Matt Smith

Matt was a Chemehueva man

Chemehuevi Indian Tribe - Keepers of the River

Patton State Hospital - 1900
The Department of State Hospitals-Patton is a forensic psychiatric hospital located in Patton, CA, in San Bernardino County (formerly called the Southern California State Asylum for the Insane and Inebriates). DSH-Patton was established in 1890. The hospital opened in 1893 with 100 patients brought from the northern part of the state. By 1904, buildings had been erected to care for 800 inmates. By 1895, the inmate population at Highland had already surpassed capacity. Between the years of 1893 and 1934, it is believed that over 2,000 patients died onsite and were buried on the hospital grounds.

"When she [Miss Butler] was taken to the county jail and placed in the crazy cell a few days ago, a little yellow dog followed her to the jail and raised such a row when the jailers refused to let him in that he was admitted, and he and the woman were as happy as possible until the train was about to leave...and Miss Butler was informed that the dog could not accompany her. Before the dog could be put out of her sight, she grabbed it and held on with such a deadly grip that the officers could not take the little brute from her, and both had to be placed on the train...it is hard to tell how she will act when they reach the asylum, but it is safe to say that they will not be able to take the dog from her, and it will have to be admitted to the asylum with her, which will be an unheard of thing on this Coast. (L.A. Times)"
Source: “Patton State Hospital.” Www.sbcity.org, www.sbcity.org/about/history/streets_and_places/table_of_contents/patton_state_hospital. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.

Further reading:
1. Meares, Hadley. ““The Insane Asylum”: The First Twenty Years of Patton State Hospital.” PBS SoCal, 4 Nov. 2015, www.pbssocal.org/history-society/the-insane-asylum-the-first-twenty-years-of-patton-state-hospital. Accessed 12 Apr. 2024.
2. https://youtu.be/H_b45NqNmI0
3. Olalde, Anna V. Smith, Mark. “States Opposed Tribes’ Access to the Colorado River 70 Years Ago. History Is Repeating Itself.” High Country News, 17 Oct. 2023, www.hcn.org/articles/waiting-for-water-states-opposed-tribes-access-to-the-colorado-river-70-years-ago-history-is-repeating-itself/. Accessed 11 Apr. 2024.

Biography:
Born c. 1873 (1867-1875), Matt was a Chemehueve Indian, the son of Mamopache 'Libbie' Smith and an unknown father. Matt married a woman named Julia, who was born in1881, before 1900, and with her had five children named Lucy (1899), Burke (1904), Kate (1908), Jennie (1911), and Beth (1912).

Sometime between his last child, Matt developed symptoms of paranoia, and auditory hallucinations leading to "voices talking to him from the clouds". On March 16, 1914, he was admitted to the Southern California State Hospital in Patton, San Bernadino County, California. He was diagnosed there with dementia praecox (an obsolete psychiatric term that previously described schizophrenia). Matt's hallucinations are discussed at length in an October 15, 1918 letter from the SCSH letter from the medical director to Dr, Harry Hummer at the canton Asylum upon his transfer (attached here: https://www.geni.com/documents/view?doc_id=6000000205005402822).

At the request of the superintendent of the Colorado River Indian School (aka Colorado River Agency, AZ), Matt was discharged on September 27, 1918, and transferred to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. He was discharged from SCSH as "improved".

The 1917 Indian census shows that Matt's wife Julia, had remarried a man named Jim Chappo and kept the children with her, now being referred to as stepchildren of JIm Chappo. They also had one son named Gus in 1915. the discharge from SCSH indicated that Matt's civil condition was "divorced", but I find no divorce paperwork to document this, nor adoption documents for Julia and Jim Chappo.

According to Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, Matt was admitted to the Canton Asylum on September 30, 1918. During a visit, Dr. Emil Kraeplin noted dementia praecox. Matt Smith spent the next ten years of his life confined to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, where he died on November 28, 1928, at the age of 51.

According to the letter dated February 17, 1934, from Dr. L.L. Culp to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Matt Smith was buried at the Canton Hiawatha Cemetery in tier 2 plot 63.

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

Research Notes:
-the age order of Matt's children is different on succeding census reports, so there is confusion as to who was born in what order.
-Julia Smith Chappo shows up a head of household in the 1926 census with only son Gus
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Sources:

1909 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:687S-4LTK : Sun Mar 10 04:41:57 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1909, pg. 126/343, line 94, census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency, Mojave City, Arizona

1910 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6846-YCM8 : Sun Mar 10 23:07:52 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1910, pg. 150/343, line 96, census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency, Arizona

1911 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68QB-V4ZX : Fri Mar 08 14:08:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1911, pg. 178/343, line 88 (age 36), census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency, Arizona

1912 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:687S-ZWGT : Sat Mar 09 08:53:04 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1912, pg. 213/343, line 92, census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency

1913 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:687S-3BGS : Sun Mar 10 23:45:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1913, pg. 248/343, line 91, census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency, Arizona

1914 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:687S-GC48 : Wed Mar 06 03:24:09 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1914, pg. 282/343, line 88, census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency, Arizona

1915 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:68QY-LBVY : Sun Mar 10 14:55:24 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1915, pg. 339/343, line 87 (b=1873), census of the Chemehueve Indians, Fort Mojave Agency

1916 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NJX-WBCQ : Wed Mar 06 17:08:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1916, pg. 304/1148, line 1154, census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency, AZ

1917 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NVM-V2JR : Sun Mar 10 07:54:33 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1917, pg. 355/1148, line 1130, census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency, Arizona

1917-1918 - "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KZVY-MYF : 24 December 2021), Matt Smith, 1917-1918, pg. 3653/4364, ser.# 2440, (noted Insane, now confined at State Hospital, Patton, California)

1918 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NF8-HTL8 : Sat Mar 09 10:10:42 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1918, pg. 407/1148, line 1106 (census shows Julia remarried to Jim Chappo and adopted children), census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency

1918 Oct 15 - Riley, John A. “Case Abstract, Indian Patient, Matt Smith.” Written to Dr. Harry R. Hummer, 15 Oct. 1918.

1919 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NV9-BCYH : Sat Mar 09 02:35:37 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1919, pg. 458/1148, line 1066 (wife Julia appears to have married Jim Chappo and adopted all children, Matt listed as single), census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency

1920 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NJV-MKJF : Sun Mar 10 05:15:53 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1920, pg. 509/1148, line 1097 (single), census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency

1920 Jan 30 - "United States Census, 1920", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M6J7-FFR : Sun Mar 10 22:26:49 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1920, pg. 652/1130, line 58 (age 42), census of Asylum for Indians, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dalota

1920 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=898, line 34, Canton Asylum male census

1921 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NJR-GJGF : Mon Mar 11 00:05:43 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1921, pg. 559/1148/, line 1092 (single), census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency

1922 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NV7-N1S4 : Fri Mar 08 15:30:11 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1922, pg. 603/1148, line 1024 (single), census of the Mojave Indians, Colorado River Agency

1922 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=1041, line 36, Canton Asylum male census

1923 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6NFG-SB78 : Fri Mar 08 21:05:32 UTC 2024), Entry for , 1923, pg. 648/1148, line 167, Census of the Chemehueve Indians, Colorado River Agency

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 36, Canton Asylum male census

1924 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:688Q-XG27 : Sun Mar 10 17:03:52 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 1924, pg. 515/522, line 41, Canton Asylum male census

1925 - "South Dakota State Census, 1925," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MM48-VJ4 : 8 March 2021), Matt Smith; citing 684, State Historical Society, Pierre; FHL microfilm 2,368,963, image 2401 of 3350, card 684 (age 46)

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 42, Canton Asylum 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 36, Canton Asylum male census

1927 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=185, line 35, Canton Asylum male census

1928 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=210, line 35, Canton Asylum male census

1928 Nov 28 - "United States, Native American Birth and Death Records, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLX7-29P8 : Sun Mar 10 02:18:12 UTC 2024), Entry for Matt Smith, 28 November 1928, pg. 229/1011, line 1928 (doD 11/28/1928), census of the Parker Reservation, Colorado River Agency, Arizona (noted in Canton S.D.)

1928 Nov 30 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14493925/matt-smith: accessed April 11, 2024), memorial page for Matt Smith (unknown–30 Nov 1928), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14493925, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400). (Curator Note: Nov 20 is the date of burial, Matt died Nov 28)

1928 Nov 30 - 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

Roy Wolfe 3-31-28 · Matt Smith 11-30-28 · Two Teth 7-18-30