Sans Arc History
The Sans Arcs, 1850-1870
by Kingsley M. Bray
In 1850 Thaddeus Culbertson observed that the Sans Arc (Itazipcho, or Without Bows) division of the Teton Lakota, consisted of three bands:
1. Sans Arc proper chief: Crow Feather
2. Minisa chief: Lazy Bear
3. Ham Eaters chief: Medicine Man
This is probably a new Crow Feather II, son to the first who was active in the period 1815-40.
At this time the Sans Arcs were rated at about 1000 people, one of the smaller of the seven Teton tribal divisions. Their hunting range was to the north and east of the Black Hills, extending east to the Missouri River. They claimed the same lands as the Miniconjou. By this period they also enjoyed a close link to the Hunkpapa, often hunting and travelling with Hunkpapa hosts in the country north of Grand River. I detect a pattern of generational shifts across the period 1750-1875, with the Sans Arcs alternately enjoying their prime relationship with:
a) the Miniconjou, frames 1750-85; 1815-45.
b) the Hunkpapa, frames 1785-1815; 1845+.
I wonder if this is connected to the succession of Calf Pipe Keepers, reflecting the affiliations, marriages, etc. of individual Keepers. My provisional list of Keepers' dates for this period is as follows:
Elk Head I, ca. 1815-46 (noted by Catlin, 1832; Nicollet, 1839; death noted in ---- winter count)
Hollow Horn, 1846-76/7 (noted by Gen. Harney, 1855)
Elk Head II, 1877-1915
During the period 1850-80 up to eight bands made up the Sans Arc tribe (chiefs as period 1865-80):
1. Itazipco-hca, Sans Arc Proper
2. Minisa, Red Water (Black Hawk?)
3. Sina-luta-oin, Red Cloth Ear-ring (Black Eagle)
4. Woluta-yuta, Ham Eaters (Blue Coat)
5. Mazpegnake, Metal Hair Ornaments (Brown Thunder)
6. Tatanka-cesli, Bull Dung (Spotted Eagle, Red Bear, Looks Up)
7. Siksicela, Bad Ones (Elk Head, Martin Charger)
8. Tiyopa-ocannumpa, Pipe at Door
A number of Sans Arc bands are listed by Josephine Waggoner, but not reported elsewhere, as follows:
Waggoner list — KMB transl. — Remarks
Wipasabyote — Many Black-Topped Tipis ?— Miniconjou
Sunka-yutesni — Eat No Dogs — Miniconjou
Tiyopa-sa-yuha — Owns Red Door ?=Pipe at Door
Lejeglatkan — Drink Own Urine — Miniconjou 1850
Oohe-nompa — Two Kettle
Owesica ? — Bad Wound
In 1855 Harney noted two main Sans Arc chiefs, Crow Feather II and Hollow Horn - the latter the Calf Pipe Keeper until Elk Head assumed the keepership in 1877. The Sans Arc chiefs recognized by Harney in 1856 were:
1. Crow Feather II
2. Big Brain
3. Grass Dog
4. Yellow Hawk I
5. Bull Man
6. Red-Tailed Eagle II (Burnt Face)
7. Black Magpie
8. The Wear Out
9. The One That Leaves Alone
10. The High One
Hayden, ca. 1857, tabulated two Sans Arc bands, the Minisa, rated at 80 lodges and led by Crazy Heart; and the Plenty Horses (not subsequently noted), 75 lodges, led by Crow Feather. The Minisa were more identified with the eastern end of the Sans Arc range, within the mainstem Missouri valley; while the nickname Plenty Horses indicates a more westerly distribution, with access to the horse trade region south and west of the Black Hills. This band therefore had closer links, through Upper Miniconjou relatives, to Southern Teton trade partners.
Crow Feather died in 1858. His son was then eighteen years old, and although his father's certificates and papers were bequeathed to Crow Feather III, he was not recognized as a chief until October 1865, when he signed the Fort Sully treaty.
During the period 1856-65 the Northern Teton bands were polarised into anti- and pro-U.S. factions. In summer 1858 the Northern Tetons were angry at news of the Yankton land cession, and the Sans Arcs in particular were said to be "in open hostility to the U.S." (CoIA AR 1858: SDHC XXVII, p. 245). In fall 1860 Agent Twiss reported from the Upper Platte that the Sans Arcs and the Hunkpapas, although their chiefs and headmen remained in favour of the U.S. alliance, were controlled by young men - probably chapters of the Strong Heart society. In 1862 (ibid p. 299) "the portion of the Sans Arcs who were opposed to intercourse with the Government" assassinated Hunkpapa head chief Bear Ribs. The alternating year pattern is strongly suggestive of a warrior society - surely the Strong Hearts - being elected to police duties on a one-year on, one-year off basis.
It may be that the last four Shirt Wearers recognized by the Sans Arcs:
• Black Eagle — Scarlet Cloth Earring band — born 1829
• Blue Coat — Ham Eaters band
• Looks Up — Bull Dung band
•Elk Head— Siksicela band — born ca. 1825
were seated at this time (Sun Dance 1860?). None of these men was a Harney chief or later associated with the agency, suggesting an alternative non-treaty leadership. Perhaps the 1858 death of Crow Feather II contributed to this situation.
Among the Sans Arc (and Hunkpapa) these factional divisions were mapped onto the existing west-east band dichotomy outlined above. We can detect ideological shifts by families and perhaps tiyospayes, however. Thus the keepership of the Calf Pipe ran in a family within the Minisa band, at the eastern, or pro-US end of the Sans Arc distribution. In 1832 and 1839 Elk Head (Keeper 6: ca. 1810-ca. 1850) had been named as a Sans Arc chief, and was doubtless the contemporary Keeper. In 1855 Harney noted Hollow Horn (Keeper 7: ca. 1846-77) as the next chief in this dynasty, but he is absent from the ten Sans Arc leaders recognized by Harney the following year. This suggests that Hollow Horn was disenchanted with the tribal council's bid to appease Harney. Elk Head lived in the Siksicela band (married-in?) when he was made a Shirt Wearer (1860's?). Conversely Crow Feather III, after being made a chief in 1865, gradually switched allegiance to the eastern, pro-US bands.
A small Sans Arc faction, stated to be only 26 lodges in 1865, continued to accept annuities after the crisis of 1862 (when 'hostile' Sans Arc warriors assassinated Bear Ribs, the Hunkpapa leader of the Teton peace faction). In September 1862 the friendly Yanktonai and Teton gathered at Fort Pierre, the Sans Arcs being represented by Yellow Hawk I and Red-Tailed Eagle II. The former was married to Julia Deloria/Des Lauriers, the daughter of a Frenchman and a Dakota woman. Charger (born ca. 1833), of the Siksicela band of Sans Arcs, was a leading man in this camp, a co-founder of the Fool Soldiers, a pro-U.S. akicita force drawn from the Sans Arc and Two Kettle 'friendly' contingent.
At Fort Sully, October 11, 1865, the treaty commission met the Sans Arcs in council. Two chiefs were present, Red Tailed Eagle and Dog Grass [Grass Dog in Harney list of chiefs], plus several warriors. They said that in their camp, i.e., the main 'friendly' camp of Sans Arcs, were present Big Head [Big Brain in Harney list] and Yellow Hawk. Crow Feather was dead and his son was not yet a chief. Of the Harney chiefs, Bull Man, Black Magpie, The Wear Out, The One that Leaves Alone, and High One, are not mentioned at all. They mention one unnamed chief (Yellow Hawk?) who started out with them, but who had to turn back because his horse was injured. Therefore it looks as if most of the unnamed chiefs are to be identified with the 'hostile' faction in 1865. They also state that the Sans Arcs had six bands, but also mention eight "head chiefs", plus another fourteen "soldiers" who were counted among the (total of twenty-two) chiefs. Since Harney recognized ten chiefs, including the late Crow Feather II, it may be that one more of the Harney chiefs had died too, resulting in the eight chiefs mentioned.
Also present on October 11 were the following warriors:
Afraid of Bear (head soldier) (man of this name in lodge next but one to Burnt Face 1871, so probably Red-Tailed Eagle's head soldier)
Black Dog (soldier) (man of this name in Black Hawk's band 1875)
Bull Eagle (soldier)
Black Woodpecker (warrior)
Crow Eagle (warrior: Oglala who lives with Sans Arcs)
On October 20, three chiefs signed the treaty:
1. Red-Tailed Eagle
2. Yellow Hawk (now present)
3. Fool Dog.
Red-Tailed Eagle stated that he represented 26 lodges of Sans Arcs that accepted annuities under the 1851 Treaty, and that among them were eight soldiers then present. It looks as if the above three chiefs were all headmen of a single band, which I suggest is the Sans Arc proper band. Possibly Fool Dog is the same man as Dog Grass. Six (nb. not eight) "chief soldiers" also signed (note they do not overlap with the warriors present on the 11th):
Bear's Heart
Afraid of Nothing (man of this name in Hurts Himself's band 1875; man of this name also in Straight Head's band, 1876 Reg.)
Nine (man of this name in Black Eagle's band, Red Cloth Earrings, 1875)
Bear's Ears (Yellow Hawk I's son)
Black Hoop
Bird Necklace (Yellow Hawk's band)
Later Crow Feather III [born ca. 1840] arrived and, now noted as a chief, he participated in the council of October 28. With him were Gray Hair [born 1816, rated chief 1875], Red Hair, Eagle Shield, and Black Bear (status undefined), all of whom added their marks to the treaty.
Winter 1865-66, 20 lodges of Sans Arcs camped near Fort Sully.
On June 7, 1866 45 Sans Arc lodges were at Fort Sully for new talks with the treaty commission, chief Yellow Hawk. Note, however, that when substantive talks opened on June 11, Burnt Face and Yellow Hawk both spoke for the Sans Arcs. On June 21 the commission met more chiefs at Fort Rice, including three lodges of Sans Arcs, chief Angry Heart.
Winter 1866-67, 38 lodges of Sans Arcs camped near Dirt Lodges above old Fort Sully. This would be the Peoria Bottom location later settled by the Yellow Hawk tiyospaye. Several Sans Arc leaders went to Washington early in 1867, inc. Yellow Hawk, Red-Tailed Eagle and Charger. Yellow Hawk and Red-Tailed Eagle were at Fort Sully June 1867. Burnt Face (aka Red-Tailed Eagle) was at Fort Sully in March, 1868, indicating that his band had wintered 1867-68 nearby, as did key 'friendly' players such as Grass (Sihasapa), Iron Horn (Miniconjou), and Long Mandan (Two Kettle). Most of these bands planted at Little Bend in May 1868.
The 1868 treaty was signed at Fort Rice by four Sans Arc leaders:
1. One that has Neither Horn
2. Red Plume (i.e. Red-Tailed Eagle II)
3. Yellow Hawk
4. No Horn.
In July 1869 46 Sans Arc lodges were enrolled at Cheyenne River, including chief Burnt Face (Red-Tailed Eagle); 5 lodges were at Grand River Agency. In August 1869 Col. Stanley reported that one-third of the Sans Arcs was “peaceable”, equivalent to ca. 65 lodges; the remaining two-thirds (130 lodges) were “hostile”. In November 1869 Crow Feather and 20 lodges were at Grand River Agency, and issued 7 days' rations on Nov. 5. In November 1871 90 Sans Arc lodges were tallied at Cheyenne River Agency, including Burnt Face and Fool Dog. (Note that Fool Dog was tallied as a Sans Arc headman, with 5 lodges, at Spotted Tail Agency, winter 1873-74.) This means that, assuming a total Sans Arc population of 195 lodges (as in 1870), in excess of 100 Sans Arc lodges were elsewhere. In September 1871 the Grand River agent reported that 120 lodges of Sans Arcs were then (visiting) at his agency. In 1873 Grand River (now removed to Standing Rock) continued to report the presence of visiting Sans Arcs.
After 1868 Yellow Hawk's tiyospaye was at Peoria Bottom. Note that Harney had had some warehouses and cabins erected at Peoria Bottom during the winter of 1868-69, intending to locate an agency there. When this plan was scrapped, Yellow Hawk was given one of the cabins, which was still standing in 1951. Yellow Hawk died ca. 1870, to be succeeded by his son Yellow Hawk II (born ca. 1844), who was supported by his younger brother Bear Ears. This tiyospaye was successfully missionised by the Riggs mission which established itself at Oahe, farming successfully. They formed the core of the 'progressive' faction of Sans Arcs.
— Kingsley Bray
Kingsley:
I wonder about the leaders of the Bull Dung band of Sans Arc. You have listed three headmen: Spotted Eagle, Red Bear and Looks Up.
This is based on two pieces of evidence. Spotted Eagle and Red Bear are mentioned in the Sept. 1876 letter (which you recently shared) in which these two men are referred to as leaders of the Buffalo Bull Dung Band. You wondered whether this was a reference to the specific Sans Arc tiyospaye or perhaps a generic term intended to refer to the Sans Arc in general. The assignment of Looks Up to this band is based on a 1931 interview with Afraid of Enemy in the Mekeel field notes.
I should point out however that in 1880, Spotted Eagle and Red Bear surrendered together at Fort Keogh with a large number of Sans Arc. Meanwhile, Looks Up appears to have surrendered at Fort Buford with Circle Bear. I am working from the assumption that the various Lakota bands surrendered together as bands during the 1880-81 period. But here we have an instance where Looks Up is not with Spotted Eagle and Red Bear.
Second: Spotted Eagle and Red Bear were transferred with a group of Sans Arc to the Cheyenne River Agency late in the summer of 1881 while the other Sans Arc remained at Standing Rock, including Looks Up. In fact, he is the only one of these three leaders who appears in the Sitting Bull Surrender Census. Looks Up was later transferred to Cheyenne River with the remaining Sans Arc in the spring of 1882. Here is a second instance where these three leaders and their followers are not acting together.
Also, I learned recently from a contact at Cheyenne River who found a probate record for the family of Looks Up that he and his wife had three children, one of whom was Afraid of Enemy, the same man mentioned above who was interviewed in 1931. Interestingly, Afraid of Enemy stated that his father was Brule and that his mother was Sans Arc. This would suggest that Looks Up was born a Brule, married into the Sans Arc and lived with his wife's people where he gained sufficient influence to be named shirtwearer for his tiyospaye.
It is also interesting to note that Looks Up's father's father was a Brule and that his wife was a Sans Arc. This is only one instance within the Bull Dung band but perhaps they had closer alliances with the Brule as opposed to the Minneconjou and Hunkpapa alliances evident among the other Sans Arc tiyospaye.
One more thought.
Red Bear and Looks Up appear to have surrendered together at the Spotted Tail Agency in the spring of 1877 (both of their names appear in the Spotted Tail Agency census for June 1877). I think Spotted Eagle was in Canada already by this time.
Presumably Red Bear and Looks Up slipped away from the agency and went to Canada together later that fall.
So if all three of these individuals are leaders within the same tiyospaye, does the 1880-81 surrenders and transfers suggest that there might have been a split in the band? Perhaps over the issue of surrendering?
— Ephriam Dickson
I made a mistake above in my interpretation of the movements of Looks Up, Spotted Eagle and Red Bear.
I have not yet found a list of the Sans Arc who surrendered at Fort Buford in 1880 with Circle Bear but had assumed that everyone listed with him at Standing Rock in 1881 had surrendered with him. A closer look at the Standing Rock records however reveals that is not accurate.
In June-July 1881, Father Stephan (agent at Standing Rock) reported that about 147 or 176 Sans Arc had surrendered at Fort Buford (Circle Bear) and that 357 Sans Arc had surrendered at Fort Keogh (Spotted Eagle).
When Spotted Eagle was being fed at Standing Rock, the issue vouchers for July to Aug. 1881 show that he had 402 people. Spotted Eagle was transferred to the Cheyenne River Agency in the late summer or fall of 1881 with only 139 people. The remainder of the Sans Arc formerly with Spotted Eagle were then listed under Circle Bear's band. The issue list for Circle Bear's band shows 105 people for July-August 1881; then 369 people for Aug to November 1881, showing the influx of Sans Arc that had been with Spotted Eagle.
This means that we cannot yet say where Looks Up and Red Bear surrendered. They may very well have surrendered with Spotted Eagle at Fort Keogh, with the rest of the Bull Dung band. All we know for certain is that Spotted Eagle and Red Bear were both transferred to Cheyenne River in fall of 1881 while Looks Up remained behind at Standing Rock, not joining his Sans Arc relatives at Cheyenne River until the following spring.
— Ephriam Dickson
Crow Feather was a delegate to Washington, D.C. in 1870. An article in the New York Times (June 11, 1870) described the delegation enroute and mentioned that Crow Feather was head chief of the Sans Arc "and the chief who carries what is called by them the God Almighty pipe of the Sioux Indians. The pipe is over one hundred years old, and has never been undressed since its adoption as a sacred object."
This would seem to suggest that Crow Feather was a keeper of the Sacred Pipe. However, his name does not appear in any of the lists of keepers. Did the newspaper just get it wrong?
— Ephriam Dickson
Thanks Ephriam - yes I saw the same NYT report and asked myself the same questions. At the moment I think the latter is probably right - the newspaper got it wrong. Still lots of questions and few answers on Sans Arc tiyoshpaye and families.
— Kingsley Bray
My Great grandmother was part of Spotted Eagle's band - she had lots of stories about when they were at the [Little Bighorn], when they were in Canada and when they left. Her father and Spotted Eagle were brothers. Her older brother Bear With Horns was killed at the [Little Bighorn]. Some lists have him as a Hunkpapa - White Bull has him as an Itazipcho.
Bear With Horns was Spotted Eagles' nephew. My great, great grandfather was Fights the Thunder his parents were Red Thunder and Iron Branch. They stayed with Sitting Bull the longest. Spotted Eagle and Red Horse were the last to leave Sitting Bull. Red Horse left first and then Spotted Eagle. My great grandmother's name was Grows in a Day - she was named after the [Little Bighorn]. It was because she had lost her oldest brother and because the family had to leave suddenly and make their way to Canada as well as the suffering and hardship of all of that. Her parents named her because in one day she was required to learn about loss. I have her Indian name. My aunt (my mother's youngest sister) was named Spotted Eagle Woman after Spotted Eagle so our family would always know we had close ties with him. My aunts remember his son who was an old man when they were children. I have always felt that the history of the Itazipcho has never really been paid much attention. Our family never wanted to be on the reservation and when forced our lands are as far from the Old Ft. Bennett as they could get. They were hostiles to the very end - but also when forced on the reservation they sought ways of surviving that allowed their children to grow up without feeling defeated. I think the reason our family was able to do this was the elders believed that you should not depend on the government for your survival. By staying out of the view of the agent you had a better chance. The idea of fighting for every scrap of food that was handed out worked against what the hunting bands belived in. Sitting Bull said "let others carry the manure and drink the coffee and eat the sugar of the whiteman he was going north to hunt." That statement cleary explains why so many families on Cheyenne River would not freely talk. Plus so many of them had been considered hostile plus knowing what happened at Wounded Knee to our relatives you can understand why no one wanted to talk for fear of being hauled off to the stockdade. I'll get some of the stories together and write them out for you.
— Aurelia
The name of your great great grandfather, Fights With Thunder, first appears in the agency records in 1881. As you probably already know, Spotted Eagle surrendered at Fort Keogh on October 30, 1880 with about 495 people. In the summer of 1881, he and the Itazipcho were transferred to the Standing Rock Agency. He is counted there with 402 people. Then in August or September 1881, he transfered with 36 families to the Cheyenne River Agency while the largest percentage of the Itazipcho remained at Standing Rock. (Most of these finally joined their relatives at Cheyenne River in the spring of 1882)
Among those listed in the 36 families transferred with Spotted Eagle from Standing Rock to Cheyenne River in the late summer of 1881 is Fights Thunder. He then appears in the regular Cheyenne River Reservation census from 1886 through at least 1900.
— Ephriam Dickson
Here is what the Ziebach County History has about Fights the Thunder:
FIGHTS THE THUNDER told by Ed Clown
Fights the Thunder was a Medicine Man could understand the wolf, the coyote, crow, and the martin. They warned him when the Crow or other enemies or storms coming.
Before he was born he went all over. Later he told them all about what he had seen and a girl were chosen. They went to the Black Hills and on top of the hills. They were in a cave and went to the other end of it. The was cave very hot and the opening had been closed up. The cave was one of which the buffalo went to by the thousands when an Indian killed another Indian. When that would happen, the people would have to hunt rabbit deer for a month for there would be no buffalo. The buffalo would disappear into hills and stay in the caves.
Fights the Thunder was also taken further west, to where water boiled up out of earth.
There was a man there who kept that place and he had a room there. He told Fights the Thunder to trust him, that the boiling water would not hurt him. He took him down through that water and down below there were rooms without any water in them and were painted all colors.
And they took him to the oceans, down to the deepest part and he saw where the biggest whales stayed down there. They took him to all of the continents and he saw everything.
When they came back, then they were born. They were not brother and sister. The girl had just been chosen to go with him. She died later, because she was supposed to make ten little dresses, as doll dresses, out of buckskin and she did not do it as she was supposed to. She waited and then made all ten dresses at once, and so she died.
In the old days, they would all come together in the summer and camp. They would have the Sun Dance and other ceremonies and the chiefs would decide where they would camp for the winter. They would all stay in a place that had a lot of wood. In early spring, the bands would go their different ways to hunt. In June they would meet, and then the bands would separate until the fall. This was their range, from here to the Black Hills, but later they would go south and west into Montana and north.
Mi ye yi lo/Fights the Thunder was born in 1828 to Red Thunder and Iron Branch/Melt None. His sister, Iron Branch (1827-1897), married Six Feet.
Fights the Thunder (James) had two wives. Pazala/Thin Out/Rail/Rotation was the mother of Cega/Paul Red Bird (1861-1933); Amos Clown (1862-1943); and Grows in a Day/Lucy (b. 1872: Mrs. Poor Buffalo). Fights the Thunder died in 1916 at Thunder Butte.
("South Dakota's Ziebach County, History of the Prairie", published in 1982 by the Ziebach County Historical Society, Dupree, SD)
— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring
I grew up with Ed Clown - I called him Lala Ed (Lala a dervitive of Tunkasila - it would be the same as saying Papa rather then Grandfather) he was an important part of my childhood. He was the son of Amos Clown who described in the Ziebach County History when his father Fights the Thunder, his brother Red Bird, his sister Grows in a Day all ended up at Thunder Butte. He talks about their leader Spotted Eagle leading them there.The 36 families would have had to have been his closest relatives. As I mentioned before My great grandmother was Grows in a Day.
I'm sure your aware of the fact that Amos Clown was married to Crazy Horse's sister Julia Iron Cedar. Everyone knew this in our families that Crazy Horse's mother was a Minconju and that he always rode in from the North with his close relatives Hump, etc. In the Lakota world if you were a boy you closest to your male relatives of your generation. It was the older ones who taught you the important things about your hygene, etc. It was your mother's brothers who were responsible for teaching you how to hunt. I don't understant all of this argument about who was who. It wasn't until after the act of 1889 that the seperation of the Lakota became so prominant regarding what band you came from. It was the family hunting group that was the most important and basically still is to this day.
I don't know if Spotted Eagle and Fights the Thunder had the same parents. I'm sure if nothing else they had the same father but not necessarily the same mother. But it didn't matter if you were brothers you were brothers and first cousins are the same as brothers and sisters. In the Lakota world the degree of relationship is unimportant. It is how you refer to a person that is important. Although my great grandmother and Red Bird were brother and sister four generations from me - Paul Red Birds great grandchildren and I are very close and consider ourselves very close relatives. The degree of seperation is totally unimportant we belong to the same tiospaye. There are a lot of families who don't know who their relatives are or claim their relatives in the same manner as non-indians with the concept of first cousin once removed, etc. In our family we claim our relatives in the same manner as we have for thousands of years. Where can I locate the 1881 roles? I have the 1886 roles and have found all of my relatives on them. It would be nice to get the 1881 information.
My Unci (what we called our great grandmother) Poor Buffalo told the story about when they were at the various forts being held like captives. That her mother Pazala learned how to make fry bread - she said it was so good that the soldiers and whitemen would buy it from her. We still use her same receipe (or that's what we believe) and it is still the best I have ever tasted. She also said that after the battle and the people stripped the clothing off of the soldiers they looked like white flour sacks scattered on the hill. I always have found that interesting. This was a little girls view point, which is very seldom documented.
She also said that she was with her mother and aunt when they searched for her brother's body. She never really said if they found it but they did find a puppy and she wanted the puppy and started crying - by then the other soldiers were said to be coming so they had to leave. Because she was crying and wouldn't stop her aunt got the puppy and then they ran away from the soldiers. These were her important memories of that day - she told other things but as children we loved the story of the puppy.
— Aurelia
The 1881 list came from a document at the National Archives Regional Branch in Kansas City. I will see if I can scan my copy and upload the image here.
The 36 families who came to Cheyenne River with Spotted Eagle are as follows. Please let us know if you recognize other family names here:
Spotted Eagle
Ashes
Lone Woman
Kill the ___ [Brave Thunder?]
Kill the Bear
White Bear
Lone Eagle
Iron White Man
Kill the Bear [#2]
One Ghost
Red Bull
Black Dog
Red Dog
Spotted Eagle Jr.
Poor Bear
Uses His Knife
White Buffalo Bull
Long Mandan
Fights Thunder
Shooter
Poor Elk
Big Hawk
Two Eagles
Red Star
Thunder Hawk
Fool Horse
Black Horse
Shell Necklace
King Man
Camps as He Comes
Walking Bear
Red Bear
Fool Soldier
Hawk Bear
Two Band
Little Shield
— Ephriam Dickson
The names I recognize that are members of my family are Red Bear, Uses His Knife, as well as Fights Thunder. The sons of Fights Thunder were Clown and Red Bird. They are listed in the 1886 roles as seperate families with their own wives with their children. You'll find Fights Thunder listed on th 1890 U.S. Census with Red Bird.
— Aurelia
REGARDING CROW FEATHER AND THE PIPE WRITTEN ABOUT BY THE NY TIMES:
(that Kingsley and Ephriam were discussing on this thread this past December)
This may provide a possible explanation as to what pipe the Times was writing about. It comes from a two-page, incomplete, handwritten manuscript titled "Biography of Crow Feather." Referring, I believe, to the man you are calling Crow Feather II. I found it in a file of assorted Lakota related things in the Weideman Collection at the SD State Archives. It may have been written by Samuel Charger.
"...He was about 18 years old when he built the cabin or in the year 1824, and he made a pipe which was used by the war parties in later years and which is regarded as secondary to the original peace pipe, this pipe is said in the early days regard [sic] as sacred and is always tied to a pole, and is set on some hill away from the camp....built the log cabin in which he performs his ceremonies and as he is the first Indian to manufacture a lead [?] pipe, [here the manuscript ends!]
The ms. also says that Crow Feather was a recognized medicine man. I am thinking it is likely that the pipe was passed on to the son and that this may be the pipe in question. Any thoughts?
Josephine Waggoner writes about the man you call Crow Feather III: She says he was born in 1842, died June 18, 1919.
— Emily Levine
With regard to Looks Up...I wonder if he could of been captured with Short Bull and his Sicangu near Wolf Point Montana? I do like the research, it shows a lot of where the people were and also, it's difficult as you have to keep your own chart, but to show which groups were "friendly" and "hostile". Also, if it shows, but the group that surrendered to Miles, when Sitting Bull broke away and there were Chiefs sent up river.....who were the leaders of the Itazipco in that camp. It is very interesting.
— ftpeclpabaksa
This is what I find in my records of the events taken place on or about the 26th day of Oct. The Indians asked for a council, Sitting Bull expressed a desire for what Miles called " an old fashioned peace". He wanted the troops to go into the camp for winter and he and his people be permitted to trade for ammunition at the agencies and hunt buffalo in peace. Miles naturally refused, and in turn, his offer of the government's terms of disarmament and surrender were rejected. Negotiations were broken off and a running battle covering 42 miles followed. A large portion of the camp, nearly all of the Minneconjou and Sans Arcs, were driven down Bad Route creek and across the Yellowstone where they surrendered. Sitting Bull and some 30 lodges escaped early in the battle and made for the Dry Fork route to Fort Peck. The majority of the other Hunkpapas and Spotted Eagle`s Sans Arcs also managed to elude the troops before the surrender took place.
Unable to supply an escort for his prisoners, amounting to approximately 300 lodges and 2000 souls, Miles sent five of the surrendered chiefs to the Cheyenne Agency as hostages. This he hoped would ensure the arrival of the entire camp at that place. The Indians were given 35 days to make the trip, but upon the experation of that time only some 35 lodges, led by a few of the immediate relitives of the hostage chiefs, had arrived. The hostages taken were Red Skirt and White Bull, Minneconjou chiefs, Black Eagle and Sunrise, Sans Arc chiefs, and a head warrior of the latter band, Foolish Thunder. Red Skirt's nephew, Bull Eagle, came in on Nov. 31, along with Little Bear, White Bull's son, and Sans Arc John or Jumping Bear, a relative of one of the Sans Arc headmen.
The relentless activity of the troops under Mile's command soon made it apparent that Canada was the only place of safety remaining to the Sioux. Consequently on March 3, 57 lodges under Four Horns, together with Medicine Bear's band of Yanktonais, crossed the line 120 miles east of the Mounted Police post at Fort Walsh. Late in May Sitting Bull with 135 lodges of his own Hunkpapas, Spotted Eagle's Sans Arcs, and a small band of Minneconjous under Swift Bird, completed the exodus. Sitting Bull's party was the last of any size to cross the line prior to the arrival of the Terry Commision late in October.(NDSHS, July, 1955, vol. 22 Number 3).
— swiftbird659
Henri has sent me this excellent scan of a photograph taken at the Cheyenne River Indian council at Pierre, South Dakota, in 1908.
One of the Indians in the picture is the Itazipco Afraid of Enemy, the son of Looks Up, who is mentioned earlier in this thread (see page 1).
Standing from left to right: Major Bentley, Little Shield, Lone Eagle, Iron Lightning, Fish Gut, Charging First, G.H. Jaynes
Seated: Brown Thunder, C.H. Engelsby, Governor Vessey, Colonel Frost, Yellow Owl, Giles Tapetonwan/Tapeola (interpreter)
Seated or kneeling in front: Afraid of Enemy (Feared by Enemy), Pust On His Shoes (Swan), White Bull (Lazy White Bull)
(Identifications according to Donovin Sprague, Cheyenne River Sioux, page 71.)
Afraid of Enemy
— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring
