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[A Small Archive of Postcards and Photographs From a Chiricahua Apache Woman].

Fort Sill, OK, Mescalero, NM, and elsewhere: 1910–1913, and perhaps later. 25 postcards, including 15 real photo cards and 10 color process cards, 5.5” x 3.5”, 1 albumen print, 4.75” x 3.25”, and one platinum print cabinet card, 5.5” x 3.875” on larger mount.

A small archive reflecting the life of a literate young Apache woman in the early twentieth century.

Spanning three years, this archive consists of postcards and photographs sent by one “Sophie S. T.” to various members of the Geiser family at 731 Moss St, Reading, PA., showing the Apache Indian Mission at Fort Sill, Oklahoma; the Mescalero, New Mexico Apache camp; Medicine Park, Oklahoma; various shots of Sophie’s family; women of the Apache and other tribes; and a few non-personal subjects, including the “Funeral of Quanah Parker, Chief of the Comanches, at Post Oak Mission, near Cache Okla. Feb 24–1911.” Parker, the son of Comanche Chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker or Naduah (captured and assimilated as a child only to be re-captured and not assimilated as an adult), is often described as the last Chief of the Comanche.

Most of the postcards are either annotated or bear a greeting from Sophie of some kind. Several lack inscriptions. In addition to Sophie’s own real photo cards and those copyrighted “Edw. Bates” (including Quanah Parker’s funeral), there are 10 commercial color post cards, also of various Indian subjects, including a portrait of Geronimo. There are three images evidently depicting Sophie herself: a real photo card of her in traditional Apache clothing; an albumen print of Sophie and an older woman, both in traditional clothing; and a cabinet card of Sophie in western clothing, complete with a hat with a large bow. Several of the photo postcards showing her with her family appear to have been taken somewhat later in life, after she began wearing glasses.

Sophie evidently carried on a more in-depth correspondence in letters with Mrs. Geo. Geiser. However, the constellation of these images and brief messages, combined with her slightly lengthier descriptions on the backs of some cards, nevertheless gives us an outline of her movements and relationships, and evokes the experiences of the Chiricahua people in this period. Based in Fort Sill from at least as early as 1910 through at least 1912, where the Chiricahua Apaches were relocated following their internment in Florida, in May of 1913 Sophie sends a postcard of the Mescalero Apache Camp, where two thirds of the Chiricahua had resettled after the government reneged on its promise to settle them on farm lands in the vicinity of Fort Sill. Apparently members of Sophie’s family were among those who relocated to Mescalero. It is unclear when her family moved there, and whether Sophie was in fact living there in 1913, or simply visiting. On October 23, 1912, she writes to Mrs. Geo. Geiser on a card postmarked Albuquerque: “Dear Friend; I am on my way home. As I will have to stay here all day, I will mail you this. Write soon, Sophie.” Perhaps she was waiting for a train to return to Fort Sill. On the other hand, perhaps she had recently arrived in Albuquerque and was waiting for transportation to Mescalero. On the Mescalero card she writes: “I am now here at Mescalero with my folks. I hope I may hear from you.”

Sophie’s notes, however brief, show that she valued her connection to the Geisers. While she gratefully acknowledges receipt of letters and cards from the women, one card to “Mr. William Geiser” reads: “From a friend you have forgotten. But she never will forget you” while others refer not infrequently to William and his lack of communication. Likewise, the card bearing Geronimo’s portrait, addressed to Mrs. S. A. Geiser, reads: “I received the pretty card to-day. I was glad to get it. So in return I thought I will send you one of Geromino. I guess you all heard of him. What ever became of William. How is little girl now. From Sophie.” Sophie’s literacy and her intimacy with the (presumably white) Geiser family place Sophie at a seemingly fraught crux of identities. While there is no firm evidence within this archive, it seems possible, even likely, that Sophie had been a student at the Carlisle Indian School and made the acquaintance of the Geisers while attending (Reading, Pa. is just eighty miles to the east of Carlisle). Alternatively, perhaps Sophie was adopted by the Geisers as part of the U.S. government’s assimilation program.

An unusual record of the life of an Apache woman in the early twentieth century.

Item #4052

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