Post by wyman on Dec 8, 2010 13:03:06 GMT -5
I, for one, believe that the photos depict Satank. The famous portrait that Soule claimed was of Satank shows the man wearing the elk-skin sash of the Koitsenko war society. Only ten men were ever allowed to belong to the Koitsenko society and to wear the sash, one of whom was Satank. I have also seen the same photo of Satank, an original Soule carte de viste, in the home of Ioleta McElhaney, grand-daughter of Satank through George Hunt, son of Satank. Ioleta told me that her photo came down through the family. Ioleta McElhaney has been dead for a number of years now.
Another thing that suggests to me that the photo is of Satank, is that William Soule was selling his photos at Ft. Sill and Camp Supply when these warriors were still living. Soule was selling photos to soldiers and officers, many who knew the warriors, and who wanted a photo of some particular warrior. I can't imagine that he would have misrepresented the identity of an individual to another officer or soldier who knew the warrior. In the late 1860s, Satank was quite well known at the military posts.
Kiowas later claimed that Satank wore a moustache, and that he had a scar above his lip, from an arrow wound received in battle with Pawnees, sometime in the 1850s. The portrait seems to show some deformity above the lip, although it is hard to tell, with the moustache.
As to the photo of the two individuals, I agree that the man on the left is almost certainly the same individual as the man in the famous Soule portrait, said to be Satank. I have read somewhere, perhaps in Wilbur S. Nye, "Carbine and Lance," that there was a conference at either Ft. Sill, or Ft. Cobb, Indian Territory, ca. 1868 or '69, which was attended by Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, and Caddos. Perhaps this is where the photo of Satank and the Caddo man was taken?
Another thing that suggests to me that the photo is of Satank, is that William Soule was selling his photos at Ft. Sill and Camp Supply when these warriors were still living. Soule was selling photos to soldiers and officers, many who knew the warriors, and who wanted a photo of some particular warrior. I can't imagine that he would have misrepresented the identity of an individual to another officer or soldier who knew the warrior. In the late 1860s, Satank was quite well known at the military posts.
Kiowas later claimed that Satank wore a moustache, and that he had a scar above his lip, from an arrow wound received in battle with Pawnees, sometime in the 1850s. The portrait seems to show some deformity above the lip, although it is hard to tell, with the moustache.
As to the photo of the two individuals, I agree that the man on the left is almost certainly the same individual as the man in the famous Soule portrait, said to be Satank. I have read somewhere, perhaps in Wilbur S. Nye, "Carbine and Lance," that there was a conference at either Ft. Sill, or Ft. Cobb, Indian Territory, ca. 1868 or '69, which was attended by Kiowas, Comanches, Wichitas, and Caddos. Perhaps this is where the photo of Satank and the Caddo man was taken?