Fanny Kelly: My Captivity Among The Sioux

[natethegreat]

Is anybody familiar with this book? It is about a white woman who was part of an emigrant train traveling through the Sioux nation. They had been assured safe passage by friendly Indians and other Army officials, but they were set on by a large war party of Oglala and Blackfoot warriors. To make a long story short, 3 men were killed, 4 men escaped, and 2 women and 2 children were taken captive. Shortly after leaving the attack site, Fanny Kelly formed a plan for her 6 year old daughter Little Mary to jump off the horse and lay down in the grass until everybody was out of sight. Shortly after the Sioux realized that she let her daughter escape and sent out scouts to find her. Fanny Kelly spent the remaining 5 months of captivity not knowing what happened, but Little Mary did not make it very far. She was shot with arrows and scalped. 

The name of the book is "My Captivity: A Pioneer Woman's Story Of Her Life Among The Sioux."

It is my wish to inquire about some of the people mentioned in this book and Ask on this forum if there is anybody who has any information regarding the persons?

Chief Ottawa - The Chief of the band of Oglala Sioux and leader of the village. He claimed the sole ownership of Fanny Kelly.
Wechela - The Oglala boy who made the "pipe smoking" gesture with his lips to let Fanny know why Chief Ottawa was mad.
Jumping Bear - Oglala warrior, Saved Fanny's life by grabbing a man who was about to kill Fanny and throwing him to the ground.
Yellow Bird - Oglala Indian girl who was given to Fanny to replace the loss of little Mary.
Mary Boyeau - Another white woman, she had been a captive for 16 years before meeting Fanny in the Oglala village.
Black Bear - A Sioux Chief? Took a young white girl with him at the request of her dying father. Later married her.
Tall Soldier - A Blackfoot Chief who temporarily escorted Fanny around.

One more thing I would like to mention: Fanny Kelly seems to give the idea that the average Indian is a savage that can not be trusted at all. Maybe this is a biased opinion? Anyway. Thanks in advance. I recommend this book to all readers.

[Dietmar]

Fanny Kelly seems to give the idea that the average Indian is a savage that can not be trusted at all. Maybe this is a biased opinion?

I take this as a rhetorical question. However, she certainly experienced some hardships during her time in captivity.

There seems to be nothing that can be found about Silver Horn (or Ottawa), other than that he was a 75-year-old Oglala band leader. Red Cloud himself mentions his name in a speech he held in Washington in 1870, so I guess the name is correct.

[natethegreat]

Feb 10, 2019 11:04:16 GMT -5 Dietmar said:

Fanny Kelly seems to give the idea that the average Indian is a savage that can not be trusted at all. Maybe this is a biased opinion?

I take this as a rhetorical question. However, she certainly experienced some hardships during her time in captivity.

There seems to be nothing that can be found about Silver Horn (or Ottawa), other than that he was a 75-year-old Oglala band leader. Red Cloud himself mentions his name in a speech he held in Washington in 1870, so I guess the name is correct.

Hello dietmar. Thank you for responding.



It seems ironic that Google can not find anything about Chief Silver Horn or Ottawa, and Red Cloud mentioned him by name in Washington. Throughout history there have been hundreds of Chiefs who lived and died with nothing to remember them by, I guess.



This is a sad book. Many sad things happen in war. Thank you for responding.

[gregor]

Hey guys, I do not think Red Cloud used to mention the man as "Ottawa", more likely "Silver Horn" (which we could translate with He Maza Ska / sounds a bit like Ottawa). It must be remembered that Kelly wrote her book a few years after her ordeal in 1864(first published in 1871), maybe she could not remember the correct phonetic expression of the name.

Of course it could be that "Ottawa" introduced himself as "otancan / itancan” - according to Eugen Buechel's dictionary "chief" or supreme leader.

But it is true that she met Red Cloud in Washington in summer 1870. Already on February 24, 1870 Kelly had visited a notary in Washington (Jas. H. McKenney, Notary Public) and made an affidavit about her captivity. In June 1870, Kelly then met the Lakota delegations under Red Cloud and Spotted Tail. On June 9th the delegation leaders (Red Cloud, Red Dogs, Spotted Tail, Swift Bear, etc.) signed two statements. Thereafter, Fanny Kelly should receive compensation (5.000 Dollar ?) from funds of the Lakotas.

But I have to admit I never red elsewhere about an Oglala chief “Silver Horn” (born about 1811).
The only Silver Horn I know is a Kiowa ledger artist (1860 – 1940)

[Dietmar]

Good points, Gregor.

[wyman1956]

I am thinking that the man Ms. Kelly identifies as "Chief Ottawa" is probably a prominant individual known by another name in later years. Another note: I read somewhere that the Crow Indians claimed that Ottawa missionaries brought the gospel to them, and also the Flathead Indians as well. I think these were Ottawas employed by the Hudson Bay Company in the years of the fur trade. It seems to me that I may have read this in the writings of Father Pierre DeSmet.