Chief of Scouts: Mitch Bouyer, 1837-1876
Mixed race people in the west bridged the gap between the Native and White worlds. Many of these people, known as Metis, were skilled interpreters and guides who provided access to trade, and served as go-betweens for both Natives and Whites. One of these talented men was Michel "Mitch" Bouyer, a mixed=race Lakota and French Canadian. Mitch, 1837-1876, was the son of Jean-Baptiste Bouyer, a French-Canadian who worked for Astor's American Fur Company. He and his Santee Sioux wife had several children. Mitch had three sisters and at least two half-brothers. His father would be killed in 1863 while trapping in the wilderness. By 1869, Mitch had found work as an interpreter at Fort Phil Kearney. He married a Crow Woman named Magpie Outside, who sometimes went by the English name Mary. Their daughter, Mary, was born in 1869. They also had a son, Tom, who was taken in by a foster family after Mitch's death. Mitch was later em...