Preserving history is particularly pertinent in this year of celebration, on the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Mable Stoebe touched a tip of that history, and her family may share the discovery with a museum someday.
Stoebe was the aunt of Christine Kinyon, of Everett, and a favorite of Christine’s husband, Barry Kinyon.
“She was a sweetheart,” said Barry Kinyon, 53. “I called her Aunt Grandma.”
In 1998, Christine and Barry Kinyon and their two daughters visited Stoebe in North Dakota, where she lived in a care home.
“She kept scrapbooks for years and offered the contents to us because she didn’t have any room for them,” Christine Kinyon said. “She had a bed, chair and dresser in her room.”
One of the pieces in the scrapbook caught Christine Kinyon’s eye. It was a clipping about scouting and an American Indian woman. It read: “Sacagawea’s Kin – Mrs. Esther Horne, great-great-granddaughter of Sacagawea, ‘bird woman of the west,’ does her part of preserving the tradition of her race by teaching Indian art and symbolism in the Wahpeton, N.D., Indian School.”
In 1938, Stoebe was a well-known Girl Scout leader in Breckenridge, Minn. She went above and beyond the call of duty when she arranged activities for her scouts.
“Apparently, she found out that Mrs. Robert Horne had a very interesting story that she would like to share with Mable’s scout group,” Kinyon said.
“Mrs. Horne sent Aunt Mable a postcard on Feb. 2, 1938, that said, ‘Feb. 2 – Dear Mrs. Stoebe, We Indian School Scouts will be very happy to come to your Court of Awards Feb 17. – Mrs. Horne for Indian School Girl Scouts.’”
Horne wore Indian attire to talk about her great-great-grandmother. According to PBS.org, Sacagawea was kidnapped in 1800, when she was about 12 years old, by a war party of Hidatsa Indians, enemies of her tribe, the Shoshones.
She was later sold as a slave to Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian fur trader who claimed her as his wife. Sacagawea gave birth to a son, Jean-Baptiste Charbonneau, who became America’s youngest explorer after Sacagawea and her husband joined the Lewis and Clark expedition as interpreters.
Without the help of Sacagawea, we might all be living in Kansas. Think about it. Any tie to the expedition should be cherished.
“Aunt Mable kept in contact with Esther Horne in North Dakota,” Kinyon said. “Here is another postcard from Mrs. Horne to Aunt Mable in 1940: ‘Dear Scouts, The Girl Scouts of Wahpeton Indian School invite you to a party in their Scout Cabin Thursday night, Nov. 14, at 7:30 o’clock. RSVP. Mrs. Stoebe, do you have a troop of girls around the age of 14, 15 or 16 with about 18 girls in it? This is the age span of our own girls. The number coming isn’t so important – We have 18 girls in our older group. We hope you can come. Please call me any day after 5 p.m. EB Horne.’”
Stoebe, who died in her 90s, said Horne was a lovely woman who knew a lot about her famous ancestor, Kinyon said.
Horne was honored for 30 years of teaching with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. She was also the model for a bust of Sacagawea that’s in the North Dakota Heritage Center. Perhaps the center would be the best place for Sacagawea memorabilia from Everett.
“We could share history with someone else,” Kinyon said. “We could put it in a museum so others could enjoy it, and the fact that it was Aunt Mable’s.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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