The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
By Louis Garcia © 12/31/12 (revised)
Message # 47 Jessie James
Nebraska
On August 11, 1985 I had the opportunity to talk to Clifford Johnson of Niobrara, Nebraska, a Santee tribal member. He said the James’s came to the Devils Nest, a hilly area on the west end of the reservation, which he said didn’t have an Indian name and so they called it Wankŝicati (Devils House). They chopped cord wood and floated it to Yankton, South Dakota; this was their cover so no one would know their real business. They robbed a military gold shipment and buried the gold in the Devils Nest area. The Indians knew where the gold was but never told till their dying day. The gold is now under the waters of the Missouri River dam. They were very good to the Indians and were well liked. This happened before they tried to rob the bank at Northfield.
Frank was a better shot than Jessie when shooting prairie chickens with a pistol, Frank never missed, Johnson said. Frank and Jessie married Indian women; Frank’s daughter Emma married Howard Redwing. Ione Redwing was Frank’s granddaughter. Joe Jessie Chase (1870 – 1940, S247) is a son of Jessie James, he had five possibly ten children, Helen, married a Wabasha; Joe Junior (1905-1948) married Grace Campbell (1902-1942); Helena married a Whiteman named Wilfred Gustafson; Jeanette married and moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming; and Tommy, who married and had five children, was killed at St. Paul, Minnesota by accidentally falling down some stairs. Some of the above information was supplied to me by Grace Hopkins via email on October 12, 2007.
I alerted John Koblas, a James Historian and author about the Santee connection. He was able to discover that Frank and Jessie married daughters of Thomas Wabasha about 1869 (Koblas 1999:150). Thomas (Ĥewanke =frost) Wabasha (S-229) and his wife Mary Hdonicewin (No Grunting Woman S-279) had a son George Thomas Wabasha (Caske (first born male) and two daughters. Mary Mdozawin (Loon Woman S-214) who married Frank James, alias Frank Thompson their daughter Emma married Abraham Redwing. Maggie Hanyetuiŝnawin (Alone in the Night Woman) married Jessie James, alias Jessie Chase. Their son was Joseph Jessie Chase (Kounas 2009:150). Another book gives more Santee, Nebraska details (Hansen 1976:59-63, Oyate Research Center [Oyate1.proboards 58.com] listed under Frank and Jessie James).
Bibliography
Black, Doris Louise History of Grant County, South Dakota.
Milbank, SD: Milbank Herald Advance 1939
[University of Colorado Master of Arts Thesis 1938}.
Dewing, Les “Never Publicized: N.D. James Family Related to Outlaws”. Turtle Mountain Star Rolla, ND (No date on clipping)..
(Thank you, Joyce M. Matheson, Larimore, ND for a copy)
Eriksmoen, Curtis Did you know that…Devils Lake was Originally Creelsburg.
The Fargo Form, December 11, 2005.
Hagerty Jack “That Reminds Me” Grandforks Herald December 1988.
Hansen, Esther Koltermann Echoes of the Past and the Pioneer Trails in Pierce County, Nebraska. Lincoln: Union College Press 1976.
Horne, Bev Fort Totten Trail Mail Riders Tales,
Greene, Rohnda Friends of Fort Totten Historic Site 1997.
Kingree, Olivia Did You Know….The James Gang’s Lake Region Connection.
Devils Lake Journal 2006
Koblas, John The Jessie James Northfield Raid: Confessions of the Ninth Man.
Minnesota: North Star Press of St. Cloud, Inc. 1999.
Wick, Douglas A. North Dakota Place Names. Hedemarken Collectables 1988.
Glossary
Bartlett, ND This boomtown began in the fall of 1882. Located just inside the Ramsey county line, SE1/4 Section 25, Township 153 North, Range 61 West (Wick 1988:12)
Burnt Wood Island A peninsula jutting north out from the south shore of Sweetwater Lake, Sections 26 and 27, Township 155 North, Range 64 West, Freshwater Township, Ramsey County. The Indian name is Caŋġuwita (Caŋ = wood, tree, forest; Ğu = burnt; Wita = Island) the Bois Brule of the French fur traders, Also, called L’ile Brule, named for a fire which burned the trees sometime in the past. It was on this island that Little Crow took refuge during his flight west in the winter of 1862 – 1863 (Anderson 1986:172).
Lamoreau, James G. Founded the town of Jerusalem in 1881. He was a French fur trader who had his post where Marvin, SD is today. He spoke French, English, and Dakota although the family conversation was usually in Dakota. He had an English wife (unnamed), an extensive library, and a piano. There were always Indians camped at his Jerusalem store and post office (Black 1939; Wick 1988:98).
Lohnes, Edward Born April 24, 1844 in Schaghticoke, Rensselaery County,
New York. Died March 31, 1933 and is buried in Crary,
North Dakota. He married Mary Hoĥpitowin (Blue Nest
Woman DLS # 395 1853 – 1924), the daughter of Chief Waanatan II. They had eight children: Mattie, John, James, Gertrude, Chauncey, Hattie, Clemet, and Virginia. His father was Adameus Lohnes, born in 1754 and died April 4, 1839 in Valley Falls, NY. His mother of Irish descent was
Elizabeth Bornt, born January 22, 1771 in Brunswick, NY and died February 15, 1858 Schaghticoke, NY. They were married on September 19, 1793. Edward had one sibling that is known, Nicholas George Lohnes, born 1804, died March 3, 1845 in Hazardville, CT. His grandparents were Nicholas Lohnes born October 24, 1724 in Hoechst, Odenwald, Germany and died in Rensselaer, NY in 1791.
He married in 1751 Margaret Sporbach who was born in Odenwald, Hesse, Germany in 1731 (www.familysearch.org). Edward Lohnes served in the Union army during the civil war and was discharged in 1870. He had a mail contract with Ft. Totten, homesteaded at Sweetwater Lake in 1882, elected as Ramsey County Commissioner, and served in the State legislature in 1889 (Horne & Greene1997:9-10).
Madlon, Daniel O.S. B. Zica’tamaheca (Skinny Squirrel) was his Indian name.
He was born in Louisville, Kentucky April 8, 1907. He attended seminary at St. Meinrad, Indiana and entered the priesthood in 1933. He was sent to St. Paul’s Indian Mission, Marty, SD and later to St. Michael. He kept a genealogy of the many families on several reservations as well as publishing a hymnal. He died on June 24, 1988.
McKenzie Drift This draw runs from South Dakota to about Nekoma, ND.
It is located between Nekoma and Langdon. When you pass
along Highway Two between Niagara and Petersburg during the winter you will find it snowing only in this draw.
Sweetwater Lake Located some six miles north of Devils Lake on the east
side of Highway 20, Freshwater and Morrison Townships,
Ramsey County, The Indian name is Miniskuya Bde
(Mini = Water; Skuya = sweet; Bde = lake) meaning the
lake’s water was drinkable, fresh water.
Sully’s Hill a wildlife preserve located on the south shore of Devils Lake near Fort Totten. A large which hill dominates the park’s terrain named after the Indian killer General Sully. The Spirit Lake Nation wants to change the name of this hill to its original name, White Horse Hill.
