If
the following photo is one that you are referring to,
the tall Indian on the top step has been misidentified
for years as Bloody Knife.
LBHA
members Charles Markantes and Cesare Marino (who is with
the Smithsonian) have identified the tall Indian as Long
Soldier. Charles was the first (I am aware of) who questioned
the identification of Bloody Knife and discovered that
it was more likely Long Soldier (see LBHA Newsletter,
March 2005). Cesare took Charles' research a bit further
and found that there were two Indians named Long Soldier
(perhaps father and son) with the one on the right below
being the most likely to have been in the Fort Lincoln
photo (see LBHA Newsletter, April 2005):
Bloody Knife, close-up of Fort Lincoln photo, Long Soldier
As
Cesare pointed out, more research needs to be done because
the relationship between the two Long Soldiers (if any)
is unknown and their tribal affiliations have been listed
in the literature as Minneconjou, Hunkpapa, Two Kettle,
Oglala, and Gros Ventre. —
Diane Merkel
Can't take credit for the Bloody Knife/Long Soldier conjecture.
The Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation, Mandan, ND, published
an item by Dakota Wind Good House, in the 2004 spring
issue of Past Times, speculating Bloody Knife was misidentified
in the photograph and it could have been someone else.
Dakota Good House, the former Director of Native American
Interpretation at the Fort Abraham Lincoln Foundation,
now instructor at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck
is familiar with the people from Standing Rock. He states
that in May of 1875, after the signing of the Treaty of
Fort Abraham Lincoln, 400 Lakota/Dakota and 300 Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara
feasted and sang together at Fort Lincoln. Good House
believes 19 Lakota/Dakota scouts signed on and served
at Fort Lincoln after the treaty signing -- one of which
was Long Soldier, (A-ki-ci-ta-han-ska) a Minniconjou Lakota
from the Standing Rock Indian Agency. His height said
to have been about 7 feet. —
Charles Markantes