Red Shirt, Oglala

[grahamew]

Presmuably with the Wild West Show, but taken later than London

[grahamew]

Here are a couple of earkier Red Shirts, from his time with the Wild West Show at Earl's Court, London:



Presumably by Elliott and Fry


This is possibly Earl's Court, though may well be some other desitination on that European tour.


According the Denver Public Library, this was taken in Brooklyn in 1894, but you'll note the presence of both Rocky Bear and Red Shirt (standing over to the left). I don't know enough about the show's itinerary, but my guess is that this was taken earlier than that, before Red Shirt left the tour in 1889/90. Is it during a visit to Brooklyn before they left for Europe? Is it somewhere else altogether. I'm not aware of Red Shirt rejoining any kind of Wild West Show tour until much later - in the 1900s in fact. It's certainly not that later, because Cody still has dark hair. The man with the moustache looking out at us, does rather look like the man in the photo in the post above.

Red Shirt was a sergeant of scouts in 1876/77 and he re-enlisted during the Ghost Dance troubles, where he was a sergeant again, serving under Charles Taylor. Despite the many photographs taken during this conflict, I've yet to see one that shows Red Shirt clearly. He's not in the line -up of Charles Taylor's scouts (https://amertribes.proboards.com/thread/2157/charles-taylors-oglala-indian-scouts), but is he in this photo? Remember, as a sergeant, he may be one of the men standing off to the side.



Is this Red Shirt, mid frame?

I've only seen poor resolution images of this photo or much smaller versions, so if anyone has a better image, please post it.

[Dietmar]

Thanks for posting all the great pictures, Grahame.

Regarding the photos of Taylor´s scouts: I can´t see Red Shirt, but he apparently was there. A reporter was present in January 1891 at Pine Ridge and described this scene, printed in several newspapers:

"First came the great detachment of Sioux scouts with Capt. Taylor, his sword at a salute, at their head. Sergt. Red Shirt, the handsomest Indian in the Sioux nation, was at the extreme right, his long hair tossing in tangled masses over his shoulders. Yankton Charley, who saved the revolvers of poor Lieut. Casey, rose at the left of the line, his overcoat buttoned so closely about him that the war feathers on his breast were concealed."

[grahamew]

Here's another Red Shirt photo, taken at Carlisle, 1880. Identifications courtesy of Dietmar:




Rhinehart, 1900. Although he's labelled as Cheyenne, it's clearly THE Red Shirt


Photo by Henry Wyman at The World's fair in St Louis, 1904


By C. D.Arnold, 1901 - possibly at the Pan-American Exposition of 1901

I'm not sure how often Red Shirt joined up with Cody in his later years, but William Garnett describes him as a 'leading showman' and out again with a show compmany [notice that he doesn't specify Cody] this winter of 1906-7' in The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker. From what I can work oiut, his last show was Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.This photo supposedly shows him working for Cody in 1909:


I thought I had seen a photo of him with other members of the show from that time, but can't seem to find it.


With Little Bull, 1909. Although it says Pine Ridge on the print, I've seen it labelled taken in Chicago. Possibly means just that they're from Pine Ridge










Feathers aside, he's wearing the same outfit in these five photos



1904 St Louis Exposition?


Supposed to show Little Bull and Red Shirt, 1914

[grahamew]

One more - another Mitchell photo. He's wearing the same and carries the same club, though the backdrop has been altered. This was in a sampler sheet of Cross photos:

[grahamew]

I think this is the Wild West Show in Paris in 1889; also think you can just about make out Red Shirt in the centre here:


This, however, is definitely him. Judging by the shirt and hair, it was taken sometime in the early 1900s:

[grahamew]

At the right. I'm guessing 1888-ish



At the right. Early 1900s


Taken in Rushville, 1903 or 4 photo by B.F. Ray


Detail showing Red Shirt

[nukemm33]

Jun 20, 2022 8:50:12 GMT -5 grahamew said:

At the right. I'm guessing 1888-ish

The second from left looks like Red Dog.

[grahamew]

Hi

Judging by Red Shirt's appearance, I think the photo is from 1888/89 and Red Dog died in 86. It's also a Wild West Show image and he didn't take part.

[Dietmar]

Despite the blurred picture, the persons are indeed recognizable as members of the 1889/90 Buffalo Bill Wild West tour.

[nukemm33]

Oct 25, 2023 16:58:00 GMT -5 Dietmar said:

Despite the blurred picture, the persons are indeed recognizable as members of the 1889/90 Buffalo Bill Wild West tour.

Thank you for confirming. I expect I need to educate myself on the BBWWT historical dates. I'm only vaguely familiar with some of the participants. 

[nukemm33]

Dec 19, 2021 18:42:22 GMT -5 grahamew said:

Presmuably with the Wild West Show, but taken later than London

Have we identified the person to the left of Red Shirt? Looking at some of the pictures provided to me by Dietmar of his younger and older years it does look like it might be Samuel Little Bull. 

[nukemm33]

Aug 25, 2008 17:41:01 GMT -5 jinlian said:

Annie.

today, re-reading White Man Stands in Sight (J. Colhoff) 's wintercount, I noticed that the 1889 entry is "Chief Red Shirt's sister killed herself". I'm not 100% this is the Red Shirt we've been talking about, but there's a strong possibility, as the commentary goes on saying that the girl was living in a Loafer camp. The wintercount also gives us the name of this girl's father: Little Crow. I've no information on Red Shirt's parents, even if I remember reading in one of the LBH threads that he was the offspring of a mixed marriage.
Of course, another explaination could be that this sister was in fact a cousin.

Jinlan, did you ever get a response to this? The reason I ask is I've been connecting the dots using DNA recently and reaching out to my DNA connections. My Great Grandfather is Little Crow (but not the famous Little Crow, the father of Hall Little Crow). He married Good Cow and Again and had my great grandmother Mary Frances (Francisca) Red Track. Also recently, I found a DNA connection through the Red Shirt family directly and have been in touch with them.

You can find the census record with Red Shirt, Little Crow, and several of my other family members here: www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/1059/images/M595_367-0378?pId=6198583 

[katye]

My ggg Grandpa Redshirt was given the Peace Medal, as were several others because they agreed to send their children to Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.