John Smith or Chief White Wolf, the oldest Indian who allegedly lived 138 years

Chief White Wolf, aka John Smith, was a Native American from the Ojibwe tribe (also known as Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Salt) who lived in the Cass Lake area, Minnesota, USA in the 1800s and early 1900s. They say he was the oldest Indian who ever lived and died at 138 years old. His photos have been preserved!

This man lived a very long life and died on February 6, 1922 from pneumonia.

He was called not only the White Wolf, there were other nicknames — often related to how wrinkled his skin looked, or to the fact that he was very old. John Smith was called Gaa-binagviiyaas (translated as "exfoliating from the flesh"), Kahbe nagvi vens, Ga-Be-Na-Gevn-Wonse (meaning "wrinkled meat"), Grandpa John and an Ancient Indian.

John Smith got all these nicknames because he was quite famous not only in Minnesota, but throughout the country. He was often used as the face of Chippewa residents in the area, he was photographed for postcards, etc. And he himself constantly carried these cards with him to sell them to his "fans".

And back in 1920, Chief White Wolf starred in a film with other old Indians called "Memories of Ga-be-na-gevn-vons". He toured the country, which made him famous throughout the United States.

John Smith's unique appearance — extremely wrinkled skin — is not only the result of exposure to time. His skin looked like this due to a rare disease that was not diagnosed at the time, and it looked like this for most of his life. Therefore, the Indian name Ga-be-nah-gewn-wonce translates as "wrinkled meat".

Little is known about John Smith's personal life. It is known that he had eight wives, but only one child, whose name was Tom Smith. In 1914, the White Wolf converted to Catholicism.

If you believe the stated age of 137 years, this would mean that Chief John Smith could have been born as early as 1784, immediately after the end of the American War of Independence. This would make him not only the oldest Indian in history, but also the oldest person who ever lived. However, the true age of the White Wolf at the time of his death is often disputed.

Since there were no documents indicating the dates of birth of Native Americans at that time, the government used key events to determine the age. Chief John Smith himself claimed that he was between 7 and 10 years old during the Leonida meteor shower, which happened on November 13, 1833. It turns out that John Smith was born sometime in the mid-1820s, so it is likely that at the time of his death in 1922 he was about 100 years old, not 138.