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Morgan Baillargcon and Leslie Tcppcr
LEGENDS OF OUR TIMES:
NATIVE COWBOY LIFE
Published in association with
Canadian Museum of Civilization
UBC PRESS / VANCOUVER
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS / SEATTLE
© Canadian Museum of Civilization 1998 Published in Canada by UBC Press and in the United States by
the University of Washington Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be repro-
duced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
or, in Canada, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic
copying, a licence from CANCOPY (Canadian Copyright Licensing Tepper, Leslie Heyman. 1947-
Agency), 900-6 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, ON M5C m6. Legends of our times : native cowboy life / Morgan Baillargeon
and Leslie Tepper.
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7748-0656-7 (bound) Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7748-0657-5 (paperback) ISBN 0-295-97728-0 (alk. paper)
i. Indian cowboys - Prairie Provinces - History. 2. Indian cow-
boys - Great Plains - History. 3. Ranches - Prairie Provinces -
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data History. 4. Ranches - Great Plains - History. 5. Rodeos - Prairie
Provinces - History. 6. Rodeos - Great Plains - History. 7. Prairie
Main entry under title: Provinces - Social life and customs. 8. Great Plains -Social life
and customs.
Legends of our times
I. Baillargeon, Morgan. II. Title.
£78^7x46 1998
Includes bibliographical references and index.
971.2 - dc2i 98-3001
Published in association with: Canadian Museum of Civilization
kjkkj
ISBN 0-7748-0656-7 (bound); ISBN 0-7748-0657-5 (pbk.)
i. Native peoples - Prairie Provinces - Folklore. 2. Indians of
North America - Great Plains - Folklore. 3. Indian cowboys - University of Washington Press
Literary collections. 4. Rodeos - Literary collections. 5. Ranch P.O. Box 50096
life - Literary collections. I. Baillargeon, Morgan, 1956- II. Tepper, Seattle, WA 98145
Leslie Heyman, 1947- III. Canadian Museum of Civilization.
£78x21.43 1998 545654465 C98-910122-3
UBC Press gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support to its
publishing program from the Canada Council for the Arts, the
British Columbia Arts Council, and the Department of Canadian
Heritage of the Government of Canada.
Set in Californian and Foundry Sans
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Canadian Museum of Civilization co-ordinator: Anne Malepart
Cartographer: Eric Leinberger
Designer: George Vaitkunas
Editor: Camilla Jenkins
Indexer: Annette Lorek
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This book is dedicated to the Native cowboys and cowgirls
of the Plains and Plateau.
CONTENTS
Preface viii
Native Cowboy Life 2
PART i SACRED BEINGS 18
The First Horses 51
Collected by Eleanor Brass
Painted Pony 55
Garry Gottfricdson
Ayahk\vc\v's Lodge 59
Gregory Scofield
Buffalo Woman Leads the Buffalo out of the Earth 61
Collected by Mari Sandoz.
Coyote and Buffalo 63
Herb Manuel
The End of the World: The Buffalo Go 69
Old Lady Horse (Spear Woman)
The Deer 71
Collected by James A. Teit
Coyote and Wood Tick 73
Collected by James A. Teit
Coyote 74
Collected by James A. Teit
Man's Best Friend 75
David Pratt
The Dog Chief 77
Collected by Clark Wissler and D.C. Duval
PART n RANCHING LIFE 82
Lonely Cowboy 115
Tim Ryan Rouillicr
Allen Sapp 116
Bob Boyer
Tried, True, and Tested 122
Alex Harvey and Tim Ryan Rouillicr
At Wood Mountain We Are Still Lakota 125
Leonard Lcthbridgc, Harold Thomson, and Thclma Poirier
Women and the Ranching Life 135
Clara Spotted Elk
PART in RODEO AND OTHER ENTERTAINMENT 152
The Gambler's Son and Star Man 205
Collected by James A. Teit
Bronco Busters, Basket Makers, and a Brass Band 207
Leslie Tcppcr
The Menace of the Wild West Show 211
Chauncey Yellow Robe
Remembering Heroes 213
David Pratt
He's an Indian Cowboy in the Rodeo 217
Buffy Saintc-Maric
on the champ of '63 219
Garry Gottfriedson
Indian Rodeo Cowboys of the Dakotas 221
Phil Baird
Down the Road ... 243
References 244
Credits 246
Index 249
PREFACE
H
H HIS BOOK is based on research for the Canadian Museum of Civilization
exhibition Legends of Our Times: Native Ranching and Rodeo Life on the Plains and
Plateau. Museum exhibitions can take a surprisingly large portion of a cura-
tor's working lifetime, and this one has been no exception. From its concep-
tion in 1992 to the exhibition opening and book publication in 1998, and
beyond to the development of a travelling show in 2000, this project will be
almost a decade in the making.
Along the way the curators have been fortunate to have had extraordinary
support. The themes, content, and presentation have been shaped by the Native
ranchers and rodeo participants whose story is being told. The idea for the
exhibition itself came from a discussion between Morgan Baillargeon and ten
Native cowboys from Hobbema, Alberta, in 1992. A consultative team of
Charlie Bear, Caen Ely, Carol Gottfriedson, Fred Heathershaw, Dutch Lunak,
and Tyrone Potts met the curators to begin to define the key themes and to
suggest sources of information and support. Over the next few years some of
these committee members left the project, while new members were added.
Mike Bruised Head, Fred Holmes, Pat and Jenny Provost, Marlowe Kenny, and
Charles and the late Verna Heathershaw not only brought their personal ex-
periences to the discussion but also shared cultural perspectives from their
diverse communities. As the project moved to the design stage new voices were
added to the committee: David Pratt, Nathan Spinks, Stan and Tracey Waddell,
Marvin Yellowbird, Martin Cross, Phil Baird, and Pete Standing Alone.
Not all contributors were able to come to the meetings. Barb Stewart,
Mandy Jimmie, Rose Alexis, Mandy Brown, George Saddleman, Art Adolph,
Dan Gravel, Caroline Basil, Phil Baird, the late Cecil Currie, Dan Old Elk,
Gordon Raine, the late Brian Pratt, and many others 'spread the word' in their
communities and arranged introductions to ranching and rodeo families. Over
300 people talked with the curators in their homes, at rodeos, at poetry gath-
erings, in cultural centres, at ceremonial gatherings, at Indian Days celebra-
tions, and in band offices. They offered to lend personal memorabilia and family
photograph collections and allowed us to videotape interviews with them.
Many of their comments and stories appear in Legends of Our Times and in the
exhibition. Lack of space prevents the publication of all the special contribu-
tions of these people. The curators wish to thank everyone who shared with
us their insights, family history, and daily life. To the storytellers, essayists,
and poets who have contributed to this volume, it's been a pleasure. Thank you.
Vlll
A number of individuals from other cultural centres and museums joined
forces with the project. Three institutions prepared material that will be shown
as part of the museum exhibition. The Lakota of Wood Mountain Saskatche-
wan told of their arrival in Canada with Chief Sitting Bull and their transfor-
mation into a modern ranching and rodeo community. An essay based on their
research is included in the book. The Three Affiliated Tribes Museum from
Fort Berthold, North Dakota, told of the destructive impact that the Garrison
Dam Project had on the Nuptadi/Nueta (Mandan), Hidatsa, and Sahnish
(Arikara) community's ranching economy. We would like to thank Leonard
Lethbridge, Mary Lethbridge, and Leonard Lethbridge Jr, Harold and Betty
Thomson, Thelma Poirier, Gail Baker, Rose Marie Mandan, Marilyn and Kent
Hudson, Phyllis Old Dog Cross, Tilly Walker, Martin Cross, and Emerson
Chase. Madeleine Gregoire from the Eriowkin Centre, Penticton, BC, and
Gloria Trahan and Verna Lefthand from the People's Center in Pablo, Montana,
provided input from the Okanagan and Kutenai-Salish communities respectively.
The En'owkin Centre also lent material to the museum exhibition. All these
people contributed to the ideas and concepts that developed into this book.
We would also like to thank our colleagues in other museums, archives
and photographic collections who allowed us to work in their artifact and
photographic collections. With their help we have compiled a rich resource of
historical and contemporary images and a working knowledge of objects com-
parable to those in the Canadian Museum of Civilization collection. Our
thanks go the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, the Buffalo
Bill Historical Center, the Cheney Cowles Museum, the Cowboy Hall of Fame,
the Glenbow Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum, the O'Keefe
Ranch and Interior Heritage Society, the Appaloosa Horse Museum, the
Okanogan Historical Society, the Penticton Museum, the Idaho, North Dakota,
and Montana State Archives, the St Albert Museum, the National Archives of
Canada, the British Columbia Provincial Archives and Record Service, the
Fort Benton Museum, the Omak Stampede Archives, the Medicine Hat
Museum, the Carbon County Museum, the Calgary Stampede Board, and the
Nicola Valley Museum and Archives.
A number of students and volunteers have donated hours of their time to
transcribe tapes, catalogue information, and make photocopies. We are grateful
to Lawson Greenberg, Marie Garbutt, Libby Kirby, Marcia Mordfield, Gwyneth
Parry, Miranda Holbrook, Dan Rutherford, James Poulson, Sharon Brodo-Smith,
Nadine Belize, Melanie Takahski, Vanessa Goggin, Robin Rockwell, Tasha
Kravchenko, Brock Rochus, Emily Eacertt, Ed Walter, Tracy Prentice, Nancy
Coleman, Cameron Patterson, and Chris Barr. We would like to thank Consta-
bles Jeff Ellis, Joann Sokolowski, Dennis Eraser, and Greg Peters and Corporals
Bruce Willans and Jerry McCarty from the RCMP for their time and assistance.
We would like to thank our colleagues at the Canadian Museum of Civi-
lization who have supported this project over its long life: from the Exhibition
PREFACE IX
