Sioux Delegation of 1870

[kingsleybray]

this was an Oglala headman who had two names, Little Bear (Mato Cikala), and Grass (Pezi). The translations have got switched around.

[Dietmar]

So it is the same Grass who was at Fort Laramie in 1868 that went with Red Cloud to Washington in 1870, isn´t he?



Grass, Oglala by Alexander Gardner, 1868

[Dietmar]

Some details on the Oglala delegates:
(names are highlighted in bold letters)

"Red Cloud" and His Retainers at the Capital.
The morning papers noted the arrival at
Washington late yesterday of "Red Cloud" and
his companions. The following are the eupho
nious Indian names of the party, with their
English rendering: -
Makh-pi-ai-lu-tah, alias Red Cloud; Shun-kah-lu-tah,
alias Red Dog; Mon tah-o-he-te-kah, alias Brave Bear;
Pah-gee, alias Little Bear; Mon-ta-zia, alias Yellow Bear;
Makh-to-u-tah-kah, alias Sitting Bear; Makh-to ha-she-nah,
alias Bear Skin; Sha-ton-sa-pah, alias Black Hawk;
Shunk-mon-e-too-ha-ka, alias Long Wolf; Me-wa-kohn,
alias Sword : Ko-te-pah, alias Afraid ; Ke-cha-ksa-e-un
tah, alias The One That Runs Through; Ke-ya-lu-tah,
alias Red Fly ; En-ha-ma-to, alias Rock Bear; Mena-to-no-ou-
jah, alias Living Bear; Ock-le-he-lu-tah, alias Red
Shirt.
Of the female Sioux, there were only four representatives,
as follows: Dah-sa-no-we, alias The White Cow
Rattler, wife of Sword; Wa-ge-uh-ha, alias Thunder Skin,
wife of The One That Runs Through ; E-da-zit-chu, alias
Sans Arc Woman (the Woman Without a Bow), wife of
Yellow Bear; Ma-ko-cha-wy-un-tah-ker, alias the World
Looker, wife of Black Hawk.
Red Cloud is now, and has been for more than twenty
years, the Head Chief of the Sioux Nation. He (as are all
the others) is of the Ogalalla tribe, and has a remarkable
history. He is fifty-three years old, and has been engaged
in eighty seven battles, in which he has received a great
many wounds, none of them, however, of very serious
nature. These battles have been with the Pawnees,
Snakes, Black Feets, Utes, Crows, and Omahas. In a
battle which occurred thirty-three years ago, when he was
one of the youngest of the braves, he was engaged with a
party of 125 warriors of his tribe, only 25 of whom escaped
death. He was wounded twice, and so distinguished him-
self for bravery that he was made a chief, as a reward for
his gallantry and prowess. From that time he rapidly
rose in rank, until he obtained the eminent position which
be holds to-day. He is looked upon by his people as one of
the greatest warriors that ever wielded the death-dealing
tomahawk, while in the councils his sagacity and eloquence
have gained for him not only the admiration and respect,
but the implicit obedience, of all his subjects.
Red Dog is the next chief in rank to Red Cloud, and
one who presents a much more striking appearance at
first sight. He, too, has distinguished himself in many
battles, and wields a powerful influence among his tribe.
Red Shirt is the head Chief of the White Sash band, con-
sisting of 300 braves. He is twenty seven years old, has been
wounded twice in battle, and is said to be one of the
most daring of his fellows. Long Wolf is also a chief of
the same band, and carries three or four ugly-looking
scars as tokens of his prowess. Black Hawk is also a
prominent chief, whose record as a brave warrior is
second to none of his companions, except the great Red
Cloud. He has been wounded in battle three times. The
above are the most prominent of the chiefs. All of them,
however, have made their mark in the unwritten wars of
the savages, and have, by deeds at which most white men
would shrisk from in terror, earned the honors which
that nation has conferred upon them.
John Richard, whose name has been connected with
most of the Indian outrages for the past few months, and
who has been termed the "renegade half-breed," is with
the party. He is well known in Omaha, having resided
there for several months, something more than a year
ago. He is twenty-seven years of age, and is only one-
quarter Indian blood.
It is claimed that he is entirely guiltless of the charges
which have been made against him, and it is through his
influence that the Red Cloud and his followers were in-
duced to enter upon the mission of peace to the National
Capital. Richard is looked upon by the Indians as an ex-
traordinary man, and his influence among them, for good
or evil, is conceded to be second only to that of their
Chief. He has been outlawed eight months, and now goes
under protection of his tribe to the seat of government.
What will be done in his case will be developed at the
close of the coming conference. He is charged with the
murder of a corporal about eight months ago. He is a
man of considerable intelligence, speaking the Sioux lan-
guage with great fluency, and has more than an ordinary
common school education.

[The evening telegraph (Philadelphia), June 02, 1870]

[kingsleybray]

yes, Dietmar, it is the same Grass who signed the 1868 treaty and was photographed there by Gardner -- thanks for the nice cropped detail. He was wounded by troops in an altercation at Platte Bridge in 1864. He was photographed much later with Little Wound and Big Road. At Pine Ridge he seems to have regularly served as one of the tribal heralds or criers (eyapaha). He settled in Porcupine District.

[grahamew]

[Dietmar]

At a meeting with Secretary of the Interior Cox at the Indian Office in Washington on June 8. 1870, Little Bear aka Grass made a short speech:

"After Red Cloud concluded, Little Bear made a short speech complaining of bad treatment by soldiers and others while he was engaged in farming operations. Several of his young men, he said, were shot while out hunting, and that ended his corn raising. He reiterated the main features and complaints of Red Cloud´s speech."
[New York Tribune, June 8., 1870]

In other articles his name seems to had been (incorrectly) translated as "Bear-in-the-Grass".



Btw, Brave Bear, another 1870 Oglala delegate, according to his own statement in the newspapers was seventy-five years of age in 1870, and so possibly the eldest Lakota of the whole trip.

[Dietmar]

Here we have another list of the 1870 Oglala delegates:
The New York Herald wrote on June 19., 1870, that Red Cloud and his following arrived in New York City and stayed at the St. Nicholas Hotel.

“The entire suite once at the St. Nicholas Hotel, General Smith walked up to the hotel register and wrote their names in a large bold hand, as follows:-

General John E. Smith, U.S.A.
Mr. Douglass
R.G. Beauvais
W.G. Bullock
John Richard
J. McClusky, interpreter
Red Cloud
Red Dog
Brave Bear
Little Bear
Yellow Bear
Sitting Bear
Bear Skin
Black Hawk
Tall Wolf
Long Wolf
Sword
Brave
Afraid
Red Fly
Rock Bear
He Crow
Living Bear
Red Shirt
Four Squaws.”
[The New York Herald, June 15, 1870, Page 7]

Note that Tall Wolf – as mentioned earlier in this thread – is better known as High Wolf.
He Crow hasn´t been mentioned before as a member of the delegation.

[grahamew]

Just had an interesting email from Mike Cowdrey re: Red Feather:







"Note that in the Guerney portrait he is wearing on a cord around his neck a photographic card with a portrait of U.S. Grant, very likely presented to the chief by President Grant, himself, during the visit to the White House earlier the same week. On the outward journey in 1870, Red Feather had also been photographed by John H. Hamilton, in Sioux City.

This was Red Feather's second visit to the Capital. He had been photographed there in 1851, by the McLees Studio."

Have to say, I never made the connection but it seems obvious once it's pointed out!

Thanks, Mike.

[kingsleybray]

The 1870 Sans Arc delegate listed as Red Feather: that's a truncation of his full name, Wambli Pehin Luta, Red Tail Eagle, or War Eagle with a Red Tail. He also had a second name, Burnt Face (Ite Gu). He belonged to a sub-band of the Sans Arcs called Keze-ti, Barb Lodge. A keze is a barb, as on an arrow. I am working on where Kezeti fits in the tribal circle. See the Tribal Circles part of this site. I have a hunch, but am hoping to nail some more information on this important man imminently.

In July 1851 many northern Lakotas gathered near Fort Pierre before departing to attend treaty talks on the North Platte river. They selected four men to act as Wakicunze, Deciders, who would lead the long journey and then take a lead role in the treaty councils. Red-Tailed Eagle was the man chosen to represent the Sans Arc. He went on to Washington after the treaty was signed - hence the McLees Studio picture brought to grahamew's attention by Mike Cowdrey.

Funny I have just been transcribing some 1867 council minutes and Red Tail Eagle mentioned that he would have gone to Washington with the delegation from Fort Sully earlier in that year - but he was very ill, almost dying in his account, and had to remain at home. However he went with the Cheyenne River delegation in 1870 as we see from the previous posting. After the treaty of 1868 he established a permanent community along Chantier creek (btw Cheyenne and Bad river), where he took an active role in planting corn.

He was an important guy. He was related to the Sans Arc Crow Feather dynasty in some way. Crow Feather (c. 1797-1858) was the grandson of an earlier Red Tail Eagle (tabled by Lewis & Clark as a Saone chief in 1804). I am trying to work out the family and band connections. I have found that Crow Feather belonged to the Tatanka Cesli (Bull Dung) band of Sans Arcs. Hopefully more to follow on this topic.

[Dietmar]

Wow, how did we miss that all these years?

Thanks to Mike!

20 years lie between the pictures. I think most evidence suggests it's the same person. Great!


Please note that there is more info on Read Tail Eagle / Red Plume /Red Feather and an additional 1851/52 picture here:

amertribes.proboards.com/thread/893/plains-delegation-1851-52

[kingsleybray]

Following on from my posting of June 1st, I have been able to glean important new information on the tribal background of Red Tail Eagle (aka Burnt Face). He belonged to the Sans Arc tiyospaye called Mazpegnaka, Metal Hair Ornaments. His own sub-band was called Barb Lodge, Keze-ti. We have a thread within the Sans Arc page of this site devoted to Mazpegnaka, which will need to be updated to take cognizance of this new fact.

The 1875 census taken at Cheyenne River Agency shows Burnt Face's band as 26 families/lodges. This is probably inflated. His part of Mazpegneka was consistently identified with the peace party or 'friendly' part of the Sans Arcs, from at least 1865. In 1869 it settled along Chantier creek, a west tributary of the Missouri downstream from Cheyenne river. He encouraged his band to start planting gardens in the same year. Another part of the band was identified with non-treaty, 'hostile' elements of the Lakota.

[Dietmar]

This article discloses the names of additional persons who were with the 1870 Cheyenne River delegates in Washington:

"On Saturday another delegation of Sioux Indians from the mouth of the Cheyenne river arrived in our city under the guidance of Major George H. Randall, U.S.A., and Basil Claymore and Paul Nincelli, interpreters. The party consists of White Swan, aged thirty-two; Four Bears, aged thirty-five; Pretty Bear, aged forty-one; Black Tomahawk, aged thirty; Red Feather and Running Bull; all are chiefs except Pretty Bear and Black Tomahawk."
The Evening Telegraph, July 11, 1870

[Dietmar]

This is probably Paul Narcelle, the father of Narcisse Narcelle,isn´t it?

[kakarns]

I'm no expert Dietmar but, yes..., that was my first thought too concerning, the spelling of, Narcelle.

[Dietmar]

Wow!

I was searching for photos of Mathew Brady in the web and look what turned up...

This is for me personally one of the greatest finds in a long time. I´m totally thrilled...

...a second picture taken by Mathew Brady of the 1870 Oglala delegation:

www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/286261

I think we have to discuss the identifications, because they differ from the previous group photo.