Reflections of My Father: A Biography of the Nelson Family and “My Life in the U.S. Army During World War Ii”

By Carmen R. Nelson-Holt and Sgt. Cleveland V. Nelson

THE WORLD WAR II DIARY OF SGT. NELSON

From December 15, 1941, to January 5, 1945, Sgt. Cleveland Moot Nelson recorded his daily life through his diary while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in the North African and Italian campaigns. He titled the diary, My Life in the U.S. Army, and it is a personal memoire of the brief, yet important moments of his military days from the moment he enlisted in the army at Fort Francis, East Wallen, Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the end of the war.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781479756056

Carmen R. Nelson-Holt

THE BIOGRAPHY OF MOOT NELSON Carmen Nelson-Holt is the third child out of seven children born to Cleveland “Moot” V. Nelson. She became inspired to write a biography of her late father and his family after typing the original manuscript of his World War II diary. Moot Nelson was a Lakota Sioux who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota from 1920 until the early 1950s. During his youth, he performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show then attended school at a Catholic mission where he excelled in sports to overcome the hardship of mission life. Later on, he accepted a heartbreaking job of assisting the Klamath tribe in the termination of their land and the rights that came with it. During the later years of his BIA career, he became an agency superintendent on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the Wounded Knee conflict with the American Indian Movement. Moot also had a sister who enlisted during World War II. Her name was Ida Belle Nelson Amiotte, and she tells the story of her time in the military. Moot’s great-grandfather was John Y. Nelson, who lived an adventurous life in the 1800s. He was a trader, a hunter, a pony express rider, a scout and guide with the U.S. Army, a member of the original Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and became a Sioux Indian brave. Today, an original 1878 life-sized poster of him hangs in the Reg Lenna Civic Theatre in Jamestown, New York. It was discovered in 2002, when a brick wall on a building adjacent to the Reg Lenna Civic Center collapsed.

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Copyright © 2012 by Sgt. Cleveland V. Nelson / Carmen R. Nelson-Holt.

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CONTENTS

Chapter 1   Introduction To The Author Of My Life In The U.S. Army

Chapter 2   Catholic Boarding School

Chapter 3   Moot’s Family

Chapter 4   Moving On

Chapter 5   Klamath Agency

Chapter 6   Travel Back Home To Pine Ridge

Chapter 7   Introduction To The Author Of Reflections Of My Father

Chapter 8   Enlistment During World War II

Chapter 9   Meeting John Louie, Sr.

Chapter 10   Nativeteran

Chapter 11   Pine Ridge And Aim

Chapter 12   Army Reunion

Chapter 13   Moot’s Siblings

Mary N. Cottier

Thomas N. Nelson

Ida Belle Nelson Amiotte

Chapter 14   John Young Nelson

Chapter 15   Wild West Show

Chapter 16   The First Wild West Show

Chapter 17   Reg Lenna Billboard

Chapter 18   Introduction To The Diary

FOREWORD

This book was assembled out of love and admiration to honor our loved ones and to keep the memories of our ancestors alive. I hope it will be shared with future generations as a learning tool on the history of a small part of the Nelson family tree.

The diary was written during war so proper honor and respect for service is of paramount consideration. For the importance of maintaining unit recognition, I have not delineated between any branch of the military. All military personnel are to be commended for their service and sacrifice.

Throughout war history, troops have shown signs of serious stress upon their return home after the war. In this book you will read about some of the stress reactions to war called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD, and how they were dealt with. It is not the intent of the author to humiliate or disrespect the persons involved, but only to educate the reader on the real-life struggles that the veterans endured.

Sincerely,

Carmen R. Nelson-Holt

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1)   Ida Belle (Nelson) Amiotte provided early family stories of the Nelson family and other related information based on personal knowledge and lifetime experiences. Interviews were conducted in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

2)   WWII biographies of Walter D. Amiotte and Ida B. Nelson Amiotte were compiled by their son Louis D. Amiotte and daughter Mary Louise (Amiotte) Frenchman. All accounts were based on hearing these stories and many more in the Amiotte household.

3)   Information and documentation on family histories were combined and added to existing Nelson family history in 2007 by Dianne Servias (Nelson) Gerhartz.

4)   Cissy (Cottier) White Eyes and Leonita (Nelson) Lasley provided information on Moot’s siblings: Mary (Nelson) Cottier and Thomas Nelson in 2011 and 2012.

5)   Quotes from The Greatest Generation, Tom Brokaw’s best-selling nonfiction book published in 2005.

6)   Quotes from a local newspaper in the Grand Coulee Dam area in 1962.

7)   Quotes from Fifty Years on the Trail: The Adventures of John Young Nelson, as described to Harrington O’Reilly (1889) and February 10, 2006 1878 Buffalo Bill Cody Restoration Project First Restored Panel Unveiled, Displayed in Reg Lenna Civic Center.

8)   Quotes on Chief Red Cloud from the Creator’s Code by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man.

9)   Proofreading completed by Helen McClain, Berta Cobell, Marietta Nelson, and Arnie Holt.

10)   All the pictures were obtained from the personal files of family members.

THE WORLD WAR II

DIARY OF SGT. NELSON

From December 15, 1941, to January 5, 1945, Sgt. Cleveland Moot Nelson diligently recorded his daily life through his diary while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in the North African and Italian campaigns. He titled the diary, My Life in the U.S. Army, and it is a personal memoire of the brief, yet important moments of his military days from the moment he enlisted in the army at Fort Francis, East Wallen, Cheyenne, Wyoming, to the end of the war. Moot was a Lakota Sioux who grew up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota from 1920 until the early 1950s. During his youth, he performed in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. Later on, he assisted the Klamath tribe in the termination of their land and the rights that came with it. During the later years of his career, he became an agency superintendent on the Pine Ridge Reservation during the Wounded Knee conflict with the American Indian Movement.

THE BIOGRAPHY OF MOOT NELSON, HIS FAMILY, AND VETERANS IN THE FAMILY

Carmen Nelson-Holt is the third child out of seven children of Cleveland Moot Nelson and resides in the state of Washington. She became inspired to write a biography of her late father (Moot) and his family after typing the original manuscript of his World War II diary. Carmen grew up on the Pine Ridge, Colville, and Klamath Reservations and was exposed to the different cultures and traditions of those tribes because Moot was employed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was transferred there during his federal career. In 1970, Carmen married a Vietnam veteran and experienced his pain because of PTSD. Together they found healing by collecting military artifacts and began displaying them to the public so other veterans could heal and the public could learn about the war and the soldiers who fought in them.

INTRODUCTION

This book is dedicated to my father, Cleveland Moot V. Nelson to honor him and his memories by sharing his personal diary. From December 15, 1941, to January 5, 1945, Dad diligently recorded his daily life, in his diary, while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in the North African and Italian campaigns. Dad titled the diary My Life in the U.S. Army, and it is a personal memoir of the brief, yet important moments of his military days from the moment he enlisted in the army at Fort Francis, East Wallen, Cheyenne, Wyoming, through the end of the war. Dad’s diary is a link to the past and a piece of heritage that has almost disappeared.

To introduce you to Cleveland Nelson, the beginning of this book is a brief biography of several generations of the Nelson family, summarizing some of the highlights in their lives. It also includes information on other veterans, related to the Nelsons, and the issues they faced due to their time served in the military.

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INTRODUCTION TO THE AUTHOR OF

"MY LIFE IN

THE U.S. ARMY"

Cleveland V. Nelson was born on June 20, 1920, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota to William Bill Nelson of Pine Ridge and Mary (Martinez) Nelson of Lame Deer, Montana. They were all enrolled members of the Oglala (Lakota) Sioux tribe. When he was very young, an old Protestant minister gave him the nickname Moot, and somehow it appropriately stayed with him. William Nelson was born during the year of 1888 and died on August 28, 1946. Unfortunately, there is no record of when Mary Martinez Nelson was born or died. Moot’s other siblings were Maria Mary I. Nelson, Keville Thomas Nelson, and the youngest was Ida Belle Nelson. All these family members have since deceased. In 1915, an older sister named Henrietta was born but later died in 1918.

The Pine Ridge Reservation, consisting of 2.2 million acres, is located in the southwest corner of South Dakota and is one of the 565 federally recognized Indian tribes in the United States. It is also one of the largest Native American Indian Reservations in the nation and one of the poorest. Over 90 percent of the Pine Ridge population lives below the federal poverty level, and over 80 percent of the adults are unemployed. Alcoholism, obesity, and type II diabetes, combined with underfunded and dilapidated schools, make it a very rough place to grow up and live. Life expectancy in Pine Ridge is the lowest in the United States and the second lowest in the Western Hemisphere. Only Haiti has a lower rate.

During his childhood, Moot’s family made a trip to Nebraska. On the way home back to Pine Ridge, they were caught in a snowstorm. Moot’s mother, Mary, was pregnant at the time and became very ill. Both she and the baby died from medical complications. Moot’s father, Bill, left the younger children (including Moot) with their grandparents and left Pine Ridge. He returned several years later after living in the Kentucky/Tennessee areas and came with a new wife. Relatives said he was involved in bootlegging whiskey. They took residence at Slim Buttes near the White River. The area was a haven for hunting and fishing, and many relatives would come to visit. They would camp and hunt and fish for several days at a time. Often on these family get-togethers, Bill would play the guitar and his son Moot would play the drums. Daughter Ida and Moot would also sing. Later on, the group joined with the Cottier boys and formed a band that played on and near the Pine Ridge Reservation. Bill lived on the reservation until his death in 1946.

Moot’s parents also operated a cattle ranch raising longhorn steer. While in Texas, William often listened to Texas radio stations and learned to play country and western songs on his guitar. One year, William accepted a job to drive several hundred head of cattle to a ranch in Montana. The trip took about six months. Hardships included rejection by the white settlers who would not allow them (Indians) to water their cattle. The group was forced to take different routes along the way and accepted food and water from friendly tribes.

Moot spent most of his young life with his grandfather John Yellow Elk Y. Nelson and grandmother Lizzie (Janis) Nelson. John was born around the year 1866 and died on December 6, 1957. Lizzie was born in 1869 and died on May 3, 1933.

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CATHOLIC BOARDING SCHOOL

At the age of five, Moot was sent to a Catholic mission called Holy Rosary. The Holy Rosary Mission was located on the Pine Ridge Reservation and was founded in 1888 by Jesuits at the request of Chief Red Cloud, a leader of the Oglala Sioux Indians residing on the Pine Ridge Reservation.¹ Chief Red Cloud petitioned the government to allow the Black Robes to come to the reservation in order to establish a school. Students of the mission were divided into three classes—one for the younger students, one for the older girls, and one for the older boys. Older students spent half their day learning reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the other half performing various domestic duties required to maintain the mission. Girls worked in the kitchen and laundry services while the boys worked at the wood and metal shops and the farm. Most of the time, brothers and sisters were not able to see each other for months, which was heartbreaking for Moot as he was very close with his sisters. Every day, Mass was attended by everyone at the school, and you were severely reprimanded if you acted out during the services. Furthermore, at that time, daily masses were only spoken in Latin.

In 1969, Holy Rosary Mission School officially changed its name to Red Cloud Indian School in honor of the great Chief Red Cloud. This resulted in forming a lasting bond between two separate cultures and to enhance and serve the people of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Today, Red Cloud Indian School is working toward a brighter future for the children and families of the Reservation.²

Like all Indian children back then, Moot was forced to quit speaking his native language and was required to learn the white man ways. But even the white man couldn’t silence his ability to remember his Lakota language that would stay with him throughout his life. He said that this was a gift from his beloved grandparents and he would never lose it. Later on, it would become a valuable asset when he ran for tribal council. During a debate, while talking in the Lakota language, Moot’s opponent said he was too young, inexperienced, and couldn’t even speak the language. Moot surprised his opponent and everyone else by fluently speaking Lakota and defending his position. Moot went on to beat his opponent by a very large margin and served on the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council representing the Wakpamni District in 1952 through 1954. Moot said that speaking the Lakota language was one of the reasons why he got along so well with his Indian people, especially the elders.

Although school life at the mission was hard to bear, Moot learned to cope by excelling in sports. Later on, he learned to heal through music. He excelled in every sport, but his favorite was baseball. He learned the game from an uncle by the name of Sam Nelson who ended up playing professional baseball with the Chicago White Sox for at least two years. Basketball was Moot’s second choice, and after completing grade school at Holy Rosary Mission, he went to high school at Saint Francis where he played on a team that went to the National Catholic Indian Tournament in Chicago during his junior and senior years. The name of the team was the Scarlet Warriors. Several players on the team went on to play with an exhibition team and became famous during that time. Moot graduated from Saint Francis Indian School in 1938 and later on became an all-purpose coach there after the war was over.

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Red Cloud Indian School

Holy Rosary Mission

MOOT’S FAMILY

On December 16, 1945, Moot married Bertha Bert W. Brewer at Holy Rosary Mission. The ceremony was performed by Father McNamara. Bertha was one of thirteen children born to Helen (Knight) Adams and William Adams. She too grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation and attended Holy Rosary Mission for her schooling. She was also an enrolled tribal member of the Lakota tribe. Bertha was born on April 22, 1921, and died on December 9, 1968. Moot and Bert were married nearly twenty-three years and conceived seven children: Helen, Billy, Carmen, Berta, Darrell, Marietta, and Patrick.

On August 15, 1969, Moot married Sylvia Brewer LaDeaux, who was a younger sister to Bertha. They were married close to twenty-five years. Sylvia had five boys of her own at the time they married. They are Donald, George, Mike, and Robert. Her youngest son, Terry, died several years later.

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Newlyweds, Moot and Bertha

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Moot and Sylvia

MOVING ON

In the early 1950s, Moot decided to leave the reservation. He had spent several years working for the tribe as a member of the Pine Ridge Tribal Business Council, and the experience taught him that in order to succeed, he had to move on and learn more. Once he became employed by the federal government and started working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, he took the first opportunity he could get by accepting a transfer within the federal government. This was also his chance to leave the hopelessness and despair of the reservation. Working on the tribal business council gave him exposure to the blight of the people he worked for. With the government transfer, Moot was determined to overcome the odds of leaving the reservation and make a better life for himself and his family. His first concern was his family as it was rapidly growing and he was now a father of five kids with one on the way.

Moot’s first career move was to accept a job at the Colville Indian Agency in Nespelem, Washington, as a realty technician. The Colville Reservation is located in the eastern portion of the state of Washington about ninety miles west of the city of Spokane and several hundred miles east of Seattle. This reservation contains about 3.1 million acres of beautiful mountains, lush forests loaded with timber, and several pristine lakes. Moot loved the area the first time he saw it and was very impressed with the friendly and educated (Colville tribal) people he worked with. He quickly adapted to the new reservation and the surrounding area. Within a few years, Moot was promoted to a realty specialist position within the realty office, and he eagerly accepted the challenge of learning more about the Colville Reservation and the friendly Native Americans in the area. Several years later, Moot was asked if he wanted to help out another Native American tribe who were facing the loss of their land and their identity. He then applied for a position that was located in Southern Oregon.

Before leaving the Colville Reservation, Moot became friends with the executive secretary of the Colville Business Council by the name of Chuck DePoe. Chuck was an excellent horn player with a small band and was looking for a drummer. Moot saw this as a chance to bring in a little more income for his growing family and it was also something that he truly enjoyed doing, so he quickly accepted the job. Every Friday and Saturday nights for several years, Moot and Chuck played their hearts out at local clubs and dance halls, especially the local Eagles Lodge. During the 1950s, Native Americans were not allowed to become a member of the Eagles Lodge, and Moot was becoming very noticeable there. The officers noticed his popularity and asked him if he wanted to join. He flatly told them that he was not able to join because he was an Indian. Not long after that, the officers held a special meeting and the lodge bylaws were rewritten. Moot officially became the first Native American to join. Later he became president and supported the lodge for many years. Moot and Chuck entertained until Chuck died in an automobile wreck in 1960. Moot continued to entertain until he finally retired his drums in 1980.

Moot always said that his love of drums began during the Wild West Show days as a little boy. There was a black man who played the drums in the colored band that provided music for the sideshow acts. Moot enjoyed watching him play and was completely mesmerized by his ability. When the black man finally let Moot try his hand at playing the drums, he knew from then on that the drums and the music would be with him for a very long time. The black man taught Moot a jazz rhythm that he would use as a style of his own in the years to come. He said that rhythm complemented the rhythm he developed as a traditional Lakota dancer, and years later, he called it Indian rhythm.

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Moot and the Generators with Rhoda Hunter and Bob Clayton

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Moot Enjoying His Drums

KLAMATH AGENCY

In 1955, Moot applied for a position within the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work for the Klamath tribes in Southern Oregon. The Klamath Indians were in the process of terminating their reservation, and they needed an enthusiastic realty officer to handle the enormous paperwork. Once again, Moot saw this as a challenge; and when he received word from the Portland Area Office that he had been accepted for the job, he quickly packed up his family and moved to the Klamath Agency.

Moot often said that this was the most heartbreaking job he had ever experienced in his whole federal career. Indian termination was the policy of the United States from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. The belief was that Native Americans would be better off if they were assimilated as individuals into mainstream American society. Moot often compared the Klamath Reservation with its lush, green timbered forests and lakes to the barren desolation of Pine Ridge and wondered how in the world the people could even think of giving up such a beautiful land mass. He spent many hours talking to the people, trying to let them know what a mistake they were making. Eventually, Moot came to realize that the Klamath Indians were not fully aware of the economic consequences of termination. He also came to realize that most of the tribal members were actually against the termination. Nevertheless, his job was to process the massive piles of paperwork and assist the government in carrying out this dishonest deed. Moot later discovered that contrary to the recommendations of the Department of the Interior and over the objections of the tribal representatives, Congress had adopted termination legislation for the Klamath tribes. There was never any vote by tribal members supporting termination; it was forced upon them. The reason for the termination policy was to remove the bulk of the federal responsibilities guaranteed to the tribes by treaty.

For over fourteen thousand years, the once prosperous and powerful Klamath, Modoc, and the Yahooskin Band of Snake Paiute people (the Klamaths) controlled over 22 million acres of territory in south central Oregon and Northern California. Their lifestyle provided for them abundantly, but eventually their land base diminished to 2.2 million acres.

Today the Klamath people are working aggressively to put their nation back together and restore their culture and resources. In 1986, the Klamath Restoration Act was formally adopted.

When work at the Klamath Agency was completed in the late 1950s, it was time to move on, so Moot was transferred to work for an Indian tribe in the state of Florida. At first the job seemed exciting and Moot was ready for a new adventure, but once again, he thought about his family and the effects it would have on them. Since the paperwork had already been processed, he said that he had to do a lot of fast-talking to get out of it. Luckily, the Colville tribe had an opening for a realty officer position and wanted him back. He quickly applied for the job and was accepted. He worked for them until the end of 1968. In 1969, he transferred to the Spokane Indian Agency at Wellpinit, Washington, as a Bureau of Indian Affairs superintendent and worked for them until 1971.

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TRAVEL BACK HOME

TO PINE RIDGE

During the early 1950s, the move to the Northwest was extremely hard on Moot and Bert as they were always homesick. Bert never worked outside the home, as did most mothers in those days, and she wrote a letter nearly every day to her relatives. There were no telephones, cell phones, or e-mails to keep in contact; and they waited for weeks, sometimes months, just to get mail. All year long, they sacrificed and saved every dollar so they could return home to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Moot always traveled during the hottest part of summer (mid-August) as this was the best time to visit long-lost relatives who also traveled to the reservation for the annual powwow. Moot drove a station wagon back then so the whole family could fit in the car, and it never had air-conditioning. On top of that, it was tough getting there because there were no interstate freeways yet, just a two-lane highway. To shorten the trip and save money, he drove all day, and Bert would drive all night. It generally took about three days just to get there. Once the family arrived, they were always greeted by two of the nicest people on earth: Aunt Mary and Uncle Bill Cottier. As siblings, Aunt Mary and Moot were very close, so they spent hours together catching up on the latest reservation news. After spending time with the Cottiers, they would spend time with Bert’s mother and the