O me wot 'Ollie' House

Ollie was an Eastern Shoshoni woman

Eastern Shoshone are Shoshone (aka Shoshoni) who primarily live in Wyoming and in the northeast corner of the Great Basin where Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming meet and are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People. They lived in the Rocky Mountains during the 1805 Lewis and Clark Expedition and adopted Plains horse culture in contrast to Western Shoshone which maintained a Great Basin culture.

The Eastern Shoshone primarily settled on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, after their leader, Washakie signed the Fort Bridger Treaty in 1868.

Wind River Reservation

The Shoshone (Snake) Indians were known to reside near the Continental Divide, and Lewis and Clark’s whole plan depended on finding and befriending these Indians and buying horses from them. It was for this reason that they brought Sacagawea along. The young woman was a native Shoshone who had been kidnapped by the Hidatsas when she was about 12, she could act as a guide through the country, and her fluency in the language would be of critical help in communicating with her people, who had never before made contact with whites.

Shoshone territories, as described in treaties signed by the different Shoshone bands in 1863. Wyoming did not yet exist; its borders here are shown for reference only. Wyoming Geographic Information Science Center.

Fort Washakie was a U.S. Army fort in what is now the U.S. state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1869 and named Camp Augur after General Christopher C. Augur, commander of the Department of the Platte.[2] In 1870 the camp was renamed Camp Brown in honor of Captain Frederick H. Brown, who was killed in the Fetterman Massacre in 1866.[3]

It was renamed again in 1878 in honor of Chief Washakie of the Shoshone tribe, making the fort one of the only U.S. military outposts named after a Native American.

Fort Washakie, undated

Biography:

Born c. 1833 presumably in Shoshoni Territory, to unknown parents...

According to Carla Joinson in her book Vanished in Hiawatha, the date of Ollie's admission in unknown but she was diagnosed with senile dementia ("Senility" is an inaccurate and negative term for cognitive loss. "Dementia" is the medical term for a group of symptoms that affect memory, thinking, and social abilities. Senile dementia is often used when referring to Alzheimer's disease.) She was shown on the reservation on July 1 1903 but NOT in 1904 so the conclusion is that she was admitted to the Canton Asylum between July 1 1903 and June 30, 1904.

According to the letter dated February 17, 1934, from Dr. L.L. Culp to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ollie arrived at Canton from Ft. Washakie, Wyoming. She died in the Canton Asylum on February 11, 1909*, and was buried in the Canton Hiawatha Cemetery in tier 5 plot 9.

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

Research Notes:
-*there is a note in the book Vanished in Hiawatha that reads "According to L.L. Culp's cemetery listing, this patient's death is mentioned in a 1907 investigation as occurring at 2:00 am on July 19, 1904
-NOT in the Jun 30, 1904 or the 1905 Shoshone, WY census infers she was at Canton
__________
Sources:

1895 Jun 30 - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll498unit/page/n319/mode/.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 320/595, line 216, census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1897 Aug 1 - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll498unit/page/n441/mode/.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 442/595, line 278, census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1898 Jul 1 - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll498unit/page/n498/mode/.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 499/595, line 289, census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1900 Jul - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll499unit/page/n37/mode/1.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 38/747, line 281 (F age 67), census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1901 Jul - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll499unit/page/n65/mode/1.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 66/747, line 80 (F age 68), census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1902 Jul 1 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:7BJN-Y96Z : Fri Oct 06 04:32:00 UTC 2023), Entry for Ollie House, 1902, pg. 135/750, line 252 (age 69, Indian name is Omewot), census of the Shoshoni,
Shoshoni Agency, Wyoming

1902 Jul - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll499unit/page/n132/mode/.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 135/747, line 252 (F age 69), census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1903 Jul 1 - United States. National Archives and Records Service, and Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll499unit/page/n237/mode/.... Accessed 19 Feb. 2024, pg. 237/747, line 252-77 (F age 70), census of the Shoshone Indians, Shoshone Agency, Wyoming

1904 Jul 19 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/14491667/ollie-house: accessed ), memorial page for Ollie House (unknown–19 Jul 1904), Find a Grave Memorial ID 14491667, citing Hiawatha Asylum Cemetery, Canton, Lincoln County, South Dakota, USA; Maintained by Graveaddiction (contributor 46528400). (Curator Note: see the research note at * for the correct date of death)

1904 Jul 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

Chur-Ah-Tah-E-Kah 1-2-05 · Ollie House 7-19-04 · Asal-Tchee 2-11-09
(Curator Note: see the research note at * for the correct date of death)

1910 - 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=674, line 17, Table 7 Superintendents narrative "Forms of mental disease of those admitted to the Asylum since opening" (She was NOT included in table 8 for types of mental disease patients in the Asylum June 30, 1910)