Anselmo Lucas

Anselmo was a Pápago (Tohono O'odham) man
(Closely related to but not to be confused with the Akimel O'odham who were Pima Indians)

The Tohono Oʼodham are a Native American people of the Sonoran Desert, residing primarily in the U.S. state of Arizona and the northern Mexican state of Sonora. Their name translates to "desert people". The Tohono O'odham are believed to be descendants of the Hohokam, who lived in the desert along the Salt, Gila, and Santa Cruz Rivers.

The Papago lived in relatively small villages, of which over 80 have been identified. Lourdes Village where Francisco appears to have lived in the 1920 census had a population of 35 families, 169 persons. The San Xavier District is the original Papago Indian Reservation designated by Congress in 1874. Today it is one of eleven districts of the Tohono O'odham Nation.

Arizona Indian Reservations

Papago Indian Huts on Reservation near Tucson Arizona 1930s

Typical Papago Indian Homes, Arizona 1934, Courtesy of Pomona Public Library

Sells District - Village of Indian Oasis Early 1900s from https://www.sellsdistrict.com/history

Biography:

According to Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, Anselmo was committed from the Sells Agency, in Arizona on October 14, 1921, and diagnosed with dementia praecox (Dementia praecox, invented as a diagnostic concept by Emil Kraepeling in 1896 for what is now called schizophrenia, is described as “a peculiar destruction of the inner cohesiveness of the … personality with predominant damage to the emotional life and the will” Estimated date of birth of 1886 is based on date of death and statement in the Joinson book that he died age 40!

In the letter dated February 17, 1934, Dr. L.L. Culp to the commissioner of Indian Affairs, Anselmo died on December 19, 1926, and was buried in the Canton Hiawatha Cemetery, tier 2 plot 60

His profile is part of the The Canton Asylum One Place Study.

Research Notes:
-Anselmo is NOT in the 1927 census, confirming his death before Jun 30, 1927
-A review of the 1920 and 1921 census of the 47 Papago villages from the Sells Agency, the 18 months preceding his admission,
19201921
turns up only one possible entry, in 1921 from the village of Babaquerque Village line 26 identifies a male widower, no given name, with the surname of Lucas only, living BHS, however, this same person is listed in the 1924 Papago census, line 26 at the time Anselmo would have been in the Canton Asylum, so it is likely NOT Anselmo. There is a large Lucas family in Tonoga village, but no Anselmo (extended Papago families tended to live in the same village). NO Anselmo Lucas identified in the Sells Agency census of the Papago Indians 1919-1921!
-A review of Roll 478 the San Xavier Agency (Papago Indians) living on the reservation 1904 and 1910-1917 identifies NO Anselmo Lucas
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Sources:

1922 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=1041, line 20, Canton Asylum male census

1923 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=31, line 21, Canton male census

1924 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:688Q-XGKK : Fri Oct 06 08:37:19 UTC 2023), Entry for Enselmo Lucas, 1924, pg. 515/522/ line 25, Canton male census

1925 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=116, line 25, Canton male census

1926 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=167, line 20, Canton male census

1926 Dec 19 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CY86-69ZM : Fri Mar 08 13:58:47 UTC 2024), Entry for Anselmo Luccas, pg. no image

1926 Dec 19 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14493915/anselmo-lucas: accessed March 8, 2024), memorial page for Anselmo Lucas (unknown–19 Dec 1926), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14493915, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).

1926 Dec 19 - Hilton, M. (Ed.). (2023, July 10). Hiawatha Asylum for Insane Indians Historical Marker. Historical Marker. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=183486 Photo by Ruth VanSteenwyk, July 10, 2023, courtesy of HMdb.org

Seymour Wauketch 6-1-26 · Anselmo Lucas 12-19-26 · Chico Francisco 4-21-27