1868 Sioux at Fort Laramie: photographs from the Smithsonian institution, national anthropological archives.This is the second * GLIMPSES to feature photographs taken by Alexander Gardner Alexander Gardner may refer to the following people:
Below: A group of men, women and children around a cooking fire, the same fire that appeared in one of the photos in the last edition of GLIMPSES. Gardner identified the man at left as Grey Eyes; the seated man in the hat in the center as Running Water; the standing woman as Mrs. Moran, and the man at far right as Young Elk. The other individuals are not identified. Running Water is wearing hairplates, a felt hat and dentalia earrings. Both of the women seem to be wearing calico dresses and blankets or shawls. Young Elk is dressed in the fashion of young warriors of the 1860s and 70s, in a cloth shirt and blanket, with a bead or shell breastplate breastplate 1. for use with a saddle, a strap attached to the girth at its lowest point, which then passes between the forelimbs, passes upwards and divides to pass on either side of the neck and to meet at the withers after attaching to the front edge of the saddle. and a string of small metal buttons or conchos in his hair. One of his braids is wrapped in fur and the other in cloth. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Above: A man that Gardner identified as an "Indian Scout" and a "Dakota" but it is not known whether the man was actually a scout in service to the U. S. Army at the time. Also, the term "Dakota" was widely used, at least by Gardner, to refer to all Lakota. There are a couple of slightly different versions of this same scene. The man is wearing surplus military clothing left over from the Civil War, issued to the people who attended the proceedings. In this case, that includes a capped overcoat and trousers, while in another view of this same man he is also wearing a military top hat, the so-called Hardee hat The Hardee hat, also known as the Model 1858 Dress Hat and sometimes nicknamed the "Jeff Davis", was the regulation dress hat for enlisted men in the U.S. Army during the American Civil War. . Article 10 of the 1868 treaty (Kappler) obligated the government to give each "male person over fourteen years of age, a suit of good substantial woolen clothing, consisting of coat, pantaloons, flannel shirt, hat and a pair of home-made socks." This was to be a yearly issue, for thirty years. He is also holding a half-stock muzzle loading cap lock rifle. The treaty commissioners gave out many of these as treaty presents, buying almost a hundred of them after they got to Ft. Laramie. (Murray 2) Perhaps the most striking item of this man's appearance is his set of large metal hairplates, probably German silver. This was at the height of popularity of hairplates among young Sioux men, and a number of men in the Gardner photos were wearing them. In the famous Gardner photo of the Sioux chiefs standing in a line, the young Spotted Tail Spotted Tail (b. Sinte Gleska) (?1833–81) Brûlé Sioux leader; born along the White River in present-day South Dakota or near present-day Laramie, Wyo. A signer of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868—in which the U.S. is standing at far left wearing a set of large hairplates. The saddled horse is wearing a partial silver headstall, which is blurred in this image by movement. The horse is saddled with a classic frame saddle that would probably be covered with a blanket or buffalo hide pad for riding. Apparently the horse was a mare, with its belled colt standing alongside. Above is a group of four Lakota men, with frame buildings of the Fort in the background. Gardner identified them from left to right as Lone Horn Lone Horn, also known as One Horn (Lakota: Ha-wón-je-tah, c.1790 to 1875, born in present day South Dakota) was chief to the Minneconjou Teton Lakota. He was father to Big Foot and Touch the Clouds, and was uncle of Crazy Horse. , Pipe, Grass and Young Elk, who may be the same Young Elk as in the photo on page 16. Lone Horn is wearing one of the few classic hide Leader's Shirts that appears in the Gardner photos, along with trousers and partially beaded moccasins. Pipe is wrapped in a buffalo robe, in contrast to the prevalence of blankets on most men, and carries a large wing fan. Grass seems to be simply dressed in military clothing issued at the proceedings. Young Elk is wearing cloth leggings leg·ging n. 1. A leg covering usually extending from the ankle to the knee and often made of material such as leather or canvas, worn especially by soldiers and workers. 2. leggings a. with striped triangle design strips, dentalia earrings and some kind of breastplate. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Left is a group of Oglala leaders, from left, Fire Thunder, Old Man Afraid and Pipe. Man Afraid is now wearing a buffalo robe and carries the same pipe and pipebag that we saw in the last GLIMPSES. He is talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to Pipe, who is now wrapped in a blanket, with his beaded legging strips and moccasins visible below. Pipe, fittingly, also has a pipe. Fire Thunder to the left, seems to be enjoying the situation, wrapped in a blanket and carrying a fur, probably domestic cow hide, bowcase and quiver. As is evident from the very long shadows, this photos was probably taken late in the day. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Below is one of the relatively large number of photos that Gardner took depicting the Indian camps around the fort. Most or all of the Sioux seemed to have lived in tipis, except for Spotted Tail, who had an Army-issue Sibley tent Noun 1. Sibley tent - a light conical canvas tent erected on a tripod with ventilation at the top canvas tent, canvass, canvas - a tent made of canvas fabric . Gardner captioned this interesting image "Indian girl sewing in front of tipi," and her seated figure is evident to the right of the door opening. Significantly, this tipi is made of fabric, not buffalo hide, and from the heavily smoked top, it was in use for some time before its owners went to Ft. Laramie. Many if not most of the tipis in the Gardner photos are fabric. One of the smoke flaps is stretched on a pole while the other hangs limply, and the door covering is thrown back to reveal the door opening. In this case, the door opening is not cut out of the fabric of the cover, but seems to have been formed by tying back the fabric on each side to create an opening. Note also the relative wide and short profile of this lodge. Another outdoor cooking fire with large metal pots is visible in the right foreground. Farther back beside the tipi are a large pile of firewood and a pole rack holding slabs of drying meat. There is also a wagon behind the tipi, which may or may not have been a treaty issue item. References Murray, Robert. (1977). "Treaty Presents at Ft. Laramie 1867-68." Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, 13:3; 1-5. Kappler, Charles J., compiler and editor. (1904). Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties --Vol. II: Treaties. Treaty with the Sioux --Brule, Oglala, Miniconjou, Yanktonai, Hunkpapa, Blackfeet, Cuthead, Two Kettle, Sans Ares, and Santee--and Arapaho, 1868 (Treaty of Fort Laramie Treaty of Fort Laramie may refer to either of two treaties signed at Fort Laramie, in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming:
* Whispering Wind, Vol 38 No. 1, Issue 263, 2008 Photographs by Alexander Gardner |
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