Robert P. Higheagle: his name and family

[clarkkimberling]

Robert P. Higheagle (RPH) was an interpreter for Frances Densmore, Walter Stanley Campbell, and others. I am interested in RPH's "place" and hope readers can supplement the following information and correct mistakes.

Name: Robert Placidus Higheagle

Born: 1873(?) in Sitting Bull's Camp, SD

Died: Sept. 21, 1938, at Fort Yates, ND. He was a resident of Little Eagle, SD, at that time.

Father: Martin High Eagle (Huncpapa)

Mother: Mary Leader (Minneconjous)

Wife: Louisa (1876? - 193?)

In the accounts I've seen of Sitting Bull's death, one of the special policemen was High Eagle. Was he RPH's father?

High Eagle, Chief of the Great Council Lodge, was killed in the Reno fight, June 25, 1876, at Little Big Horn. Was this RPH's grandfather?

RPH wrote that "Magpie Eagle and Lone Man are brothers," and possibly RPH was a nephew of Lone Man [John Loneman (1850? -1924?)].

At www.primeau.org/1888/index.html, Chief High Eagle is included in a group picture of U. S. Commissioners and Delegations of Sioux Chiefs Visiting Washington October 15, 1888. He is #31 - here is a closeup:

www.primeau.org/1888/31.png

Is this a picture of RPH's father?

High Eagle is listed as a chief in the 1885 list -

www.primeau.org/StandingRock1885families.html

Was this RPH's father?

Regarding the 1885 list, are the chiefs the ones RPH called "Ration Chiefs"? Here's what he wrote:

Bull Head (the father of the one who killed SB [Sitting Bull]) was a ration chief... These ration chiefs were appointed by McLaughlin. Perhaps he would confer with the members of the band before appointing them.

In RPH's letters in the Campbell Collection, he signed his surname as Higheagle. However, others have written his surname as High Eagle (e.g., "Lakota and Euroamericans: Contrasted Concepts of 'Chieftainship' and Decision-Making Authority," by Catherine Price, Ethnohistory, vol. 41 no. 3 (Summer, 1994) 447-463).

Finally, I've come across a couple of indications that, later in life, Robert P. Higheagle was a judge. Can somone give some details?

Clark

[ephriam]

Good morning, Clark:

Couple of thoughts regarding the questions that you raised.

1. High Eagle killed at Little Bighorn.
According to Richard Hardorff's book on Indian casualties at the Little Bighorn, the only reference to a High Eagle being killed is from Mari Sandoz' book on the battle. I do not know what her original source was. None of the other lists show High Eagle, including a list by David Humphreys Miller to which High Eagle supposedly gave input (Hardorff questions Miller's actual sources, suggesting that most of it is drawn from Walter Campbell.)

2. Ration Chiefs
I think it is not accurate to suggest that all of the "chiefs" listed in the 1885 census were appointed by McLaughlin. As pointed out by Jeffrey Ostler (The Plains Sioux, p. 194) government officials like agents had to work with a contradiction. "On one hand, U.S. officials were dependent on native leaders, at times going so far as to declaring a particular leader 'head chief' of the Sioux nation or one of its subdivisions. On the other hand, the government's goal of assimilation called for the eventual destruction of native political organization." As Standing Rock, McLaughlin needed not only leaders who he could count on for his policies, but leaders who had influence within native communities. I think there was a constant power struggle and at times McLaughlin had to accept certain leaders. He attempted to influence this as much as he could (for example, deposing Running Antelope in 1880 and breaking up Sitting Bull's band into smaller units in 1883). In the end, I think the headmen listed in the 1885 list reflects a combination of both native choices and McLaughlin's efforts.

ephriam

[brentnvicki]

Mr. Miller list Joseph High Eagle in his book. He is a survivor of the Little Big Horn battle not Robert High Eagle. Mr. Miller also painted a portrait of Joseph High Eagle and put together a Reunion of the last survivors at the dedication the Crazy Horse Memorial in 1948. In his book "Custer's Fall" he is pictured on the back with the 8 Survivors including Joseph High Eagle. Chief High Eagle is the gentlemen who is primarily responsible for the Crazy Horse Memorial. He is the gentlemen who contact Mr. Korczak Zió³kowski and commissioned the work on behalf of his people. Also in the American Heritage June 1971 edition there is another picture of Mr. Miller with High Eagle. I also have a family photo of High Eagle with David and his First wife. So when people say they question Millers sources they are mistaken and have done little research. I will be happy to forward you all my pictures. Mr Miller does not list a Robert High Eagle as KIA.

[ladonna]

Wambliwakantuga-Martin High Eagle-Hunkpapa is Robert P. Higheagle's father.

Joesph High Eagle is from Pine Ridge an Oglala.

Martin High Eagle was born in 1846, Wambliwakantuga signed the 1882 so called treaty, he was a appointed chief by the government and not a traditonal chief by the people. He was only a chief a short time about two years. It was only to get the 1882 treay signed, which was illegal without 3/4 signatures.

[clarkkimberling]

Any in-depth study of Robert P. Higheagle and his family should include a portrayal of Robert's father, Martin High Eagle, said to be a "powerful man physically" - indeed, he and another were "chosen to handle the person of Sitting Bull at the time of his arrest." The account is preserved in the following collection at the State Historical Society of North Dakota:

10173 E. D. Mossman
Papers, 1925; 1953
Report to a Congressional Committee concerning the Standing Rock
Reservation, photographs, an affidavit, and correspondence concerning
the murder of Sitting Bull. Superintendent, U.S. Indian Service. (.25ft)

Waukutemani or [Walcott] Shootswalking being duly sworn, desposes and says that he is an Indian allotted on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in SD and that he was a special policeman at the fight on the Grand River in 1890 when Sitting Bull was killed.

He states as follows:

He had orders to meet at the home of Chief of police Bullhead on the Grand River about three or four miles from the camp of Sitting Bull on the night of the Fourteenth of December, 1890. We left Bullhead's place on the morning of December 15, mounted, and rode directly to the camp of Sitting Bull. When within one half mile of his camp, we charged directly on his house.

In accordance with instructions we surrounded his house and Captain Bullhead, Sergeant Shavehead, Little Eagle, Higheagle and Warriors Fear Him entered the house. The remainder of the force were to stand outside, but I was curious to know what was going on and went into the house with the officers. Sittingbull was in bed with one of his wives and was pulled out of bed by Higheagle and Little Eagle. His rifle, which was lying by his bed was taken by Captain Bullhead, and another rifle which was hanging on the wall was taken by Sergeant Shavehead. After Sittingbull was dressed, I was ordered outside and the officers followed almost immediately, with Sitting Bull.

Sittingbull had been brought out about forty yards from the house and was surrounded by a cordon of policemen with the officers in the middle of the enclosed space. There were thirty-four or thirty-five policemen.

By this time it had become somewhat light and we could begin to recognize each other at some distance in the early dawn. The hostiles were running from all directions toward us yelling to kill the policemen either by shooting them or clubbing them to death.

After Sitting Bull saw that his followers were surrounding the police he yelled in a loud voice in Sioux Language, "I will not go, attack, attack." At this time, Catchthebear, a hostile, broke thru the cordon of police and weeping and lamenting demanded that the police turn Sitting Bull loose. Closely following Catchthebear, three other hostiles broke thru the cordon of police, wearing blankets with their rifles concealed under them. As they entered the ring they threw their blankets away and made for the group of officers surrounding Sitting Bull.

Little Eagle was standing at the right of Sitting Bull and Higheagle was at Sitting Bull's left. These two men had been chosen to handle the person of Sitting Bull as they were powerful men physically. They had hold of him and prevented him from getting away. Captain Bullhead stood immediately in front of Sitting Bull facing him and Sergeant Shavehead stood immediately behind Bullhead.

As the hostiles threw away their blankets Catchthebear reached the group of officers first and fired point blank at Captain Bullhead, the bullet striking the officer at about the waistline and passing through his body.

At the same instant Strikes the Kettle shot Sergeant Shavehead. When Captain Bullheard was shot he immediately raised his rifle and shot Sitting Bull. The bullet struck Sittingbull just above the sternum and passed upward and back thru his body, breaking the spinal column where the neck and body join. Where the bullet left the body, it tore a hole about two inches in diameter. Sitting Bull dropped dead. Neither Bullhead nor Shaveshead fell when shot but Sittingbull collapsed at once.

I actually saw these things. The battle then became general and most of the police fell back towards Sitting Bull's barn. Two of us remained where the officers had fallen. I was not hit, but a bullet went thru my hat and was fired at such close range that my neck was burnt by the powder. During the fight it was impossible to observe what was going on but I know the man remaining with me, Broken Arm or Armstrong was killed. Three other police remained beside the house, Badhorse, Lookingelk, and Crossbear. None of them were wounded.

Three of the four hostiles who started the fight were killed. They were Catchthebear, Spottedhorn and Black Bird. Strike the Kettle was wounded but got away and lived for many years after the fight.

While the battle was still in progress, the military detachment from Ft. Yates arrived at the top of the hill and apparently began firing at us. They also discharged a cannon at us twice, the shells falling within a hundred yeards of us and exploding. We sent a policeman with a white flag toward the military and formed in line and marched in twos to let the military know who we were. They then changed their range and fired their cannon in the direction in which the hostiles were retiring. The cannon scattered the hostiles in every direction and the battle was over.

We then found that Bullhead and Shavehead were still alive. As the police came back to the point where the fight started and saw their officers lying mortally wounded and their comrades dead, many of them shot into the body of Sitting Bull. His body was badly mutilated. Swiftcloud, a half brother of Little Eagle, was not a policeman but as he came to the battleground and saw his brother lying dead, he seized a club and beat the head of Sitting Bull into a shapeless mass. Holy Medicine, who was not a policeman but was a brother of Broken Arm, also came to the battle ground and seeing his brother dead, seized a club and beat the remains of Sitting Bull.

Crowfoot was the son of Sitting Bull. He was a young man of seventeen or eighteen at the time and when his father was taken from the house followed at three different times in an effort to get him back in the house. The first two times he [was] sent back to the house but the third time the battle began.

After the battle we carried the dead and wounded into Sitting Bull's house. When we made the third trip for the body of Little Eagle we heard two shots, following a commotion in the house and a voice pleading for mercy. As we came near the house, a body wasburled [was hurled] thru the door. It was Crowfoot. He had hidden under a pile of bedding in the corner of the hut and when found by the officers had been shot by Loneman and Onefeather.

The hostiles killed in the fight were CatchtheBear, Spotted Horn, Black Bird, Jumping Bull, his son Bravethunder and Crowfoot, the son of Sitting Bull. They were buried by Riggs a congregational minister.

There is no question as to who killed Sitting Bull. I saw the Captain of the Police kill him, saw him fall and saw the terrible wound made by the heavy police rifle afterwards. It literally tore the upper part of his chest to pieces.

After cooking our breakfast with the military our dead were loaded into a wagon and the wounded into a military ambulance and we started for Fort Yates. The wounded reached the agency that night but we caped [camped] on Oak Creek near where the town of McLaughlin now stands. The next morning the military proceeded to Fort Yates and we received orders to return to the Grand River and order the hostiles to report to the agency. This we did with those who still remained in that vicinity but most of them had stampeded to Pine Ridge.

Many years have gone by since that fateful morning but the events as I have related them are burned indelibly upon my mind. The ride in the early morning hours, the fenzy [frenzy] and screams of the ghost dancers as they rallied to their leader, thewily [the wily] old medicine man who made every excuse to delay his departure, his change of front when he thought his followers could save him, the bravery of the officers who knew they faced certain death, the death of Crowfoot and the tardy arrival of the military make a picture in my mind that will never be effaced.

(Signed) Wakutemani or Shoots Walking
Subscribed and sworn before me this 6th day of January, 1925.
(Signed) Geo. Peterson
Notary Public.

Although Wakutemani's account is missing from Stanley Vestal's New Source of Indian History, 1850-1891 (University of Oklahoma Press, 1934), Vestal does include two related papers:

No. 29. The Arrest and Killing of Sitting Bull, Told by John Loneman, one of the Indian Police ordered to arrest the Chief. Translated and Recorded by his relative, Robert P. Higheagle.

No. 30. "Note on Crowfoot" by Robert P. Higheagle.

These accounts are of double interest here: as rivals to Wakutemani's account and because the recorder was our main subject, Robert P. Higheagle.

To view No. 29, search Google for the phrase "by his relative, Robert P. Higheagle." Paper No. 30 concludes with these words

It was my relative Loneman told me that it was Crowfoot who urged his father Sitting Bull to resist the Indian Policeman the day the chief was killed... It was like Crowfoot to do that.

Wakutemani's account of the arrest and killing of Sitting Bull is one of several; see, for example, page 205 of

books.google.com/books?id=rfUFZSlW-JAC&pg=PA205&lpg=PA205&dq=%22Who+Killed+Sitting+Bull%22%3F&source=bl&ots=yZI4x2Fbma&sig=wOHd5W5c5XhQma3rr0DzTyjOtVQ&hl=en&ei=5EFHTPGcOcPInAf01Nz4Aw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22Higheagle%22&f=false

In spite of the discrepancies among the accounts, one man's summary applies to them all. The man was the Indian Policeman named Martin High Eagle, and what he said was this: "Well, we have gone to work, and killed our chief."

[gregor]

You will find some correspondence between Walter Stanley Campbell (Stanley Vestal) and Robert P. Higheagle in the Campbell collection of the University of Oklahoma. The source is open, see here

digital.libraries.ou.edu/whc/nam/collection.asp?cID=1224&sID=7

Look for example at position No. 7 "Correspondence with Robert P. Higheagle regarding Higheagle’s interview with the deaf step-son of Sitting Bull" and there is more under the positions 18, 21 and 22.

CU

Gregor

[clarkkimberling]

Thank you, Gregor, for the link to the Campbell collection.

A read-through of Robert Higheagle (RPH) materials in the collection suggests that Campbell, writing as Stanley Vestal, quoted RPH much more extensively in New Sources of Indian History 1850-1891 than in Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux. In the latter, Robert Higheagle's name is missing from the Index, and possibly the only reference to his contributions is at the end of a paragraph in the Indian Informants section of the Acknowledgments.

All of which makes RPH's unpublished notes about Sitting Bull very interesting reading. When reading RPH's notes, it helps to keep in mind something about the organization: that the order probably matches that of Campbell's questions, which do not appear.

Following is a gem written by RPH from Box 113, Folder 10. It is an account of how Sitting Bull got his name. Although the story is well known, one wonders why Campbell did not include this particular version in either of his books.

One of my playmates went by the name of Ben White. We were attending school and in our grammar class we were required to write a story about how some of the Indians got their names. We met SB and asked him how he got his name. He told us when he was a young man he was going out to look for his father's horses and just as he went over a hill he saw a buffalo bull sitting on its haunches. He was afraid and didn't know what to do. He knew very well he couldn't break away from the bull so he stood still and looked at it. The animal began to speak to SB and told him hereafter he was going to be the leader of his tribe and not trying to run away. Of course, I heard this different ways from other people, but he told us this himself. He didn't know it was for our compositions.

It seems likely that RPH's former playmate, Ben White, remained a close acquaintance. For example, in Inyan Woslate Eyapaha, March 1, 2010 (click:)

www.standingrock.org/data/upfiles/news/March_Newsletter%5B1%5D.pdf

we see that Benjamin White and Robert High Eagle were members of the first Standing Rock Tribal Council, which first met 99 years ago. (Do tribal records show all the years that RPH was a member?)

Other members of the first Tribal Council were Thomas Frosted, John Grass, John Tiokasin, and Joseph Claymore. These men (or men with the same surnames), and also [Martin?] High Eagle, appear in a fine formal photo #A7272 owned by the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Does anyone have a copy of this photo with the ten men matched unambiguously to ten names? If not, I'll request permission to post.

While on the subject of photos, in Sitting Bull, Champion of the Sioux, facing page 298 is a photo of 27 men, with caption "SURVIVORS OF THE INDIAN POLICE WHO CAPTURED SITTING BULL, DECEMBER 15, 1890." Does anyone have this photo with names for the images? Which one is Martin High Eagle?

Clark

[gregor]

Hi Clark,
are you looking for this picture?



But I have no names with the exception of Red Tomahawk.

Have a nice weekend!

Gregor

[clarkkimberling]

Thanks, Gregor, for the photo. Both upper corners show quite an assemblage of people and wheels - makes one wonder what other photos D. F. Barry took that day.

Here is more about Robert P. Higheagle, from the Sioux County Pioneer-Arrow, September 23, 1938.

RESERVATION MOURNS DEATH OF PROMINENT INDIAN JUDGE

Robert Higheagle, well known leader on the Standing Rock Reservation, died, Wednesday evening, Sept. 21, at the agency hospital...

Of an old family of chieftains, Robert Placidas Higheagle was 65 years old at time of death. As a boy he attended the boarding school here and finished his education at the Hampton, Virginia, Institute. He was an outstanding pupil, and during his life kept well informed upon the issues of the day. His services as interpreter were in demand and he traveled extensively with Indian chiefs, among whom was the late John Grass. He was chosen representative of his people on numerous trips to Washington. He held many important positions in the service and taught at Little Eagle, Pineridge and for 11 years on Montana reservations. He was president of the Standing Rock Fair Association in 1912, when the first big exposition was held here. He was a musician and fluent speaker in either Sioux or English. During the years when the reservation was opened for settlement by the white people, he was associated with real estate men, and with the McLaughlin State Bank and during the past four years, held the position of Judge at Little Eagle.

In 1893 Robert Higheagle was married to Miss Mary Louise Rabault at Fort Totten, the ceremony performed by the late Father Jerome. His beloved wife preceded him in death several years ago. He is survived by two sons, Robert and Raymond, and one daughter, Mrs. Edmund Many Deeds.

Funeral services were conducted by the Rev. Father Bernard Thursday morning with interment made beside his wife in the Catholic cemetery. The church was filled with friends of the deceased who had known him as a brilliant and hard working member of the Sioux and one who, by his exemplary habits, was ever an influence for the good of his people. The entire reservation mourns the passing of Robert Higheagle.

Although the above article has RPH's wife as Mary Louise Rabault, her death certificate shows Louisa Ribble Higheagle, 1/2 Sioux Indian, born March 15, 1876, at Fort Totten, North Dakota, daughter of Schultz Ribble and Jane Tiyoniya. In census records, Mrs. Higheagle's name is Louisa, not Louise.

The years 1911 and 1912 were very busy for PRH. According to the obituary, he was president of the Standing Rock Fair Association; in previous postings, we've seen that he was a member of the first Tribal Council and that he was Frances Densmore's interpreter.

RPH was a judge in the Court of Indian Offenses, 1934-1938. Can someone describe this Court and how it related to other courts having jurisdiction in the Standing Rock Reservation? What did these judges do, and who were some of the other judges during 1934-1938?

[Dietmar]

Here are two blow-ups I have. I think Eagle Man is standing in left front. Is it Flying By standing in front far right?

[Dietmar]

Here´s a portrait of Robert P. High Eagle:

[Dietmar]

Aug 16, 2010 16:03:44 GMT -5 clarkkimberling said:

Both upper corners show quite an assemblage of people and wheels - makes one wonder what other photos D. F. Barry took that day.

Clark,

I believe this photo was taken at the same day, because it shows the same three men standing in front of the group of police:


Red Tomahawk (center) & Eagle Man (right)


Here´s the full photo with houses and carts:

[grahamew]

Where's the photo of the man with the bonnet from, Dietmar?

[gregor]

Here are 2 Standing Rock delegation photos (around 1914) from SIRIS



The man standing left - behind Antoine DeRockbrain - should be Robert P. Higheagle. Grass is known. Who are the others?
And here's a 2nd one



Now he's sitting in the middle. I hope I got it right - I'm not quite shure. What do you think?

[wolfgang]

Hey Gregor, I have the following info to your pictures:
first one:its not RP Higheagle,he is Iron Eagle, on the right is Iron Cedar. Sitting from left Antoine DeRockbrain, John Grass and Tom Frosted aka White Bear.April 1912,by DeLancey Gill
Second one: Joseph Claymore and once again Tom Frosted.Sitting:Joseph White Plume, Robert P.Higheagle and Antoine DeRockbrain. March 1908, by DeLancey Gill