John Coal of Fire

John was a Southern Arapahoe man

Indian School at Cantonment (8124, H. H. Henston Collection, OHS), 1909

Never officially named, "Cantonment" was an army post constructed on the North Canadian River five miles northwest of present Canton, in Blaine County. ("Cantonment" is a general term used to identify temporary military fortifications.) In September 1878 a band of Northern Cheyenne had fled northward from the Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation, causing panic among the residents of western Kansas and Nebraska. With orders to police the reservation, Lt. Col. Richard I. Dodge and four companies of the Twenty-third Infantry from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, established Cantonment midway between Forts Reno and Supply in March 1879. Once it was decided the Northern Cheyenne would be removed from Indian Territory, Cantonment was no longer needed, and the military abandoned it in June 1882.

The Cantonment Indian Boarding School was a Native American boarding school in Canton, Indian Territory, run by the General Conference Mennonites from 1882 to 1927. The school's troop quarters were primitive, with a commissary, hospital, and officers' barracks made of stone. The Department of the Interior gained control of Cantonment in 1882 and allowed the Mennonites to operate it as a school for Indian children. Cantonment closed in 1901.' In 1903 the facility was designated a subagency of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency at Darlington. Also known as "New Cantonment" and "Cantonment on the North Fork of the Canadian River," the site is listed in the National Register of Historic Places (NR 70000527).

Jon D. May, “Cantonment,” The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry?entry=CA049.

Biography:
John was born c. 1887 in Oklahoma, to Unknown parents. The connection to parents Coal of Fire and Ugly Woman work both chronologically and following naming conventions, but are NOT documented.

According to Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, John was admitted to the Canton Asylum on March 27, 1918, from the Cantonment Indian Boarding School, Oklahoma, and died at the Canton Asylum on June 17, 1919, at the age of 32. However, if as stated above the Cantonment closed in 1901, it is hard to understand this statement if John was admitted in 1917, sixteen years after it closed!

According to the February 23, 1934 letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from Dr. L.L. Culp, John was buried in the Canton Hiawatha cemetery tier 1 plot 80

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

Research Notes:
-Cantonment Indian Boarding School
Cheyenne and Arapaho Letterbooks, Vol. 20:236-239.
G.D. Williams, Indian Agent, to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Commissioner Atkins, August 10, 1887.

  In accordance with instructions of office letter of the 9th ult. I have the honor to report that in the latter part of May last there were rumors about Cantonment, involving the moral character of Mr. Haury. As he had the entire confidence of this community as well as my own, and standing so high in his church, I gave them no credence. June 4th. Mr. Haury advised me, by letter, of his resignation as Missionary among these Indians without alleging any cause. On the 22nd. day of June last in the company with Inspector Gardner, I visited Cantonment and learned beyond question that the charges were true.

  During the second day of inspection of Indian houses a number of headmen of the Cheyennes talked with Inspector Gardner about the matter saying that they did not wish any more such men sent among them and that they desired Mr. Haury sent away. They were assured he was about to depart, which he did in a few days thereafter.

  These Indians do not entertain the highest sentiment regarding chastity and while I do not believe the unfortunate act within itself would deter them from sending their children to the school, they will use it, as an incontrovertible argument against a mission school under the same patronage and decline to support it. This applies more particularly to the Cheyennes who are largely in the majority at Cantonment and who have no earnest desire for the education of their children.

  They grasp every excuse for withholding their children; for two years past they have given as a reason that the buildings were old, damp, and unhealthful, but as soon as a new building was built they would fill it.

  In view of this I submit that they will use the late unfortunate occurance with great effect among their people. I do not believe the scandal will in the least injure the mission school located at the Agency and in charge of the Rev. Mr. Voth, as for several years past Mr. Haury, has not, in the Indian's mind, been identified with it, and I am constrained to believe that the Cantonment mission will not soon recover from the recent blow and that its success for the next year or two is in grave doubt.

  The present "picked" structure at Cantonment will serve another year with some few repairs but a new building is needed and I believe it should be conducted solely by the Government to ensure its success. /S/ G.D. Williams.

Text Copyright (c) 2004 Sipes/Berthrong Cheyenne Collections. Boarding School Section.

-The Cantonment School, OK was located just west of Canton, OK, not to be confused with Canton, SD
-The data on persons named Coal of Fire is erratic. In some cases where John is indicated as a father, his birth date of 1887 would make him too young. Also, there is a Matilde Coal of Fire and a Walter Coal of Fire, both, as with Waters Coal of Fire, have school records submitted by William O. Mitchell (William D. Mitchell?), who may have been a court-ordered guardian for many school-age orphans Arapahoe and Cheyenne. Blaine school records show "s/ by Wm. O. Mitchell for..." William O. Mitchell could have been an adoptive parent for all the children. It could also be that John was the oldest sibling signing for all the others. Wm. O. Mitchell could be the key! Who is he? He signs as guardian of many Indian children for the Blaire County Schools so could be simply a school administrator, but he lived in dozens of different locations in northeast Oklahoma.
-From the June 30, 1919 census of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians of the Cantonment Agency, Oklahoma
"United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGV4-1DSH : Fri Oct 06 23:49:47 UTC 2023), Entry for Vida Romannose, pg. 149/503, line 546, Vida Ramonose (Roman Nose) was the daughter of line 545 Nona Nibs (Nona Nibs is Cheyenne according to the Indian census rolls ("United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89WZ-JG5B?cc=2761958 : 21 September 2018), > image 1 of 1; citing (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1967)., pg. 46/503), line 592-594), the recorded 2nd wife of William O. Mitchell

See 1923 Jan 3 Blaine School Records "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1968", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QG5W-SCNV : Tue Oct 31 23:29:08 UTC 2023), Entry for Vida Romanose and Nibs, 1923, pg. 1537/1964,

-Coal of Fire parent of Jamie (1903) and Matilda (1907) but Wm. O. Mitchell signs as guardian (after Coal of Fire died in 1919), and the second card has Nibs parent of Vida (1911) and Fred (1914) but Wm. O. Mitchell also signs as guardian! The logical conclusion is that Wm. O. Mitchell had some sort of parental authority over the children of Coal of Fire after his death.
-Could Jamie be James Red Pipe and Mathlda be Waters Sitting Woman, the birth dates are close and the naming convention is correct!
__________
Sources:

1914 - "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1968", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2LK-9CJC : Wed Nov 01 02:51:58 UTC 2023), Entry for Sage Man and Coal Of Fire, 1914, pg. 1120/1649, School enrollment card

1916 Jan 22 - "Oklahoma, School Records, 1895-1968", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2LK-9CJC : Wed Nov 01 02:51:58 UTC 2023), Entry for Sage Man and Coal Of Fire, 1914, pg. 1120/1649, Blaine School Records show John Coal of Fire as a parent of Sage Man age 20, James Red Pipe age 12, and Water Sitting Woman age 6

1918 Jun 30 - 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=886, line 8, male census of the Canton Asylum

1918 Sep 12 - ""United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYB9-ST7G?cc=1968530&w... : 24 August 2019), South Dakota > Indians, Prisoners, Insane, In Hospitals, Late Registrants; A-Z > image 1107 of 1143; citing NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K6Z6-672 : 24 December 2021), John Coal Of Fire, 1917-1918, pg. 1107/1143, Local Board for the County of Lincoln, State of South Dakota, Canton S.D., Registered by Harry Hummer M.D., superintendent at the Canton Asylum

1919 Jun 7 - "South Dakota, Grave Registration Records, 1940-1941", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CYZL-R1PZ : Fri Dec 15 12:32:46 UTC 2023), Entry for John Coal Of Fire, pg. no image

1919 Jun 30 - the 1919 Canton Asylum census is missing from NARA records...

1919 Jun 20 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14493990/john-coal_of_fire: accessed 30 January 2024), memorial page for John Coal Of Fire (unknown–20 Jun 1919), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14493990, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400).

1919 - 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

Fred Collins 6-4-19 · John Coal Of Fire 6-20-19 · Joseph D. Marshall 11-21-19