The Washakie Letters of Willie Ottogary: Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader, 1906-1929

352 Pages·2000·2.718 MB·English

by  Willie Ottogary, Matthew E. Kreitzer, Barre Toelken

The Washakie Letters
of
Willie Ottogary
Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader
1906–1929
“William Otagary,” photo by Gill, 1921, National Anthropological Archives,
Smithsonian Institution.
The Washakie Letters
of
Willie Ottogary
Northwestern Shoshone Journalist and Leader
1906–1929
Edited by
Matthew E. Kreitzer
Foreword by Barre Toelken
Utah State University Press
Logan, Utah
Copyright © 2000Utah State University Press
All rights reserved
Utah State University Press
Logan,Utah 84322-7800
Manufactured in the United States of America
Printed on acid free paper
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Ottogary, Willie.
The Washakie letters of Willie Ottogary, northwestern Shoshone
journalist and leader, 1906–1929/ [compiled by] Matthew E. Kreitzer.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-87421-401-7(pbk.) — ISBN 0-87421-402-5(hardback)
1. Ottogary, Willie—Correspondence. 2. Shoshoni
Indians—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Biography. 3. Indian
journalists—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Biography. 4. Shoshoni
Indians—Utah—Washakie Indian Reservation—Social conditions. 5.
Washakie Indian Reservation (Utah)—History. I. Kreitzer, Matthew E.,
1957- II. Title.
E99.S4O772000
979.2'42—dc21
00-009792
To my parents, Melvin and Ann Whitenack Kreitzer
for teaching me to love people and history.
To the Ottogarys, Clyde and Cecelia, and family,
for allowing me the privilege of studying
their grandfather and great grandfather, Willie.
To my wife, Shelle, and our children,
Joshua, David, James, Kalani, Nathaniel, and Samuel,
for their unwavering support and love.
To A. J. Simmonds, mentor and friend.
To the Northwestern Shoshone.
To God, who has given me life.

Contents
Foreword xii
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
Editorial Method 19
1. “I Will Write a Few Line,” 1906–1910 23
2. “Willie Ottogary Breaks Silence,” 1911–1913 41
3. “I Am Going Tell Some News,” 1914–1920 65
4. “I Will Start on My Stories,” 1921–1922 99
5. “We Expect Get Some Land from Our
Big White Pop in Future Time,” 1923–1924 125
6. “You People May Read My Writing Long as I Work,”
1925–1926 156
7. “Our People Haven’t Got Any Land for Their Own,”
1927–1929 199
Conclusion 242
Appendix A. Shoshone Treaties, 1863 249
Appendix B. “Local Brevities”: A White Community’s
Social Column 253
Appendix C. The Travels of Willie Ottogary 255
Appendix D. Exhibit of Acreage and Produce 256
Appendix E. “Willie Ottogary Goes East Again” 258
Appendix F. Awards and Prizes Presented at
Utah State Fair, 1915 260
Appendix G. Washakie Ward Leadership Positions 262
Appendix H. Newspaper Accounts of Two of the
Ottogarys’ Early Boxing Matches 264
Notes 266
Bibliography 280
Biographical Register and Index 285
Abbreviations 285
Subject Index 322
Illustrations
“William Otagary” frontis
Clyde S. Ottogary and family xvi
Shoshone Homelands (map) xix
Northern Utah (map) xx
Washakie, Utah 3
Ammon Pubigee and Willie Ottogary before their mission 8
Ammon Pubigee and Willie Ottogary, ca. 1892 9
The Bear River from the Ottogary homestead 10
Alice, Willie Ottogary’s first wife 11
Louise Ottogary 12
Washakie Shoshone planting sugar beets 14
Shoshone tipis on a demonstration farm 15
The Travels of Willie Ottogary (map) 22
Threshing scene 24
A postcard showing Frank Brain and
Soquitch Timbimboo 25
Twenge, or Towange, Timbimboo 25
William and Julia Hootchew 26
Twenge Timbimboo and children 27
Phoebe Timbimboo 27