The Carbon County chronicle. [volume], October 22, 1924, Page Page Five, Image 5

About The Carbon County chronicle. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1924-1924

Image provided by: Montana Historical Society; Helena, MT

                
UPERNATURAL ORIGIN
3
D
D
By MARTHA K. PLAS8MANN
HILE civilized man is not in
different to his food, he does
not knowingly worship it, al
though in the case of an epicure, it
amounts to nearly the same thing—
food is his idol. But primitive man
has always regarded as sacred any
thing upon which bis life depended.
Food Is a necessity, and the two
main sources of food supply for the
Indians were buffalo and corn. With
the hunter tribes, the buffalo took
precedence; while the agricultural
tribes held corn in greater esteem.
The planting of corn and its har
vesting was not to be undertaken
without the observance of certain
ceremonies other than merely con
sidering whether the moon was favor
able. Stories of the supernatural
origin of corn, and the relationship
between it and the Indians were
W
Scattered Com, Daughter of tho
Last Maudan Com Driest.
current. These are valuable chief
ly as they manifest the workings of
the primitive mind.
Tho reverence felt for corn by the
Indians was revealed in their treat
ment of it, and in their songs. The
Mandans never left any grains scat
tered about, and no metal knives
were used to cut the stalks, metal
being related to Thunder, which was
a war or destructive power. The
caches in which it was stored, were
first purified and blessed; purifica
tion being accomplished by the
smoke of sweet grass.
Of the songs in praise of corn, one
attributed to tho Omahas, is worthy
of quotation, It being poetry of the
Whitman school:
"The maize being one of the great
est means to give us life, in honor of
it we sing. We sing even of the
Bright White
LIGHT!
SUNBURST Kerosene Is wa
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and wicks have to be trimmed
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DEALERS! We are In posi
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(straight-run, made by Pow
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kerosene, for Immediate ship
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quotations.
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Refining Co.
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Montana
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growth of its roots, of Its clinging to
the earth, of Its shooting forth from
the ground, of its springing from
joint to joint, of itc sending forth
the ear, of its putting cover on it*
head, of Its ornamenting its head
with a feather, of Its Invitation to
men to come and feel it, to open
and see its fruit, of its invitation to
man to taste of the fruit."
Another song of twenty-six stan-1
zas, likewise pictures the growth of
the grain. Its harvesting and cook
ing. It begins with its germination,
as follows;
"O hasten!
Behold,
With four roots I stand.
Behold me! Then seven
leaves are enumerated, and after
these, seven joints. Then each
stanza shows a further stage of ad
vancement, concluding with the
words, "I stand." "With clothing .. .
With light, glossy hair... With
yellow hair . . . With dark hair . . .
With light, glossy tassel. . . With
pale tassel .. . With yellow tassel . . .
With fruit possessed I stand." The
hearer is at length exhorted to
"Pluck me . .. Roast me . . and
last of all:
"O hasten?
Rip from its cob
My fruit as I stand.
And eat me." An invitation
not to be overlooked, but readily ac
cepted, then, as now.
Of the origin of corn, the Pawnees
bad this tradition. The Creator was
known as Ttrawa; his wife being
Atlra, which interpreted means
"Comes-from-Corn." Tirawa set the
Evening Star—Bright Star—in the
west, to be the mother of all things.
The Great Star—the Morning Star—
was placed in the east, and is to be a
warrior. In Bright Star's garden
everything on earth is created, ani
mals, birds, etc., and even sunshine.
The tour servants of Bright Star who
take these to tho earth are, Wind,
Cloud, Lightning and Thunder. From
the marriage of Morning and Even
ing Star a girl is born in winter. The
Sun marries the Moon and their son
is born in summer. This girl and
boy are sent to the earth and marry.
Other human beings are created by
the stars, and dispatched to earth to
keep tho first couple company. Each
couple Is given by the star that cre
ated them a sacred bundle which con
tains an ear of sacred corn. One ver
sion of this tradition said that the
people who lived In the southwest
had white sacred corn, those in the
northwest yellow, those in the north
east black, and those in the south
east red. The Pawnees feared Tir
awa, but loved the Evening Star,
which was symbolized by Mother
Corn—the sacred white corn.
Another version of this story,
states that the son of the first couple
sent to earth is led by the meadow
lark, the messenger of the four ser
vants of Bright Star, to an earth
lodge, where foe finds the four,
namely W'ind, Cloud, Thunder, and
Lightning, These teach him how to
live. They gave him a buffalo to
kill and a sacred bundle containing
seed; they taught him how to make
hoes from tim shoulder blade of a
buffalo, snd the corn ceremones. The
boy carried the seed to the people.
The Ankaras had still another
version of the gift of corn to human
ity. They said the gods made people,
some giants and some little people.
Tho giants becoming wicked, a flood
was sent to destroy them. The little
people, however, being good, were
saved by animals who took them un
der the ground. After the flood sub
sided, the animals, or Mother Corn,
led the little people out of the ground
and into the Missouri valley.
It Is Interesting to note that the
sacred ear of corn, belonging to the
Cheyennes, was lost wfoen Colonel
McKenzie captured Dull Knife's vil
lage on the Tongue river.
The Omahas believed the buffalo
was found first, and then corn. A
man roaming about found some blue,
red and white kernels. Thinking
them valuable,, he hid them in the
ground and mounded earth over
them. He went to get them later,
and was surprised to find some stalks
bearing kernels like those he found.
He took tho ears and gave them
to the people. On eating it they
pronounced it good, and ever since
that time have planted It, always in
mounds, like that where the kernels
were first hidden.
These cited, are but a few of the
many stories of the origin of corn,
this fact in Itself, proving how great
a role It enacted in the life of the ag
ricultural Indian tribes.
The corn ceremonies were as num
r
!
;
j
i
;
'
|
N HIS "Builders of .he Nation." George Bird (Irin n el I moot ably
describes the Western Indian in the following wonts: "Like the
wild blr (land the beast, like the cloud and the forest tree, the
primitive savage is a part of nature.. He is In It and o( it. He
Studies It all through Ills life. He can read Its language. It j s (he
one tiling that he knows. He is an observer. Nothing escapes tils
eye. The signs of the clouds, the blowing of the winds, the move
ments of the birds and animals—all tell him some story. Ii is by the
observance of these signs, rending them and ar<iug on them tliai he
procures Ids food, tiiat he saves himself from :»!» enemies. that he
finds his life." And, thus. And, thus it Is found that the old legends
of the red man are baslely founded on the movements and changes
of those things which for ma part of nature's wonderful being.
In the accompanying sketch, the author following up the recent
story of Corn aipong the Indians, gives us some Idea of the great
signifieunoe of this their native grain, to them, to their very being.
It Is through the proper consideration of these legends and customs
that we are brought to a hotter comprehension of the character of the
Indian—a broader view and a wider sympathy, which helps us to
appreciate that these primitive people, too. were human like our
selves, with kindred emotions, lacking only the dlreeiion and regu
lations of tile smoothly flowing channels of civilised life.
I
erous as were the traditions.
Arikaras sometimes throw Into the
Missouri river Mother Corn, repre
sented by an ear of corn tied in a
bundle together with the discarded
moccasins of children, with the idea
The
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Sp|ö|
I
UpHf ■
t
' ?
TU
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f
Above: A Rawhide Bowl and Stone Mortar Used by the Indians In
Grinding their Corn for Food. Below: A Bone Hoe Made from the
Shoulder Blade of a Buffalo; Used by the Indian Women for Culti
vation Purposes.
that she would carry the prayers of
the people for a good harvest to the
home of the gods.
One ceremony was connected with
the sacred corn, of which most of the
Upper Missouri tribes had one
more varieties. The Corn Priest gave
a few kernels of this to the women,
to be mixed with their seed corn, in
order to Insure a good crop.
or
Montana Man Is Collecting Indian
Relics and Compiling Data on Early
Customs of Northwestern Tribes
By KLVA WINEMAN
OLLECTINO Indian relics for
the Museum of the American In
dian, Heyn Foundation, New
York, is the work of W. Wlldschut,
ol Montana, who each summer covers
thousands of miles of territory in
c
£'■>4
■■
«
B!»
ri
SET
■
IW. Wlldschut, Collector of Indian
Curios and Relics for s New York
Museum, Here Shown In the Bad
Lands of Central Montana,
plorlng Possible Location of An
In (Inin Burial.
Ex
the northwestern states In search of
Interesting relics of historical Indian
Importance.
Mr. Wildschut's work includes the
search for Indian relics, burials, plc
tographs, etc., but he is chiefly con
cerned at present with Indian burials
and more particularly the tree burial,
These specimens are very difficult
There were several societies among
t^e women of the agricultural tribes,
of which Goose Women was the high
est. This society was composed of
the older women, whoso distinctive
badge was a atrip4>( goose skin worn
at the head. It generally had two
girl members, these wearing duck
skin heed bands, with the head il
tachod. This society had a spring
dance at the arrival of the first geese,
to secure an abundant yield of corn,
and another in Hie fall to bring suc
cess in buffalo hunting.
The Corn Priest was a venerated
tribal official, whose duties were ar
to procure, the Indians being loathe
to part wtih them. The only one on
exhibition anywhere in the United
States is at the museum in New York
City and Mr. Wlldschut was instru
mental in securing !t for that Insti
tution after many weeks of work.
Tho burial is that of a child and pos
session of it was secured only after
pursuading the relatives how much
better and finer it would be to have
the body cared for and preserved in
a beautiful building rather than al
lowing it to crumble away and be lost
In .the elements. After changing
their minds many times during the
process of argument they finally
agreed and with their assistance the
large branch on which the body was
fastened was sawed off from the
tree, and it is now in the museum of
the American Indian at New York.
Some tribes made their burials on
tho tops of very high hills where they
covered the bodies which had been
wrapped In buffalo robes, with
mounds of rock. Others deposited
them in cracks or crevices of the rlm
rock In the foothills, covering the
bodies first with sticks and then with
irocks. Still others wrapped them
carefully with all their belongings in
robes and blankets and laid them on
the very tops of almost inaccessible
Get the habit
buy the bestl
SCO LLY'S
•It
CANE AND
SYR U P
Costs no more than
the ordinary kind
;duous at times, especially at the cere
: mony of cleansing of the corn. On
, that occasion he wore winter attire,
and was unable to discard it until the
ripening of an ear of corn released
(him from his obligations. He was
i confined to his lodge except on the
; stated occasions when he visited the
'corn field. No matter how hot the
weather, he would not bathe, and he
was not permitted to eat berries or
any fresh food. His failure to com
ply with these rules would cause an
early frost to ruin the crop. Four
times he visited tho fields, beginning
with the appearance of the first corn
silk, and so insures the corn against
drouth, hail, wind, grasshoppers, and
oilier enemies.
If a woman feared her crop would
be small, she brought a robo to the
priest who traced oil it a corn stalk,
Us five roots, Its leaves, blossoms and
ear, or ears. This drawing the wo
man outlined in clay. The priest,
taking the robe Into the sacred lodge,
wrapped It around a polo at the
height he judged tc be right. It was
then carried to tho field and planted
there. About its base the corn was
heaped with tho expectation that it
would reach the robe. The priest re
ceived as pay for his services, a pre
sent for each root, loaf, etc., outlined
on the robe. With this end in view,
doubtless they were drawn with a
free hand.
At the summer solstice, the Paw
nees, until well in the nineteenth
century sacrificed a young girl cap
tive, in honor of the Morning Star.
An early writer witnessed this cere
mony, and has described It omitting
no horrible detail. This account has
a marked resemblance (o our lynch
ing bees, although the hymns sung
by the Indians were in praise of
Morning Star, and not the Prince of
Peace.
Tho victim of this ceremony was a
Sioux girl, who had been treated with
such kindness by her capto-i that she
never suspected her fate, until she
was In tho presence of the instru
ments of torture. On learning of her
death her tribe vowed lo be avenged
for every bone in her body, as (he
Pawnees discovered later to their
cost.
While not of a ceremonial nature,
the subject of corn should not
be dismissed before mention is made
of the field songs of tho women. As
told in a former article, tho young
girls took their porcupine quill em
broidery with them to the corn field,
and there seated on elevated plat
forms, frightened away the birds,
and the small boys who were seeking
roasting ears. While working, they
sang; und one designed for the ears
of any young man of the Dog Soci
ety, who might stray that way, has
been recorded, and shows that like
"Tho Colonel's Lady and Judy O'Ora
dy." under the skin, without regard
to color, g slirraeigrsl cmfwyp nifwyp
to color, girls are girls tho world
over. It is this;
"Young man of the Dog Society, you
said to me,
'When I go cast on a war party, you
will hear news of me, how brave I
am!'
I have heard nows of you!
When the fight was on you ran and
hid;
And still you think you are a bravo
young man!
Behold you have joined tho Dog
Society;
But I call you Just plain dog!"
cliffs verging on deep canyons,
where the ashes might be distributed
to tho four winds.
Mr. Wlldschut ,1s here shown ex
ploring an old Indian burial. Noth
ing remains now, however, to show
that this spot was ever used for such
purpose even though the discovery is
one of recent years. Relic hunters
have flocked here in large numbers
and simply combed the rocks for elk
teeth, beads and whatever else they
might find, carefully removing every
truce of burial and leaving only
thoir initials plenteousiy carved all
over the rocks.
It Is for thla reason that tho mu
seums aro exercising so much effort
and spending a great deal of money
to save these relics of a race that is
fast forsaking its native customs, be
fore they are forever lost.
There are many beautifully paint
ed and carved rock walls and caves
In the west. These paintings, or pic
togr&phs as they are called, are, In
most Instances, very crude and to date
very little progress has been made In
classifying and deciphering them.
Mr. Wlldschut's work this year In
cluded visits to the Bannocks In Ida
ho, the Shoshones of Wyoming, and
RADIOS
and RADIO PARTS
Batterie« und Tobe«
H#|Hklrl«lff and Hprvirinr
THE ELECTRIC ft RADIO SHOP
4tS Control Ave., Great Failli, Mont.
FINDS CONDITIONS
IN STATE WELL ON
WAY TO RECOVERY
REPRESENTATIVE OF FIRM IN
TWIN CITIES FINDS BASIS FOR
REPORTED IMPROVEMENT
J. L. O'Donnell States MU Tour of
Inspection Increases HU Faith In
Stability of Business in the North
western Slates.
Trade conditions In Montana and
throughout the northwest are rap
idly rising to prosperous heights
and the adverse publicity which
full'd the eastern press about Mon
tana a few months ago will sim
mer down to a "boost rather than
a knock," J. 1,. O'Donnell of Min
neapolis, a member of the firm of
Wyman & Partridge, declared on a
recent business vUU to (he state's
cities,
Mr. O'Donnell states that ho made
a trip to tho state at this time to
learn the actual business conditions
on which to build the company's
trade and declares himself "elated"
and pleased with what he has found.
"For several months we have
known that Montana is coming hack
at a rapid pace, due to the Immense
amount of business that wo are do
ing with Montana merchants, and It
was because we wished to learn the
foundation of It all that we came
hero," Mr. O'Donnell said. "During
my stay 1 have made a thorough an
alysis of trade conditions and find
every reason to believe that our busi
ness is on a substantial basis,
"Montuna lias had temporarily
what might he called a 'bad name'
In the east und Inasmuch as wo must
extend credit It was only natural
that wo should lie interested in any
reports coming from the state, Tho
result of this visit is Hint I am con
vinced that conditions aro much bet
ter than 1 had expected, even after
wo know that tho state was harvest
ing a big crop.
"Until recently Montana mer
chants, in common with those in all
northwestern slates, wore buying
"from hand to mouth," This condi
tion is gradually changing, and our
Minneapolis house la flooded with or
ders and forced lo work night and
day to fill them."
with tho Bloods of Canada. During
tho course of his work, he has secured
data for several books upon which he
1» now nt work, and which will go
to tho publishers nt an early date.
To Have a Clear Sweet Skin.
Touch pimples, redness, rougîmes»
or itching, If any, with Cutleoru Oint
ment, then bathe with Cutlcura Soap
and hot water. Rinse, dry gently and
dust on n little Cutlcura Talcum to
leave ft fascinating fragrance on skin
Everywhere 26c each.—Adv,
f, « . •
teaspoonful
equals
1
or many other
hrm&s-Thatswby
CALUMET
rar would « oukatest
BAKING POWDER
Goes farther
lasts longer
•»>
It
Contain«
the
ordinary
» w
MmIV.
of muf other braat
state 'Æties
PNEl MONTA IS FATAL TO TRAIL
j BLAZER AM) BUILDER; WAS
Sli YEARS OF AGE.
A. W. "Ike" Klngsburg ('ami' to State
In Mining Days; Settling In Cas
| cade County, Itérante One of The
I Stale's Leading Stockmen.
Death recently claimed one of
earliest
Great
when l w . Kingsbury, (ihn!
alls'
pioneers
at
his home in that city. He was
perhaps one of the liest known
figures In Montana when the stale
was in the making, and for nearly
half a Century was engaged in
slink raising In Choteau and Cas
cade counties. Despite his 82
years he was in appearance and
action a man of SO, and enjoyed
excellent health until taken ill with
pneumonia a short time prior to
his death.
Adkln W, Kingsbury was born on
his fathers farm In Howard county.
Mo., October 20, 1842. He was the
sixth of eight children and during
his boyhood days ho attended school
In tho winter months and worked
in tho summer on the home farm.
On May 9, 1864, in company with
his brother, Lllburn, ho left home
with an ox team, traveling overland
lo Omaha whore they joined a west
bound overland train consisting of
70 wagons some, of which were
bound for Montana, olhors to Idaho,
Washington and Oregon.
At Fort Laramie their wagon train
was detained by tho United Blutes
troops that wore (hero stationed, duo
to Indian uprisings. After a short
wait, and when the war parties had
quieted down, they were allowed to
proceed, reaching Beaverhead and
Jefferson City late In the full of
1864-66, whore they spent tho winter.
In tho spring Mr. Kingsbury's
brother took up n ranch ut tho fork
of the Prickly Pear and Ten Milo
creek, and hero they engaged In
farming. Expenses wore very high,
as can bo judged from the fact that
they paid as high as $18 for an
ounce of onion seed. This venture
did not prove n success, and the
brother returned to his homo in
Missouri.
Mr. Kingsbury left for Helena,
where ho opened u livery stable, this
proving a more profitable enterprise.
He followed Ibis lino of business un
ill 1871 When ho engaged In pros
pecting and placer mining In Over
land gulch for a short time, after
which ho entered the sheep growing
business.
He became associated with Daven
port and. Ray, and this firm pur
chased a bund of 1,800 sheep which
hud been brought to Deer Lodge
from Oregon by William Darkness.
These wore tho first sheep brought
over tho mountains from tho west,
and were also the first to bo Intro
duced Into this part of tho terri
tory. Tho band was placed on tho
Boulder river range, and grazed there
for three years after which they were
(aken to tho ranges of tho then Oho
lean county, but now Cascade coun
ty. Mr. Kingsbury ami his partners
remained In that line of business un
til 1872, when they added cattle
raising to their business, and in 1882
they organized the Choteau Live
stock company, with Mr. Kingsbury
us active general manager. This en
terprise was successful and many
thousand head of cattle and sheep
wore handled and marketed.
In 1892 the Big Sag Sheep com
pany was organized, Mr. Kingsbury
being chosen president, and this
corporation has done a large busi
ness In the handling of sheep and
cattle since that time. It has been
one of the Important factors In the
development of that Industry In the
state. Mr. Kingsbury, was at all
times keenly Interested In all pro
gressive steps toward the develop
ment of his comuunlty, and was
counted one of the worthy empire
builders of the early West.
Bitter Root Man Says
He Saw 66 Wild Mae
? ï
In the Sellway Forest
At least one person in western
Montana believes Hint ho hue
found "he solution to tho report of
the "wild man," said to have been
seen In the Storm Creek country,
W'est of Missoula, and in the East
Solway Forest.
The word received in Missoula
from an old-time Bitter Root resi
dent who has made camping trips
into the section where the "wild
man" is supposed to have been seen.
His information is to the effect that
ho encountered an elderly man, de
mented, well-fed, fully clothed, wan
dering In that section. Pictures of
the man were obtained.
Regarding his encounter, and Its
possible connection with the report
ed "wild man" the Bitter Root man
says:
"This man is supposed to be in
tho Storm Creek country, which is
directly west of the heads of Mill
creek (or Kootenai) and Bass creek
lake. Now I have made two camp
ing trips to Bass and Mill creek lakes
and on one of those trips, saw what I
supposed to be a crazy man.
This man seems to be well fed
and very strong—his strength far
belying his years. He did not seem
to be hungry but was crazy to ob
tain firearms. He took my gun and
had to be forced to give it up. Dur
ing the fray, one of the party got
some snapshots.
"The headwaters of Mill creek
are very wild and are seldom visited
by campers and then only on foot,
as it is inaccessible to horses. Aftor
reading about the wild man, I believe
that this may be the man mentioned
and that he had strayed over the di
vide into Mill creek."