This collection includes prints and photographic negatives collected by Captain Allyn K. Capron. Many of the photographs were taken in the Fort Sill area in Oklahoma throughout Capron's time serving there. While a few of these photographs depict Capron, the majority of the Fort Sill photographs feature Native American prisoners of war. This collection also contains portraits taken by Frank A. Rinehart and Adolph F. Muhr during the 1898 U.S. Indian Congress of the Trans Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. In addition, this collection contains rare photographs from a 1900 Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit led by Chief Joseph to Washington, DC. Additional assorted photographs, which were collected by Capron and taken among several communities in Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida by various photographers, are also included.
The communities represented within this collection include the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Assiniboine (Stoney), Southern Inunaina (Arapaho), Kiowa, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux), Cayuse, Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), Niimíipuu (Nez Perce), Umatilla, Potawatomi, Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Southern Plains, and Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux), with a few individuals identified simply as Sioux.
Scope and Contents:
This collection includes photographic prints and negatives collected by Capron and arranged into four series.
Series 1: Fort Sill and surrounding areas, 1885-1896, includes 6 copy negatives and 73 photographic prints. These photographs were taken by George A. Addison (George Anthony Addison), Ella M. Roff (Ellen M. Roff/E. M. Roff), and unknown photographers in Alabama and Oklahoma,in Fort Sill and surrounding areas, between 1885-1896. Some notable scenes include Geronimo and his family, individuals rounding up calves, non-native soldiers, Kiowa tipis, Niuam (Comanche) men shooting bows, the 12th Infantry of Apache Indians, and the Fort Sill Commanding Officers' quarters. Captain Allyn Capron is pictured in a few of the Fort Sill photographs. The indigenous communities depicted include the Southern Plains, Chiricahua Apache, Apache, Warm Springs Chiricahua Apache (New Mexico), Niuam (Comanche), Kiowa, and Potawatomi.
Series 2: Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, 1898, includes 1 copy negative and 7 photographic prints taken in Omaha, Nebraska by Frank A. Rinehart and Adolph F. Muhr in 1898. The photographs depict scenes from the Indian Congress of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition and include portraits of individuals belonging to the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Assiniboine (Stoney), Southern Inunaina (Arapaho), Kiowa, Chiricahua Apache, Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux) communities, with a few individuals identified only as Sioux. A delegation of Apache prisoners of war, including Geronimo, were brought from Fort Sill to attend the exposition.
Series 3: Assorted Photographs by Various Photographers, 1872-1900, includes includes 1 copy negative and 28 photographic prints taken by Frank A. Rinehart, Adolph F. Muhr, Alexander Gardner, David F. Barry (David Francis Barry/D. F. Barry), and unknown photographers throughout the United States between 1872-1900. This series contains photographs taken among the Sioux, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux), Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), Umatilla, Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), and Cayuse communities. The locations for the shoots include Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, and Washington, DC. The subjects of this series include individual portraits, communities, and landscapes, with notable individuals including Naiche (Natchez), Goyathlay (Geronimo), Chief John Grass (Pe-ji or Pah-Zhe), and Theodore Roosevelt.
Series 4: Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C.,1900, includes 8 rare photographic prints of a joint Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C. in 1900. The delegates appearing in this series includes Cayuse delegate Chief Paul Showaway and Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) delegates Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), Stephen J. Reuben, and Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Peopeotahlikt/Peo Peo T'olikt/Peo-Peo-Ta-Lakt/George Peo-peo-tah-likt/Bird Alighting). Stephen J. Reuben was Chief Joseph's nephew, and acted as an interpreter for this visit. This series was possibly photographed outside of 1111 Masachussets Avenue, Washington, D.C. Additional identifications were provided by Nakia Williamson-Cloud, Nez Perce Tribe Cultural Resource Program, 2003.
Copy negatives include N21545, N37515-N37518, N41416, N41418, N41459. Photographic prints include P13092-P13095, P13097, P3101-P13203.
Arrangement:
Arranged intellectually into four series. Series 1: Fort Sill and surrounding areas, 1885-1896; Series 2: Trans-Mississippi International Exposition, 1898; Series 3: Assorted Photographs by Various Photographers, 1872-1900; Series 4: Niimíipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C., 1900.
Biographical / Historical:
Captain Allyn K. Capron, a graduate of West Point, was a Rough Rider who served as Lieutenant and Captain in the U.S. Army. In 1886, Geronimo and 341 other Chiricahua Apache prisoners of war were captured and brought to Fort Sill in Oklahoma. It was here that Capron served under Hugh L. Scott, who was in charge of Geronimo's band of Apache Indians from 1894 to 1897. As a lieutenant, between 1895-1896, Capron commanded Troop L of the Seventh Cavalry, U.S.A at Fort Sill; this unit consisted entirely of Apache Indians. He was in charge also of Geronimo, whom he often quoted within his letters written from Fort Sill. Capron died from the effects of exposure during the Spanish American War in 1898.
Provenance:
Gift of Agness Kissam Capron, wife of Captain Allyn Capron, 1938.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This series of portraits contains 8 rare photographic prints of a joint Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) and Umatilla delegation visit to Washington, D.C. in 1900. The portraits were taken by an unknown photographer and depict both Native and non-Native individuals, some of whom remain unidentified. This delegation visit was one of many Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt) made in his lifetime to advocate for the return of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) from the Colville Indian Reservation to their original tribal lands in Wallowa Valley, Oregon, from which they had been forcibly removed. During this visit in 1900, Chief Joseph met with General Nelson A. Miles, who had captured Chief Joseph in 1877, at the War Department. General Miles then introduced Chief Joseph to the Secretery of the Interior, Ethan Allen Hitchcock. Chief Joseph urged both men to use their influence to restore the original Nimiipuu land, but this request was not granted.
The delegates appearing in this series includes Cayuse delegate Chief Paul Showaway and Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) delegates Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), Stephen J. Reuben, and Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Peopeotahlikt/Peo Peo T'olikt/Peo-Peo-Ta-Lakt/George Peo-peo-tah-likt/Bird Alighting). Stephen J. Reuben was Chief Joseph's nephew, and acted as an interpreter for this visit. This series was possibly photographed outside of 1111 Masachussets Avenue, Washington, D.C. Additional identifications were provided by Nakia Williamson-Cloud, Nez Perce Tribe Cultural Resource Program, 2003.
Photographic prints include P13196-P13203.
Note: Although these photographs were originally catlogued as having been taken in 1889, contemporary newspaper accounts and related photographic collections attest to this delegation visit occurring in the year 1900.
Related Materials:
Washington State University Library possesses additional photographs from this delegation visit. See WSU's National Park Service (NPS) Nez Perce Historic Images Collection (images EPE-HI-2928 and NEPE-HI-3232).
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting a group of Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) delegates standing in front of a fence near a building and wearing traditional clothing. The individuals include (from left to right) Chief Peo Peo Tholekt, Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), and Stephen J. Reuben. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce) delegates standing with unidentified women in front of a fence near a building. The individuals (from left to right) include an unidentified woman, Chief Peo Peo Tholekt, another unidentified woman, and Stephen J. Reuben. Each individual wears elements of traditional clothing with the exception of the woman on the left. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Nimiipuu [Nez Perce]), left, and Chief Paul Showaway (Cayuse), right, posed outside of a brick building. Both men wear traditional clothing. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Related Materials:
Washington State University Library possesses a photograph depicting this scene from a slightly different angle. The photographic identifier is NEPE-HI-3232.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Nimi'ipuu [Nez Perce]) standing in profile, posed on the lawn of a building. He wears a feathered headdress. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt), in traditional clothing, sitting between newspaper correspondent Fannie B. Ward and a man identified as Major Shore. The group poses in front of a fence outside building. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting a portrait of Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce) Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt) in traditional clothing. This is possibly a detail from a larger photograph. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Photograph depicting Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce) delegates standing on a balcony with unidentified individuals. The individuals include (from left to right) an unidentified woman, Stephen J. Reuben (Nimi'ipuu [Nez Perce]), two unidentified individuals, Chief Peo Peo Tholekt (Nimi'ipuu [Nez Perce]), and an additional unidentified woman. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Portrait depicting Chief Paul Showaway (Cayuse) wearing traditional clothing and standing on a lawn in front of a fence. His clothes include bandolier sashes, a fringed hide jacket, and a feather headdress. This photograph was likely taken in March or April of 1900, possibly at 1111 Massachusetts Avenue, during a delegation visit to Washington, D.C. led by Chief Joseph. The photographer is unknown.
Related Materials:
Washington State University Library possesses an uncropped version of this photograph with the identifier NEPE-HI-2928.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
This series includes 1 copy negative and 20 photographic prints taken by Frank A. Rinehart, Adolph F. Muhr, Alexander Gardner, David F. Barry (David Francis Barry/D. F. Barry), and unknown photographers throughout the United States between 1872-1900. This series contains photographs taken among the Sioux, Pikuni (Piegan) [Blackfeet Nation, Browning, Montana], Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke), Sihasapa Lakota (Blackfoot Sioux), Hunkpapa Lakota (Hunkpapa Sioux), Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), Umatilla, Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce), and Cayuse communities. The locations for the shoots include Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, and Washington, DC. The subjects of this series include individual portraits, communities, and landscapes, with notable individuals including Naiche (Natchez), Goyathlay (Geronimo), Chief John Grass (Pe-ji or Pah-Zhe), and Theodore Roosevelt.
Copy negatives include N41459. Photographic prints include P13094, P13102, P13103, P13106, P13118, P13120, P13129, P13164, P13165-P13173, P13177, P13194, P13195. Photographic prints P13099 and P13100 are missing.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archives Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Captain Allyn Capron photograph collection, image #, NMAI.AC.152; National Museum of the American Indian Archives Center, Smithsonian Institution.
The General William Nicholson Grier photograph collection contains 10 photographs that Grier collected related to his service with the US Army (1835-1870). The photographs include depictions of Carlisle Indian School students circa 1879-1884 and portraits of the 1868 Navajo Treaty signers.
Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of 10 photographs that were collected by General William Nicholson Grier (1812-1885) related to his service with the US Army (1835-1870). The collection includes 6 photographs of Carlisle Indian School students and visitors that were photographed by photographer John N. Choate circa 1879-1884, and one portrait of Chief Standing Bear (also known as Mochunozhi or Ma-chu-nu-zhe).
The most significant photographs in this collection are three albumen prints shot by Valentin Wolfenstein between March and June 1868. Photograph P20819 depicts an outdoor portrait most likely of the Navajo Treaty signers at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. This photograph is one of only two known photographs depicting this scene (the other copy is at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology).
Biographical / Historical:
William Nicholson Grier was born on June 11, 1812 in Northumberland, Pennsylvania. After graduating from West Point U.S. Military Academy in New York, he served as a Major of the 2nd U.S. Regular Cavalry during the Civil War and later as a Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st U.S. Regular Cavalry. Throughout his 35 year military career, Grier served in a number of capacities. His posts included serving at Fort Carlisle, Pennsylvania from April 1866 to April 1868, where he was Superintendent of Mounted Recruiting Service and was promoted to Colonel of the 3rd Cavalry. He then served as Commander at Fort Union in New Mexico from July 12, 1868 to May 1870. Grier retired on Dec. 15, 1870. He passed away on July 8, 1885 in Napa City, California and was buried in Northumberland, PA.
Between 1863 and 1866, the U.S. Army forced almost 12,000 Diné (Navajo) people from their ancestral homelands and relocated them 400 miles away to Fort Sumner, Bosque Redondo Reservation in New Mexico. On June 1, 1868, General William T. Sherman and Colonel Samuel F. Tappen met in Fort Sumner with Diné (Navajo) leaders led by Chief Barboncito to negotiate a treaty to allow the Diné (Navajo) to return to their ancestral homelands.
Valentin Wolfenstein, a Swedish-American photographer, was at Fort Sumner, New Mexico from March to July of 1868 and photographed the events before and after the Navajo Treaty signing. The Diné (Navajo) set of photographs in this collection have been attributed to many different photographers over the years, but Wolfenstein is believed to be the original photographer. Based on an excerpt from his journal, a few scholars believed that Wolfenstein could have sold his photographic equipment and photographs to Nicholas Brown, and this belief, along with later reprinting of the Barboncito portrait, may have led to some misattribution of Wolfenstein's work to N. Brown and Son and the Browns' work to Wolfenstein.
John Nicholas Choate (1848-1902) was the official photographer of the Carlisle Indian School from the school's founding in 1879 to his death in 1902. The Carlisle Indian School was the first non-reservation government-supported Indian school. Choate sold his photographs as a series of cabinet cards, cartes-de-visite, and stereographs.
It is likely that Grier collected the Diné (Navajo) photographs when he served at Fort Union in New Mexico, immediately following the 1868 Navajo Treaty. Presumably, Grier collected the Carlisle Indian School photographs in this collection after his retirement from the U.S. Army, in connection to his service at Fort Carlisle.
Related Materials:
The Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology also holds photographs related to the Navajo Treaty signing shot by Valentin Wolfenstein.
The National Anthrolopogical Archives also holds photographs shot by Valentin Wolfenstein and glass plate negatives shot by John N. Choate.
Separated Materials:
Gerneral William Nicholson Grier's grandson Robert C. Campbell also donated objects to NMAI in 1963 (NMAI Catalog numbers 232812-232855). These objects were collected by Grier during his military career.
Provenance:
Collected by General William Nicholson Grier (1812-1885) during his service with the US Army (1835-1870); inherited by his daughter, Anna Grier Campbell (1848-ca. 1915) and then by her son Robert C. Campbell (1891-1966); donated to Museum of the American Indian by Robert C. Campbell in 1963 in memory of his grandfather.
Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); General William Nicholson Grier collection of photographs, Photograph Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
Carte-de-viste depicting a group portrait of Carlisle Indian School students. The girls may include Alice Lone Bear, Rebecca, Kissetta (Kesseta) Lopan, Mabel, and Harriet from the Dakota (Eastern Sioux), Kiowa, and Nimi'ipuu (Nez Perce) tribes. Photograph by Official Carlisle Indian School photographer John Nicholas Choate, 1879.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to NMAI Archive Center collections is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment (phone: 301-238-1400, email: nmaiarchives@si.edu).
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Collection Citation:
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); General William Nicholson Grier collection of photographs, Photograph Number; National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center, Smithsonian Institution.
