1868 Crows at Fort Laramie.(feature photographs by Alexander Gardner at the Fort Laramie Treaty proceedings in the spring of 1868)

This is the third * glimpses to feature photographs by Alexander Gardner at the Ft. Laramie Treaty proceedings in the Spring of 1868.

A delegation of Crow people attended the 1868 treaty proceedings at Ft. Laramie, somewhat against their better judgment. They had made the long and dangerous trip from Montana in 1866. only to see the proceedings dissolve when the Sioux walked out in protest when Carrington's troops arrived to build the Bozeman Trail forts. A group of mostly Mountain Crow agreed to return in 1868, but they made a hurried trip, not even bringing tipis with them. The treaty that they signed at Ft. Laramie was understood by the Crows to represent only the Mountain Crow, and they assumed that the River Crow would negotiate their own treaty for their own reservation in northern Montana. No such final River Crow treaty ever came to pass, and all the Crows were eventually reduced to a single reservation.

The photo below depicts most of the Crow leaders, primarily Mountain Crows, who signed the 1868 treaty. From left to right they are Dr. Washington Mathews; Mountain Tail; Blackfoot; Pounded Meat; Winking Eye; White Fawn; White Horse; Poor Elk; Shot in the Jaw; Crow; and Pretty Bull. These men are wrapped in a variety of robes and blankets and several are wearing military hats. Otherwise, again little or no decorated clothing is evident.

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Above photo is a group of Crow people, all dressed in their simple "everyday" clothing. In fact, the only highly decorated classic Crow clothing to appear in any of the Gardner photos was worn by the Sioux chief Slow Bull. There are a number of singular and perhaps unexpected things shown by the Gardner photos, one of them being the generally plain dress of most of the Indians shown even during the actual formal treaty negotiation sessions.

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Gardner identified the people in this photo, from the left, as Fox Tail; a woman; Yellow Bull; Yellow Fox; Bull Goes Hunting; Yellow Coat; and Walks on Ice. Bull Goes Hunting is also known now as Sees the Living Bull, the mentor of Two Leggings. Fox Tail, seated on the left, is wrapped in a blanket, and is wearing a classic trade gun identified by its flat brass butt plate, in a hide case carried across his chest by a strap. His hair is worn loose and seems to be combed up in front, although not in a true pompadour that was later in fashion. Yellow Bull, third from left, is also wrapped in a blanket, and has a bowcase-quiver set carried by a strap across his chest. His hair is similar to Fox Tail's except without the indication of combed-back bangs. Note also that all the visible hair on these people is parted to one side, and not in the center. Bull Goes Hunting, ...