Counting Coups, an Eyewitness Account from the 1800s BY RICHARD IRVING DODGE All the religious dances embody the same idea, and are conducted upon much the same general principle as the great camp-meetings of some of our Christian denominations. The time and place are fixed by the medicine man, and ample notice given. The "scalp dance," is next to the medicine dance in … [Read more...]
Charlie Russell and the Heroic Cheyenne
Also, Granville Stuart’s Desirable Daughters, and Teddy’s Infatuation With a Dusky Maiden BY TEDDY BLUE ABBOTT When I was with the N Bar there was a fellow working for their Powder River outfit by the name of John Green. He was from Texas like the rest of them, but he had been everywhere and seen everything, to hear him tell it. One morning at the ranch house they brought … [Read more...]
Legends of the Star People
Ancestors in High Places BY DAVID S. LEWIS For propriety’s sake, we will address the Native American Star People legends, what might be termed the folklore traditions of various Indian tribes, of having been in contact with extraterrestrials, or as being their ancestors, as a study of human societies and cultures, as anthropology, so that the more incredible aspects of this … [Read more...]
Taken by the Sioux A Buffalo Hunt, the Vast Sioux Village, and the Dog Feast
BY FANNY KELLY On the 20th of July [1864] we had nearly reached the Indian village [after our wagon train had been massacred by the Oglala on July 15, with I and 5-year old Mary taken prisoner on a forced ride deep into Indian country] when we camped for the night, as usual, when such a locality could be gained, on the bank of a stream of good water. Here was a stream of … [Read more...]
Taken by the Sioux – The Ordeal Continues…
A Vision of Little Mary’s Fate BY FANNY KELLY First published in 1872 Abducted by the Sioux and taken to their village of thousands, Fanny Kelly becomes the object of the Indian’s revenge after General Sully pursued and killed many Sioux warriors in battle. The next morning I could see that something unusual was about to happen. Notwithstanding the early hour, the … [Read more...]
Taken by the Sioux – The Sun Dance, a Puzzle of Human Bones, Poisoned Indians
(Originally published in 1872) BY FANNY KELLY About the 1st of October the Indians were on the move as usual [after my abduction in July, 1864, and the massacre of our wagon train in the Powder River area, as we were headed for Montana], and by some means I became separated from the family I was with, and was lost. I looked around for them, but their familiar faces were … [Read more...]
Taken by the Sioux – Massacre on the Yellowstone
Among the Blackfeet (Originally published in 1872) BY FANNY KELLY My last days with the Ogalalla Sioux Indians were destined to be marked by a terrible remembrance. On the first of October, while the savages lingered in camp about the banks of the Yellowstone River, apparently fearing, yet almost inviting attack by their near vicinity to the soldiers, a large Mackinaw, … [Read more...]
Taken By the Sioux – Among the Blackfeet, and the Captive’s Final Fate
Originally published in 1872 BY FANNY KELLY The Blackfeet village was one hundred and fifty miles from the Ogalallas, and the way thither lay often over the tops of bare and sandy hills. On the summits of these heights I found shells such as are picked up at the sea-side. The Indians accounted for their appearance there by saying, that once a great sea rolled over the … [Read more...]
Taken By the Sioux – What Happened at Fort Laramie After My Capture
Originally published in 1872 BY FANNY KELLY Immediately after Mr. Kelly reached Deer Creek, at the time of our capture [by the Oglala Sioux in 1864, in what is now eastern Wyoming], he telegraphed to Fort Laramie of the outbreak of the Indians, and the capture of his wife. Colonel Collins, of the Eleventh Ohio Cavalry, commandant of the military district, ordered two … [Read more...]
Taken By the Sioux – The Conclusion of an Epic Struggle for Survival
Originally published in 1872 BY FANNY KELLY Mr. Kelly's sudden death, my own sickness, and the scourge of cholera, all coming at one time, proved disastrous to me in a pecuniary way. I was defrauded in every way, even to the robbing of my husband's body of the sum of five hundred dollars the day of his death. However, I finally disposed of the remnant of property left, … [Read more...]