In 1898, Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was placed in charge of the selection of female nurses for the Army.  She selected nurses from religious orders such as Sisters of Charity and Sisters of Mercy. [1]   Four nuns that served during the Spanish-American war were from the Lakota Indian tribes. Under the direction of their administrator and guardian, Father Craft, the four nuns: Mother Bridget (Anna) Pleets,  Sister Joseph Two-Bears, Mother Anthony (Susan) Bordeaux and Sister Gertrude Clarke, left the American Sisters of Fort Pierre hospital to serve in Camp Cuba Libre in Jacksonville, Florida.  By December 18, the sisters were moved in Camp Columbia in Havana. Sister Mary Ewen, OP, described the experiences of these four Army nurses.  In her book, In the Native Order: A brief and Strange History, according to Owen, Mother Bridget (Anna) Pleets encouraged dying soldiers to write their names and addresses on her apron so that she could inform their loved ones of their deaths. Also Col. Brenda Finnicum, a retired Army nurse and a descendent of the Lumbee tribe, noted in her article that Mother Anthony (Susan) Bordeaux is descended from Chief Red Cloud. Chief Red Cloud was one of the most feared Lakota chiefs because he had led many raids and men into battle against the US Calvary. [2]  The fact that his granddaughter would later serve for the same military that he fought against, shows how assimilation of the Indian into mainstream American culture happened very rapidly.

One interesting fact concerning these nuns who served as nurses is that the evaluation forms filled out by their supervisors showed low ratings.  Father Craft attributed that their poor evaluations were due to their “Indian” status.  In a letter to Father Craft, General James O’Beirne explained that the Archbishop Chappelle was forced to discharge the nurses due to “old hatred against Indians”. [3]  During this period there was great tension between Native people and  Americans.  Many Americans feared the plains indeigneous people because of Wild West accounts told by people about Indian raids, massacres and battles.  African-americans feared them because of the Buffalo Soldiers accounts of scalpings and wagon raids.  The Chinese who were building the railroads heard stories of them from travelers and fellow workers and feared them for their brutality.  The soldiers at the forts often traded with the tribes and knew that land and treaties were a cause of tension and war.  American society since Columbus had labeled these Indegenous people as savages.The last Indian uprising was in 1890. The Great Plains wars against the tribes of the west had just ended.  The tragic death of Chief Big Foot and the massacre of his tribe by the US 7^th Calvary at Wounded Knee on December 17, 1890, forced many tribes to settle on land designated by the U.S. government called reservations.[4]  The conquered people were forced to live on desolated lands, with little or no way to provide for themselves. When opportunity arose to have a better life even if it meant schooling through a religious order, most young reservation women took the chance.  The fact that Mother Anthony (Susan) Bordeaux could leave her poverty stricken life for a career as a nurse must have played a major part in her reasoning for joining the convent.  I believe that her duty to serve the convent led to her work as an Army nurse during the Spanish-American War in Cuba.  I do not try to assume that she felt anything but duty, obligation and loyalty to her fellow nuns, her administrator and her nursing career. 

Mother Anthony Bordeaux died while in Cuba and was given a full military funeral only after Father Craft insisted.  Unfortunately when the bodies of the fallen soldiers were removed to be placed at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia, Mother Anthony’s body was never retrieved. Mother Anthony Bordeaux was buried at Camp Egbert, Pinar del Rio in Cuba.  Father Craft wrote to the state department “She was much beloved by the soldiers whom she had nursed back to health at the sacrifice of her own life, and American soldiers mingled their tears and prayers with those of Cubans and Spaniards, who loved her for her care and their orphans and sick.” [5]