The History and Culture of the Spirit Lake Dakota
Grahams Island Part 1 was published in the June 11,2024, Devils Lake Journal.
Duncan Graham’s Burial Location:
Jean Baptiste Faribault had a vault dug into a bluff at Mendota. The remains of Susan and Duncan were interned in this vault. In 1865 Alexander Faribault had the bodies moved to Calvary Cemetery, Mendota. There were 85 buried in this family plot. Sometime later a praire fire swept through the area and burned up all the wooden grave markers. The only existing markers are for Jean Baptiste and wife, Oliver, Alexander, and Mrs. Oliver Faribault (Find A Grave.com)
Glossary
Graham, Duncan Hoġita (Ho = voice, Ĝita = gruff) the name given to him by his father-in-law Wapahaŝa I. He was born about 1772, and died at Mendota, MN December 5, 1847.
Graham’s Island Tahoġitawita (Ta [wa] = his, Hoġita = D. Graham, Wita = Island).
Graham, Nancy Lucy Daughter of Susanne and Duncan Graham. Born in
Minnesota 1807, died September 26, 1888. Married
In 1833 to Joseph Buisson born 1804 Madeline Island, Canada, died October 10, 1857. Seven children were born to this union.
Graham’s Point Located at a crossing place of the Red River in the Southeast Quarter Section 15, Township 134 North, Range 48 West Richland County, North Dakota. The Point is some two miles south of Abercrombie, ND.
Pennishon also spelled Penichon, and Pennensha. Probably a corruption of his Indian name. He was a French fur trader who married a Dakota woman. A chief of the Mdewakantun Dakota who died in 1833 took the name of his father. This son is possibly a brother to Jean Pennishon.
Pennishon, Jean Daughter of Chief Pennishon. Mother of Susanne.
Married Wapahaŝa I.
Pennishon, Susanne Iŝtaġiwiŋ (Iŝta = Eye; Ĝi = brown, Wiŋ = woman)
Hazaĥotawiŋ (Hazaĥota = Huckleberry [one of three
varieties], Wiŋ = woman) Born 1785, died at Mendota March 2, 1848.
Married Duncan Graham 1797.
Wapahaŝa I Dakota Chief, Born 1718 at the head of the Rum River,
Minnesota the son of Snow Mountain. He died January 5,
1806 at age 88. There is much confusion as to the translation of his name. Wap’aha means flag or standard
and Wa’paha means a hat. To compound this, the French thought his name meant La Feuille or the Leaf (Waĥpe).
He and his name sakes were considered the most prominent leaders of the Dakota people.
Ziebach, C. M. Indian Agent at Spirit Lake 1906 – 1923.
Born Sioux City, Iowa July 25, 1867, Died Wessington Springs, SD, in 1940. Ziebach Pass (road) was called Ziba Oiyuweġe (Ziebach’s Crossing) located between Section 30, Grahams Island Township, Ramsey County and Section 29 Third Commissioners District, Benson County.
Genealogy
Duncan Graham married Susanne Pennishon in 1797. They had three girls and a boy.
1) Jane Graham (Born at St. Peters, MN 1804, Died Lake Pepin, MN. 1881)
Married: James “Bully” Wells on September 12, 1836 at Ft. Snelling) (Born 1803
Glouster, Camden County, NJ. Killed in 1862 Minnesota
Uprising, near the Floyd River by Dakota Indians).
Children of James Wells and Jane Graham
Sarah C. 1837 – November 16, 1909
Alfred 1838 -1863
Orman 1840 -?
Mark November 24, 1842 – June 1, 1913
Elizabeth 1845 – 1927
William Wallace 1846 – April 17, 1920
Lucy Ann 1848 – May 11, 1940
Philip Faribault December 5, 1850, Frontenac, MN– January 2, 1947
(Philip Wells was present, interpreting for the Lakota when the Wounded Knee Massacre took place).
Aaron March 6, 1852 – October 10, 1932
Agnes Bernadette October 6, 1859 – 1936
2) Nancy Lucy “Mary” Graham (Born September 1806 Mendota, MN.
Baptized at St. Peter and St. Paul.
God Parents Alexis Bailly and Luce Faribault.
Died September 26, 1888, Ft. Totten, DT.)
Married Joseph Buisson (Army Captain, March 13, 1846 Mendota, MN, Born 1804,
Died October 10, 1857.
Children of Joseph and Nancy Lucy
Harriet Buisson (Born October 16, 1836, Wabasha, MN. Died March 13, 1876).
Married Peter Henry LaRiviere July 12, 1854 (Born February 15, 1826 Prairie du Chien, Crawford County, Wisconsin, Died march 2, 1897).
LaRiviere Manitoba is named after this man.
Children of Peter and Harriet: David, Lucy Ann, and Peter Henry (married Mary Carrels).
Henry Buisson (Born March 6, 1838 Wabasha, MN. Died June 26, 1905)
Married Emily LaRiviere. (No record of children).
Antoine Buisson (Born 1840, Died 1920. DLS #318) Spirit Lake tribal member
Married?
Henry Buisson (1866 -1944, DLS # 319) Spirit Lake tribal member.
Annette May Buisson (1864-1900, DLS # 1132) She married Rev.
Alfred Coe and died in childbirth at Devils Lake, ND.
Marie Louise Buisson (Born December 8, 1842 Wabasha, MN, Died August 5, 1924).
Author of Myths and Legends.of the Sioux.
Married James Mclaughlin January 28 1864 (1842 -1923)
McLaughlin was the third Indian Agent at Spirit Lake.
(Children of James McLaughlin and Marie)
Mary Prince, Clara Louise, James Harry, Marie Imelda, Charles Cyprian, John Graham, and Rupert Sibley.
Joseph Buisson (Born February 17, 1846 Wabasha, MN. Died October 29, 1918).
Married Mary Elizabeth Stephens on November 22, 1872 (1857 -?).
(Children of Joseph Buisson and Mary Stephens)
Ethel, Clara Louise, Angeline Ethel, Daniel Shaw, and Alma G.
Cyprian Buisson (Born September 25, 1849 Wabasha, MN, Died November 3, 1920)
Married Elizabeth Stone in 1874 (1857 –November 17 1906)
Mary Jane “Jennie” Buisson (Born 1852 Wabasha, MN, Died March 11, 1915)
Married John W. Cramsie (Born April 2, 1838 Pennsylvania, Died November 9, 1920.
Cramsie was the fourth Indian Agent at Spirit Lake.
3)Mary Elizabeth Graham(Born July 15, 1805 Lake Pepin, MN, Died April 8, 1876,
Elizabeth, MN).
Married Alexander F. Faribault November 1, 1825 at Mendota, MN. He was the son of Jean Baptiste Faribault and Pelagie Hanse-Ainse.
Children of Mary Elizabeth and Alexander Faribault
George Henry (Born September 20, 1826 Mendota, MN, Died Ft. Yates, ND August 14, 1890) He was the Agency Farmer at Spirit Lake and lived on Rock Island. The Assistant Farmer was George’s nephew Philip Wells.
Agnes May 9, 1829 – October 16, 1852 Married William H. Forbes February 17, 1846 Mendota, MN (Forbes was the first Indian Agent at Spirit Lake).
Emelie Regina December 17, 1832 – November 1876.
Daniel Fredric March 27, 1834 – May 1913. Married Malvina LeClaire.
Catherine Elizabeth March 16, 1836 – September 30, 1879. Married John E. McLean.
Philippe November 15, 1839 – February 13, 1840
Julia Antoinette July 10, 1841 – January 11, 1888. Married Joseph Fredette.
Natalie Adelaide December 27, 1843 – March 6, 1848
William Richard October 28, 1846 – January 12, 1935. Married Marie J. Tracy.
Alexander Leon February 9, 1850 – July 21, 1917 at Standing Rock.
(A member of the third generation Elizabeth Faribault married Frank Palmer in 1880.
Elizabeth died in 1886 while pregnant with her fourth child. Frank Palmer is a famous man in Lake Region history. An ex-soldier of Ft. Totten he went into business with John Cramsie as an Indian Trader on the reservation. Their three daughters were enrolled in the Spirit Lake tribe.
Jessie G. Palmer DLS #585 1882-1908, Inez C [Mrs. Swartzlander] DLS #586 1883 – 1970, Jean Palmer [Mrs. Garve] DLS # 587 1885 – 1915).
4)Alexander Graham(Born October 15, 1821 at Prairie du Chien, WI, Died in 1866 at
Faribault, Rice County, MN.)
Married (1) Helene Pennishon daughter of M. Pennishon and
Mazataiki (?) 1842 at Mendota, MN.
(2) Blossom Quiake daughter of Dakota parents 1846.
Children of Alexander and Blossom
Alexander 1847- ?
Marie 1847 – January 8, 1848
Infant (no name) 1848 -1850
Andrew 1849 – ?
5) Sarah Marie Graham Born 1811, died 1840.
Married Oliver Cratte, at Ft. Snelling.
(Born October 4, 1801 Liverpool,
England, immigrated to Nova Scotia.
Died April 22, 1884 Wabasha, MN. Age 84).
Children of Sarah and Oliver
Louise Born July 6, 1833, Died before 1884.
Scholastic Born July 13, 1834, died before 1884.
David Born March 15, 1836, Died March 29, 1919.
Isabel Elizabeth Born February 5, 1838, died July 26, 1885.
Alexander Cratte Born 10/15/1821.Died 1866. Married Makakabduwin (Pounding the Earth Fine) Sisitun Dakota) Another wife Blossom Kamdowanedan – Quiake.
Bibliography
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Bismarck Tribune July 16, 2006
DeNoyer, Charles “The Early Settlement on Graham’s Island” Pp201-208
“Biographies of Early Settlers on Graham’s Island”
Pp.216-18. Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Bismarck Volume 3, 1910
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Leadership 1740 -1876.
Rochester, MN: Coyote Books 2004.
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Including paintings by Daniel S. Buisson, and the Three
Missing Chapters of My Friend the Indian by James Mclaughlin. Seattle: Superior Publishing Company 1970.
Greene, Ronda “Go West Young Man, Go West” the Story of Frank
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Friends of the Fort Totten Historic Site 1994.
Hagan, William T. The Sac and Fox Indians
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press 1958
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Cambridge, MA: Adventure Publications 2008.
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Bismarck: Tumbleweed Press 1974.
Reprint of original 1916 edition.
Parker, Donald, D. “Early Explorations and Fur Trading in South Dakota”
South Dakota Historical Collections 15 (1-211) 1950.
Pfaller, Louis L. O.S.B. James McLaughlin: The Man with an Indian Heart.
New York: Vantage Press 1978.
Ricker, Eli S. Voices of the American West, Volume I
The Indian Interviews of Eli S. Ricker 1903 – 1919.
Edited by Richard E, Jensen.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press 2005.
[Interviews with Philip Faribault Wells].
Spokesfield, Walter E. The History of Wells County and it’s Pioneers.
Jamestown, ND no date, privately published.
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As told to Thomas E, Odel.
North Dakota History 15 (2) April 1948.
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Of the Eastern Dakota, 1819 – 1839.
Lanham, MD: University Press of America 1978.
