
Notes from Indian Country
Singing the old Holy Rosary Mission fight song
Monday, November 30, 2020
Gerald Clifford was known by his friends at the Holy Rosary Indian Mission Boarding School as “Plum.” How he got that name escapes me, but many of the boys at the mission had nicknames with no derivation.
Gerald’s father was Bob Clifford, the greatest coach in the history of the boarding school, and they lived on the mission grounds in a house out by the highway. Gerald was so religious in those days that he even considered becoming a priest at one time. In fact his older sister Geraldine went on to become a nun.
Bob Clifford, Jr. was his older brother. Bob was extremely intelligent and the horned rim glasses he wore made him look even more so and he was given the nickname “Professor.” Of course the mission boys just called him “Prof.” He loved to hunt and one day he was out hunting on the mission grounds when he tried to climb through a fence with his rifle and the gun went off and shot him in the leg. The bullet hit an artery and he made every effort to make it home, but it was not to be; he bled to death. I think the “Prof” was destined for greatness if his life hadn’t ended at such a young age.
Anyhow, it turned out that “Plum” was also extremely intelligent. In fact he was one of the youngest students ever to be admitted to the School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. Plum started a consulting organization called ACKO, an acronym for Artichoker, Clifford and Killer and it was based in Boulder, CO. I was trying to start the American Indian Chamber of Commerce in those days and I had an office across the hallway from Plum.

Tim Giago (Oglala Lakota) is the founder of the Native American Journalists Association and of Indian Country Today. Contact him at najournalist1@gmail.com.
Note: Content © Tim Giago
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