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Post by carlo on Jul 4, 2020 6:16:54 GMT -5
Eagle Shield remains somewhat of an enigma to me, so hope someone here can help. Frances Densmore didn't note which tribal division he belonged to, nor what his age or birthdate was. I have seen him listed elsewhere variously as a Miniconjou, Hunkpapa, and even Oglala. Densmore listed him among the Standing Rock singers, but we know that Eagle Elk surrendered in 1877 at Cheyenne River. So my hunch is that he was a Miniconjou. Hoxie et al., in American Nations: Encounters in Indian Country, p23, say his grandfather was Black Shield, the noted Miniconjou headman. This seems to have been based on Eagle Elk's statement in Col. W.W. Wood to Assistant Adjutant General, Dept. of Dakota, Feb. 16, 1877, Sioux War Papers, but unfortunately I don't have access to that to confirm. The only source I have been able to find on his birthdate is Greene, Lakota and Cheyenne: Indian Views of the Great Sioux War, p126, in which Greene states that he was ca. 21 years old in 1877 (and Greene is the one who names him as an Oglala.) Question I have is why someone so young would have been debriefed by the military after surrender? Does a ca. 1856 birthdate gell with Black Shield as his grandfather? His mother was apparently still alive in 1913, as Densmore bought an item from her (p399). Are there any other sources for his birthdate? An 1856 birth would make him 58 in this picture by Densmore, 1913:
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tomfc
New Member
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Post by tomfc on Jul 10, 2020 4:14:57 GMT -5
Forgive me for stating the obvious Carlo but could there have been different individuals of the same name who have become conflated?
The part of your message which I empathise with is your use of the word 'enigma'. I know exactly what you mean.
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Post by Dietmar on Jul 10, 2020 9:29:25 GMT -5
Carlo, there might be more than one Eagle Shield, but one of them at Standing Rock was a son of Crawler (Sihasapa), Thomas Eagle Shield, married to Ellen Eagle Shield aka Ellen White Cow. Allegedly this is Eagle Shield with Ellen White Cow and their daughter Mary Jane:
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Post by carlo on Jul 10, 2020 16:09:47 GMT -5
Yes, there were certainly more men named Eagle Shield! The problem is that the sources I mentioned all claim to speak of the Eagle Shield that talked to Densmore, so some of these sources would be wrong... Thomas Eagle Shield could be it, although I fail to see the resemblance with our Eagle Shield tbh (granted, it is a difficult comparison.) Dietmar, do you know when this photo was taken? LaDonna lists Thomas Eagle Shield‘s birth as 1889, which I believe can’t be right as Crawler was born in ca. 1830 and Thomas’ son was born in 1885. Do we perhaps know his correct dob? See: amertribes.proboards.com/thread/232/crawlerA clue could be to know if Thomas Eagle Shield surrendered in 1877 at Cheyenne River. If he did, and his dob is in the right timeframe, he might be the same person as Densmore’s Eagle Shield.
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Post by carlo on Jul 10, 2020 16:32:31 GMT -5
Does anyone perhaps have access to “Col. W.W. Wood to Assistant Adjutant General, Dept. of Dakota, Feb. 16, 1877, Sioux War Papers”?
Thomas Powers, in The Killing of Crazy Horse, also mentions Eagle Shield as a Miniconjou based on that source. Hoping to find clues to Black Shield and hopefully a date of birth. As mentioned, Greene says that this man is the same as Densmore’s informant.
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Post by kingsleybray on Jul 11, 2020 3:06:42 GMT -5
hello carlo, I have my transcript to the Wood to AAG/Dept of Dakota, Feb. 16, 1877 document.
Off the bat I'd say that the Eagle Shield who served as an informant for Frances Densmore in 1911+ was probably not the same man as the Eagle Shield who Wood debriefed in 1877. Not 100% sure on that, however.
In the Wood document, Eagle Shield is quoted: "One of the head-chiefs in the hostile camp - 'Black Shield' - is my grandfather. He says he wants to fight - wants war." Near the end of his account, Eagle Shield reiterates the relationship: the "principal chiefs in the hostile camp [include] . . . my grandfather 'Black Shield' and 'Lame Antelope' of the Minneconjoux". That is the entirety of the information on Eagle Shield's family connections.
In the Walter S. Campbell (Stanley Vestal) papers there is a statement by Joseph White Bull that Black Shield belonged to the Sunakyutesni (Eat No Dogs) band of the Miniconjou.
The military register of Lakotas at Cheyenne River Agency, in use 1876-78, does note the arrival of Eagle Shield (and one unnamed woman) at the agency on February 15th, 1877, confirming the information in the Wood report. It also carries the notation "Left the Agency March 8th, 1879, dest[ination] Hostile Camp". In 1879 that meant he was intending to join the Lakota exiles in Canada with Sitting Bull.
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Post by carlo on Jul 11, 2020 4:24:03 GMT -5
That's great Kingsley, thank you for looking it up and confirming the Black Shield connection. What makes you think this Eagle Shield is not the same person as interviewed by Densmore?
Wondering where Greene got the information that he was ca. 21 years old the, he may have confused him with an Oglala similarly named. Does the military register in 1877 note his age perhaps?
Interesting detail re. Eagle Shield moving to Canada in 1879. Unfortunately he does not come up in the SB Surrender Ledger of 1881; the only Eagle Shield there is a girl of 6 years old.
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Post by carlo on Jul 11, 2020 4:37:39 GMT -5
Looking at the Crawler Family in the 1881 SB Surrender Ledger, there is also no Eagle Shield unfortunately. The family make up and ages listed there are quite different from the one in the Crawler thread.
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Post by Dietmar on Jul 12, 2020 6:59:45 GMT -5
The dates in the Crawler-thread can´t be correct, or else Thomas Eagle Shield must had been born a few years after his own son:
Thomas Eagle Shield: b. 1889 d. 1-19-1937 Spouse: Ptesanwin-Helen Eagle Shield Son: John Eagle Shield b. 1885 d. 4-28-1938
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Post by carlo on Sept 15, 2020 6:11:14 GMT -5
Carlo, there might be more than one Eagle Shield, but one of them at Standing Rock was a son of Crawler (Sihasapa), Thomas Eagle Shield, married to Ellen Eagle Shield aka Ellen White Cow. Allegedly this is Eagle Shield with Ellen White Cow and their daughter Mary Jane: Dietmar, do you happen to have a date for this photo? Mary Jane was born in 1889, she looks like 8 or 9 in this photo, so assuming ca. 1897. Difficult to compare with Densmore's 1913 photo, but if it's the same Eagle Elk then he must have aged quite a bit during the span of ca. 15 years.
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Post by carlo on Sept 15, 2020 6:27:59 GMT -5
LaDonna lists Thomas Eagle Shield‘s birth as 1889, which I believe can’t be right as Crawler was born in ca. 1830 and Thomas’ son was born in 1885. Do we perhaps know his correct dob? See: amertribes.proboards.com/thread/232/crawlerA clue could be to know if Thomas Eagle Shield surrendered in 1877 at Cheyenne River. If he did, and his dob is in the right timeframe, he might be the same person as Densmore’s Eagle Shield. Thomas Eagle Shield's BOD is 1859, according to the SD state census of 1925. I'm leaning to him being Densmore's informant, which means that he was not the same man debriefed by Wood in 1877 (since Thomas was only 18yo at the time.)
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Post by Dietmar on Sept 17, 2020 7:26:11 GMT -5
Sorry Carlo,
I can´t give a definite date.
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Post by carlo on Feb 15, 2021 5:26:11 GMT -5
Inching closer to solving the puzzle of "enigma" Eagle Shield... I believe that Thomas Eagle Shield, born 1859, was indeed Densmore's informant. He likely joined his father, Sihasapa leader Crawler, in exile in Canada, and therefore most of Eagle Shield's war deeds against the Assiniboines and Crows were accomplished between ca. 1877-1880 (although his first fight was at the age of 14, in 1873.) His father settled on Standing Rock after returning from Canada in 1880, along the Grand River and close to the town McLaughlin where Densmore spoke to Eagle Shield and others. The town was chosen for the proximity to informants living in the southern part of the reservation, so we can assume that Eagle Shield lived close to his parents. The men Densmore spoke to were either Sihasapa or Hunkpapa. Eagle Shield married Ellen White Cow and seems to have identified as a Hunkpapa since then. More evidence could lie in this photo, which allegedly shows Eagle Shield and Frances Densmore. Any information on this photo and a higher resolution version would be most helpful!Re. the Miniconjou connection: The Eagle Shield who surrendered at Cheyenne River in 1877 and gave testimony to Col. Wood, was the grandson of Black Shield and likely a Miniconjou. Aside from the name, both Eagle Shields lived in Canada in 1879, as noted above. But unless someone can produce evidence of a family relationship between Black Shield and Crawler, we can safely assume that these were two different Eagle Shields. Note that the photo in my OP has most often the text "Eagle Shield, Mininconjou" attached to it online. This mistake seems to come from indentifying the two Eagle Shields as one individual.
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Post by grahamew on Feb 15, 2021 6:51:30 GMT -5
Hi
I've seen this photo doing the rounds as Joseph White Bull, though it's never struck me that it looks like him!
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Post by gregor on Feb 17, 2021 9:44:23 GMT -5
Inching closer to solving the puzzle of "enigma" Eagle Shield... I believe that Thomas Eagle Shield, born 1859, was indeed Densmore's informant. He likely joined his father, Sihasapa leader Crawler, in exile in Canada, and therefore most of Eagle Shield's war deeds against the Assiniboines and Crows were accomplished between ca. 1877-1880 (although his first fight was at the age of 14, in 1873.) His father settled on Standing Rock after returning from Canada in 1880, along the Grand River and close to the town McLaughlin where Densmore spoke to Eagle Shield and others. The town was chosen for the proximity to informants living in the southern part of the reservation, so we can assume that Eagle Shield lived close to his parents. The men Densmore spoke to were either Sihasapa or Hunkpapa. Eagle Shield married Ellen White Cow and seems to have identified as a Hunkpapa since then. More evidence could lie in this photo, which allegedly shows Eagle Shield and Frances Densmore. Any information on this photo and a higher resolution version would be most helpful!Re. the Miniconjou connection: The Eagle Shield who surrendered at Cheyenne River in 1877 and gave testimony to Col. Wood, was the grandson of Black Shield and likely a Miniconjou. Aside from the name, both Eagle Shields lived in Canada in 1879, as noted above. But unless someone can produce evidence of a family relationship between Black Shield and Crawler, we can safely assume that these were two different Eagle Shields. Note that the photo in my OP has most often the text "Eagle Shield, Mininconjou" attached to it online. This mistake seems to come from indentifying the two Eagle Shields as one individual. Found this on the Internet: www.pugetsound.edu/about/offices-services/office-of-communications/arches/archive/back-issues/arches-archive/spring-2002/the-wanderer/
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