BLOOD KUKUTOSI-POOTA (PRIVATE ALBERT MOUNTAIN HORSE) BURIED–ONLY CANADIAN INDIAN ON WORLD WAR I FRONT LINES TO DIE
Born on December 25, 1893, on the Blood Indian Reserve in Alberta, his tribal name meant “Flying Star.” An excellent student at St Paul’s Boarding School, he also learned the traditional tribal ways from his mother. Becoming a cadet at school, Mountain Horse, when of age, went to a military training school in Calgary and passed the examination for a commission as lieutenant in the militia. At the outbreak of war in 1914, he enlisted as a private in order to be accepted sooner. Albert is believed to have been either the 1st Aboriginal recruit for the Canadian Expeditionary Force or 1st recruited from western Canada. Mountain Horse went overseas with the 10th Infantry Battalion and saw action in April 1915 in the 2nd battle of Ypres. Gassed on 2 occasions, the army sent him back to Canada to convalesce, but tuberculosis quickly set in. He died on November 19, 1915, only 1 day after landing at Quebec. He was buried on the Blood Indian Reservation with full military honors.
Source: James Dempsey, “Mountain Horse, Albert,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Retrieved 6/9/2022, Biography – MOUNTAIN HORSE, ALBERT – Volume XIV (1911-1920) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography (biographi.ca) Clipping: Calgary Herald, 11/25/195, p.5. Public Domain.
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