John Young papers COLLECTION CLOSED (Ms.2007.030)

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.