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NATIVE BUT FOREIGN
Indigenous Immigrants and Refugees in the North American Borderlands by Brenden W. Rensink, Texas A&M Press, 2018

Chapter 9, Note 52 (pages 191 and 268)

Some Crees, like Grant Chief Stick, were provided rations and tents at Fort Assiniboine, but food was scarce and temporary accommodations were “very cold.” They even faced threats of eviction on various occasions. (191)

for sources and discussion of the political maneuvering of various officials and conditions of Crees and Chippewas across the state during early 1913. (p. 268)

Little Bear kept busy during these months, visiting his good friend Sol Levy in Butte, making public overtures for support in Helena and offering interviews.[1] Grant Chief Stick recalled that Little Bear had been offered lands at Fort Harrison for permanent settlement, but he declined because his eyes were set on the Bear Paw Mountains.[2] In May, the Helena city council led by Alderman Briggs petitioned the Office of Indian Affairs to remove the “Redskin Nuisance and Menace.” Later that month, elders from the Crow Reservation made formal appeal for the eviction Little Bear and 66 of his Crees.[3] Chippewas faced similar troubles and their allies worked to keep track of their movements and plan for coming months. During the Summer of 1913, Frank Linderman, Paris Gibson, William Bole, Secretary of the Interior Lane and others corresponded, attempting to clarify details of Rocky Boy’s band’s whereabouts and conditions. Part of their concern was to have accurate assessments of Rocky Boy’s condition, should the opportunity for moving legislative agendas forward present itself. They wanted to be prepared and informed.[4]

[1] “Butte Notes,” Anaconda Standard, March 19, 1913; “Chief Little Bear Visits in Butte,” Havre Plaindealer, March 29, 1913; “Sad is the Story of the Crees,” Anaconda Standard, March 30, 1913; “Assiniboine Again, More Grief in Sight,” Havre Promoter, May 30, 1913; “Indian Patriotism,” Anaconda Standard, June 7, 1913; and “Little Bear Tells of Indian Troubles,” Havre Plaindealer, July 19, 1913.

[2] Interview with Grant Chief Stick, August 26, 1974, RBSA.

[3] “Asks Uncle Sam to Take Indians,” Helena Independent Record, May 20, 1913; and Crow Business Committee to Department of the Interior, May 29, 1913, RG 75, RB Files, NARA-DC, Part 4.

[4] Paris Gibson to Frank B. Linderman, July 26, 1913, August 1, 1913, Linderman Papers, MSHS; C. F. von dem Bucsche to Homer G. Murphey, August 6, 1913, Dusenberry Fonds, GA; and Jewell D. Martin to Cato Sells, August 9, 1913 and Austin D. Perry to Woodrow Wilson, August 14, 1913, RG 75, RB Files, NARA-DC, Part 4.