Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma.

The Chilocco Indian School collection consists of 1 piece of realia, 1 school yearbook, 1 pamphlet, 1 manuscript, 1 graduation certificate, and 107 photographic images in various formats related to the Chilocco Indian School in northern Oklahoma. Many of the images are portraits of individuals, structures, and activities associated with the Chilocco Indian School; most are individual and group portraits of Native Americans, but there are also several images showing school buildings, agricultural activities, sports teams, and white American adults and children. The majority of the images are real photo postcards from the 1910s.

A total of 16 tintypes (mostly 8 x 5 cm) are present in the collection. Included are studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls wearing western clothing. Many of the tintypes have been moderately hand-colored. None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Also present are 18 photographic prints (6 unmounted and 12 mounted). The 6 unmounted prints are all 11 x 6.5 cm snapshots taken in 1920 that appear to have been taken by tourists and were once stored in a photograph album. Inscribed captions include the following: "Gold Fish Pond Chilocco OK 1920"; "Three Indian Boys"; "View of the lake at Chilocco"; "Little Girls Dormitory at Chilocco Government School 1920"; "Dairy at Chilocco"; "Chilocco OK Indian School Stadium 1920." Of the mounted photographs, there are 10 of approximately the same size (8.5 x 6.5 cm; all albumen prints) that show individual and group studio portraits of Native American men, women, boys, and girls. The remaining two mounted photographs (12.5 x 8.5 cm and 10.5 x 6.5 cm respectively; both albumen prints) are studio portraits of a very young Native American girl and a Native American boy with his mother which bears the verso inscription "T. Wolf." None of the subjects nor their tribal affiliations have been identified.

Real photo and photomechanical postcards (mostly 14 x 8.5 cm) make up the remaining 73 photographic images in this collection. Most images consist of individual and group portraits of Native American and white people, the latter of which many appear to have been affiliated with various Indian Agencies and/or boarding schools.

Items of particular interest include an image of a young Native American boy captioned "Jim McKay's kid"; a studio portrait of an unidentified Native American man by George B. Cornish; a studio portrait of a man possibly identified as "Red Fox" through an inscription on the verso; a studio group portrait of an unidentified married Native American couple captioned "New Year Eve. 08-09" in which the photographer appears to have edited the negative by painting fake snowflakes on the subjects; a group portrait of Umatilla Agency superintendent E. L. Swartzlander's children Lawrence and Inez; views of Chilocco Indian School buildings such as Haworth Hall, Home One, the Printing Department, and the inside of a classroom; and three photographs showing young men dressed in World War I-era army uniforms.

Sports-related images include group portraits of the 1912-13 Chilocco men's basketball team, the 1906 and 1915 Chilocco women's basketball teams, the 1945-46 Chilocco men's football team, and a Chilocco men's baseball team from an unknown year.

A relatively small number of postcards have been signed. Of the postcards that have signatories, there are eight signed by Samson B. Harjo (Seminole; name also spelled "Sampson B. Harjo"); one signed by "John Wolf" (tribal affiliation unknown); one signed by "Silas Beal Brown"; three signed by Chief Tishomingo's grandson Joe F. Factor (Chickasaw); and five signed by Umatilla Agency clerk Alvin Barbour.

The Alvin Barbour postcards (6 in total) are the only postcards in the collection that contain correspondence. Writing from Pendleton, Oregon, Barbour was in communication with a girl at the Chilocco Indian School named "Anna" of unknown tribal background who appears to have come from the Umatilla Agency. In one postcard with a view of a school building dated March 4 1914, Barbour expresses delight that Anna was "pleased with the pennant" he sent her and that he hopes it will "remind you of home and of the sender." In another postcard bearing an outdoor portrait of Barbour dated April 18 1914, Barbour states that he is glad Anna has recovered from an illness and that he sent her some Easter lilies. Two postcards dated April 27 1914 show images of Barbour and a Native American girl from the Umatilla Agency identified as "Ruth" taking turns sitting on a fallen tree trunk. Two postcards do not bear any correspondence and include an outdoor portrait of Barbour (signed "Yours very truly, Alvin Barbour") and an unsigned outdoor group portrait of Barbour with two other men posing on a bridge.

The realia item is a double-handled silver basketball trophy (10 x 15 x 6 cm) bearing the engravings "Chilocco Basket Ball League 08" and "Bird's Head - Escudero - Du Bois - Taylor - Jones." The trophy was awarded to "Team Jones" in 1908 after they won all four of their matches in their five-team intramural league. "Bird's Head" may possibly be Jesse Bird's Head, while "Escudero" may possibly be Cipriano Escudero (approximately 1882-?).

Printed publications include a 1932 Chilocco Indian School senior class yearbook as well as an illustrated libretto and associated program from a 1907 Chilocco Indian School production of Hiawatha. The front cover of the libretto bears the inscription "Lulu Gregory, Tonkawa, Okla."

The manuscript item consists of a three-page handwritten document regarding the "Crimson" flag of an unidentified University Preparatory School (possibly the Tonkawa U.P.S.) and its importance being "similar to that of the Stars & Stripes to the United States." The document is unsigned and undated.

Also present is a graduation certificate (51 x 40.5 cm) granted by the Chilocco Indian School in 1897 to Myrtle M. Long (tribal affiliation uncertain). The diploma was signed by Superintendent Benjamin F. Taylor, principal teacher Philena Everett Johnson, and teacher Anna D. Burr.

The Downs papers consist of assorted material relating to Thomas Downs of Connersville, Indiana, focusing on the period between 1903 and 1911, when he was employed as an Indian agent to the Ute, Winnebago, Yakima, and other Native American nations in the western United States.

The Downs papers includes a portion of the personal and professional correspondence of Thomas Downs of Connersville, Ind., focusing on the period between 1903 and 1911, when he was employed as an Indian agent to the Ute, Winnebago, Yakima, and other Indian nations in the western states. While there is comparatively little information on Native Americans or Native American cultures, per se, Downs' letters do provide a glimpse into the mind of one Indian agent during the first decade of the 20th century, and documentation of the strained relations between Native Americans and the federal government and the cold reality of reservation life.

There are three topics within the Downs Papers which stand out as being of particular interest. First, there is approximately a dozen letters sent to Downs and other Indian service officials relating to the "rebellion" of Ute Indians at Thunder Butte in November, 1907. These letters, along with several newspaper clippings and a memoir written in about 1911 by Florence Downs Reifel (apparently from Downs' notes) provide a sense of how the situation unfolded and the pressure Downs must have felt to resolve the crisis quickly, if harshly.

The second topic relates to Downs' 1909 inspection tour of the Round Valley Indian School in Covelo, Calif., and the reservations at Neah Bay and Yakima, Wash. Throughout the year, Downs was accompanied by his wife, Mary Jane (Jennie), and although all of the letters are signed "Pa and Ma," they were actually written alternately and independently by Thomas and his wife. Jennie Downs' letters are not particularly informative, though they contain a few useful observations on the conditions of life on the reservation and at Indian schools. Thomas' letters are somewhat more detailed, providing a good impression of the Yakima reservation, in particular, which was then being placed under a comprehensive system of irrigation. On a side note, three of Downs' letters include amusing comments on the difficulty of train travel amidst the crush of visitors to the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909.

Finally, there is a small, but interesting group of letters pertaining to Thomas Downs' efforts to enroll the Winnebago Indians in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Nebraska during October and November, 1909. These include a sad letter describing the scattered and depressed condition of the Winnebagoes in Wisconsin, and a far more optimistic assessment of their kin at the Winnebago Agency in Nebraska, who had taken up farming and other "industrious" habits.

Also noteworthy are three bound "journals" kept in Indian Service notebooks and a photocopy of a fourth. Notebook 2 (Box 5) includes notes taken by Downs in the field at the Yakima Reservation in 1909, describing the status of individual Yakima (and mixed blood) men and women. Notebook 3 (Box 5) includes what appear to be essays or speeches by Downs, including one dealing with racism and citizenship, comparing the social conditions of African-Americans and Native Americans. The fourth journal, present only in photocopy (filed under correspondence for the year 1911), includes an exceptional account of the protracted illness and death of Thomas Downs, as well as an excellent Downs-eye view of the Thunder Butte incident.

The remaining correspondence in the collection includes several touching letters dictated by Thomas Downs to Florence Downs Reifel in December, 1910, when Thomas was too ill to write for himself. These copies include a dramatic letter addressed to Downs' sister, Eliza, with whom he had broken off relations 45 years previously. Through this letter, Downs hoped to mend some family fences before his death, and although Eliza's acceptance of the olive branch -- and her forgiveness (1911 January 7) -- eventually came, it seems probable that it would have arrived after Downs was too ill to read it.

Downs' children and grandchildren are less well represented in the collection, except as recipients of letters. There are some juvenile writings of his daughters, Florence and Susan Jane, and sparse materials relating to the children's education, including grade school report cards and a few miscellaneous letters from George Downs, written while in college at Purdue and medical school in Ann Arbor. Of a more personal nature are two lovely mother's day letters from Jane Reifel to her mother, Florence (1921 May 8, 1938 May 7), extolling Florence's virtues as a mother. Jane admits to having been a rebellious youth, but confesses that she now realizes how Florence's mothering had made her a solid person, unlike her social-seeking cousins. Box 3 also includes a hand-drawn mother's day card from Jane. On an entirely different note, Box 3 contains two "mash cards" -- one a calling-card-sized card printed with the words "May I C U Home?" -- with the answers "yes" and "no," printed on the ends of the card, presumably to be used by the young woman to signal her reply. The other card, "Cigar Flirtation," describes the sexual code of cigar smoking. Finally, two undated letters from Thomas Downs to his son-in-law, Jesse Rhoads, outline his specifications for a house being built for the family, including a photograph of the house and a rough floor plan.

The Downs Papers includes a large number of deeds, accounts, receipts, banking records, canceled checks, and other financial miscellany (Box 4), some leather wallets and a silver match case engraved "Capt. T.D." (Box 7), along with a few obituaries and biographical essays on Thomas Downs, his sons William (who died at 16) and George, and other family members.