Flea Market Find - Photo of Private 1st Class Oscar Tiger from WW1

[aznation]

Last year in April I was walking through the outdoor flea market and wasn't finding anything of interest. I decide to walk into one of the inside small shops and up on the wall I see a what I recognize as a colorized oval photograph of a WW1 soldier. The photograph was not in a frame and I asked the lady there if I could take a look at it. I thought it was a neat looking photograph and when I turned the photograph over, I notice that in handwritten pen is a note, Oscar Tiger, Killed in Action WW1, My Brother. I ended up buying the photograph as the price was reasonable and I wanted to research this.

 

When I got home I did some research on Oscar Tiger and found that he was a WW1 Native American Warrior from the Muscogee Creek Nation who was with the 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Division. He was from Okemah, Oklahoma and he died of disease while in France on November 2, 1918 and is buried at St. Mihiel American Cemetery and Memorial.

 

Anyway, I thought I would share the photograph. You never know what you'll find.

[David D]

Incredible yet somber portrait.

[chris3bs]

IMO a rare find. RIP - - - .

[BROBS]

Great and sad find.

At least this soldier will be remembered by you and on here.

 

-Brian

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Brian Keith]

Very Nice!

I would take good measurements and look for a period frame. Until recent times, more soldiers died of disease than combat. I would speculate that the family knew the war had ended before they had been notified of his death. Can you imagine hearing the war is over and thinking, "my boy/brother is safe now", then hearing he won't be coming home. Heart-breaking.

RIP Oscar, you haven't been forgotten!

Thanks for saving this and posting it.

BKW

[McDermut99]

He probably died as a result of the influenza pandemic of 1918. It was the most devastating epidemic in recorded history, between 20 and 40 million deaths. Rest in Peace Oscar.

 

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=56342513&PIpi=37535153

 

https://virus.stanford.edu/uda/

 

[aznation]

I believe you're correct McDermut99 with regards to Oscar dying from influenza. That is what the Muscogee Creek Nation believes happened to him as well on this Facebook page, World War I Native American Warriors https://www.facebook.com/NativeAmericanWarriorsWWI/. By the way, this Facebook page has some interesting information regarding Native American Warriors in case anyone wants to take a look.

[GWS]

Interesting subject and thanks for the Facebook page. If possible, verify the photo ID(if you already haven't) and have it added to the Find a Grave memorial, it personalizes the memorial a great amount. Thanks for posting this.

[aznation]

Great idea GWS! I just added his photo to his Find a Grave memorial.

[LadyofDoune]

That is wonderful, both the find and the ultimate identification and addition to the Find A Grave Memorial. I collect postcards, photos and memorabilia from WW1 when I am fortunate enough to find them. Also a big collector of uniform buttons, both US and foreign. It is rare that the photos are identified like yours. My uncle who died at age 94 was in a Texas training camp in 1918 and almost died of the influenza. My mother was very young, age 4, and remembered her parents crying and immediately leaving by train to see him as they had been advised to hurry as he was possibly going to die. Thank you for doing the research and making the addition to the Find A Grave Memorial.

[aznation]

LadyofDoune, Yes, I was lucky that the picture was identified on the back. It was fun doing research on Oscar and I can say that I would've bought the portrait anyway even if it wasn't identified, as there's something about it that just stands out when you look at it. Disease was rampant in the military training camps back then but I'm sure the military tried to do their best to prevent it. I'm so glad that your uncle survived the flu and was able to live a nice long life.

[aznation]

UPDATE: Well, the portrait of WW1 Pvt. 1st Class Oscar Tiger I purchased back in 2016 at a flea market in Okla City has found a new home at the Muscogee Creek Indian Tribe's Veteran's Center. My wife and I made a trip yesterday to Okmulgee, OK and donated the portrait to the Veteran's Center on our way to visit the USS Batfish submarine which is located in Muskogee, OK. The tribe's Veteran's Center has a GREAT display of military items related to the service of all their tribe members from all wars and the portrait will be displayed there for all to see.