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Lost by a teenage Sioux warrior and taken as a spoil of war, a sacred tribal object and embodiment of its famous owner finds its way home again.
When 18-year-old Jack defied his father, Chief Red Cloud, and joined a war party in 1876, he foolishly thought he would borrow some of his father’s battle prestige, as well. What followed was a classic tale of misadventure which only concluded when the headdress made its way back to the Red Cloud family, completing a round trip of over 4,000 miles and 144 years.
Here’s the story of how the headdress was lost in the days leading up to the Battle of Little Big Horn, how it ended up at Washington College, and how it was finally restored to its family and tribe.
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Lost and Found: A Repatriation Journey
In June of 1876, a teenaged Oglala Lakota Sioux warrior named Jack left his home camp with a group of friends to join in what would later be called the Great Sioux War of 1876-1877. With him he took his pony, his father’s 1866 Winchester rifle named “Yellow Boy,” and his father’s war bonnet, a magnificent headdress consisting of 81 eagle feathers, each one signifying an individual act of bravery in battle committed by its owner. This was no ordinary bonnet, because Jack’s father was no ordinary person; he was the great Chief Red Cloud.
Chief Red Cloud, or Mahpiya Luta, was named after an unusual cloud formation present at his birth in 1822 in present-day Nebraska. The son of Walks As She Thinks and Lone Man, raised by his uncle Smoke, he had no claim to hereditary chieftainship, but earned the rank based upon the force of his character and his talent for leadership. He grew to become possibly the most famous of the Great Plains chieftains, and the most photographed.
Red Cloud’s War, from 1866-1868, is the only conflict between the Natives and the U.S. Army in which the Army was soundly defeated. The United States government wanted to build a road leading from Ft. Laramie to the Montana gold regions, but this road and its resulting traffic and settlements would have destroyed buffalo grounds along the Platte and Powder Rivers. Since the Sioux and other Great Plains tribes depended upon buffalo hunting for survival…for both food and shelter, as well as countless other tools and products, the destruction of these hunting grounds would have spelled disaster for these nomadic tribes. The subsequent treaty agreement made at Fort Laramie in present-day Wyoming on November 6, 1868 required the U.S. to abandon Forts Reno, Kearney, and Smith, defining the limits of Sioux territory. Chief Red Cloud refused to appear or to sign the treaty until all three forts were abandoned, but once the treaty was signed, he kept his word not to go to war against the U.S. again, although he resisted all attempts at “civilization”, staunchly supporting the preservation of the old ways for the rest of his life. Following the discovery of gold in the sacred Black Hills, Red Cloud, along with chiefs Spotted Tail and Lone Horn, led a delegation to Washington, D.C. in May of 1875 to meet with President Grant, Secretary of the Interior Delano, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs Smith to attempt to persuade them to honor the treaty of 1868, and to slow the flow of miners to the northern Great Plains. Congress offered the tribes a payment of $25,000 for the disputed territory, coupled with relocation to Oklahoma. The chiefs refused this offer, yet upheld their end of the 1868 Treaty, and did not join Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull in the Great Sioux War that followed. Chief Red Cloud retired from warriorship but remained a respected tribal councilor in his later years.
It was during this visit to Washington, D.C. that Chief Red Cloud was gifted the ornately engraved 1866 Winchester rifle, “Yellow Boy,” at the White House. It was just a year later that Jack Red Cloud took this rifle and his father’s war bonnet, without permission, and went with a group of friends to take part in what became known as the Battle of the Rosebud on June 17, 1876. He had joined with Sitting Bull’s group of warriors earlier in the spring, before the Sun Dance ceremony. Things did not go well for Jack...
Early in the fighting, Crow scouts allied with the U.S. Army shot Jack’s horse from underneath him. He then made the terrible mistake of not removing the bridle from his dead pony’s body, an important act expected of warriors even in the most dangerous battle situations, and fled still wearing the trailing eagle feather headdress, carrying Yellow Boy. He was a conspicuous target, especially once he was recognized as Chief Red Cloud’s son, making him particularly coup-worthy. A Crow scout named Bull Doesn’t Fall Down ran him down and beat him with his pony whip, counting coup, berating him as a coward for fleeing in panic and neglecting his pony, and finally admonishing him for wearing the feathers of a true warrior. Weeping and begging for mercy, Jack was spared his life, but the scouts confiscated the headdress and Yellow Boy. This was a humiliation almost worse than death.
Crazy Horse and two other Sioux came to his rescue; both Jack and Chief Red Cloud, along with Crazy Horse’s close friend He Dog, belonged to the powerful Bad Face band of Oglala Sioux, a sort of warrior fraternity which was deeply committed to preserving the old ways, and held looking after its members as a critical value even in the most humiliating circumstances. Still, they too shamed him for behaving badly and crying in front of their enemies, refusing to look at him. The storied Battle of Little Big Horn occurred just 8 days later, and afterward Jack had to return home without his pony, without Yellow Boy, and worst of all, without his father’s beautiful war bonnet with its 81 golden eagle feathers representing most of a lifetime of bravery and leadership.
In July of 2020, at a small college located in a small town on the East Coast, enveloped in a nest of acid-free tissue in a sturdy archival storage box, a magnificent eagle feather war bonnet lay at rest. Made of tanned hide, ermine, horsehair, glass beads, red woolen cloth and copper alloy bells, the war bonnet had spent 144 years far away from the culture, people, and family who had created and cherished it. It had been through a lot, but its journey wasn’t quite over.
The war bonnet had been part of a collection of books and objects that were donated to Washington College beginning in 1930 by an alumna, Fredericka Strong Albee, a native of Kent County, Maryland. She was the second wife of Lieutenant George Emerson Albee, a veteran of the Civil War and the Indian Wars that followed, and a Medal of Honor recipient for actions during the latter. In an article published in the Washington Elm on November 1, 1930, it was reported that “the head-dress of Red Cloud was one of Captain Albee’s most prized possessions.” Documentation in the college Archives states that the headdress had been given to Albee by his close lifelong friend, Captain Henry Ware Lawton, with whom he had served in the 41st Infantry in the years following the Civil War.
It was sixty years later, shortly following Congress’ enactment of NAGPRA (the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) that officials at the college began talking about returning the war bonnet to Red Cloud’s people. But time continued to pass, with little movement on the front of taking concrete action to return Red Cloud’s property to his descendants. Finally, in June of 2014, President Reiss received a very kind and eloquent letter from Chief Red Cloud’s fifth-generation direct descendant, Henry Red Cloud of Pine Ridge, South Dakota. In the letter, Red Cloud recognized and commended the college’s desire to repatriate the bonnet, while emphasizing its importance to the Oglala Lakota people and urging its voluntary return as soon as possible. He expressed his willingness to assist in the planning and execution of the repatriation and extended an invitation to President Reiss to visit Pine Ridge for the honoring ceremony that would take place afterward.
Still, following several high-level leadership changes at the college, five more years passed before the effort was kicked into high gear. Mary Alice Ball was hired as the Dean of the Library and Academic Technology in early 2019, when the bonnet was being cared for in the college Archives, part of the Library and Academic Technology department. Members of Dean Ball’s new staff, knowing about her previous work with tribal communities in various parts of the country, seized the opportunity to alert her to the bonnet’s low-key presence in secure storage down in the Archives. Less than two months after her arrival at the college, Ball had begun her research into the matter and contacted Provost DiQuinzio with a detailed recommendation for return of the bonnet to the Lakota Sioux, stressing the necessity of working closely with the tribe and allowing the tribe to guide decisions about the logistics, events, and especially the publicity surrounding the repatriation.
She opened discussions with the Red Cloud family and tribal representatives, which continued for many months throughout 2019. It was ultimately decided that the process would begin with the college awarding an Honorary Doctorate of Public Service to Henry Red Cloud at the February 2020 Washington’s Birthday Convocation.
Henry Red Cloud was well-qualified for this special honor. Like his famous ancestor, Henry has used his creativity, skills, and leadership abilities to help guide his tribe and other Native communities through the modern crises of climate change and the scarcity and expense of natural resources. Born on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Henry spent years away from the reservation, working as a steelworker in different parts of the country. When he returned to Pine Ridge in the 1990s, he volunteered his time and energy to the development of solar energy, wind turbine, and sustainable housing projects. He began Lakota Solar Enterprises, a 100% Native-owned and operated renewable energy company that established family-scale solar heating systems on reservations. From this company grew the Red Cloud Renewable Energy Center, an educational facility where tribal leaders from across the continent come to learn skills and solutions that they can bring back to their communities. During the past 15 years, Henry’s accomplishments have earned him national and international recognition, most notably a Solve fellowship from MIT and recognition by President Obama’s White House as a Champion of Change. Henry has worked hard to empower Native communities in a way that enhances cultural pride and enriches the spirit of these communities; he reminds them that a return to a traditional relationship with Mother Earth, which had always been respectful and sustainable, can be useful in surmounting modern challenges. His famous grandfather would no doubt agree and be proud that his family was carrying on his most cherished values and honoring the Old Ways.
In February 2020, Henry Red Cloud traveled to Washington College accompanied by his wife Gloria; his cousin Lula Red Cloud, Matriarch and oldest member of the Red Cloud family, and the great-great granddaughter of Chief Red Cloud; his friend and colleague Richard Fox; and friend and videographer Jason Mackie to participate in Convocation exercises and events, and to receive his Honorary Doctorate of Public Service. Conversations, camaraderie, and shared meals enhanced the time leading up to the ceremony, as plans were made for an honoring ceremony and transfer of the headdress to occur in April. At that time a larger delegation would come to the college, following the same route that Chief Red Cloud’s delegation had taken in 1875. It would include Lakota religious leaders, dignitaries, and a group of drummers to participate in the ceremonies and a public celebration. For the Convocation on February 21, Henry and Lula dressed in tribal regalia, with Lula offering the invocation to start the ceremony and Henry giving the keynote speech discussing his work and the importance of clean energy. The ceremony happened to coincide with a student demonstration protesting the college’s response to incidents of racial bias on campus; not surprisingly, Henry and his wife Gloria took time to speak with the students about their concerns.
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On the last day of their visit, the Red Cloud family gathered in an office in Miller Library to finally reunite with the spirit of their renowned ancestor, embodied in his long-lost war bonnet. The family spent some time alone with the headdress, and during that time, they counted the feathers. There were 81, just as family and tribal history said there should be.
It was on this special occasion that Lula Red Cloud shared the family story of the bonnet’s loss that was handed down to her. She was the first person who shared with us the story of Jack Red Cloud and the Crow scouts (“the Crow betrayed us,” she said,) and Jack’s humiliation at the Rosebud fight leading up to the battle of the Greasy Grass (the Lakota name for the Battle of Little Big Horn.) The family was eager to know the story of the bonnet’s journey since that day, and attempting to piece together that history has been difficult, and the details elusive. The story centers upon a group of soldiers: Captain Henry Ware Lawton, Lieutenant George Emerson Albee, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, and General George Crook.
One morning in the fall of 1876, in the wake of Little Big Horn and the U.S. outrage at its results, Chief Red Cloud’s encampment was surrounded, disarmed, and brought to Fort Robinson by Colonel Ranald Mackenzie’s 4th Cavalry. In 1877, the group was removed to Pine Ridge, where Red Cloud spent the last 30 years of his life. In the meantime, his war bonnet changed hands, from the Crow scouts to the U.S. Army, and came into the possession of Captain Henry Ware Lawton. Lawton later became famous for leading the expedition that captured Geronimo in Arizona, but was known as one of the more compassionate officers, earning the respect of men such as Cheyenne warrior Wooden Leg, whose people Lawton was tasked with removing to a southern reservation.
In 1876, Lawton was in the middle of a distinguished military career, having served throughout the Civil War from the age of 17, afterward joining the 41st Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Mackenzie. Lawton and Mackenzie grew to have a great respect and admiration for each other, Lawton becoming a close confidant of the Colonel while serving as a trusted and competent Quartermaster. Immediately following the battles of the Rosebud and Little Big Horn, Colonel Mackenzie and six companies of the 4th Cavalry Regiment under his command were ordered to the Red Cloud Agency and nearby Camp Robinson, Nebraska to subdue the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne still resisting being confined to reservations.
Mackenzie was given command of the Black Hills District, which encompassed Robinson and both the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail agencies, under the command of General George Crook. General Crook had been the commanding officer at the Rosebud engagement, and in charge of those Crow scouts who confronted Jack Red Cloud on that day. Henry Lawton had just been in Washington, D.C., applying for a promotion to the rank of Captain and Assistant Quartermaster. He received the recommendation of General Sherman, and a particularly glowing statement of approval from Colonel Mackenzie, recognizing his thorough competence and spotless integrity and calling him as an officer “by far the ablest who has ever served” under his command. Upon hearing of Custer’s disastrous defeat on June 25 and Mackenzie’s orders, Lawton immediately asked for permission to rejoin his regiment, boarding a train to Wyoming to join up with Mackenzie’s 4th Cavalry Regiment.
It must have been sometime after this, when Lawton had rejoined Mackenzie as commander of B Troop of the 4th Cavalry in the southwest and in the plains, that the headdress came into his possession. Mackenzie was known to gift ‘relics’ of war to others, and the gift could have come from him; he could have received it from the Crow scouts, through trade, or acquired it under circumstances which we can only imagine. But the men were all connected: General Crook had commanded the Crow as well as Colonel Mackenzie, and both had been at the conflicts in June 1876. Henry Ware Lawton later gifted it to his comrade and greatest friend, Albee, the future husband of our donor…and we know the story from there.
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Along came the Covid-19 pandemic, and everyday life as we all knew it changed dramatically. Plans for the April 2020 ceremonies were cancelled, and most of the work of the college moved to home offices and online communication and teaching. At Pine Ridge, the Oglala Sioux Tribe passed a resolution to quarantine the reservation in an effort to protect the tribal population from the Covid-19 virus. They were met with a demand from South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to open their borders or face legal repercussions. The tribe pushed back, citing the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 and emphasizing its promise of tribal sovereignty.
Deflated, the team here at the college began to work on Plan B to finally get the headdress to its home in South Dakota. Finally, in July of 2020, Dr. Ball loaded the box into her car and drove it up to New Haven, Connecticut, where it would be transferred to Henry’s friend, Jason Mackie, who would then drive it out to Illinois, where he would meet Henry and Gloria Red Cloud, who would at long last carry it back to Pine Ridge.
On September 20, 2020, at a ceremony organized by Lula Red Cloud and other Red Cloud family members, more than 100 people gathered at Bear Butte, a sacred vision quest location of the Lakota people. They had gathered to honor Henry Red Cloud at his Making of a Chief Ceremony. Leonard Crow Dog, spiritual leader of the Lakota, led the ceremony. Ivan Looking Horse served as Eyapaha (master of ceremonies) and Chief John Spotted Tail, Chief of the Sicangu Lakota and direct descendant of Chief Spotted Tail, placed Henry’s own ceremonial bonnet on his head. The bonnet had been made by Tamra Stands and Looks Back Spotted Tail.
Henry continues his work with Red Cloud Renewable, and was recently featured on the PBS Series, “Native America.” Lula Red Cloud-Burk passed away on October 23, 2022.
To learn more about Chief Henry Red Cloud and his work, please visit his website:
https://www.redcloudrenewable.org/
Jennifer E. Nesbitt
