Red Horse 'Xunktanka Stanewe'. During the spring of 1876, Red Horse moved his band from the region of the Cheyenne River traveling through the Rosebud Valley and met with a large contingent of Sioux assembling on the west bank of the Little Bighorn river. As a head chief within the council lodge of the largest recorded Sioux camp, Red Horse fought both Custer and Reno. In 1881 at the Cheyenne River Agency, S.D., Red Horse created 41 ledger drawings illustrating his part in the famed battle. His story was published by the Bureau of American Ethnology in their Tenth Annual Report. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Wild Horse 'Xunktanka Wohitika'. An Oglala chief, Wild Horse was said to have been the brother of cousin of the great chief and leader, Crazy Horse, of whom no documented photograph is known. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Dimensions
23 X 19 cm
Size Overall
51 X 41 cm
Medium
Black and white photograph
Condition
Severe bowing back of both vertical edges away from mat.
American Horse 'Wasechum Taschunka' (1840-1908). 'Wasechum Taschunka' took on the name American Horse following the death of his uncle ate the Battle of Slim Buttes. During the reservation days, he was considered a notable progressive and became a head Oglala spokesman. As an orator and diplomat, he represented his people in numerous negotiations with the federal government. Following the tragedy of Wounded Knee he became the leader of a unified Sioux delegation which traveled to Washington seeking a more equitable treatment for the Sioux. In his later years he traveled with Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Show. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Young-Man-Afraid-of-his-Horses 'Tasunka Kokipapi' (c.. 1830-1900). Although the hereditary Oglalachief, Man-Afraid yielded his tribal authority to Red Cloud amid the turbulent years when the Sioux and Cheyenne openly opposed the Boreman Trail and succeeded in their struggle to drive the army from Sioux hunting grounds within the Powder River country. He led his people on the warpath throughout the Red Cloud War and during his later years was president of the Pine Ridge Council and represented the Oglala in Washington on several occasions. (Harbaugh, P., 1982)
Mary Ellen Birtles was born at Sheffield, England in 1858. She emigrated to Canada with her family in June 1883, settling in Winnipeg. In 1889, she was one of the first three graduates of the nurse training program at the Winnipeg General Hospital. During her nursing career, Mary Ellen worked in North Dakota, Medicine Hat, Brandon and Calgary. In Brandon she served first as a senior nurse (approximately 1892-1894), then returned in 1898 to become Matron of the Brandon General Hospital. She retired from that position in 1919. In 1935, Mary Ellen received the Order of the British Empire from the Governor General of Canada for her role in the pioneer nursing of Western Canada. She never married. Mary Ellen Birtles died on June 22, 1943 in Alexander, MB. She is buried at Alexander Cemetery.
Custodial History
As part of the Westman Oral History Collection, this collection was accessioned by the McKee Archives in 1998. The original tapes from the Westman Oral History project were deposited in the Brandon Public Library. Copies of these originals were made by Margaret Pollex of the Brandon University Language Lab at the request of Eileen McFadden, University Archivist in the early 1990s. These copies compose the collection held in the McKee Archives.
Scope and Content
Item is an audiocassette tape containing Phyllis Long reading an article written by Mary Ellen Birtles in 1925, about the history of the Brandon General Hospital.
Notes
History/bio information from the Manitoba Historical Society website. Description by Christy Henry.
Language Note
English
Audio Tracks
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