Skip to main content

Search

My Visit
Donate
Home Smithsonian Institution

Site Navigation

  • Visit
    • Museums and Zoo
    • Entry and Guidelines
    • Maps and Brochures
    • Dine and Shop
    • Accessibility
    • Visiting with Kids
    • Group Visits
      • Group Sales
  • What's On
    • Exhibitions
      • Current
      • Upcoming
      • Past
    • Online Events
    • All Events
    • IMAX & Planetarium
  • Explore
    • - Art & Design
    • - History & Culture
    • - Science & Nature
    • Collections
      • Open Access
    • Research Resources
      • Libraries
      • Archives
        • Smithsonian Institution Archives
        • Air and Space Museum
        • Anacostia Community Museum
        • American Art Museum
        • Archives of American Art
        • Archives of American Gardens
        • American History Museum
        • American Indian Museum
        • Asian Art Museum Archives
        • Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African Art
        • Hirshhorn Archive
        • National Anthropological Archives
        • National Portrait Gallery
        • Ralph Rinzler Archives, Folklife
        • Libraries' Special Collections
    • Podcasts
    • Stories
  • Learn
    • For Caregivers
    • For Educators
      • Art & Design Resources
      • Science & Nature Resources
      • Social Studies & Civics Resources
      • Professional Development
      • Events for Educators
      • Field Trips
    • For Students
    • For Academics
    • For Lifelong Learners
  • Support Us
    • Become a Member
    • Renew Membership
    • Make a Gift
    • Volunteer
      • Smithsonian Call Center
      • Ambassador Program
      • Museum Information Desk
      • Docent Programs
      • Behind-the-Scenes
      • Digital Volunteers
      • Participatory Science
  • About
    • Our Organization
      • Board of Regents
        • Members
        • Committees
        • Reading Room
        • Bylaws, Policies and Procedures
        • Schedules and Agendas
        • Meeting Minutes
        • Actions
        • Webcasts
        • Contact
      • Museums and Zoo
      • Research Centers
      • Cultural Centers
      • Education Centers
      • General Counsel
        • Legal History
        • Internships
        • Records Requests
          • Reading Room
        • Tort Claim
        • Subpoenas & Testimonies
        • Events
      • Office of Human Resources
        • Employee Benefits
        • How to Apply
        • Job Opportunities
        • Job Seekers with Disabilities
        • Frequently Asked Questions
        • SI Civil Program
        • Contact Us
      • EEO & Small Business
        • EEO Complaint Process
        • Individuals with Disabilities
        • Small Business Program
          • Doing Business with Us
          • Contracting Opportunities
          • Additional Resources
        • Special Emphasis Program
      • Sponsored Projects
        • Policies
          • Combating Trafficking in Persons
          • Animal Care and Use
          • Human Research
        • Reports
        • Internships
    • Our Leadership
    • Reports and Plans
      • Annual Reports
      • Metrics Dashboard
        • Dashboard Home
        • Virtual Smithsonian
        • Public Engagement
        • National Collections
        • Research
        • People & Operations
      • Strategic Plan
    • Newsdesk
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • Photos and Video
      • Media Kits
      • Fact Sheets
      • Visitor Stats
      • Secretary and Admin Bios
      • Filming Requests

Fred E. Miller photograph collection

National Museum of the American Indian

Object Details

Photographer
Miller, Fred E., 1868-1936
Names
Curly, approximately 1856-1923
Plenty Coups, 1848-1932
Two Leggings, ca. 1847-1923
Place
Montana
Provenance
Collected by William Wildschut for the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation in 1928. From 1921-1928, Wildschut was a field man for the MAI and collected material from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Canada, and North Dakota on behalf of the Museum. Wildschut most likely collected these photographs directly from Fred Miller in Montana.
Photographer
Miller, Fred E., 1868-1936
Culture
Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke)
See more items in
Fred E. Miller photograph collection
Summary
This collection contains photographs depicting Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) people on the reservation in Montana. The photographs were shot by Fred E. Miller, a Bureau of Indian Affairs clerk circa 1898-1910.
Biographical/Historical note
Born in Chicago in 1868, Fred E. Miller learned photography in Iowa and went on to operate a photo studio in Nebraska and Iowa. In 1896 he moved to Helena, Montana and served as a civil service clerk for the Bureau of Indian Affairs on the Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) Reservation and 1898 he became the land clerk for the Crow Agency. Miller lived among and photographed the Apsáalooke people, learned to speak the language, and was officially adopted into the nation in 1905. He also acted in other roles periodically including as superintendent, U.S. commissioner, and justice of the peace. He married Emma Smith Miller (1883-1920, Shawnee) in 1905 and they had four children Hulda Mignon Miller (1906-1991), Edwin H. Miller (1908-1988), Robert A. Miller (1910-1966), and Ruth Miller (1912-1976). In 1910, Miller left his Bureau position, and tried his hand at cattle ranching in Hardin, Montana. He died in 1936 and his collection of 500 of his glass plate negatives were sold by court order at public auction.
Extent
2 Linear feet
132 Glass plate negatives
65 Photographic prints
145 Acetate negatives (copy negatives)
148 Contact prints
Date
circa 1898-1910
Custodial History
It appears that the Museum of the American Indian staff created contact prints from the original glass plate negatives. They then photographed those contact prints onto acetate negatives and then printed a new set of contact prints from those acetate negatives. In some instances where the museum did not have the original glass negative, staff used Miller prints to create new copy negatives.
Archival Repository
National Museum of the American Indian
Identifier
NMAI.AC.108
Type
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Glass plate negatives
Photographic prints
Acetate negatives
Contact prints
Black-and-white negatives
Photographs
Citation
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Fred E. Miller photograph collection, NMAI.AC.108, Catalog #. National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Arrangement note
This collection is intellectually arranged into 3 series by subject and restrictions. The collection is physically arranged according to photo type. The glass plate negatives are arranged in boxes according to size; the acetate film boxes are arranged in a separate set of boxes first by collection #, then by catalog #; and the prints and contact prints are organized first by collection #, then in folders by catalog #.
Processing Information note
Collection procesed by Emily Moazami, Supervisory Archivist, 2019.
Rights
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from National Museum of the American Indian Archive Center. Please submit a written request to nmaiphotos@si.edu. For personal or classroom use, users are invited to download, print, photocopy, and distribute the images that are available online without prior written permission, provided that the files are not modified in any way, the Smithsonian Institution copyright notice (where applicable) is included, and the source of the image is identified as the National Museum of the American Indian. For more information please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use and NMAI Archive Center's Digital Image request website.
Some photographs in this collection are RESTRICTED due to Cultural Sensitivity.
Genre/Form
Black-and-white negatives
Photographs
Scope and Contents
This collection contains 132 glass plate negatives and 65 prints (plus 145 acetate copy negatives and 148 contact prints) that were shot by Fred E. Miller circa 1898-1910 and depict Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) people and their reservation in Montana. The bulk of the photographs depict outdoor portraits of individuals and families. Other photographs depict encampments and scenes of daily life and activities on the reservation. Most individuals in the photographs are identified, including Chief Plenty Coups, Chief Holds the Enemy, Chief Two Leggings, and Chief Medicine Crow. Other portraits depict Apsáalooke scouts from General George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry including Curley, White Swan, and Harry Moccasin. A few photographs also depict portraits of Cheyenne and Lakota people. Some images are restricted due to cultural sensitivity, such as scenes of burials and ceremonies. Fred Miller's negatives were often misattributed to William Wildschut who worked as a field collector for the Museum of the American Indian and photographed Apsáalooke people from 1917-1928. Please see the Immediate Source of Acquisition and Related Materials notes for more information.
Restrictions
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Related Materials
The NMAI also holds the William Wildschut photograph collection, NMAI.AC.001.033. This collection contains photographs that were were shot by Wildschut between 1917 and 1928 and depict depict Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) people and the reservation. The Montana Historical Society also holds a Fred E. Miller collection (collection number: MC 434)
Related link
Record ID
ebl-1557331813345-1557331813365-0
Metadata Usage
CC0
GUID
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sv4d0049d38-ba7b-4ed9-b967-a977ce05946f

In the Collection

Pages

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • next ›
  • last »
  • Encampment

  • Big Medicine Rock in elk tooth dress

  • Woman entering a tipi

  • Old White Man

  • Encampment

  • Apsáalooke (Crow/Absaroke) band moving

  • Sham battle

  • Encampment

  • Holds The Enemy

  • Chief Wolf

  • Group inside a tipi

  • Plain Owl on horseback

  • Portraits and daily life

  • Medicine Tail

  • Hairy Moccasin and Corner of the Mouth outside an encampment at Lodge Grass, MT

  • Site of Little Big Horn battlefield

  • Chief Plenty Coups

  • Chief Two Leggings

  • Chief Two Moons

  • Girls in elk tooth dresses

  • Pretty Striped Snake and Hat Otter

  • Encampment

  • Sits Before A Cloud

  • Chief Medicine Crow

  • Curley

  • Has No Foretop (Smart Iron)

  • Woman gathering water from Little Big Horn River

  • Encampment

  • Dancers resting

  • Hoof On Forehead

  • Bull Don't Fall Down

  • Encampment

  • Curley

  • Women gathering water from Little Big Horn River

  • Blanket Bull and family

  • White Swan

  • Chief Wolf

  • Coyote Runs

  • Girl in elk tooth dress

  • Lives High with baby in cradleboard

  • Shows All The Time and Plume Feather Woman

  • Otter That Stays At The Water

  • John Wallace

  • Children on horseback

  • Children on horseback

  • Long Ear and Lion Shows

  • Big Medicine Rock in elk tooth dress

  • Children on horseback

  • Spectators at a dance

  • Little Big Horn battlefield and Custer memorial

  • Bear Tail

  • Girls in dresses

  • Curley

  • Women entering tipi

  • Curley

  • Aloysius Holds The Enemy

  • White Swan

  • Chief Spotted Elk

  • Girl in elk tooth dress

  • White Swan

  • Curley

  • Chief Holds The Enemy

  • Jenny Bad Horse

  • Horace Long Bear and Ralph Saco

  • Encampment

  • Louise Hunts The Enemy

  • Group inside a tipi

  • Curley and family

  • Spotted Rabbit

  • Girls in dresses

  • White Swan

  • White Swan

  • Encampment

  • White Hip and Lottie Shellbird

  • Chief Two Leggings

  • Sun Goes Slow, Old Jack Rabbit, and Takes Among His Enemies

  • Child on horseback

  • Woman gathering wood

  • Encampment

  • Encampment

  • Wolf Who Goes To Drink

  • Man in ceremonial clothing

  • White Hip and Always Takes The Lead

  • Men gambling

  • Spotted Rabbit

  • Child on horseback

  • Jenny Bad Horse

  • Hoof On Forehead

  • Group on horseback

  • No Name

  • Sees With His Ears and Hip

  • Whistler and Hits The One Who Rides The Gray Horse

  • Daylight

  • Group in wagon

  • Portrait of young women

  • Encampment on Little Big Horn River

  • Girl in elk tooth dress

  • Painted tipi of Young Hairy Wolf

  • Big Ox

  • Site of Little Big Horn battlefield

Pages

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • next ›
  • last »
Fred E. Miller collection
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
International media Interoperability Framework
IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
View manifest View in Mirador Viewer
View Finding aid

Footer logo

Link to homepage

Footer navigation

  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Get Involved
  • Inspector General
  • Records Requests
  • Accessibility
  • EEO & Small Business
  • Shop Online
  • Host Your Event
  • Press Room
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use

Social media links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Sign up for Smithsonian e-news

Get the latest news from the Smithsonian

Email powered by BlackBaud (Privacy Policy, Terms of Use)
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Back to Top