A FINE J.C. GRABILL PHOTOGRAPH OF FRANK GROUARD, U.S. SCOUT

[Shotgun Steve]

10.5 x 13.5" albumen image, mounted on larger gilt-edged board with Grabill's Chicago Portrait and View Co. hand stamp on verso. Titled in the negative No. 3607 Frank Granard [sic], Chief of U.S. Scouts, 1891.

As a young man Grouard (1850-1905) was captured by the Sioux and spent six years among them, learning their language and customs. After leaving the Sioux he hired on with Crook in 1876, serving as a scout and interpreter. He was a major participant in the Rosebud campaign, and saw action in the Battle of the Rosebud, on the Big Horn and Yellowstone Expeditions, and at the Battle of Slim Buttes. He was assigned to the Pine Ridge Reservation during the Ghost Dance uprising and was present at the Wounded Knee fiasco (Thrapp 1988: 593).

Provenance: The Mike Butler Collection of Western Photography.