Low Dog

[swiftbird659]

I do show the brother in-law of Henry Low Dog Sr. CR- Unal. as being Little Hawk 1826-1899 CR-Unal. the husband of Red Hair CR-445. Red Hair or Wipehinsa was the brother of Henry Low Dog Sr. Is anyone familiar with this family?

[Dietmar]

A website visitor has mailed me information, that there is more than one surviving relative, as it is stated in the biography posted earlier.

His great grandmother's name is Louise Low Dog. She had a daughter named Philomine Rose Meade.

[grahamew]

There's a robe on the Heritage Auction site with drawings by Sam Jaw, which is purported to show vignettes from the Battle of Rainy Buttes between the Crow and Lakota in 1859. This is the battle where the Crow killed Jumping Bull and then Sitting Bull avenged his father's death by lancing his killer. In keeping with Jaw's other work, these are superb drawings and several of the particpants have been named, so we can see Sitting Bull, Jaw, himself, and Thunder Hawk. Another named participant is Low Dog.

The Lakota portrayed are Hunkpapa - their camp was attacked by the Crow, who they then drove off. Now the date and band affiliation are wrong for it to be the Low Dog of this thread; our man was born in 1847; however, I'm wondering if this is a relative (father, perhaps, bearing in mind that Donovin Sprague claims he was Siha Sapa by birth) or, probably more likely, one of the other Low Dogs mentioned in the 1885 annuity list at Standing Rock (the Hunkpapa in Bear Looking Back's band or the Siha Sapa in Charging Bear's band - or their fathers!). See www.american-tribes.com/Lakota/BIO/LowDog.htm.

The Hunkpapa Low Dog's birth year is given as 1839, which would make his participation in the fight plausible, being slightly younger than Thunder Hawk. Of course, if Sprague is correct, maybe the Siha Sapa mentioned in the 1891 Standing Rock census above is a relative after all, although he was born in 1848, so maybe it was his father featured on the robe.









fineart.ha.com/common/view_item.php?SaleNo=681&LotIdNo=7010

[grahamew]

Well, after a little bit of digging, I've learnt that the bands present were Hunkpapa, Sans Arc and Miniconjou, so the potential for a future association with Cheyenne River is certainly there.

[nicolas (carlo)]

Hello Grahame,

Yes, that is a stunning piece of historical art by Jaw. Great detail, and a fascinating contribution to the information on this battle. When I saw it on the HA website back in 2007, I was also a bit puzzled about the Low Dog figure in the center of the robe, as I wasn't aware of any other Low Dog besides the Oglala.

I later came to the conclusion was that it could only have been the Hunkpapa of Bear Looking Back's band, since he is the only Low Dog that has the correct dob to be able to participate and he is a Hunkpapa, the majority of the Lakota in this battle. Unfortunately I have not been able to uncover any other details on him.

Carlo

[shan]

Hi Grahame,

Thanks for posting the pictures of that wonderful robe, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen it before. I was excited to see an image of Low Dog that I had never seen before, but as to Low Dog, well, the mystery just goes on and on. I've seen it said that he, { he being the man in the famous photograph,} was an Oglala, a Siha Sapa, and a Hunkpapa. William Colman even had him down as a Brule in his book on Wounded Knee, but I'd be inclined to put that down to an error. On balance I think there were two men with this name and that they were fairly close in age but, one was almost certainly a Hunkpapa, the other a Siha Sapa.

Because the man in the photograph was already the subject of numerous stories even back in the 1880's, most of them relating to just how dangerous a man he was, various writers may well have confused the two, or more likely believed that there was only one man with this name. Even DeCost Smith, who was my first source of information, { he actually met him and said that once you had seen him you would never forget that face, } fell victim to mixing the two men up. He says in his book ' Red Indian experiences," for instance, that Low Dog was a member of Sitting Bulls band and as such had taken part in various killings including the infamous killing of MacDonald the mail carrier.

If the other Low Dog was indeed a Hunkapapa and was a member of Sitting Bulls band, and if he had been amongst those that accompanied him to Canada, then one can well see how the confusion arose when both men bearing that name came back and were registered at around the same time

Shan

[grahamew]

I suspect there may have been more than two!

[kingsleybray]

Re Henry Low Dog, born in 1890 or 1891, and mentioned above by swiftbird659: Henry Low Dog identified himself in a reservation survey conducted on Nov. 1, 1935, as living in Little Eagle Dist. of Standing Rock Res., and that he was "a full blood member of the Holy Medicine Band of the Hunkpapa Sioux." That is the Wakan tiyoshpaye of the Hunkpapa.

swiftbird, do you have information about his parentage? Is he the son of Henry Low Dog Sr.?

[miller7513]

Re; Low Dog
Low Dog b. 1848 & Two Horses (Blackfoot Nation)
Indian census
1 Jul 1885 Standing Rock pg 13
30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 215
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 614
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 with children only
30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297
30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584
30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744
30 Jun 1903 Standing Rock
Surrendered at Ft Buford April 11 1881 with 20 lodges 135 people pg 22 The Lance and The Shield-Utley

Low Dog b. 1839 & Little Twin (Hunkpapa)
1 Jul 1885 Standing Rock pg 115
30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 322
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 504
30 Jun 1888 Standing Rock pg 683
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 70
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 278
30 Jun 1891 Standing Rock pg 345
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 497
1 Jul 1893 Standing Rock pg 648
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 109
30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 229
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 375
30 Jun 1897 Standing Rock pg 566
30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock Oliver
30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock
30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock
30 Jun 1904 Standing Rock
30 Jun 1905 Standing Rock
30 Jun 1907 Standing Rock widower
30 Jun 1908 Standing Rock
30 Jun 1909 Standing Rock
1910 US census South Dakota Corson Township 21 District 0010 pg 4 Joshua

John Low Dog b. 1840 & Red Horse (Cheyenne River)
30 Jun 1891 Cheyenne River pg 364 Low Dog
30 Jun 1892 Cheyenne River pg 25 John Low Dog

Hardorff- The Death of Crazy Horse pg 86 Low Dog settled at Cheyenne River Agency and that he died in 1894 (1893 no longer in the census)

I have each of their descendants
LaDeane

[shan]

miller7513

many thanks for posting that information on Low Dog. may I ask where you got it?

It would seem that ""Low Dog b. 1848 & Two Horses (Blackfoot Nation)" is the man I've been searching for, { the one in the famous photographs,} He is the right age, and he was said to be a Silha Sapa which if I'm not mistaken is another name for Blackfoot Nation, but---yes there is always a but, I have information that he was arrested shortly after the Ghost dance outbreak, and spent at least a year in an army prison back east, { sorry I don't have my notes to hand,} after which he was escorted back to the Cheyenne River Agency where his family was located, and thereafter disappears, so one can only guess that he may have died shortly after 1892---1894?

But, the problem is that he appears in your Standing Rock census right through the period where other reports place him on the Cheyenne River Agency, plus he is registered during the period when he was reportedly in jail. That said, I notice there is no census for the year 1891 which would correspond with the year he was in jail.

This would leave me with John Low Dog who may be my man as he is registered at the Cheyenne river agency. there is a problem that he is some 8 years older than the infamous Low Dog was said to be, on the other hand it seems possible that he died between 1892---to 1894 which would fit with other information.

Shan

[miller7513]

Reply #39 Shan
sorry, I some how missed the 1891 census pg 285 with Two Horses and children-Thomas b 1872, Returns b 1883, Kill Near By b 1889, and Madeline b 1890

[miller7513]

Shan re; Low Dog
Descendants of
Low Dog (---) and Two Horses (---)


1. Low Dog1 (---), born 1848 in Blackfeet Nation. He married Two Horses (---), born 1853 in Blackfeet Nation.

Notes for Low Dog (---)
1 Jul 1885 Standing Rock pg 13
30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 215
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 614
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 306
30 Jun 1891 Standing Rock pg 285
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 with children only
30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297
30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584
30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744
30 Jun 1903 Standing Rock
Surrendered at Ft Buford April 11 1881 with 20 lodges 135 people pg 22 The Lance and The Shield-Utley

Notes for Two Horses (---)
1 Jul 1885 Standing Rock pg 13
30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 215
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 614
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606

Children of Low Dog (---) and Two Horses (---) were as follows:
2 i Thomas2 Low Dog, born 1871 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285
3 ii Agnes2 Low Dog, born 1880 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1885 Standing Rock pg 13 Comes Walking 30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 215 30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118 Comes Walking 30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285 Returns 30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456 Agnes 30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606 Agnes 30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151 30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297 30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584 30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744 30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744 Louise
+ 4 iii Louise2 Low Dog, born 1882 in Blackfeet Nation. She married (1) Fred Hager; (2) (---) Meade.
5 iv Andrew2 Low Dog, born 1885 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1885 Standing Rock pg 13 Uses Her Bow 30 Jun 1886 Standing Rock pg 215 30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118 Uses Bow 30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 286 30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456 Andrew 30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606 Andrew 30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151 30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297 30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584 30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744
+ 6 v Henry2 Low Dog, born 1887 in Blackfeet Nation. He married Agnes Horse Thief.
7 vi Madeline2 Low Dog, born 1889 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118 Infant 30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285 Madeline 30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456 30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606 30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151 30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297 30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584 30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744

Generation 2

4. Louise2 Low Dog (Low Dog1), born 1882 in Blackfeet Nation. She married (1) Fred Hager; (2) (---) Meade.

Children of Louise Low Dog and (---) Meade were as follows:
8 i Philomena3 Meade, born 1906 in Blackfeet Nation.


6. Henry2 Low Dog (Low Dog1), born 1887 in Blackfeet Nation. He married Agnes Horse Thief, born 1882 in Blackfeet Nation; died 10 May 1935 in Ft Totten, North Dakota, daughter of Amos Horse Thief and Red Lodge (---).






Descendants of
(---) Horse Thief and (---) (---)

1. (---)1 Horse Thief. He married unknown.

Children of (---) Horse Thief were as follows:
+ 2 i Amos2 Horse Thief, born 1855 in Blackfeet Nation. He married Red Lodge (---).

Generation 2

2. Amos2 Horse Thief ((---)1), born 1855 in Blackfeet Nation. He married Red Lodge (---), born 1861 in Blackfeet Nation, daughter of (---) Unknown.

Notes for Amos Horse Thief
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 613
30 Jun 1888 Standing Rock pg 643
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 306
30 Jun 1891 Standing Rock pg 285
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 296
30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock Amos

Notes for Red Lodge (---)
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 613
30 Jun 1888 Standing Rock pg 643
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 306
30 Jun 1891 Standing Rock pg 285
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 296
30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock

Children of Amos Horse Thief and Red Lodge (---) were as follows:
3 i Good Fur3 (---), born 1879 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 613 30 Jun 1888 Standing Rock pg 643 30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118
+ 4 ii Agnes3 Horse Thief, born 1882 in Blackfeet Nation; died 10 May 1935 in Ft Totten, North Dakota. She married Henry Low Dog.
5 iii Bad Hail3 (---), born 1889 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 306 30 Jun 1891 Standing Rock pg 285 30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456 30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 296
6 iv Jasper3 Horse Thief, born 1894 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3 30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 296 30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock
7 v James3 Horse Thief, born 1897 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock
8 vi Selina3 Horse Thief, born 1899 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock
9 vii Annie3 Horse Thief, born 1902 in Blackfeet Nation. Notes: 30 Jun 1902 Standing Rock

Generation 3

4. Agnes3 Horse Thief (Amos2, (---)1), born 1882 in Blackfeet Nation; died 10 May 1935 in Ft Totten, North Dakota. She married Henry Low Dog, born 1887 in Blackfeet Nation, son of Low Dog (---) and Two Horses (---).

Notes for Agnes Horse Thief
30 Jun 1887 Standing Rock pg 613
30 Jun 1888 Standing Rock pg 643
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118 Rattles In Lodge

Notes for Henry Low Dog
30 Jun 1889 Standing Rock pg 118 Kills The Number
30 Jun 1890 Standing Rock pg 285 Henry
30 Jun 1892 Standing Rock pg 456
30 Jun 1893 Standing Rock pg 606
30 Jun 1894 Standing Rock pg 3
30 Jun 1895 Standing Rock pg 151
30 Jun 1896 Standing Rock pg 297
30 Jun 1898 Standing Rock pg 584
30 Jun 1899 Standing Rock pg 744

Children of Agnes Horse Thief and Henry Low Dog were as follows:
10 i Garfield4 Low Dog, born 1906 in Standing Rock. Notes: 30 Jun 1908 Standing Rock 30 Jun 1913 Standing Rock
11 ii Nancy4 Low Dog, born 26 May 1909 in Standing Rock. She married Edward Noisy Hawk, born 1890 in Standing Rock, son of Lorcu Noisy Hawk and Shell (---). Notes: 30 Jun 1913 Standing Rock
12 iii Josephine4 Low Dog, born 1912 in Standing Rock. Notes: 30 Jun 1913 Standing Rock
13 iv Mary4 Low Dog, born 1915 in Standing Rock.
14 v Effie4 Low Dog, born 1920 in Standing Rock.
15 vi Augustina4 Low Dog, born 1921 in Standing Rock.

[nicolas (carlo)]

In one of the interviews with Neihardt, Eagle Elk mentions Low Dog as "cousin". Any idea what the relationship could be?

[tfarnon]

To Miller7513:

I can give you a little more on the descendants of Low Dog through Louisa Low Dog. Her first husband was Fred Hager, whom you mentioned.

They had three children:

Jim, who fought in WWII

Regina, who married Donovan Ross and had one son by him: Richard Ross. She later lived with and took the last name of Kenneth Ellston. She had two children by him: Joe and Sharon. All of Regina's children were born at Fort Yates, ND at the Indian hospital there.

Rose, who married and also had at least two daughters.

Richard Ross, Regina's son, married three times, and had children by his first two wives. His first wife was Janet Nielsen, and they had two children, Lisa and Peter. His second wife was Valerie, and they had one child, Jeffrey. Richard Ross died in 1995. His children are all still living.

Joe Ellston had at least two daughters, and has been married at least twice. Joe is still living.

Sharon Ellston had a son, Damian.

[tfarnon]

Looking further into assorted fragments here and elsewhere on the web (including an Army Corps of Engineers survey about land owned by Louisa/Louise Low Dog in the 1950s), it seems that my family does go back to the chief Low Dog, later known as Joshua Low Dog. None of it is conclusive, but the case is a little stronger.

The land now under Lake Oahe is still listed as Indian Trust land, and the plat(?) numbers on my quarterly statements are consistent with the Army Corps of Engineers document. This land owned by Louisa/Louise was in Corson County, as are the other trust lands I receive/d statements for. I sold some of my shares during the Cobell Settlement land buyback program a few years ago, but I kept the shares in the land under Lake Oahe, some right on the banks and at the shoreline, and some other land that isn't generating any income, as did my brother.

I found another mention of Louisa/Louise Low Dog at an Indian school in Virginia, the Hampton Normal and Agricultural School in Hampton, Virginia. She is listed as being from Standing Rock, and another list indicates that she was only at the school from 1901-1902. She left the school due to poor eyesight. This is consistent with a trait passed on to her daughter by Fred Hager, Regina Hager, who had trouble both with myopia and another problem that caused her eyelids to sag to the point of obscuring her vision. If I recall correctly, Regina's sister, Rose, also had very droopy eyelids and wore glasses for nearsightedness.

It's interesting that a brother of Henry Low Dog, (Henry would have been Louisa's brother as well) was called Red Hair. One of my father's cousins, Dolly, also had red hair, and she was teased constantly about it while she lived near or at Standing Rock as a child. She was called Washichu by her classmates (white girl/woman) because of her appearance. And I (Richard Ross' daughter/Regina Hager's granddaughter) have red hair, as well. The ancestral redhead in this case was probably one of (Joshua) Low Dog's grandparents, based on my own recent 23 and Me DNA results. If Low Dog had been pure Lakota, I would have expected to show 12.5% Native American ancestry. If he had one Caucasian grandparent, then the math puts things much closer to the 10.5% shown in my DNA results.

Finally, assuming that this (Joshua) Low Dog was the man who played a significant role in the Battle of Little Bighorn, and that this individual was the one in the photographs mentioned in this thread, then I can again point to family traits as another piece of the puzzle: My father strongly resembled the man in the later photograph, showing "Chief Low Dog" in a white shirt, with short hair. That photograph could be of my own father (Richard Ross), even to the slight tilt of the head. There was enough resemblance in the photograph of the younger man (in the 1880s), particularly in some copies of the portrait (notably the one on display in the anthropology museum at the University of Kansas in Lawrence), to see a strong resemblance to my father.

To undo all of that speculation, however, I have to add some more speculation. My grandmother, Regina Hager Ross, worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the time she met the father of her two younger children, a man who went by the name of Kenneth Ellston. After Kenneth Ellston's death in the late 1990's, his son came across some very odd papers, and shared the contents of some of them with us. Kenneth Ellston had always maintained he was Native American (I don't know what tribe he claimed), and that he was from New Mexico. Among the papers his son found were a few military documents and a set of dog tags for someone with a name like "Jose Martinez". I have forgotten the name, other than both names were quite common Spanish names. There were no birth records or anything like that for a Kenneth Ellston, and subsequent searches indicated that a Kenneth Ellston, a member of the Standing Rock tribe, died about the time my grandmother met the man we knew as Kenneth Ellston. There were also indications that the man we knew as Kenneth Ellston had filed documents to join the tribal rolls at Standing Rock. Don't worry--it gets stranger. Deeper in the pile was the divorce decree of Regina Hager Ross Ellston and this Kenneth Ellston, in Sacramento, California. In the decree, the judge specifically mentions that Regina and Kenneth were never married, but that he was granting the divorce decree anyways.

Kenneth Ellston continued to drift in and out of my grandmother's life until shortly before her death. She continued to provide him with lodging, food and money through the years. Our best guess is that she used her position at the BIA to get him his new identity as Kenneth Ellston, and that he held this secret over her head for the rest of his life. But that's just a guess. However, if Regina knew how to work the system while still at Standing Rock, it's possible that she may have learned to do so from her mother, Louisa/Louise Low Dog. It's possible that the confusion is due to poor record keeping or poor attention to detail when doing the census surveys, or that there was only one Low Dog collecting benefits and/or land income in two locations at Standing Rock. My grandmother Regina described a very hard life of grinding poverty on the reservation, and it was a powerful motivator for her to take advantage of Indian relocation programs in the 1950's. Her sister, Rose, also left the reservation about this time, but she went to Chicago rather than Sacramento.

One final note: I continually refer to Louise/Louisa Low Dog by both first names, because she has always been known in my family as Louisa, but many of the records available here and elsewhere refer to Louise. I would assume that my grandmother knew her mother's first name, and that it was Louisa, rather than Louise, but Louise may have appealed more to white ears at the time.

More notes after the final one:

I have turned up a little more information, and have managed to track down one of Louisa's descendants.  It turns out that Louisa's daughter, Rose, was also known as Philomena, and Louisa was married at that time to a man named Meade, or Neade (depending on the penmanship of the census taker).  Philomena/Rose was Louisa's oldest daughter, and my grandmother Regina was Rose's half-sister by Fred Hager, Louisa's second husband.  It's possible that Mr. Meade/Neade never married Louisa Low Dog, and 23 and Me data points towards Mr. Meade/Neade being at least half Lakota himself.  I couldn't find any further information about Mr. Meade/Neade in census records.  The descendant I referred to is a descendant of Louisa Low Dog via Rose/Philomena.

23 and Me data also turned up some tantalizing numbers:  One of Low Dog's ancestors was evidently a person named Red Hair, and it's moderately reasonable to assume that this person did indeed have red hair, as do some of both Rose's and Regina's descendants, notably Rose's daughter Dolly, and myself (Regina's granddaughter).  The 23 and Me data seems to indicate that the ancestor responsible for the red hair was likely to have been a European born around 1800.

I also found some information on an Alfred Hager who enlisted during World War II and died in San Bernardino, California in 1985.  He may or may not have been the child of the Alfred Hager who married Louisa Low dog.  The records are fragmented.  He may have been half-uncle to Dolly, brother to Regina.  My grandmother Regina told of a brother, "Jack", who enlisted in the Army during WWII and suffered from PTSD afterwards.  Jack may or may not have been Alfred.  Alfred is the name listed on the indian land trust statements I receive.

One more note from the census records I looked at:  There wasn't a husband listed for Rose/Philomena when she was at Standing Rock or in South Dakota.  She was listed as living with Alfred Hager, Louisa Low Dog and Regina Hager under the last name of Meade/Neade, and her daughter Dolores was also listed under the last name of Meade/Neade.

I'm taking a break from digging further because I just get so confused.