Johnny Reed and a woman of unknown identity in front of a car: photographic print

From the Nye County, Nevada Photograph Collection (PH-00221) -- Series VII. Other areas in Nye County -- Subseries VII.H. Reed Family (Kawich Mountains, Nevada). About 1922, Helen Reed, on her way out to the ranch, had just passed the Indian camp at the mouth of Hawes Canyon. There she found an Indian baby who had been abandoned because he had pneumonia and was dying. Helen Reed took the baby into her home, nursed him back to health, and raised him. They named him Johnny. He always referred to the Reed daughters as his sisters. Johnny Reed was the grandson of Chief Kawich; when the Chief died, Johnny Reed became chief of the local Indians. When Johnny Reed passed away, it was asked who was Johnny's next of kin. At a powwow, it was decided that Helen Reed, who had married a local resident, Ed Slavin, and lived in Tonopah, was next of kin. Thus, Helen came to be "chief" of the local Shoshone Indians.