Identification of Indians

[grahamew]

On the Nebraska History website, there's this photo of Julius Meyer, interpreter and trader, with three men. The men labelled Spotted Tail and Pawnee Killer are clearly misidentified and I'm not sure about Iron Bull. Can anyone identify them?

Thanks.

[grahamew]

Just for good measure, here's Meyer again; this time Spotted Tail is definitely present, along with Red Cloud, Swift Bear and the Oglala Sitting Bull, in a photo taken in Omaha in 1875 by Frank Currier.

This second picture is the more formal one for the occasion. Note the absence of Louis Bourdeaux and William Garnett and how much more prominent Meyer is in his beaded and fringed shirt! I guess he was on his home ground...

[Dietmar]

Grahame,

someone must have thought he could sell more photographs by putting all this false information on that first picture. The only correct name is that of Julius Meyer!

I assume the photo must have been made in 1872, because the indians here all appear part of that famous delegation to Washington in 1872, photographed by Alexander Gardner.

from left to right:
Julius Meyer, The-One-Who-Runs-the-Tiger, Bald Eagle, Gassy
(all four indians were part of the Brule Sioux delegation)

You can check back all identifications by going through the Gardner photos at SIRIS.

The identifications of the other photos on the Nebraska History website (see John G. Bourke photos) are also confused!

Best wishes
Dietmar

[grahamew]

Thanks, Dietmar. Just checked the site. Should've done so first...

[ephriam]

Dietmar is correct in the identification of the Brule in the 1872 image by Currier.

The other two Frank F. Currier images posted were taken on May 13, 1875 in Omaha as the Oglala delegation was on its way to Washington D.C. We have a diary that describes the event. In Washington, there were at least two known photographs taken of the entire delegation, including Lakota headman from Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Agencies outside the Patent Office.

In regards to the four Bourke stereoview posted on the NSHS site, the first one is Little Hawk, uncle of Crazy Horse. On the back of the original image in the NSHS archives, Mari Sandoz attempts to refute the identification, noting that the individual is the Northern Cheyenne Little Wolf. However, we now have considerable evidence to support the original identification. The last photograph is of Iron Crow. Three of the photographs are by D.S. Mitchell, fall of 1877; the fourth one, of Spotted Tail's daughter, is actually by James H. Hamilton, also fall 1877. It was later reprinted by Mitchell and his company in Omaha.

ephriam

[Dietmar]

I guess you know it, but the second photo is of Laban Little Wolf, the nephew of the famous Northern Cheyenne chief of the same name.

www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/treasures/bourke_photos.htm

Dietmar

[ephriam]

Thank you, Dietmar. I forgot to add that to my message. If anyone is interested in a comparison of this Little Wolf's portrait with other photographs, see:

Roberts, Gary L. “In Search of Little Wolf: A Tangled Photographic Record,” Montana The Magazine of Western History, v. 28 no. 3 (July 1978) p. 54-57.

e

[grahamew]

Here's an Indian identified as Spotted Tail (but I'm afraid I've lost the web address...); clearly, it's not, so who is it? Anyone any ideas?

[grahamew]

And here's someone identified only as a Sioux scout. I took this from an auction site and when I get a minute I'll modify this post and give the website address.



Does anyone know who it is?

[Dietmar]

I have seen the photos, but unfortunately I have no more information. Maybe next time !

Dietmar

[buffaloman]

The man with the upside-down rifle is an Arapaho named Big Cow or "Small Cow Heap". I think this is a Chamberlain or Duhem Brothers photograph, but he was also photographed by Will Soule. Big Cow was reportedly the slayer of Major Elliot at the Washita. I'll see if I can attach a comparison.

-Bob

[crzhrs]

Doesn't appear the type of person one wants to meet in a dark alley . . .

[grahamew]

Thanks; I'd seen him before too - the photo on the right - just couldn't remember where. I had it in my head he was Stumbling Bear - until I found a photo of him!

[Dietmar]

All:

I have been wondering about the identification of these three indian delegates for quite a while. The photo is from SIRIS. I would guess that it could be made in the 1870s (1875?) in Washington. Most probably the indians are Sioux.
Does anyone know more?

Thank you
Dietmar

[glenbow]

The man kneeling on the left looks like the Brule Chief Two Strike, although I don't recognize the other two. Despite the words "Rain-In-The-Face" that are written beside the man standing, he doesn't resemble any photographic image that I have seen of the famous Hunkpapa warrior who bore that name.