Column: Army general supported Ponca Chief Standing Bear

Monday, May 9, 2011  

"George R. Crook was born in Ohio in 1825 and graduated near the bottom of his class from West Point in 1852. Sent to California as a 2nd lieutenant after graduation, he served a number of postings and entered the Civil War as a colonel and ultimately became a brigadier general.

In 1875, Nebraska Ponca Chief Standing Bear and other leaders were informed that they would be moved to the Indian Territory. The move was made in 1878 with a significant loss of life, including Standing Bear's 16-year-old son, whom he had promised to bury back in Nebraska. When the 30 men accompanying his body stopped at the Omaha Reservation, Crook was ordered to capture and return them to the Indian Territory as an example to those wishing to return home. Crook instead took the men to Fort Omaha, noting he had been "ordered to do a more cruel thing than ever before."

Crook enlisted the aid and support of Thomas Tibbles, a retired Methodist minister and then reporter for the Omaha World Herald, who gave the Indians' confinement wide coverage. Former Omaha Mayor and attorney Andrew Poppleton and John Webster agreed to represent Standing Bear in a suit against the United States. Crook was named a defendant since he was holding Standing Bear, though he was unabashedly on the Indian's side. The U.S. Attorney claimed that since Standing Bear was neither a U.S. citizen or even a "person" he could not bring such a suit.

Uncharacteristically, Crook appeared in full dress uniform and spoke in favor of Standing Bear, whose eloquent speech was interpreted by Susette La Flesche (who later married Tibbles). Standing Bear said "my blood is the same as yours. God made me, and I am a man. God made us both," and he won over even conservative Judge Elmer Dundy. On May 12, 1879, Dundy ruled that "an Indian is a person," freeing Standing Bear. The trial became a landmark civil rights case."

Get the Story:
Jim McKee: George Crook, the barefoot general, and his support of Standing Bear (The Lincoln Journal Star 5/8)