American Historical Ephemera & Early Photography Online

Approximately 18 documents, spanning 1910-1922, associated with attorney Daniel B. Henderson and his legal representation of various bands of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribal nations. Highlights include the following:

Autograph letter signed by David W.[?] Zephier (possibly David W. Recountre Zephier, Sr., 1856-1934, Yankton Sioux), to Daniel B. Henderson. Ravinia, South Dakota. 5 June 1918. 3pp, 8 x 10 in. Zephier writes to Henderson regarding an upcoming tribal council and their poor treatment at the hands of the U.S. Indian Service: "...I am requested to write to you by the full Blood Indians of the Rosebud & Pine Ridge Reservation to tell you that these unEducated Indians are going hold a big Council at White River on the 25 of this month...the Supt. of all agencys have orders not allow the Indians to Hold Councils unless they get Permission from Cato Sells [Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1913-1921] but we are going try and Hold this Council with out his Permission. Poor Indians they are treated like slaves by these Supt with the Indian Police its out Rage how these people are treated by the Indian officer they scare them...but Mr. Sells cant scare me one bit...."

Correspondence between Henderson and various members of the Assiniboine and Sioux tribes at Wolf Point Agency, Montana. Includes letters signed (some with a "mark") by Isaac H. Blount, Growing Four Times, and Henry Archdale. Letters relate to tribal business and meetings in DC. -- Letter from the Superintendent, Department of Indian Affairs, to Growing Four Times, granting authority for him and two others to go to DC to "lay your complaints in regard to the treaty of Fort Laramie of September 17th 1851 before the Honorable Commissioner...." Fort Peck Agency, 7 January 1910. -- Group of 5 affidavits related to allotments issued to the family of Sisseton Sioux William Laidlaw (Redbreast), 1911. -- Documents and letters related to Assiniboine Indians rejected by the enrolling commission for allotment in the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. including a 9pp statement from August Moccasin of Lodge Pole, Montana.

Daniel Brosius Henderson, Sr. (1862-1940) spent the bulk of his career litigating on behalf of America's Native peoples. His work centered in large part on the legal aftermath of the Dawes Act, allotments, and evaluation of treaties and Native American rights. He was born in Hancock, Maryland, attended the University of Virginia, and by the late 1800s had established a law practice in Kansas City, Missouri. After more than a decade in Missouri, Henderson and his growing family returned to Virginia in 1901. It was in Washington, DC, where the young lawyer would distinguish himself as a prominent attorney with a specialization in Indian claims litigation. Over the course of a decades long career, he represented the claims of multiple tribes in disputes against the US government.