My 'crazy' great grandmother Ethel & The Sioux
I was cleaning/rearranging one of the gun safes today and came across those gloves and tomahawk that we were telling Sig and Deb about last week.
Short version:
My great grandmother Ethel was born and lived in a sod house about 30 miles outside of Lincoln, NB. She and her dad were walking to the RR tracks to hop on the `Iron Horse' for a ride into Lincoln, so she could see other (white) people - it was her 6th birthday - and dad was going to buy her a pair of little girl shoes (.25?) - to go with the new little yellow dress her mama had made her for the occasion. It was her FIRST dress.
They fell asleep next to the tracks on that hot July day. Suddenly they heard a horse snort! Standing about 50 feet from them was a Sioux war party on horseback - about 40 of them. Her dad was only concerned about getting his Navy Colt out of his belt, turning her head away and shooting her. The Sioux used little white kids as slaves, who would sleep with the dogs and freeze when the first snows blew.
The chief saw what he was doing and motioned to him to stop - he pointed at her dress. The Chief sent a brave over who dropped the broken tomahawk on the prairie grass in front of them. Ethel's dad only too happy to comply, dumped Ethel out of her dress! Ethel went absolutely ballistic! She had never had a dress before - she wanted her dress back!
The war party sat quietly on their ponies, absolutely fascinated at seeing Ethel throwing her tantrum on the ground. Indian children were taught to always be quiet and calm. The Chief then sent his rider back with his gloves - the most valuable thing he had with him. Ethel continued on for another five minutes - non-stop - and then, as if they were one, the Sioux war party wheeled their horses and galloped off across the prairie.
That happened not long after The Little Big Horn, in `76. My father had everything authenticated by the University of Pennsylvania, in about 1950, and the name of the War Chief was revealed by the bead design, in the Great Plaines War Gloves. There is a 100% probability that they were in the Little Big Horn fight as they have about ten years wear on them. The gloves are lined with canvas - either civilian wagon tent canvas but more likely U.S. Army wagon canvas - it's heavier.
Lined with Army canvas.
We bring them out twice a year - once for a family story-tell around Christmas and another time during the year to share with my wife's school. It makes a good family story. I hope that somewhere there is a Sioux family somewhere that relates a story about how great great great grandfather allowed a little crazy white girl to go in peace for the price of her little yellow dress!
[:D]
Short version:
My great grandmother Ethel was born and lived in a sod house about 30 miles outside of Lincoln, NB. She and her dad were walking to the RR tracks to hop on the `Iron Horse' for a ride into Lincoln, so she could see other (white) people - it was her 6th birthday - and dad was going to buy her a pair of little girl shoes (.25?) - to go with the new little yellow dress her mama had made her for the occasion. It was her FIRST dress.
They fell asleep next to the tracks on that hot July day. Suddenly they heard a horse snort! Standing about 50 feet from them was a Sioux war party on horseback - about 40 of them. Her dad was only concerned about getting his Navy Colt out of his belt, turning her head away and shooting her. The Sioux used little white kids as slaves, who would sleep with the dogs and freeze when the first snows blew.
The chief saw what he was doing and motioned to him to stop - he pointed at her dress. The Chief sent a brave over who dropped the broken tomahawk on the prairie grass in front of them. Ethel's dad only too happy to comply, dumped Ethel out of her dress! Ethel went absolutely ballistic! She had never had a dress before - she wanted her dress back!
The war party sat quietly on their ponies, absolutely fascinated at seeing Ethel throwing her tantrum on the ground. Indian children were taught to always be quiet and calm. The Chief then sent his rider back with his gloves - the most valuable thing he had with him. Ethel continued on for another five minutes - non-stop - and then, as if they were one, the Sioux war party wheeled their horses and galloped off across the prairie.
That happened not long after The Little Big Horn, in `76. My father had everything authenticated by the University of Pennsylvania, in about 1950, and the name of the War Chief was revealed by the bead design, in the Great Plaines War Gloves. There is a 100% probability that they were in the Little Big Horn fight as they have about ten years wear on them. The gloves are lined with canvas - either civilian wagon tent canvas but more likely U.S. Army wagon canvas - it's heavier.
Lined with Army canvas.
We bring them out twice a year - once for a family story-tell around Christmas and another time during the year to share with my wife's school. It makes a good family story. I hope that somewhere there is a Sioux family somewhere that relates a story about how great great great grandfather allowed a little crazy white girl to go in peace for the price of her little yellow dress!
[:D]
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Now that is a cool family story!! 0 -
Got a million of them. Old Philadelphian family - my mother was the youngest of all the 'old family historians' - she died at 82, the last of them. Now, I suppose, I am the 'old family historian.'
I spent the last two and a half years scanning photos, family documents, wills. etc. and recording the old oral stories. I finally put everything on 7 DVDs and gave a copy to my four grown kids and five grandkids.
Everyone should do that - just one big heart attack or big house fire and it's all gone.
[:D]0 -
that's cool as hell. 0 -
No wonders she was 'crazy'...Dad made her get into her skivies on the prarie, in front of 40 Sioux, I'd be scarred, too....geez.....
But did he get her the shoes?........
Great story, Zip.....[:D]0 -
Those are freaking cool!!! Awesome story too!!!! 0 -
So what was the war chiefs name?
My great grandfather was Chief Nastyass of the Nowipea tribe.0 -
Wow Zip,
That was an amazing story, philadelphians are definately good people, just not north philadelphians.0 -
whaddya think those indians would have thought of how things are nowadays, they could just go to home depot and buy some Great Plains War Gloves for $5.99 0 -
And the war chief was? 0 -
Yep - she DID get her 'little girl shoes' and mama made her another dress - a blue dress.
What kind of spurred on the idea to take Ethel to the Big City of Lincoln, Nebraska[:D]
was that a lost pioneer family wagon stopped by their sod house to trade for some flour. Ethel's mom traded the flour for a half bolt of yellow fabric - hence the dress was created. Ethel also said that she had never seen any other folks - and she hadn't - just her ma and paw and five brothers. As a treat, her parents planned the trip into Lincoln for her as to buy her shoes. All prairie children back in the 1870's were outfitted with bib overhauls and 'clod hoppers' (boots). The dream of a little girl actually having a dress and shoes was absolutely heavenly back in the prairie country!
Oh, and when Samual 'dumped her out of her dress,' she was wearing a pettycoat - second hand one of her mother's that she'd cut down for Ethel.
If you'd like to hear more about Ethel, I've got some more great stories about her. She was a true pioneer woman full of "fire and grit" as my dad used to describe her.
She later owned a horse ranch in Rawlins, WY, was a RR camp cook in the High Rockies, on the Moffet Road snowsheds build in the late teens, and her brother was a sheriff of Deadwood, SD. - she saw him "shoot a man dead" on a visit there to see him in the 1880's.
Ethel is one of our most treasured family characters. Her dad was a Civil War US Army Captain who was left on the field of battle for dead, spent three days out in the rain, crawled to a nearby barn, recovered from his almost mortal wounds and walked home to his brother's home in Philadelphia - from the Battle of Fair Oaks, VA site - in full uniform without papers - daring all who stopped him and wanted him to produce his papers to shoot him "there and then" - and home he walked, quitting the Army. ... now you can see where Ethel got HER spunk!
[:D][:D][:D]0 -
Just read your question, He Dog.
I don't know. I have never found that paper from the
U of P but he was a rather well known and well
documented Oglala Sioux war chief. A couple of years
ago I was told I could just send them the photo and
that's all they'd need - photo of the design. I guess that's
what I'll do. I'm curious, myself.
[8D]0 -
I would have those relics "highly" and I mean "highly" insured.
Native Indian artifacts of this nature are worth a fortune.0 -
there's some people knowledgeable about indian history at the Lincoln Museum of Natural History (nebraska, that is) you could ask them also. 0 -
Great stories and nice artifacts. Thanks for sharing. 0 -
Your family is very, very fortunate to have such detailed family history. [:)] 0 -
THANKS FOR SHARING . 0 -
Where's Lincoln, New Brunswick? I wasn't aware that the Souix were that far north. 0 -
the sIOUX weren't. [;)] 0 -
That would be Nebraska dogseller, you know east of you about 400 miles and a couple of miles north. Do this: go to Cabela's, then drive east on I-80 untile you get to Lincoln. Oh, and while you are at Cabela's, how about picking me up...probably not huh?
Thanks for the reply Zipper, yep that would be worth trying to do. I was unaware one could pinpoint a specific chief that way, but if so, the University of Kansas Musuem of Natural History also has some pretty expert people and a lot of photographs of Lakota people, including the only photo of Crazy Horse I am aware of (legend has it he was never photographed). Being able to atribute the beaded gloves to a particular indian (and a war chief at that) would increase the value by 10 fold or somewhat more, depending upon who it was.
Be a kick if it was He Dog.[^]0 -
quote:Originally posted by He Dog
That would be Nebraska dogseller
NE is Nebraska
NB is New Brunswick, Canada.0 -
I'm an avid viewer of Antiques Road Show - when I have the time - and
always think of these when someone quotes the insurance value.
Obviously, there really is no insurance value ... as they are probably one of
kind - most certainly are for this family. At some point they 'should'
probably go into a large university collection but under my conservatorship
they will remain a part of our family. There really is no way to express/explain
the moment when a youngest members of the family 'gets it' when they
pick up/hold the gloves and tomahawk. We do insist that the youngsters
wash their hands for a few minutes before handling them and the rest of us
wear latex gloves.
When I'm gone, obviously, my children will make the decision (s) about them.
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quote:NE is Nebraska NB is New Brunswick, Canada.
Don't be disingenuous, you know Lincoln was never in New Brunswick, while he did spend a night in a log cabin in Lincoln, in fact he was named after the town as you no doubt know.0 -
(Hate to burst your bubble fellas, BUT http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln,_New_Brunswick
- it USED to be in NE but was returned to NB, recently. Sorry for your inconvencience[:D])0 -
Thats a great story. 0 -
zipperzap: What was the sheriffs name, that was in Deadwoos? I would be very interested to know. Great family history.[:)] 0
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