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 to arrive at the Billings Depot. Just before Billings, however, the train would stop for 10 minutes at a little platform on the Crow Reservation. It was here that Max Bigman, a member of the Crow Nation, started his lecture career, regaling tourists with the history of the nearby Little Bighorn battlefield and stories of Native life in general.
Bigman’s story is told in records housed at the National Archives at Denver, specifically Crow Agency decimal files in Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In the early twentieth century, Office of Indian Affairs jurisdictions—whether the D.C. headquarters, area offices, or individual agencies that administered reservations—began organizing the bulk of their administrative records by topic, issuing each topic a decimal number and filing related records by it. These records run the gamut of types, including letters, telegrams, reports, photographs, and maps, and cover a variety of topics, such as censuses, vital statistics, health, education, law enforcement, employment, and military service, to name but a few. Occasionally, a researcher can find an entire file on one individual, whether employee or tribal member, categorized under whatever topic the file loosely fit. For example, in the Crow Agency files under decimal 003—generally reserved for the decidedly unhelpful “miscellaneous” designation under the 000 General and Statistical Records heading—we find a folder entitled “003 1928-1932 Custer Battlefield” (NAID 6984162). Referencing the Custer Battlefield Highway, it is in this folder that we learn about Max Bigman.
In 1928, the Battle of the Little Bighorn, colloquially known as Custer’s Last Stand, was only 52 years in the past, and some of Custer’s Crow scouts were still alive, a topic the Text Message examined when highlighting the story of Hairy Moccasin. It is unclear when Bigman started giving talks on the Crow Reservation train platform about this history, but the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad heartily endorsed the work and made him an employee of sorts. In May, Crow Agency Superintendent Charles Asbury wrote the railroad about building a small store at the platform to capitalize on Bigman’s growing popularity and present a venue for selling his crafts and “curios.” The railroad, however, had other ideas. They explained to Asbury that eastern visitors have “expectations” when visiting the West and then delved into a list of Native stereotypes that tourists expected: buckskins, eagle feathers, war bonnets, tomahawks, and “above all, wigwams in place of wooden buildings.” Completely mixing up traditional Native structures, they then asked Asbury if maybe a couple of tipis could be erected, this being the “atmosphere” preferred and “just what is needed to complete the picture.” Sensing a money-making venture, the railroad also discussed publishing a booklet about the battlefield to sell for 10 or 15 cents—although it couldn’t mention the railroad by name, they stressed, as all they were apparently allowed to sell was transportation.
For the next tourist season the following summer, the railroad went further: they finally came around to the store idea and so built Bigman a log cabin at the station where he could sell wares and had both the #41 and #42 trains stop there, extending the stop time from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. For his work during the summer of 1929, Bigman was paid $50 a month. But unlike in 1928, Bigman was not done for the year when the summer was over. Rather, the railroad wanted him and his family to attend the Diamond Jubilee in Omaha, Nebraska, that fall and to bring paintings and cards to sell, the entire trip and accommodations courtesy of the railroad.
According to correspondence between Bigman and Asbury, the trip went well, with Bigman’s sons even appearing in the local newspaper. In fact, Bigman raved to Asbury about how well they were treated.
By that point Bigman’s prominence had come to the attention of the Custer Battlefield Hiway Association, one of the many U.S. highway associations that had sprung up in the early years of interstate travel to promote specific roads. The Association hired Bigman for $25 a week to go on a tour of the Midwest, promoting the Custer Battlefield Highway throughout the spring of 1930.
As Bigman and his sons hit the road, accolades poured into the Crow Agency. On April 30 the St. Louis YMCA wrote how much their boys enjoyed Bigman’s stories and songs. The Shenandoah, Iowa, chapter of the Kiwanis club also wrote that Bigman and his two boys “took our club by storm” and was one of the best presentations they had all year.
By October of 1930, Bigman was back working with the railroad on planning a winter lecture tour. Kicking off shortly thereafter, he went to New York City where he set up shop on a balcony at Grand Central Station on January 15, 1931. A staged photo op with Mayor Jimmy Walker was ruined when the mayor saw Bigman and introduced himself before the cameras were ready. A month later, on February 19, Bigman was in Cleveland, on his way to Detroit. He wrote to Superintendent Asbury that Asbury’s daughter had found him in New York and he had enjoyed seeing a familiar face. He also wrote his observations of the city, specifically that many people had no work or anything to eat and that the complaints of his fellow Crow back home about life on the reservation were echoed in the city as well. His tour had taken him throughout greater New York, where he had the chance to meet Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt. Later in the tour, he was asked about his feelings on Roosevelt running for president. “He would make a fine president,” Bigman was reported to have said.
By March 4, 1930, Bigman was in Chicago, where he reported feeling more comfortable but also a little homesick and glad that the tour was almost done. April 11 was his last talk, in Philadelphia, and the next day he decamped to Washington, D.C., where it had been arranged for his wife to arrive and them both to meet Commissioner of Indian Affairs Charles Rhoads.
Bigman met the commissioner and even the Secretary of the Interior. Apparently a chance visit with Roger Toll, the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park, in Minneapolis earlier in the tour had given Bigman the idea of obtaining a few bison from the park. He then broached this idea with the Secretary of the Interior while in D.C. Given Yellowstone culled their famous herd periodically, permission was given for five to be shipped to the Crow Reservation. The railroad, perhaps recognizing the optics for train passengers of a small bison herd on a reservation, fenced in a section of Bigman’s wife’s allotment near the train stop for the animals.
Bigman continued to deliver his train station lectures during the summer of 1931. In October he auditioned for a job in Chicago with the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Company, which gave him $120 for two weeks of lecture work and the possibility of work for a full year. The agency noted his voice carried well but he spoke too slowly for radio work, so they hired him temporarily for a series of in-person lectures. By November 30 he was visiting up to four schools a day in the Chicago area but was feeling run down, his health poor. The file ends in 1932 with another railroad, this time the Northern Pacific, offering Bigman $50 to head to the Grand Canyon for a film. Nothing notes whether he did, and thus the story of Max Bigman’s lecture career comes to an end in our records.
The records related to Max Bigman are from file: “003 1928-1932 Custer Battlefield” (NAID 6984162) within the series: Correspondence Files, 1910 – 1958 (National Archives Identifier 1135936). Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Crow Indian Agency. Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
For more information on this particular file, Crow Agency records, or Bureau of Indian Affairs holdings in general, please email firstname.lastname@example.org.
Ujumbe wa leo umeandikwa na Cody White, Mhifadhi wa Hifadhi za Taifa huko Denver na Mtaalam wa Masuala ya Rekodi zinazohusiana na Wenyeji wa Amerika. Katika Edgemont, South Dakota, Chicago, Burlington, na Quincy Reli ingekuwa matawi mbali, mstari mmoja kwenda katika Black Hills na mwingine kuendelea kaskazini magharibi, kupitia Wyoming, na looping kuzunguka katika Montana kufika katika Billings Depot. Hata hivyo, kabla tu ya Billings, gari-moshi hilo lilisimama kwa dakika kumi kwenye jukwaa dogo kwenye Eneo la Crow. Max Bigman, mwanachama wa Crow Nation, alianza kazi yake ya hotuba, akifurahisha watalii na historia ya uwanja wa vita wa Little Bighorn na hadithi za maisha ya asili kwa ujumla. "Hadithi ya Bigman imeandikwa katika rekodi zilizowekwa katika ""National Archives"" huko Denver, hasa faili za decimal za Crow Agency katika ""Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.""" Katika karne ya ishirini, ofisi ya masuala ya Wahindi mamlaka - kama D.C. makao makuu, ofisi za eneo, au mashirika ya mtu binafsi kwamba kusimamiwa reservations - alianza kuandaa sehemu kubwa ya rekodi zao za kiutawala kwa mada, kutoa kila mada namba decimal na faili rekodi zinazohusiana na hilo. Rekodi hizo zina aina mbalimbali, kutia ndani barua, telegramu, ripoti, picha, na ramani, na zinahusu mambo mbalimbali, kama vile sensa, takwimu za watu wote, afya, elimu, utekelezaji wa sheria, kazi, na utumishi wa kijeshi, kwa kutaja tu mambo machache. Mara kwa mara, mtafiti anaweza kupata faili nzima juu ya mtu mmoja, iwe mfanyakazi au mwanachama wa kabila, amegawanywa chini ya mada yoyote faili hiyo inafaa. Kwa mfano, katika faili za Shirika la Crow chini ya decimal 003 - kwa ujumla zimehifadhiwa kwa jina lisilofaa la "mengi" chini ya kichwa cha 000 General na Rekodi za Takwimu - tunapata folda yenye jina la "003 1928-1932 Custer Battlefield" (NAID 6984162). Kwa kuzingatia Custer Battlefield Highway, ni katika folda hii kwamba tunajifunza kuhusu Max Bigman. Vita vya Little Bighorn, vilivyoitwa kwa kawaida Custer's Last Stand, vilipiganwa mwaka 1928 na baadhi ya wapelelezi wa Custer walikuwa bado hai, jambo ambalo ujumbe wa maandishi ulichunguza wakati wa kuangazia hadithi ya Moccasin mwenye nywele. Haijulikani ni lini Bigman alianza kutoa hotuba kwenye jukwaa la treni la Crow Reservation kuhusu historia hii, lakini Chicago, Burlington, na Quincy Railroad kwa moyo wote iliunga mkono kazi hiyo na kumfanya kuwa mfanyakazi wa aina fulani. Mnamo Mei, Mkuu wa Shirika la Crow Charles Asbury aliandika reli kuhusu kujenga duka dogo kwenye jukwaa ili kutumia umaarufu unaokua wa Bigman na kutoa mahali pa kuuza ufundi wake na <unk>curios<unk> Reli, hata hivyo, ilikuwa na mawazo mengine. "Walimwambia Asbury kwamba wageni wa mashariki wana ""matarajio"" wakati wa kutembelea Magharibi na kisha kutafakari orodha ya stereotypes za asili ambazo watalii walitarajia: buckskins, manyoya ya tai, bonnets za vita, tomahawks, na, juu ya yote, wigwams badala ya majengo ya mbao. ""Kujumuisha kabisa miundo ya jadi ya asili, kisha wakauliza Asbury ikiwa labda tipis mbili zinaweza kujengwa, hii ni ""anga"" inayopendekezwa na ""tu kile kinachohitajika kukamilisha picha.""" Wakati wa msimu wa utalii, reli ilienda zaidi: hatimaye walifikia wazo la duka na hivyo Bigman alijenga cabin ya mbao katika kituo cha kuuza bidhaa na alikuwa na treni zote mbili # 41 na # 42 kusimamisha huko, kupanua muda wa kusimamisha kutoka dakika 10 hadi 15. Kwa kazi yake ya kuandaa maandalizi ya mwaka wa 1929, Bigman alipata mshahara wa dola 50 kwa mwezi. Lakini tofauti na mwaka 1928, Bigman hakufanya kazi kwa mwaka wakati majira ya joto yalipokwisha. "Kama vile ilivyokuwa kwa wakati huo, kampuni ya reli ilitaka yeye na familia yake wahudhurie sherehe ya ""Jubilee ya Almasi"" huko Omaha, Nebraska, na kuleta michoro na kadi za kuuza, na safari nzima na malazi yawe kwa heshima ya kampuni ya reli." Kulingana na mawasiliano kati ya Bigman na Asbury, safari hiyo ilienda vizuri, na wana wa Bigman hata walionekana katika gazeti la mahali hapo. Kwa kweli, Bigman alivutiwa sana na jinsi Asbury alivyotendewa vizuri. Wakati huo, umaarufu wa Bigman ulikuwa umegunduliwa na Chama cha Barabara Kuu cha Custer Battlefield, mojawapo ya vyama vingi vya barabara kuu vya Marekani vilivyoanzishwa katika miaka ya mapema ya kusafiri kati ya majimbo ili kukuza barabara maalum. "Mwaka wa 1930 shirika la ""Custer Battlefield Highway"" lilimwajiri Bigman kwa dola 25 kwa wiki ili afanye ziara ya ""Custer Battlefield Highway"" katika eneo la Magharibi ya Amerika ya Kati." Bigman na wanawe walipoanza safari, Shirika la Crow lilipongezwa sana. "Katika Aprili 30, St. Louis YMCA aliandika jinsi wavulana wao walifurahia hadithi na nyimbo za ""Bigman.""" Shenandoah, Iowa, sura ya klabu ya Kiwanis pia aliandika kwamba Bigman na wavulana wake wawili <unk> alichukua klabu yetu kwa dhoruba <unk> na alikuwa mmoja wa maonyesho bora walikuwa na mwaka wote. Mnamo Oktoba 1930, Bigman alirudi kufanya kazi na reli kwa kupanga ziara ya hotuba ya majira ya baridi. Baada ya muda mfupi, alienda New York City ambapo alianzisha duka kwenye balcony katika Grand Central Station Januari 15, 1931. Picha iliyopangwa na Meya Jimmy Walker iliharibiwa wakati meya alipomwona Bigman na kujitambulisha kabla ya kamera kuwa tayari. Mnamo Februari 19, mwaka wa 1920, Bigman alisafiri kutoka Cleveland kwenda Detroit. Aliandika kwa Msimamizi Asbury kwamba binti Asbury alikuwa amemkuta katika New York na alikuwa na kufurahia kuona uso unaojulikana. Pia aliandika juu ya uchunguzi wake wa mji, hasa kwamba watu wengi hawakuwa na kazi au chochote cha kula na kwamba malalamiko ya wenzake Crow nyumbani kuhusu maisha katika hifadhi hiyo yalipigwa kelele katika mji pia. Alitembelea jiji la New York, ambako alikutana na Gavana Franklin D. Roosevelt. Baadaye katika ziara hiyo, aliulizwa juu ya hisia zake juu ya Roosevelt kukimbia kwa rais. "Atafanya rais mzuri", Bigman aliripotiwa kusema. Kufikia Machi 4, 1930, Bigman alikuwa Chicago, ambapo aliripoti kuhisi vizuri zaidi lakini pia kidogo homesick na furaha kwamba ziara ilikuwa karibu kufanyika. Mnamo Aprili 11, mwaka wa 1914, alipokuwa akihudhuria hotuba yake ya mwisho huko Philadelphia, Marekani, alienda Washington, D.C. ambako mke wake alikuwa amepangwa kufika na kukutana na Kamishna wa Mambo ya Wahindi Charles Rhoads. Bigman alikutana na kamishna na hata Waziri wa Mambo ya Ndani. Baada ya kukutana na Roger Toll, msimamizi wa Hifadhi ya Taifa ya Yellowstone, huko Minneapolis, Bigman alishirikiana na kikundi cha watu wachache wa jamii ya bison. Kisha akazungumza juu ya wazo hili na Katibu wa Mambo ya Ndani alipokuwa D.C. Kwa kuwa Yellowstone ilichukua kundi lao maarufu kwa ukawaida, ruhusa ilitolewa kwa ajili ya watano kupelekwa kwenye Hifadhi ya Crow. Reli, labda kutambua optics kwa ajili ya abiria wa treni ya kundi ndogo bison juu ya reservation, fenced katika sehemu ya Bigman mke wa mgawo karibu na kituo cha treni kwa ajili ya wanyama. Bigman aliendelea kutoa hotuba zake katika kituo cha gari moshi wakati wa majira ya joto ya 1931. Alifanya majaribio ya kuajiriwa katika kampuni ya matangazo ya J. Walter Thompson, ambayo ilimpa $ 120 kwa wiki mbili za masomo na uwezekano wa kufanya kazi kwa mwaka mzima. Wakala huo uliona sauti yake ilichukua vizuri lakini alizungumza polepole sana kwa kazi ya redio, kwa hivyo walimwajiri kwa muda kwa mfululizo wa mihadhara ya kibinafsi. Kufikia Novemba 30, alikuwa akitembelea shule nne kwa siku katika eneo la Chicago, lakini alikuwa akihisi amechoka, afya yake ilikuwa mbaya. Mwaka 1932 kampuni ya reli ya Northern Pacific ilimpa Bigman dola 50 ili aende kwenye Grand Canyon. Hakuna kumbukumbu kama alifanya hivyo, na hivyo hadithi ya Max Bigman's uandishi wa kazi inakuja mwisho katika rekodi zetu. "Makumbusho ya Max Bigman ni kutoka kwa ""File: 003-1932 Custer Battlefield"" (NAID 6984162) ndani ya mfululizo: ""Fili za Ujumbe, 1910-1958"" (National Archives Identifier 1135936)." Idara ya Mambo ya Ndani. Ofisi ya Mambo ya Wahindi. Shirika la Wahindi la Crow. "Kundi la 75: ""Rekodi za Ofisi ya Mambo ya Wahindi""" Kwa maelezo zaidi juu ya faili hii maalum, rekodi za Crow Agency, au Bureau ya Masuala ya Wahindi kwa ujumla, tafadhali barua pepe jina la kwanza. jina la mwisho@example.org.