User talk:MinorProphet/George C. Crager

Editorial

This is an attempt to sum up Crager's character, almost all of which is borne out by the many secondary sources (now over 180) which I have gathered in the making of this article.

Geo. C. Crager was not the most straightforward of men, although he evidently had a number of positive characteristics. He was described a number of times by different people as indefatigable, pleasant and likeable, perhaps even respected by the Sioux. He evidently had a particular facility for picking up the speech of other peoples, including - apparently - the (seven) Oglala Sioux dialects, a number of European languages, and even Zulu. I would say that he evidently found it easy to converse with people and learn their speech directly, not necessarily from a book. He seems to have connected easily with others, being a persuasive speaker and raconteur. He professed some Christian beliefs: and if he really was adopted by Two Strike, he almost certainly would have to possess had some sort of spiritual sympathy with Sioux or with Native American beliefs in general. He seems to have had a good knowledge of the land and conditions of the areas where he worked in the Army, or as an Indian Agent.

It doesn't seem easy to ascertain his true feelings about the American Indians. How far did he really go towards contesting the plight of the braves and chiefs in BBWS to Buffalo Bill, for example, or that of the Native Americans from Pine Ridge with President Harrison? His advice seems to have been ignored, although his was one of the few positive voices among the many, many negative ones. Did he risk being called any sort of something-lover? He personally entertained the Indian chiefs at restaurants and theatres in New York, explained the Battle of Waterloo to them on the spot, and so on. In photos and drawings of him, Crager appears as a relatively slim man of no more than average height, slightly nondescript compared to the other physically imposing specimens of both skin types involved in BBWW: he really doesn't seem to be the sort of person to pick a fight.

However: in a review of Chris Dixon's book (Dixon 2012), Irene Lottini summarised Buffalo Bill Cody's one-sided version of history, as presented by John M. Burke:

• "In the same years in which European countries were consolidating their colonial empires or starting their new expansionistic adventures, the “authentic” representation of the victory of civilization over savagery proposed by the show and embodied by Cody himself could confirm the idea of the White Men’s superiority and dominating mission."

I was wondering about Crager's attitude towards the Native Americans, and this last quote can serve as an explanation until I find a better one.

It's very difficult to overcome ingrained prejudice and xenophobia where people are habitually categorised as savages, brutes, sub-human, etc. It seems that in many ways the aims, beliefs and life-styles of the indigenous peoples of North America are relatively incompatible and often wholly opposed to those of the whites, especially the sacred connection of earth and sky and all living things: we destructively abuse the natural world, rather than respect it and live in some sort of awe and wonder.

• Welch, Christina (2011). "Savagery on show: The popular visual representation of Native American peoples and their lifeways at the World’s Fairs (1851–1904) and in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (1884–1904)". Early Popular Visual Culture 9:4, 337-352, DOI: 10.1080/17460654.2011.621314.

George C. Crager seems (along with Joseph Menchen) to have been some sort of protégé of (or been associated with) Robert Grau, another somewhat disreputable man, a known blackmailer with a tendency to decamp with the wages of his theatre companies [hmm, this last unfounded rumour was later disproved after he had spent some time in a Canadian jail, but it's a good journalistic phrase], who was detested by his older and very respectable brother Maurice who was simultaneously General Manager of both the 'old' Metropolitan Opera House, NY, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. [It's not difficult, his company sang in NY in the winter, and in the spring/summer in London.]

A disproportionate number of sources both contemporary and modern (eg Teresa H. Dean, the Commissioner of Indian Afairs, Sam Maddra) cast considerable doubt on Crager's character, behaviour and general reliability. Having cobbled together here what I feel is a relatively comprehensive overview of his life from secondary sources, I would tend to agree with his critics.

Although he was certainly gifted in a number of ways, he seems to have used his talents somewhat selfishly for his own ends, and not for any obvious higher purpose. I would call him clever and charming, perhaps even witty, but wholly untrustworthy: a sweet-talker, a flatterer and an unprincipled seducer. He had at least six 'wives', whatever that meant to him, two of them concurrently, for which he served a 2-year sentence for bigamy: even in prison he received all sorts of billets-doux and offers from random women. He was evidently a social climber, hobnobbing with the rich and famous. He certainly let other people pick up his bills without compunction.

Sadly, almost every new piece of information I find about him reveals some less-than-admirable aspect or trait of his makeup, another nail in the coffin of his reputation, rather than something to admire or seek to emulate. >MinorProphet (talk) 18:29, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

References

Sources

• Burke, John M. (2012). Dixon, Chris (ed.). Buffalo Bill from Prairie to Palace. Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803244568.
• Lottini, Irene (13 December 2013). "Burke, John M. Buffalo Bill from Prairie to Palace. Edited by Chris Dixon". European Journal of American Studies [Online]. Reviews 2013-2, Document 18. Retrieved 19 July 2016. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Titles and forms of address

I have the greatest respect for anyone who speaks another language, however haltingly; and in the Department of Languages (not US Govt., but college-style), George C. was most evidently an expert. But beyond that, I have tended to apply the very greatest caution, quite possibly to his detriment where he instead deserves more praise: but there is little written available evidence for this.

Crager served twice in the 3rd US Cavalry as an enlisted man, and apparently never rose to any higher rank. However, he was definitely a Special Indian allotting Agent in the Department of Indian Affairs, which carried with it the title of Major. After he was dismissed the Service, he continued to use this title to the very fullest extent, usually implying (without actually specifically claiming) that he was a Major (or other officer rank) in the US Army, or letting his audience assume so. Because he tended to pass himself off as something he wasn't, I have used 'Major' to accentuate this later usage. Nevertheless, he really was Major George C. Crager, which should be reflected in the lede, and in the main article whenever it refers to his time in the Dept. of Indian Affairs.  Not done yet MinorProphet (talk) 06:59, 27 August 2016 (UTC)

Bringing a few threads together

Crager's military exploits

One of the first things I read about Crager was his story of how he dragged the wounded Guy Henry off the battlefield at the Battle of the Rosebud on June 17, 1876. In his talk in Philadelphia, some 20 tears after the event, he mentioned it being fought on St. Patrick's Day. However, this is the date when the Battle of Powder River was fought March 17, 1876. His claim never quite made sense, even back then. See article passim. I think it seems improbable that Crager was at the Rosebud, for reasons discussed in the article.

In 1881 Crager married Mollie Willoughby, sister of Jim "Kid" W., a rider in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. He thus had plenty of time to get to know Frank North, who was Indian manager for BBWW in 1882, and who also organised the Pawnee Scouts and actually fought with them (perhaps as a civilian?) at the Battle of Powder River. Crager became Native American interpreter/manager with BBWW in 1886, after North died in 1885 of his injuries (see comments under section 'Stoke-on-Trent, August 1891').

There is a certain type of of people who have a tendency to relate events as if they had been there, when they are merely parroting information that they have picked up along the way, or what other people have actually told them.

I know that memory fades over time, and the two battles were both fought on the same day of the month, the 17th. This is obviously WP:OR: but Crager's general tendency to dissemble (or to be economical with the truth) tends to point towards his having picked up some tales from Frank North and his repeating them to all and sundry, in and out of uniform. He went to see Henry's son and wife while Henry was away with the reserves in Cuba, posing as "Lieutenant Crager" in 1898.

Getting the dates of the Rosebud and Powder River battles mixed up is the sort of slip that can be put down to the passage of time: but it can also be explained if these were not his own actual experiences.

Coinciding events

Joe was in Paris c. Nov. 1896, Crager was biz manager for EH Sothern in Pittsburgh in Feb 1897. Sothern was English, and toured in the States... Matbe check out Ellis Island passenger records to see if GCC went to Europe that year...

See also: "Marlowe, Julia (1866-1950), American actress. Marlowe was famous for playing young heroines, such as Viola (1887,1907), Rosalind (1889), and Imogen (1893). Her scholarly and intelligent acting bridged Romantic and realistic styles. By 1924, Marlowe had reportedly played more Shakespearian roles than any other actress, many opposite her husband E. H. Sothern." (Oxford Companion to Shakespeare, somewhere)

NB George C. Crager was advance agent for EH Sothern before 1898. Sothern & Marlowe's manager in 1905-6 was Charles Frohman, who died on the Lusitania in May 1915. (EB, 12th Ed., XXXI, p. 156)

Need to make a double time-line for Crager & Menchen to really work out to what extent their lives intertwined.

The two Miracles

Somewhat random, disconnected thoughts...

Mime Misu, a dancer at the time, was at the 1900 Paris Exposition, where Loie Fuller (manager, one "Major" George Crager) was doing her silky routine (perhaps lit by Joe Menchen's stereopticons?)

Misu was apparently FIND REF! approached, after making In Nacht und Eis by representatives of Max Reinhardt - or Menchen - to shoot Joe's "Miracle", which didn't happen until October 1912, although it had been sorted by around July. This is one of the New York Film Company's full-page ads. Hmm, could Misu have gone to London as well? Unlikely to discover... but the Misu Miracle played at the Shaftesbury Theatre - who owned/managed it at the time? Not Clozenbergs?

Shaftesbury Pavilion at 101 Shaftesbury Avenue = Avenue Pavilion (amazingly, see Academy 1-2-3 (cinema)) - where the "Unusual film" movement started = London Pavilion atm.

Anyway, the whole episode of the 'real' and 'fake' "Miracles" as always struck me as somehow improbable.

Genuine, ground-breaking artists have always had their imitators - Joe Menchen had "Mme. Stella" and "Winifred" (conceivably Crager's daughter) and "Mme. Lottie" doing exactly the same thing as La Loie: one of them appeared in the chewing-gum bloke's theatre, who opened i fink Dreamland? or one of those beach-side amusement parks. Another of Crager's artistes (Alice Nielsen and the Gaiety of Nations??) complained of the same thing.

Anyway, I came across this recently: I only noticed it because of the 1812 god (The Year 1812) film, which was made by Goncharov (Director) Khanzhonkov (Producer), (see 1812 Film - by me [000551].rtf)

"Two types of strategy -- disruptive and competitive -- were employed by studios competing for the Russian market. Disruption (sryv), was a notorious gimmick whereby a competitor's production was undermined by a cheaper (and sloppier) version of the same subject (story, title) released earlier or on the same day." §§ "Pre-Revolutionary Russia" by Yuri Tsivian, in The Oxford History of World Cinema, ed. Geoffrey Nowell-Smith

Which would tend to explain a lot. Amazingly, Joe was in St. Petersburg in July-August 1909 (ref in European Amusement Parks.rtf), and although the type of shady business practice described above was not unknown in the USA, it could explain the whole "Battle of the Miracles" hoo-ha: it was dubbed thus by the press, suitably "in the know", "on the qui vive".

So, I reckon that the whole tangled Miracle mess may well be a totally put-up and deliberately manufactured marketing ploy, especially since it is not entirely improbable that Crager met Misu in Paris in 1900. Why did Misu's "fake Miracle" play at the Shaftesbury Pavilion, anyway? Who knew whom? >>MinorProphet (talk) 22:26, 5 April 2019 (UTC)