If you read my other piece that details the Constitutional Effort of 1901 you may have seen some names that looked familiar. One of the cool things about local history is that we are all inter-connected and these folks still have family in the area.
I put together some research on each of the men who were signatories or part of this effort. This is mainly archive and internet research, but I’d love to have more local sources if anyone wants to connect these families back to me.
Like with all the work I present, please take time to look through the sources I provide or ask an Elder with more information. I’m doing my best, but sometimes I miss things!
Last note - I was originally going to wait to post this, but figure I’ll put out what I have and circle back to do an update if any of the families want to provide more information.
Solon M. Jones
Solon M. Jones was the O’otham man credited with proposing the idea of creating a written constitution for the community. At the time, Jones worked as the agency interpreter in Sacaton. Born around 1872, Solon attended the Santa Fe Indian School before returning to the Community.
Around 1890, Solon Jones married Melissa Inez (also known as Melissa Jones after marriage). Melissa was herself Akimel O’odham and studied at Hampton Institute in Virginia from 1881 to 1885 — notable as “the only girl among her people to appreciate the value of civilized ways,” according to school records. After returning to Arizona, Melissa served as an assistant teacher and interpreter at the Sacaton agency school.
In February 1904, just a few years after the Constitution attempt, U.S. Indian Inspector Col. Frank C. Churchill visited the Gila River Reservation and took a series of photographs in Sacaton. One of these images (now in the National Museum of the American Indian’s collection) is a group portrait of Solon Jones, his wife Melissa, and their family at Sacaton.
A 1906 report from the Phoenix Indian School lauded Solon and Melissa Jones among the “successful returned students,” noting that they “in their honest, earnest efforts [help] their people and make the most of themselves.” Solon was also known to have worked as a ranger on the reservation around the 1910s and remained active in local affairs.
Solon Jones’s life was cut relatively short. He died in 1918, while still in his mid-forties.
His wife, Melissa Inez Jones, survived him by many years and continued to be an active figure in the community. In 1919, not long after Solon’s passing, anthropologist-collector Edward H. Davis visited the Gila River Reservation and met with Melissa Jones. Davis collected several O’otham artifacts from her.
Melissa also provided information to Elsie Clews Parsons for her paper on O’otham clanship. From that paper, we know that Solon and Melissa had multiple children — including Lillian Jones (born 1896), Frank Jones (born 1902), and Dora (unknown).
Though his life was cut short in 1918, Solon M. Jones left a legacy that far outlived him. No obituary has been found in public sources.
Earl A. Whitman
Earl A. Whitman was the principal drafter of the 1901 Santan constitution, working from Jones’s initial idea. In 1901 Whitman was serving as the disciplinarian at the boarding school in Sacaton . Like Jones, Whitman had an off-reservation education: he enrolled at Carlisle Indian School in 1898 and departed in 1900 .
Whitman took on the task of writing down the constitution that Jones and the others conceived, producing a document “modeled after that of the United States” but tailored to the community’s needs.
Carlisle records indicate that by 1912 Earl Whitman was working as a grade foreman for the U.S. Reclamation Service in Sacaton and that he was at some point an assistant carpenter with the Indian Service as well. The records further show his concern with allotment around that time - stating he wasn’t planning to make a home to call his own in fear that it was to be allotted soon.
And he was right - Gila River lands began to be allotted in 1917 and we are still dealing with the consequences…
Earl A. Whitman lived into mid-century; Bureau of Indian Affairs records show he died May 23, 1949 (with his estate probated in 1951) . No obituary has been found in public sources.
Antoine B. Juan
Antoine B. Juan (possibly Antonio Juan?) was one of the committee members and co-signers of the 1901 Santan constitution. Possibly a student at the Albuquerque Indian School. Little information is readily available about his early life or later activities.
No obituary or detailed biography could be found.
Edward Jackson
Edward Jackson was another signatory of the 1901 committee’s constitution . Possibly a student at the Tucson Indian Training School - Escuela.
In 1910, he is mentioned among the “O’otham elders” who helped raise funds to build the first Presbyterian church in Sacaton. Church records from that year show Edward Jackson, along with other O’otham leaders, traveling to gather donations for the new church building.
No obituary or detailed biography could be found in the sources consulted for him.
John K. Owens
John K. Owens was listed as a member of the constitution committee. Possibly a student at the Santa Fe Indian School.
No obituary or detailed biography could be found in the sources consulted for him.
Kisto Jackson (Kisto J. Morago)
Kisto Jackson, also known by Kisto Morago, was born in 1867. Kisto was the son of Luis Morago (Louis, Lewis), a name you might recognize from my past article. The Smithsonian Institute has a picture of Kisto stating he is the last remaining son of Louis Morago.
In Frank Russell’s list of committee members, he appears as “Kisto Jackson, Hampton, Va.” , he was a student at Hampton in 1881 at age 14. He attended along with Antonito Azul (Antonio’s son) and Juan Garfield. Kisto was among the first Akimel O’odham to attend Hampton (a vocational boarding school for Native Americans and African Americans).
I find it pretty interesting that Kisto was involved in the drafting of the constitution. considering his father’s ties with Azul and his own history with Antonito at Hampton.
After the constitution failed we know that Kisto married Jessie M. Chapman on December 25, 1904. I’d love to know more about this pairing - Jessie was born in Unity Wisconsin - a tiny town in the Midwest. I wonder if she was a worker in Sacaton or if Kisto somehow met her during his traveling in government.
In the realm of community affairs, Kisto emerged as an outspoken advocate for O’otham rights. In 1911 he joined other O’otham leaders in formally protesting the U.S. government’s Sacaton irrigation project, which had attempted to drill wells to compensate for the drying of the Gila River. Kisto was part of the “Business Committee” that wrote to Congress in May 1911.
Kisto Morago, Lewis D. Nelson, Harvey Cawker, and Jackson Thomas sent a letter to the U.S. Senate objecting to the costly well-pumping scheme, arguing that it would “ruin” their land with alkali and stating that “the water rights in the Gila River…are still ours.”
Thanks in part to these efforts – including petitions signed by hundreds of O’otham farmers – Congress ordered investigations and suspended the irrigation project in 1912 . Kisto’s role in this struggle showed him to be a savvy leader asserting indigenous rights against federal policies.
Kisto Morago was also a successful farmer and rancher in the Community. In 1912, Hampton’s alumni magazine The Southern Workman (p.62) reported that “Kisto Jackson Morago, a returned student, has been making a success in cattle raising and farming,” and noted that he had exhibited sorghum syrup from his crops at a local fair .
Records state (p.296) that he was also a police captain for tribe at some point, but it is unclear what year.
Kisto Morago may also be one of the elders who recorded O’otham histories with Ruth Benedict in the winter of 1927. Anthropologist Ruth Benedict visited Gila River to record Akimel O’odham oral histories; “Kisto” was one of the elders who narrated O’otham creation and other related events (others included William Blackwater, Thomas Vanyiko, Clara Ahiel, William Stevens, and Oliver Wellington) . It’s unknown to me if this is the same person, but it is close so I figured I’d include it as a possibility.
According to records, Kisto J. Morago died on November 1, 1957 in his late 80s.
No obituary could be found in the sources consulted for him.
Oliver Wellington (Oliver “Willington”)
Oliver Wellington – listed in Russell’s 1903 article as “Oliver Willington (assisted but did not sign)” – was another young O’otham involved in the constitution initiative. (The spelling Willington in the source is almost certainly a typo or variant)
Oliver was part of the committee’s discussions and helped in drafting the document, although he did not formally sign the constitution.
Oliver Wellington’s contributions to O’odham Creation and Related Events is a little clearer. In 1927, when Ruth Benedict recorded Akimel O’otham stories, Oliver Wellington was one of the storytellers who shared O’otham creation and related events . He is directly listed in the book.
No obituary or detailed biography could be found in the sources consulted for him.
John Lewis
John Lewis of Santan was the man selected to be “Head Chief” under the new 1901 constitution. He was born in 1854, older than most of the other committee members.
John Lewis had been among the first Pima converts to Christianity in the 1880s. Presbyterian missionary Rev. Charles Cook recorded that “John Lewis of Santan” was baptized around 1885, soon after the first O’otham baptism. We also know from his obituary in the Pima Gazette that Lewis was one of the O’otham Scouts that fought against the Apache with the US Government and was even one of the men that helped to capture the Apache leader, Geronimo in 1886.
When the Santan constitution was adopted by the community in October 1901, John Lewis was unanimously elected as the new Head Chief in accordance with the constitution’s provisions, but his resignation effectively ended the fledgling constitutional government in early 1902.
John Lewis voluntarily resigned his position to avoid causing a break in the Community, stating he “would not hold the position of chief if he was not the unanimous choice of the people”.
John passed in 1939, and the Pima Gazette posted an obituary for him.
His last name might be familiar to many O’otham today - his family is still very active in public service.
John’s grandson, Rev. Roe Blaine Lewis, became a leading Presbyterian minister.
Roe’s son, Rodney B. Lewis was the first Native American to argue and win in front of the Supreme Court. He was a stalwart defender of GRIC’s water rights.
Rodney’s son, Stephen Roe Lewis, serves today as Governor of the Gila River Indian Community.
Conclusion
I started putting this together because I think it is useful to consider the folks who helped to form our Community and bring us to where we are today. I’m not putting any of these folks or their families above anyone else, but I do want to recognize the stories behind the signatures in that early Constitutional document.
This is just one cool story from history, but we have a lot more. Again, I urge you to check out sources and follow up with Elders to learn more. I’m not perfect - if you catch an error let me know and I can correct it.
If you are family, or know family of these folks and want to connect them with me to get more into this story please reach out to me at LFNBRUCIE@gmail.com
References
These are some of the references I link above and some of the texts that I reviewed to help make this.
Martinez, David. “Pulling Down the Clouds: The O’odham Intellectual Tradition during the ‘Time of Famine’.” American Indian Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 1 (Winter 2010): 1–32.
Wilson, John. “People of the Middle Gilas” (reference to Kisto Jackson Morago going to boarding school and his police service)
Russell, Frank. “A Pima Constitution.” Journal of American Folklore, vol. 16, no. 63 (Oct.–Dec. 1903): 222–228. (Includes full text of the 1901 Santan Constitution and commentary.)
Carlisle Indian School Digital Resource Center: Student file of Earl A. Whitman (Pima), showing enrollment July 20, 1898 to June 14, 1900, and post-school occupation (foreman in Sacaton, 1912) .
Gila River Indian News – Billy Allen, “A’aga: Something to be told or talked about,” July 5, 2019. (History column recounting early Presbyterian mission efforts on Gila River.) Contains references to John Lewis of Santan as one of Rev. Cook’s first baptized converts in 1885 . Also mentions Edward Jackson (and others) raising funds in 1910 for the first Sacaton church building .
Southern Workman, vol. 41, no. 1 (Jan. 1912), p. 62. – Hampton Institute publication. Quote: “Kisto Jackson Morago, a returned student, who has been making a success in cattle raising and farming, exhibited [sorghum] in several stages.” (Report on Kisto Morago’s farming success after returning to Gila River.)
Gila River Indian Community, Pima-Maricopa Irrigation Project (P-MIP) Education Initiative (2002–2003), Lesson 22: “The Congressional Investigations: 1911–1912.” . – Describes the 1911 Pima Business Committee letter by Kisto Morago, Lewis Nelson, Harvey Cawker, Jackson Thomas to the U.S. Senate protesting the well irrigation scheme, asserting Pima water rights, and the resulting suspension of the project.
Gila River Indian News – Billy Allen, “Billy Allen’s A’aga” (column), Dec. 4, 2015. – Discusses O’odham winter storytelling and names the elders who told creation stories to Ruth Benedict in 1927, including “Oliver Wellington and Kisto.” (Confirms Oliver Wellington’s role as a storyteller and correct spelling of his name.)
FamilySearch.org genealogical profile “Jessie Chapman (1883–1981)” – Marriage record: Jessie Chapman married Kisto Jackson Morago on Dec. 25, 1904 in Sacaton, Arizona .
FamilySearch.org genealogical profile “Kisto Jackson Morago (1867–1957)” – Notes that Kisto J. Morago died on Nov. 1, 1957 (in Arizona) .
U.S. National Archives, RG 75 (Bureau of Indian Affairs), Gila River Agency Probate Records – Entry for Earl Whitman (Gila River allottee 829): Date of Death May 23, 1949; heirs and estate value (probate dated 1951) .