STANDING BEAR WAS ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO GO HOME – THEN HIS CASE FORCED A U.S. COURT TO DECIDE IF A NATIVE MAN WAS A “PERSON”

George Crook’s sympathy is one of the narrative reversals that makes Standing Bear’s story unusually powerful.

Crook was the officer legally responsible for the Ponca prisoners.

In the habeas corpus case that followed, the caption would become United States ex rel.

Standing Bear v.

Crook because Crook was the custodian whose authority to hold Standing Bear was being challenged.

Yet the federal court’s own historical display and the National Park Service both describe Crook as sympathetic to Standing Bear’s situation.