28
THE ILLUSTRATED BEE. j
October 4, 1900L
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The Wilson
Bteam li o i 1 e r
Company was es
tablish in 1882,
but was not incor
porated until 15)02,
when J. M. Wilson
was made presi
dent of tlie com
pany and J. Morris
.Wilson secretary
and treasurer.
ISoth are the most
pleasant of gentle
men, and should
you need anything
in their line they
will be very much
pleased to hear
from y o u, a n d
guarantee that all
work will be done
in a most satisfac
tory manner.
The Wilson Steam Boiler Works. 19th and Pierce Streets. Omaha.
Noble Red Man in New To
fCitpyrtprht. litua, by T. C. MHIuro.)
It imi't "Ii! Ih puor Indian," ny more
Nor Ih the white man'H ciiHtomnry menial
picture of the noblo red man. wniMi1 In u
dirty bUnkct. with red earth on hi Juwl
and the tall feathera of t-UKles Htuck In hlH
hiilr, any longer correct.
liiKleal, It In now "to! the new Indian,"
lid the picture imit It chanRed from one
of aboriginal plrturei(iienea to that of
civilized conventionality the denoendant of
a hundred braves clothed in frock coat and
trined troum-ni, hlKh hat, boiled shirt,
landiiiK collar and cravat and patent
It-ather ahoea. And the bow hail irlven way
to the Hteam plow, the lcee t the houae
and the war pny to Ike work horae.
It la a Chang. accordliiK to the scientist
and otherx who have atutlied the ludluna
for. years, that haa come about, with one or
Iwn exception a, for ituirunce, the Chero
Iwea within tb laat deexto, or eve tea,
and tkat haa been wrouKhf alaaoat aimiU
taneoualy In tribcai not hWrvqueotly aep
aralnd from one another by hundreds of
mllva.
Tho onh axplaiurioo they can offer for
thla sudden transition from a aeml-bnr-bario
stato to one of modernity this utter
confound lag of thos who hare held that
no Indian count bo civilised, and that the
only good Indian In the dead Indian Is
baaed on logic Kor over n oentury, says
the scientists, the Indians of America have
been systematically subjected by tho gov
ernment to the processes ot civilisation.
They opposed it. fought it all along, and
as InHiHtently decreased in numerical
strength and power. They were peraiatent
in clinging to tradition; but now, after all
theae years, they have aeemlngly arrived
at the concluHlon in their own way that to
be aaved they, the remnant of once pow
erful tribes, muHt conform at lattt to the
white man's way. it la simply the natural
law of self-preservation asserting Itself.
Hrvolnllea Amous; the Sis Natloaa.
lie that as It may, the seientbtta who are
noting the change with wonder have found
no aharper content between two successive
generations of Indians than that displayed
by the Six Nations on their reservation in
Canada, whither they emigrated a hundred
years ago front New York statu, in order
to throw in their lot with the Ilrltlsh.
These Indians were among the first to
come within the Influence of the white man,
but it is only within the last few years
that both Christiana and Pa nuns among
them have discarded the blanket and the
feathered head-dress for troupers and felt
hats. The change has been so universal
that it would seem to be the result of pre
concerted action, but the Indians and tho
agents deny that such is the case.
On the other hand not a few of the braves
have secretly admitted that the women had
a great deal to do with the tribes' abandon,
merit of the costumes of their forefathers.
"Our women." said one of the buck re
cently, "got hold of the illustrated women's
papers and magaiinea and saw all aorta of
white women's clothes in them. Then thpy
got to thinking the blankets and an oc
casional calico slip ware not good enough
for them, and longed for the dresses they'd
seen In the magasines. Weil, you know the
wosnen of the Bis Nations have always
run the tribes and elected the chiefs, and
lb is selves white women's dresses.
"When they got dressed up in them,
they saw that our blankets and their cloth
skirts didn't go well together. Well, the
women have always governed tho Six
Nations, and before lonjr we were wearing
store clothes. Just like tho white men."
It Is true that the Mohawk women took
the lead In adopting modern dre.-s, and
they hare become such iki)lful sewers ami
follow the fashions so closely that they
rival the white women of adjacent tiwns
in satorial matters.
On the 24th of last May, when the Six
Nations gathered in llrantford to celebrate
the king's birthday, the wives of the pro
vincial officers who were present expressed
their astonishment at finding hundreds of
full-blooded and half-breed Indian women
and girls parading before them in tailor
cut coats, shirt-waists and cloth tklrts of
walking length, with their hair done up
In the approved styles beneath up-to-date
millinery creattrna.
The adoption of the white man's garb,
tbe agent says, has made the Bis Nations
turn with greater energy to the white
man's ways of living, and everywhere Im
provement has been noted In the towns
and on tho fa ruin, where barn raisings are
numerous, modem Implements multiplying
and, in several cases, steam plows being
used.
But while many of the white man's ways
entered Into the makeup of the Six Nations
Indian when he put white man's clothing on
his back, some aboriginal customs atlll
so they got s.wln machines and made
cling to him. Thus it comes about that
whenever a Mohawk or Iroquois brave
wants to summon bis wedding guests he se
cures a purple grain 01' corn, pusses quietly
among a crowd of his fellows and slips the
grain for a moment Into the hand of him
whom he desires as n guest at the festivi
ties. The Six Nations bride has not yet
fallen in love with the printed wedding
card, even though her mother Is deeply
offended whenever anyone refers to her, In
the good old Indian way, as a squaw.
Dlxcera Have Fallen in Line.
Another striking example of the new In
dian is found in California among the Dig
gers, long considered the most degenerate
of the North American red men.
Many a Digger still lives on worms and
graHshoer pies, but he is usually of I lie
dying generation. The large majority of
the memla-rs of the present generation lias
departed absolutely from the revolting ways
of their fathers, and ore living in the white
roan's way. This is true of as many ftill
Mooded Diggers as of those that have white
blood In tlielr veins, and ndlther class Is
small, numerically.
These Diggers have lieen more successful
In hgrtctiltural pursuits and in cattle rais
ing than their white nelghlors. This Is
especially true of the half-breed desreni
ants of nigger women and early California
miners, who, failing at gold hunting, took
up ranching. There are many wealthy
men among them, who tour Kurope and
buy works of art to decorate their homes,
which stand on sites where once their
Tathers grubbed up roots for breakfast.
It la a peculiar fart thnt these full
blooded and half-breed families do not
readily take to the luxuries of the white
man in some respects. No matter how
large ana autnstsxiusiy TurnuuVed 11
homes may be, the bediooms are alwayj
titled out with almost Spartan simplicity.
The men sleep on small hard cots, over
which sheep skin or blankets are spread.
No mattresses, sheets or spreads add to
their comfort.
An American, who once spent a week at
the home of one of these Digger ranchers
and wine growers, says:
"His home was supplied with every
civilized article of comfort and adornment.
The young rancher himself was a college
graduate and had traveled extensively. He
could dijeuss literature as intelligently as
he could speak of rattle rabing. and his
tastes were every' bit as refined as those of
his American neighbors.
"One day an old Indian squaw appeared
and stopped at the house for several days.
Her hair was long and bedraggled, her
face black and wrinkled, her dress con
sisted of au old gingham mother hubbard
and a blanket, and her bare feet were
wrapped In cotton bandages in lieu of
stockings. 8he could not even speak
Kngllsh beyond a few laconic expressions
picked up from miners and trappers. Sne
was a "type of the old Digger squaw of
years tro,
" "Who's the old woman? 1 asked.
" 'My aunt,' replied the young man. She
came down here to rest up after a long
spree. The tribe's just had a feast to cele
brate the chief's marriage, and they all
got pretty sick on white man's Are water.
They don't understand the rt of mixing
cocktails yet."
Most of the new style Diggers, however,
have severed all relationship with their
barbarian relations, and give their
blankets tribesmen scant courtesy.
The New slaakaa Indiana.
The Alaska Indians have also shown a
remarkable tendency to adopt civilized
ways within the last teu years. In Cali
fornia there are many full-bloods from
Alaska tribes studying in the public schools,
and several have entered the State uni
versity, where they have shown remarkable
intelligence. A Swedish trader named
Sandalin, whose post is at Kamtschatka,
has been instrumental in sending down to
San Francisco numbers of children of
prominent chiefs, all of whom have become
cultivated citizens of this country. Other
have come of their own volition, and have
returned to spread enlightenment among
their own people, and now the Indians
around Fort Wrangle. Kodlak, Sltha and
Kamtschatka are anything but barbarous,
and the traveler in the far north sees whole
communities of red men who wear the
garb of western civilization with the ease
of the occidental himself.
Keif Handlers of California.
I.Ike their far-away brothers In Alaska,
the full-blooded red men of South Cali
fornia are also fast acquiring new ways.
These Indians were Christianized a cen
tury ago by the Spanish padres. Father
Jumpero Serra was especially active In
converting the red heathens. But convert
ing them to Christianity and bringing them
into a state of slavery meant snout the
same thing with him. Thus, the peons of
the early missions were civilised only In
that they were not hostile to white men.
'They titled the soil for the monks as the
villains of medieval times did for their
baroTiial masters, but education did not
enter Into the contract. On Oie contrary,
it was avoided as dangerous.
It was left to the Americans within the
last two decudeM to teach the Southern
California Indians real civilization, which,
they did by throwing open schools and col
leges to them, and now they form a part of
the population worthy of respect and con
sideration. Most of these civilized peona
are ranchers and fruit raisers. From their
old Spanish masters they took Spanish,
names, so many are known by such names
as Rodriguez, Vallejo, Ramirez and San
chez, which gives the superficial tourist
the impression that these pure red men are
the children of old Spanish settlers. They
are not so energetic or partial to academlo
studies as the reformed Diggers up state,
but in their own way they are Just as
thoroughly civilised.
In Arizona, New Mexico and parts of
Colorado another phase of Indian civilisa
tion Is visible. Here the bucks still go ts
town In blankets and long hair; it Is in
their home life that the change is most ap
parent. They live In comfortable wooden
houses, farm the land by white man's
methods, have the latest patented kind of
plows, harrows, sowers and reapers, drive
about in modern farm wagons behind spans
of mules harnessed according to eastern
methods, and keep themselves Informed of
the rise and fall of the markets. When
working on their farms they dress in tho
ordinary overalls and jumpers of the Amer
ican farm hand.
These are a few examples of the evolu
tion of the new Indian. So widespread has
been this change from the old to the new
that when the promoters of the Indian
shows to be given at the 8t. I,ouis ex
hibition made their contracts with the In
dians they stipulated In their agreements
that the noble red man should appear ex
clusively In the garb that Is Inseparably
connected with the Indian and not In frock
coats and top hats JOHN O. SAXTON.
Doing the Red Man
S. M. BroHiu. agent for the Indian
Rights association, has discovered a new"
and profitable "graft" In the Choctaw Na
tioi. Indian Territory. A dozen marriage
brokers are making a good thing out of
finding white husbands for Choctaw maid
ens, and Choctaw maidens for white for
tune hunters.
Kvf ry girl In the nation will receive SJO
acres of land when allotment is made, and
In addition is entitled to about Jft.500 as r.ne
share in the tribal funds on deposit In tho
Vnited States treasury.
This makes each girl'r fortune upward
of 15,000. Nearly all of them want white
husbands, and there are no lack of white
men who are willing to take them.
The brokers contract to find them white
husbands for a fee of from IS to U00.
Tlie brokers then advertise In eastern
papers and collect ISA to 2T4 from eaelt
white man for whom they find an Indian
bride.
Many marriages are arranged without
either of the principals having seen the
other until the day of the wedding, but la
every case the broker sees his two fees be
fore there is any wedding.
Mr. rtroaius will report the matter to tho
Indian Rights association.
