Chief Dark Cloud at Hollywood Forever…
Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Chief Dark Cloud
aka Elijah Tahamont
BORN: September 20, 1855, St. Francis Indian Village, Quebec, Canada
DIED: October 17, 1918, Los Angeles, California
CAUSE OF DEATH: Lobular pneumonia following Spanish Influenza
BURIAL: Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Section 10W
By Allan R. Ellenberger
Chief Dark Cloud, whose real name was Elijah Tahamont, was a Native American film actor sometimes billed as William Dark Cloud. He was also a popular and highly paid model who posed for over twenty years for famed sculptor, Frederic Remington. He was a chief of the Algonquin tribe (or Abenaquis tribe depending on the source) and prior to his film career was known as a popular lecturer.
Dark Cloud began working for American Mutoscope and Biograph in 1910, making his first screen appearance under the direction of D. W. Griffith. Moving west, he appeared in scores of westerns and other films.
Dark Cloud was married to Soaring Dove (Margaret Camp), also a model, and the father of actress Beulah Dark Cloud (1887-1945) and Bessie ‘Bright’ Eyes Tahamont (who died at the age of fifteen in September 1907, in Astoria, New York). Both girls were the first Native American children to attend a New York public school.
Dark Cloud was reportedly an alcoholic and womanizer, which gained him many enemies. Influenza, which was at a world-wide epidemic, was the official cause of his death in 1918. However, rumors at the time claimed that he was either murdered by a jealous husband or died from accidental drowning.
Thanks to Jim L of Hollywoodunderground for Dark Cloud’s date and cause of death
The preceding is one in a series of biographical sketches of
Hollywood Forever Cemetery residents.
June 14th, 2008 at 8:45 am
As intriguing as the rumours may have been, given the date of death, chances are he probably died of influenza….more’s the pity :p
Love your site, Allen; always look forward to the latest installment. You’re the best!!
June 14th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Thanks Melissa. I agree with you that influenza was most likely the cause. I searched everywhere for an obit on Dark Cloud but found nothing. I’m always surprised when obits are NOT published on well-known people. Stay tuned.
June 16th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
There was a paid obituary in the October 18, 1918 L.A. Times: “DARK CLOUD, October 17, at No. 4336 Russell Avenue. Elijah Tahamont Dark Cloud, aged 63 years. Funeral private, Saturday October 19, 2 p.m. from chapel of W.M. Strother, No. 6240 Hollywood boulevard.”
June 16th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Thanks so much for that information Scott.
July 19th, 2009 at 9:40 am
I was woundering how tall how Dark Cloud was?
August 12th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
researching Tahamont’s friendship with cameraman and stuntman Harry James who founded a youth organization influenced by him. Would love to talk to you on the phone sometime
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A. Contact me at my email address: Hollywoodland23@aol.com. Thanks. — Allan
December 14th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
hi my name is ryan patterson, my grandmothers name is Elizabeth Tahamont we are members of the abenaki tribe, my great grandfather was Buck Tahamont Chief and full blood native, is it possible i am related to Dark Cloud?
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Hi Ryan, I suppose its possibly. Can you ask your grandmother or other older members of your family?
April 14th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
He was an Abenaki. Your place of birth for him is their reservation. The Algonquins were a language group that included many tribes in Eastern North America. “Chief” is part of his stage name, not his actual tribal status. One of his grandaughters married Iron Eyes Cody, the Crying Indian, who also was an actor.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
His father, Lazare, was born about 1830 at the reservation. Dark Cloud lived around Lake George NY before he moved to Hollywood.