The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary
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Utah State University DigitalCommons@USU All USU Press Publications USU Press 2000 The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary Matthew E. Kreitzer Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs Part of the Indigenous Studies Commons Recommended Citation Ottogary, W., & Kreitzer, M. E. (2000). The Washakie letters of Willie Ottogary, northwestern Shoshone journalist and leader, 1906-1929. Logan: Utah State University Press. This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the USU Press at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in All USU Press Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader 1906–1929 “William Otagary,” photo by Gill, 1921, National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader 1906–1929 Edited by Matthew E. Kreitzer Foreword by Barre Toelken Utah State University Press Logan, Utah Copyright © 2000 Utah State University Press All rights reserved Utah State University Press Logan, Utah 84322-7800 Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid free paper 0706050403020100 12345678 Ottogary, Willie. The Washakie letters of Willie Ottogary, northwestern Shoshone journalist and leader, 1906–1929 / [compiled by] Matthew E. Kreitzer. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-87421-401-7 (pbk.) — ISBN 0-87421-402-5 (hardback) 1. Ottogary, Willie—Correspondence. 2. Shoshoni Indians—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Biography. 3. Indian journalists—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Biography. 4. Shoshoni Indians—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Social conditions. 5. Washakie Indian Reservation (Utah)—History. I. Kreitzer, Matthew E., 1957- II. Title. E99.S4 O77 2000 979.2'42—dc21 00-009792 To my parents, Melvin and Ann Whitenack Kreitzer for teaching me to love people and history. To the Ottogarys, Clyde and Cecelia, and family, for allowing me the privilege of studying their grandfather and great grandfather, Willie. To my wife, Shelle, and our children, Joshua, David, James, Kalani, Nathaniel, and Samuel, for their unwavering support and love. To A. J. Simmonds, mentor and friend. To the Northwestern Shoshone. To God, who has given me life. Contents Foreword xii Preface xiii Introduction 1 Editorial Method 19 1. “I Will Write a Few Line,” 1906–1910 23 2. “Willie Ottogary Breaks Silence,” 1911–1913 41 3. “I Am Going Tell Some News,” 1914–1920 65 4. “I Will Start on My Stories,” 1921–1922 99 5. “We Expect Get Some Land from Our Big White Pop in Future Time,” 1923–1924 125 6. “You People May Read My Writing Long as I Work,” 1925–1926 156 7. “Our People Haven’t Got Any Land for Their Own,” 1927–1929 199 Conclusion 242 Appendix A. Shoshone Treaties, 1863 249 Appendix B. “Local Brevities”: A White Community’s Social Column 253 Appendix C. The Travels of Willie Ottogary 255 Appendix D. Exhibit of Acreage and Produce 256 Appendix E. “Willie Ottogary Goes East Again” 258 Appendix F. Awards and Prizes Presented at Utah State Fair, 1915 260 Appendix G. Washakie Ward Leadership Positions 262 Appendix H. Newspaper Accounts of Two of the Ottogarys’ Early Boxing Matches 264 Notes 266 Bibliography 280 Biographical Register and Index 285 Abbreviations 285 Subject Index 322 Illustrations “William Otagary” frontis Clyde S. Ottogary and family xvi Shoshone Homelands (map) xix Northern Utah (map) xx Washakie, Utah 3 Ammon Pubigee and Willie Ottogary before their mission 8 Ammon Pubigee and Willie Ottogary, ca. 1892 9 The Bear River from the Ottogary homestead 10 Alice, Willie Ottogary’s first wife 11 Louise Ottogary 12 Washakie Shoshone planting sugar beets 14 Shoshone tipis on a demonstration farm 15 The Travels of Willie Ottogary (map) 22 Threshing scene 24 A postcard showing Frank Brain and Soquitch Timbimboo 25 Twenge, or Towange, Timbimboo 25 William and Julia Hootchew 26 Twenge Timbimboo and children 27 Phoebe Timbimboo 27 Washakie Indians touring Salt Lake City, Utah 29 Ono Johnny, Moroni Timbimboo, and George Peyope 30 George Peyope, Ren Hootchew, and Ono Johnny 31 Indian women and children with Wild West Show 35 Shoshone encampment on Logan Tabernacle grounds 36 Shoshone Indians in Semi-Centennial parade 36 Yeager Timbimboo 37 Yampatch Timbimboo 37 Joseph Woonsook and Lynn Perry 39 Timus Perdash, Amos Moemberg, and Henry Woonsook 40 “Willie Ottegary.” 43 Moroni and Amy Hootchew Timbimboo with daughter 47 Lyric Theatre advertisement 49 Red Clay, or Frank Timbimboo Warner 50 Willie, Chester, Custer, and Nancy West Ottogary 53 Grouse Creek Jack 56 “Wah-Hah-Gun-Ta,” a Blackfoot Indian 57 Caricature of Benjamin Franklin Riter 63 Quarretz and Warren Wongan 65 A letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs by Willie Ottogary 71 A letter to the second assistant commissioner of Indian affairs by Willie Ottogary 72 News article concerning Washakie Shoshone land issues 74 News article reporting Willie Ottogary’s visit to Washington, D.C. 74 Mamie Perdash Wongan and Warren Wongan 75 Postcard of Henry Hootchew and Amos Moemberg 80 Indian women stitching 81 Outside of an Indian fair venue 82 Willie, Custer, and Chester Ottogary 84 Warren Wongan and Timbimboo family 84 Elwood grade school class 85 “Will Ottergary” and Annies Tommy 87 A five-generation photo 91 Advertisement for a Wild West Show 92 Rose Parago Sam 93 Henry Hootchew and Alice Low 93 James Joshua and Hitope Joshua 97 Shoshone rabbit hunters 99 “William Otagary” 102 Washakie LDS ward bishopric 111 Ammon and Aaron Pubigee, Harry D. and Nellie Tootiaina, Ketch Toyahdook 120 Mr. and Mrs. Grouse Creek Jack 131 Advertisement for a Sun Dance and fandango 136 Rachel Perdash 143 Letter to E.B. Meritt, commissioner of Indian affairs, by Willie Ottogary 158 News article concerning plans for a new school at Washakie 165 Example of newspaper printing of one of Willie Ottogary’s letters 171 Box Elder County Fair, 1923 174 Seth Eagle, or Pubigee, and Iva Woonsock Eagle 175 Shoshone woman with turkey 177 Chester Ottogary in boxing pose 181 Charles M. Harris 181 Brigham City-Malad Stage Line Schedule 183 Women at an LDS General Conference 186 Men at an LDS General Conference 186 Ray Diamond and Amy Hootchew Timbimboo 199 Chester Ottogary in parade dress 209 Hazel Timbimboo Zundel and Wallace Zundel 210 Pubigee, Woonsock, and Timbimboo children 225 Frank Timbimboo and Catch, or Ketch, Toyahdook 225 Hitope Joshua 226 Seth Eagle Pubigee and Jacob Peyope 230 Women and children at Old White Church, Washakie, Utah 237 Leland Pubigee, Jim John Neaman, Melvin Alex, and others 238 Willie Ottogary’s grave, Washakie, Utah 241 LDS Relief Society members and children 245 All Indian bishopric of Washakie LDS ward 245 Foreword Barre Toelken In many ways, Willie Ottogary is exemplary of what early Japanese folklorist Yanagita Kunio called “the invisible culture”—that uncountable mass of everyday people whose lives and expressions, while never becoming “visible” in museums, libraries, and other elite venues, nonetheless actually constitute the ongoing, dynamic force of their own society. Usually such people—for all their importance to historical movement—remain personally unknown, anonymous, unrecognized. Under typical circumstances, Ottogary would have been even more invisible than most, for he was a Shoshone Indian with a limited command of English. If it had not been for the fact that he steadfastly refused to be invisible, we would know vir- tually nothing of him today. But with a resolute and stunningly friendly insistence on being heard, he left a trail of vernacular journalism in the newspapers of north- ern Utah and southern Idaho during the early 1900s. His columns were apparently quite popular in their day. Perhaps they served some as an indication that Indians were educable; to others, they may have reg- istered as unintentional cultural parody. In later years, his columns—known to a handful of archivists for their humorous local color—languished in yellowing stacks of old newspapers on the special collections shelves of a few university libraries. Ottogary might have decayed into obscurity along with hundreds of other local columnists of the West if it had not been for the keen eye and ear of Matt Kreitzer, who recognized the columns (through a chance encounter) as a potential window on Native attitudes and ideas that have otherwise escaped our attention. Kreitzer not only searched for Willie Ottogary in the dusty backrooms of libraries, but on the land and among the man’s Shoshone relatives and descen- dants. Every new discovery yielded still more fascinating aspects of this remark- able person, and the resultant picture is a wonderful example of how rich the ver- nacular record is—if one has the dedication and the energy to find it and pay seri- ous attention to it. In a curious way, Ottogary’s ostensibly humble accounts of Shoshone every- day life in the early twentieth century leap out from the newspaper pages today with an honesty and freshness that contrasts with sober accounts of church con- ferences, dull reports on town council deliberations, stilted social calendar reports, and boring discussions of feed and grain prices. Defective grammar and unique idiom notwithstanding, Ottogary’s down-to-earth comments are a delight, a treasure for anyone who wants a richer, more diverse account of life in turn-of- the-century Utah. xiv Preface Eight years ago I embarked on an incredible journey. This journey allowed me to follow the trail of an amazing individual named Willie Ottogary. It began in 1992, when I took a sabbatical leave from my teaching position at Pine View High School in St. George, Utah. My wife and I had discussed the plan for years, and when I finally gained the required seven years of experience, we uprooted our young family and moved to Logan, Utah, where I entered a master’s program in American studies at Utah State University (USU).