Sometimes, the search for additional information for an old photo yields little. Sometimes it yields a bit more, but poses more questions. Sometimes, some of the questions are answered.
For this search, I started with an image, the first one below, and a name, Ben Long Ear. The image is one that I am using for Zazzle products. For each image, I try to locate additional information beyond what is readily available at the original source, usually Library of Congress.
See what I found at Haw Creek Reflections on Ben Long Ear, a Crow Indian who lived in an area we may visiting later this year.
A pair of old pictures, rather than being worth the proverbial thousand words each, leave more questions than answers.
Who was this man? What tribe? Who was his family? Where did they live? Why was he imprisoned? How long was he in? to mention just a few.
Half-length portrait, facing front;
Photo created about 1905 by Edward S. Curtis.
Library of Congress image.
Ben Long Ear, Inmate #2454, 1914
McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary, Washington
National Archives image.
Did this man commit crimes that actually harmed others? Were his offenses a result of indigenous people running up against the morality of the newcomers to the land? Was he railroaded so that others could take some advantage?
Haw Creek Reflections provides background information and links for images used for products in our Zazzle store.
Products with this image on Zazzle.
Additional Information
Crow People
- Crow Nation – Official Site of the Apsaalooke’ Nation
- Crow Nation (Wikipedia)
- Montana Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs
- and more from Google search on Crow Indians
American Indians
- National Congress of American Indians
- National Museum of the American Indian
- Indians.org
- American Indian College Fund
- Native Americans in the United States (Wikipedia)
- Indigenous peoples of the Americas (Wikipedia)
- and more from Google search on American Indian
