Jackson Sundown (1863 – December 18, 1923), born Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn (meaning Blanket of the Sun),
[Roadside History of Oregon, Gulick, Bill, 9780878422524, Mountain Press Publishing, 1991] was a
Native American rodeo
Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...
rider who has become a folk-hero for his mythic performance in the 1916
Pendleton Round-Up
The Pendleton Round-Up is a major annual rodeo in the northwestern United States, at Pendleton in northeastern Oregon. Held at the Pendleton Round-Up Stadium during the second full week of September each year since 1910, the rodeo brings roug ...
, largely popularized by
Ken Kesey
Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s.
Kesey was born in ...
's novel ''The Last Go 'Round''.
Sundown was born in 1863, probably in
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
,
into the visiting Wallowa Band of the
Nez Perce
The Nez Percé (; autonym in Nez Perce language: , meaning "we, the people") are an Indigenous people of the Plateau who are presumed to have lived on the Columbia River Plateau in the Pacific Northwest region for at least 11,500 years.Ames, K ...
, later led by
Chief Joseph
''Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt'' (or ''Hinmatóowyalahtq̓it'' in Americanist orthography), popularly known as Chief Joseph, Young Joseph, or Joseph the Younger (March 3, 1840 – September 21, 1904), was a leader of the Wal-lam-wat-kain (Wallowa ...
. The Nez Perce were renowned for their mastery of horses and Sundown learned how to breed and raise horses at an early age. By the age of 14 he was active in the
Nez Perce War
The Nez Perce War was an armed conflict in 1877 in the Western United States that pitted several bands of the Nez Perce tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans and their allies, a small band of the ''Palus people, Palo ...
of 1877, but unlike Joseph and many of his tribesmen, Sundown escaped the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
cavalry during the Nez Perce Retreat and fled to
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
with a small group of wounded warriors. Legend holds that Sundown stayed for two years with a group of
Sioux
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
, including the iconic
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...
. He was considered to be a war criminal and lived in hiding with
Sitting Bull
Sitting Bull ( lkt, Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake ; December 15, 1890) was a Hunkpapa Lakota leader who led his people during years of resistance against United States government policies. He was killed by Indian agency police on the Standing Rock I ...
and others who played a role in the defeat of General
George Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
at the
Battle of Little Big Horn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
.
In 1879, Sundown returned to the U.S. and lived briefly at
Nespelem, Washington
Nespelem is a town in Okanogan County, Washington, Okanogan County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 236 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The town is located on the Colville Indian Reservation. The n ...
, and then for many years on the
Flathead Reservation
The Flathead Indian Reservation, located in western Montana on the Flathead River, is home to the Bitterroot Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes – also known as the
Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation. The ...
in northwest Montana, where he married and had two children. He settled back in Idaho on the
Nez Perce Reservation in 1910 and two years later married Cecilia Wapshela, a widow with two children and ranch owner, and they lived at her place at Jacques Spur, near
Culdesac.
All the while, Sundown made his living by breeding, raising, "breaking," and selling horses. To make additional money, Sundown entered into rodeos and dominated his opponents, many of whom would withdraw after learning that he would participate. Jackson Sundown won many all-around cash pots, which takes the highest average scores from all events, though he was best known for bareback and saddle bronc horse riding. His appearance differed greatly from other rodeo riders as he wore bright colored shirts, large and elegant woolen
chaps
Chaps ( or ) are sturdy coverings for the legs consisting of leggings and a belt. They are buckled on over trousers with the chaps' integrated belt, but unlike trousers, they have no seat (the term "assless chaps" is a tautology) and are not jo ...
and tied his long braids under his chin. Sundown entered into rodeos across the west and in Canada into his early 50s.
In 1915 at age 52, he took third place in the all-around at the
Pendleton Roundup and decided to retire from rodeo, which had wrecked his body. The following year, an artist who was doing a sculpture of Sundown convinced him to enter the Roundup one last time, an offer that Sundown only accepted after the artist agreed to pay the entry fee . Sundown was twice the age of the other semi-finalists but advanced after high scores in the saddle bronc and bareback horseriding competitions. His final ride is an event of great mythology to this day among American Indians and rodeo aficionados. It is told that Sundown drew a very fierce horse named Angel and that the horse bucked so furiously that Sundown removed his cowboy hat and fanned the horse to get it to cool off, at which time he and the horse merged into one being. Sundown won the all-around event and became immortalized as a hero of the
Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, which includes the Nez Perce. Sundown died of pneumonia 7 years later at the age of 60
and was buried at Slickpoo Mission Cemetery near Jacques Spur, Idaho. At the time of his death, the U.S. Government did not consider Native Americans to be American Citizens.
A large gathering of Native Americans continues at the Pendleton Roundup in
Pendleton, Oregon
Pendleton is a city and the county seat of Umatilla County, Oregon. The population was 17,107 at the time of the 2020 census, which includes approximately 1,600 people who are incarcerated at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution.
Pendleton ...
where a
pow-wow
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an ...
is held during the Round-up in late September. Stories of Waaya-Tonah-Toesits-Kahn continue to fill the air at this event among the drumming, fry bread, gambling and rodeoing.
Legacy
*
Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame
The Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon Hall of Fame, is a hall of fame located in Pendleton, Oregon, United States. Begun in 1969, it was the first hall of fame started by an individual show, the Pendleton Round-Up. Exhibits focus on show mem ...
, inducted in 1972.
*
Rodeo Hall of Fame
The Rodeo Hall of Fame was established by the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in 1955. Located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S., the Hall was created to celebrate the contributions of cowboys and cowgirls from around the world. The ha ...
of the
National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native Americans in the United States, American Indian art works and Artifact (archaeology), ar ...
, inducted in 1976.
*
American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame
Haskell Indian Nations University is a public tribal land-grant university in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Founded in 1884 as a residential boarding school for Native American children, the school has developed into a university operated b ...
, inducted in 1994
*
National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum
The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum, formerly the National Cowboys of Color Museum and Hall of Fame, is a museum and hall of fame in Fort Worth, Texas.
History
The National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum was founded F ...
, inducted in 2006.
*
Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame
The Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame is a rodeo cowboy hall of fame. The hall of fame was established in 2013.
History
The Idaho Rodeo Hall of Fame was established as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization on May 6, 2013. Lonnie and Charmy LeaVell are th ...
, inducted in 2018
*
National Day of the Cowboy
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
, Honoree in 2019
References
*Alcorn, R.L. and Alcorn, G.D. (1983), "Jackson Sundown, Nez Perce Horseman" in ''From Montana: the magazine of western history''; v. 33, no. 4.
*Fixico, D.L. (2006), ''Daily Life of Native Americans in the 20th Century''.
External links
Nez Perce.org– Jackson Sundown
National Multicultural Western Heritage Museum and Hall of Fame– Jackson Sundown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundown, Jackson
1863 births
1923 deaths
Native American sportspeople
Nez Perce people
Deaths from pneumonia in Idaho
Oregon Country
Pendleton, Oregon
Sportspeople from Oregon
Saddle bronc riders
Bareback bronc riders