Frank Bear

Frank was a Navajo (Diné) man

Biography:

Born, according to the 1925 South Dakota State Census in 1902 in Arizona, identified in asylum male census records as Southern Navajo, Arizona Territory (Southern navajo would be in the jurisdiction of the Fort Defiance Agency=light green)


Arizona Territory 1910 Navajo Apache Old State Map Reprint @

Carla Joinson opens her book, Vanished in Hiawatha, Chapter 1: Where will all the Insane Indians Go?, this way...

Patients Frank Bear, a Navajo, and William Abdulhena, a Shoshone, faced off in the narrow hallway. They were nearly alone, for their attendant had locked the ward so he could leave the building. Bear hadn't been out much lately. Until a few days earlier he had been weak and needed rest, and attendants had conveniently padlocked him in his room. The newly released Bear may have been excited or just in a bad temper, or perhaps he said something to offend Adulhena. Perhaps it was the other way around.
It was the end of September and quite cold, but the rooms and hallway were stuffy as always. No one saw what happened next, but the two men fought until their noisy thrashing sent another patient scurrying outside to report the brawl. Frank Bear's taste of freedom ended badly- when attendant E.B.Colby returned to the locked ward, Bear's eyeball was lying on the floor. There is no record of an investigation, though the asylum's superintendent did report that both men were doing "as well as could be expected.[1]
While patients didn't routinely lose their eyeballs, the locked ward and lack of supervised care present a good snapshot of life at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians...

[1] Dr. Hummer to commissioner of Indian affairs, September 27, 1926, and report on the accident by attendant E.B. Colby, dated the same day, NARA, RG 75, box 17.

Frank was admitted to the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians on February 14, 1924, diagnosed with Psychosis, lethargic encephalitis (Encephalitis lethargica is a disease characterized by: high fever, headache double vision, delayed physical and mental response, and lethargy/fatigue The cause of encephalitis lethargica is unknown. An encephalitis lethargica epidemic occurred from 1917 to 1928, but no recurrence has since been reported.)

When the Canton Asylum was closed, Frank was ransferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital on December 22, 1933, where he died January 16, 1938.

Frank Bear was buried in the St. Elizabeth's Hospital Cemetery West, Grave 15-3-321

Wikipedia contributors. "Saint Elizabeths Hospital East and West Cemeteries." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2 Jul. 2023. Web. 24 Nov. 2023. @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Elizabeths_Hospital_East_and_We...

His profile is part of the The Canton Asylum One Place Study.

Research Notes:
-Navajo census reports are complicated, I reviewed the 1930 report for Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Navajo and Frank was NOT present
-age 23 in the 1925 South Dakota State census therefore born in 1902
-father and mother born in Arizona
-Frank is indicated as a resident at the Canton Asylum in the male census from 1924 and 1926-1933 annually.
__________
Sources:

1924 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:688Q-XGVR : Fri Oct 06 08:37:19 UTC 2023), Entry for Frank Bear, 1924, pg. 515/522, line 1, Canton Asylum male census 1924

1925 - "South Dakota State Census, 1925", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MMWG-VYW : Thu Oct 05 21:28:18 UTC 2023), Entry for Frank Bear, 1925, pg. 1865/3393, census taken in Bauer Township, McPherson, South Dakota, United States

1925 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=116 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1926 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=167 line 2, Canton Asylum male census

1927 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=185 line 3, Canton Asylum male census

1928 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=210 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1929 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=328 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1930 Apr 7 - "United States Census, 1930", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVZ-1NG : Tue Oct 03 01:17:07 UTC 2023), Entry for Frank Bear, 1930, pg. 610/1062, line 1, Asylum for Insane Indians, Canton Township, Lincoln County, South Dakota

1930 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=350 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1931 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=370 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1932 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=390 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1933 Jun 30 - Canton Insane Asylum: 1923-33; Cantonment School, pg. 370/1140: 1910-27, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports 1910 – 1935, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155855298?objectPage=427 line 1, Canton Asylum male census

1938 Jan 16 - Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126678030/frank-bear: accessed 24 November 2023), memorial page for Frank Bear (1902–16 Jan 1938), Find a Grave Memorial ID 126678030, citing Saint Elizabeths Hospital West Cemetery, Anacostia, District of Columbia, District of Columbia, USA; Maintained by Cathy Porter-Maynard (contributor 47009361).

1938, Jan 22 - Evening Star. [Saturday Edition page A-9] (Washington, D.C.), 22 Jan. 1938. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. (See: Deaths Reported) <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1938-01-22/ed-1/...>