Alienists Were Considered Experts
Alienists became more important as experts to draw on after psychiatry became more established.
Dr. William A. White, for many years the superintendent of the federal government’s first hospital for the insane, St. Elizabeths, was an especially important figure.
His book, Outlines of Psychiatry, became a classic in its field and was used as a textbook for many years. Continue reading
Print of Assassination Attempt, which appeared in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, July 16, 1881, courtesy Library of Congress
Charles Julius Guiteau shot President James Garfield at the Pennsylvania railroad station in Washington, DC on July 2, 1881. He did not try to escape and was apprehended on the spot; when the president died twelve weeks later, Guiteau went on trial for his murder. The public was fascinated and the trial became something of a media circus, with Guiteau’s behavior as avidly reported as the points made by the attorneys for the prosecution and defense. Continue reading
President William McKinley, courtesy Library of Congress
Theodore Roosevelt’s public life soared after the Spanish-American War, but the president in office during that war suffered tragedy before his term ended.
An anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, shot President McKinley at the Pan American Exposition on September 6, 1901.
McKinley died of his wounds on the 14th, and Roosevelt took office. Continue reading
Roosevelt and Rough Riders, 1898, courtesy Library of Congress
Theodore Roosevelt held an important position–assistant secretary of the Navy–before the Spanish-American War, but his dashing exploits with the Rough Riders gave him an aura of adventure and excitement which no government position could impart (see last two posts). His citation for the Medal of Honor encapsulates the drama associated with his exploits: “
After the war was over, Roosevelt accepted the Republican candidacy for governor of New York. He won the office, and served its two-year term before accepting the vice-presidential nomination. He became president upon the death of William McKinley, and then served another four-year term after winning the 1904 election. In 1906, two years into his term of office, Roosevelt was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work surrounding the Treaty of Portsmouth, which ended the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt was a passionate conservationist; during his presidency, he created the U.S. Forest Service and established 51 Federal Bird Reservations, four National Game Preserves, 150 National Forests, and five National Parks.
Teddy Roosevelt with John Muir at Glacier Point, Yosemite, courtesy Library of Congress
Teddy Roosevelt with John Burroughs, courtesy Library of Congress
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Lt. Colonel Theordore Roosevelt
When hostilities began between Spain and the U.S. concerning Cuba’s independence (see last post), the U.S. did not have a large standing army. Many men volunteered their services in the subsequent Spanish-American War, but most were not well-trained enough to be allowed into combat. One unit did have sufficient training and expertise: the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, or Rough Riders, recruited by then-Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt resigned his position to volunteer in this company, and originally envisioned it filled with men from the Indian Territory. Instead, the unit filled with a whole range of eager men from such diverse backgrounds as Ivy League athletes, glee-club singers, and Texas Rangers. Native Americans also joined the Rough Riders.
William Pollock (Tay-loo-wah-ah), a Pawnee, joined the Rough Riders and earned Theodore Roosevelt’s highest regards. Pollack fought in the battles of Las Guasimas, San Juan Hill, and Santiago with distinction, and Roosevelt said, “Among the men I noticed leading the charges and always nearest the enemy were Pawnee Pollock, Simpson of Texas, and Dudley Dean.” Pollack did not live long after the war; he died in 1899 and was buried with military honors in an Oklahoma Pawnee cemetery.
William Pollock, Rough Rider, from Theodore Roosevelt's book, The Rough Riders
A Group of Rough Riders in Camp, courtesy Library of Congress
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Secretary of State, John Hay
The end of the nineteenth century brought about the beginning of the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians. Indian agent Peter Couchman had suggested a separate facility for Indian patients in 1897, Senator Richard Pettigrew had endorsed the suggestion, and the Indian Bureau had cooperated in forwarding his cause.
The asylum, however, was a relatively minor matter for most of the country’s population, who focused, instead, on the Spanish-American War. Continue reading
Richard F. Pettigrew, courtesy University of Minnesota Law Library
Senator Richard Pettigrew wanted a federal insane asylum for Indians placed in South Dakota, the state he represented. Via the Committee on Indian Affairs, he pushed for information that would justify his project. The committee sent a query to Indian agents on reservations, asking among other things, how many insane Indians were in their jurisdiction, and what facilities or programs they had for dealing with insanity if it occurred. The forty agents who responded were somewhat disheartening (see last post), since most had only one or two insane Indians–if any–on the reservations they supervised, and most did not seem to require any special care. However, Pettigrew could make his point with the next part of the questionnaire, concerning facilities for helping or caring for insane Indians on reservations. Most replies were similar:
“We have no special course of treatment for mentally diseased Indians. When they become violent we place them in charge of the Indian police until such time as they can be transferred to an asylum for treatment.” Chas. E.McChesny
“We have no special course of treatment for mentally diseased Indians.” John W. Cramer
“As we have no hospital to keep insane in, we are unable to give any special treatment to this class of cases.” J. R. Finney, agency physician on behalf of agent Thomas Richards
“They are cared for by their relatives.” Robert M. Allen
One agent’s reply is representative of several others: “Have never known of an insane Indian. There is no necessity for such (special course of treatment for insane Indians) on this reservation.” H. B. Freeman
Senator Pettigrew at least had the satisfaction of proving that reservations had no facilities or programs to care for Indians who became insane. His real challenge was to convince Congress to build an asylum for the exclusive use of the fifty to sixty Indians who might need its services.
Dr. W. P. Whitted Examines the Eyes of a Trachoma Patient, 1941, courtesy National Archives
Members of the Three Affiliated Tribes on the Banks of the Missouri River
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Utes, Indian Agent and Others at Ft. Duchesne in 1886, courtesy U.S. Signal Corps
In 1898, forty Indian agents answered an inquiry from the Committee on Indian Affairs concerning the presence of insane Indians within their areas of supervision. Among all forty agents, they found only fifty-five insane Indians and perhaps fifteen to twenty who were “idiotic.” The agents’ replies were very similar:
“I would state that there is now but one insane Indian on this reservation. We have, however, two Indians from this reserve now inmates of the Government Asylum for the Insane at Washington, D. C. I do not think that insanity is any more common among Indians than among whites.” Chas. E. McChesney
“There is only one hopelessly insane Indian on this reservation at present time. One died last winter. There are others more or less weak-minded, but they are not so insane that they can not be cared for in some way by their relatives or Indian friends.” J. W. Watson
“I have about 8,000 Indians under this agency; there is no insanity among them.” J. Roe Young
“I have to advise you that there are 1,283 Indians under my charge at this agency, none of whom are insane, and it is my observation that this affliction is much less common among the Indians than whites.” Luke C. Hays
Senator Pettigrew (who pushed for an Indian insane asylum) was not getting the overwhelming numbers he doubtlessly desired, but he would have been pleased by the agents’ answers to another question that had been put to them. My next post will discuss the latter.
J. George Wright, Indian Agent at Rosebud Reservation, 1889, courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society
Shiprock Agency Building, New Mexico, circa 1908, courtesy Library of Congress
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Richard F. Pettigrew, courtesy University of Minnesota Law Library
Insanity did not seem to be rampant among the Indian population at any time since Europeans came to the continent (see last two posts). An asylum especially for insane Indians was difficult to justify, except for the fact that it would save Indian patients from racial prejudice at community hospitals and would shelter them from being around white patients who might cause them to remember past bad experiences with whites. Even those who felt these two reasons justified an asylum never spoke to the irony of having a white staff managing Indian patients, however.
Many (perhaps most) experienced Indian agents and others who spent time with Indians felt that there were few cases of insanity among them. Senator Richard Pettigrew, who wholeheartedly supported an Indian insane asylum for South Dakota, vehemently repudiated this belief. He said, “There has been a letter read on the floor of this Senate chamber coming from some man in the West who claims that he has been all over Indian Reservations, and has never seen or heard of a crazy Indian. I do not even question the truth of this man’s statement for the very good reason that there is a pride among the Indians of their strength and shame for weakness, so when white men come among them their infirm members of the tribe are hid from the sight of the white man, and it is not unreasonable that this man says, with probably truth, “That he has never seen a crazy Indian.”
Pettigrew went on to give several instances of behavior which backed up his statement, primarily to do with tribal members who had physical problems. My next post will give responses from men who had vast experience with the question of Indian insanity.
Arapaho Men, courtesy First People website at www.firstpeople.us
Native American Women, possibly Makah, with Fish-Drying Racks and Smokehouse, courtesy University of Washington Libraries Special Collections Divison
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Colonel Richard Dodge
Field researchers found that insanity among Native Americans was rare (see last post) and this finding was backed up by many individual observations over time. In An Account of the History, Manners, and Customs of the Indian Nations written in 1819, the author (John Heckewelder) made several general observations about the way Native American society treated its various members. He found that native peoples treated the elderly with respect and kindness, and with a sense of gratitude for their past sacrifices. “Insanity is not common among the Indians,” Heckewelder went on to say, though he had observed a few instances of it. But, he added, “Men in this situation are always considered as objects of pity. Every one, young and old, feels compassion for their misfortune; to laugh or scoff at them would be considered as a crime, much more so to insult or molest them.”
In another book written after the Civil War, Colonel Richard Dodge noted that, “Mental and nervous diseases are rare [among Indians].” Dodge did note that several streams separated by great distances were named after “crazy women” as evidence that Indians did recognize insanity. Generally, however, he found most of the people on the Plains in good health. The closest most came to insanity was when they fell victim to rabies from mad wolves, for which there was no cure.
Two Strikes, Lakota Sioux Chief
Crow Tipi, Plains Indians
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