Mary Nora Standingbear

Brief Biography

When Nora Mary Lookout was born in 1901, in Pawhuska, Osage, Oklahoma, United States, her father, Chief Fred “Wa-No-She-Zhi-Ga” Lookout, was 40 and her mother, Julia “Mos-Se-Chee-He” Pryor, was 31.

She married George Eugene Standingbear on 21 September 1926, in Bartlesville, Washington, Oklahoma, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son.

She lived in Osage, Oklahoma, United States for about 3 years and Strike Axe Township, Osage, Oklahoma, United States in 1940.

She died in December 1990, in Pawhuska, Osage, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 89, and was buried in Pawhuska City Cemetery there.

Notes

Eugene George Standing Bear married in a traditional Osage ceremony to Mary Lookout in 1926 of the Osage Nation. They were both age 20. She was the daughter of Fred Lookout, who had been friends with Luther Standing Bear at the Carlisle School. “Little did he know that the two young men, 40 years earlier, had both committed themselves to help unify and revitalize the Native American people… and Eugene would play into the plan.” Her first husband, marriage annulled, (?) was the white man Bill McKinley. Their son was George Eugene Standingbear, in 1929, who would later marry Barbara Wright and raise four children together.

”1926 is also the year when “Standingbear” and “Standing Bear” became prominent names among the Osage. Not long after the wedding, a bank officer told Eugene George Standing Bear that he couldn’t open an account with two last names, so from that point on, for the rest of his life, he called himself Eugene George Standingbear. Over the years various family members would begin to reclaim the original surname, and today (2018) Geoffrey M Standing Bear is principal chief of the Osage.”

Source: “Standingbear 3: Life Among the Osage” (Posted on 2018 September 10 by Mark Macy) < Link >

Origins

Source: Miami News-Record, Miami, Oklahoma, Mon, Aug 29, 1949. Page 1

Obituary

Source: Tulsa World, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Wed, Dec 26, 1990, Page 27. < newspapers.com >

References

• Ancestry.com. U.S., Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. < AncestrySharing >. Strike Axe Band, 1909. (document attached)
• "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7R1J-QNPZ : 16 April 2021), Nora Mary Lookout, Osage, Osage, Oklahoma, United States; citing Census, NARA microfilm publication M595. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1967.
• "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995." Database with images. FamilySearch. "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVPX-CTZS : 23 February 2021), George E Standing Bear and Nora Lookout, 21 Sep 1926; citing Oklahoma, various county courthouses, Oklahoma; FHL microfilm.
• Gilcrease Museum, Oklahoma Native American Photographs Collection. Native American, Osage, 1930. “Eugene Standing Bear and family” < Photograph >
• Kansas Historical Society. “George Eugene Standing Bear” < link > This is a photograph of George Eugene Standing Bear, the son of Mary Lookout and the grandson of Chief Fred Lookout. George's father was an Ogallala Sioux from Pine Ridge, and his father's mother Laura Whirlwind made the cradleboard like the Sioux baby boards. She wanted the baby to have Osage and Sioux baby boards.
• "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9W8-7KS3?cc=2761958 : 26 September 2018), > image 1 of 1; citing (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1967). Osage 1930-1931 (births and deaths 1925-1931 included) (NARA Series M595, Roll 324)
• "Oklahoma, County Marriages, 1890-1995," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C91C-LS75-V?cc=1709399 : 28 November 2018), > image 1 of 1; various county courthouses, Oklahoma.
• "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7XYB-Y16Z : 16 April 2021), Nora Mary Standing Bear, Osage, Oklahoma, United States; citing Census, NARA microfilm publication M595. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1967 Event Date 1934
• "Oklahoma, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2B4-GNKS : 3 March 2020), Mary Yates in entry for Paul Edmund Yates, 16 Oct 1940; records extracted by FamilySearch and images digitized by Ancestry; citing Draft Registration, Pawhuska, Osage, Oklahoma, United States, NAID 2169774. Records of the Selective Service System, 1926 - 1975, RG 147. National Archives at St. Louis, Missouri.
• "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBKH-3PN : Sat Jul 22 10:59:39 UTC 2023), Entry for P E Yates and Nora Yates, 1940.
• "Arkansas, County Marriages, 1837-1957," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:N97K-Z3R : 9 March 2021), Nora Lookout in entry for George G Escue, 21 Jun 1949; citing Marriage, Crawford, Arkansas, United States, county offices, Arkansas; FHL microfilm 2,132,792.
• Source: Ancestry.com. Arkansas, Marriage Certificates, 1917-1972 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: < AncestrySharing >
• "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JRB7-XTT : 10 January 2021), Mary N Standingbear, 24 Dec 1990; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83352537/mary-standingbear
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/GHGD-GXB
• Zahller, Alisa. “Between Two Worlds: The Life and Art of Eugene Standingbear.” Colorado Heritage, September / October 2014. Pgs 16-23. < PDF > The Lookouts were a family of means—oil on Osage lands had resulted in instant wealth for the tribe. With his mar- riage, life changed for Eugene, a poor boy from a poor tribe. The couple bought a large home in Pawhuska, Oklahoma; employed a cook, maid, groundskeeper, stock hands, and chauffer; attended black-tie parties; played golf and bridge; and took summer-long vacations to Colorado Springs, traveling in a fleet of limousines. Eugene even learned to fly planes. The family was well-connected to businessmen such as W. G. Skelly (founder of Skelly Oil Company) and Frank Phillips of Phillips Petroleum, both of whom were adopted into the Osage tribe. The Lookouts also had political connections: in 1929 they traveled by train to Herbert Hoover’s inauguration, and in 1937 Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Osage reservation and the Lookout family. Eugene enjoyed life on the Osage reservation for many years, but then, in 1937, he left reservation life, his wife, and his son behind. His reasons are unclear.