Sioux Delegation of 1870

[Dietmar]

Sioux Delegation of 1870


I am wondering about a complete list of all Lakota delegates who travelled to Washington in 1870. There were at least three major groups in that year, one headed by Red Cloud, another by Spotted Tail and a third with Lakotas from Fort Bennett. Do I miss another group?

The lists sometimes differ from each other in several sources. Here is one of Red Clouds delegation from Edmund E. Tuttle´s account with names also in Lakota (though not given correctly):

Red Cloud´s group:

Red Dog, Shem-ka-lu-tah
Brave Bear, Mon-tah-o-he-te-kah
Little Bear, Pah-gee
Yellow Bear, Mon-tah-zi
Sitting Bear, Makh-to-u-ta-kah
Bearskin, Makh-to-ha-she-na
Black Hawk, Sha-ton-sa-pah
Long Wolf, Shunk-mon-e-too-ha-ka
Sword, Me-wah-kohn
Afraid, Ko-ke-pah
The One that runs through, Ke-cha-ksa-e-un-tah
Red Fly, Ke-yah-lu-tah
Rock Bear, En-ha-mah-to
Living Bear, Me-nah-to-ne-ow-jah
Red Shirt, Och-le-he-lu-tah

The White Cow Rattler, Dah-sa-no-we (Sword´s wife)
Thunder Skin, Ny-ge-uh-ha (wife of The One that runs through)
The Woman without a Bow, E-dah-zit-chu (Sans Arc Woman, wife of Yellow Bear)
The World Looker, Mak-ko-cha-ny-un-tah-ker (wife of Black Hawk)

John Richard (interpreter)
James McCluskey (interpreter)
William G. Bullock (trader)


Spotted Tail´s group consisted of:

Quick Bear
Swift Bear
Yellow Hair


In the third group were at least:

White Swan III (Paul Swan), Mnicojou
Four Bears (Joseph), Two Kettle
Red Feather, Sans Arc
Running Bull, Two Kettle
Martin Charger, Sans Arc

Please can anyone add something to these lists? Thanks!

[Dietmar]

Here are all photographs we have posted of the 1870 delegations so far:


standing: Bearskin, Red Dog, Rocky Bear
kneeling: Living Bear, Red Fox
(see: www.american-tribes.com/Articles/ART/SiouxDelegationPhoto1870.htm)

Question: Red Fox is not listed as a delegate above, is he Red Fly?



Quick Bear, Spotted Tail, Swift Bear, Yellow Hair


Spotted Tail 1870


Yellow Hair 1870


White Swan III & Joseph Four Bears


Running Bull


Running Bull


Red Feather


Red Feather

[Dietmar]

High Wolf is listed as a Red Cloud delegate in the NY Times article of 1870. Swing Bear is also mentioned, but I guess that is another name for Living Bear??

Pretty Bear, Two Kettle... was he also part of the Ft. Bennett delegation?

[jinlian]

Hi Dietmar,

in Olson's Red Cloud and the Sioux Problem, in the list of Red Cloud's group (as given in a telegram from Colonel Smith to Ely Parker, July 15 1870) there's also mention of a delegate named "Brave"; however, there's no trace of Red Shirt. Was "Brave" another name of Red Shirt?

Olson also adds that, at Red Cloud's request, Jules Ecoffey was included in the party as interpreter.

[kingsleybray]

The official report of Maj. Gen. John E. Smith to Hon. Eli S. Parker (Commissioner of Indian Affairs), dated Washington, DC, July 15, 1870 is in the National Archives microfilm publication M234, Roll 892, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs from the Upper Platte Agency.

Smith is the officer who escorted Red Cloud's delegation from Ft Laramie to Washington, and his report is a detailed account of the whole trip. Smith says that Red Cloud named the following "Chiefs & Warriors", including four "squaws", whom Smith approved as the delegation:

Red Cloud
Red Dog
Brave Bear
Little Bear
Yellow Bear
Sitting Bear
Bear Skin
Black Hawk
Long Wolf
Sword
Brave
Afraid
the one that runs thro
Red fly
Rocky Bear
Living Bear
Red Shirt
Swords Wife
Yellow Bears "
Black Hawks "
the Man that runs Thro "

Note that Olson transcribed this document but he misread Living Bear as Swing Bear.

Note that Red Fox isn't on this list or the Tuttle one. Maybe he is there but under another name. Have to think about that a little. A man named Red Fox was noted as a headman in the Oglala Oyuhpe band in two lists, 1865 and 1867.

Is it possible to post up the Tuttle account, or is that available online somewhere?

The delegation from Whetstone Agency was just the four men: Spotted Tail, Swift Bear, Quick Bear, and Yellow Hair.

From Cheyenne River Agency: there is in the Birmingham Public Library, UK, a set of photographs, including the portraits above of Red Feather (in buckskin clothes), and Running Bull; also the picture of Swan III in warbonnet and hair-fringed shirt. Also with them are two shots I've not seen elsewhere, one of Pretty Bear, identified as a Two Kettle head-warrior, and Black Tomahawk, a Sans Arc head-warrior. All these photos were taken at the same time, same room (Hamilton's studio in Sioux City?)

The way I understood the delegation was that it comprised:
MINICONJOUS
Swan III
Running Bull
SANS ARCS
Red Feather
Black Tomahawk
TWO KETTLES
Long Mandan (the Younger; son of the man who went to Washington in 1875)
Pretty Bear

Note that Pretty Bear had been one of the Fool Soldiers with Martin Charger in 1862, rescuing American captives after the Minnesota uprising. I didn't think that Martin Charger went to Washington in 1870. He did go in 1875.

In the Appendices to Fanny Kelly's MY CAPTIVITY AMONG THE SIOUX INDIANS, pp 270-273, she prints "Certificate of Indian Chiefs". She was in Washington at the same time as the 1870 delegation and got several of the delegates to approve an affidavit statement she made about her captivity. In Washington on June 9th all the Spotted Tail party signed; on June 11th Red Cloud and seven of his party signed, and then in New York on July 14, four of the "Minniconyon and Sans Arcs" signed, as follows:
Little Swan
Pretty Bear
Black Tomahawk
Red Feather

Correspondence in the Upper Platte Agency file shows that the makeup of the Cheyenne River delegation was up in the air for quite a while. Red Leaf, chief of the Brule Wazhazha band, had been visiting at CRA for much of the spring, and an invitation was extended to him. He moved to Whetstone Agency, I think before the invitation got through, where the Spotted Tail party had already left. At Whetstone he refused to make the journey (jealousy?). Suggested delegates were Crow Feather (Sans Arc), The Log (Two Kettle), and Bull Eagle (Miniconjou). In fact Washington requested that the Cheyenne River agent saw that Running Antelope (Hunkpapa) and Grass (Sihasapa) were invited from Grand River Agency. This didn't come off. Maj. G. M. Randall, the military agent at CRA recommended that Swan III go instead of The Log. That did come off.

Randall accompanied the delegation east. From Valparaiso, Indiana on July 2, he telegraphed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs: "I am en route with six Indians." A little on the terse side for us buffs, but I presume the six correspond to the ones I listed above.

[kingsleybray]

A late addition to the above:

Sorry can't quite recall correctly if it was Long Mandan or Four Bears who went in 1870, and my full documentation isn't instantly retrievable. The reason I'm confused is because both LM and FB were men with namesake sons, both prominent Two Kettles.

Will try and clarify . . .

Kingsley

[Dietmar]

Kingsley,

you mean Quick Bear instead of Fire Thunder, do you? Quick Bear is in the group photo with Spotted Tail.

Regarding the Cheyenne River delegates:
Ah, so Running Bull is Miniconjou, not Two Kettle. I must admit I never heard of him before.

If it isn´t a major misidentification, Four Bears (Joseph) is shown in those 1870ies photographs, so he was there instead of Long Mandan.


Four Bears

What about Pretty Bear? I just learned at the Oyate Research Center that he could be a brother, or at least a relative of Four Bears. There is a photograph of him with his name hand-written:



To be honest, I always thought he looks very much like Martin Charger. There is another photo of Charger taken in 1870:



Please compare to other photos in the “Martin Charger”-thread to see the resemblance.
amertribes.proboards77.com/index.cgi?board=sansarc1&action=display&thread=365&page=1

Black Tomahawk: Could he be this man, whose name is not known to me, but it looks like another photo of that 1870 delegation series?:



Toksha

[Dietmar]

The Tuttle book is indeed online:

www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=286654&pageno=1

page 48:

The "outfit" assembled in front of General Flint's house, on their
arrival at Fort Laramie, and got up a regular war-dance to amuse the
general's family and others there. This chief, Red Cloud, whose fame
had extended hardly east of the Missouri River, has now spread over the
world; and from his wigwam and hunting-grounds, he is heard of across
the Atlantic as a great man of destiny. He has passed through Omaha and
Chicago to Washington in his war-paint, ornamented with eagle's
feathers, buffalo-skins, horse-hair, bears' claws, and trophies of his
skill, which he values more highly than a brigadier the stars upon his
shoulders!

Along with him were nineteen of his braves and four squaws, which is a
small number, considering that the Indian is a Mormon in the matter of
polygamy. The Indian _buys_ his wife (or wives) by giving a pony for
the prize; and when Mother Bickerdyck, the army-nurse, saw "Friday" in
Kansas, and upbraided him with having _two_ squaws, he said, "Well,
give me one white squaw, and I'll be content; you know one white squaw
is equal to two Indian squaws!"

General Smith was a favorite of Red Cloud's, having met him in the
Powder River country, and under circumstances which made him respected
among the Sioux Indians.

The chiefs on Red Cloud's staff, and going to Washington, were:

Shem-ka-lu-tah, Red Dog.
Mon-tah-o-he-te-kah, Brave Bear.
Pah-gee, Little Bear.
Mon-tah-zia, Yellow Bear.
Makh-to-u-ta-kah, Sitting Bear.
Makh-to-ha-she-na, Bearskin.
Sha-ton-sa-pah, Black Hawk.
Shunk-mon-e-too-ha-ka, Long Wolf.
Me-wah-kohn, Sword.
Ko-ke-pah, Afraid.
Ke-cha-ksa-e-un-tah, The One that runs through.
Ke-yah-lu-tah, Red Fly.
En-ha-mah-to, Rock Bear.
Me-nah-to-ne-ow-jah, Living Bear.
Och-le-he-lu-tah, Red Shirt.


_Squaws of High Blood._

Dah-sa-no-we, The White Cow Rattler, Sword's wife.
Ny-ge-uh-ha, Thunder Skin, wife of Ke-cha-ksa-e-un-tah.
E-dah-zit-chu, The Woman without a Bow (Sansare tribe), wife of
Yellow Bear.
Mak-ko-cha-ny-an-tah-ker, The World Looker, wife of Black Hawk.

Along with them were John Richaud, the renegade, and a half-breed,
James McCluskey. Also William G. Bullock, the post-trader at Fort
Laramie, as familiar with the Indians as any one in those parts, unless
it is a wealthy merchant in St. Louis, Mr. Beauvais, a Frenchman.

As the Indians entered the cars at Pine Bluff Station,--and one can
hardly imagine what were their thoughts, because they had never before
seen a train of cars or a locomotive,--a friend who was there said
that, as soon as the cars started, the Indians expressed some terror in
their countenances, and all at once grasped hold of the seats with both
hands to hold on! As they passed through Columbus, on the road, several
of the Pawnees (their deadly enemies) came in and shook hands with
them. Arrived at Omaha, they were quartered at the Cozzens Hotel; but
instead of occupying bedrooms and beds, they spread their blankets and
skins on the floor, and sank down to a rest much coveted after a long
and tedious journey of a thousand miles. Here crowds poured in from
every quarter to interview these noted warriors; but as they did not
speak English, they were only gazed at by curious people.

_Red Dog_ ranks next as a warrior chief, and is much finer looking; but
Man-afraid-of-his-Horses (sick at home) is head chief in civil matters.

_Red Shirt_ is head chief of the White-Sash Band, of three hundred
braves, is twenty-seven years of age, and was twice wounded in battle.

_Long Wolf_, with four ugly scars, is of the same band.

_Black Hawk_, wounded three times, is about second to Red Cloud as a
bold warrior. All have distinguished themselves in various ways, and
their buffalo-robes are worked and stained with figures and various
objects, all of which tell the history of each one, describing minutely
from childhood the first game they killed, whether a bird, antelope, or
deer, and so on to some fight with an enemy,--all of which, clear as
mud to me, is plain to them as a book. ...

Interesting descriptions of the four Oglalas above, btw!

[kingsleybray]

Thanks Dietmar. Yes, of course, Quick Bear was part of the Spotted Tail delegation, not Fire Thunder. I've corrected my posting accordingly. Also, yes, the young man Black Tomahawk you posted is the same man in the Birmingham Public Library picture, different picture, different clothing.
I'll check my Cheyenne River censuses about him. The picture you post of Four Bears is the photo in Birmingham. For some reason I had it in mind that it was Long Mandan the younger. Oncoming senility possibly.

Thanks for the Tuttle. Some important remarks there.

And no, I never heard of Running Bull either. Must be too old a man to be Fast Bull, the son of Lame Deer

Kingsley

[grahamew]

Black Tomahawk. Could be...

I have no idea who took this - it's clearly not in Hamilton's studio, but it seems to be the same man. The short beastplate/necklace suggests it's from the 60s/70s



Here's Gurney's 'Little Bear' - though I assumed it was Charger and he is wearing the same leggings as Pretty Bear and Martin Charger!

[hans54]

In 1876 Black Tomahawk was a Miniconjou signer of the Sioux Agreement. His portraits suggest that he might have been a close relative (brother?) of White Swan.

Hans Karkheck

--------------------------------




"MINNECONJOU
"Magasaka, [Swan,] his x mark.
Magakxica, [The Duck,] his x mark.
Cante-wanica-wixabca, [No Heart,] his x mark.
Mahaka, [Standing Bear,] his x mark.
Ixnawasanixa, [The Half,] his x mark.
Xina-ska, [White Robe,] his x mark.
Canhpi-sapa, [Black Tomahawk,] his x mark.
Mato-wankantuya, [High Bear,] his x mark.
Winkte-nonpa, [The Keg,] his x mark.
Kankaca-luta, [Red Plume,] his x mark.
Hohanskasa, [Long Horn,] his x mark.
Mato-waxte, [Good Bear,] his x mark.
Tatanka-pabakan-najin, [Bull on the Hill,] his x mark.
Xiyo-hanska, [Tall Prairie Chicken,] his x mark.
Cetan-gleska, [Spotted Hawk,] his mark.
Inyan-boslahan, [Standing Rock,] his x mark.


"Attest,

"CHARLES A WICKOFF, Capt Eleventh Infantry,
LESLIE SMITH Capt. First Infantry, Bvt. Major, U. S. Army.

"Wm. FIELDER,
MARK WELLS,
Interpreters.

"I certify that the foregoing agreement was read and expained by me, and was fully understood by the above named Sioux Indians, before signing, and that the same was executed by the said Sioux Indians at Cheyenne River agency, Dakota on the 16th day of October A. D. 1876

"SAML. D. HINMAN,
Official Interpreter.

[Dietmar]

Another Gurnsey portrait of Black Tomahawk is now online at the British Museum:


Black Tomahawk

...and some more from the same session:


Joseph Four Bears


Paul Swan


Pretty Bear


Spotted Tail

[Dietmar]

Comparing these portraits, I have little doubt that they show the same man:



My conclusion: both photos show Martin Charger. There are plenty of photographs of him to compare with. The photo on right is not Pretty Bear.

[grahamew]

While I'm sure this is Black Tomahawk (as above), this photo was on ebay with the following text:

"Very Rare and original, 1870, Native American Indian Stereoview Photograph of an identified Sioux Chief - "Red Feather" - by J. Gurney & Son of New York City. Red Feather was a member of the Sioux Delegation headed by Red Cloud and Spotted Tail which traveled to New York and Washington D.C. in 1870 (Gurney photographed a number of the members of the delegations at that time). It should be noted that although this Sioux Delegate is identified in period manuscript on the reverse as "Red Feather" and was also identified as "Red Feather" by cataloguers at Cowan's Auction, we have yet to independently corroborate this identification.

This wonderful Native American Indian Stereo Photo measures approx. 6 7/8" x 3 3/8" and is mounted on its original flat, yellow surface Publisher's mount. It is identified in period manuscript on the reverse that reads simply "Red Feather" and was "Published by J. Gurney & Son” of New York City. This Stereoview pictures a single Sioux Chief seated in what appears to be the Photographer's Studio. He wears a white linen shirt, pipe-bone breastplate and clutches a blanket at his waist. Red Feather was a Sans Arc Lakota Sioux."



www.ebay.com/itm/1870-NATIVE-AMERICAN-SIOUX-INDIAN-CHIEF-STEREOVIEW-PHOTOGRAPH-OF-RED-FEATHER-/330929078383?nma=true&si=XRSqk0SuRdoRr3CJ6ySAeNWtaqI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

This seems to relate to a post by Jinlian in a rather old thread on the other board:

lbha.proboards.com/thread/3043

[Deleted]

I think that the translation of "Pah-gee" as "Little Bear" is mistaken.

I have this rendering from the 1868 treaty:

PAH-GEE, Grass (Pȟeží)
pȟé (sharp-edged) + ží (bristly and thin)