Intowhen lucy was introduced toe review stage the crowd just erupted she became the first chair and while radio that was native and she defied she really rose to the top on a whim. We are in the wyoming room in the county former public library. So the dining room is a local archive of sorts. Typically we take in paper items anything that is really historic really to share the county or the region itself of the miss in america basically is a bunch of items that pertain to the miss in America Pageant that was held in sheridan. From 1953 to 1984. The story missing in america was. One mans attempt to basically Racial Discrimination policies in sheridan, miss america and all american is was kind of the brainchild Howard Sinclair. He was a writer for thsheridan press. He grew up near the flathead indian reservation. And when he was a young man, he was adopted by a local tribe and eventually developed a lot of native ways. His understanding of native people was tremendous and he felt that through his experiences, the native people did not receive what they were deserved. Equal treatment being the forefront of that at this point, there were signs downtown that were saying no indian trade allowed, no indians, no. And this was prevalent throughout many towns near reservations in the west. So the process of maintaining america started out when Howard Sinclair had an opportunity with a young woman named lucy oneil to ensure her really a queen contest. It and lucy entered it kind of as a joke. It wasnt taken very seriously. She was crow and. So there was a lot of people that didnt think she had a chance of winning. And what had happened in the process of the rodeo queen selection was the previous it had been selected by a committee in 1951. That process changed and they went to using what was called an applause meter sounds kind cheesy but it was from the Radio Station killer bee while. So instead of community of several people choosing the candidate and eventual queen, it was actually by the crowd. And so when lucy was introduced to the radio, the crowd just erupted because of her handling the horse. She demonstrated that she was very, very skilled as a writer and the crowd through. Three different votes demonstrated that they want her to be the rodeo queen. And so she became the first chair. And while a rodeo queen that was native, which a huge change and what had happened previously here have the different 12 candidates for rodeo queen and most of them youll see are very caucasian. And then you have Lucy Mitchell and margo bird. So this really was a moment in sheridan because we went from having a very caucasian field of canons to having native woman who was very well known locally and she defied. I am proud have had in this project to build a better between white and indian races. We all hope the good will which has been accomplished will last and that we show her to gather and make american strong and great. When lucy the prairie quintile, she was obligated to your in that role and so cheering press this is from july of 1952 this is the radio. So here she is in her regalia on her. So here we have Rodeo Program from 1952. Lucys on the front with her horse. So these photos are up the share in and is lucy posing with native regalia and the other photos are in front of the with her court on the gentleman on the left in this photo is Howard Sinclair. So this piece paper was one of the first invitations for native girls to apply for the contest there were very specific things they were looking for. This was not a beauty. This was not anything. Miss america. This is basically show that native girls were just as modern as caucasian counterparts and that was the big thing was that they wanted to show native people were just like everyone else. There was nothing different about them. So when were doing the competitions, the native girls would show that the still their native ways, but they were also presented in a way that showed that they were modern women. The next year things were put into motion to, develop what was called all indian day, and from there this process entered new realm where it was bringing local tribes into sheridan to foster goodwill towards native americans. And they basically show what it meant to be native american, and they would basically thered be a lot of white and interaction. And the first year, drew, for native americans to sheridan and the crowd was somewhere in that like nine or 10,000 people were there to attend these events. And it actually it was accomplishing with harris and claire one and there was a lot more towards the natives the signs came out of the windows. Harris and claire lived long enough to see that transformation a healthier today. Were talking a speech that changed the united states. Barack obama 2004 speech at the