Mitch Bouyer and Acapore, the Ute Indian

[Mitchell BigHunter]

[herosrest]

Mar 15, 2021 18:46:57 GMT -5 herosrest said:

I can add a little to the understanding of what happened with the image and how it became what it did, depending upon who was confused with how Bouyer looked. Was it his family or E.A. Brininstool?


Link to published image of Acapore, identified as 'MITCH BOUYER, CELEBRATED HALFBREED SCOUT. KILLED WITH CUSTER'S COMMAND. FROM AN OLD PHOTO FURNISHED BY HIS DAUGHTER, MRS. MARY LITTLE NEST, CROW AGENCY, MONTANA, SHOWING BOUYER IN A TRIBAL COSTUME.'

This is at page 115, A trooper with Custer and other historic incidents of the battle of the Little Big Horn.
By E. A. Brininstool published 1925 and one year before the battle's 50th anniversary.

The book is online full view at Hathi Trust .

Ute braves, of the Kah-poh-teh band, Northern New Mexico, in full dress = Photo Lot 90-1, number 230, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution

[rodthomas]

As noted earlier in the thread, Acapore (aka Okapoor, Ahcapotah, etc.) was a member of the Mosche Band, NOT Caputo Band. See, for example, this citation books.google.com/books?id=djlHAQAAIAAJ&pg=RA2-PA8&lpg=RA2-PA8&dq=Ute,+%22Luke+Poor%22,+Ignacio&source=bl&ots=XXLITV5okf&sig=ACfU3U0WzVko6nqiJDFJBlFr2_DCnS_QQA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwit14SCxJHqAhW8CTQIHaYsAOQQ6AEwAHoECAsQAQ#v=onepage&q=Ute%2C%20%22Luke%20Poor%22%2C%20Ignacio&f=false

As I note in my research to be published later this year: "There are two bands of Ute People in the Southern Ute Tribe – Mosche and Capota. Ah-ca pore is listed in this table as Mosche, not Capota. The name on the cards, paintings, and photos is Ahcapore not Ahcapota. Ahcapore – A Capore – etc. does NOT indicate tribal band but rather his name." And, I think I have the answer to the question but further consultation with tribal authorities is yet to be completed that hopefully confirm my thinking.

Regards, Rod Thomas...

[herosrest]

I bumped into the info below, on a different matter. I imagine it is known but surprised me.


From the Heart.... Joe Medicine Crow, quote 'Thomas Asa Laforge was an educated half-blood Crow. He was good on Crow history since the establishment of the reservation. He received much information from his father, Thomas H. Laforge, the White Crow Indian of the book by Thomas B. Marquis. Incidentally, I knew Thomas H. Laforge quite well, as he lived with his daughter Mary Little Neest during his last years. Mr. Little Nest was the brother of my grandfather Medicine Crow.



Medicine Crow's parents seperated while he was a small boy. His mother, One Buffalo Calf, marries Sees the Living Bull, a noted medicine man. From this marriage Medicine Crow had one half brother named Little nest and three half sisters, The Other Beaver, Beaver Place Well-known etc..... etc....

[rodthomas]

It is surprising what one learns when one comes down off last stand hill and becomes aware of the lives of the people other than in the regiment. Uncovering White Swan's life showed that in spades. I hope the biography, due out this coming fall from McFarland Publishing, will encourage more such journeys.

[herosrest]

Mitch Bouyer Relic Heritage Auctions.pdf (190.51 KB)



Source - Little Bighorn: Indian Scout Mitch Bouyer Relic.

[jenny]

Jul 19, 2020 16:30:16 GMT -5 Dietmar said:

Our friend Koos van Oostrom has find new information and photos of Acapore, who for a long time has mistakenly identified as Mitch Bouyer.

This is excellent work, Koos! Thank you for sharing!:



The first mentioning of Acapore is as one of the 253 Southern Ute chiefs and warriors that signed the 1888 treaty.
In the list, his indian name is spelled Ah-ca-pore, his English name was Luke Poor, he was a member of the Moache band. At that time, he was 35 years old - which makes his year of birth 1853.


So after all is said and done, IS there a photo anywhere of the real Mitch Bouyer? I heard from over at the Little Bighorn Alliance site that perhaps a Bouyer relative is on this site now and again. I'm working on a portrait series (small paintings) and I'd like to at least get hold of a photo of one of Bouyer's children for a reference - if not a photo of the scout himself.  Thanks!

Jenny

[jenny]

Feb 3, 2019 19:51:38 GMT -5 dedelen171 said:

Sept 22, 2013 17:13:59 GMT -5 dandmforever said:

My husband's grandmother was Mollie Rosebud Bouyer. Her father was George Bouyer, who was known to be a son of Mitch Bouyer and Magpie Outside. Mollie knew her grandmother, Magpie (Mary), and she knew that her grandfather was Mitch. We can't find any records of George as their son, but we know through the family that he was sent to Alabama by his family as a child and adopted to protect him from extermination. Does anyone have any records of his birth or anything showing his parents as Mitch and Magpie???

dandmforever are you on Ancestry? Send me your email at [e-mail] and I will share any pics I have of the Bouyers, etc. George W. Bouyer and many of his descendants are buried at Everygreen cemetery in Elba, Al in Coffee Co. A I said my daughter in law's great grandpa was George's son Duke Drafton Bouyer. One of George's great grandsons was killed iin Viet Nam in 1969. Another one named Mitchell, who said on his FB page his real father wsa Mitchell Bouyer, grandson of Mitch Bouyer, moved to California and he and his sons and theri family's still live out there. I and one of them are friends on Facebook. I have recently asked about the Mitch Bouyer connection but he has not gotten back to me.

My daughter in law did he Ancestry DNA thing he other day and should get the results in a few weeks. We are excited about what the results will show. Not only her blood lines but also dna mathed family like the Bouyers, etc.  Here is a pic of your husband's grandmother Molly Rosebud Bouyer. Not sure if you had. She was Mitch Bouyer's granddaughter, born in Elba, Al ai think in 1893 and died in 1971 in Orlando, Fla. . Of curse I can't post it. You can only do it from a URL but not upload from you computer. How backward this site is.

Hello! Are you willing to share photos of the Bouyer family via private email? If so I'd love to see them. I'm working on a portrait series of everyone killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn.
Let me know. Thanks!
J

[jenny]

As an aside to all of this, I met a man from Alaska on 6-25-2023 wandering around the Little Bighorn Battlefield cemetery whose mission in life is to research Mitch Bouyer and get to the bottom of whether his image exists anywhere. He mentioned a group photo that contains Iron Bull (?). Anyone ever hear of this photo?

Jenny

[Dietmar]

Hi Jenny, I know a couple of group pictures with Iron Bull, but there is no chance they also show Mitch Bouyer. If there is another photo, I have never seen it.

[rodthomas]

Mary Little Nest, Boyer's daughter, was born late 1874. He was killed in mid-1876. She died in 1943. Brininstool did not publish "the photo" until 1952. Brininstool was at 50th battle anniversary in 1926. Third level details: Mary Little Nest spoke "almost no" english. Brininstool's book, "A Trooper with Custer" published in 1925 with several reprints/editions until "new" version "Troopers With Custer" was published in 1952 with "photo" for first time anywhere. Now to get to the "fourth level details."

Scouts Out...HHHYYYOOOHHH!