Magazine Article Review: The Final Hunt: Massacre Canyon: The Pawnee Faced the Sioux in the Final Plains Battle

 The Final Hunt: At Massacre Canyon on August 5, 1873, The Pawnee Nation Faced Their Last Stand.  Today Their Story of Loss and Survival Endures Through Remembrance, by Ron Soodalter, Nebraska Life, May/June 2025.

This is a fascinating story.  The Pawnee were hoping for a successful buffalo hunt.  They had received permission from the government to pursue the buffalo.  Initially the hunt was going very well.  The harvested 650 buffalo at 1000 pounds of meet each.  Their people was experiencing hunger and needed the food.  However the leader, Chief Red Cloud, ignored signs that their enemy, the Sioux, were close, until it was too late.  On the morning of August 5 they found themselves surrounded by the Sioux.  The Sioux sent bullets and arrows into their ranks.  Many tried to flee, but this wan't a battle, but a massacre.  

The Pawnee had endured hardship for over 100 years, but this date all that suffering came to a head.  The federal government failed to protect the Pawnee from the Sioux.  They were often forced to serve as scouts for the federals, which put them in the crosshairs of the Sioux.  

Conservative estimates say 20 men, 39 women and 10 children were killed.   10 more were wounded and eleven were taken prisoner.  Sky Chief and his son were among the dead.  His daughter escaped with historical papers. 

All their goods were lost, including the buffalo meet.  Local settlers helped themselves to what the Sioux did not take.  They were left destitute on the plains, 200 miles from their reservation.  The Indian agent with them was able to but a limited amount of food, to get them back.  The governement paid them $9000 for the loss of 100 horses.  

As a result of this action the Pawnee were discouraged.  They left Nebraska and went to live in Oklahoma, Indian territory with their friends the Wichitas.  By 1875 all 3700 Pawnee were living in Indian territory.

The site of the massacre is now marked by a memorial and has been designated an historical site.

Native American Biography: Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, Seminole, Nurse, Journalist, Writer

 I come across the story of Betty Mae Tiger Jumper in the book about the Seminole Indians.  She is also known as Potackee.   She spoke Mikasuki and Creek.  Her father was white and their were threats that she and her brother would be killed as they were not full blooded Seminole.  Her family went to a different reservation.  

She attended a federal boarding school in Cherokee, North Carolina.  She graduated in 1945.  She was the first Seminole to graduate from high school.  She then enrolled in Kiowa Indian School in Oklahoma and studied nursing.  Seminole were very traditional and most preferred Indian doctors.  Her mother practiced Indian medicine but accepted whatever would help the sick.  Jumper played a big part in transitioning the Seminole people to modern medicine.  She traveled to the reservation and provided inoculations.

She married Moses Jumper.  Together they had three children who all died young.  They then adopted two Seminole children.

Tiger Jumper worked in nursing for 40years, helping to bring health care to the Seminole in Florida.  She also started a tribal newspaper, Seminole News.  In 1967 she was elected chairwoman of the Seminole Tribes.  She was the first woman to hold this role.  She has written three books.  She wrote a book about Seminole legends and stories, Legends of the Seminole (1994).  Her personal memoir is titled A Shoshone Legend.  She also narrated a movie about Seminole legends, The Corn Lady: Seminole Indian Legends (1991). 

She received several honors: Florida WOmen's Hall of Fame; Woman of the Year in Florida; Lifetime Achievement, and Native American Journalists among others.

  

Book Review:The Seminole: The First People of Florida

 The Seminole: The First People of Florida: American Indian Nations by Mary Englar, Bridgestone Books, Mankato, Minnesota, 2003.

The Seminole are originally Muskogee Indians from the Georgia and Alabama area who kept moving south to avoid the encroachment of white populations.  They lived in wallless homes with a thatched roof of palms called a chickee.  They were joined by Freedmen, African Americans who traveled into the region to escape slavery.  In addition to English, they speak two native languages, Muskogee and Miccosukee.  

Historically the Seminole conducted three wars against the Americans.  Each war would end in truce and then thy would lose more land, but by retreating into the swamp they would buy some peace, until that land was wanted.  Osceola played a big part in the second war.  He was captured and in-prisoned at Fort Moultrie.  In 1838 he died there of malaria.  In the third war, Billy Bowlegs was the primary chief of the Seminole.  He and his people were forced to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.  There were a few who went even deeper into the swamp and stayed in Florida.  

So today there are two nations of Seminole, in Florida and in Oklahoma.  They share a same language and culture, but some traditions are different between the groups.  The corn festival is still held in ech group, which coincides with the first harvesting of corn.  In Florida patchwork clothing is very popular.  The Seminole make this to sell to tourists.  The federal government has recognized the tribe in Florida in 1957.  There are museums in both Florida and Oklahoma.

Lest We Forget: WWI Memorial at Miller Park

 This memorial is across the street from Miller Park on Minnie Lusa Ave. in the median.  A local woman helped hold back the weeds so I could get a picture.

Lest We Forget
In memory of those who served in the world war 1917-1918
Dedicated by Omaha Chapter American War Mothers

Historical Movie Review: The Rosa Parks Story

 This movie may better be called the Rosa Parks (Angela Bassett) and Raymond Parks (Peter Francis James) story.  The thing that makes this story work is the relationship between the two.  Even though it was Rosa who sat on the bus, and was arrested for not vacating her seat, the were both partner, Raymond usually more concerned about her safety than she was herself.  

This was a made for TV movie and it ends with real video of President Clinton awarding her the medal of freedom.  

Book Review: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann, Doubleday, New York, 2017.

Since this came out in movies I have been intrigued by the story.  However I did not want to venture to an R rated movie.  Reading the book has been a happy alternative.  

This book touches on the surface the evil that existed in Osage County, Oklahoma.  What is worse the corruption permeated the community.  William Hale, who turned out to have orchestrated much of the violence was a well repected community member.  He offered a reward for finding the killers.  Such two- faced people are really disturbing.  

The Osage were very wealthy.  At one time the wealthiest area in the United states.  When the government allotted their land, the tribe kept the head rights.  This meant they kept the rights to what was under the ground.  When oil was discovered they all became very wealthy.  The white community that lived next to them did not think the deserved so much money.  And through different means they hoped to take thos head rights, and the money for themselves, but whatever means.  There were poisonings, bullets to the head, people thrown from trains and even a house being blown up to kill those inside.  There was marrying an Osage for the chance to kill them and inherit their wealth.  

Part of the problems was the federal government did not think the Osage could handle their wealth.  Guartdians were appointed for many.  The guardians were prominent white community members.  This much money tended to corrupt these men.  They would manipulate the money and often scheme of getting it for themselves.  Hundreds of Osage were killed.  The records showed many of those with guardians ended up dead.

When you able people as "less than," even if they have lots of money, you can justify yourself in doing any kind of evil.  You can kill people, afger all she is just a "squaw."  Mollie Burkhart was a Native American woman whose siblings and mother were all killed.  Her own husband, Ernest Burkhart turned out to be enmeshed with William Hale, and one he participated in the killings.  And one point she and her children could have been killed as they were suppose to visit her sister who was blown up in a house explosion.  They did not go as her son was feeling sick.

At the end of the book the author points out the problem as much bigger than the official investigation.  Mysterious deaths abound, likely by poison, which were never investigated.

This book is worth the read.  I highly recommend it.

Magazine Article Review: Villasur: How a Spanish-Indian Battle in Nebraska Changed American History

 Villasur: How a Spanish-Indian Battle in Nebraska Changed American History, by Ron Soodalter, Nebraska Life, March/April 2025, pp 30-35.

The history may have been much different if the Spanish had been more successful in the foray to the north in 1720.  With the goal of discovering what the French were doing in the midwest, Lieutenant General Pedro de Villasur headed a large contingent north from Santa Fe.  He had with him 45 elite Spanish soldier, 60 Pueblo Indians, José Navarro a seasoned scout, a Jesuit priest, and a dozen Apache guides.  At this time possession of the midwest was hotly contested between the Spanish and French.  According to the Pawnee, the French were not after their land, but had been a trading partner for the last 100 years.  The Spanish for their part had a more brutal and forceful approach to relationship0s with Native Americans.

The expedition reached the Platte River at ab out the location of Grand Island.  They attempted negotiations with the Indians through a Pawnee slave.  As more and more Native Americans arrived, Pawnee and Otoe they felt more and more offended by the Spanish.  As the Spanish felt more and more hostility towards them, they withdrew to the confluence of the Loup and Platte rivers.  This however was an ideal spot for ambush because of the high grass and good cover.  

They attacked in the morning.  Villasur died almost imnediately.  Within 15 minutes most of the elite Spanish troops had perished.  A few of the Pueblo were killed, but they had a separate camp and missed the brunt of the attack.  The priest and Jose Navarro were both dead.  None of the Apache were killed.

This excursion marks the farthest north the Spanish advanced in the midwest.  However it lead to discouragement in New Mexico as no further such forays were attempted.

In the history museum in Lincoln there is a mural, copied from a mural drawn in Santa Fe on leather which depicts the battle.  The original is in the New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe.  There is also a Pawnee song which remembers te battle.

History sometimes is so fragile and random.  Things would have been different with a different result.  Perhaps the Louisiana Purchase would have had a different seller.

Magazine Article Review: The Fever-Heated and Blood-Hot Abolitionists of Falls City

 The Fever-Heated and Blood-Hot Abolitionists of Falls City: Southeast Nevraska and the Battle for Bleeding Kansas by Robert Nelson, Nebraska History magazine, Vol. 104, No. 4 Winter 2023, pp 193-207.

The founding and growth of Falls City was very much tied to Kansas and the conflict that took place there over the slavery issue.  A group of abolitionist traveled from the north east.  A group of pro slavery people, mostly from Missouri had the intention of meeting them and not letting them into Kansas, or at least confiscating and weapons they might have.  They were particularly wary of James H. Lane and had they gotten him would have arrested im or worse.  He stayed in Falls City which is not far from the border.  People went into Kansas, but without weapons.  They were shipped by a different route, farther to the west.

With an influx of people who opposed slaverhy, Kansas became a free state.  John Brown frequented Falls City during this time, over a dozen times.  He and Lane helped direct the Kansas efforts from here.

Some of the people still living in Falls City became part of the Underground Railroad, helping runaway slaves escape to freedom.  Of particular note were David and Ann Dorrington.  Their barn became a stopping place for escaped slaves.  Mrs. Dorrington would often provide a meal and kept watch on those in the barn.  Runaways could access it freely.  It 2022 the area of the Dorrington house and barn (which had been removed) were recognized by the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program.  This was the second location so noted in Nedbraska.  The other being in Nebraska City.

It is neat to think there are places involved in the abolitionist side of aBleeding Kansas and the Underground Railroad so close to me.

Lewis and Clark Informational Bulletins at Miller Landing Park

 In a couple different locations at the Miller Landing Park there is information about Lewis and Clark.  The plaques are sponsored by Back to the River Inc., Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, City of Omaha, and Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District.

Time for Hunting Buffalo
Among the people living in this area that Lewis and Clark hoped to meet were the Omaha Indians ("Umo"ho"" in native spelling).  But the villages were empty when the Expedition searched for them.  It was August and the Omaha were away on the annual buffalo hunt.  Originally part of a larger tribe that lived in the eastern United States in the 1500s, The Omaha Tribe gradually migrated west, settling in this region by the 1750s.  In their native language "Umo"ho" means "against the current."  Before Lewis and Clark visited here, The Omaha had frequent contact with French and Spanish traders,  They exchanged hides and pelts of buffalo, raccoon, deer and beaver for manufactured goods that Europeans offered: firearms, face paint, cloth and copper, tin and iron kettles and utensils.  White trappers also married into the tribe.  Two members of the Expedition, Pierre Cruatte and Francois LaBiche, were children of Omaha women who married French trappers.  Four years before Lewis and Clark's journey, a smallpox epidemic killed 400 Omaha, including the legendary chief Blackbird.  The Expedition visited Blackbird's grave on a bluff overlooking the Missouri and explored an Omaha village, Tonwongthon Tonga, near present-day Homer, Nebraska

First Formal Exchange
The Lewis and Clark Expedition's first meeting with Indians west of the Mississippi River happened ten miles north of here, in 1804.  The Indians they met were members of the Oto and Missouri tribes.  Oto and Missouri tribal stories tell that their peope listened politely to Lewis and Clark's speeches.  Tribal members also re-tell stories about the magnifying glass that Lewis and Clark used to start a fire.  
An air rifle fired by Lewis made a strong impression.  Firearms were nothing new to the Oto and Missouri.  For generations, they had been exchanging beaver pelts and buffalo hides for the rifles of the French traders.  Lewis' air rifle was as powerful as any firearm they had seen, but it didn't use gunpowder and was nearly silent when fired.  None of the Oto or Missouri spoke English, although some spoke French.  Lewis spoke English, so his speech was translated from English to French, and from French to the Oto and Missouri languages.  For Indians in this part of the country, white people had been part of the landscape for many years.  But Lewis and Clark were the first representatives of the United States government to meet with the tribes of this region.

We Wish to be Neighborly
When President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Mderiwether Lewis and William Clark to journey up the Missouri River, he gave them a long list of questions.  Many of the questions had to do with learning about the Indian Tribes.  Jefferson said that he wanted to know "the names of the Indian tribes and their numbers, their language and traditions, their food and clothing, and peculiarities in their laws and customs."The Expedition traveled through 50 different Indian nations and met with all of the tribes they could find.  At these meetings, Lewis told the Indians that President Jefferson was their "only great father" and that Americans were replacing the europeans as trading partners.  Their first meeting was with the Oto and Missouri Indians near present Fort Calhoun, Nebraska.  Gifts were exchanged.  White men shared pork and corn meal with the Indians, who in return shared watermelon with their visitors.  This was the first test of Lewis and Clark's skill as official United States diplomats.  On August 2, 1804, William Clark wrote of this first meeting with the Oto and Missouri Indians.  "We spoke, shook hands, and gave them some tobacco and provisions.  We informed them we were glad to see them and would speak to them tomorrow."

Wanted: Men to Labor
"Several gentleman's sons have applied to accompany us, but as they are not accustomed to labor, I am cautious in giving them any encouragement," Clark wrote to Lewis in 1803.  But this journey had no place for "gentleman's sons."  Instead Lewis and Clark carefully selectd a crew of soldiers and civilians, each chosen for his abilities as blacksmith, carpenter, hunter, tracker, boatman, woodcutter, gunsmith, or a combination of these.  The youngest was 17 and the oldest was 35.  York, who was Clark's slave, was of African descent.  Three men hired as guides and interpreters were part Indian and part French.
Several months into the journey, Sacagawes, a young Shoshone woman, and her French husband joined the Expedition at a Mandan village in present dat North Dakota.  She returned to her village on the way back.  Their child also came on the journey and was the youngest member of the Expedition,  At journey's end, the men who were hired by Lewis and Clark, and remained with the Expedition from the Mandan village to the Pacific Ocean and back, were paid a few hundred dollars and received land to farm.  Seaman, the only four-legged member of the Corps of Discovery, was Meriwether Lewis' dog.  Seaman was the Newfoundland breed, know for its size, strength and swimming ability.  He was a valued member of the Expedition, helping to hunt for wild game.

Hiring Local Experts
Before setting out on the Expedition, Lewis and Clark studied the maps and journals of French and Spanish traders and explorers.  They also interviewed fur traaders who had spent time in Indian villages along the river.  The trappers told Lewis and Clark about the tribes they could meet, where they might meet them, and which were most likely to welcome a group of white strangers.  Lewis and Clark knew they would meed to talk to the Indians.  But neither Lewis nor Clark spoke any of the Indian languages or French, a language some Indians spoke.  For help in communicating, Lewis and Clark relied on three members of the crew who were of both Indian and French descent, Pierre  Cruzatte, Francois LaBiche and George Droulliard.  Cruzatte and LaBiche were also familiar with the river and had experience trading with Indian tribes.  Cruzatte, whose mother was a member of the Omaha trive and whose father was French, spoke his mother's language and knew sign language as well.  LaBiche, also a son of an Omaha Indian woman and a French father, spoke several Indian languages and French.  Droulliard, who was half Shawnee, was valued because of his talents as a guide and tracker, and his skill in using sign language.  By hiring local experts like Cruzatte, LaBiche and Droulliard, Lewis and Clark made it more likely that the Expedition would succeed.

Fatigue and Danger
When Meriwether Lewis invited William Clark to join him in the "fatigues and dangers" of an excursion up the Missouri River, Clark responded, "I will cheerfully join you."  During months of preparing for the journey, the two leaders took great care to select a crew of men who were familiar with the hardships of outdoor life.  Stifling summer heat, swarming mosquitoes and days spent waste-deep in the muddy river challenged the men's morale, health and strength.  The men suffered sore feet, sunstroke, insect and snake bites, skin infections, stomach aches, and, according to Clark, "violent headake."  Oilcloth helped keep their gear dry, but crew members' diaries told of many days spent waiting for their soggy belongings to dry out before the Expedition could move forward.  Clark wrote about "doctoring" crew members' aches and pains.  One crew member, Sgt. Charles Floyd, became ill during the weeks the crew traveled in this area.  Sgt. Floyd died, probably from appendicitis, and was buried near present-day Sioux City, Iowa.  But as Clark wrote, "It is worthey of observation to mention that our party has been much healthier on the Voyage than parties of the same number is in any other Situation."  When the wind was right, sails pushed the keelboat against the current about 20 miles a day.  And on stretches of river without sandbars and [} trees, oarsmen could move the keelboat at a steady pace.  But if the river was shallow, members of the Expedition used ropes and [] strenfth to tow a 13-ton boat and 12 tons of cargo upriver.  Using bear fat for mospuito repessent and choosing campsites where there was a breeze offered some relief from swarms of mosquitoes.  One Expedition member reported eating a moutful of mosquitoes for every mouthful of food.

Chief Big Elk at Bellevue Cemetery

 I visited the Bellevue Cemetery an the grave of Big Elk.  The grave is at the top of the hill.  

Big Elk
Indian Name (Ong-Pa-Ton-Ga)
1770-1846
Last Full Blooded Chief of Omaha Tribe
Friend of the Pioneers and Grandfather of Logan Fontanelle

On September 19, 1954 with 1000 spectators, Big Elk and 14 Omahas were reburied here, their remains were brought from Elk Hill north of Mission Avenue where Big Elk had large funerals in 1846 and 1883.  Buffalo Chief translated White Bird's speech about Big Elk's leadership.  A chaplain from Offutt Air Force Base spoke.  Taps sounded.  Fitting tribal rituals were held.  The Omahas "Began their long rest in peace at their final resting place."  This famous orator and man of peace supported the U.S. in the War of 1812.  He visited two presidents.  His "coming flood" speech on western expansion gave good advice for all youth.  "I can no longer think for you and lead you as in my younger days.  You must think for yourselves ...that you may be prepared for the coming change.  Speak kindly to one another; do what you can to help each other, even in the troubles with the coming tide.

Bellevue Cemetery
In 1856 Bellevue set aside four city blocks as a cemetery.  However it was thought to have been used earlier as unofficial burial plots.  One of the earliest markers is of Jean Allen dated 1856 and located 70 feet northwest of marker.  Jean Allen and Ester Peters were buried within ne month of eachothr.  Other notable markers are: Big Elk and fourteen of his braves.  Big Elk was the last full-blooded chief of the Omaha Tribe.  Fenner Ferguson, first chief justice of the Nebraska Territory, Dr. Frank Gilder, noted archaeologist, and a grave of a pioneer child who was burird before 1856.  A slab of rock waqs placed over the top of the grave to discourage predators.

Looking east towards Iowa

College World Series at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha

 While visiting the zoo we parked by the Memorial to Rosenblatt Stadium.   The original stadium was built as a replacement for Vinton Street Park which was a mile up the road, 13th to the north.  Vinton Park stadium had burnt down in 1936.  It was built in 1947-1948 with the first game October 17, 1948.  In 1950 Rosenblatt became the site for the Collage World Series every year.  It hosted this even until 2010 when the location was moved to its current site, Charles Schwab Field in Omaha.  Rosenblatt Stadium also was the home field for four minor league teams.  It was the largest minor league stadium in the U.S. before its closure.  It was next to the Doorley Zoo and the zoo purchased the stadium to expand their parking lot.  Demolishing took place in 2012.  The new Memorial to Rosenblatt Stadium had a grand opening in June 2013.

Mormon Hollow, Fontanelle Forest, Bellevue

 Mormon Hollow is in Bellevue, in the Fontanelle Forest.  In 1846,  after the Mormons were chased out of Nauvoo, they took most of the summer to cross Iowa.  There was a lot of mud.  They finally made it to the Missouri River.  A group of Saints employed the Sarpy ferry initially; but eventually made their own.  They consulted with Chief Big Elk about where to stay.  They let him know they were only traveling through.  Eventually is was determined a hollow close to the Fontanelle Trading Post.  This later became known as Mormon Hollow.  The lower end of the hollow reached where the Missouri River flowed at the time.  It now flows further to the east.  They stayed there about six weeks before the Saints living there were asked to move north by Brigham Young.  They then established Cutler'ser's Park and Winter Quarters about ten miles north.  

The valley would have provided protection against the wind.

Native American Biography: Kyrie Irving, Basketball

 Kyrie Irving is known for his prowess on the basketball court as a high scoring point guard.  He was picked with the first overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011 and won the rookie of the year that year.  In 2016 the Cavaliers won the NBA championship.  LeBron James also played for the Cavaliers. 

 More recently he is known for having refused the Covid shot.  It limited his ability to play is some jurisdictions.  At the time he played in New Jersey and this stance resulted in his being traded.  He now plays for Dallas but has not played this year due to recovering from ACL surgery.

Kyrie's mother was Lakota Sioux of the Standing Rock reservation.  She also had African AMerican ancestry.  However she was adopted away from the reservation as a baby.  This was before the Indian Child Welfare Act prevented the adopting out of native children.  His mother passed away when he was four and he was raised by his father and aunts.  He was actually born in Australia and has duel citizenship.  His father was in Australia playing basketball.  

As an adult Irving has reconnected with his native roots.  He attended a "welcome home" ceremony on the Standing Rock reservation.  He received a new name, Little Mountain.  His family name is Mountain.  

Native American Biography: Jamie Okuma, Artist, Beadworker, Fashion Designer: Luiseño, Shoshone-Bannock

 Jamie Okuna is big in the fashion world.  She has her own website where she sells her fashion.  She is an enrolled member to the La Jolla Luiseño band of Indians.  From a young age she would do beadwork making small items for her dolls.  She has been an active artist since she was 18.  She displays art at the Heard Indian Art Market in Phoenix and Santa Fe Indian Art Market in Santa Fe.  She has won seven best of show award, four in Phoenix and three in Santa Fe.  She specializes in beaded foot wear.  She has moved from beadwork to fashion design.  She makes intricate clothing.  She calls is contemporary native fashion.  

Native American Biography: Frank Waln: Musician, Rapper, Advocate: Sicangu Lakota Sioux

 Frank Waln is most known as a rapper who puts Native American themes in his songs.  He plays the Native American flute.  He first released two albums in 2017, and then in 2020 one of flute music.  He has won many Native American awards for his music.  He is also a writer and does the college lecture circuit.  He teaches native American music and history as well as music production at Western Michigan University.  

Native American Author: Louise Erdrich

 Louise Erdrich is a writer of novels, non fiction, children's books, poetry and short stories.  On many works she collaborated with her husband, Michael Dorris.  Dorris had three adopted children that Erdrich helped raise.  They also had three children together.  They all had fetal alcohol syndrome.  The oldest as a young man was hit by a car and killed.  They were later divorced. After the divorce, the other two adopted children accused their adoptive father of abusing them, including sexually.  He committed suicide.   Erdrich had another daughter after the divorce.  

Her writing career got a big start when she won a short story contest sponsored by the Chicago Tribune.  Both she and Dorris were writers.  They would individually write the first draft and then share them with eachother and work on them together.  Erdrich has written over 30 novels and other works.  

She is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota.  She is of mixed blood with her mother being Chippewa.  Her father was German American.  From both sides of the family she heard many stories.  These stories find their place in her works.  She writes about the area where she grew up, native American stories as well as French and German.

She also runs a book store in Minneapolis called Birchbark Books which also sells native American art and

medicines.  She promotes native authors and has a publishing company.  

Book Review: Red Cloud: Sioux Warrior

 Red Cloud: Sioux Warrior: Native American Leaders of the Wild West, by William R. Sanford, Enslow Publishers, Hillside, N.J., 1994.

This is a very good study of Red Cloud as a warrior.  The book says Red Cloud defeated the Whites twice.  First in forcing the American troops from the forts along the Bozeman Trail.  The second was in negotiation where he asserted the tribes insistence on not going to a reservation along the Missouri River but staying closer to the Black Hills.  Thus they are on the Pine Ridge Reservation, a more desert location.  Red Cloud was not pleased with this location.  This is where he died.

Native American Biography: Esther Martinez, Tewa Pueblo

 As a child Esther was sent to boarding school, where she was punished if she spoke her native language.   However Esther did not forget her language.  She graduated in 1930.  She raised ten children and worked as a school cook or janitor in various jobs.  She was working at John F. Kennedy Middle School in San Juan Pueblo when she was asked to for her help in documenting the Tewa language.  She worked at creating the first Tewa dictionary.  It has been revised to reflect different dialects but is still used.  She also translated the New Testament into Tewa.

She worked to establish Tewa durriculum into the school system, and through her efforts many children have been taught their native language in schools.  She is also a story teller.  Traditionally storytelling took place in the winter.  This was because of the longer nights.  Stories were told to teach survival tips and socialization skills.  Storytelling would start with children's stories.  She has published several children stories based on her culture.  She also traveled with Storytelling International and told many stories.  This would be in English.  She published a memoir, "My Life in San Juan Pueblo: Stories of Esther Martinez" in 2004.  

She died at age 94.  She was honored with by the Endowment for the Arts for folk and traditional artists.  A law she had proposed for language immersion schools was also passed, expanding funding for schools.

Native American Biography: Michael Naranjo, Blind Sculptor, Tewa Pueblo

Michael Naranjo was born in Santa Clara Pueblo and is of the Tewa Tribe.  He served in the army in Vietnam where a grenade was thrown toward him and in his attempt to throw it back it blew up in his hand.  It left his hand badly injured and shrapnel in his face let him blind.  He was 23 when this happened.  

While he was recovering he asked the nurse for some soft clay.  Using his left hand he was able to make an animal.  Growing up his mother made pottery.  He would use clay to make animals, and she would often fire them.  This sparked in him a desire to be an artist.  Despite his blindness he persisted.  From thos little clay sculptures he has continued and is now a well known artist with many works.  He makes many sculptures of Native American dancers, including hoop dances.  This he sculpts from his memories growing up.  He lived this life until he was nine years ole, and then his father moved him to town where he became a minister.

Native American Biography: Brown Woman of the Blackfeet aka Running Eagle,

 Running Eagle (Pitamaka) was oldest among her siblings.  Her father taught her how to hunt against the wishes of her mother.  She was born in southern Alberta Canada to the Piikáni Piegan Tribe of the Blackfeet.  She preferred boy's games to girl's.  At age twelve she began wearing boys clothes.  She started going on buffalo hunts with her father.  On a hunting expedition with her father they were attacked by Assiniboine. Her father's horse was shot from under him and Running Eagle rode back and  was able to save him.  She was celebrated with a dance.

Her mother and father both passed away shorty after, leaving Running Eagle as the head of the family.  She went with the warriors on a raid of a Crow camp.  She was told to go back by the leader of the read, but she refused.  She was able to steal eleven horses on the raid.  She then kept watch and was able to take care of two Crow who tried to steal back the things they had taken.  She was again celebrated by the tribe.  

She still met with significant push back and it was suggested she do a vision quest.  She was promised success in battle as long as she never slept with a man.  After this she was accepted as a warrior and even lead battles.  She did however eventually meet her end on the battle field.  

Pitamakan lake in Montana was named for her.  She is a woman who followed what she wanted to do instead of society's norms.  It was rumored she slept with a man which resulted in her death.  However the Flatheads targeted her knowing she was leading the battle.  

Omaha Burlington Station

 Burlington Station opened July 4, 1898 to welcome people to the Omaha world's fair, the Trans-Mississippi Exposition.  It had columns made from Indiana granite.  It was reodeled in the 1930s and the columns were removed.  That remodel was for a more modern look.  In 1974 the station closed.  In 2015 it reopened as a television station for channel 7.

I took pictures from the Union Pacific Durham Museum.

Magazine Article Review: Fonda Family and the Omaha Community Players

 Fonda Family and the Omaha Community Players, by Leo Adam Biga, Nebraska History Magazine, volume 105 number 2 Summer 2024.

2024 marked the 100th year of the Omaha Community Players.  The Fonda family, as well as the Brando family were with them from their earliest days.  Henry Fonda first did plays as a young man.  In their turn his children also performer, Peter Fonda and Jane Fonda.  Henry Fonda came back to the community players from time to tim, to perform or to reminisce.  He and his children went on to have successful theater and movie careers.  Henry Fonda's last movie was with his daughter Jane, "On Golden Pond."  

This article lists many actors from Nebraska.  In addition to the Fondas there are Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Dorothy McGuire, Nick Nolte and many more.

Omaha Indian Dr. Susan LaFlesche Picotte from Durham History Museum

 Omaha Indian Dr Susan Laflesche Picotte was the first Native American woman to graduate from medical school.  She was the daughter of Omaha chief Joseph LaFlesche, "Iron Eye."  She graduated first in her class from the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania.  She moved back to the Omaha Resefrvation where she became the reservation doctor.

Florence Mill/Winter Quarters Mill

 The Florence Mill was first built while members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints occupied Winter Quarters in 1846 as they waited to continue their journey to the West.  Brigham Young ordered it be built.  Other people ran the mill after the Mormons abandoned the area.