Samuel Lone Bear: The "Good Indian"
Born between 1878 and 1881, Lone Bear's life story strikes a balance between the affects of assimilation and the perseverance of a cultural landscape. His earliest records come from his enrollment in the Carlisle Indian School, which he attended for five years from 1892 to 1897. The Carlisle Indian School was founded in 1879, part of a larger project of attempted white assimilation furthered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Samuel Lone Bear's records list him as being eleven years old in 1892, though he was likely somewhat older, as census records typically record his birth year as 1879. In spite of this discrepancy in birth years, we can be sure this card represents the same Samuel Lone Bear: in both records, where the name Samuel's father is recorded, the word "policeman" is also recorded. Records of Samuel Lone Bear born in 1878 or 1879 reference his father, Lone Bear, who was enrolled as a policeman tasked by the Pine Ridge Agency with maintaining order on the reservation. We can therefore conclude each Samuel Lone Bear is one and the same, in spite of the discrepancy in birth year.
For Samuel's father, working as a police officer on the reservation required compliance with the leading Indian Agent assigned by the U.S Government: "Native policemen, working for the United States government, could and would carry out orders, even if that entailed arresting or killing other Indians."12 Records show that Lone Bear (Samuel's father) registered in 1878, right around the time of the forced relocation of the Lakota from Wyoming to South Dakota, and near the time of Samuel's birth. Though the position required him to align himself with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lone Bear's position as a policeman may have aided in keeping his family's safe during a perilous time of forced relocation.
Samuel Lone Bear would go on to follow in his father's footsteps in more ways than one - not only would he act as a policeman of the Pine Ridge Agency, but also as the Chief of Police of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. The route book "Official Souvenir Buffalo Bill's Wild West and Congress of Rough Riders of the World" from 1896 lists Chief Lone Bear as a performer, meaning that Samuel's father most likely preceded him as a Wild West show performer as well.
As a Wild West Show performer, Samuel Lone Bear was renowned for his abilities as a polyglot, and he often served as an interpreter for the Wild West Show. In a 1935 article documenting his travels to Paris, France, Lone Bear is quoted as speaking English, French, and German (and, presumably, Lakota) after traveling for so many decades with Buffalo Bill and other Circus and Wild West Shows.
Being a member of the Wild West show was perilous, however much it provided an opportunity to travel and gain new experiences. On April 7th 1904, a horrible train wreck outside of Chicago left many Native performers with the Wild West show injured or deceased. Samuel Lone Bear was erroneously reported dead by multiple news outlets, but was later found to have survived in spite of a serious head injury. He continued to travel with the Circus and Wild West circuit until 1935, when records of him in route books and the US Census seem to cease.
Unfortunately, it is unclear where Samuel Lone Bear's story ends. Few records remain of his personal life, and some are deeply unhappy. He married a woman named Ella Lone Bear some time in the early 1910s. In 1919 they had a son called Oliver, the anglicized forename name adopted by Samuel's father. At least three other sons and a daughter follow, called Peter, Roy, John, and Annie Lone Bear.
Samuel's final census record in 1929 shows him living alone on a reservation in Nebraska. Ella and Peter seem to have relocated to Utah, and sadly, Oliver is missing and rumored to be deceased. No later record of Oliver seems to exist. Although none of Ella and Samuel's remaining children are mentioned here, their census records do appear in later years.
Samuel Lone Bear is often considered to be one of the most famous and respected performers of the Buffalo Bill Wild West show, and it seems especially unfair for his narrative to end this way. His story is one of survival, endurance, and a balance between cultural preservation and survival within a system of oppression. Although the conclusion of his story remains unknown, his piece in a larger narrative of the culture of the Lakota Sioux persists.
