Submitted by
Karen Stewart

Mitchell, Deceased Ponca Chief, Was
Noted in Baseball

Funeral services for Peter Mitchell, 67, Ponca Indian chief who died Tuesday at his home on route 4, will be held Thursday afternoon at 3 o'clock at the Baptist church in Whiteagle with the Rev. Thomas Wamego officiating.
Burial will be in the Ponca Indian cemetery.
Mitchell had made his home near Whiteagle for a number of years and had resided in Oklahoma since the Indians were brought here from Nebraska and placed on the reservation.
Mitchell was one of the five remaining tribal chiefs, and as such was formerly a member of the tribal council. He was one of the five remaining tribal chiefs, and as such was formerly a member of the tribal council. He was one of the chiefs of the medicine clan in the old days and bore an Indian name which,
translated into English, was "Acts as Eagle".
The four surviving chiefs are Frank Eagle, a brother of the late Horse Chief Eagle, who was the last hereditary principal chief;
Leslie Red Leaf, Sam Big Snake and James Williams. Mitchell in his younger days bore distinction also as a baseball player. He was first baseman on the Ponca Indian Cyclones, a team which toured in the United States several different years in the late 1890's and the beginning of this century, playing some of the foremost teams of the country.
He was often given credit for being the first man to bunt a baseball instead of swinging it, as he was a fast runner and clever player.