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Blanket fragment

Titles: Blanket fragment (Supplied title)

Description: A fragment of a red cloth blanket removed from a Native American burial site in Minneapolis in 1867. This fragment was donated to the museum in 1945 in an envelope that reads: "Minneapolis May 24/[18]67 / Mr Macomber / Dear Sir / Please find enclosed a piece of the Blanket found on the Indian found buried in Minneapolis as described in this Clip [no clipping included at time of donation] / I send it as a curiosity to your association / Yours Truly / Chas. F Longfellow". The addressee (Mr. Macomber) is likely J. Franklin Macomber, a member of the Minnesota Territorial Pioneers Association of Hennepin County.

Dates

  • Not earlier than 1809 - Not later than 1867 (Use)

Identifiers

  • Accession Number: 8482.2

Restrictions

  • Through curatorial review and/or additional consultation with American Indian elders, spiritual leaders, tribal officers or lineal descendants, this item has been determined to be culturally sensitive. As advised by the Minnesota Historical Society Indian Advisory Committee on April 20, 2012, the Minnesota Historical Society will not display images of culturally sensitive items on the public database.

Notes

  • An article in the May 24, 1867 Minneapolis Chronicle's Local Matters section entitled "Lo the Poor Indian / The Remains of an Indian Chief Found in Minneapolis" summarizes the discovery of a grave on May 23, 1867 in Minneapolis "on the highest point of land that overlooks the Falls" on land "Mr. Northrup cultivated". It mentions First Street and the property of Mr. Anson Northrup, who in 1853 owned a home on First Street near Fourth Avenue South (see "A Half Century of Minneapolis" by Horace B. Hudson). Items found with the body included a hat, blanket, and leggings, an 1809 Madison peace medal, stone pipes, and a knife. The "medal was purchased by R. B. Langdon, Esq., for ten dollars" and the skull was "in the possession of Charlie McCollom, an enterprising medical student of this city." The article also asserts that "the blanket was of English manufacture". No additional items from this grave appear to have come into the Minnesota Historical Society's Collection.

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

  • Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

  • 4 1/2 inches length
  • 3 3/8 inches width

Subjects

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