Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. What exactly happened in the brutal winter conditions of Colorado's San Juan Mountains nearly 150 years ago, when Alfred Packer survived by eating the bodies of his five companions, will never be known—only Packer lived to tell the … Continue reading The Grisly Tale of the “Colorado Cannibal” Alfred Packer, as Seen in the Records of the Office of Indian Affairs
Special thanks to Claire Kluskens, Archivist and Subject Matter Expert for Census Records, and Rose Buchanan, Archivist at the National Archives in Washington, DC. “Now Mrs. Begay, I want to ask you about the names of the people in your family. Is your husband known by any other name than Richard Begay? Sometimes he is … Continue reading The Story of the 1950 Census P8 Indian Reservation Schedule
Please enjoy this countdown of our most popular blog posts of 2021. Thank you for continuing to read the Text Message and we hope you join us for more stories, insights, and highlights from the textual records of the National Archives in 2022! #5 "Lucy, I'm Home!"... from the Army Armed Forces Newsmap, vol 1, … Continue reading Text Message Top 5 of 2021
Today’s post is by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. The Blackfeet Agency superintendent arrived at the well-maintained spread in the Heart Butte District—“probably the nicest home on Little Badger,” as another official traveling with him noted—to make the rounds of the reservation … Continue reading Meet Black Bull: A Story of Blackfeet Genealogy
Today’s post is by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. It is the early 1870s, on the expansive western plains. Starvation is gripping an unspecified tribe. The once plentiful bison, those that their elders assured them could never be wiped out, were in … Continue reading There’s No Business Like Show Business: Hollywood Comes to the Wind River Indian Reservation, 1922–1925
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. In Edgemont, South Dakota, the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad would branch off, one line going into the Black Hills and the other continuing northwest, through Wyoming, and looping around in Montana … Continue reading On the Road Again: Max Bigman’s Lecture Career
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records 58,318. That’s how many names are carved into the reflective black marble of the wall, or were as of 2017 according to the National Park Service. Today, I just want to talk … Continue reading Remembering Tony Dedman
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records It was October 23, 1918, and South Dakota politician Charles H. Burke was pained. The school year at nearby Pierre Indian School had started only 23 days earlier to disastrous effect. The … Continue reading “Invasion”: The 1918–1920 Pandemic on the Reservation
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records. On November 14th, 1962, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGRR) pulled two 53 foot flat cars, numbers 21025 and 2106, into Salida, Colorado. On hand were several U.S. Forest Service … Continue reading Timber! Picking the Perfect Christmas Tree
Today’s post is written by Cody White, Archivist at the National Archives at Denver and Subject Matter Expert for Native American Related Records “They didn’t get any money for it in the first place, and they don’t want any now. They just want their lake and their land—their sunswept altar and chapel—for their own, without … Continue reading Righting a Wrong: The Return of Blue Lake to the Taos Pueblo
