Men of the 7th Cav

[david]

In talking to my wife's Uncle, he informed us that his Grand Father's brother Joe Bissonette was a member of the 7th Cav. Can anyone point me in the right direction> Where I might find a listing of the members of the 7th. Joe's last known place was in Missouri, 1867...

Thanks David

[Diane Merkel]

David,

I just found him in 1868. He is listed as an Interpreter and attested the Oglala "signatures" on the Fort Laramie Treaty on May 25, 1868. You can see a transcription of the treaty at www.lbha.org/Research/lara68.htm. Go down to the "Attest" section beneath the second group of Indian names -- about midway down the page -- and you'll find him.

I hope others will provide additional information.

Diane

[david]

Thank you

[ephriam]

David:

Do you have any more information about your relative? As Diane pointed out, there is a famous fur trader named Joseph Bissonette, born in St. Louis in 1818, who married into the Oglala and spent the larger part of his adult life in the west. He died on the Pine Ridge Reservation in 1894. With additional information, we could determine if this is the same individual.

There is a detailed biography of Joseph Bissonette by John McDermott in: LeRoy R. Hafen, The Mountain Men and the Fur Trade of the Far Weest: Biographical Sketches of the Participants pp. 49-60. A portrait of Bissonette appears in Charles E. Hanson Jr. and Veronica Sue Walters, "The Early Fur Trade in Northwestern Nebraska," Nebraska History (vol. 57 no. 4 Fall 1976) p. 1.

Hope this helps.

ephriam

[david]

thanks, I will do some more checking with the Uncle...