Ephriam3

Ephriam D. Dickson III

I am interested in the history of Native American relations with the United States on the western frontier, particularly from the perspective of ethnohistory (the use of historical documents to understand culture). Having grown up in northwestern Nebraska, just south of the Black Hills, I have a long interest in the history of the Lakota and Northern Cheyenne; and as a recent transplant to Utah, I am becoming increasingly interested in the Shoshone. I am also intrigued with nineteenth century Indian photographs and reservation census records, certain that they have much yet to tell us about past native communities.

I am the curator at the Fort Douglas Museum. I can be contacted at: Ephriam D. Dickson III, Fort Douglas Museum, 32 Potter Street, Salt Lake City, UT 84113. My email is: ephriam3 at yahoo dot com

Wikipedia Entries

I have written, or contributed to, the following entries:

Lakota Biographies

Oglala at Red Cloud Agency or Pine Ridge Reservation:

• Amos Bad Heart Bull
• Crazy Horse
• He Dog
• Red Cloud
• Short Bull
• Yellow Bear
• Young Man Afraid of His Horses

Brule:

• Spotted Tail

Miniconjou:

• Lone Horn
• Touch the Clouds
• Lame Deer
• Black Moon

Sans Arc:

• Spotted Eagle

Hunkpapa

• Sitting Bull

Sihasapa (Blackfeet)

• Kill Eagle
• John Grass
• Fire Heart

Two Kettle

• Long Mandan

Frontier Army in the West:

• Department of the Platte
• Department of Dakota
• Fort Douglas
• Fort Bridger
• William Gentles

Great Sioux War of 1876-77

• Great Sioux War of 1876-77
• Private James Joseph Bell

Frontier Photographers

• Charles D. Beckwith (photographer)
• Samuel C. Mills
• Charles Howard (photographer)
• D. S. Mitchell
• David Rodocker

Published Works

In Progress

• Crazy Horse's Contemporaries: D. S. Mitchell's Native Portraits From the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1877. For University of Oklahoma Press
• Dakota Images: Selections from the Larry Ness Collection. For South Dakota Historical Society Press.
• "Lakota Soldiers in Utah: Company I 16th Infantry, 1892-94." For Utah Historical Quarterly.
• "John Wesley Powell and the Special Indian Census of 1880."
• Encyclopedia of the Great Sioux War, 1876-77.

2015

• "Shadowy Figures About Whom Little is Known: Artists of the Simpson Expedition, 1858-59," Utah Historical Quarterly, vol. 83 no. 4 (Fall 2015), 270-289.
• "From Bunk to Bedstead: The U.S. Army's Search for a New Barrack Bed During the 1850s," Military Collector and Historian, vol. 67 no. 2 (Summer 2015), 157-165.

2014

• Fort Bridger: A Photographic History. Arcadia Press, 2014.

2012

• “Protecting the Home Front: The Utah Territorial Militia During the Civil War,” in: Kenneth L. Alford (ed.) Civil War Saints. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University, 2012, pp. 143-159.
• “Brass Knuckles and Billy Clubs: The Controversial Arrest of Private Frederick Bright in Salt Lake City, 1874,” Pioneer (vol. 59 no. 3).

2011

• "Prisoners in the Indian Camp: Kill Eagle's Band at the Little Bighorn," Greasy Grass 27 (May 2011): 3-11. Presents a new map of the famous battle and a biography of the noted Sihasapa leader.

2010

• The Sitting Bull Surrender Census: The Lakotas at Standing Rock Agency, 1881 (Pierre: South Dakota State Historical Society Press, 2010).
• Fort Robinson: A Pictorial History. (Arcadia Press, 2010).
• "Dakota Resources: The Sitting Bull Surrender Census, Standing Rock Agency, 1881." South Dakota History 40, no. 2 (2010): 163-196.

2009

• "The Horned Horse Map of the Little Bighorn," Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. XLIII, no. 7 (Sept. 2009) pp. 4-5.
• "On the Trail of Captain Simpson's Illusive Photographer, 1858-59," The Fort Douglas Vedette, v. 34 no. 2 (Summer 2009) pp. 4-6.
• "A New Photograph of Crazy Horse's Grave," Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. XLIII, no. 3 (Apr. 2009) pp. 4-5.

2008

• "Prelude to Bear River: Confrontation at Empey's Ferry, Dec. 6-8, 1862," Post Dispatch, Dec. 2008, p. 4-6.
• "Private Charles D. Beckwith: Camp Douglas' First Photographer," The Fort Douglas Vedette, v. 34 no. 1 (Winter 2008-09) pp. 4-6.
• "Club Man: Oglala", Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. 42 (April 2008) pp. 3-4.
• "The Sitting Bull Surrender Census: Glimpse of the Hunkpapa Tribal Circle," 19th Annual Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association Symposium publication.

2007

• "Capturing the Lakota Spirit: Photographers at the Red Cloud and Spotted Tail Agencies," Nebraska History, vol. 88 no. 1&2 (Spring-Summer 2007) pp. 2-25.
• "Reconstructing the Oglala Tribal Circle at the Little Bighorn: The Big Road Roster," 18th Annual Custer Battlefield Historical & Museum Association Symposium publication.

2006

• "Crazy Horse's Grave: A Photograph by Private Charles Howard, 1877," Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. XL, no. 1 (Feb. 2006) pp. 4-5.
• "Black Moon: The Minnecoujou Leader," Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. XL no. 10 (Dec. 2006) pp. 4-5.
• “With General Crook’s Campaign: A Soldier’s Letter Home, 1876,” Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. 40 no. 5 (June 2006) pp. 4-5.
• “Reconstructing the Indian Village on the Little Bighorn: The Cankahuhan or Soreback Band, Oglala,” Greasy Grass, vol. 22 (May 2006) pp. 2-14.

2005

• "Soldier With a Camera: Private Charles Howard's Photographic Journey Through Eastern Wyoming, 1877," Annals of Wyoming, vol. 77 no. 4 (Autumn 2005) pp. 22-32.
• “George McAnulty’s Account of the Death of Crazy Horse,” Little Big Horn Associates Newsletter, vol. 39 no. 4 (May 2005) pp. 4-6.
• “German Silver Crosses in Lakota Attire: Personal Adornment or Symbols of Tribal Leadership?” Whispering Winds, vol. 35 no. 2 (March/April 2005) pp. 19-25.

1996

• "Crazy Horse: Who Really Wielded the Bayonet?," Greasy Grass, vol. 12 (May 1996) pp. 2-__.