I found this picture while searching for family photos at the Minnesota Historical Society way back in ’77. (1977, not 1877)
I managed to find out where I could write to Bob Hope at the time and sent him a copy, hoping that he might have some information about it. I received this letter from him along with my returned photo.
Mr. Hope couldn’t provide me with any new information except to suggest it may have been taken in a studio. (I was thinking Cali-for-nii-aa) but I was pleased nonetheless to have received a personal letter back along with his autograph!
I recently signed up for a five day free trial of Newspapers.com (I needed a credit card but was told how I could easily cancel my trial before the five days were up.)
During that period, I pretty much dedicated myself to looking up as many possible Ancestor references for myself and friends who were interested. I probably looked at a thousand possible articles and was rewarded with a score or more, which I “Clipped” and then downloaded. This was one of them.
Yep, same top hat, same sport coat, same two people. BINGO!!! Mystery solved.
Part of the article reads:
“Forever a gagster, Bob Hope invaded Minneapolis Monday. He put on a two-hour stage show in Minneapolis Auditorium. Sang a duet with Mayor Eric G. Hoyer, said nasty things about Bing Crosby, and was made an honorary Indian. Most of the shenanigans took place in Nicollet Hotel, where, among other things, the ski-nosed comedian attended a dinner put on by the Theadore Peterson American Legion Post.
* * *
In Picture below, Hope meets Chief Ben Littlecreek of the Red Lake Chippewa Indian Tribe. Hope made the Chief an honorary “Paleface”, from the movie by the same name.”
As a side note, I like Hope’s irony here. That’s the first time I’ve heard of an Indian being made an honorary Paleface!
All kidding aside, for you genealogy buffs out there, Try the Newspaper.com free Trial. It was worth it! (And, they actually made cancelling the trial easy!) All irony aside, I will pay for a subscription–which I can get for just one month if I want–should I need to research other ancestors in the future.
Mr. Littlecreek, I have been interested in your Grandfather for many years and would like to say thank you. My mother worked with Chief Littlecreek at Minnesota Mining during the war and she talked about him when I was a child in the 1950s and 60s. I believe I met him once when we were in the Bemidji area. Best wishes on your journey for information. Harold Turnquist
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Hi Harold,
Thank you for your kind words and that bit of information!
Best Wishes,
Russ Littlecreek
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Again, another fascinating post! Been wondering about that photo for years-another mystery put to rest by some great sleuthing! Hope all is well!
Dale
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Hey Dale,
Thanks. It was fun sleuthing. Hope things are good for you too.
Best Wishes,
Russell
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Russ, How very interesting! I don’t remember you ever telling me that your grandpa was a chief! Debbie
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Let’s just say, ‘he presented himself as a chief’. While we have Chiefs in our family lines, only the first born son can become a hereditary chief. I’ll have to check on the Mason side of the family to see if he qualified from that side.
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Very cool!!
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you!
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Wow, very cool! And how did you know where to mail your letter to?
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I searched on where to write to your favorite star.
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