Guide to the John Young papers COLLECTION CLOSED, 1859-1903

(bulk 1876-1890)

John Hay Library, Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	John Young papers COLLECTION CLOSED
Date range:	1859-1903, (bulk 1876-1890)
Creator:	Young, John, Indian agent
Extent:	1.5 Linear feet
Abstract:	COLLECTION CLOSED. These papers contain personal correspondence, business papers, writings by John Young and his daughter Harriet, maps and hand drawn diagrams of the Blackfeet Agency and its surroundings in the Montana Territory. The personal correspondence from 1876 to 1884 provides firsthand accounts of life on the reservation during a crucial time in the tribe's history.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library, Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2007.030

Scope & content

COLLECTION CLOSED

This collection is unavailable for viewing, research, display, imaging, teaching and circulation. It is pending review by the appropriate Indigenous community or communities to determine if it contains culturally sensitive information. For additional information please contact hay@brown.edu.

The John Young papers contain personal correspondence, business papers, writings, maps and drawings dated from 1859 to 1903. The bulk of the material consists of personal and business correspondence written between 1876 and 1890. The correspondence from 1876 to 1884 provides firsthand accounts of life on the Blackfeet reservation in Montana Territory during a crucial time in the tribe's history.

Most of the personal correspondence was written by John Young and his daughters Annie, Lucie and Harriet when they were at the Blackfeet Agency. The majority of the letters are to his wife Susan in Brooklyn and to his daughter Martha. They cover a wide variety of topics, including daily life at the Agency, the difficulty of finding and keeping competent staff, the problems involved in getting supplies delivered and distributed, the culture of the tribes living on the reservation and their relations with the Army, the school at the Agency, relations with the local Catholic missionaries, and the growing food shortages due to the destruction of the buffalo herds and budget cuts in Washington, D.C.

The business papers are all directly related to John Young's role as agent. Most of the correspondence concerns two disputes with the Office of Indian Affairs. The first dispute concerned whether $866.09 had been expended in the correct fiscal year. The second, which lasted six years, concerned its claim that when he left office Agent Young had not properly accounted for property valued at $1486.10.

The writings in these papers are by John Young and his daughter Harriet. The essay concerning White Calf is unsigned but may have been written by Harriet. The writings by John include his retelling of firsthand accounts of the aftermath of the Baker Massacre, the Piegan's story of the origin of the Blackfoot name, his first meeting with Chief White Calf and the events that led to the food shortages on the reservation in the early 1880s. Harriet's essay is a sympathetic description of what life was like for the Piegans on the reservation. In it she mentions the Brooklyn Woman's Indian Association.

The final series contains maps of the western United States and the reservation. The drawings are of the Agency buildings and the land immediately surrounding it.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Ford, Edward L., 1844-1880
• Ford, Lucenia Young, 1848-
• Young, Anna E., ca. 1843-
• Young, Harriet, 1853-
• Young, John W., 1856-
• Young, John, Indian Agent
• Young, Martha, ca. 1840-

Subject Organizations

• Blackfeet Indian Reservation (Mont.)
• United States--Office of Indian Affairs--Blackfeet Agency--History--Sources

Subject Topics

• Famines--Montana--History--19th century
• Indians of North America--Government relations--Montana
• Kainah Indians--History
• Massacres--Montana--History--19th century
• Massacres--West (U.S.)--History--19th century
• Piegan Indians--History--19th century
• Piegan Indians--Social conditions--19th century
• Siksika Indians--Education--Montana
• Siksika Indians--Government relations
• Siksika Indians--History--19th century

Document Types

• Bank statements
• Business letters
• Certificates
• Circular letters
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Manuscripts
• Maps
• Newspaper clippings
• Postcards
• Receipts (Financial records)
• Scale drawings
• Summonses
• Vouchers

Subject Topics

• Race, Ethnicity and Gender

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• Series 1. Personal correspondence
• Series 2. Business papers
• Series 3. Writings
• Series 4. Maps and drawings
• Series 5. Microfilm

The collection is housed in two boxes. Box 2XX contains oversize material from Series 2. Business papers and Series 4. Maps and drawings.

Biographical note

COLLECTION CLOSED

This collection is unavailable for viewing, research, display, imaging, teaching and circulation. It is pending review by the appropriate Indigenous community or communities to determine if it contains culturally sensitive information. For additional information please contact hay@brown.edu.

John Young was born on August 22, in or around 1809, in Ireland. In one of his letters he describes a visiting Catholic priest as a "fellow Fermanagh man", so he was probably from County Fermanagh, one of the six counties which now form Northern Ireland. His wife Susan was also born in Ireland, on October 16, in or around 1813, as were their three eldest children: James E. (1837), Martha B. (born about 1840), and Anna E. (born about 1843). The younger children were born in New York after the family had immigrated to Brooklyn: Lucenia T. (1848), Elizabeth (1850), Harriet J. (1853) and John W. (1856).

Although John Young is described as a Methodist minister in some of the literature, there is nothing in these papers to indicate that he was ever ordained. An article in The Christian Advocate, a Methodist newspaper, refers to him as "Mr." John Young, not as "Reverend" ( The Christian Advocate, October 27, 1881, p.6). In addition, the Census Schedules for 1860 and 1870 list his occupation as merchant and linen importer, respectively. John and his wife were both members of the Pacific Street Methodist Episcopal Church in Brooklyn at the time he left for the Blackfeet Agency in Montana Territory in 1876.

The largest Blackfoot tribe living in Montana were the South Piegan (Pikuni), one of the four tribes that comprised the Blackfoot Confederacy. The North Piegan, Kainah (Blood) and Siksika (Blackfoot or Northern Blackfoot) lived primarily in Canada. The tribes were politically independent but shared the same language and customs. Intermarriage and travel across the United States-Canadian border were common. They supported themselves by hunting buffalo and trading robes and hides and were among the most prosperous tribes on the northern plains.

On January 23, 1870, U.S. Cavalry led by Major E.M. Baker attacked and killed at least one hundred and seventy-three friendly Piegans led by Chief Heavy Runner as they were camped along the Marias River in Montana Territory. Most of those killed were women, children and elderly men. After this event, known as the Baker Massacre or Marias River Massacre, the Piegans made peace with the United States government.

In 1873 President Grant created the reservation to which Young would report. As part of Grant's "Peace Policy" toward the Indians each reservation was assigned to a religious denomination which was then responsible for recommending its agent and undertaking missionary work there to "Christianize and civilize" the Indians. The Methodist Episcopal Church was given charge of the Blackfeet reservation in Montana.

John Young was asked to offer his services to the Office of Indian Affairs by a longtime friend and business acquaintance, who was a personal friend of President Grant. The Methodist Mission Board recommended Young for the job of agent and his appointment was confirmed by letter on October 27, 1876. Young accepted the post with some trepidation. In addition to having known only city life, the prospect of a long separation from his family was daunting, as evident in his letters to his wife.

Agent Young left for Montana on November 22, 1876 and arrived at the Blackfeet Agency on Badger Creek on December 14, barely six months after the Battle of the Little Bighorn and almost seven years after the Baker Massacre. He was accompanied by his son John, who would serve as his clerk. His daughters Annie and Lucie, the latter accompanied by her two young children, arrived the following summer to teach at the Agency school. Lucie was replaced by her sister Harriet in October of 1879.

During his eight year tenure as Agent to the Blackfeet, Young supervised the construction of a new Agency compound along Badger Creek. Annuities were distributed, crops and gardens were planted, cattle were purchased and a boarding school and Sunday school were established. Although his role as agent was to encourage the Piegan to give up their lives as nomadic buffalo hunters and adopt white men's ways, he was also pleased that his daughters were learning the Piegan language and had the opportunity to observe their ceremonies.

Young's time on the reservation, however, was not without incident. His opposition to government efforts to reduce the size of the reservation and allow white ranchers access to its grazing lands earned him the enmity of local cattlemen, who mounted an unsuccessful campaign to have him removed from office. Young also opposed the transfer of the Office of Indian Affairs from the Department of the Interior to the War Department. In addition, there was some conflict with the local Catholic missionaries in 1880 when one of them, Father Imoda, removed three boys from the Agency school to St. Peter's Mission school, which was not on the reservation.

Agent Young had intended to serve only one four year term, but adverse conditions on the reservation impelled him to stay. By 1881 the destruction of the buffalo herds had caused more and more of the Piegans to depend on government rations for their support. At the same time, funds for food supplies were being substantially reduced by Congress. In the fall of 1881 Young asked for forty days leave to travel to Washington, D.C., offering to go at his own expense if necessary, to lobby for an increase in the appropriation for the reservation. The request was granted and Young's mission was successful in getting $15,000 restored to the budget for that year. He was also persuaded by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to remain at his post. In September of 1883 however, after his protests against declining supplies and further reductions in the Agency budget were ignored, Young resigned and requested the appointment of his successor. The new agent, R.A. Allen, did not arrive until mid-March the following year.

The winter of 1883-1884 was an especially trying time on the Blackfeet reservation as rations ran short. Newspaper accounts indicate that the dire conditions there continued into the winter of 1885. Tragically, nearly six hundred people on the reservation starved to death. The once prosperous tribe was now destitute and completely dependent upon government rations for their survival.

Agent Young's last official day in office was April 1,1884. He returned to his family in Brooklyn and was welcomed home with a public reception at the Pacific Street Church ( The Christian Advocate May 8, 1884). However, in September of that year the Office of Indian Affairs claimed that Young owed them $1486.10, the value of property it said was not properly accounted for at the Blackfeet Agency when Young left. Young fought the government's claim for six years. In November of 1890 a jury in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York decided in Young's favor on all but two counts, on which they awarded the government only nominal damages of $0.12, $0.06 on each count. (United States v. Young, 44F.168, 1890 U.S. App.) Despite the settlement of the property claim, it is not known whether the government ever paid Young his salary for the first quarter of 1884.

John Young and his daughter Harriet continued to be concerned with issues affecting the Blackfeet, as is evident from their writings. Young's unfinished manuscript 8 Years with the Blackfeet was written in 1894, when he was eighty-five. It is not known when Young passed away.

Biographical outline

ca. 1809 Aug 22

Birth of John Young in Ireland.

ca. 1813 Oct 16

Birth of Susan Young, John’s wife.

1870 Jan 23

Chief Heavy Runner's band is massacred by troops led by Maj.(Brevet Colonel) E.M. Baker.

1873 Jul 5

President Grant creates the reservation by executive order.

1874 Apr 15

Congress reduces the size of the reservation, moving the boundary north from the Teton River to the Birch Creek-Marias River line.

1875 Jun 4

The Blackfeet Agency is moved from the Teton River location to Badger Creek. This is the first Agency built within the new reservation boundaries.

1876 Jun 25-26

Battle of the Little Bighorn

1876 Dec 14

John Young arrives at the Blackfeet Agency with his son John, who will serve as his clerk.

1877 Jul 21

Annie Young and Lucie Young Ford, accompanied by her two young children, arrive at the Agency. Annie and Lucie will teach at the Agency school.

1877 Dec

Lucie's husband Edward Ford arrives at the Agency.

1877 Aug

John W. Young leaves his job as clerk.

1878 Nov 20-Dec 10

John Young travels to Washington, D.C. to speak against moving the Office of Indian Affairs from the Interior Department to the War Department.

1879 July

The Agency is moved to a new location about ten miles east on Badger Creek. Today this location is known as "The Old Agency".

1879 Aug

Annie Young and the Ford family return to New York.

1879 Oct

Annie returns to the Agency with her sister Harriet, who will teach at the school.

1879-1880 Winter

The Piegan's last successful buffalo hunt.

1881 Sep-Oct

John Young travels to Washington, D.C. to protest cuts in funds for food supplies.

1883 Jan

A boarding school is opened at the Agency.

1883 Sep

John Young resigns as Agent after receiving word that no further funds will be appropriated for food supplies.

1884 Mar 16

R.A. Allen and his clerk arrive to relieve Agent Young.

1884 Apr

John Young leaves Montana Territory and returns to Brooklyn.

1886 Jan 9

John Young is sued for $1486.10, the value of property the government claimed was not properly accounted for when he left the Agency.

1890 Nov 18

A jury in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for New York finds in favor of John Young on all but two counts, for which it awarded the government only nominal damages of $0.12, $0.06 for each count.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	COLLECTION CLOSED
Use of the materials:
Alternate form:	This collection has been microfilmed.
Preferred citation:	John Young papers, Ms. 2007.030, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The John Young papers were donated to the John Hay Library in 1996 by Norman C. Alt, class of 1963.
Accruals:	No further materials are anticipated for this collection.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Mary A. Harrison.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-11-19

Additional Information

Related material:	Related collections at other institutions include: Charles H. Stephens collection, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. Piegan Collection. Denver Federal Archives and Records Center, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793-1989. Blackfeet Agency. Lucy Young Ford letter, 8 August 1877, Collection 2432, Montana State University LibrariesMuseum of the Plains Indians, Browning, Mont.
Location/Existence of copies:	This collection has been microfilmed.
Bibliography:	Ewers, John Canfield The Blackfeet: Raiders on the Northwestern Plains. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1958. Harrod, Howard L. Mission among the Blackfeet. Norman : University of Oklahoma Press, 1971. Harrod, Howard L. "The Blackfeet and the Divine Establishment", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, v.22, no.1 (Winter 1972): 42-51. Hutton, Paul A. "Phil Sheridan's Pyrric Victory: The Piegan Massacre, Army Politics, and the Transfer Debate", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, v.32, no.2 (Spring 1982): 32-43. Samek, Hana The Blackfoot Confederacy, 1880-1920: A Comparative Study of Canadian and U.S. Indian Policy. Albuquerque : University of New Mexico Press, 1987. Schoenberg, Wilfred P., S.J. "Historic St. Peter's Mission: Landmark of the Jesuits and the Ursulines among the Blackfeet", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, v.11, no.1 (Winter 1961): 68-85. Sharp, Paul F. "Blackfeet of the Border: One People Divided", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, v.20, no.1 (Winter 1970): 2-15. West, Helen B. "Starvation Winter of the Blackfeet", Montana: The Magazine of Western History, v.9, no.1 (Winter 1958): 2-19.
Other information:	Brown University Library catalog record for this collection: John Young papers

Inventory

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COLLECTION CLOSED

This collection is unavailable for viewing, research, display, imaging, teaching and circulation. It is pending review by the appropriate Indigenous community or communities to determine if it contains culturally sensitive information. For additional information please contact hay@brown.edu.