Queen City Heritage
Mutual Infatuation:
Rosebud Sioux and
Cincinnatians
Susan Labry Meyn
As early as 1832 George Catlin, the
famous painter of Indians, stated that Cincinnatians
no longer thought of themselves as living on the frontier. Many felt that "Our town has passed the days of
its most rapid growth, it is not far enough West." 1
Like Catlin Cincinnatians yearned for the Far West,
"untamed" country that fascinated (and still fascinates) "civilized" society.
Some sixty years later, in the summer of
1896, officials at the Cincinnati Zoological Society
brought the West to the East in a series of educational
programs illustrating frontier and pioneer life — actually historical plays, advertised as " T h e Only
Genuine and Legitimate Wild West Show and
Congress of Rough Riders of the World In or Near
Cincinnati This Season."2 The spectacular event lasted three months and featured eighty- nine Sicangu
Sioux men, women, and children, who after signing
the federally approved contracts with the zoo's official representative, Assistant Manager Fred E. Nevin,
left their homes on Rosebud Reservation in South
Dakota and traveled south to Valentine, Nebraska, to
board a train for Cincinnati. Two boxcars transported
their tepees and horses.3 The Sicangu camped at the
zoo and participated in reenactments of legendary
western battles, an attack on a stagecoach, war
dances, Indian pony races, and scenes zoo officials
thought typical of Cincinnati one hundred years earlier. When Cincinnatians visited the zoo that summer,
they traveled vicariously through time and space.
Curiously, no one seems to have thought it unusual
that Plains Indians portrayed Eastern Woodland
Indians.
Fortunately some Cincinnatians wrote
about, sketched, and photographed the Sicangu that
summer. One young photographer, Enno Meyer,
Susan Labry Meyn, a doctoral
candidate in interdisciplinary
studies at the University of
Cincinnati, has presented
programs on this event at
Rosebud Reservation.
made friends with several Sicangu who corresponded
with him after their visit. Meyer's collection of photographs, glass negatives, Indian artifacts, and letters
are in the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. 4
The ex-president of the Cincinnati Camera Club,
Thomas H. Kelley took additional photographs which
illustrate an unpublished manuscript written by
James Albert Green, a longtime trustee on the board
of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton
County. 5 Rookwood artists, who often used photographs of Indians as a source of authentic inspiration for their painted pottery, had access to a third
group of pictures taken by an u n k n o w n
photographer.6 Other Cincinnatians documented the
Indian visit in newspapers and in correspondence
with officials in Washington, D.C. Decades later
Bessie Hoover Wessel, a local artist, acquired Meyer's
glass negatives and used them as a guide for her oil
Rookwood artists who used
photographs of Indians as a
source of inspiration for their
painted pottery had access to
a group of pictures taken by
an unknown photographer.
(CHS, Photograph Collection)
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
paintings, "Portraits From The Plains." In 1971 A. B.
Closson Jr. Company's gallery exhibited and sold
Wessel's paintings. 7 The fascination with the West
continues to the present and the author enjoys a
warm relationship with many contemporary Sicangu
who have helped resolve problems associated with an
almost forgotten event.
The excitement Cincinnatians felt in
1896 was typical of that gripping the entire nation
around t h e turn of the century when thousands
rushed to see similar wild west shows sponsored by
William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill), Pawnee Bill, Texas
Jack, and others. Buffalo Bill's 1893 frontier spectacle,
staged on a huge lot adjacent to the Columbian
World's Fair in Chicago, delighted fair goers and
earned more than $700,000/ When his show appeared
in Cumminsville in Cincinnati in the spring of 1896
after an absence of eight years, it sold out. 9 Even
though Cincinnatians had never fought with Plains
Indians in the Queen City, they wanted to experience
the romantic, imaginary West with Buffalo Bill, the
former army scout, who looked the part. His show's
successful tour of Europe had only increased his popularity in the United States.
Many factors, both national and regional,
caused the Wild West mania. Americans realized that
the "untamed" zone separating unsettled areas from
occupied zones along the western border ceased to
exist when the census bureau officially closed the
frontier in 1890. According to the bureau's definition
the population density had exceeded six people per
square mile. In addition the legendary battles with Kit
Carson and General George Custer were over. The
most tragic encounter, the Massacre at Wounded
Knee, which occurred near a creek in South Dakota in
December 1890, ended Indian wars. At the 1893
World's Fair in Chicago, a young historian, Frederick
Jackson Turner, presented his theory about the distinctive features of the process of civilizing the nation
in a paper entitled "The Significance of the Frontier in
American H i s t o r y . " As t h e century closed and
America spread its domain past the frontier, the citizens' love affair with frontier events grew, thus
immortalizing the vanished frontier and the mythical
West.
Artists like George Catlin and Karl
Bodmer painted images that have left indelible
impressions of the "pure," untamed West. Their
depictions of the Plains Indian in long fringed leather
garb astride a horse pursuing buffalo on the run
became synonymous with the "real" thing. Stories
about Kit Carson and David Crockett and their neardeath adventures on the frontier reinforced the stereotype. Author Ned Buntline's dime novels made
Buffalo Bill a national hero, whetting everyone's
appetite to see how it "really was."
Smart speculators like Buffalo Bill capitalized on this image and included live Plains Indians
in their programs. Indians traveled far and wide with
circuses, wild west shows, and medicine shows. They
participated in national and international fairs and
expositions. Their flowing feathered headdresses,
imprinted on minds and pennies, typified the Indian.10
The idea of the Far West spread its charms over the
nation and the Cincinnati Zoological Society. The
AMUSEMENTS.
5EW CINCINNATI 1IA&E-BALL PARK
O3NTE5
By Special Request, Commencing THIS (MONDAY) AfTEBftOON.
Owing to the continued success of
Co.
The manngement have decided to remaln another week.
•
Afternoon at 8 O'Oloolac
/ADMISSION
*s AND B
BO CENTS
REDUCED
t CHILDREN
CHILD
is
This places tHe Century's Novelty within the reach of all.
Street Cars right to the Rate. Doors open at 1 o'clock.
GRAND
STREET
PARADE
LOCAL NOTICES.
JWTSOLID GOLD and finMt rolled gold
Buffalo Bill's Wild West show
was very popular with
Cincinnatians who wanted to
experience the romantic,
imaginary West. (CHS,
Photograph Collection)
THIS
MORNING
AMENDED PLAT NO. 111.
Queen City Heritage
Society, like other speculators, was unconcerned
about costs, believing that the 1896 Sicangu Sioux
program depicting life on the frontier would increase
gate receipts.
One newspaper reporter approved of the
Society's entrepreneurial spirit claiming, "It is a grand
illustration of the enterprising policy of the present
management — a policy which, if kept up, will not
only place the Zoo upon a safe basis, but make it one
of the most profitable amusement institutions of the
United States." 11 The Society said that "the attractions offered by the animals alone were hardly sufficient inducement to the public to bring the receipts
up to the amount of running expenses, quite ignoring
the expense of annual repairs to the buildings, etc.,
permanent improvements and the replenishment of
animals, they determined to inaugurate other attractions." 12 The Society had good reason to speculate
because the first Indian encampment at the zoo in
1895, combined with the other cultural attractions,
had done precisely this.
Cree men posed for a photograph in their camp in 1895,
the zoo's first Indian exhibition. The hairstyle (short
bangs in front) of Cree men
was different from that worn
by Sioux men and their
Plains clothing presented a
"more acculturated" style.
(Picture courtesy of the
Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
In 1895 Cincinnatians had been offered a
kaleidoscope of events including the first Indian
encampment — a Cree village at the zoo. A band of
Cree had been abandoned by the Beveridge Montana
Wildest West show in June.13 When the show owner
fled, some of the poverty-stricken Cree remained on
the former show site in Bellevue, Kentucky, across
the river from Cincinnati. The Cree's refusal to leave
caused consternation and stress for both Kentucky
officials and the Cree.14 The zoo solved the problem by
inviting the Cree to camp near their beloved buffalos
and bears.
The Cree village was not the only ethnological attraction Cincinnatians saw at the zoo. The
1895 program included an Oriental village with
Arabian, Kurdish, Armenian, and Egyptian families
camping in their ethnically diverse tents. 15 In his
report of January 1, 1897, John Goetz, Jr., President of
the Zoological Society, boasted that the extra attractions in 1895 increased receipts by more than $25,000.
This unprecedented success led to future ethnological
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
33
Cincinnati, which had hired Indians as part of its
entertainment.19 Heck first served as press agent and
in 1893 as assistant manager when the museum was
at 218 Vine.10 Between 1894 and 1897 Heck was the
general manager of the Zoological Office.21 In 1899 he
was t h e Manager of Heck's Wonder World and
Theatre located at 526-28 Vine." In 1896 Heck had an
')c>t
The Largest and Best Equipped in the World.
assistant manager, Fred E. Nevin, whom he knew
from his days at the Kohl and Middleton Dime
45 ACRES'OF BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. I
Museum.23 Heck, Stephan, and other zoo officials saw
the abandoned Cree as a fortuitous addition to their
MOST OOMPL£TE OOI LECTION
1895 schedule. Together they brought world's fair
style
entertainments and ethnological exhibitions to
IN EXISTENCE.
the Queen City's zoo.
Listing himself as the contact person,
Manager Heck invited Cincinnatians to attend a
kaleidoscope of "Delightful Summer Night Fetes,
EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHTS IN IUNE, JULY AND AUGUST.
••' •> '•'.**
Every Tuesday and Friday Nights in June, July and
August" and "Lavish Spectacular and Vaudeville
CONGEHTS BY FULL MILITARY BAND.
Entertainments on other Nights of the Week" at the
FORTY GREAT ARTISTS.
Gardens, "The Largest and Best Equipped in the
World." 24 Heck offered special rates to churches,
Lavish Spectacular and Vaudeville Entertainments on other Nights of the Week
schools, and other groups and requested that any
inquiries be addressed to him. No doubt the advertisX? » * r r - o To Churches, Schools and Societies desiring tot\ATE£
hold Outings at the Zoo.
j - ,
ing stemmed from the successful 1895 series of proFor further information, call on or address
grams.
WILL S. HECK,
But federal officials, humanitarians, and
••
Manager Zoological QaWenli • . ^ | , ^ ;
624
educators wanted to prohibit Indians from participating in these shows. Not only were they concerned
about the welfare of the Indians but proponents of
16
assimilation felt the plays glorified an unacceptable
exhibitions.
It is difficult to say exactly who first former life-style. Civilizing Plains Indians and teachrealized that inviting the Cree Indians to perform in ing them to farm was felt to be critical to their livelian improvised wild west show would infatuate and hood. These shows, they said, only allowed the
attract Cincinnatians and thus fatten the zoo's cof- Indians to see whites applauding the very way of life
fers. Decades later Sol Stephan, superintendent at the they fought to abolish. Show owners, who knew that
time, claimed he originally had the idea to exhibit the fortunes could be made quickly, countered that
Cree and that he had opened negotiations with Indians wanted to escape the monotonous life on the
them. 17 To him the idea may not have seemed far reservations. Indians, especially those on the Plains
fetched because at this time Indians traveled with cir- reservations, were spiritually and economically
cuses, and Stephan, as a young man, had worked for depressed. Indians desperately needed the income
the Great Eastern Circus.18 He probably had the sup- show owners promised them. But sometimes these
port of William S. Heck, the zoo's general manager in scheduled events flopped, leaving Indians, like the
1895 and 1896. Heck had earlier been employed by 1895 Crees, abandoned and penniless in remote corthe Kohl and Middleton Dime Museum in ners of the globe.
CINCINNATI ILLUSTRATED BUSINESS DIRECTORY.
'
William S. Heck, the zoo's
general manager, Sol
Stephan, and other zoo
officials brought world's fair
style entertainments and
ethnological exhibitions to
the Queen City. (CHS, Printed
Works Collection)
" ; • • .
»
34
The Cree encampment brought an acculturated West to Cincinnati. The Cree wore pseudoPlains clothing in untraditional ways and decorated
themselves with feathers that fell from some of the
birds at the zoo. Their hair styles, with short front
bangs, were not typically Sioux.25 Despite this, Henry
F. Farny and John Rettig went to the zoo to sketch
them.26 In addition Cincinnati artist and photographer
Enno Meyer, who frequently photographed the animals and buildings at the zoo, took pictures of the
Indians, documenting a little known event in Cree
history and one almost forgotten in the zoo's history.
After settling in at the zoo, the Cree
staged a typical wild west show appearing in war
dances, medicine dances, scalp dances, and the
"Wonderful Sun Dance."27 Additional frontier portrayals included the burning of a prisoner at the stake and
the massacre of the inhabitants of a frontier cabin.
Cincinnatians also witnessed Cree activities in other
sections of the city. When Hidden Bird, a Cree man,
died his funeral mass at St. Xavier Church aroused
much curiosity. The cortege walked solemnly through
the city's streets to St. Joseph Cemetery where he was
buried.28
A July 7, 1895, Enquirer headline told
Cincinnatians that admission receipts would be used
in "transporting these Waifs of the West back to their
homes in Far-Off Montana."29 The article urged local
citizens to rush to the zoo and bid farewell to the
Cree, who were to the zoo officials relief, finally leaving on July 15.30 Hundreds of Cincinnatians responded
by attending the zoo's wild west show and other ethnic events, thereby prompting one newspaper to compare the programs to the Columbian exposition:
"What the World's Fair Was to Chicago the Zoo Is to
Cincinnati!"31
At the time, zoo officials did not consider these human or anthropological exhibitions extraneous to its mission. The following year, 1896, John
Goetz, the President of the Cincinnati Zoological
Society, justified the zoo's decision to illustrate life on
the Plains with a living Indian village. In the Annual
Report of 1896 he wrote: "The exhibition of wild people is in line with zoology, and so, when we exhibit
Indians, or South Sea Islanders, or Esquimaux, or
Queen City Heritage
Arabians, or any wild or strange people now in existence, we are simply keeping within our province as a
zoological institution."32 Zoo officials thereby aligned
themselves with other promoters.
Although the Cree encampment had
been a large undertaking, the three-month Sicangu
Sioux visit in 1896 took months of preparation and
represented a tremendous commitment for the
A picture of Iron Shell whom
the zoo agreed to pay $40.00
a month was taken for the
Rookwood artists. (CHS
Photograph Collection)
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
Zoological Society. They sought and eventually
obtained federal permission for the Sicangu Sioux to
come to Cincinnati. To guarantee the safety and well
being of the Sicangu, the Society had to post a $10,000
bond.13 In addition it had to underwrite the transportation and care of the Indians' horses, thereby increasing
the financial obligations of the Society.
Obtaining government approval for the
Indians to leave their reservation proved difficult. On
April i i , 1896, Heck wrote his first letter requesting
Indians from "Western Reservations" for the purpose
of exhibitions.34 On April 16, he wrote to Hoke Smith,
the Secretary of the Interior, stating that he knew that
William F. Cody had an arrangement by which he
secured Indians for his show. Heck said that the
Zoological Garden, "having been founded and maintained by philanthropists as an educational institution
— as a field of object lessons for the study of Natural
History" would be a natural place to "illustrate during
the summer season, the various races of men."35 He
offered John G. Carlisle, Charles P. Taft, and Jacob H.
Bromwell as attestors to the high character of the
Society.36 Bromwell and Taft followed through and
helped the Society obtain permission "to show an
Indian tribe."37 After receiving official permission "to
engage the services of, not to exceed one hundred,
Indians/' Heck inquired about salaries and wrote the
Indian agents at Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservation
in South Dakota. Albeit, he noted that the final decision rested with the Executive Committee.38 On May
11, J. George Wright, the Indian Agent at Rosebud,
wrote Heck regarding the salaries. The average salary,
Wright said, was "$25.00 per month for each individual male Indian; $10.00 and $15.00 per month for each
woman, and $5.00 per month for each child. Chiefs or
head men would probably demand $30 or $35.00, or
possibly $50.00 per month." Wright told Heck that the
Indians would bring their "native costume, feathers,
etc." and that he, Heck, "would have no trouble whatever in controling [sic] these Indians, provided strict
discipline was maintained, and they not [sic] permitted
to obtain liquor under any circumstances." 39 The
Society decided to "engage the services" of the Indians
and Heck forwarded the required $10,000 bond to
Smith, the Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs.
Heck told Smith that Fred E. Nevin, a representative of
the Zoological Society, would start for Rosebud
Reservation on May 31.4O
On June 11, Charles E. McChesney, U.S.
Indian Agent at Rosebud Reservation, wrote the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs."I have the honor to
transmit herewith fifty-nine Articles of Agreement
between Fred E. Nevin, duly authorized representative
of the Zoological Society of Cincinnati, Ohio, and
sundry Indians of this agency. These agreements cover
89 persons, who left this agency for Cincinnati, Ohio,
today."41
In addition to paying each Sicangu an
agreed upon salary the Society promised,
to supply the said party of the second
part with proper food and raiment, except one suit of
Indian clothes to start with, and moccasins, headdress, etc., and to discharge all their traveling and
needful incidental expenses from the date of leaving
said Agency until their return thereto, and to protect
the said party from all immoral influences and surroundings, and to provide all needful medical attendance and medicine, and do all such other acts and
things as may be requisite and proper for the health,
comfort and welfare of the said party of the second
part, and to return them to the said Agency within
the time specified by the Interior Department from
the date hereof, without charge or cost to the said
party of the second part or to the United States. The
party of the second part agrees to keep sober and
obey the rules and regulations of the Zoological
Society of Cincinnati, O., failing to do so he will be
returned to Agency, forfeiting salary due him.''1
35
The contract was paternalistic and
placed a serious financial responsibility upon a relatively small institution. Goetz justified his decision in
the Annual Report when he said that the Board of
Directors believed that the $25,000 earned in 1895
"could be kept up and probably exceeded." 43 The
Board was banking on the fascination of
Cincinnatians to offset any deficits.
After agreeing to participate in the zoo's
educational program, the Sicangu posed for an official
photograph by John A. Anderson, who documented
numerous other Sicangu activities. The men looked
36
splendid in their Plains Indian finery; many astride
their horses with women and children seated on the
ground in front.44 By Saturday, June 20, Queen City
residents knew that genuine, legitimate Indians were
at the zoo, living in a "picturesque village" where
aboriginal life could be seen first-hand.45 The Board of
Directors felt that this event "gave a rare opportunity
of showing the character and mode of life of the
Indian tribes" to Cincinnatians.46
Valentine McKenzie, a Sicangu who was
educated at Carlisle Indian School, served as interpreter when the contracts were signed and when local
newspaper reporters toured the encampment. The
Indian village was located in the northeastern portion
of the zoo's garden, near present day Forest Avenue
and Dury Street. "The village is diversified by hill and
dale, and plain and valley. The tepees, whose sides are
covered with rude pictures, showing the Indian's passion, if not his talent, for drawing, are distributed
with a charming disregard for symmetry and distance
over the grounds."47
During their initial adjustment to
Cincinnati's summer and to living under the inquisitive eyes of the visiting public, Sicangu presented two
educational frontier shows daily. The site of the entertainments, one at 3:00 p.m. and the other at 8:30 p.m.,
was the amphitheater south of the lake. (Today, this
is the parking area near the present-day elephant
house.)48 After the zoo closed for the evening, the
Indians would begin rehearsing Indian shows. The
goal of the entertainments (best described as wild
west shows) was to illustrate the stirring scenes connected with pioneer and frontier life, albeit, not
always accurately or realistically. 49 The expanded
entertainments included reenactments of wellknown, stereotyped, events in Indian-White relationships: the Massacre of Wounded Knee, the Battle of
Little Big Horn, an attack on a frontier stage coach,
and the proverbial burning of the prisoner at the
stake. The U.S. soldiers were represented by a company of the First Regiment of Infantry from the Ohio
National Guard.50 These sensational dramatic attractions, complete with electric and pyrotechnic lighting
and red-fire effects were the highlights of the zoo's
program,- but the zoo's officials added others.
Queen City Heritage
One addition featured Sicangu horsemen
and a band of "revengeful Bedouins" on horseback
thundering together around the arena in "a grand
combination drill of horsemen from the wild West
and the wild East."51 Now, the show staged in the zoological gardens of a mid-western river town, resembled Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough
Riders of the World. Even Major John Burke, the general manager of Buffalo Bill's show felt compelled to
compliment the zoo's program.52
But, the zoo had competition. Even
though the government discouraged Indians from participating in shows without contracts, Indian agents
had no authority to prohibit them. Defying the
authority of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
approximately twenty Indians surreptitiously left the
Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Agency in Darlington,
Oklahoma, on June 23, 1896, on the 6:00 a.m. train for
Cincinnati and another wild west show organized by
Major Gordon Lilly, "Pawnee Bill."53
Pawnee Bill's Wild West Show, at
Chester Park on the north side of Spring Grove at
Platt Avenue, rivaled the events at the zoo. Every special frontier show the zoo planned, Pawnee Bill imitated and advertised one week later on the same page
that described the zoo's activities. Pawnee Bill left
Chester Park in mid-July but the park's management
continued to give the zoo competition. The zoo's
"Historical Cincinnati" program was copied and
renamed "Cincinnati One Hundred Years Ago" complete with another elaborate set replicating Fort
Washington. It is u n c e r t a i n who portrayed the
Indians.54 Frustrated zoo officials repeatedly claimed
that their Indians were the only ones acquired "honorably" through a bond agreement with the government
and with signed contracts with the Sicangu. They
boasted that their Indians, fresh from South Dakota,
were members of the Great Sioux Nation and embodied the Indian qualities described by James Fenimore
Cooper.55 Thus, Cincinnatians also enhanced the
myth of the Wild West.
Each week the highlights of the Wild
West changed trying to lure local residents to see the
former frontier in action.56 However, when the zoo
officials decided to reenact the Ghost Dance and the
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
61
37
Massacre at Wounded Knee there was disagreement
among the Sicangu. In his m a n u s c r i p t Green
explained that "An Indian has very little imagination
and it took a long time to get the idea of what was
wanted into their heads."57 The real reason, however,
may well have been that many of the Sicangu vividly
remembered the 1890 tragedy and the last days of
their Nation. One newspaper claimed that some of
the visiting Sicangu had actually participated in the
battle. s8 Finally with the assistance of interpreter
Valentine McKenzie, a compromise was reached and
the Indians made the appropriate costumes for the
presentation.59 Green stated that "after they had once
or twice rehearsed the Battle, they took most kindly
to it and gave the performance with a vim and energy
that was startling."60
Ghost dance shields, replicating those
used by participants in the movement, were part of
the traditional attire. In one photograph a Sicangu is
shown holding his shield, a prop he or someone else
created for the reenactment. Enno Meyer acquired a
nearly identical shield that is in the Cincinnati
Museum of Natural History's Collections.62 The programs continued to change and Indians were busy
making props.
"Historical Cincinnati," a very innovative entertainment, portrayed scenes and incidents
that had occurred in the Cincinnati area more than
100 years earlier. The Sicangu, wearing Plains clothing, became Eastern Woodland Indians, and staged a
sham battle before gigantic scenery depicting Fort
Washington. The thrilling climax was the attack on
the fort and its defense by brave frontiersmen.63 Zoo
officials embroidered Cincinnati history when they
asked Indians to storm and attack Fort Washington
because the fort was never attacked in a serious manner — and never by Plains Indians. The only significant Indian attack in the vicinity of Cincinnati was
on Dunlap Station on the Great Miami in 1791.64
Incidents in the lives of famous frontiersmen, such as
Goes to War, brother of Iron
Shell, was one of the Indians
photographed by Thomas H.
Kelley to illustrate the James
A. Green manuscript. (CHS,
James A. Green Manuscript
Collection)
In contract number 36 the
Cincinnati zoo agreed to pay
Little Bald Eagle $40.00 a
month. (CHS, James A.
Green Manuscript Collection)
Queen City Heritage
Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, James Smith, and
Colonel Crawford, were also illustrated. The playwrights at the zoo together with the Sicangu
enlivened and embellished Cincinnati history.
Even though the Sicangu were busy participating in two programs daily, they, like other
tourists, enjoyed the pleasures of shopping for souvenirs. 'They delighted in visiting the city proper and
finally the spectacle of an Indian, all togged out in his
native finery, going solemnly and stolidly down the
streets carrying his purchases done in the regulation
brown paper parcels, became so frequent that not even
the small boy turned his eyes to follow."65 They
learned to shop in the largest and best stores and purchased intelligently; they were fond of colored shirts,
silk Windsor ties, and red blankets.66 On August 20,
The Enquirer let everyone know what Chief Iron
Sicangu Sioux from Rosebud
Reservation posed at the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical
Garden in 1896. The man in
the white hat, Valentine
McKenzie, served as the
interpreter and was educated
at the Carlisle Indian School.
(Picture courtesy of the
Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
Shell's daughter wore while shopping and what she
purchased — large cotton handkerchiefs, beads, a
feather duster, some sticks of peppermint candy, a red
and yellow work basket, and a majolica beer mug.67
The returning travelers had unusual stories and anecdotes to tell as well as unique souvenirs to show to
the welcoming delegation of relatives at the train station in Valentine, Nebraska. One reporter stated that
everyone celebrated with a "great pow wow" and that
the Sicangu who went to Cincinnati held "their heads
as high as cameleopards."68
Even though the reporters and others in
Cincinnati described Sicangu activities in great detail,
there was one story that none of the Cincinnati journalists writing in English reported. But, a German
newspaper, the Tagliche Abend-Presse, and The
Kentucky Post told all. Somehow the Sicangu discov-
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
Spring/Summer 1994
39
ered, probably by someone reading the local press to they soon demanded the choicer cuts of sirloins and
them, that on January 31, 1896, a few months before porterhouses. "Then they wanted more vegetables and
they arrived in Cincinnati, a young woman named expressed a preference for cabbage. Later they wanted
Pearl Bryan had been murdered. Her headless body blackberries and watermelons while nothing in the
had been found on Lock Farm near Fort Thomas, the bake-shop came amiss."72 There is no doubt that
military post, in Campbell County, Kentucky. This Cincinnatians and Cincinnati chefs learned about
brutal act came to be known as the "murder of the Indians that summer.
century." Numerous mistrials, resulting in no convicIn addition to participating in the daily
tion, were held during the period the Sicangu were in wild west shows and frontier plays and maintaining a
Cincinnati. On July 15, the Indians went to view the public campsite, the Sicangu frequently posed for phosite of the murder and asked to see the murderers. tographers. Enno Meyer photographed the Sicangu
This request was refused. Instead they were taken on lounging on the grassy knolls at the zoo, resting coma tour of police headquarters and city hall and intro- fortably on the park benches located there, standing
duced to Cincinnati Mayor John A. Caldwell.69 Thus, casually under trees, or seated on the stone walkway.
zoo officials upheld their part of the federal contract The men enjoyed their leisure hours, as Meyer's phowhich promised "to protect the said party from all tographs attest, and usually spent them relaxing and
immoral influences and surroundings."70
talking.
This, however, does not present a comThe contract between zoo officials and
the Sicangu also specified that the zoo authorities plete picture of their activities because the Sicangu
would be responsible for "proper food." At first this also participated in special events at the zoo. They
did not appear to be a problem, because the authori- paraded in a spectacular grand entry when the
ties had been told, presumably by the Indian agent, McKinley Club opened the Republican campaign at
that a simple diet of meat and potatoes would satisfy the zoo.73 Campaign buttons were popular souvenir
the Indians. The chefs employed by the zoo opted for items, even among the Sicangu, and when T.H. Kelley
inexpensive meat "cut from pretty close behind the took a picture of Goes to War, he was wearing his
horns."71 What the chefs did not realize was that the McKinley button pinned beneath his United States
Sicangu were accomplished hunters and butchers so Indian Police badge. At least five other Indians posed
Zoological officials rewrote
Cincinnati and Northern
Plains history when they
decided to include in their
wild west educational events
a play that showed the
Sicangu Sioux storming Fort
Washington. (Sketch from the
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical
Garden Archives)
Queen City Heritage
The Sioux enjoyed and later
treasured the photographs
Meyer took. In their correspondence with him after the
visit the Indians asked for
additional photographs of
one another. (Picture
courtesy of the Cincinnati
Museum of Natural History)
Spring/Summer 1994
Families, as well as single
people, camped for three
months at the zoo's garden in
1896 and allowed
Cincinnatians to stroll
through their "living" village.
This woman displayed her
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
Navajo third phase "Chief's
Blanket" for Meyer and
others. (Picture courtesy of
the Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
Queen City Heritage
42
74
for Kelley's portrait photographs. Some Indians traveled downtown to Meyer's studio where, according to
William Meyer, Enno's nephew, they had their pictures taken which probably accounts for the plain
background seen in many of Meyer's images 75 .
Someone else took candid photographs of the Sicangu
and gave them to the Rookwood photograph collection.76
This treasure trove of information, combined with the documentation in the National
Archives, shows that the Zoological Gardens planned
an unusual program that summer. Nonetheless, in
spite of the Zoological Society's high expectations, its
1896 speculative endeavor failed to generate the anticipated funds. President Goetz admitted that the
"expense of exhibiting these Indians . . . exceeded by
several thousands of dollars our receipts."77 He blamed
The Sioux participated in two
wild west shows daily. In
between they posed for
photographs, toured the city,
and shopped in local stores.
(Picture courtesy of the
Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
the nation's economy, but felt "the real and principal
cause of our loss this year was the unprecedentedly
rainy season." He said that it rained forty-six of the
one hundred days of extra amusements and when it
was not raining, the sky was "cloudy and threatening." To make his point he prepared a table comparing
the attendance and receipts of 1895 with those in
1896 for twenty-four of the rainiest days of the season.
"On these twenty-four rainy days, the total attendance was 25,490 and the receipts were $5,670.65; the
total attendance for the corresponding days of 1895
was 77,180 people . . . and the receipts were
$14,724.50. . . ,"78 Another disadvantage was streetcar
facilities which did not provide easy access to the
Zoological Gardens.79 No doubt Pawnee Bill's show,
imitating the zoo's programs, also attracted some of
the zoo's potential clientele. Chester Park's shows
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
43
must have been somewhat successful because the
magangement was still advertising its Cincinnati
frontier program in late August.80 In addition, the
monthly salaries of the Sicangu added to the expenses.
The amount for each man was noted on his contract
(59 men, hence 59 contracts); women and children
probably received a small salary, in the range Agent
Wright had recommended. The contracts in the
National Archives list: two men at forty dollars a
month, Valentine McKenzie at thirty dollars a month,
and the rest at either twenty-five or fifteen a month.
At that time, the salaries must have been a tremendous financial commitment because in 1903 the customary starting wage for a keeper at the zoo was forty
dollars a month.81 All of the expenses agreed to in the
contracts, plus the reasons Goetz gave, resulted in a
tremendous deficit for the 1896 season. This burden
was not relieved by the 1897 season and the
Zoological Garden went into receivership the following year.
Even though the deficit was enormous,
Goetz continued to believe that ethnological villages
should be scheduled because they had "vast educational value" and were a "profitable investment."82
How did the Sicangu and other Indians
feel about participating in these so-called educational
programs? Fortunately, some Sicangu corresponded
with Meyer after their visit. In addition to asking him
to tell "Farnning" [sic] and "Sharp" hello, they
requested copies of Meyer's photographs of their
friends or relatives (pictures of women were popular),
asked for Heck's address, colored ribbons, and eagle
tail feathers from the birds at the zoo. Two Sicangu
asked whether another visit to Cincinnati was being
(or might be) planned. In December 1896, in May
1898, and again in August 1898, Good Voice Eagle
asked Meyer when the zoo was going to schedule
another show. Good Voice Eagle said that Arthur
Little Stallion also wanted to know.83 They were anxious to have a commitment because they were destitute. Good Voice Eagle said that he was not able to
answer one of Meyer's letters because he had no
money and could not buy a stamp. Good Voice Eagle
was not exaggerating about the hardships he or other
Indians experienced on the reservations. Historian
Francis Prucha wrote that the last third of the nineteenth century when Indians were impoverished and
enduring radical changes was the most critical in the
entire history of Indian-White relations.84 Escaping the
depressing environment and earning money must
have been a relief for the Indians. For years the Sioux
expressed concern over the fact that railroad compa-
nies and cattle ranchers hungrily sought their land.
Eventually, with the passage of the Dawes Severalty
Act in 1887, government officials were able to rob the
Sioux of millions of acres. During this period, economic and spiritual depression were pervasive on the
Plains reservations. Participating in wild west plays
was probably a respite.
In one of the Rookwood
source photos a Sicangu is
shown holding his shield, a
prop he or someone else
created for the enactment of
the Ghost Dance and the
Massacre at Wounded Knee.
(CHS, Photograph Collection)
44
Queen City Heritage
Indians who joined the shows realized
that they often had to endure the insensitive comments of whites and that frequently the entertainment program was little better than a midway spectacle. At times even the government's scientifically correct anthropological exhibits planned for world's fairs
and expeditions degenerated into tasteless displays.85
For the Columbian Exposition, the government gave
permission for Indians to participate in a living
anthropological village illustrating how the Indian
appeared when America was discovered, in an exhibit
replicating an Indian industrial boarding school, and
in Buffalo Bill's spectacular wild west show. It's hard
to believe that Indians did not recognize the government's lack of consistency. They knew that being an
actor in one of these performances was hard work.
Without a doubt it took a secure personality and
strong integrity to withstand the public's curiosity
and relentless questions day after day.
Earning a monthly salary was not the
only reason Indians chose to sign on. Some offered
other explanations. Black Elk, who was an Oglala
Sioux holy man, said that he enjoyed participating in
the scenes planned by Indians more than those
planned by whites. He gave his reason for joining
Buffalo Bill's tour of Europe. ". . . I thought I ought to
go, because I might learn some secret of the Wasichu
(white people) that would help my people somehow."86 Luther Standing Bear, a Sioux who traveled to
England with Buffalo Bill, described the fatigue one
felt after presenting two shows daily and the problems
associated with moving a large camp from one site to
another and erecting their tepees in "wet and muddy
weather." He complained that white spectators were
not really interested in knowing how things really are.
They only wanted to see a stereotype.87 Yet, wild west
shows served a purpose, enabling the Indians to
observe white ways unchaperoned, without the paternalistic guiding hand of the Great White Father or an
Indian agent.
When eighty-nine Sicangu consented to
participate in an educational program in Cincinnati,
they committed themselves to an event that brought
the romantic western frontier East. The Sicangu's
presence in Cincinnati infatuated numerous residents
who left a legacy of important historical information
in scattered places. This documentation enables the
Sicangu to reclaim a forgotten historical event for
their own archives and tells Cincinnatians that for
three months in 1896 Queen City residents were
allowed to relive, in mythical fashion, the frontier
days that they already felt nostalgic about when
George Catlin visited the city in 1832.
I would like to thank the Sicangu, particularly Lorraine
Walking Bull, Seth Big Crow, Simon Broken Leg, Emil Her
Many Horses, Ollie Napesni, Sherry Red Owl, Jerry Kills in
Water, and Francis Paul Two Charger and his wife, Marie Kills
Plenty-Two Charger for assisting with the identification project. Mike Her Many Horses, an Oglala, graciously shared his
considerable knowledge about old photographs and wild west
events. The administration and staff of Sinte Gleska University
and Charles Hill, the former Director of the Lakota Archives
and Historical Research Center on Rosebud Reservation were
invaluable. On my most recent trip in June 1993, Marcella
Women and children participated in the educational
program and wore their best
blankets for Meyer's
photographs. The blanket on
the right, a second phase
"Chief's Blanket" woven by
Navajo women, indicated
that its wearer was a wealthy
woman with considerable
status. (Picture courtesy of
the Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
Cash, the Archivist at the Center, Assistant Archivist Terry
Gray, and Marlene Whipple, the Director of the Rosebud Sioux
Tribe Elderly Nutrition Program, suggested creative ways for
me to elicit additional information.
The Sicangu are able to enjoy all of Enno
Meyer's photographs because R. Howard and Janet C. Melvin,
and Monte P. and Mary Louise Melvin donated duplicate 8xio
prints to the Lakota Archives and Historical Research Center,
the offical repository for Sicangu history at Sinte Gleska
University on Rosebud. The Melvins' encouragement and
enthusiasm helped bring this article to fruition.
The Museum of Natural History funded my
1993 trip to Rosebud. Librarians, Anne B. Shepherd at the
Cincinnati Historical Society and M'Lissa Kesterman and
Claire Pancero, in the rare book department at the Public
Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, made my task easier. David Ehrlinger, the Director of Horticulture at The
Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, and William Meyer,
Enno Meyer's nephew, clarified numerous fine points. Marci
Two men, dressed in ceremonial finery, sat on a bench in
the zoo's garden for their
portrait. In addition to their
feather military headdresses,
each is wearing a hair pipe
breastplate and a fur
bandoleer decorated with
round mirrors acquired from
traders. (Picture courtesy of
the Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
Cassidy, Hilda Gilbert, Lory Greenland, and Susan Hughes,
Cincinnati Museum of Natural History volunteers, served as
research assistants and valuable critics, and Judith Daniels edited the manuscript.
1. George Catlin, Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs,
and Condition of the North American Indians, Written During
Eight Years' Travel Amongst the Wildest Tribes of Indians in
North America, In 1832, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39. Two volumes. Third Edition. (London, England, 1842), Vol.1, p.62.
2. The Enquirer, June 20, 1896, p.6; June 28, 1896, p.19.
3. Charles E. McChesney to Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
June i i , 1896, Letters Received 1896 #22637, Record Group y5;
National Archives, Washington, D.C., Note #22637 is stored
with #20489. The Republican (Valentine, Nebraska), June 19,
1896, p.1.
4. The Enno Meyer collection is the result of two separate donations, one from R. Howard and Janet C. Melvin, and Monte P.
46
and Mary Louise Melvin; the other from Mr. and Mrs. Robert
H. Wessel, who located and donated the glass negatives. The
Sicangu are able to enjoy all of Enno Meyer's photographs
because the Melvin Family donated duplicate 8xio prints to the
Lakota Archives and Historical Research Center, the offical
repository for Sicangu history at Sinte Gleska University on
Rosebud.
5. Cincinnati Historical Society, James Albert Green manuscript collection; Mss G797U Box 2. Green submitted his manuscript to Harper and Brothers. There is no date on either the
manuscript or the refusal from Harper, but the date is definitely
1896 because the names Green mentioned are the same as
those on the contracts in the National Archives. In the folder is
an envelope dated 1895, but this is not the date of the visit.
6. Cincinnati Historical Society, Rookwood Photograph
Collection, SC 148, Box 6, Source Material.
7. Cincinnati Museum of Natural History Ethnology
Collection, Bessie Hoover Wessel file. There is a photocopy of
the invitation to the exhibition held at Closson's gallery in the
file.
8. Don Russell, The Wild West or, A History of the Wild West
Shows (Fort Worth, Texas, Amon Carter Museum of Western
Art, 1970), p.43.
9. Cincinnati Times-Star, May 4, 1896, p.10.; The Cincinnati
Post, May 5, 1896, p.2.
10. John C. Ewers, "The Emergence of the Plains Indian as the
Symbol of the North American Indian." In Annual Report of
the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, Showing
the Operations, Expenditures, and Condition of the Institution
for the Year Ended June 30, 1964. Publication 4613,
(Washington D.C., 1965), pp.531-545.
11. The Enquirer, June 23, 1895, p.19.
12. Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati for the Year 1896 [sic] p.6. The year of the report is
incorrect; it should be 1895.
13. The Enquirer, June 20, 1895, p.6.
14. The Kentucky Post, June 17, 1895, p.6; June 18, 1895, p.6.
15. The Enquirer, July 11, 1895, p.6.
16. Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati for the Year 1896, p.10.
17. The Cincinnati Times-Star, January 2, 1931, p.8.
18. The Cincinnati Post, March 29, 1944, p. 15; I am indebted to
David Ehrlinger, the Director of Horticulture, at the Cincinnati
Zoo and Botanical Garden for sending me a copy of this article.
19. Herbert Welsh to Morgan, June 4, 1891, Letters Received
1891, #20212; Morgan to Herbert Welsh, June 13, 1891, LandVol 109, Record Group 75. Commissioner Morgan sent Welsh
the replies of the various Indian agents to an Indian Office circular calling for information on the effects of wild westing.
Charles E. McChesney at Cheyenne River Agency to Thomas
Morgan, November 15,1889, #33536.
20. Williams' Cincinnati Directory, 1893, p.680.
21. Ibid., 1894, p.667; 1895, p.718; 1896, p.650; 1897, p.680.
22. Ibid., p.713.
23. Ibid., 1892, p.III2; 1893 p.II45; 1894 p.II22; 1896 p.IO92.
24. Cincinnati Illustrated Business Directory, 1896, Fifteenth
Annual Edition, frontispiece.
Queen City Heritage
25. Susan Labry Meyn, "Who's Who: The 1896 Sicangu Sioux
Visit to the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens," Museum
Anthropology: Journal of The Council for Museum
Anthropology, 16:1 (June 1992), pp.21-26.
26. The Enquirer, June 23, 1895, p.19.
27. The Enquirer, July 4, 1895, p.5.
28. The Enquirer, June 22, 1895, p.5.
29. The Enquirer, July 7, 1895, p.19.
30. The Enquirer, July 16, 1895, p.9.
31. The Enquirer, July 7, 1895, p.19.
32. Twenty-third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati, for the Year 1896, 1897^.15.
33. Op. cit., End note #3. The bond agreement is #20489.
34. Heck to Carlisle, April 11, 1896; Heck to Lamont, April 11,
1896; Letters Received 1896, #15220 (both letters); Record
Group 75, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
35. Heck to Smith, April 16, 1896; Letters Received 1896
#15237; Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
36. Ibid.
37. Bromwell to Browning, April 22, 1896; Letters Received
1896 #15327; Record Group 75; National Archives,
Washington, D . C ; Twenty-Third
Annual Report of the
Zoological Society of Cincinnati, for the Year 1896, 1897. p.10.
38. Heck to Smith, Acting Commissioner of Indian Affairs, May
2, 1896, Letters Received 1896 #16705; Record Group 75;
National Archives, Washington, D.C.
39. Wright to the Zoological Society, May 11, 1896; Outgoing
Correspondence for Rosebud, 1878-1910, Book 25; Record
Group 75; National Archives, Kansas City Branch.
40. Heck to Smith, May 30, 1896; Letters Received 1896
#20489; Record Group 75, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
41. McChesney to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 11,
1896. Letters Received 1896 #22637. The letter and the contracts are stored with #20489. Record Group 75; National
Archives, Washington, D.C.
42.Ibid.
43. Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati, for the Year 1896, p. 10.
44. Henry W. Hamilton and Jean Tyree Hamilton, The Sioux of
the Rosebud: A History in Pictures[ Norman, Oklahoma, 1980),
Pi.96. Even though the caption under the photograph reads
1897, this is incorrect because there was no Indian exhibit at
the zoo that year. This photograph is also reproduced in Paul
Dyck's book as Plate 21. Brule: The Sioux of the Rosebud,
Flagstaff, 1971. The captions are different in the two books
because they are derived from different sources. See: Meyn, op.
cit. p.26, note 3.
45. The Enquirer, June 20, 1896, p.6.
46. Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati, for the Year 1896,. p. 10.
47. The Enquirer, July 26, 1896, p.19.
48. The Enquirer, June 21, 1896, p.19; The Enquirer, July 12,
1896, p.19.
49. The Enquirer, June 20, 1896, p.6.
50. James Albert Green, unpublished manuscript, The
Cincinnati Historical Society, p.a. The Enquirer, July 12, 1896,
p.19.
Spring/Summer 1994
Rosebud Sioux and Cincinnatians
51. The Enquirer, June 28, 1896, p.19.
52. The Enquirer, June 30, 1896, p.7.
53. Woodson to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, June 23, 1896,
Letters Received 1896 #23925; Record Group 75; National
Archives, Washington, D.C.
54. The Enquirer, August 16, 1896, p.19; August 23, 1896, p.19;
August 25, 1896, p.10.
55. The Enquirer, July 12, 1896, p.19.
56. The Enquirer, July 19, 1896, p.19.
57. Green, unpublished manuscript, p.2.
58. The Enquirer, July 9, 1896, p.7.
59. Green, unpublished manuscript, p.2; The Enquirer, July 15,
1896, p.7; July 16, 1896, p.7.
60. Green, unpublished manuscript, p.2.
Even though the contracts in
the National Archives give
the English names of the
Sioux men who traveled to
Cincinnati, it is still difficult to
identify precisely who was
who because Meyer did not
label many of his
photographs. This man,
however, had his Indian
name, Blokaciqa, tattooed on
his upper left arm. He was
also known as Arthur Belt
and Little Stallion, and
47
corresponded with Meyer
after he returned to Rosebud.
(Picture courtesy of the
Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)
48
Queen City Heritage
71. Green, unpublished manuscript, p.3.
72.Ibid.
73. The Enquirer, August 20, 1896, p.10.
74. Green's unpublished manuscript contains six photographs
taken by T.H. Kelley.
75. William Meyer to Meyn, personal communication following
meeting on April 27, 1990.
76. Op. cit., Rookwood Photograph Collection.
77. Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati, for the Year 1896, p.10.
78. Ibid., p.11-13.
79. Ibid., p. 13.
80. The Enquirer, August 26, 1896, p.5.
81. Sol A. Stephan to W. Kesley Schoepf, April 30, 1903.
82. Twenty-Third Annual Report of the Zoological Society of
Cincinnati, for the Year 1896, p.15.
83. Letters to Enno Meyer are in the Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History, Ethnology Department, Enno Meyer
Collection, TT4899 - TT4906.
84. Francis Paul Prucha, American Indian Policy in Crisis:
Christian Reformers and the Indian, 1865-1900 (Norman,
Oklahoma, 1976), p. v.
85. James Mooney, "The Indian Congress at Omaha,"
American Anthropologist, 1 (1899), pp.126-149. Robert Rydell,
All the World's a Fair: Visions of Empire at American
International Expositions, 1876 - 1916 (Chicago, 1984).
86. John G. Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks: Being the Life Story of
a Holy Man of the Oglala Sioux (Lincoln, Nebraska, 1988), pp.
214-215. (Reprint of the 1932 edition. First Bison Book edition,
87. Luther Standing Bear, My People the Sioux (Boston, 1928),
p.260.
61. Rookwood Photograph Collection. Even though the photograph is undated, it is 1896 because the child wearing the beaded vest is shown in an identical sketch in the zoo's archives and
the vest is in one of Meyer's photographs, AI 126.001.
62. Personal Communication, George Horse-Capture to Meyn.
Horse-Capture agreed that the ghost dance shield, CMNH
A13391, in the Meyer collection was most probably a prop created for the zoo's plays.
63. The Enquirer, August 12, 1896, p.io,- August 16, p.19.
64. Richard Scamyhorn and John Steinle, Stockades In The
Wilderness: The Frontier Defenses and Settlements of
Southwestern Ohio, 1788-1795 (Dayton, Ohio, 1986), pp.65-74.
65. Green, unpublished manuscript, p.3.
66. Ibid., p.4.
67. The Enquirer, August 20, 1896, p.6.
68. The Valentine Democrat, (Nebraska) September 10, 1896,
p.8.
69. Tagliche Abend-Presse, July 16, 1896, p.2, unpaginated; The
Kentucky Post, July 16, 1896, p.6.
70. Op. cit. See original contract note #41. Even though zoo
officials tried to protect the Sicangu, Sol Stephan, reminiscing
thirty-five years later, claimed that some of the Sicangu left surreptitiously at night and obtained liquor from a local "salonkeeper." The Cincinnati Times-Star, January 2, 1931, p.8.
The man on the left is Robert
Jackson, a scout and interpreter, who performed with
the Cree in the wild west
plays at the zoo's garden in
1895. The other man is not
identified. (Picture courtesy
of the Cincinnati Museum of
Natural History)