Mitch Bouyer and Acapore, the Ute Indian

[Dietmar]

Here´s an earlier, longer account written by Mike Cowdrey in 2005 at the Plains Indian Seminar Yahoo group:

[rodthomas]

digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/20646/rec/223 is now listed correctly as Acapore and digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/19383/rec/94 is now correctly listed as White Man Runs Him. Thanks to all for the research and evidence. The DPL staff were most helpful in verifying and then correcting the image identifications.

Regards, Rod Thomas....

[Gary]

Great stuff. Just what these message boards do best!

[Dietmar]

Thank you for the good news, Rod. I´m glad the DPL has corrected the identifications.

The Denver Public Library online archives remain one of my favorite sources for research. So greetings to the staff members, if they ever read this.

[dedelen171]

Oct 5, 2009 11:41:37 GMT -5 longshot said:

I have just come from the Oglala message board, where I was told that Mitch Bouyer was 1/2 Santee. He is said to have lived with his mother's people when he was a child. That brings me to my question.
In 1865 (about June) he was with a group of about 4 or 5 Whites when he was attacked by a group of Sioux (article said Platte Sioux), but he seemed to know one or more in the tribe as it (The article) said they played together as children. That did little to save him as he was wounded but made it back, while one White was killed. All the rest of the group was either wounded or not but all got away. Is there anyone who can identify this group of Indians, or is there anyone alive who descends from Mitch Bouyer. I believe he had a son and a couple of daughters. This article came from a contemporary edition of the Montana Post.

Thanks

Hello Longshot,

You were asking if there were any Mitch Bouyer descendants alive. My daughter in law is a direct descendant of Mitch Bouyer. He had at least two kids I know of, one a boy, George W. Bouyer born 1870 at the Crow Reservation in Montana was shipped off to South Alabama. The story goes since the Sioux had killed Mitch's father Jean Baptist Bouyer in 1863 and all that was going on he ws afraid he son would be killed too so he shipped him to Alabama to be adopted out to a white Doctor. George and many of his family and descendants are buried in a cemetery in Elba, Coffee Co, Alabama. George's sister Mary married I think a Crow Indian named Lttle Nest. I think her name was changed to LaForge or something like that. But back to Mitch, he was a half breed; French Canadian father and Santee Sioux mom. He married Mapie Outside and lived with the Crow. After two yeas hey adopted him into the tribe I read. My daughter in law is swarthy and dark headed and black eyed. I have told her many times I believe she had Indian blood in her *we only recently found all this out about Michel "Mitch" Bouyer recently via following hints, etc on Ancestry.com. I am going to pay for her to get a DNA kit. He mother although blue eyed is naturally dark too or tanned like with Native feature and straigh dark hair. I added all this to my tree on ancestry and a relative sent me a pic of two of Mitch's grandkids through George (I wish I knew Georg's indian name), Molley Rosebud Bouyer and also a great grandson though George's son Mitch Bouyer. I added those pics to my tree on ancestry. I will try to attach them here. I can't, URL only and won't let me upload from my computer.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Oh, also, down below in other comments the one guy was saying that the pic of Mitch is not him but a Ute musician. I wish I knew the truth of that. If I thought it really was not him I will take it down from my tree.

Dedelen171

 

[dedelen171]

May 14, 2018 18:36:53 GMT -5 rodthomas said:

digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/20646/rec/223 is now listed correctly as Acapore and digital.denverlibrary.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15330coll22/id/19383/rec/94 is now correctly listed as White Man Runs Him. Thanks to all for the research and evidence. The DPL staff were most helpful in verifying and then correcting the image identifications.

Regards, Rod Thomas....

Rod, so the famous pic of supposed Mitch Boyer is not him? What about a group pic I saw on google that namec him on that pic? My daughter in law is a direct descendant of Mitch Bouyer's thought his son who was sent to and adopted out in Alabama to a white doctor. Manyof George W. Bouyer and his descenants are buried in Elba, Coffee Co, Alabama. If that pic is not Mitch, I will remove it from our family tree on Ancestry.com.

Thanks,

Dedelen171

[dedelen171]

May 20, 2018 4:15:40 GMT -5 Dietmar said:

Thank you for the good news, Rod. I´m glad the DPL has corrected the identifications.

The Denver Public Library online archives remain one of my favorite sources for research. So greetings to the staff members, if they ever read this.

So the pic of Mitch Bouyer is not him then? Thank y'all. My daughter in law is a direct descendant through Mitch's son George W Bouyer who was adopted out to Alabama to keep the Sioux from killing him as they did Mitch's dad.

Thanks y'all for all this info on that pic.

Dave

[dedelen171]

Sept 22, 2013 17:13:59 GMT -5 dandmforever said:

My husband's grandmother was Mollie Rosebud Bouyer. Her father was George Bouyer, who was known to be a son of Mitch Bouyer and Magpie Outside. Mollie knew her grandmother, Magpie (Mary), and she knew that her grandfather was Mitch. We can't find any records of George as their son, but we know through the family that he was sent to Alabama by his family as a child and adopted to protect him from extermination. Does anyone have any records of his birth or anything showing his parents as Mitch and Magpie???

Hello again Dandmforever, I forgot to add that the Molly Rosebud Bouyer you spoke of was my dauhter in law's great grandfathr Duke Drafton Bouyer's sister. On our tree on Ancestry.com we have a pic of her and her husband, a Mr. Nolen, on their profile pics. She looks like she has some Indian n her, as do other descendents, my daughter in law and her mom and a great uncle included.

[dedelen171]

Sept 22, 2013 17:13:59 GMT -5 dandmforever said:

My husband's grandmother was Mollie Rosebud Bouyer. Her father was George Bouyer, who was known to be a son of Mitch Bouyer and Magpie Outside. Mollie knew her grandmother, Magpie (Mary), and she knew that her grandfather was Mitch. We can't find any records of George as their son, but we know through the family that he was sent to Alabama by his family as a child and adopted to protect him from extermination. Does anyone have any records of his birth or anything showing his parents as Mitch and Magpie???

dandmforever are you on Ancestry? Send me your email at [e-mail] and I will share any pics I have of the Bouyers, etc. George W. Bouyer and many of his descendants are buried at Everygreen cemetery in Elba, Al in Coffee Co. A I said my daughter in law's great grandpa was George's son Duke Drafton Bouyer. One of George's great grandsons was killed iin Viet Nam in 1969. Another one named Mitchell, who said on his FB page his real father wsa Mitchell Bouyer, grandson of Mitch Bouyer, moved to California and he and his sons and theri family's still live out there. I and one of them are friends on Facebook. I have recently asked about the Mitch Bouyer connection but he has not gotten back to me.

My daughter in law did he Ancestry DNA thing he other day and should get the results in a few weeks. We are excited about what the results will show. Not only her blood lines but also dna mathed family like the Bouyers, etc.  Here is a pic of your husband's grandmother Molly Rosebud Bouyer. Not sure if you had. She was Mitch Bouyer's granddaughter, born in Elba, Al ai think in 1893 and died in 1971 in Orlando, Fla. . Of curse I can't post it. You can only do it from a URL but not upload from you computer. How backward this site is.

[Gary]

There has been a lively discussion about this photograph on the Little Big Horn Associates Facebook page. Author Marc Abrams drew my attention to a group picture of Ute Indians reproduced in an article from Colorado Magazine, March 1939. The link to the magazine is:

www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/document/2018/ColoradoMagazine_v16n2_March1939.pdf

Marc is not on Facebook and was unaware of the research. The caption identifies this man as Acapore.

[Gary]

This is a comparison picture created by Marc Abrams. The image on the left is extracted from the group photo in the Colorado Magazine article.

[grahamew]

It's amazing how closed some minds can be in the face of evidence. While we're at it, while we know Barry worked as a kind of apprentice with Goff, according to Heski, he didn't start until 1878, two years after Bouyer bought the farm. I've never understood the attribution to Barry.

[Dietmar]

Our friend Koos van Oostrom has find new information and photos of Acapore, who for a long time has mistakenly identified as Mitch Bouyer.

This is excellent work, Koos! Thank you for sharing!:



The first mentioning of Acapore is as one of the 253 Southern Ute chiefs and warriors that signed the 1888 treaty.
In the list, his indian name is spelled Ah-ca-pore, his English name was Luke Poor, he was a member of the Moache band. At that time, he was 35 years old - which makes his year of birth 1853.

In 1894, Acapore (age 41) appears in two group photos taken at the second edition of the Flower Carnival, Colorado Springs.




Here he stands in the center of the Southern Ute group that attended the festivities - also in this photo are Capote chief Severo and Moache chiefs Buckskin Charley and Nannice.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/77658/rec/47




In another photo taken at the same event, he’s standing at the extreme right - among the others are Severo and Nannice.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/20063/rec/194




Then there are the Charles A. Nast photos - all taken between 1895 and 1899 (but probably not in the same year) at Denver’s “Festival of Mountain and Plain”.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festival_of_Mountain_and_Plain





He appears in 3 group photos. In two of these he’s holding a flute - in a third the flute is suspended from his arm.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/19435/rec/89
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/19427/rec/22
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/20442/rec/117




In another photo by Nast, he is playing a flute. In DPL’s copy the shadows are very dark, which makes him unrecognizable - but some Photoshop tweaking reveals that it really is Acapore.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/23355/rec/3




Note the peculiar zigzag indentation in the chin area.





Depressor labii inferioris - used in flute-playing.



A ribbon is pinned with a badge onto his vest. On the ribbon is printed: DENVER’S FIRST ANNUAL Festival (The festival’s first edition was in 1895). The badge in the comparison picture is the 1895 version. This design was used for three years - the design was changed in 1898.




digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/20646/rec/1
It is now clear what was meant with the caption “Acapore, Ute musician” on the postcards.






The 1909 census has him listed as : Acapore - Luke Poor - age 56.

That same year, he was one of the Southern Utes that participated in the Boulder Semi-Centenial Celebration.
localhistory.boulderlibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A49159?solr_nav%5Bid%5D=3d727a2be8b98a47417d&solr_nav%5Bpage%5D=0&solr_nav%5Boffset%5D=0

Here, Acapore is standing next to Buckskin Charley.




Bags and suitcases in the group photo from which this detail was cropped may indicate that the Utes had just arrived.

In the other group photos, he occupies a prominent place among sub-chiefs - his dress and bearing signifies a high degree of social status.




One of the younger men in the photos is identified as Jim Poor, which suggests a family relationship with Acapore/Luke Poor. However, this is a misidentification - the man is Edwin Cloud.




1911 Finds him at the Garden of the Gods for an annual festival called Shan Kive.




“Beginning 1911, General Palmer’s Denver and Rio Grande train made a special run to Ignacio, returning with Southern Utes for the Shan Kive celebration”.

Acapore (here spelled Ocapoor) appears in seven photos by H. S. Poley, taken in 1911 at the first Shan Kive festival. He’s wearing the same shirt and Navajo squash blossom necklace as in the Boulder photos.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/search/searchterm/ocapoor





He is also among the Southern Ute notables in this panoramic view, taken at the 1813 (third and last) edition of the Shan Kive festival.
digital.denverlibrary.org/digital/collection/p15330coll22/id/63006/rec/87




“The Capote Band’s Chief Severo died in 1913 at the age of about sixty-nine. His death left his counterpart, the Muache Band’s Buckskin Charlie, as the principal chief at Ignacio until his death in 1936, when he was ninety-five and blind”.

Buckskin Charley, Shan Kive 1813 - Acapore in back, third from left.




That’s All Folks!
Koos van Oostrom

[dedelen171]

But what does Mitch Bouyer's Indian name Kar-Pash mean? My daughter in law, Mitch's ggg granddaughter, pronounces her name Bouyer as Booyay.

[herosrest]

I can add a little to the understanding of what happened with the image and how it became what it did, depending upon who was confused with how Bouyer looked. Was it his family or E.A. Brininstool?


Link to published image of Acapore, identified as 'MITCH BOUYER, CELEBRATED HALFBREED SCOUT. KILLED WITH CUSTER'S COMMAND. FROM AN OLD PHOTO FURNISHED BY HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. MARY LITTLE NEST, CROW AGENCY, MONTANA, SHOWING BOUYER IN A TRIBAL COSTUME.'

This is at page 115, A trooper with Custer and other historic incidents of the battle of the Little Big Horn.
By E. A. Brininstool published 1925 and one year before the battle's 50th anniversary.

The book is online full view at Hathi Trust .