John Stands In Timber

Background

John Stands In Timber was born in 1882 in Birney, Montana, United States. His grandfather was Lame White Man, a Southern Cheyenne chief who was killed at the Little Bighorn in 1876.

Education

John Stands In Timber received his education at the Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University), an industrial training school for Indians in Lawrence, Kansas.

Career

After graduating from the Haskell Institute (now Haskell Indian Nations University), John Stands In Timber returned to Montana where he first worked as a maintenance man at a school in Busby and a cowboy. He became active in tribal governance at the Northern Cheyenne reservation and eventually became a historian of the tribe.

In 1955 he met Margot Liberty, a schoolteacher who was also pursing graduate work in anthropology. She began interviewing Stands In Timber in 1956, continuing until 1959, covering mostly topics dealing with tribal history. The tapes Liberty used to record the interviews were erased after she had transcribed them and only a few survived.

In 1967, the same year Stands In Timber died, Liberty published an edited version of selected interview transcriptions "Cheyenne Memories".

Achievements

• John Stands in Timber was well-known for his autobiography "Cheyenne Memories", published by Margot Liberty the same year Stands in Timber passed away.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Cheyenne Memories 1967

Connections

Grandfather:

Lame White Man

Lame White Man was a Cheyenne battle chief who fought at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, June 25, 1876, and was killed there. He was the only Cheyenne chief to die in the battle. His grandson John Stands In Timber was born after his death.

colleague:

Margot Liberty

References

• Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Volume 154