William LaClaire

William was a Ponca Indian of the Ponca tribe of Nebraska under the Yankton Agency jurisdiction (He was NOT Sioux)

Ponca, North American Indians of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan language family. The Ponca were never a large tribe; an early estimate places their number at 800 individuals. Perhaps because of their small population, they have moved frequently over the past centuries.

The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska (aka Cold Ponca) does not have a reservation, the Ponca Restoration Act established a fifteen-county Service Delivery Area across Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota.

The Usni (Cold) Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is believed to have been part of the Omaha Tribe, having separated by the time Lewis and Clark came upon them in 1804. At that time, they were situated along Ponca Creek, in Knox County, near present-day Verdel. They lived in earth lodges and were primarily horticulturists, but also made seasonal hunting trips. They were on such a trip when Lewis and Clark came upon their village. Although the tribe’s exact origin is unknown, some scholars believe the Ponca migrated from an area along the Red River near Lake Winnipeg. However, by the early 1700s, the warring Sioux had forced them to relocate to the west bank of the Missouri River.

A very significant moment in the Tribe’s history was the “Trial of Standing Bear” in 1879. It was at this time that the Ponca were forcibly removed from their homeland in northeastern Nebraska and marched to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Many died along the way, including Standing Bear’s daughter, and, upon arrival, his son would also die. Promising to honor his son’s dying wish to be buried in his homeland, Standing Bear and a small band of his men began the arduous journey home to bury his son. They realized that they were doing so in defiance of orders not to leave the reservation. They were soon arrested and about to be returned to Indian Territory when their plight was publicized in the Omaha Daily Herald.

Standing Bear was held for trial at a fort near Omaha. The outcome was that the Indian was declared a “person” according to law and that Standing Bear and his followers were free to return to their homeland. However, as all of the Tribe’s land had been taken from them, they had no home to return to. Eventually, 26,000 acres in Knox County would be restored to them.

As late as 1966, the Ponca would, yet again, be considered “persona non-grata” when the United States government, in its infinite wisdom, terminated the Tribe. The termination removed 442 Poncas from tribal rolls. In effect, this meant that not only did the Ponca no longer exist but also that their remaining land and holdings were dissolved. The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is the name used to describe the Northern Ponca Tribe after the Tribe was officially restored in 1990.

Biography:
William LeClaire would have been born c. 1858 based on a survey of dates from the Canton Asylum after commitment in 1927. His parents are unknown.

According to the book Vanished in Hiawatha, author Carla Joinson suggests that William was Sioux, committed from Yankton, admitted on July 14, 1927, and died on September 22, 1930. While the dates check out Ms. Joinson is incorrect in calling him Sioux. He was a Ponca Indian from the Ponca tribe in Nebraska under the jurisdiction of the Yankton Sioux Agency. Beginning in 1918, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska was identified in the annual census reports and William Leclaire was included in those censuses. He has not been identified in a census before 1918.

According to Harry Hummer's letter to BIA, the Yankson Agency committed him to the Canton Asylum on July 14, 1927. He was diagnosed with senile dementia at age 68, which would have been in 1926.

In the 1930 census, several LaClaire individuals lived in Herrick, Gregory County, SD. Censuses refer to the Ponca Reservation, but they had NO reservation. The tribe was HQ in Niobrara, NE, but the members lived all over northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota. The Sioux were co-located with the Yankton and Santee Reservations. The agency kept a separate census for the Ponca Indians.

He is reported by the 1931 census to have died in Herrick, Gregory County, South Dakota on September 22, 1930, so it appears that he was discharged from the Canton Asylum. The Canton Asylum census on April 7, 1930, indicates that he was an inmate 72 years old, which would equate to a birth date in 1858.

His profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
-There is quite a number of the surname Leclaire in the Ponca of Oklahoma, but NOT William (I checked to make sure that the Ponca Agency in Oklahoma did not maintain the census before 1918 when the Yankton Agency seemed to have begun identifying the Ponca tribe of Nebraska).

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Sources:

1897 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGYC-RJKQ : Sat Mar 09 13:42:42 UTC 2024), Entry for Victoria Laclair, 1897, pg. 822/880, line 169 (age 38), census of the Ponca Indians, Santee Agency, Nebraska

1898 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, archive.org/details/indiancensusroll138unit/page/n137/mode/1up?view=theater. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 876/880, line 174 (age 39), census of the Ponca Indians, Ponca sub-Agency, Nebraska

1903 Jun 30 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGLD-B95N: Fri Mar 08 22:49:36 UTC 2024), Entry for Victoria Laclair, 1903, pg. 297/731, line 179 (age 44), census of the Ponca Indians, Ponca sub-Agency, Nebraska

1918 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll684unit/page/n11/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 12/602, line 162 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Indians, Yankton Agency

1919 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll684unit/page/n214/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 215/602, line 165 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Indians, Yankton Agency

1920 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll684unit/page/n411/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 412/602, line 169 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Indians, Yankton Agency

1921 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll685unit/page/n13/mode/1.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 14/809, line 172 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebr. Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1922 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll685unit/page/n392/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 393/809, line 174 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebr. Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1923 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll685unit/page/n587/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 588/809, line 174 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebr. Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1924 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll685unit/page/n718/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 724/809, line 177 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebr. Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1925 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll686unit/page/n200/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 201/648, line 175 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebraska Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1926 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll686unit/page/n345/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 346/648, line 176 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebraska Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1927 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll686unit/page/n634/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 635/648, line 180 (b=1858), census of the Ponca Nebraska Indians, Yankton Agency, S.D.

1928 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll687unit/page/n221/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 222/576, line 187 (b=1858), census of the Ponca (Nebraska) Indians, Yankton Agency

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 18, male census of the Canton Asylum

1929 Jun 30 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, https://archive.org/details/indiancensusroll687unit/page/n257/mode/.... Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 258/576, line 187 (age 58), census of the Ponca Tribe, Ponca Reservation, Yankton Agency

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 21, male census of the Canton Asylum

1930 Apr 1 - “Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940 [Microform].” Internet Archive, Washington : National Archives and Records Service, 1965, archive.org/details/indiancensusroll138unit/page/n137/mode/1up?view=theater. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024, pg. 25/490, line 215a (age 72 widow, hand written in), census of the Ponca Reservation, Yankton jurisdiction

1930 Apr 7 - "United States, Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XQVC-BM9 : Sun Jul 07 00:55:55 UTC 2024), Entry for William Laclair, 1930, pg. 610/1062, line 20 (age 72, Inmate), census of 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 20, male census of the Canton Asylum

1931 Apr 1 - "United States, Native American, Census Rolls, 1885-1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPV7-DYCV : Mon Jan 20 19:43:55 UTC 2025), Entry for Wm Laclaire, 1931, pg. 489/567, line 215a (age 72, Ponca, Wd. died 9.22.1932 Herrick, Gregory), census of the Ponca Reservation, Yankton jurisdiction, Nebraska
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