Our Grandparents
Dewey Washington Dailey
Dewey was born 7 Oct 1899 on the Otoe-Missouria Reservation in Oklahoma Territory [although all later documents report his birth year as 1901, tribal censuses clearly show that Dewey was born in 1899]. He was the son of Charles W. Dailey and Belle Robideaux Dailey, who had migrated with the tribe from Nebraska in the early 1880s. Dewey’s only natural brother, Ernest, died in childhood, but his parents, separately, had several other children. On the second allotment of the Otoe-Missouria Reservation in 1906, Dewey was assigned Allotment #467.
He attended Haskell Institute in Lawrence, KS. There he met Susie Caleb. They were married in St. Joseph, MO, on 21 September 1921. His Indian names were She-Gay-Chee (Real Fellow) and Wy-Ink-See-Jes-Ge. For a time, he worked for the Indian Division of the Civilian Conservation Corp and helped build a school in Benton Harbor, MI. Throughout his life he remained a voice for his tribe and was renowned for his convictions. His writings were included in the documentation of the American Indian Chicago Conference of 1961, which was presented to President Kennedy. He made several trips to Washington, DC, to speak with his representatives in Congress. Dewey died 3 Mar 1986 at home near Red Rock, OK, and was buried in the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Cemetery. His extended family genealogy may be found on the Otoe-Missouria Genealogy database.
Susie Ethel Caleb
Susie was born 12 Dec 1901 on the Chippewa-Munsee Reservation near Ottawa, Kansas. She was the daughter of Ignatius Caleb and Alice Walker Caleb. Ignatius Caleb was born in Ontario, Canada, shortly before the Munsee tribe migrated to Kansas. He was the only blood signer for the Munsee on the Treaty with the Chippewa and Munsee of 1859. Alice Walker was a white woman who had moved west with her parents from Illinois. Susie’s only natural sister, Jesse, died in childhood, but her parents, separately, had several other children. Like many of her relatives, Susie attended Haskell Institute in Lawrence, KS. There she met Dewey Dailey. After marriage, she and Dewey moved to the Otoe-Missouria Reservation, where they spent the rest of their lives. Although her ancestry was Munsee, Susie became an active and well-loved part of the Otoe-Missouria tribe. She was a lifetime member of the Otoe chapter of the American War Mothers. She was cited as a contributor to the research for “Otoe-Missouria Grandmothers” in Marjorie M. Schweitzer’s book, American Indian Grandmothers. Susie died 17 May 1980 at home near Red Rock, OK, and was buried in the Otoe-Missouria Tribal Cemetery. Her extended family genealogy may be found on the Chippewa-Munsee Genealogy database.
The Family
For most of their lives, Dewey and Susie made their livelihood farming their own land, raising cotton, corn, and cattle. They reared seven children and sent four sons into military service. In 1965 they were the subject of a feature article in the Tulsa World newspaper. Dewey was always proud of the fact that he was one of the few, or perhaps only, member of his tribe who still farmed his own allotment, along Greasy Creek in eastern Noble County. However, in 1976, the Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company (OGE) was granted permission to build a power plant in Noble County, which required the construction of a large cooling reservoir. The reservoir, to be known as Sooner Lake, completely engulfed the Dewey Dailey ranch. Naturally, OGE compensated them for the loss of their property, with which they established a new homestead, but Dewey never got over the loss of his land and his legacy.
