, Jordan, 1968

“Little Raven was known – not by the tribe, but the government made him the head chief. He wasn´t really a chief – he was a priest. But because he was peaceable and always willing to go along with the government on friendly terms, and took care of a lot of white people like stage drivers and these pony express mail carries and would be, you might say, stranded – he was so peaceful and practiced all those things, so the government made him a chief. […]

([…] what about the other Arapahoes that were not so inclined to be peaceful. Were they angry with Little Raven, or was there any criticism for him for signing?)

No, because he was a priest and had charge of all ceremonials, like the Sun Dance and the Tomahawks, and the Girdled Spearmen, and other organizations for the tribe. They would not object to his doings. If they did, then he would object to carrying on their ceremonies, which he would always be in charge of. So then they never opposed.”

digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/duke/transcripts/T-239.pdf

[kingsleybray]

fascinating thread and great pictures. I think Plenty Bear is not the same man as Heap of Bears. Plenty Bears was with the Northern Arapaho-Northern Cheyenne delegation from Red Cloud Agency. He is consistently mentioned in records with the N. Arapaho from 1869 through to 1899 at Wind River reservation. At Wind River he was a headman in Black Coal's band, the Lower Arapahoes or Forks of the River Men.

[grahamew]

Another Choate, with Yellow Bear and Left Hand and their children:



Southern Cheyenne and Southern Arapaho delegation (188?):


Seated, L to R, front row: Bob-Tail (Cheyenne); Big Horse (Cheyenne); Left Hand (Arapaho); Little Raven (Arapaho); Yellow Bear (Arapaho). Back row, L to R: Man-on-a-Cloud (Cheyenne), Mad Wolf (Cheyenne). Robert Bent next to Mad Wolf?

[Dietmar]

Kingsley & Grahame,

yes, after checking all sources I have, it seems all agree that Plenty Bears was a Northern Arapaho delegate.

Maybe the resemblance I see is just that... a resemblance.


Here is another son of Little Raven, maybe Theok?...



Little Raven & Sitting Bull (both Arapaho) by Voth



Little Raven Jr.


...and a better version of the Soule photo of Ba-Ha-Ba:

[grahamew]

Junior really looks like his dad! Do you think the man with Sitting Bull is Little Raven Jr?

[Dietmar]

Grahame,

yes, I believe the two photos show the same man, who in 1909, when Delancey Gill photographed him with the feather-bonnet, as Little Raven Jr..
SIRIS states he was born 1864, which would make him about 5 years old when Soule took his picture of Ba-Ha-Ba.


Regarding the group photo with Bent in my first post... the Smithsonian has this info:

"Holding his youngest child; next on right is Col. Bent, an old frontiersman. Next are the two sons of Little Raven, the eldest (on extreme right) started "the late war" on the Saline. Photographed at Fort Dodge, August 5, 1869 (Kansas).
The two sons are Little Bear, 2nd from right and Shield, right. The baby was Grass Woman; she later went to Carlisle; name used there not known.
--Information fron Jesse Rowlodge, S. Arapaho, 4-11-57."

[grahamew]

I posted this in the group photo thread. It was on Cowan's site and the men were identified as 'Sioux' but they reminded me of the Little Raven group photo above. I have no idea who the photographer is; I've seen Soule and Chamberlain mentioned. No idea of the date, but there certainly seems to have been a fad for doled out and customised army uniforms/jackets in the 1860s.

They were identified as 1. Big Wind, 2. Bad Horse, 3. Black Kettle and 4. Spotted Dog.
Bad Horse is, I think, Yellow Horse:





This photo is connected to the group photo with Little Raven because the man identified as Bad Horse (Yellow Horse) is here, wearing the same clothing, so the photos were clearly taken at the same time:



Furthermore, the man identified as Black Kettle turns up in another photo from this set, though now with a blanket over his shoulders:



And this one of Little Raven's daughter, Wakeah, seems to be in the same studio:

[Californian]

For sale on EBAY (Feb 2020), with a claim it was Little Raven of the Southern Arapaho - image by Christopher Charles Stotz [1851-1932], El Reno, Oklahoma Territory. I have my serious doubts that this is "the" Little Raven, a man born around 1810. This image, from its "feel" I personally would date to the 1890's and the man depicted therein I would estimate to be in his thirties. Any comments would be welcome.

[Dietmar]

Please compare to the portrait of Little Raven Jr. in this thread.