1. Black Beaver served as a scout and guide as he was fluent in English, as well as several European and Native American languages.
21 Facts About Black Beaver
1. 2.
Black Beaver is credited with establishing the California and Chisholm trails.
3.
Black Beaver became a wealthy rancher in present-day Anadarko, Oklahoma.
4.
Black Beaver was born in 1806 into a Lenape family living in the area of present-day Belleville, western Illinois.
5.
Black Beaver used the common trade sign language to communicate with tribes whose language he did not know.
6.
Black Beaver's skills were invaluable to the many white settlers and military expeditions that were traveling west.
7.
On his return, Black Beaver took a shortcut across the prairie that reduced the two-month trip to two weeks.
8.
Black Beaver became chief of a Lenape village called Beaverstown.
9.
Black Beaver had set his traps and spread his blanket upon the head waters of the Missouri and Columbia; and his wanderings had led him south to the Colorado and Gila, and thence to the shores of the Pacific in Southern California.
10.
Black Beaver's life had been that of a veritable cosmopolite, filled with scenes of intense and startling interest, bold and reckless adventure.
11.
Black Beaver was with me two seasons in the capacity of guide, and I always found him perfectly reliable, brave, and competent.
12.
The truth is my friend Black Beaver was one of those few heroes who never sounded his own trumpet; yet no one that knows him ever presumed to question his courage.
13.
Black Beaver had settled in present-day Caddo County, Oklahoma and lived at Anadarko.
14.
Black Beaver gathered the soldiers from forts Washita, Cobb and Arbuckle near Minco, but to escape to Kansas across the open prairie he needed a guide.
15.
Black Beaver scouted the approaching Confederate troops and provided information for Emory to capture their advance guard, who were the first prisoners captured during the Civil War.
16.
Black Beaver freed multiple slaves from each of the Five Civilized Tribes.
17.
Black Beaver stayed in Kansas until after the end of the war, when he returned to rebuild in Indian Territory.
18.
Black Beaver resettled at Anadarko, where he built the first brick home in the area.
19.
Black Beaver died at his home on May 8,1880, and was buried on his ranch.
20.
Black Beaver was the first inductee in the American Indian Hall of Fame, located in Anadarko on part of his former ranch lands.
21.
Black Beaver's image was used in the set of the Yale Repertory Theater production of the show.