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Frank Grouard

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Adventurer

The Resume

    (September 20, 1850-August 15, 1905)
    Indian scout
    Served under General George Crook
    Sioux Interpreter during the American Indian Wars
    Major participant in the Battle of Rosebud Creek (1876)
    Instrumental in the surrender of Lakota Chief Crazy Horse (March 1877)

Why he might be annoying:

    His birthplace has been disputed.
    His biographer listed him as a Hawaiian native 'Kanaka' born on Hawaii's Sandwich Islands, but this was later disproved.
    He liked to dress in Native regalia to blend in better with the Indian population and gain their trust.
    He has been largely blamed for Crazy Horse's arrest and subsequent killing at the hands of Indian Agency officials.
    As the story went, officials were concerned about the Nez Perce tribe's breaking out of their Idaho reservation and fleeing for Canada by way of Montana.
    With Grouard acting as a Lakota translator, they appealed to Crazy Horse for help in retrieving them. After much resistance, he (allegedly) gave in, saying that he 'would fight till all the Nez Perce were killed.'
    Either by accident or design, Grouard mistranslated and reported that Crazy Horse had said that he would 'go north and fight until not a white man is left' (that went over about as well as you'd expect).
    He left the Council when his interpretation was challenged, but Crazy Horse had a target on his back regardless (but he would later claim to have been present when Crazy Horse was subdued by Little Big Man). He was also present for the Ghost Dance Uprisings and the Wounded Knee Creek Massacre.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He is one of the most fascinating figures of the Wild West period.
    He was kidnapped by Crow Indians at the age of 19.
    He later was adopted by the Sioux, and even became surrogate son to Sitting Bull.
    His familiarity with the Sioux language and smoke signals rendered him an invaluable aid to General Crook's forces, especially during the Battle of Rosebud Creek.
    He later acted as an emissary of the Indian Peace Commission for the Red Cloud Agency.
    General Crook once said 'I would sooner lose a third of my command than [lose] Frank Grourard!'
    Richard B. Hughes called him 'one of the best scouts ever known on the frontier.'
    He traveled with Crazy Horse during the lead-up to his surrender, and attested to seeing him weep profusely when he found several warriors dead along the trail.
    His captivity separated him from his family for nearly years until his father read about him in the paper and sought to be reunited (legend has it they recognized each other on sight).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying