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Short Man

Oglala

 

 

There is a photograph of a man called Short Man in "Lakota Society" by James R. Walker. He was also named Short Bull No.2 (Tatanka Ptecela) and resided on White Clay district at Pine Ridge. He was born ca. 1847.

Short Man
Short Man/Bull. Photographer and date unrecorded.

— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring

I have great respect for Dr. DeMallie's work, however, I believe he is incorrect in his identification of Short Man. There appears to have actually been two Oglala by this name, based on the census records, perhaps brothers. The older Short Man was born about 1847, as DeMallie notes. I can track him through the 1886-1890 census records. By 1894, however, a younger man is now known as Short Man, born about 1860, who I can then track forward through at least 1915. I have not indexed the census records between 1890 and 1894 yet, so I cannot tell you what happened, but I believe we are dealing with two different men.

Dr. Walker was at Pine Ridge from 1896 to 1914 and he obtained the Short Man wintercount in 1913. This would seem to suggest that he was dealing with the young Short Man.

Dr. DeMallie also noted in the back of his book Lakota Society that Short Man was also known as Short Bull #2, however, I believe that this is also incorrect. In the Pine Ridge Agency census records, Short Bull #1 and #2 are consistently referring to the already well-discussed men: Grant Short Bull (c1852-1935), brother of He Dog; and Arnold Short Bull (c1845-1923) of Ghost Dance Fame. I have never found a reference giving an alternate name for Short Man as Short Bull. — Ephriam Dickson

I found a photo of Short Man by Gertrud Käsebier from 1898 which shows the same Short Man as shown above. He looks even younger in it, so he most probably is not the Short Bull who is the brother of He Dog.
— Dietmar Schulte-Möhring

 

 

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