The Oglala Lakota man, 20-year-old Albert Afraid of Hawk, was one of Buffalo Bill's Rough Riders on a New England tour that came to Danbury on June 28, 1900. The tour arrived from New Haven for a one-night show. He died of food poisoning on June 30, 1900, according to genealogical research by Robert Young of the Danbury Museum and Historical Society.

Albert Afraid of Hawk came to Danbury on June 28, 1900 as part of Buffalo Bill's touring show. He died of food poisoning two days later and was buried in an unmarked grave at Wooster Cemetery. Photo: Contributed Photo / CT

Several members of Afraid of Hawk's family, including a nephew and grandniece, plan to arrive in Danbury later this month from South Dakota for a private spiritual ceremony to include the disinterment of Afraid of Hawk's remains.

Young, a retired employee of Wooster Cemetery and a local history buff, said he is pleased that Afraid of Hawk could soon be returned to his family and buried on his native land on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Citing an article in the New Haven Register on July 6, 1900, Young told of how Afraid of Hawk and others had gotten sick from eating canned corn purchased in New Haven.

"He was the only one that died," Young said. "They were treated at the hospital. One of the members of the group stayed behind to take care of the burial and see to a funeral. He was what would have been Albert's son-in-law."

The grave is located in a single-grave section that would have been set aside for indigents back when graves were mostly purchased by families in large plots. The grave's exact location at Wooster Cemetery is not being disclosed to the public, Young said.

In Young's early research, he came across a photo of a painting of Afraid of Hawk. The painting is reportedly worth $120,000, he said.

Next, Young contacted the Pine Ridge burial assistance office, which helped him find Afraid of Hawk's family members. Later, he went to South Dakota to meet the family.

"We're hoping for a positive (DNA) match, assuming we find remains intact," Young said. "We will still have to do DNA testing to be sure this is a member of the family we are shipping to. We're not sure what we'll find there."

Knowing where to find Afraid of Hawk was easy, because cemetery caretakers kept good records, Young said.

While some of the single graves assigned to indigents at Wooster Cemetery had no markers, a record existed of names to match the numbers and that's how Young determined which grave belonged to Afraid of Hawk.

Certain measurements at the grave site confirmed ones associated with Afraid of Hawk's name on a card on file, Young said.

Contractors and others have donated time and expenses toward reuniting Afraid of Hawk with his family, Young said.

Young also hopes to defray additional costs to the family, including travel expenses and the shipping of Afraid of Hawk's remains.

Donna Christopher

Source: ctpost.com