Long Lance

Long Lance is another man of Lumbee descent discovered by Dr. Kevin Locklear of Arizona during research for his doctorate degree. This remarkable man’s birth name was Sylvester Clark Long. He was a native of Winston Salem.Like yesterday’s post of Ormer Locklear, Long Lance was a pilot during World War 1. He served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. His grave is behind the War Memorial Monument. Long Lance was also a student at Carlisle Indian School with Jim Thorpe and a few Lumbees from Robeson County in the early 1910s.In the 1920s, he worked for a Wild West Show and became immersed in the Native American culture to the point of learning to speak Cherokee fluently.He was also regarded as one of the leading journalists of his time as well as a silent movie star like Ormer Locklear.In 1930, he was in the movie The Silent Enemy under the name of Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance.Suffering from alcoholism and depression, he committed suicide by gunshot in the home of silent film actress Anita Baldwin.