Logan Fontenelle

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Logan Fontenelle
Logan Fontenelle
In office
1853 – 1855
Preceded by Big Elk (younger)
Succeeded by Iron Eye
Born  ? 1825
Fort Atkinson
Died July 16, 1855
Boone County, Nebraska
Residence Nebraska Territory
Profession Chief, translator
Religion Omaha

Logan Fontenelle, also known as Shon-ga-ska or Chief White Horse, (1825–July 16, 1855), was a mixed blood Omaha tribal leader who rose from obscurity to become chief. He was largely responsible for securing the land where white settlers founded Bellevue, Nebraska; eventually he became one of the seven chiefs who ceded 4,000,000 acres (16,000 km²) of Omaha land to the United States in 1854. For several years, he also served as an interpreter for the United States government.[1] Some regarded Logan Fontenelle as the "last great chief" of the Omaha.[2]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Logan Fontenelle was born at Fort Atkinson in 1825.[3] He was a son of noted French trapper Lucien Fontenelle and Me-um-bane, who was a daughter of the Omaha chief Big Elk. He was educated in Saint Louis. In 1839, his family went to Point aux Poules, a fur trading post on the Missouri River in what would later become Sarpy County, Nebraska; his father died later that year. After that point, Logan began serving as an interpreter for the Omaha and for the United States government.[4]

Fontenelle was present in August 1846 when the Omahas signed a treaty with Brigham Young allowing the Mormon pioneers to create a settlement on Omaha territorial lands.[5]

Fontenelle was elected principal chief of the tribe in 1853 when the United States was urging the Omahas to relinquish their land. In that role he negotiated the Treaty of 1854, selling nearly all of the Omaha land to the government except for the land comprising present-day Thurston County, where a reservation was established.[6] Fontenelle was respected by members of his tribe and by the whites. While he maintained absolute control over the Omaha, he promoted education and agriculture.

In 1855 Logan Fontenelle was killed when a band of Brulé and Arapaho attacked him while leading a hunt along Beaver Creek in present-day Boone County, Nebraska.[7] [8] During this trip he was accompanied by Joseph LaFlesche.[9] While Fontenelle was still alive there was a dispute as to whether Fontenelle was the principal chief of the Omaha. However, immediately after his death LaFlesche was assigned principal, re-affirming that Fontenelle was principal chief while he was alive.[10]

[edit] Legacy

Many Nebraska landmarks have been named to honor for Logan Fontenelle. In the early days of Nebraska trappers called their fort in the present-day area of Bellevue, Nebraska Fontenelle's Post. Current tributes include Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue, and a number of parks, schools, streets, and public housing in eastern Nebraska.[11] Fontenelle Boulevard in Omaha was designed to take drivers to the town of Fontenelle, Nebraska in Washington County. The town was named for Fontenelle after he led a party of white settlers from Illinois to that town's location on a scouting party for land.[12] There is also a monument to Logan Fontenelle in Petersburg, Nebraska marking the location of his death.[13] Hotel Fontenelle was once a grand hotel in Omaha, while Logan Fontenelle Housing Project provided public housing in Omaha for almost 70 years. The Fontenelle Elementary School in Omaha and the Logan Fontenelle Middle School in Bellevue are both tributes, as well.

Preceded by
Big Elk (younger)		 Leading chief of the Omaha tribe
1853-1855		 Succeeded by
Iron Eye

[edit] References

  1. ^ Rea, L. (nd) Education Timeline. Douglas County Historical Society. Retrieved 6/22/07.
  2. ^ (nd) Blackbird County. Andreas' History of Nebraska. Retrieved 6/21/07.
  3. ^ Morton, J.S. and Watkins, A. "Chapter 2: Aboriginal Inhabitants." History of Nebraska; From the Earliest Explorations of the Trans-Mississippi Region. Lincoln, NE: Western Publishing and Engraving Company. p. 32.
  4. ^ (nd) Logan Fontenelle. Nebraska Department of Education. Retrieved 6/22/07.
  5. ^ Boughter, J. (nd) Betraying the Omaha Nation, 1790-1916. p. 49.
  6. ^ (nd) Logan Fontenelle. Nebraska Department of Education. Retrieved 6/22/07.
  7. ^ Hyde, G. (1988) The Pawnee Indians (Civilization of the American Indian Series). University of Oklahoma Press. p. 242.
  8. ^ (nd) Logan Fontenelle. Nebraska State Historical Society. Retrieved 6/22/07.
  9. ^ (nd) "The Death of Logan Fontenelle." Andreas' History of Nebraska. Retrieved 6/21/07.
  10. ^ Tong, B. and Hastings, D. (1999) Susan LA Flesche Picotte, Md.: Omaha Indian Leader and Reformer. University of Oklahoma Press. p.13.
  11. ^ (2007) The Drum. Special Edition/May 2007. Retrieved 6/22/07.
  12. ^ (nd) "The Death of Logan Fontenelle." Andreas' History of Nebraska. Retrieved 6/21/07.
  13. ^ (nd) Petersburg, Nebraska. City website. Retrieved 6/22/07.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Barak, A. (2000) The Mongrel: A Story of Logan Fontenelle of the Omaha Indians. iUniverse.
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