“The Most Unscrupulous Man Who Ever Disgraced the Legal Profession” BY GARY R. FORNEY Love him or hate him—and there were plenty of those who were in each camp—one has to admit that Wilbur Fisk Sanders was an influential force to be reckoned with in early Montana. Born May 2, 1834, at Leon, New York, at the age of 20 Sanders moved to Akron, Ohio, to study law under the … [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...]
The Black Elk Paradox
Fanny Kelly’s Sioux Reality versus Black Elk’s BY DAVID S. LEWIS What was the nature of the Sioux when they roamed the western plains? One might as well question the nature of humanity, given the options and contradict-ions—vengeful warriors, resourceful nomads, wandering mystics, common hunter gatherers, and so on. Modern political correctness and romanticized epics … [Read more...]
Out of Ammo
Ammunition in Short Supply, or Unavailable—Everywhere BY QUINCY ORHAI Twenty-two caliber long rifle ammunition, the most popular, low cost ammunition sold in the United States, has disappeared from the shelves of stores across the USA and here in southwest Montana. Less popular handgun calibers, .32, .380 and .25, are scarce and expensive, and the more popular .38, .357, … [Read more...]
Crowing About Tonto
To Johnny Depp—Crow...Comanche, What’s the Difference? 08/09/13 BY DAVID S. LEWIS Four summers ago, a stirring image saturated the printable area of this publication’s July cover—Kirby Sattler’s I Am Crow. The artist’s depiction of a Crow Medicine Man (Sattler is less definitive in his description) struck a chord that reverberated from Missouri to Montana (and Mexico, … [Read more...]
Roadkill—It’s What’s for Dinner, Legally
Lawmakers Green Light the Harvesting of Roadkill 08/09/13 BY ARI LEVAUX The Montana state legislature passed a bill in the last session, signed into law by Gov. Steve Bullock in April, that legalizes the salvage, consumption, and/or donation to charity of animals hit and killed by cars—roadkill. The new law applies to deer, elk, antelope and moose, and puts the state in … [Read more...]
Tales the Zuni Indians Tell— About the Great Extinction?
Mythological Records as Keys to the Ancient Past BY PIONEER STAFF American anthropologist and ethnologist Frank Hamilton Cushing (1857—1900) lived among and was accepted by the Zuni Indians of the southwestern United States, as the first in his field to dedicate himself to his occupation by immersing himself in and adopting the culture of his subject. Cushing lived with the … [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...]
When Legends Ring True
Seashells Aren’t Always Found by the Seashore 09/09/13 BY DAVID S. LEWIS Legends can be based in history, even affirmed through personal experience, though many “experts” often insist otherwise. What if, for example, a particular legend occurs in dozens, even hundreds, of cultures around the world telling more or less the same story, having been passed down generation to … [Read more...]
Cell Phones in the Wired Wild West
New Cell Tower in Yellowstone versus the Sounds of Silence 09/09/13 BY QUINCY ORHAI In an emergency response situation earlier this year, the kind that has become common in southwest Montana, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team responded by helicopter to Blackmore Mountain trailhead in Hyalite Canyon for an injured skier. The 21-year-old Bozeman … [Read more...]
What Is It We Are Not Seeing?
Even though It’s Everywhere You Look BY DAVID S. LEWIS It seems we’re on the blind side of things. What occurs comes out of nowhere, often with power. Who can see the wind? But it pulls down trees, lifts houses, and you have to lean into it when it blows. Nor can we see the silent power that spins the earth and causes the sun to seemingly rise and set. Gravity, too, remains … [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...]
Local Police Dog Attack May Prove Costly to City
Victim’s Lawyer Will “Do What He Is Supposed to Do” 10/02/13 BY JONATHAN TURLEY Originally published on jonathanturley.org 09/04/13 Police Dog Attacks Man Working Late at Restaurant—Police Chief Declines to Apolo-gize, Says Dog “Did What He Was Supposed to Do” Some jurisdictions have curtailed or even eliminated K-9 teams due to liability—reducing the majority of … [Read more...]
Livingston Police Change K-9 Policy After Incident
Officers Will Now Call Proprietors Before Sending in Dog 10/04/13 BY QUINCY ORHAI A month after a Livingston police dog injured a cook in a local tavern, who had returned to his kitchen after hours, the Livingston Police Department changed its policy regarding deploying its dog to search businesses during security checks. In a recent interview regarding the city’s K-9 … [Read more...]
The Chihuahua Mystery
Where Did Small Dogs Come From? BY DAVID S. LEWIS Much ink has been devoted in these pages lately to dogs: police dogs, barking dogs, how to train dogs, and wolves—this month we present controversial revelations regarding canis lupus occidentalis and its importation to Yellowstone that might be characterized as—Oops, we introduced the wrong subspecies. We here at the … [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...]
Unlocking the Wealth of Indian Nations
One Crucial Element Keeps Native Peoples in Poverty BY TERRY ANDERSON AND SHAWN REGAN What drives economic growth? It’s arguably the most important question in all of economics. Once you start thinking about it, said Nobel laureate Robert Lucas, it’s hard to think about anything else. Although a precise growth recipe remains elusive, one ingredient is widely recognized … [Read more...]
Non Native Wolves Illegally Introduced, Says Whistleblower
Former USFWS Official Speaks of Malfeasance, Misappropriated Funds, and Transplanting Wrong Subspecies to Yellowstone BY QUINCY ORHAI Half a century after the last native Northern Rocky Mountain Timber Wolf, Canis lupus irremotus, was said to be hunted to extinction locally by public and private efforts, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, in 1995, under then Director … [Read more...]
Tom Horn’s Mixed Record, and Steve McQueen
Cowboy Detectives and a Movie Star of the Open Range BY DAVID S. LEWIS We now set about delving into the life and times of the legendary Tom Horn (see next page), the famous (some say infamous) scout, interpreter, Indian fighter, stock detective and eventual Pinkerton detective tried for murder in Cheyenne County, Wyoming, in 1902 (our first installment spans Christmas of … [Read more...]
The Life of Tom Horn
Cowboy Detective, Government Scout, Interpreter BY TOM HORN I was born near Memphis, Scotland County, Missouri, Novem-ber 21, 1860, a troublesome time, to be sure; and anyone born in Missouri is bound to see trouble, so says Bill Nye. Up to the time I left home I suppose I had more trouble than any man or boy in Missouri. We had Sunday schools and church, and as my … [Read more...]