Vintage Leather, Ouray, Colorado, Dakota Sioux Chief Little Crow Souvenir

Description

A vintage Leather, Ouray, Colorado, Dakota Sioux Chief Little Crow souvenir.  The leather souvenir has an image of Chief Little Crow and states
“CHIEF LITTLE CROW,
QURAY, COLO.”
The leather souvenir is 2 x 6 ¾ inches and opens to 2 x 11 inches in size and is in nice condition.
Please see the other vintage items I have listed on eBay.
Thanks for looking.
Little Crow
Little Crow III
(
Dakota
:
Thaóyate Dúta
; c. 1810 – July 3, 1863) was chief of a band of the
Mdewakanton
Dakota
people. The Mdewakanton had been displaced by the
Ojibwe/Chippewa
from their ancestral lands around
Lake Mille Lacs
. Little Crow's village, also known as
Kaposia
, most likely had many locations on the east side of the
Mississippi river
, but is thought to have been in the area between Wakan Tipi and the
Pigs Eye
wetlands around the time of Taoyateduta's birth.
[1]
Following the 1837 land cession treaty signed with the
United States
, the Kaposia band, the only Mdewakanton band located in the ceded area, moved across the river from the
wetlands
to what is now
South St. Paul
.
[2]
[3]
:30
There were at least three chiefs called Little Crow, including Taoyateduta's grandfather Cetanwakanmani (
Čhetáŋ Wakhúwa Máni,
literally "Hawk that hunts walking") who was called "Petit Corbeau" by the French; his father Wakinyantanka ("Big Thunder"); and most famously, Taoyateduta himself. The exact origins of the European name "Little Crow" are unclear. Some have suggested that it was a mistranslation of "Sparrowhawk"
[4]
or "Charging Hawk,"
[5]
while others have explained that the men were known to carry the skin or wings of a crow on their backs or dangling from their belts as a totem.
[6]
[3]
Taoyateduta became chief of his band and assumed the name Little Crow in 1846. In 1851, Little Crow played a pivotal role in negotiating the
Treaty of Mendota
, which stated that the Mdewakanton and Wahpekute bands would receive US,410,000, most of which would be held in trust and paid in annuities, for ceding their lands to the U.S. government.
[3]
:64
The terms of the treaty required them to relocate to a reservation on either side of the
Minnesota River
. In 1858, he led the Mdewakanton-Wahpekute delegation to Washington, D.C., where Little Crow and other leaders were pressured into giving up the northern half of their remaining holdings along the Minnesota River, as part of a further land cession treaty.
[7]
In the spring of 1862, Little Crow lost the election for speaker of the tribe to Traveling Hail, due to mistrust over his role in negotiating the 1858 treaty and his refusal to endorse the farming program. Devastated by his pollitical defeat, Little Crow started to become more open to changing his religion and way of life to be more like a "white man."
[3]
:121
However, developments in the summer of 1862 changed everything. Due to the poor harvest the previous year, limited hunting, and the refusal of traders and
Indian agents
to provide food on credit, many Dakota were starving. Even after the summer harvest started to alleviate the crisis, the failure of the federal government to deliver
annuities
on time led to widespread anger and distrust, particularly among non-farmers.
[3]
:121–129
On August 17, 1862, four young Dakota hunters quarreled with a settler and killed five civilians, including two women, near a small settlement called
Acton
.
[8]
:81
Fearing punishment, the hunters fled back to Rice Creek Village, where they told their story to Cut Nose,
Little Six (Shakopee III)
and Red Middle Voice, who were supportive of going to war to drive the settlers out of the region.
[8]
:81
The group then visited Little Crow in the middle of the night; they viewed Little Crow as the only traditionalist chief with enough political influence and prestige to lead an all-out war.
[9]
:10
Little Crow initially tried to dissuade them, advising them to consult their elected spokesman and pointing out the futility of going up against the "white men." However, he eventually agreed to lead the warriors, saying "Taoyateduta is not a coward: I will die with you."
[10]
[8]
:82
A council was called, war was declared, and Little Crow ordered an attack the following morning at the
Lower Sioux Agency
,
[11]
[9]
:12
setting into motion the
Dakota War of 1862
.
Following his defeat at the
Battle of Wood Lake
on September 23, 1862, Little Crow and a group of his followers and their families fled to the northern plains, hoping to gain support from the
Yankton
,
Yanktonai
and
Teton
bands, as well as the British in Canada.
[3]
:162
Rebuffed by other tribes and left with a dwindling number of supporters, Little Crow returned to
Yellow Medicine
with his son
Wowinape
in late June 1863.
[3]
:176–7
Little Crow was shot and killed on July 3, 1863, by two settlers, a father and son.