Chief John Smith, Was He Really 138 Years Old? | Tales From The Past #Video

Tales From The Past via historical photos. Meet Chief John Smith, an old Native American who was possibly 138 years old when he died in 1922.

This is White Wolf, also known as Chief John Smith. He was a Native American who lived in the Cass Lake, Minnesota area and is reputed to have died at the age of 138, in 1922. Due to his extraordinary looks, he had many nicknames like "Sloughing Flesh", "Wrinkled Meat" or just "The Old Indian". White Wolf had eight wives, fought in many battles, and remembered the War of 1812. The exact age of White Wolf at the time of his death, has been a subject of controversy. Some claim that he could not have been older than 88 years, and it was a disease and not age, that made him look the way he did. One thing is for certain, that White Wolf, or Chief John Smith, was a true celebrity in his later years. He appeared in moving pictures, modeled for numerous stylized images of Native American life, traveled for free on trains, selling his photo to passengers, and becoming something of an attraction in and of himself. In 1914, White Wolf converted to Catholicism and was buried in the Catholic section of Pine Grove Cemetery in Cass Lake.
---