Newtown Historical Society To Visit The Shoshone Reservation

Big things often begin with small steps. Beginning with the donation to the Newtown Historical Society of six letters written by Katie Camp while teaching at the Shoshone Reservation at Fort Hall, Idaho, in 1906–07, Town Historian Dan Cruson was able to retrace Ms Camp’s journey, examine her experience on the reservation, and establish a relationship with the modern tribe.

On Monday, January 12, at 7:30 pm, in the meeting room of the Booth Library, Main Street, Mr Cruson will present his findings with his annual slide lecture to kickoff the new year of programs for the Historical Society.

Dan Cruson made his 2,000-mile trip in an effort to throw light on Ms Camp’s experiences detailed in the letters. Ms Camp describes the activities of the church-sponsored boarding school, and tells of the clash of cultures between the old ways of the Shoshone and the new ways of the affluent Newtown-bred young woman. Much of the information on the school’s activities was unknown to the tribe, and Mr Cruson was able to leave them copies of the letters, enhancing their history as well as ours. Sitting in the room of the same building where Ms Camp composed her letters was a novel experience, and Mr Cruson was also able to accompany a tribal elder on a tour of a remote reservation valley, and was treated to the experience of hearing many Shoshone folk stores evoking the cultural mind set of the historic tribe.

In addition to being Newtown’s first official town historian, Dan Cruson is a past president of the Newtown Historical Society, and is a member of its Board of Trustees. He is also a past president of the Connecticut Archeological Society. He has for many years been a teacher of local history and anthropology at Joel Barlow High School in Redding, and the author of several works on the history of Newtown. While he is often called upon to lecture before organizations in the area, this will be his first presentation of his experiences and images of his pursuit of one young Newtown lady who left an impact on the foreign culture of the tribal nation.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. Refreshment will be served following the presentation. For further information call the society at 426-5937.