Joseph Antoine Janis (1824-1890)
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| Standing: Joe Merrivale; Young Spotted Tail; my relative, (Joseph) Antoine Janis. Seated: Touch-the-Clouds; Little Big Man; Black Cool; and another man. Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Image is in the public domain. |
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Joseph Antoine Janis (hereafter referred to as Antoine) was born in 1824 at St. Charles County, Missouri to Antoine St. Charles Janis and Marguerite Thibaut of French and blended French-African ancestry respectively - Marguerite's grandmother having been born a slave and described as mulatto. Antoine was a successful fur trader and traveled to Colorado where he was the first white settler and founded the town of Laporte in 1858. He married First Elk Woman, who was Oglala Sioux, and they have many descendants today in this and related Sioux tribes.
Ancestry.co.uk member Nushalee posted a document in 2012 entitled "Statement of Henry Cottier Concerning Eleonitte Iott", dated 20 November 1963. Leonid Eleonitte Iott (nee Janis), whom Henry referred to as "Grandma Iott", was a sister of this Antoine Janis, and Henry Cottier had grown up knowing the family. [Of note, Henry's maternal grandmother was a relative of Crazy Horse, and he included some interesting info on that subject in the statement]. In his statement, Henry explained that Eleonitte raised her seven grandchildren alone, and he shared some of what he knew about those children and of her brothers Nicolas and Antoine Janis. According to Henry, both Nicolas and Antoine had been known by "Indian names". He said of the brothers:
I know both Nicholas and Antoine Janis, brothers of Grandma Iott. Both of them had wives of Indian blood and both of them fathered large families. I knew most of their children, being acquainted with them throughout my entire life. Nick Janis, who Grandma Iott always spoke of as "Nicholas", was a very large man and was known by the Indian name of "Long White Man". His brother, Antoine, who Grandma Iott called "Tony", was a smaller man and had Blond, curly hair. His Indian name was "Mussed Up Yellow Hair".
Here is a link to that document, which can be read by signing in at the Ancestry UK website.
According to Ansel Watrous, author of History of Larimer County (1911), an order was issued in 1844 that Antoine Janis was to act as interpreter at Camp Collins because "he was educated... could speak the language of the Indians fluently... and was on friendly terms with the natives" due to his marriage. In 1878, First Elk Woman was forced to move to Pine Ridge Reservation. Antoine sold his cabin and accompanied his wife. He died there in 1890 (Wikipedia). Antoine played an important part in the evolving history of this country, and there is always something new to learn about his life and endeavors. He is named and stories can be found in books on fur-traders, history of the old west; and in a great number of historical documents held by Oglala Lakota College.
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Joseph Antoine Janis (hereafter referred to as Antoine) was born in 1824 at St. Charles County, Missouri to Antoine St. Charles Janis and Marguerite Thibaut of French and blended French-African ancestry respectively - Marguerite's grandmother having been born a slave and described as mulatto. Antoine was a successful fur trader and traveled to Colorado where he was the first white settler and founded the town of Laporte in 1858. He married First Elk Woman, who was Oglala Sioux, and they have many descendants today in this and related Sioux tribes.
Ancestry.co.uk member Nushalee posted a document in 2012 entitled "Statement of Henry Cottier Concerning Eleonitte Iott", dated 20 November 1963. Leonid Eleonitte Iott (nee Janis), whom Henry referred to as "Grandma Iott", was a sister of this Antoine Janis, and Henry Cottier had grown up knowing the family. [Of note, Henry's maternal grandmother was a relative of Crazy Horse, and he included some interesting info on that subject in the statement]. In his statement, Henry explained that Eleonitte raised her seven grandchildren alone, and he shared some of what he knew about those children and of her brothers Nicolas and Antoine Janis. According to Henry, both Nicolas and Antoine had been known by "Indian names". He said of the brothers:
I know both Nicholas and Antoine Janis, brothers of Grandma Iott. Both of them had wives of Indian blood and both of them fathered large families. I knew most of their children, being acquainted with them throughout my entire life. Nick Janis, who Grandma Iott always spoke of as "Nicholas", was a very large man and was known by the Indian name of "Long White Man". His brother, Antoine, who Grandma Iott called "Tony", was a smaller man and had Blond, curly hair. His Indian name was "Mussed Up Yellow Hair".
Here is a link to that document, which can be read by signing in at the Ancestry UK website.
According to Ansel Watrous, author of History of Larimer County (1911), an order was issued in 1844 that Antoine Janis was to act as interpreter at Camp Collins because "he was educated... could speak the language of the Indians fluently... and was on friendly terms with the natives" due to his marriage. In 1878, First Elk Woman was forced to move to Pine Ridge Reservation. Antoine sold his cabin and accompanied his wife. He died there in 1890 (Wikipedia). Antoine played an important part in the evolving history of this country, and there is always something new to learn about his life and endeavors. He is named and stories can be found in books on fur-traders, history of the old west; and in a great number of historical documents held by Oglala Lakota College.
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Back
row left to right: He Dog; Little Wound; unknown; Little Big Man; Young
Man Afraid of His Horses; Sword. Front row left to right: Yellow Deer;
our relative (Joseph) Antoine Janis; William Garnet, interpreter; Joseph
Merriville; Three Grizzly Bears. Source: Fort Collins History
Collection
(http://database.history.fcgov.com/cdm/ref/collection/ph/id/20600)
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| Cabin of Joseph Antoine Janis (1824-1890) in original location. It was moved in 1939 to the Fort Collins Museum. Source: Fort Collins History Connection (http://database.history.fcgov.com/cdm/ref/collection/ph/id/23854) |
References:
Cottier, Henry (1963). Statement of Henry Cottier Concerning Eleonitte Iott. Personal statement. Believed to be the property of Frank F. Aplan, great-grandson of Leonide Eleonitte Iott. Retrieved from https://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/112409153/person/290102142487/media/c159ec8d-22fe-4e9e-9ef7-004e7ce8d51f?_phsrc=OUM3537&usePUBJs=true
Fort Collins History Connection website. Historic Photographs section. (https://history.fcgov.com)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
Watrous, Ansel (1911). History of Marimer County, Colorado. Retrieved from Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/cu31924028878936/page/n221
Wikipedia (n.d.). Antoine Janis information page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Janis)
Cottier, Henry (1963). Statement of Henry Cottier Concerning Eleonitte Iott. Personal statement. Believed to be the property of Frank F. Aplan, great-grandson of Leonide Eleonitte Iott. Retrieved from https://www.ancestry.co.uk/mediaui-viewer/collection/1030/tree/112409153/person/290102142487/media/c159ec8d-22fe-4e9e-9ef7-004e7ce8d51f?_phsrc=OUM3537&usePUBJs=true
Fort Collins History Connection website. Historic Photographs section. (https://history.fcgov.com)
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
Watrous, Ansel (1911). History of Marimer County, Colorado. Retrieved from Archive.org: https://archive.org/details/cu31924028878936/page/n221
Wikipedia (n.d.). Antoine Janis information page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_Janis)
