Our article on the Carlisle Indian School (“The Great White Father’s Little Red Indian School,” December, 1970) questioned the wisdom and results of trying to “civilize” the red man. One graduate who apparently remained close to the old ways, at least outwardly, was the gentleman pictured below. His photograph was supplied by Robert A. Murdock, executive director of the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, in Richmond. Mr. Murdock reports that the picture was taken by his wife’s great uncle, Jack Harrah of Montana, in 1934. The inscription on the back says: “Flathead Chief—‘Sam Resurection.’ Has fine home but lives in tepee back of house. 90 years old. Personal friend & guide for Teddy Roosevelt in all his hunting trips in U.S. Graduate of Carlyle College.”
As Mr. Murdock observed, “If accurate the inscription…reveals the inability of Carlisle to completely transform all of its students.”
For another look at the American Indian, in the years immediately after the high point of his resistance to white incursions, see pages 40-41 of this issue.