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Post by ephriam on Dec 14, 2008 12:26:31 GMT -5
By Ephriam D. Dickson III
SWAN Magaska. Also translated as White Swan. Family name of a lineage of prominent Minneconjou leaders during the nineteenth century.
SWAN I (c1790?-1866). The Lakota wintercounts first mention Swan in 1824-25 when he lost 20 horses killed by a jealous tribal member. One of his daughters married fur trader Thomas Sarpy who was killed in 1832 when a candle was knocked over into a keg of gun powder and blew up his trading post on Rapid Creek. By the 1860s, Swan was recognized as one of the six hereditary chiefs of the Minneconjou, together with Brave Bear, Makes Room, White Hollow Horn, Black Shield and Lone Horn. White Bull later recalled that of these leaders, Swan “in particular hated the whites,” apparently beginning with an incident in which drunken soldiers looted his lodge. He fought Americans in a number of battles later in his life. Shortly before Swan died in 1866, he warned those gathered: “Friends, you must look out for yourselves and protect your people. Try to kill white men, for the white men have come here to kill you.”1
SWAN II (c1810-1877). Also known as Little Swan. The late headman’s son also became known as Swan and assumed his father’s leadership role in the family band. Born about 1810, this Swan soon took a more moderate position regarding the invading Americans. While he did not sign the Treaty of 1868, he did come in to the Cheyenne River Agency on the Missouri River shortly after and was reportedly well pleased with how he was treated. In October 1869 he left to bring in other bands of Minneconjou but returned in February 1870 saying that the Oglala had swayed the peace talks. General Stanley described him as “a superior Indian, and has always been faithful.” About 1870, Swan allowed his family wintercount to be copied by a surgeon from the adjacent military post. He was one of the prominent headmen selected to represent the Minneconjou as a delegate to Washington D.C. in 1870 and again in 1875. In January 1875, Swan was listed as leader of a band of about 20 lodges at the Cheyenne River Agency.2 By the summer of 1876, a sizeable portion of Swan’s band had left the agency to hunt and visit relatives among the northern bands, including his sons. These band members participated in the battles of Rosebud and Little Bighorn. The elder Swan however remained at Cheyenne River. That fall as the Army prepared to seize the Indian ponies and firearms, a number of Minneconjou including Touch the Clouds, Roman Nose, Bull Eagle and Spotted Elk fled the agency. The elderly Swan however endeavored to persuade his relatives to remain. By October 1876, his band numbered just 9 families. The agent noted that he “claims to be a reformed and good Indian.” Swan died at the agency in 1877.3
SWAN III (c1838-1900). Born about 1838, he was the oldest son of the Minnecoujou leader Swan and his wife Blue Cloud. At the time of the Great Sioux War of 1876-77, he and his brothers Fine Weather and Puts on His Shoes, were visiting relatives in the north. According to family tradition, the brothers all fought at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. They may have surrendered at Cheyenne River in the spring of 1877. Following the death of his father in 1877, Swan assumed his father’s name and his role as band leader.4
Known later as Paul Swan, he lived the remainder of life on Cheyenne River Reservation, a vocal spokesman and prominent leader among the Minneconjou. He expressed deep dissatisfaction over the land negotiations in 1888 that would decrease the size of the reservation. “I don’t want to make trouble,” he commented at one of the councils, “and for the people’s sake shall advise peace.” He traveled to Washington, D.C. with the 1889 delegation to advocate the needs of the tribe, calling for tribal members to be employed at the agency instead of whites and that the contracts for hay, wood and beef be opened to the tribe as well. He asked for more schools on the reservation and called for compensation for the ponies seized by the army in 1876. During the Ghost Dance troubles, he advocated Big Foot’s band be brought in and disarmed.5 Swan married about 1870 and had several sons, including Edward (born c1871); Douglas (b. c1877) and James (b. c1881). Following the death of his first wife, he remarried about 1890 to Hinzin (later known as Mary Swan). Swan’s community was located north of the agency proper near the mouth of the Cheyenne River. Paul Swan died September 30, 1900. His son, Edward, continued in his family's role into the 20th century as a leader on the Cheyenne River Reservation.6
1 Candace S. Greene and Russell Thornton, The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) p. 175-176. Stanley Vestal, Warpath: The True Story of the fight Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934) p. 51. George M. Platte, “Thomas L. Sarpy,” in Leroy Hafen (ed.), The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far West (Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark Co., [year]), vol. 3 p. 279-283.
2 Greene and Thornton, The Year the Stars Fell, p. 26-27. James H. Howard, The Warrior Who Killed Custer (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968) p. 31-32. Stanley to Sheridan, Feb. 12, 1870, quote in New York Times, Mar. 8, 1870. New York Times, July 8, July 9, July 15, 1870; May 19, 1875. Cheyenne River Agency census, Jan. 1875, CoIA Letters Received, NA.
3 Military census, 1876-77, Fort Bennett records, NA.
4 Howard, The Warrior Who Killed Custer , p. 31-32. Donovin A. Sprague, Cheyenne River Sioux, South Dakota (Arcadia, 2003) p. 30.
5 New York Times, Dec. 13, 1890.
6 Cheyenne River Agency Census Records, 1886-1900, National Archives. 1900 Federal Census, Cheyenne River Agency (T623 R1555) p. 217a. Blue Cloud’s “Report on Heirship”, Cheyenne River Reservation, and Amanda Grass Probate record, copies courtesy Bruce Brownwolf, a descendant of the family.
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Post by kingsleybray on Dec 15, 2008 13:54:39 GMT -5
Thanks for this information, Ephriam. I hadn't noted the Thomas Sarpy connection before. A couple of observations on the Swan family's band affiliation. According to the Josephine Waggoner papers at Museum of the Fur Trade, the first Swan was born about 1780 and belonged to the Wipasabyapiotipi band. This translates as Tipis with Black-Painted Smoke Flaps. I haven't seen the name recorded elsewhere. However it's worth noting that Luther Standing Bear (in MY PEOPLE THE SIOUX, chapter XX) talks about the 'black-top tipi camp' at Rosebud in 1886 - they were non-progressive and led by Wooden Knife (a Miniconjou who settled at the Brule agency after 1877).
Chris Ravenshead asked some of the oldest people at Cheyenne River in 1993 about band affiliations. He was told that the Swan family tiyoshpaye was the Glaglahecha (Slovenly) band. According to the tribal circle obtained by the missionaries ca. 1880 this band was the second in the circle (starting from the south side of the camp-entrance). I have an old note to the effect that the chiefs Swan (died 1866), White Hollow Horns (I think Unkche-yuta band), and Makes Room (Inyanhaowin band) addressed each other as 'brothers'. This makes me think that their bands were sister groups offshooted from each other, perhaps corresponding to the Miniconjou proper band of Lewis & Clark et al.
Chris Ravenshead (conversation with KMB November 3, 1993) also stated that Hinzin, or Mary Swan, who married Paul Swan about 1890: her first husband was Two Shields, an Upper Yanktonai at Standing Rock, an informant of Frances Densmore.
I had reconstructed the early stages of the Swan dynasty a little differently. I have Swan I as born ca. 1780 (Waggoner statement). He is the third chief ("Ma-ra-sea, the White Swan") signing the Atkinson-O'Fallon Treaty for the "Siounes" (Miniconjou-Two Kettle-Sans Arcs) in 1825. He is listed as a Miniconjou chief by Nicollet in 1839. So far no different, but because he is not tabulated by T. Culbertson in 1850 I have assumed he died during the 1840s. Joseph White Bull indicates in one of the W.S. Campbell interviews that a new cohort of Miniconjou chiefs was acclaimed by the tribal council in 1853. This is where I place Swan II, the chief who died in 1866. According to the interviews collected by Col. A.B. Welch two of the daughters of Swan II married John Grass the Sihasapa chief in the early 1870s. There's a NEW YORK TIMES report from 1889 which observes that Swan III (see below) and John Grass were devoted friends.
My Swan III is Paul Swan, who settled at Cheyenne River Agency after the Treaty of 1868, then a man of about thirty years old. That is the approximate age of the man photographed as Swan or White Swan in Washington in 1870 and 1875, clearly a young man not an elder. I had him born about 1836-38, dying in 1900.
The Ft Bennett census for September 1876 lists him as 45, born ca. 1831, somewhat earlier than indicated by later censuses, but the same general frame. The same census lists Puts on his Moccasins, age 28, as living in the band of Leaf, in September and December 1876.
Lt. Col. F.D. Grant's report to the Asst Adj. Gen., Military Division of the Missouri, September 5, 1876, notes his observations on a tour of the Missouri River Sioux agencies during August 1876. It's in the Sioux War Papers, microfilmed in NARS M1495 Roll 4. He has some very interesting information at Cheyenne River with an extensive list (total 60 named men) of "Indians who have returned from the hostile camp." Among the 40 named "warriors who have come in, but have not given up their arms" he lists two men of "White-swan's band", namely "The-fastener" and "The-snake". (NB 20 men are named who did turn in their arms.) Fastener is listed in the Dec. 1876 Ft Bennett census - like Swan's brother Puts on His Moccasins, he is in Leaf's band. I take it that Leaf's, Swan's and possibly other "bands" are all sub-groupings of the Glaglahecha band.
I've checked the 1877 Ft Bennett census and can't find the reference to Swan dying in 1877. Swan (plus 1 woman and 2 children), Fine Weather (plus 1 woman, 1 child), and a third man (I can't read the name - "[-] the morning"? ), plus 2 women were listed in the census of December 29, 1876, making a total of 10 people in the lodge. The agency correspondence indicates that Swan was at the agency through the summer of 1876, offering to lead out a delegation to talk the non-treaty people in.
Thanks for the exciting new information.
Kingsley
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Post by ephriam on Dec 16, 2008 4:55:08 GMT -5
Thank you, Kingsley, for the clarification and additional information. Just a few comments to see if we can resolve our differences about the Swan generations. Lets move backwards from where we agree:
Swan III (also known as Paul Swan), born circa. 1836-38; died 1900. We both agree. I think you are right that he was the one who went to Washington, D.C. in 1870 and 1875. When I was getting ready to attach the photographs to my piece above, I also noticed that the age of the individual in the 1870 and 1875 photos did not seem to fit my original interpretation and so began to wonder if I had something wrong. And I missed that the Swan listed in the Cheyenne River Agency census book for 1876 gave his age as 45, clearly making him also the Paul Swan. I had made an assumption that it was Paul's father who was at the agency in the summer of 1876 who was willing to go out and talk the non-treaty bands. But you are right, it was probably Paul Swan. I will fix that.
The family however does have an oral history that Paul Swan and his two brothers, Fine Weather and Puts on His Shoes, were at the Little Bighorn. If this is true, they must have returned to Cheyenne River very soon after the battle. (We should note that this same controversy surrounds Touch the Clouds; one family oral history claims he was at the LBH though he is not mentioned by any of the published witnesses, with the possible exception of Flying By; if Touch the Clouds was at the LBH, he must have returned quickly as he spoke at the same council that Swan did in late July 1876.) I will recheck with the family about Swan and his brothers at the Little Bighorn.
I have a copy of the probate record for Amanda Grass (wife of John Grass) which also states that she was a sister of Paul Swan, Fine Weather and Puts on His Shoes. Her original name was Walks For A Shell. I was told by the family that "there was another sister who married John Grass also" but they did not have any information on her. I suspect that this second wife may be another sister of Paul Swan listed in the heirship records as Red Cow who is reported to have died in 1874.
I also agree that Leaf's band reported in the 1876 Cheyenne River Agency census was probably a sub-group of Swan's band. Notice that Leaf and at least two other families from his band in the 1876 census are listed under Swan in the 1875 list.
Swan II (c1810-1877). While Swan died early in the agency period, his wife Blue Cloud survived well into the reservation period. She received an allotment. When she died in 1903, there was a "Report of Heirship" prepared which lists all her children, including Paul Swan, Fine Weather, etc. This is the document that I used that stated that she had been married to White Swan and that he had died in 1877.
You suggest that the father of Paul Swan was the headman reported by White Bull to have died in 1866. I don't know how to reconcile the two different dates. One of them could be wrong or they could be referring to two different people.
I assumed they represented two different people. The heirship report stated that Paul Swan was the oldest child. Since he was born about 1836-38 (census records differ by a few years), I took a guess that his father might have been 25 or so when he married Blue Cloud, so this put his birth at roughly 1810. But it was just a guess. And with the new information you provided from the Waggoner papers that puts the first Swan's year of birth at about 1780, this fits well, making Swan I about 30 when his son was born.
Swan I -- I understand your reasoning for suggesting that the first White Swan may have died in the 1840s, but what if he was just missed by Culbertson in his 1850 listing. If this Swan was the one that White Bull mentions who died in 1866, that would put his age at the time at about 86 years old, very old for this period but not impossible.
So with what both you and I have found, I think the Swan generations probably went:
Swan I (c1780-1866) Swan II (c1810?-1877) Swan III (c1836/38-1900) [=Paul Swan] Swan IV (c1873-1934) [=Edward Swan]
This puts roughly 30 years between each generation which seems reasonable.
Ephriam
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Post by Dietmar on Dec 22, 2008 6:02:04 GMT -5
...some illustration to the great information above: here´s Paul Swan aka Little White Swan in 1870: White Swan & Joseph Four Bears Paul Swan in 1875 (edit from a group photograph) Paul Swan in 1888 in Washington
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Post by kingsleybray on Dec 22, 2008 9:52:01 GMT -5
The September 1876 Ft Bennett census does note of Fine Weather (Paul Swan's younger brother) that he was a "surrendered hostile", which confirms the modern family traditions about him at least - that the Swan brothers fought at the Little Bighorn.
I wonder if there was a miscalculation or misunderstanding regarding Blue Cloud's statement that her husband died in 1877. A woman of that name is already listed in Swan's band in the January 1875 Cheyenne River Agency census, but as a head of family, indicating that she might well be a widow. I realise there may be other reasons for her head-of-family status, but taken with the fact there is only one man named Swan (or White Swan), whom I think must be Paul Swan, listed in the Cheyenne River censuses for 1871, 1875, and 1876-77, I still feel that Blue Cloud's husband was the chief who died in 1866.
Kingsley
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Post by ephriam on Dec 22, 2008 17:41:09 GMT -5
Kingsley: Have you found the original source for the death of White Swan in 1866 in the Campbell Papers? I just wanted to doublecheck that source as well. So far, I have only found a couple of references to the death of a Minneconjou chief in 1866. In each case so far, the name of the chief has not been listed: - "One of the chiefs was sick and about to die so he told them to watch and encourage the Indians and wanted them to protect themself [themselves]. He died before the [Fetterman] fight started." (Box 105 Folder 22 p. 29)
- 1866, Year 100 White Men Killed "This same year one of the 6 chiefs died."(Box 105 Folder 27 p. 37)
- Paul White Swan is identified as the "son of one of the six chiefs." (Box 105 Folder 28 p. 24)
Have I missed it? ephriam
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Post by kingsleybray on Dec 22, 2008 18:47:55 GMT -5
Ephriam,
I shall recheck back through the Campbell papers, but there are actually two contemporary references to Swan II's role in the campaign that climaxed in the Fetterman fight, December 1866. In the 'Minutes of the Meetings of the Special Commission, Mar. 4-June 12, 1867', reproduced in the NARA microfilm publication M740, Roll 1, RECORDS RELATING TO THE INVESTIGATION OF THE FORT PHILIP KEARNEY (OR FETTERMAN) MASSACRE, 1866-1867, we find the remarks of Spotted Blue Body to the commission at Ft Laramie, May 9, 1867 (mss pages 174-78). He was a messenger from Lone Horn's Miniconjou camp. Reviewing the previous year's hostilities, he observed that there was no single Lakota leader in the Fetterman fight, but "It was made up by an arrangement with all the bands. The big battle originated from one big chief 'White Swan', who died a few days before the battle. The chief, on his death bed, called his people together and said: ' I have tried to keep you from fighting the whites; but now I am going to die. If you want to fight the whites, collect together and go out and satisfy yourselves - fight them once more. ' " He then died.
In the same microfilm is the testimony of many participants and observers, including that of Mitch Boyer (also reproduced in John Gray's book on Boyer and the Little Bighorn). Mitch told the commission at Ft Phil Kearny on July 27, 1867, that "the principal chief of the Missouri Sioux had died just before the massacre, and the bands had gotten together and determined to avenge his death. The chief's name was 'White Swan,' who died a natural death on Powder River."
Kingsley
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Post by Dietmar on Dec 23, 2008 17:52:26 GMT -5
Here is a photo of William Swan: William Swan (Puts on his Shoes) and his wife Lucy Knife aka White Cow and her sister Edith Knife Short Bull Bull Eagle Lucy was the daughter of Knife (Louis Knife, 1826-1908) and White Cow/White Buffalo Woman (c.1833-1910). According to the Ziebach County records William Swan and Lucy lived on Flint Rock Creek and adopted a daughter, Sophie. There is some information about William Swan at the South Dakota Hall of Fame site, but I doubt that everything is written correctly. Or was he a scout for Custer? www.sdhalloffame.com/bio.cfm?cat_id=15&inductee_id=496DOB: 1855 POB: Powder River, MT DOD: May 24, 1935 Buried at: Cheyenne Agency
William Swan, better known as “Puts On His Shoes” was born in the Powder River County of Montana in 1855.
In 1876 he participated in the “Battle of the Little Big Horn” as a messenger and scout for General Custer. Around 1879, the Minnecoujou Sioux had gathered in several camps on the reservation.
Puts On His Shoes and his wife, White buffalo, lived near Thunder Butte and here his family of two brothers and one sister and the in-laws gathered as an extended family. Swan had wanted to return to Montana to live but Iron Lightning encouraged him to stay around the Thunder Butte area.
During the time of the killing of Sitting Bull, the U.S. Army enlisted the help of Puts On His Shoes, who was not only considered a respected leader of his people, but also a negotiator between whites and Indians. Puts On His Shoes served as a scout in the Army from 1890 to 1891.
Up until about this time, an Indian Burial consisted of putting the dead in trees or building scaffolds for the body to lie on. The government forbade this and Puts On His Shoes cooperated with officials in burying the dead in the ground and enlisted others to do so also.
In 1891, the government built seven large two-story frame houses for the recognized chief of each band. One was built for Puts On His Shoes on Flintrock Creek where the creek opens into the Moreau River. He never lived in the house himself, preferring to live outdoors as he always had.
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Post by kingsleybray on Dec 24, 2008 5:45:32 GMT -5
The Lone Dog group of winter counts (including the one kept by Swan III - Paul Swan, at least according to my reckoning!) all mention the death of Swan in 1866, e.g. this from Lone Dog's count:
1866-1867: Swan, father of "White Swan," died.
One carries a remark made to Mallery by his interpreter in 1877, that Swan died on Cherry Creek. As far the location goes, this contradicts the statements from 1867 I cited above.
Thanks Dietmar for the interesting statement about Paul Swan's brother. An interestingly different take on his 1876 experiences! - though not to be taken literally I suspect.
In 1874 Custer had a Lakota scout called Goose (Maga), a Sihasapa from Standing Rock. This is not the same man as Swan (Magaska).
Merry Christmas to all !! Kingsley
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Post by ephriam on Jan 6, 2009 11:48:21 GMT -5
Happy holidays, everyone.
Kingsley, the additional information you provided convinces me that you are correct in your interpretation of the White Swan generations. I have tried to incorporate everything posted into the following revision of their biographies:
SWAN Magaska. Also translated as White Swan. Family name of a lineage of prominent Minnecoujou headmen during the nineteenth century. Bruce Brownwolf, a descendant of the family, noted that because the name was passed down through several generations, the historical record “tends to get confusing on which Chief White Swan a person is talking about.”1
SWAN I (c1780-c1840s?). Born about 1780, Swan was originally the leader of a Minneconjou band known as the Wipasabyapiotipi or Lodge with Black Painted Smoke Flaps.2 The Lakota wintercounts first mention Swan in 1824-25 when he lost 20 horses killed by a jealous tribal member.3 He was one of six “Siounes” (Saone) chiefs who signed the Atkinson-O’Fallon Treaty in July 18254 and was listed by cartographer Joseph Nicolette as a chief and “great orator” among the Minneconjou in 1839.5 One of his daughters, Woman Ahead of the Clouds, married fur trader Thomas Sarpy who was killed in 1832 in an accidental explosion at his trading post on Rapid Creek.6 Ethnohistorian Kingsley Bray speculates that Swan I died during the 1840s, since he was not mentioned in Thaddeus Culbertson’s 1850 list of Minneconjou bands and headmen.7
SWAN II (c1810?-1866). According to the Minneconjou White Bull, six new chiefs were recognized among the Minneconjou in 1853, including White Swan. If Bray’s suggestion that Swan I died in the 1840s is correct, the reappearance of the family name among the Minneconjou leadership suggests that this was a different individual, most likely a son. Based on the age of his children, Swan II was probably born sometime around 1810, rising to his leadership role by the time he was in his forties. He married Blue Cloud perhaps about 1836 and had six children, including three sons -- Swan III, Fine Weather, and Puts on His Shoes -- and two daughters, who later married the noted Sihasapa headman John Grass. White Bull noted that of the Minneconjou leaders, Swan “in particular hated the whites,” citing an incident in which drunken soldiers looted his lodge as the cause of his distrust and adding that he fought the Americans in a number of battles. The headman’s political views were portrayed very differently by another Minneconjou named Spotted Blue Body who mentioned that White Swan counseled against conflict with the Americans. White Swan died in December 1866 of natural causes on the Powder River, a few days before the famous Fetterman Fight. According to Spotted Blue Body: “The chief, on his death bed, called his people together and said: ‘I have tried to keep you from fighting the whites; but now I am going to die. If you want to fight the whites, collect together and go out and satisfy yourselves - fight them once more.’” White Bull’s recounting of White Swan’s final speech relates a very different tone: “Friends, you must look out for yourselves and protect your people. Try to kill white men, for the white men have come here to kill you.”8 Swan’s death in 1866 is also noted in the family wintercount.9
SWAN III (c1838-1900). Also known as Little Swan; later known as Paul Swan. Born about 1838, he was the eldest son of Swan II and his wife Blue Cloud. He is mentioned as having participated in the Fetterman Fight in 1866 shortly after the death of his father. The family name is not among the signatories of the Treaty of 1868, however, by 1869, he appears to have taken his father’s name and assumed the leadership of the family band. Modern oral history suggests that Swan’s tiyospaye may have been the Glaglaheca band.10
Swan and his band came in to the Cheyenne River Agency on the Missouri River shortly after it was established. In October 1869, he left in an effort to convince other Minneconjou to settle at the agency but he returned in February 1870 empty handed, saying that the Oglala had swayed the peace talks. General Stanley described him as “a superior Indian, and has always been faithful.”11 About 1870, Swan allowed his family wintercount to be copied by a surgeon from the adjacent military post.12 He traveled to Washington D.C. as a delegate in 1870, was recorded on the agency rolls in 1871, and listed by the agent as one of the men engaged in farming and raising livestock by 1872.13 In January 1875, Swan was recorded as leader of a band of about 20 lodges at the Cheyenne River Agency.14
As the government attempted to negotiate for the Black Hills, Swan was one of the Minneconjou headmen selected to represent the tribes’ views as a delegate to Washington in 1875. In the spring of 1876, a portion of Swan’s band left the agency to hunt and visit relatives among the northern bands. Family oral history asserts that all three brothers -- White Swan, Fine Weather, and Puts on His Shoes -- were with the northern bands and fought at the Battles of Rosebud and the Little Bighorn. If Swan was in the north in June 1876, he must have quickly returned to the agency, for he spoke at a council in late July. [insert summary of his comments.] That fall as the Army prepared to seize the Indian ponies and firearms, a number of Minneconjou including Touch the Clouds, Bull Eagle and Spotted Elk fled the agency. Swan however endeavored to persuade his relatives to remain. By October 1876, his band was listed with just 9 families. The agent noted that he “claims to be a reformed and good Indian.”15
In October 1876, the treaty commissioners met at Cheyenne River to again discuss signing away the Black Hills. Swan spoke at the council, urging a cessation to the fighting. “Some of the Great Father’s people [soldiers] went into that country, and by going there they have left the bones of both white and red people lying on the prairies,” he commented. “I do not believe the Great Spirit is satisfied with that, and when I look at you I am in hopes that you will settle this thing and have no more of it.” He shared his band’s feelings about the new proposed boundary and stated emphatically that they did not wish to move to Indian Territory. Swan also asked that their cattle not be butchered prior to their issue so that some of them could be kept to build up the tribal herd. At the end of the treaty discussions, the commissioners agreed to leave out the provision for the Lakota removal to Indian Territory. The chiefs then came forward, including Swan, and signed the document.16 [What was Swan’s role in the surrenders in 1877?] Swan lived the remainder of life on Cheyenne River Reservation as a vocal spokesman and prominent leader. He expressed deep dissatisfaction over the land negotiations in 1888 that would decrease the size of the reservation. “I don’t want to make trouble,” he commented at one of the councils, “and for the people’s sake shall advise peace.” He traveled to Washington, D.C. with the 1889 delegation to advocate the needs of the tribe, calling for tribal members to be employed at the agency instead of whites and that the contracts for hay, wood and beef be opened to the tribe as well. He asked for more schools on the reservation and called for compensation for the ponies seized by the army in 1876. During the Ghost Dance troubles, he advocated Big Foot’s band be brought in and disarmed.17
Swan married about 1870 [wife’s name?] and had several sons, including Edward (born c1872); Douglas (b. c1877) and James (b. c1881). Following the death of his first wife, he remarried about 1890 to Hinzin (later known as Mary Swan). Swan’s band settled in a community located north of the agency near the mouth of the Cheyenne River. Paul Swan died September 30, 1900.18
SWAN IV Edward Swan (c1872-1934). Paul Swan’s eldest son, Edward, continued in the family role as a Minneconjou leader. Born about 1872 on the Cheyenne River Reservation, he enlisted in the Army’s Indian scouts at Fort Bennett during the Ghost Dance troubles in 1890. Edward Swan attended college and following the death of his father, was looked to as one of the next generation of Minneconjou leaders. In 1904, Ed Swan served as chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe. He traveled to Washington, D.C. several times advocating better conditions for his people, including a trip in 1912. Swan was offered an administrative position in Washington but turned it down to remain at Cheyenne River where he believed he could be most effective. Ed Swan died June 24, 1934.19
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1. Correspondence with author, Mar. 3, 2007.
2. Josephine Waggoner papers, Museum of the Fur Trade.
3. Candace S. Greene and Russell Thornton, The Year the Stars Fell: Lakota Winter Counts at the Smithsonian (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) p. 175-176.
4. Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties, p. 231.
5. Edmund C. Bray and Martha Coleman Bray, Joseph N. Nicollet and the Plains and Prairies: The Expeditions of 1838-39 With Journals, Letters, and Notes on the Dakota Indians (St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1976) p. 260. Raymond J. DeMallie, Jr., “Joseph N. Nicolett’s Account of the Sioux and Assiniboin in 1839,” South Dakota History, vol. 5 (Fall 1975), p. 353.
6. Bruce Brownwolf, correspondence with author. Isaac H. Chase and George M. Platt, “The Missouri River Fur Trade: Thomas L. Sarpy and the Oglala Post,” South Dakota Review, vol. 2 (Spring 1965) pp. 25-39. Mary Pierpoint, “Women of Destiny: Generations of Matriarchs,” part 2. Sarpy’s two daughters later married noted traders Basil Claymore (Clement) and Paul Narcelle.
7. Thaddeus A. Culbertson, “Journal of an Expedition to the Mauvaises Terres and the Upper Missouri in 1850,” Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 147 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1952) p. 136.
8. The Minneconjou chiefs listed were: Brave Bear, Makes Room, White Hollow Horn, Black Shield, Lone Horn and White Swan, with two lesser (“vice chiefs”) also noted, Lame Deer and Fire Thunder. Box 105 Folder 27 p. 38, Campbell Papers; published in: Stanley Vestal, Warpath: The True Story of the fight Sioux Told in a Biography of Chief White Bull (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1934) p. 51. White Bull gave a second list of Minneconjou chiefs similar to this except that Brave Bear was replaced by Flying By and Fire Thunder by Black Moon. This second list may represent the chiefs as of 1866. James H. Howard, The Warrior Who Killed Custer (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1968) p. 31-32. Records Relating to the Investigation of the Fort Philip Kearney (or Fetterman) Massacre, 1866-67 (M740 Roll 1) p. 174-78.
9. Greene and Thornton, The Year the Stars Fell, p. 26-27. When his wife Blue Cloud died in 1903, the family gave the date of her husband’s death as 1877 instead of 1866. This may have been a typographical error when the document was typed up or perhaps recalled in error. At least four sources confirm his death in 1866.
10. Chris Ravenshead, correspondence with Kingsley Bray. Robert Chasing Hawk, correspondence with Bruce Brownwolf. Chasing Hawk recalled joking references between his parents as to the Eat No Dog band but this may have just been in jest.
11. Stanley to Sheridan, Feb. 12, 1870, quote in New York Times, Mar. 8, 1870.
12. Garrick Mallery, “On the Pictographs of the North American Indians,” Fourth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1886) pp. 93-94
13. New York Times, July 8, July 9, July 15, 1870. Koues to CoIA, Dec. 5, 1871, Letters Received by the CoIA (M234 Roll 127 Index 209-215); Bingham to CoIA, Dec. 6, 1872 (ibid., Index 275-282).
14. Cheyenne River Agency census, Jan. 1875, CoIA Letters Received, NA.
15. New York Times, May 19, 1875. Military census, 1876-77, Fort Bennett records, NA. The military census for Sept. 1876 lists Puts on His Moccasins as a “surrendered hostile” followed by a second “hostile” named Makes Him Walk, very possibly another name for Fine Weather (these two individuals are about the same age.) Fine Weather is listed at the agency in Dec. 1876. Finally, a widow named Blue Cloud, possibly Swan II’s wife, is listed as surrendering at Cheyenne River in February 1877. With the exception of Swan, the 1876 register compliments the family oral history that the brothers were with the northern bands at the Little Bighorn.
16. Kappler, Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. Report and journal of proceedings of the commission appointed to obtain certain concessions from the Sioux Indians, Ex. Doc. #9, 44th Congress, 2nd session, p. 63-64.
17. Cheyenne River Agency Census Records, 1886-1900, National Archives. 1900 Federal Census, Cheyenne River Agency (T623 R1555) p. 217a. New York Times, Dec. 13, 1890. Donovin A. Sprague, Cheyenne River Sioux, South Dakota (Arcadia, 2003) p. 30.
18. Mary Swan had been previously married to Two Shields, an Upper Yanktonai from the Standing Rock Agency interviewed by Frances Desmore (Teton Sioux Music, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 61 (1918; reprinted Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1992). Chris Ravenshead, correspondence with Kingsley Bray.
19. Register of Enlistments, Indian Scouts, entry 1555. South Dakota Death Index. Bruce Brownwolf, correspondence with author.
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Post by kingsleybray on Jan 6, 2009 16:22:12 GMT -5
An interesting detail is given by Philip Deloria. He says that Yankton Sioux envoys went out to visit the hostile Teton bands in spring-summer 1867, to try and persuade them to enter treaty negotiations with the USA. Although rejected by Sitting Bull's Hunkpapa village, they met with better success in the Miniconjou village. The Miniconjou chiefs accepted their tobacco, "and as a pledge of good faith, agreed that their chief, White Swan, would come in the following spring as the representative of his tribe to renew with the Yanktons the oath to which his tribe had bound themselves. "On his arrival, White Swan was received most cordially by the Yankton chiefs and urged with great solemnity to remain faithful to the most solemn oath which it was possible for an Indian to take - the oath sworn over the pipe and the bundle of tobacco." Source: Vine Deloria, Jr. SINGING FOR A SPIRIT: A PORTRAIT OF THE DAKOTA SIOUX (Santa Fe: Clear Light Publishers, 1999), pp 205-07.
This visit to the Yankton reservation is spring 1868 by the internal chronology. Swan III later that year moved his camp into the new Cheyenne River agency, significantly augmenting the Miniconjou 'friendly' village (leaders in the period 1855-67: The Hard (aka Kills the First) and Iron Horn).
Interesting that Bruce identified the Eat No Dogs as the family band. All grist for the mill! Does Bruce have any more information on Miniconjou band affiliations?
New Year Best Wishes
Kingsley
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Post by kingsleybray on Jan 6, 2009 16:43:18 GMT -5
KMB conversation with Chris Ravenshead, July 21, 1994. In the period ca. 1900-25 certain men of Cherry Creek District, Cheyenne River Res., performed the function of the old-time Wakichunze (Camp Deciders), including such men as Charley Blue Arm, Owl King, Only Runs After, and two "son of Chief White Swan" - James and Dick Swan. "They would co-ordinate community activities at Cherry Creek. Today similar functions are performed by headmen like Theophile Little Shield (recently deceased); Jerome White Horse (originally from Rosebud); and Burdell Blue Arm. Two of these men are pipe-carriers."
Conversation of Nov. 2, 1994. Chris mentioned an early member of the Red Scaffold community, Cheyenne River Res: Brown Wolf, a Sans Arc of the Tatanka Chesli band.
Maybe related to Bruce Brownwolf?
Kingsley
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Post by ephriam on Jan 6, 2009 23:39:05 GMT -5
Kingsley:
Bruce reviewed the above biographies and suggested a correction to the reference regarding the No Eats Dog band. It was passed along to him as a jest between individuals. I modified my original footnote 10 to reflect that.
ephriam
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Post by oyateunderground on Jan 10, 2009 23:31:02 GMT -5
Thank you all for this information. My grandfather was Abel Swan, son of Walter Swan and Cheyenne Woman
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Post by Dietmar on Jan 11, 2009 5:32:16 GMT -5
Welcome oyateunderground, here´s a photo of Walter Swan and a boy. Is he Abel Swan?
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