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When Sioux braves roamed in Salford

16/ 6/2005

WHEN Sioux Indians came to Salford in 1888 some strange things happened.

After 6ft 7in warrior "Surrounded" died of a chest infection in his teepee on Salford Quays his body was taken to Hope Hospital, where it vanished.

It was never buried, there is no record of it being moved, and nobody admitted to taking it.

This is just one of the mysteries surrounding the Sioux Indians' six-month stay in the city under investigation by amateur historian Steve Cohen, from Higher Broughton.

Strange though it may seem today, hundreds of Oglala Sioux Indians - depicted in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves - settled on the freezing banks of the Irwell in their teepees for six months during the winter of 1887/8.

Circus

The campers were all members of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Circus, which toured the world but stopped in the north west for so long due to popularity.

The Indians would recreate classic gunslinging scenes from the wild west with their cowboy counterparts.

And Surrounded's story isn't the only interesting detail Steve, a shop steward at Whitbread, has uncovered.

Many of the Sioux were veterans of the iconic American battle Little Big Horn . . . and were on the run in Europe.

And it's possible there may be descendants of the Sioux living in Salford today. One small Sioux girl was baptised at St Clement's church before slipping out of the history books.

Steve said: "It's very possible there are descendants here today, as they were here for such a long time, and they were certainly friendly with the locals."

He plans to travel to South Dakota in August to trace the relatives of some of those hardy Indians who camped through a north west winter.

And, with the help of an arts council grant, he hopes to bring some of those relatives back to the Lowry Centre for a native American ceremony in remembrance of Surrounded this autumn.

"There will be traditional dress, drums and dancing, like nothing the Lowry centre has ever seen before," said Steve.

Until then it might be best to avoid the morgue at Hope Hospital, just in case.

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