Annie Mae Pictou Aquash
Time Line
An Investigation by
News From Indian Country

Posted January, 1997
Updated March 18, 1998
Updated October 25 and 28, 1999
Updated October 10, 2001

Go to Part III

Go to Part II

Go to Chronology by Richard La Course

This detailed chronology of the last year in the life of Annie Mae Aquash is constructed from over 70 written or tape recorded interviews, trial transcripts, FBI file documents, newspaper accounts, and three books published by authors Joanna Brand in 1978, Peter Matthiessen in 1983 and Kenneth Stern in 1994. In addition, material found elsewhere within this web page from a 1999 Denver press conference, Native American Calling programs and lengthy interview with Richard Two Elk in June of 2000 have been utilized as part of this chronology.

A series of some 70 interviews have been conducted on and off the record between the summer of 1994 and the present by Paul DeMain, Minnie Two Shoes, Richard LaCourse, Lori Townsend and several other individuals and reviewed by members of the Native American Journalists Association. In addition, attorneys for Indian Country Communications, Inc. publishers of News From Indian Country have reviewed much of the body of this information, source documents and recorded interviews to ascertain a defense in the face of threatened or implied libel suits by AIM associates Vernon Bellecourt and Bruce Ellison.

Persons interviewed include some top AIM leaders, present and former members of AIM, persons subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury probe into her death, law enforcement personnel and individuals present at various events and locations during Annie Mae Aquash's last year.

In line with press law, this newspaper has provided confidential anonymity to some of those interviewed while double checking their assertions, and eliminating those which could not be confirmed.

The timelines in this chronology grew from the legal and public record of that year and become more specific with the testimony of the interviews. Some specific calender dates are approximate because of the passage of time. This amplified timeline provides the scenario of this chronology.

AIM leaders in some instances specified here have publicly denied their involvement and continue to argue publicly that the FBI or reservation “goons” executed Aquash.

Several persons interviewed have stated they were happy to get this information off their chest, even if the death is never fully investigated, brings about an indictment or conviction. Some interviewees were profoundly angry at having information on the circumstances of her death but were unsure with what to do with that information. These interviewees said they did not trust the FBI, and some said they feared certain members of the top AIM leadership.

NFIC has learned that many other members of AIM are aware of other unnamed participants in the holding, interrogation, transportation and killing of Aquash in her last days. Putting confirmed assertions into this chronology may allow others to come forward with additional information.

NFIC has determined, after reviewing all available evidence, that the FBI and tribal police in 1976 mishandled the investigative portion of the Aquash case, losing valuable evidence. Vern Bellecourt claims that AIM was infiltrated by FBI extremist informants in the Aquash case and bad-jacked Aquash as an informant, though the only people NFIC have found who thought Annie Mae was an informant were leadership, and other members of the American Indian Movement. Former FBI agent Norman Zigrossi in a November 2000, CBC - Fifth Estate special program says that Annie Mae was not working for the FBI as an informant. When asked how he knew, Zigrossi stated, “because he (the informant) was a friend of mine.”

The FBI officially and publicly ended its COINTELPRO operations on April 28, 1971. But FBI documents obtained by NFIC from the FBI Reading Room in the capital indicate that in November of 1973 the FBI continued “COINTEL measures to further disrupt AIM leadership” which it had employed in its discredited former counterintelligence program. There is also ample evidence that many of the actions by the FBI in the 1970's across the country where less then lawfull. However, the same holds true for many actions of AIM.

Some of the persons named in the following chronology were close friends of Annie Mae. Others were those whom eyewitnesses have asserted were parties to the death of Aquash, or played a significant and decisive role in the chain of final events leading to her death.

Four federal grand juries have been convened into her death in March of 1976 in Pierre, S.D., November of 1983 in Sioux Falls, S.D., August 1994 in Pierre and again in Sioux Falls on November 17, 1999. None of the grand jury investigations produced any charges in this still unprosecuted murder.

1973 Wounded Knee:
The American Indian Movement occupies Wounded Knee, South Dakota in protest to the corrupt tribal policies of then President, Richard Wilson. Annie Mae is part of the occupation, along with other significant AIM members including Russell Means, Carter Camp, Dennis Banks and Clyde Bellecourt. During the year 2001 memorial at Jumping Bull Compound much of the back ground discussions involved more than just trying to heal the pain of that June 1975 event. Serious discussion takes place about the deaths of Frank Clearwater and Buddy LaMont who were killed inside Wounded Knee in 1973. (See 26th Anniversary of “Sacrifice” at Oglala by Minnie Two Shoes, NFIC Late July 2001.)

January, 1975:
FBI “Operative” Doug Durham is allegedly busy accusing people of being FBI informants according to Vernon Bellecourt. AIM leaders Dennis Banks and Herb Powless confront several people about the accusations at the 1975 Menominee Indian Novitiate takeover. Confrontations take place with several AIM supporters including Minnie Two Shoes and Iris Thundercloud during this period, who are told about the accusations and turned back from their support activities. Durham at the same time is being accused by some as being an informant. Annie Mae, who is involved in a relationship with Dennis Banks is a suspect as well, people believing that perhaps Durham and Aquash have worked as a team to get close to Banks.

February, 1975:
Jean Day, Melvin Lee, Nilak and Dino Butler, Leonard Peltier and Annie Mae move to Oglala at the invitation of women and elders of the community.

February 28, 1975:
Herb Powless, Mark Powless and Philip Bautista stop at Jumping Bull Compound. Annie Mae is reportedly at the compound as well as part of the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee (WKLDOC), Oglala office.

March 1, 1975:
Herb Powless, Mark Powless, Philip Bautista and several others from Oglala are arrested at Hot Springs, S.D. on weapon charges. The arrest follows a police stop for a missing license plate on the van. The bust casts more suspicion on Annie Mae. FBI documents indicate the Powless van has been followed across the country for several days starting in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

March 5, 1975:
Doug Durham confronted by Vern Bellecourt and Ken Tilsen about being an informer.

March 12, 1975:
Durham press conference in which he admits working as an FBI operative.

April 2, 1975:
Fugitive alert issued for Leonard Peltier.

May 28, 1975:
Attorney Ken Tilsen makes a motion in the Cedar Rapids pre-trial proceedings of Carter Camp, Leonard Crow Dog and Stan Holder, asking for dismissal saying that the AIM defense camp had been infiltrated by informants. Tilsen cites as an example, Doug Durham and Harry Schaffer who had been exposed as government agents by then.

June 2, 1975:
Trial of Camp, Holder and Crow Dog begins.

June 5, 1975:
Carter Camp, Stan Holder and Leonard Crow Dog are found guilty for the 1973, Wounded Knee Postal workers confinement case.

June 8, 1975:
Russell Means is shot.

June, 1975:
Dennis and Ka-Mook (Nichols) Banks move to Jumping Bull land.

June 6-18, 1975:
Annie Mae's intimate relationship with Dennis Banks is revealed to Ka-Mook Banks around the time of the Farmington, New Mexico AIM National Convention. Annie Mae is questioned by Leonard Peltier according to Bob Robideau as a possible informant at a nearby Mesa. Bob Robideau claims that the questioning of Annie Mae is done at the order of Vernon Bellecourt, but Bellecourt denies he ordered her interrogation. NFIC has confirmed from other sources that Annie Mae is taken to a mesa and questioned by Peltier, allegedly at gunpoint. Several AIM members witness a heated discussion between Dennis Banks and Vernon Bellecourt regarding the actions taken at Farmington against Annie Mae. Ka-Mook Banks says in a Nov. 2000, CBC - Fifth Estate program that she learned of Annie Mae's interrogation the day after she learned of Dennis's relationship with Annie Mae.

June 19 or 20, 1975:
Bob Robideau, Dino and Nilak Butler, Leonard Peltier, Annie Mae and others arrive back at Jumping Bull compound, back from Farmington conference. A group of women identified as the Pie Patrol are hostile to Annie Mae's presence at Pine Ridge at least in part because of her relationship with Dennis Banks, because she is a Canadian and Micmac and because she is affiliated with what is called west coast AIM and not Dakota AIM. Four members of the Pie Patrol are identified to NFIC as Madonna Gilbert, Thelma Rios-Conroy, Theda Nelson-Clark and Lorelie DeCora Means. Gilbert is a cousin to Russell and Ted Means and Lorelie is then married to Ted.

June 23-26, 1975:
Annie Mae goes to Cedar Rapids with Jean Day, Theda Nelson Clark and John Boy Graham (Patton) for pre-sentencing work for Camp, Holder and Crow Dog.

June 26, 1975:
Jumping Bull compound Shootout. According to FBI records the list of original suspects included:

1. Mike Anderson	17. Donald Hudson	33. Harwin One Feather
2. Andrea Sky	18. JoAnn LaDeaux	34. Leonard Peltier
3. Anna Mae Aquash	19. Theodore Lame	35. Donald Gene Pourier
4. Edgar Bear Runner	20. Beau Little	36. Dale Red Boy
5. Frank Blackhorse (DeLuca)	21. Richard Little	37. Lawrence Red Shirt
6. Jean Bordeaux	22. Wallace June Little	38. Robert Robideaux
7. John Boyse	23. Wallace Little Sr.	39. Wanda Siers
8. Dino Butler	24. David Sky	40. Dale Sheppard
9. Norman Charles	25. Donald Loud Hawk	41. Joe Stuntz
10. Jean Day	26. Kenneth Loud Hawk	42. Unknown Male/FBI Protected
11. Jame Theadore Eagle	27. Russell Loud Hawk	43. James War Bonnett
12. Leon Eagle	28. Kelly Jean McCormick (Nilak Butler)	44. Wish Draper
13. David Edwards	29. David Many Horses	45. Mike Yellow Horse
14. Lena Funston	30. Gerald Mousseau	46. John Star Yellow Wood (Dusty Nelson)
15. Hobart Horse	31. Norman Brown	47. James Zimmerman
16. Melvin Lee Houston	32. Delmar One Feather	48. Harry David Hill (alleged Mr. X)

NOTE: The FBI never did identify all those at the Jumping Bull compound and several listed here were later cleared of being there.

June 26, 1975:
(ResMurs) Joe Stuntz is killed by a law enforcement officer. FBI agents Jack Coler, and Ron Williams are shot from a distant, wounded and then executed at close range for which Peltier is later convicted.

June 27, 1975:
Jean Day, Theda Nelson Clark and Annie Mae return to Oglala. According to FBI records, David Hill, Anthony Ament and others are alleged to have bombed the Mt. Rushmore Tourist Center on this day.

July, 1975:
Annie Mae is back and forth between Oglala and Crow Dog's Paradise.

July 2, 1975:
Robideau, Butler, Peltier and others arrive at Crow Dogs Paradise at Rosebud.

July 6, 1975:
Search warrant is issued for 1014 Milwaukee Street, Rapid City in conjunction with an investigation of the Mt. Rushmore bombing, the residence of Thelma Rios-Conroy, David Hill and second apartment of Anthony Ament.

July 7, 1975:
Search warrant is served on 1014 Milwaukee Street and several hundred pieces of evidence is seized in conjunction with RESMURS FBI agent shooting case and bombing of Mt. Rushmore. Charges of possession of a firearm with obliterated serial number, unlawful possession of firearms and transportation of firearms are filed against Harry David Hill with additional narratives citing his previous indictment for assault with a dangerous weapon and conspiracy to commit arson charges in the Custer riot case.

July 9, 1975:
FBI SAC Richard Held, the architect of COINTELPRO for the FBI, in a teletype to the FBI Director notes “the Mount Rushmore problem is over.”

July 11, 1975:
United States Attorney Michael T. Milligan enters a motion to dismiss charges against Harry David Hill for charges filed July 7 on the “grounds and for the reason that the best interest of justice will be served.”

July 18, 1975:
Vern Bellecourt appears with FBI informer, Bernie Morning Gun in Helena, MT and gives other informers an unconditional amnesty for 30 days, or AIM will take things into their own hands.

July 25, 1975:
The fingerprints of David Hill are identified in FBI reports from evidence seized at Jumping Bull compound.

July 26, 1975:
Banks convicted on Custer charges.

August 5, 1975:
Crow Dog sentenced to 13 years in prison, suspended sentence. Holder and Camp fail to appear at sentencing and warrants are issued for arrest. Dennis Banks goes underground to avoid being sentenced on the Custer riot charges on this day.

First week of August, 1975:
Sun Dance at Crow Dog's Paradise: Leonard Crow Dog allegedly confronts Annie Mae about being an informant, but only after she chewed him out about drinking and allowing the use of drugs at the Paradise.

August, 1975:
Annie Mae moves to Diane and Al Running's household a quarter of a mile from Crow Dog's Paradise. (Al Running testifies at a Peltier appeal hearing a few years later and admits he has been working for years as an FBI informant according to the late William Kunstler in the 1991 book Ohitika Woman by Mary Crow Dog - Brave Bird).

September 2, 1975:
Beck/McCloskey claim they have been assaulted at Crow Dogs.

September 5, 1975:
FBI raid at Al and Diane Running's (Crow Dog's sister) and Crow Dog's Paradise: Arrest of Annie Mae and Dino Butler and many others. Robideau had left the day before with Ka-Mook Banks and her sister Bernie Nichols. Annie Mae interrogated by FBI, bonds out of jail after 2 or 3 days. FBI agent David Price allegedly threatens Annie Mae saying she would not live out the year if she doesn't cooperate with them. The raid is based on a federal arrest warrant for Al Running, Leonard Crow Dog and others for assault on two people after an altercation at Crow Dog's Paradise Sept. 2.

September 8, 1975:
Annie Mae bonds out of jail after appearing before a U.S. magistrate on 10% of a $5,000 bond.

September 10, 1975:
Car burns up on Kansas turnpike. AR-15 that the FBI identification lab later ties to Leonard Peltier in 1977 is found in car, and according to FBI lab report labeled PC-M1771 “None of the ammunition components recovered at the RESMURS case could be associated with K40” (This AR-15 is labeled K40 throughout lab reports). In addition, according to an October 2, 1975 FBI document, “The firing pin of the AR (K40) is different than rifle used at RESMURS scene.”

According to Peter Matthiessen. . . Al Running . . . was appearing in FBI documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. According to an FBI teletype to nine field officers in regard to the weapons recovered from Robideau's car outside Wichita, “Al Running has advised that Supra Colt .223 AR-15 rifle is probably weapon utilized by Leonard Peltier to kill deceased {special agents}.” Robideau and others arrested.

September 12, 1975:
Annie Mae, Nilak Butler and Norman Brown leave Rapid City for Denver, with John Stewart driving. They board plane next day to go to California. FBI records indicate John Stewart (AKA Blue Lake) is cooperating with the FBI and providing signed statements to them as well as identifying subjects for their investigation.

September 12, 1975:
John Star Yellow Wood (Dusty Nelson) is the subject of March 6, 1995 Affidavit of retired Denver police officer Alan Lester Jones referring to this date, named as a shooter of FBI agents. Nelson later admits that he is at Wanda Siers and June Little's house on top of hill at Jumping Bull Compound when Peltier, followed by FBI agents arrives at compound and agents follow his vehicle down the hill.

September 13, 1975:
FBI pick up Annie Mae and Nilak Butler getting off plane in Los Angeles, questioned and released. Butler's car is reported stolen from airport by parents. Leonard Peltier and Dennis Banks are allegedly in Los Angles as well.

October 3-8 ?, 1975:
Annie Mae and David Hill drive Marlon Brando's motor home from California to Utah to Chadron, Nebraska. Vehicle is stashed for several days.

October 10-14, 1975:
David Hill, Annie Mae, Dennis Banks and others are allegedly involved in several bombings in the Pine Ridge area. Hill allegedly harasses Annie Mae about being an informant. The group leaves for Oregon shortly after, being joined by Kenny Loud Hawk in a white station wagon. Russ Redner joins the group in Washington. The FBI identifies the bombs as simular as those found in search warrant of July 27, 1975 in Rapid City, S.D.

October 11, 1975:
John Stewart (AKA Darryl Blue Lake) steals the checkbook from the Oglala Defense Fund, drains the fund and travels around Oregon posing as an AIM member. Stewart in 1976 is listed as a potential prosecution witness and through other information is identified by Bruce Ellison and others of the Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee as an informant allegedly reporting to FBI agent David Price.

Late October, 1975:
FBI Informant A tells FBI Banks is in Oregon area with the Marlon Brando motor home. Annie Mae tells freinds she wants to leave and go to Canada but is not allowed too. Ka-Mook Banks in the CBC - Fifth Estate special says that Annie Mae is along on the trip to be watched because Dennis Banks and Leonard Peltier “don't trust her, and believe she is working in some capacity as an informant.”

Early November:
FBI Informant A notifies FBI, Banks is at John Chiquiti residence on the Port Madison Indian Reservation in Washington State . . . Robert Robideau is in jail during November and December, 1975. Dino Butler is in jail during November and December, 1975.

Early November, 1975:
FBI Informant B notifies FBI, Peltier is at John Chiquiti residence.

November 6 & 8, 1975:
(Loud Hawk by Ken Sterns, Pg. 343,) Flyovers at Chiquiti residence are precipitated by information received from an informant in Rapid City, SD according to FBI records. FBI confirms Brando motor home and white station wagon on site. FBI checks site by sneaking through woods to get license plate numbers.

November 6 & 8, 1975:
Attorney Bob Riter of Pierre, South Dakota in letters request the assistance of Attorney Bruce Ellison in notifying Riter's client, Anna Mae Aquash, that she has an appearance to make Nov. 10th, 1975. Riter is the alleged author of a letter to Annie Mae which includes information regarding an offer being made by the federal government to Aquash. Riter refuses to confirm such a letter to NFIC during an interview, but other NFIC sources say the letter is forwarded to the WKLDOC as part of Riter's effort to get information to Annie Mae.

November 13, 1975:
Two Informants confirm Banks and Peltier in Oregon.

November 14, 1975:
Oregon/Banks Brando Vehicle Shoot-out: (Peltier, Dennis and Ka-Mook Banks, Annie Mae, Kenny Loud Hawk, Russ Redner). Aquash, Redner, Loudhawk and Ka-Mook arrested. Peltier and Banks flee. FBI agents Owen Harvey and Dean Howard fly from Rapid City to question Annie Mae.

November 15-23, 1975:
Members of AIM in Oregon learn during preliminary hearings about the existence of informants leading to their arrest. Annie Mae is returned to South Dakota via Kansas federal transfer center for up-coming arraignment and trial on Rosebud charges.

November 18, 1975:
FBI issues 20 page document on Peltier's fugitive status regarding deaths of FBI agents, Milwaukee attempted murder charge (later acquited) and the death of Jeanette Bissonette.

November 24, 1975:
Arraignment of Annie Mae, Pierre, SD. Annie Mae is represented by a court appointed attorney by the name of Robert Riter. Bonds out of jail on weapons charge. Annie Mae checks into a Pierre motel along with other WKLDOC lawyers, legal assistants and defendants and is later picked up by the late Evelyn Bordeaux and Ray Hand Boy and driven to Keensburg, Colorado. Aquash apparently believes that Dennis Banks will meet her there.

November 25, 1975:
Indictment of Peltier, Robideau, Butler, Eagle. Bench warrant for failure to appear for Annie Mae on weapons charges on the Rosebud arrest of September 5th. Annie Mae and others stop at a bar (Julian's) in Keensburg, Colorado owned by the husband of Theda Nelson Clark of Denver AIM. Hand Boy and Bordeaux return the next day to South Dakota.

November 28, 1975:
Annie Mae goes to stay at the home of Troy Lynn Yellow Wood-Williams at 4494 Pecos St, Denver, Colorado at the home identified in the Denver Post article.

Continue to Part II of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash Time Line
Continue to Part III of Annie Mae Pictou Aquash Time Line