Post by hermin1 on Aug 4, 2009 16:56:22 GMT -5
I am posting this for Louie Garcia:
A Message from Garcia
The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
By Louis Garcia ©
Message # 47 Jessie James
Most people associate the notorious bad man Jessie James and his gang with the State of Missouri; however North Dakota and especially Spirit Lake tribal members also enter the grand play called history.
The James’s North Dakota connection is vast and varied. There are so many twists and turns, names, and locations it is hard to know where to begin.
I first learned of Jessie James’s connection to the tribe on January 19, 1981 when funeral director John Burke told me that the Edward Lohnes family hid Jessie James at their home by Sweetwater Lake. He said the James Lamoreau family was also involved in protecting the James’s. Mr. Burke said the dugout was located on the Jack McCarthy farm which I visited, but Jack knew nothing of the James brothers living there. Jack did show me the location of the Lohnes log house in his yard which he saw as a boy, having been torn down years ago. On January 24, 1981 I visited with Dennis Cavanaugh and his wife Susie. Dennis said he never heard of the James’s hiding out in the area. He did say his mother fed the James and Younger gang when they were at Faribault, Minnesota salt pork and corn bread. They left money under their plates when they left. Dennis said he had an uncle Watts in Faribault and a niece who ran a hotel in Rochester. He mentioned the gang shooting in the air when they came to town. The school teacher made her students sing to keep their minds off the shooting. Unfortunately now I realize I should have asked more about these events.
Asking around further, no one seemed to know anything as these events which occurred 100 years ago. On January 9, 1983 I was visiting with Father Dan at St. Michael, ND. I happened to ask about Jessie James. He became very annoyed at me, asking who told me. He said everyone now a day is so proud of the outlaws. With his next breath he told me of the Santee, Nebraska connection and about the Lohnes family living at Sweetwater Lake on Burnt Wood Island before moving on to the reservation. He said the Chase family at Santee is descendants of Frank or Jessie James. They also hid in the Devils Nest area after attempting to rob the bank at Northfield, Minnesota. From Santee they moved on to Billings, Montana and sent word to their Indian wives, sisters, at Santee to join them, but by this time the wives found out they were outlaws and their father refused to let them go.
As the tale is woven, the James gang followed a trail on the west side of the Red River valley known as the McKenzie Drift. They stopped at an outlaw town east of Devils Lake called Bartlett before moving on to the Lohnes Homestead.
North Dakota
Joshua K. James’ father was first cousin to the father of Frank and Jessie. Joshua’s wife (unnamed) was from Foley, Missouri. He homesteaded in 1888 near Hansboro, ND, later moving to Rolla, ND. Joshua’s son Harvey was the auditor for the city of St. John, ND (Dewing).
H.M. Wheeler, a well known medical doctor and one-time mayor of Grandforks, ND shot and killed one of the James gang when they tried to rob the bank at Northfield, Minnesota. James E. Buttree as an eleven year old boy in the fall of 1880 met the James brothers. They came to his parent’s farm requesting a meal, and to rest and feed their horses. Both brothers were heavily armed with two pistols each with their butts turned forward, and muzzle loading shotguns. They freely introduced themselves to Buttree’s parents when they learned the Buttree’s had just arrived last spring from Peterboro, Ontario, Canada, and not likely to know who they were. It is also believed they were on their way to assist a “friend” from Stanton, ND who would drive cattle from Missouri to Dakota Territory to finish them for the market. Some of the herd was driven back to Missouri; it is possible the James brothers were heading to Stanton when they stopped off at the Buttree farm (Hagerty).
Nebraska
On August 11, 1985 I had the opportunity to talk to Clifford Johnson of Niobrara, Nebraska, a Santee tribal member. He said the James’s came to the Devils Nest which he said had no Indian name and so they called it Wankŝicati (Devils House). They chopped cord wood and floated it to Yankton, South Dakota; this was their cover so no one would know their real business. They robbed a military gold shipment and buried it in the Devils Nest area. The Indians knew where the gold was but never told till their dying day. The gold is now under the waters of the Missouri River dam. They were very good to the Indians and were well liked. This happened before they tried to rob the bank at Northfield.
Frank was a better shot than Jessie when shooting prairie chickens with a pistol, Frank never missed, Johnson said. Frank and Jessie married Indian women, Frank’s daughter married a Redwing, and Ione Redwing was Frank’s granddaughter. Joe Chase (1870 – 1940, S247) is a son of Jessie James, he had five children, Helen, married a Wabasha; Joe Junior married a Campbell (Grace Campbell 1902-1942); Helena married a Whiteman named Gustafson; Jeanette married and moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Tommy, who married and had three children, was killed at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bibliography
Anderson, Gary Clayton Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux.
St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986.
Black, Doris Louise History of Grant County, South Dakota.
Milbank, SD: Milbank Herald Advance 1939
[University of Colorado Master of Arts Thesis 1938}.
Dewing, Les “Never Publicized: N.D. James Family Related to Outlaws”. Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, ND (No date on clipping)..
Hagerty Jack “That Reminds Me” Grandforks Herald December 1988.
Horne, Bev Fort Totten Trail Mail Riders Tales,
Greene, Rohnda Friends of Fort Totten Historic Site 1997.
Koblas, John The Jessie James Northfield Raid: Confessions of the Ninth Man.
Minnesota: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. 1999.
Wick, Douglas A. North Dakota Place Names. Hedemarken Collectables 1988.
Glossary
Bartlett, ND This boomtown began in the fall of 1882. Located just inside the Ramsey county line, SE1/4 Section 25, Township 153 North, Range 61 West (Wick 1988:12)
Burnt Wood Island A peninsula jutting out from the south shore of Sweetwater
Lake, Sections 26 and 27, Township 155 North, Range 64
West, Freshwater Township, Ramsey County. The Indian
name is Caŋġuwita (Caŋ = wood, tree, forest; Ğu = burnt;
Wita = Island) the Bois Brule of the French fur traders,
Also called L’ile Brule, named for a fire with burned the
trees sometime in the past. It was on this island that Little
Crow took refuge during his flight west in the winter of
1862 – 1863 (Anderson 1986:172).
Lamoreau, James G. Founded the town of Jerusalem in 1881. He was a French fur trader who had his post where Marvin, SD is today. He spoke French, English, and Dakota although the family conversation was usually in Dakota. He had an English wife (unnamed), an extensive library, and a piano. There were always Indians camped at his Jerusalem store and post office (Black 1939; Wick 1988:98).
Lohnes, Edward Born April 24, 1844 in Schaghticoke, Rensselaery County,
New York. Died March 31, 1933 and is buried in Crary,
North Dakota. He married Mary Hoĥpitowin (Blue Nest
Woman DLS # 395 1853 - 1924), the daughter of Chief Waanatan II. They had eight children: Mattie, John, James, Gertrude, Chauncey, Hattie, Clemet, and Virginia. His father was Adameus Lohnes, born in 1754 and died April 4, 1839 in Valley Falls, NY. His mother of Irish descent was
Elizabeth Bornt, born January 22, 1771 in Brunswick, NY and died February 15, 1858 Schaghticoke, NY. They were married on September 19, 1793. Edward had one sibling that is known, Nicholas George Lohnes 1804, died March 3, 1845 in Hazardville, CT. His grandparents were Nicholas Lohnes born October 24, 1724 in Hoechst, Odenwald, Germany and died in Rensselaer, NY in 1791.
He married in 1751 Margaret Sporbach who was born in Odenwald, Hesse, Germany in 1731 (WWW. familysearch.org). Edward Lohnes served in the Union army during the civil war and was discharged in 1870. He had a mail contract with Ft. Totten, homesteaded at Sweetwater Lake in 1882, elected a Ramsey County Commissioner, and served in the State legislature in 1889 Horne & Greene1997:9-10).
Madlon, Daniel O.S. B. Zica’tamaheca (Skinny Squirrel) was his Indian name.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky April 8, 1907. He attended seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana and entered the priesthood in 1933. He was sent to St. Paul’s Indian Mission, Marty, SD and later to St. Michael. He kept a genealogy of the many families on several reservations as well as publishing a hymnal. He died on June 24, 1988.
McKenzie Drift This draw runs from South Dakota to about Nekoma, ND.
It is located between Nekoma and Langdon. When you pass
along Highway Two between Niagara and Petersburg during the winter you will find it snowing only in this draw.
Sweetwater Lake Located some six miles north of Devils Lake on the east
Side of Highway 20, Freshwater and Morrison Townships,
Ramsey County, The Indian name is Miniskuya Bde
(Mini = Water; Skuya = sweet; Bde = lake) meaning the
Lake had drinkable
A Message from Garcia
The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
By Louis Garcia ©
Message # 47 Jessie James
Most people associate the notorious bad man Jessie James and his gang with the State of Missouri; however North Dakota and especially Spirit Lake tribal members also enter the grand play called history.
The James’s North Dakota connection is vast and varied. There are so many twists and turns, names, and locations it is hard to know where to begin.
I first learned of Jessie James’s connection to the tribe on January 19, 1981 when funeral director John Burke told me that the Edward Lohnes family hid Jessie James at their home by Sweetwater Lake. He said the James Lamoreau family was also involved in protecting the James’s. Mr. Burke said the dugout was located on the Jack McCarthy farm which I visited, but Jack knew nothing of the James brothers living there. Jack did show me the location of the Lohnes log house in his yard which he saw as a boy, having been torn down years ago. On January 24, 1981 I visited with Dennis Cavanaugh and his wife Susie. Dennis said he never heard of the James’s hiding out in the area. He did say his mother fed the James and Younger gang when they were at Faribault, Minnesota salt pork and corn bread. They left money under their plates when they left. Dennis said he had an uncle Watts in Faribault and a niece who ran a hotel in Rochester. He mentioned the gang shooting in the air when they came to town. The school teacher made her students sing to keep their minds off the shooting. Unfortunately now I realize I should have asked more about these events.
Asking around further, no one seemed to know anything as these events which occurred 100 years ago. On January 9, 1983 I was visiting with Father Dan at St. Michael, ND. I happened to ask about Jessie James. He became very annoyed at me, asking who told me. He said everyone now a day is so proud of the outlaws. With his next breath he told me of the Santee, Nebraska connection and about the Lohnes family living at Sweetwater Lake on Burnt Wood Island before moving on to the reservation. He said the Chase family at Santee is descendants of Frank or Jessie James. They also hid in the Devils Nest area after attempting to rob the bank at Northfield, Minnesota. From Santee they moved on to Billings, Montana and sent word to their Indian wives, sisters, at Santee to join them, but by this time the wives found out they were outlaws and their father refused to let them go.
As the tale is woven, the James gang followed a trail on the west side of the Red River valley known as the McKenzie Drift. They stopped at an outlaw town east of Devils Lake called Bartlett before moving on to the Lohnes Homestead.
North Dakota
Joshua K. James’ father was first cousin to the father of Frank and Jessie. Joshua’s wife (unnamed) was from Foley, Missouri. He homesteaded in 1888 near Hansboro, ND, later moving to Rolla, ND. Joshua’s son Harvey was the auditor for the city of St. John, ND (Dewing).
H.M. Wheeler, a well known medical doctor and one-time mayor of Grandforks, ND shot and killed one of the James gang when they tried to rob the bank at Northfield, Minnesota. James E. Buttree as an eleven year old boy in the fall of 1880 met the James brothers. They came to his parent’s farm requesting a meal, and to rest and feed their horses. Both brothers were heavily armed with two pistols each with their butts turned forward, and muzzle loading shotguns. They freely introduced themselves to Buttree’s parents when they learned the Buttree’s had just arrived last spring from Peterboro, Ontario, Canada, and not likely to know who they were. It is also believed they were on their way to assist a “friend” from Stanton, ND who would drive cattle from Missouri to Dakota Territory to finish them for the market. Some of the herd was driven back to Missouri; it is possible the James brothers were heading to Stanton when they stopped off at the Buttree farm (Hagerty).
Nebraska
On August 11, 1985 I had the opportunity to talk to Clifford Johnson of Niobrara, Nebraska, a Santee tribal member. He said the James’s came to the Devils Nest which he said had no Indian name and so they called it Wankŝicati (Devils House). They chopped cord wood and floated it to Yankton, South Dakota; this was their cover so no one would know their real business. They robbed a military gold shipment and buried it in the Devils Nest area. The Indians knew where the gold was but never told till their dying day. The gold is now under the waters of the Missouri River dam. They were very good to the Indians and were well liked. This happened before they tried to rob the bank at Northfield.
Frank was a better shot than Jessie when shooting prairie chickens with a pistol, Frank never missed, Johnson said. Frank and Jessie married Indian women, Frank’s daughter married a Redwing, and Ione Redwing was Frank’s granddaughter. Joe Chase (1870 – 1940, S247) is a son of Jessie James, he had five children, Helen, married a Wabasha; Joe Junior married a Campbell (Grace Campbell 1902-1942); Helena married a Whiteman named Gustafson; Jeanette married and moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Tommy, who married and had three children, was killed at St. Paul, Minnesota.
Bibliography
Anderson, Gary Clayton Little Crow: Spokesman for the Sioux.
St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986.
Black, Doris Louise History of Grant County, South Dakota.
Milbank, SD: Milbank Herald Advance 1939
[University of Colorado Master of Arts Thesis 1938}.
Dewing, Les “Never Publicized: N.D. James Family Related to Outlaws”. Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, ND (No date on clipping)..
Hagerty Jack “That Reminds Me” Grandforks Herald December 1988.
Horne, Bev Fort Totten Trail Mail Riders Tales,
Greene, Rohnda Friends of Fort Totten Historic Site 1997.
Koblas, John The Jessie James Northfield Raid: Confessions of the Ninth Man.
Minnesota: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. 1999.
Wick, Douglas A. North Dakota Place Names. Hedemarken Collectables 1988.
Glossary
Bartlett, ND This boomtown began in the fall of 1882. Located just inside the Ramsey county line, SE1/4 Section 25, Township 153 North, Range 61 West (Wick 1988:12)
Burnt Wood Island A peninsula jutting out from the south shore of Sweetwater
Lake, Sections 26 and 27, Township 155 North, Range 64
West, Freshwater Township, Ramsey County. The Indian
name is Caŋġuwita (Caŋ = wood, tree, forest; Ğu = burnt;
Wita = Island) the Bois Brule of the French fur traders,
Also called L’ile Brule, named for a fire with burned the
trees sometime in the past. It was on this island that Little
Crow took refuge during his flight west in the winter of
1862 – 1863 (Anderson 1986:172).
Lamoreau, James G. Founded the town of Jerusalem in 1881. He was a French fur trader who had his post where Marvin, SD is today. He spoke French, English, and Dakota although the family conversation was usually in Dakota. He had an English wife (unnamed), an extensive library, and a piano. There were always Indians camped at his Jerusalem store and post office (Black 1939; Wick 1988:98).
Lohnes, Edward Born April 24, 1844 in Schaghticoke, Rensselaery County,
New York. Died March 31, 1933 and is buried in Crary,
North Dakota. He married Mary Hoĥpitowin (Blue Nest
Woman DLS # 395 1853 - 1924), the daughter of Chief Waanatan II. They had eight children: Mattie, John, James, Gertrude, Chauncey, Hattie, Clemet, and Virginia. His father was Adameus Lohnes, born in 1754 and died April 4, 1839 in Valley Falls, NY. His mother of Irish descent was
Elizabeth Bornt, born January 22, 1771 in Brunswick, NY and died February 15, 1858 Schaghticoke, NY. They were married on September 19, 1793. Edward had one sibling that is known, Nicholas George Lohnes 1804, died March 3, 1845 in Hazardville, CT. His grandparents were Nicholas Lohnes born October 24, 1724 in Hoechst, Odenwald, Germany and died in Rensselaer, NY in 1791.
He married in 1751 Margaret Sporbach who was born in Odenwald, Hesse, Germany in 1731 (WWW. familysearch.org). Edward Lohnes served in the Union army during the civil war and was discharged in 1870. He had a mail contract with Ft. Totten, homesteaded at Sweetwater Lake in 1882, elected a Ramsey County Commissioner, and served in the State legislature in 1889 Horne & Greene1997:9-10).
Madlon, Daniel O.S. B. Zica’tamaheca (Skinny Squirrel) was his Indian name.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky April 8, 1907. He attended seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana and entered the priesthood in 1933. He was sent to St. Paul’s Indian Mission, Marty, SD and later to St. Michael. He kept a genealogy of the many families on several reservations as well as publishing a hymnal. He died on June 24, 1988.
McKenzie Drift This draw runs from South Dakota to about Nekoma, ND.
It is located between Nekoma and Langdon. When you pass
along Highway Two between Niagara and Petersburg during the winter you will find it snowing only in this draw.
Sweetwater Lake Located some six miles north of Devils Lake on the east
Side of Highway 20, Freshwater and Morrison Townships,
Ramsey County, The Indian name is Miniskuya Bde
(Mini = Water; Skuya = sweet; Bde = lake) meaning the
Lake had drinkable