Remarkable quarter plate tintype of American Indian chief identified as Yehtiinwic, or Poor Crane (ca 1814-1891), whose name indicates that he was Cayuse, although it has also been suggested that he was Umatilla. Poor Crane's frontier nickname was Cutmouth John, which he acquired in the spring of 1850 during an intra-Cayuse battle when the murderers of the Whitman family were captured, then delivered to Oregon authorities, who summarily hanged them. The Whitman massacre occurred in 1847, when U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and eleven others were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. Following the Whitman massacre, Poor Crane acted as an Indian Scout for several figures, including Washington Governor Isaac I. Stevens and various military officers assigned to the area, such as Philip Sheridan. Poor Crane was prominently involved in the events of 1855-1859, including the Yakima Indian War. In the tintype studio portrait, Poor Crane wears what looks to be a red wool shirt accented with brass buttons and covered with brass armbands. He also wears wool leggings decorated with strips of pony beadwork and fringed with tan ermine skins, plus beaded moccasins. A flintlock Dragoon pistol lays across Poor Crane's lap, protected by a beaded case. The brass butt-ferule of the pistol grip has been carefully accented with gilt. The context and care devoted to this portrait suggests that it was possibly made for one of the officers whom Poor Crane had served. It has also been suggested that this portrait was made ca 1878-1879, at the conclusion of the Bannock War, following the death of Paiute Chief Egan, whom Poor Crane is known to have killed. A standing portrait of Poor Crane from the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections depicts Poor Crane with a scalp hanging from his tomahawk haft, the scalp identified as that of Chief Egan. Although the library dates the standing portrait to ca 1865, it has been suggested that the portrait was taken around the same time as the seated portrait of Poor Crane. It has been discovered that Poor Crane was one of the best-documented individuals in Plateau history, and one of the earliest references to Poor Crane was made in 1839 by a wandering lawyer named Thomas Jefferson Farnham. In Travels in the Great Western Prairies, Farnham recalled: The "poor crane" was an honest, honourable man; and I can never think of all his kind acts to me, from the time I met him in the plains beyond the Wallawalla mission, till I left him sick on the bank of the Columbia, without wishing an opportunity to testify my sense of his moral worth and goodness of heart in some way which shall yield him a substantial reward for all he suffered in my service. In 1855, Poor Crane was the scout who guided Washington Territory Governor Isaac I. Stevens' party to the council grounds at Walla Walla, where the treaty of 1855 was negotiated and signed. Three years later, during the early months of the Yakima War of 1858, Poor Crane scouted for the young Philip Sheridan, and from that same period, the following description of Poor Crane, referred to as Cutmouth John, was written by Lieutenant Lawrence Kip in Army Life on the Pacific: A Journal: We reached Fort Walla Walla July 19th [1858], after a march of twelve and a half days. The fort is almost on the ground of the Walla Walla council which I attended three years ago, where these tribes we are now to fight [Coeur d'Alene, Spokan & Palouse] were all represented and their great leader, Kamiahkin, was himself present. It is in a beautiful spot of the Walla Walla valley, well wooded and with plenty of water. At this post are stationed four companies of the First Dragoons and two of the Ninth Infantry... One of the first persons who came into camp to see us was a Cayuse Indian, Cutmouth John, who was Lieutenant Gracie's guide through this country three years ago, when I accompanied him on his march with a detachment of the Fourth Infantry, to act as an
Remarkable quarter plate tintype of American Indian chief identified as Yehtiinwic, or Poor Crane (ca 1814-1891), whose name indicates that he was Cayuse, although it has also been suggested that he was Umatilla. Poor Crane's frontier nickname was Cutmouth John, which he acquired in the spring of 1850 during an intra-Cayuse battle when the murderers of the Whitman family were captured, then delivered to Oregon authorities, who summarily hanged them. The Whitman massacre occurred in 1847, when U.S. missionaries Dr. Marcus Whitman, his wife Narcissa, and eleven others were killed by Cayuse and Umatilla Indians. Following the Whitman massacre, Poor Crane acted as an Indian Scout for several figures, including Washington Governor Isaac I. Stevens and various military officers assigned to the area, such as Philip Sheridan. Poor Crane was prominently involved in the events of 1855-1859, including the Yakima Indian War. In the tintype studio portrait, Poor Crane wears what looks to be a red wool shirt accented with brass buttons and covered with brass armbands. He also wears wool leggings decorated with strips of pony beadwork and fringed with tan ermine skins, plus beaded moccasins. A flintlock Dragoon pistol lays across Poor Crane's lap, protected by a beaded case. The brass butt-ferule of the pistol grip has been carefully accented with gilt. The context and care devoted to this portrait suggests that it was possibly made for one of the officers whom Poor Crane had served. It has also been suggested that this portrait was made ca 1878-1879, at the conclusion of the Bannock War, following the death of Paiute Chief Egan, whom Poor Crane is known to have killed. A standing portrait of Poor Crane from the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections depicts Poor Crane with a scalp hanging from his tomahawk haft, the scalp identified as that of Chief Egan. Although the library dates the standing portrait to ca 1865, it has been suggested that the portrait was taken around the same time as the seated portrait of Poor Crane. It has been discovered that Poor Crane was one of the best-documented individuals in Plateau history, and one of the earliest references to Poor Crane was made in 1839 by a wandering lawyer named Thomas Jefferson Farnham. In Travels in the Great Western Prairies, Farnham recalled: The "poor crane" was an honest, honourable man; and I can never think of all his kind acts to me, from the time I met him in the plains beyond the Wallawalla mission, till I left him sick on the bank of the Columbia, without wishing an opportunity to testify my sense of his moral worth and goodness of heart in some way which shall yield him a substantial reward for all he suffered in my service. In 1855, Poor Crane was the scout who guided Washington Territory Governor Isaac I. Stevens' party to the council grounds at Walla Walla, where the treaty of 1855 was negotiated and signed. Three years later, during the early months of the Yakima War of 1858, Poor Crane scouted for the young Philip Sheridan, and from that same period, the following description of Poor Crane, referred to as Cutmouth John, was written by Lieutenant Lawrence Kip in Army Life on the Pacific: A Journal: We reached Fort Walla Walla July 19th [1858], after a march of twelve and a half days. The fort is almost on the ground of the Walla Walla council which I attended three years ago, where these tribes we are now to fight [Coeur d'Alene, Spokan & Palouse] were all represented and their great leader, Kamiahkin, was himself present. It is in a beautiful spot of the Walla Walla valley, well wooded and with plenty of water. At this post are stationed four companies of the First Dragoons and two of the Ninth Infantry... One of the first persons who came into camp to see us was a Cayuse Indian, Cutmouth John, who was Lieutenant Gracie's guide through this country three years ago, when I accompanied him on his march with a detachment of the Fourth Infantry, to act as an
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