Frank Bird Linderman
Frank Bird Linderman (September 25, 1869-May 12, 1938) was a Montana writer, politician, Native American ally and ethnographer. Linderman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the child of James Bird Linderman and Mary Ann Brannan Linderman. He attended schools in Ohio and Illinois, including Oberlin College, before moving to Montana Territory in 1885 at the age of sixteen. Frank Linderman went to the shores of Flathead Lake, there he learned Indian ways and lived as they lived. To know them...See more
Frank Bird Linderman (September 25, 1869-May 12, 1938) was a Montana writer, politician, Native American ally and ethnographer. Linderman was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was the child of James Bird Linderman and Mary Ann Brannan Linderman. He attended schools in Ohio and Illinois, including Oberlin College, before moving to Montana Territory in 1885 at the age of sixteen. Frank Linderman went to the shores of Flathead Lake, there he learned Indian ways and lived as they lived. To know them better he mastered the sign language, a feat which gained him the name Sign-talker, or, sometimes Great Sign-talker. From 1893 to 1897, he worked in Butte, Montana, then moved to Brandon, Montana. Around 1900, he moved to Sheridan, Montana, where he worked several jobs, as an assayer, furniture salesman, and at a newspaper. He also lived in Sheridan, Demersville (now Kalispell), Helena, and Butte. See less