An Archive Of Letters To And From Dr. George Bird Grinnell, Anthropologist Who Studied Native Americans Of The Plains And A Western Historian. Calvary Officer Homer Wheeler Wrote: “I Cannot Understand Why General Custer’s Command Did Not Cross The River At The Ford And Charge Through The Indian Village… In Mrs. Custer’s Book She Blames Reno For Not Going To Custer’s Defense. It Was An Utter Impossibility”

DR. GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL (1849-1938). Grinnell was an American naturalist, anthropologist, and author best known for his studies of Native American cultures of the Plains. He was also a Western historian. Archive. Approximately 66 pieces. 1903-1930 (majority 1910s and 1920s). An archive of letters to and from George Bird Grinnell, all relating to his studies of Plains Native Americans. Many of the letters comes from veterans of the Seventh Cavalry and describe Custer’s defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn. Eyewitnesses include William O. Taylor (5 letters), E. S. Godfrey (11 letters), and Colonel Homer W. Wheeler (3 letters). According to Wheeler: “…In yours of the 15th instant you say, ‘I cannot understand why General Custer’s command did not cross the river at the ford and charge through the Indian Village’. At the time the fight occurred there was not any particular ford and if there was one at all the Indians were the only men who knew anything about it…I was on the battleground with General Sheridan about one year after the first and we had several Indians with us who took part in the engagement. I will give a short account of their version of the fight…At the time the Indians supposed they were fighting all the soldiers in the country, when all at once General Custer’s command made its appearance, coming out of a ravine a mile or so below where they were fighting…Judging by the way we found the graves of the men, I do not think a man ever reached the river…In Mrs. Custer’s book she blames Reno for not going to Custer’s defense. It was an utter impossibility…”. Other items with military subject matter include a six-page typed description by Grinnell of a squad roster for the G Troop of the Seventh Cavalry at Little Bighorn and a three-page contemporary copy of a letter by S. Shlesinger, a veteran of the Battle of Beecher Island, disputing another person’s account of the battle published in the Kansas City Star. It mentions the Cheyenne warrior Roman Nose, who died during the battle. There are also many letters about Native American art, culture, and contemporary life by scholars, artists, and others. For example, Wyoming rancher and politician L.R.A. Condit speculates on the identity of the body in a Native American burial, and Hamlin Garland suggests aid for starving Blackfeet: “…If we can feed Russians and Turks we ought to be able to see that our own people are not hungry and cold….”. Historian and ethnographer Thomas Marquis and artist Joe De Yong discuss the Medicine Wheel and Medicine Dance; Marquis even encloses photographs from his recent visits to such events. Several of the authors advocated for Native American rights and well-being. In a contemporary copy to Indian Commissioner Charles H. Burke, photographer Thomas M. Galey wrote passionately in support of Native American’s freedom to practice their own religions: “This letter is to appraise you of certain personal observations I recently made and in particular to beg you to promptly order a policy of non-interference in the religious practices of the tribes and the Cheyennes in Montana in particular…The Constitution provided that every man can worship his god in his own way. The past policy of the Department has been to prohibit the holding of Medicin [sic] Lodge and other festivities. The idea back of it seems to be that the Indians do themselves personal injury and that the Government is such a very tender ward that this will be avoided. The existence of those of the past generation is a rather dreary wait for the end. Why not let them have their Medicin [sic] Lodge and other religious festivities and get all the fun out of life and the comfort that the observance of old time customs would make. When they die off it is almost a certainty that the young bloods will not continue the old custom…The Catholics and the Menonites have missions in the Reservation and I think it a crime to shove white man religion down their throats…The sum and substance of this letter is: Please order the restoration of the Medicin [sic] Lodge and the untrameled [sic] right for all the tribes to practice their religion in their own way and brook no interference from the missionaries…”. James Willard Schultz, aka Apikuni, the explorer, author, and historian who was essentially adopted by the Pikuni nation after marrying into it, criticized Commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs Cato Sells and advocated for the Pikuni: “…As to Cato Sells, he is a liar, of course, and it remains to be seen if the Pikuni receive the food and clothing that he had promised them. The Great Falls Tribune refused to print my complaint about Sells, but the Philadelphia Public Ledger ran it, and I think that is what caused him to make the statement that the Pikuni would be well cared for. I am now writing a brief history of the Pikuni, the wrongs that they have suffered, and their needs, which I will give to the press for release some time next month. I am laying especial stress upon the fact that, in order to provide for their future needs, they must be paid for that great territory arbitrarily taken from them, the country between the Missouri and the Yellowstone…”. Western explorers and guides are also mentioned. A.D. McCandless discusses Kit Carson and John C. Frémont, quoting author Emerson Bennett: “…Here then, stood the famous Kit Carson; a being I had long had a secret desire to see, but whom I had always pictured to myself, as huge, rough, brawny, and ferocious. Nor could I bring myself to realize that the person before was that same incarnate devil in Indian fight I had heard him represented, and who had killed and scalped more savages in the same number of years than any two hunters west of the old Mississippi…”. There are seven letters to Grinnell signed “Luther S. Kelly”, aka Yellowstone Kelly. Kelly was an American soldier and explorer. He writes about his recollections and his writing, as well as once complaining about being passed over for a position in Indian Affairs for a younger applicant. His signed letters are very rare. Also, two letters of recollections by Yellowstone guide Billy Hofer. Finally, there are four letters signed “Geo. Bird Grinnell” by Grinnell himself. (Unfortunately, two of the four signatures are smeared.) For example, Grinnell wrote to Colonel D.L. Brainard concerning the killing of Lakota chief Lame Deer (1821-1877) by American soldiers: “…Your very kind note of the 6th inst, returning the notes of the White Bull story, and your own memories of the Lame Deer fight, is just received. I am very greatly indebted to you for your comments, and for the memoranda which you give. The whole matter to me is very interesting. I think that I shall take the stuff out with me when I go to Lame Deer, as I expect to in a short time, and go over the matter again with White Bull and Brave Wolf. Both of them were present in the fight, and one man’s recollection may stimulate that of the other. If I get from White Bull anything more satisfactory than I have now, I will send it to you, if you care for it. There seems to be a day too much in White Bull’s account, but this may well enough be due to some blunder of the interpreter. My impression is that there is at present in New York a grandson of old Lame Deer, who might, from the testimony of his relatives who were in the fight, determine who it was that wore the war bonnet, and whether a woman was killed in the fight…”. In general, the letters and documents are in good to very good condition, with various faults. The archive includes both typed and autograph letters. The vast majority are signed but a few are contemporary typed copies. This description is only a brief summary of all the content within.