The Mongrel: a Story of Logan Fontenelle of the Omaha Indians

In the early 1800s, the outpost of Bellevue, Nebraska Territory was the home of the Omaha Indians as well as that of Logan Fontenelle, the half-breed son of the famous fur-trader Lucien Fontenelle. A famous writer visiting Bellevue in those days once referred to half-breed children like Logan as mongrels. It soon became evident that Logan was anything but a mongrel and he rose to hero and leader status among both Indians and whites. Constantly harassed and attacked by their enemies within the Sioux Nation, the Omaha found a golden period of tribal esteem under Logan's guidance. At age 22, he accomplished what other tribes and leaders could not. Using his two-culture background, Logan forged a fierce fighting force among the Omaha and other plains Indians and confronted the common Sioux enemy. In doing so, he brought peace to the peoples of the Missouri River valley. The Mongrel as a dramatized account of Logan Fontenelle's life, is told against a historical backdrop of when Indian buffalo hunts, the Morman migration and the fur trade were all part of the Nebraska experience. Dr. Barak was a World War II navy officer serving in the Pacific Theater. He received a Ph. D. in biochemistry at Missouri University. As a professor, he has taught biochemistry and internal medicine and conducted liver research at the University of Nebraska and Omaha VA Medical Centers for 40 years.