Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 35, number 4, summer, 1952

              dr powell's was a colorful and rugged career he was referred to as a per fect gentleman or fiend incarnate as a marksman he traveled buffalo bill's show circuit manufactured patent med icines planned real estate projects and practiced medicine he was given the name of white beaver for saving the life of a sioux chief's daughter who was critically ill cody powell notes on dr david franklin powell known as white beaver by mary hardgrove hebberd everyone who lived in la crosse sixty years ago could tell tales of the fabulous medicine man dr david franklin powell known as white beaver who was then a familiar figure he was big handsome and vigorous looking wearing a full black mustache and a large western style hat his feats of skill brawn marksmanship and showmanship had become legendary long before his death in 1906 at the age of fifty-nine.1 as with all legends it is difficult to sepa rate fact from fiction powell was born in kentucky in 1847 the son of dr c h powell of scottish highland descent and his wife the latter's parents were a seneca chief and a miss tompkins for whose family tompkins county newt york is named powell was always proud of his seneca herit age and boasted of his great-great-grand father who fought in the revolution and re n his own time powell was the hero of some forty beadle and adams gaudiest dime novels found worthy of biographies in j w buel's heroes of the plains and charles h l johnston's famous scouts as well as prominent mention in w fletcher john son's the red record of the sioux life of sitting bull and history of the indian war of 1890-91 ceived a mortal wound in a fight near ni agara in 1779 c h powell died in 1855 and mrs powell took her brood east for a few years then re turned west and settled in omaha and later at lone tree on the platte river it was in omaha that frank the future physician re ceived his early experience in medicine work ing for dr james k ish and later as a partner in the proprietary medicine business legend has it that powell and his brothers received valuable experience in their teens in indian ways and were helpful as scouts to the army they claimed to have known most of the famous plainsmen apparently frank's friendship with buffalo bill dates from this time powell already a thirty second degree mason conferred the master's degree upon cody at platte valley lodge cottonwood springs nebraska where pow7ell was deputy grand master for colorado nebraska and wyoming the name of white beaver is said to have been given to powell by rocky bear a cut-off sioux who had a daughter whom he loved dearly she was delirious and had 306