One of sixteen war shields collected fry S. C. Simms on the Crow reserva- 

 tion in Montana in 1902. Photo by Ron Testa. 11190 



leagues and field workers, it would be difficult to imagine 

 a more comprehensive statement of his philosophy, both 

 with reference to collecting methodology and the docu- 

 mentation of collections, than is included in these let- 

 ters. Although Dorsey seems at times critical and 

 perhaps somewhat overbearing in this correspondence, 

 he and Simms appear to have remained on friendly, if 

 not intimate, terms throughout the 14 years that the lat- 

 ter was a curator in the Department of Anthropology. 



In late 1901 and in the summer of 1902, Simms 

 made two collecting visits to the Crow and Cheyenne 

 reservations in Montana. On the second of these trips he 

 made a fine collection of Crow shields, documented 

 with histories, symbolic interpretations, and owners' 

 names. This was one of the most noteworthy additions 

 to the Museum's Plains Indian collections. Simms al- 

 ways regarded this field trip to Montana as his most suc- 

 cessful effort as a collector. 



Dorsey, on one of his own expeditions to the 

 Southwest in the spring of 1903, left instructions that 

 Simms was to make a trip to the Cree reservations of 

 Saskatchewan during the summer of that year. He 

 apparently left no specific instructions, however, and 

 the assistant curator, perhaps recalling past admoni- 

 tions, began to worry. 



I find that there are several Cree reservations in Sas- 

 katchewan — so please be good enough to indicate (if 

 you can, of course) how many and which ones you in- 

 tended me to visit. I should like to know this so that I 

 may look up any existing references upon the same. I 

 really fear that my results will not be up to your expecta- 

 tions, or to my work among the Crows — for the number 

 of half breed Crees is astonishing; however, I shall cer- 

 tainly do my utmost to make good my efforts. 



Dorsey did not share Simms' concern about the 

 number of half-breeds and believed that there would be 

 much material to collect in the Cree country. 



As 1 remember the situation, certain reservations, from 

 what I could gather from the Canadian reports, seemed 

 especially promising. Such was the Assanboin [sic], 

 south of Indian Head, the reservation north of Broad- 

 way [Broadview], two reservations near the Touchwood 

 Hills and several reservations at the Sashatchewan [sic] 

 river, around the Battle Ford and Ft. Pit[t]. There are 

 also some lakes still north of this country, Winterhaven 

 [Waterhen Lake, Manitoba?], Meadow, Pelican and 

 Turtle, where may be found a number of Chippewayans 

 [sic], who have never been on a reservation, who pre- 

 sumably are fit subjects for you. 



I am also under the impression that there are a 

 number of small Sioux reservations, or at any rate Sioux 

 camps, near the Cypress Hills. These reservations 

 should, in my opinion, be exceedingly fertile, but of 

 course it is all a gamble and the only way we can find out 



