Robert Harwood

Robert was a half-breed Piegan Blackfoot Indian

Source: “Blackfoot Culture and History.” Www.glenbow.org, www.glenbow.org/indigenous-resources/blackfoot-culture-and-history/.

The Blackfoot tribe can be referred to as “Blackfoot” or “Blackfeet,” though the Blackfoot call themselves the Niitsitapi or “The Original People.” There are mixed reports on how the tribe received the name “Blackfoot." Some think it refers to the tribe’s moccasins becoming blackened from their long journeys across the prairie to reach Montana.

In the winter, Blackfeet would separate into bands of approximately 10-20 ledges, which amounted to about 80-240 people. They lived near wooded areas to hunt effectively. Each band was led by a chief and was defined by residence rather than kinship, so members were free to join other bands if they wanted to, which helped to reduce fighting within the bands. The Blackfeet tribe living in Montana today is a branch of the Piegan Tribe.

Source: “Blackfeet Nation.” Blackfeet Nation, blackfeetnation.com/.

The Blackfoot Confederacy, Niitsitapi, or Siksikaitsitapi, meaning "the people" or "Blackfoot-speaking real people"[a]), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Blackfeet people: the Siksika ("Blackfoot"), the Kainai or Blood ("Many Chiefs"), and two sections of the Peigan or Piikani ("Splotchy Robe") – the Northern Piikani (Aapátohsipikáni) and the Southern Piikani (Amskapi Piikani or Pikuni).
There are today three major bands of Blackfeet:
The Piegan: The largest of the three bands, also known as the Pikuni
The Blood: Also known as the Kainah
The Siksika: Also known as the Blackfoot proper or the Northern Blackfoot

The tribe faced serious hardship throughout the late 1800s as the U.S. government nearly exterminated the entire North American bison population and forced the tribe onto reservations, making them fully dependent upon the government for food and resources. The Lame Bull Treaty pushed the tribe onto a reservation in Montana in 1855.
Source: “Montana Beyond.” Mtbeyond.com, 2024, mtbeyond.com/. Accessed 27 Dec. 2024.

Biography:
Robert Harwood was born at Fort Benton, Chouteau County, Montana on September 18, 1869, to father Thomas B. Harwood and mother Onis-Te-Yea 'Mary' Harwood (Antelope Runner). He married Susan Harwood (Lair/Allard) on May 6, 1897, and with her had one son Joseph Robert Harwood on April 12, 1900, at Fort Benton, Chouteau County, Montana. He had one brother Thomas Benton Harwood.

Carla Joinson's book Vanished in Hiawatha contains no information on Robert other than that he was a Blackfeet Indian.

Robert was in the 1918 male census at Canton Asylum but not in 1917 or 1920 (1919 is not available), which indicates that he was there for only a relatively short time.

According to his death certificate, he died on November 11, 1943, at the Montana Hospital for the Insane in Warm Springs, Montana,

and suffered and died from senile psychosis, simple deterioration ("Senile psychosis" refers to a mental deterioration associated with old age, characterized by psychotic symptoms like delusions and hallucinations, often occurring alongside a cognitive decline in conditions like dementia, while "simple deterioration" implies a gradual decline in cognitive abilities without the presence of prominent psychotic features, usually associated with milder forms of dementia or age-related cognitive changes).

His profile is part of the https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Canton_Asylum.

Research Notes:
-Wives Susan Allard and Susan Lair are both shown with the same marriage date, I assume therefore that they are the same person even though sources show different names, Allard appears to be her birth name but the marriage license uses the surname Lair so one assumes that she had been previously married, for which I find no evidence.
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Sources:

1896 - "Montana, County Voting Records, 1884-1992", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6ZQX-D5TX : Sat Mar 09 05:03:39 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood, 1896, pg. 46/122, line 174 (age 21 with his father line 173), Voter Registration rolls, Benton, Montana

1897 May 6 - "Montana, County Marriages, 1865-1950", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F33L-27D : Fri Nov 22 18:04:37 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood and Thomas Harwood, 06 May 1897, pg. No image
Name Robert Harwood
Sex Male
Age 20 years
Birth Date 1876
Birthplace Fort Benton, Montana
Marital Status Single
Race Half Breed
Father's Name Thomas Harwood
Father's Sex Male
Spouse's Name Susan Lair
Spouse's Sex Female
Spouse's Age 20 years 6 months
Spouse's Birth Date 1877
Spouse's Birthplace McLeod, N. W. Territory
Spouse's Marital Status Single
Spouse's Race Half Breed
Spouse's Father's Name Joseph Lair
Spouse's Father's Sex Male
Spouse's Mother's Name Mary McDonald
Event Type Marriage
Event Date 1887
Event Place Fort Benton, Chouteau, Montana, United States
Event Place (Original) Fort Benton, Chouteau, Montana
Source Details p 401, cn 329

1905 Jan 3 - "United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KZT-5ZZX : Sun Mar 10 18:13:34 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood, 3 Jan 1905, pg. 713/797, Robert purchases, and cancels in December, 320 acres

1910 Apr 4 - "United States, Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, 1800-c. 1955", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KZ7-3JKG : Fri Mar 08 15:46:14 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood, 4 Apr 1910, pg. 643/788, PRpbert purchases 320 acres in Township 30N Range 27 E

1910 Apr 11 - "Montana, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9W3-MFG1?view=index : Dec 27, 2024), image 641 of 797; United States. Bureau of Land Management, pg. 641/797, Pobert purchased 160 acres

1917 Jul 24 - "Montana, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89W3-S7VF?view=index : Dec 27, 2024), image 202 of 779; United States. Bureau of Land Management, Robert and his brother Thomas purchase 320 acres each by allotment in Township 37N Range 6W

1918 Jun 30 - Camp Verde School: 1910-27; Canton Insane Asylum: 1910-22, Series: Superintendents' Annual Narrative and Statistical Reports, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC, 20408 @ https://catalog.archives.gov/id/155854182?objectPage=886, line 15, Canton Asylum male census

1922 Apr 3 - "Montana, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89W3-S7VF?view=index : Dec 27, 2024), image 202 of 779; United States. Bureau of Land Management, Robert and his brother Thomas purchase an additional 80 acres each by allotment in Township 37N Range 6W

1940 Apr 19 - "United States, Census, 1940", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VBQ9-NXH : Wed Mar 06 14:57:49 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood, 1940, pg. 828/1043, line 8 (age 74), census of School District 9 Browning, Browning Town, Blackfeet Hospital, Gallatin, Montana

1943 Nov 11 - "Deer Lodge, Montana, United States records," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8B2J-ZDW?view=index : Dec 26, 2024), image 130 of 331; Deer Lodge County (Montana). County Clerk and Recorder, line 13285, Index to Register of Deaths

1943 Nov 11 - "Montana, County Births and Deaths, 1840-2004", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKN5-1CMB : Sat Mar 09 22:44:22 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Harwood and Tom Harwood, 11 Nov 1943, pg. 1409/2601, Standard Certificate of Death #13285, Montana State Hospital, Warmsprings Township, Deer Lodge County

"Find a Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6PMC-9SJR : 15 September 2023), Robert Harwood, ; Burial, Browning, Glacier, Montana, United States of America, Saint Michaels Cemetery; citing record ID 259000199, Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/259000199/robert-harwood: accessed December 26, 2024), memorial page for Robert Harwood (18 Sep 1869–11 Nov 1943), Find a Grave Memorial ID 259000199, citing Saint Michaels Cemetery, Browning, Glacier County, Montana, USA; Maintained by rm (contributor 48752385).

1943 Nov 19 - "Montana, Death Index, 1860-2007," , FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VHCX-4KB : 9 December 2014), Robert Harwood, 11 Nov 1943; from "Montana Death Index, 1868-2011," database, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com : 2009); citing State of Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services, Office of Vital Statistics, Helen, no image

1943 Nov 19 - “Robert Harwood-74.” Browning Chief, Browning, Glacier County, MT, 19 Nov. 1943.

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Additional Reading:
1) Montanas Worst @ https://damfailures.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Parrett_2004_Mon...
2) The Blackfeet Confederacy @ https://lewis-clark.org/native-nations/algonquian-peoples/blackfeet...
3) “Glenbow Museum - Niitsitapiisini: Our Way of Life / Nitsitapiisinni: Notre Mode de Vie.” Www.glenbow.org, www.glenbow.org/blackfoot/.