Great Falls tribune. [volume], November 13, 1886, Image 1

About Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890

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GREAT F'ALLS TRIIBUNE.
VOL, 2, GREAT FALLS, MONTANA TERRITORY, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1886, NO 26
DOG-FACED MEN.
Prof. Mortson and Bilbert De Goice,
Set Down Hard on the "Interested
Reader"-Able Arguments on
the Subject.
Written f]r the Tribune:
I find my short article of October 16th.
has drawn a lengthy reply from "An In
terested Reader," the first h:df column of
which is composed entirely of personali
ties. and various other portions contain
what the I. R. thinks are very facetious
interlaudations, calculated to leave the im
pression that the author is very witty, sar
castic, as well as sage.
The "Interested Reader" has not deign
ed to divulge what sex the I. R. belongs
to, but I will say this, if he is a gentleman,
he has overstepped the ordinary bounds of
politeness, and his paper read. miore like
an electioneerin, campairn document
than a scientific di sertation. If she is a
hlady, she is thro.ing around herself the
shi!ld which modern civilization concedsti
to her, as well as tile shelter of a ,,,,. d(
pl;oie to indulge in personalities. It is a
poor style to conutmt aun arulnment. and
one which I nmost enlphcticaliy dep'icrte;
but in this instantce., lhowvc-r, in justie. to
m.yself. I cannot allow the remarks of "An
Interested lleadetr" to pas withiout an
swer.
Now, Mr. Editor, all my essays, articles.
etc., I have written for your paper on va
rious subjects, were never signed by my
name, only by my initials, in which asser
tion I know you will concur; unfortunate
ly my name appeared at the head of the
second article, which has enabled the "In
terested Reader" to endeavor to hold me
up to public derision, accuse me of fond
ness of notoriety, etc., while the said I. R.
stays in the background secure under the
shelter of a oam de piule,--very safe in
deed, for the I. R. but most decidedly an
noying to me.
In the articles of Oct. 23 and :30. the "In
terested Reader" charges me with making
a sly hit at theologs. This is pure as
sumption, characteristic of the writor. If
he, or she, assert I make any hits, sly or
otherwise, at theology, I hurl the assertion
hack in their teeth, as I cannot conscient
ously treat the Bible excep!t with the
most profound respect; at the same timei
I reiterate that I do not consider it e'ither
niece-Sary Or pro,," when a gesit )f
compiltrative anitm ;,.*, up. , . t. :iu'ihoff
to that ook for a d, i'ioi" on the sam: it
r('eind:s 'ne of the lran --'ti--in in- Ju!-::
Veorne's `"iche el.'-tr ?,." The iweei
in,: par,-crapL,, which refers to thl deli- i
cat.e health and cni-titutionlm of 3r. Aindier
on: I leave to you Mr. Editor how much
of the very (ornier--tone (,f Christinity, viz
-Charity, r ntan d in those lines.
In order to do the il-ine - up in nh!ape,
three enr;avings we-e in-trtod l-y the I.
R. HIlow sharp the I. H. wvas: taking and
choosin,. exactly t i'n-e craniunis suited t
be-t for his argum int. and calculated to
draw attontion t!,- q tick'4:;t though it is
afterward oqulidied by the remarksg fol
loving. No:, in the va-rious groups of
the human race there is difference of 20 to
25 ,decrees in the facial anle. "The angle
of the low'st Ethipian is 65 to 70;:the.'
Austr:lian 85: the (C'ac:sinan J95: and the
ancient Greek artiists gave the lofty, mys- t
terious and shadowy -:randeur of their
se.ilptred Gods -y an angle of 100 de- t
grines. (O'E-). The firther' back we go,
tle lower mian lecomes, until lost his t
tor-y, traditions faiu4i-, r-'eason inductively I
con-lutdes that he must have been extreme
ly low at the beginning; at every step we
take in an opposite direction man become
Letter and wiser. c
In reference to the remark abont the
Great Gibbon Monkey, my opponent
knows as well as myself, that it was not
my simile, as I marked that sentence in
brackets, showing that it was an extract
from the writings, and what I wished to
draw attention to was the remarkable pro
longation of the facial organs, never in
tending it to be understood that it was a
regular dog's head on a human frame sim
ilar to the Egyptian God Annubis.QProf.
Dana's testimony is not required in this
argument, as I have never placed dog-fac
ed men among the progenitors of the hu
man race, when I do so, it will be time
enough. I will, however, join my oppo
nent in paying a tribute of respect to Pro
fessor Dana, as one of the most profound
geologists of the present day.
The I. R. accuses me of using the term
"dog-headed" in one article and "dc
faced" in another. If the I. R. turns lo
his article of Oct. 9, he will find he was
the first one to use the term "dog-faced,"
and as either definition was immaterial to
me, I adjusted his term in my answer. As
regards my use of the terms; the I. R.
I knows as well as myself, that throughout
my papers I have used them as simili
tudes: it was my intention to have had
those terms in italics, with mark of inter-,
rogation following, but my opponent has
chcs:n to make a mountain out of a mole
hill. In the letter of Oct. 9th, the I. R.
was very dictatorial, treated the subject as
absurd, and by the language used, would
,f not lead a person to infer whether the I.
It. had ever heard of the Dakota find. The
succeeding week in replying I stated why
I used the term, and would have given a
longer description if my ordinary duties
would have allowed me, as there is a gen
tlemman in Sand Coulee who was present
on the spot when Gen. Thomas dug up the
mounds.
The main argument of I. II. treats very
f ably of the anthropology of the modern
groups of man;kind, just this and nothing
more; but it could be amplified by many
recent ethnographical researches. "Nature
recognizes neither kingdoms, nor classs,
nor orders, nor genera, nor sutbgenera; na
ture recognizes nothing but individuals."
(L..K.\i.xcI). 'lhle doctrine of evoluttion
enunciated by 3Iaupestius., Lamnnarck and
Goethe. and proved by Iuxley, Virchiw,
Quartrefages and I leckel,now underlies all
elhnological:d research. It is an axiom per
fectly true, "that nothing is made in vyin,
but taking a view of the atrophied orrgams
in the hum!an s-ystem, we cannot ignore
the close relation he bears to the rest of
creation. For instance "in man the third
eyelid is readily seen to as minute scale,
serving no possible use whatever, and did
not birds exist, we could scarcely conceive
of its organization. Why is the nodule of
bone in the arm?-the signification of
the two small folds which loosely traverse
the knee joint?-thetubercle bones of the
nostrils, which in the horse shuts off the
great cavity of the nostrils, protecting
them from foreign bodies, and in the
whale acquiring their greatest develop
ment, sealing their nostrils against a
thousand fathoms of water, as they plunge
into the abyss of the ocean. The thin
lines of cartilage in the abdominal mus
cles of man, are remnants of the ribs of
the saurians." These resemblances and
remnants could be multiplied, but would
not be suitable for the columns of a news
paper.
I canuot agree with the "Interested
I leader" on the differences being so
slight betwee gen nera as he assumes. It
would take more time to enter on this
subjhct, than I can spare however. I will
therefore, n,-v close, a-uring you Mr. Ed
itor. that lhims controversy is getting mo
not'onous to the public and distasteful to
me, and that this is my l:st communlca
tion on the suibjeCt.
O. C. 3Morsox.
The Grand Finale.
Like "Interested Peader," we have no
ticed with considerable interest and we
may add, amus-.ment, the various articles
r lating to "dog-flced men," in your ex
cellent paper. And if we may be allowed
to express an opinion in a controversy
among u-h truly (?) scientific minds we
should say that a genuini war of words
was fiercely raging: what, l:e? "Interest
ed Reader," howeer," (although he tries
to saddle some of his incongruous ideas
on Prof. 3. 3i. toward the last) is the one,
that, evidently without consideration, and
from general ignorance of the subject,
takes Prof. 31's. words a trifle too literally.
It seems to be "Interested Reader's" im
agination that has got the better of his, (we
will put in parenthesis before going far
ther, that we regard "Interested" as mas
culine; womanhood displays better sense).
judgement, or shall we say lack of judge
ment. His, is the imagination that has
pictured the "human form divine," be
low, bearing aloft the shaggy head of a
wild dog with its yellow, learing eyes,
pointed ears, drooling lips and protruding
canines. Doubtless even, he has heard, in
fancy, ringing in his ears, the howling
barks of his progenitors, echoing down
the shadowy past; and discovered, with
half inverted glance, resemblances in his
own physiognomy that give him doubt
about his ancestors. Racked by such har
rowing reflections nothing less than an un
deniable assurance from good authority
and the delivering himself of several col
umns of well known, spread out facts, (ev
idently copied from some work on natur
al history and quite foreign to the real
subject) will ease his worried brain of its
own grotesque fancies. If this is not so,
why so much trouble to prove from learn
ed authority, what ever intelligent person I
knows, viz: that there never was a race of I
people bearing distinctively dog's heads.
The idea is monstrous and the object
.would be a monstor among monstrosities.
if we only had a "little" cut of this terri
ble appiration we are satisfied it would be
more frightful than even the ink blotches
which "Interested Reader" must have
been at great expense to obtain, "in order
to do this business up in shape. We con
fess right here, if such is called doing bus
iness up in shape, we thank heaven that
so much business is done up without
shape.
Prof. 31. distinctly says that the term
"dog-faced" was applied to evident human
remains found in Dakota having certain
peculiarities suggesting such term, which
is doubtless true, as "Interested Reader"
acknowledges. Now, we consider "dog
faced" as applied to any type or peculiari
ty of man as degrading and should be
suppressed, and if friend "Interested
Reader," had objected to their use in such
connection and supplied more suitable
terms of his own, well and good; but no, he
must mnuke a mountain out of a mole hill
and havn-e the literal dog's head, hair and
all, mounted on man's shoulders, or noth
ing. lie is not satisfied till he can thor
outighly disprove wh:t existed in his own
unrestrained iniagination. Does not "In
terested Reader" state that, "All I deny is
that they (the remnains) had the hwo.d.s of
dogs." Just so. HIe valiently knocks down
his own Suppositior- Who claims they
had the heads of dogs, but himself! tHe
goes on to quote "il, -emblcd," and remarks
that "That is the word at which Messrs.
Mlortson and Andereon went astray." If
he had only added "Interested Reader."
also, he would not h:ve been far from the
mark. Onthe whole, "Interested Reader's"
rambling discourse is so illogical and
vague that perhaps we may forgive him
for scarcely knowing what he is disputing.
about.
Now, we will add a little for "general
edification and not to prove anything.".
All know that it is the commonest of ev
ery-day occurrences t- use terms in regard
to objects, which interpreted literally,
would be most absmud. Ordinarily, such
terms are applied to objects or animals in
ferior to man, and hence wound nobody's
vanity, as this term 'dog-faced" seems to
have done, at least m one instance. In
conclusion, we ho',. we shall not be sat
down on too h.,t and tvr-alisd to the in
finitesimal atom. for making these few re
marks. We will try to bear up under any
circumstances. BIImmIIaT DiE (GoIC .
It Tribute to Henry G. Sanborn.
s LOWELsL, L.Ats., Oct. 31, 1886.
E:ditor G're t F dis Tril e:
DE.AR SIr: I have just received a copy
of your paper of Oct. 23, in which you pay
0 tribute and honor to the memory of IHenry
G. Sanborn, a college classmate of mine.
For four years I sat beside him in the rec
itation room and knew him intimately. I
am shocked and pained. to learn of his
death. I can heartily endorse and declare
to be true, every word you have said in re -
e gard to his character and talents. For
twelve years)l have not seen him, but had
hoped to meet him at some of our reun
ions. God in his providence has ordered
otherwise. With much sympathy for his
widow and family,
I am respectfully,
GEO. AV. STEVENS.
Terra Cotta Clay.
Specimens of terra-cotta clay taken from
I the deposits of clay near town were sent
to St. Paul to be carefully examined by an
expert. He reports them as fine clea for
making terra-cotta work as he has ever
e seen anywhere and adds that it would
make splendid brick if mixed with about
25 per cent of sand. With as fine build
ing stone as there is in the world, plenty
of brick and terra-cotta clay and lime
s stone, Great Falls is pretty well fixed for
building materials.
The Graders Are Coming.
It is announced that the graders are ,.
i begin work at once at Great Falls, and
finish the road-way this fall ready for rails
in the spring. This will throw a great deal
t of money in circulation and enable every
man in town to go to C. P. Thomson's and
have a suit of clothes made to order by the
fashionable St. Louis tailoring house he
represents. This house is no job lot house
such as are usually represented in this
country. tf
Expression of Gratitude.
Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons desire to extend
heartfelt thanks to the many kind friends
who comforted them with sympathy and
helped them hy gentle ministrations du
ring their time of deep sorrow. We may
add that Mr. and Mrs. G. have the sincere
sympathy of the whole of this community
in which it is to be hoped they will ever
continue to be residents. *
ri- DISCOVERY OF THE ROCKIES.
be
Les Lewis & Clarke Not the First Explorars
:e in this Section-A Narrow Escape
Ler From Becoming a Permanent
in- French Colony.
Is- We happened to find in an o!d number
iat of the WIest Shore Magazine an article upon
Ut the "Discovery of the Rocky Mountains."
We trust that we shall be pardoned for
m leaving Lewis and Clarke among the Man
an dans, in a cold, cheerless country, with
in winter coming on, while we take a retro
,h spective glance with the Waest Shore con
tributor, at some hardy explorers who an
tedated Lewis and Clarke three-quarters
of a century.
e During the latter part of the seventeenth
d century and the first half of the eighteenth,
,h French explorers and Jesuit Missionaries
le traversed the Mississippi valley, establish
eC ed a chain of stations between Canada and
ill Louisiana, among them the city of St. Louis.
id They even penetrated the denue, unknown
l- wilderness between the father of water,
ar- ahd the- Rocky mountains.
T1i The most noted F'i"lch phin-;! -: t
a La Salle, Pere .ar . t rm La: 11 -
l tal, (C :Iali ia Verneu:rve a-d his ee n
If ad Fat her ile!opin , hsL dis)vered ,i:.
SAnthony falls, two hundrted and six years
Sago. N early all of these wrote accounts
[e of their travels, described the country as
s well as they could and made crude maps
I. founded upon their observations and what
If informa'tion they. could gather from the
Indians. Their felicitous imaginations
ie supplied the rest. One of these maps, t
drawn in 1710 is supposed to show,the re
d sults of a western journey accomplished t
! by La Hontan. It shows a great river, call- c
g. ed the "Long River" up which he passed.
He represents it as uniting with the Miss
l1 ississippi near Dubuque, Iowa. This was I
no doubt the Missouri, though sadly dis
placed on the map. This peculiar plat of
d the great west shows a large lake which
V, the Indians told him contained bitter wa- t
h ter. This was Great Salt Lake which had
- been partially described years before by
's the aborigines who fell in with the Spanish
o explorers. All these early Erench explor
n ers learned from the Indians, of the exis- v
it tence of a great river (the Columbia) west c
- of the mountains fiowing into the Pacific
Ocean. It is said howeverthat with the ex
Y ception of the Verendryes and their succes- tl
sore in command along the Sask.tchewan. P
none of them went further west than theb
Red River of the North. In 131 two son a
of the Chevalier Verendrye left Montreal O
with a detachment of fifty men, their fath
er not joining them until two years later.
They reached Rainey Lake in the fall, and
there built Fort St. Pierre. The following
year they established Fort St. Charles,.
named in honor of the governor-general, on
the southeastern shore of the Lake-of-the
Woods. Futher on they built a post on
the Assiniboine, five leagues from Lake
Winnipeg. In June 1736, a party of twen
ty-six, among whom was a younger son of
the Chevalier, were mnasancred by Sioux In
dians, while encamped on a small island
in Lake-of-the-Woods. In October, 1732
the Verendyres built Fort La RIeine, furth
er west on the Assiniboine, which became
their base of operations. In 1742, two
sons of the Chevalier left Fort La Reine.
with a amall party for the purpose of
thoroughly axpioriug the "Shining Mount
anins" as the Rockies were then called.
They followed up Mouse River in a south
erly direction to the country of the Man
dans (called by them Moatanes), crossed
the Missouri a little below Fort Berthold,
and worked their way up along that stream
to the canyon." They made a portage of
the series of falls, their desceiption of
which tallies almost exactly with the de
scription of the same given by Lewis and
Clarke sixty-two years later. From this
we see that our promising town of Great
Falls is not without its historical associa
tions. At the point which is now well
known as the "Gateway of the mountains"
they ascended the mountains in January
1743, not far from Bear-Tooth Peak which
they speak of as a tusk-shaped mountain.
From thence they made their way up
Deep creek and crossed the mountains to
the headwaters of the Musselshell and
thence across to the Yellowstone at the
mouth of Pryor river. They followed up
this stream to the Stinking Water and on
over the mountains to Wind river. Here
their progress was arrested by a fierce war
raging between the Snakes and a branch
of the ferocious Sioux. They then return
ed to the upper Missouri and raised a
monument of stone near the month of Jef
ferson river in what they called the Choke
Cherry. country, as a witness to the fact
that they took possession of the country in |
the name of the king of France. This 1
they christened "Beauharnois" and beneath
it deposited a leaden plate bearing the
French coat of- arms. This ceremony of
dedication was performed May 19, 1744.
It is interesting to note the origin of the
name "bcky mountains." So insepara
bly connected with this great work of na
ture is the term that we could almost be
lieve that the Great Creator christened it
sometime in the obscure ages which have
roiled away. It seems that before starting
upon their two years journey the explor
ers had been informed by the Indians that
that the "Shining mountains" were full of
gold. "Shining" had been the name of
the mountains, applied because of the fact
that for hundreds of miles the lofty peaks
reflected from their snow-clad summits,
the golden light. When they reached the
mountains they were piqued to find that
instead of gold, there was but barren rock
and snow, which had cast across their
dreary path, for many weary months, the
delusion that untold wealth lay in store for
them. They sought gold and found bar
ren. chr'_rls..s rocks confronting them.
T::, i disappointment is immortalized in
til : !ua ,- Rocky mountains which they
tobtituted for the former, more beautiful
hat tc-s appropriate appl)ellation. To their
Isti: r:irow, they ftound that "-ail is not
gold that glitters." Iow little these dis
appointed adventurers, as they sadly turned
their faces toward the rising sun, dreamed
of the vast treasures which were hidden in
the dark chambers of this great store-house
of nature, the superficial manifestations of
which were so unpromising. Had theymade
the discovery of precious metals in the
Rockies at that time, the whole history of
this western country would have been
changed. France would doubtless have
secured so firm a hold upon the vast Ter
ritory of Louisiana that to have purchased
it from her except at the price of blood,
would have been impossible. Hordes of
French and Spanish fortune-seekers would
have rushed with impetuosity, to gather
the golden harvest. In that event the
United States would too likely, have been
bounded on the west by the Mississippi.
As it was, in the early part of this century,
Napoleon, with reluctance it is true, yet
without a full knowledge of is resources,
ceded to this government the vast but un
known region called Louisiana, for about
$11,000,000. Thus, we believe, through
the fortunate diversion of these French ex
plorers. from the hidden treaeures, their
blessings were reserved for the piresent
and immediately preceding generations
of United States citizens.
School Report.
The followi.l ishl th report of, Great
F: !" h:h,,,ol for the month ending Nov.
T'et:l beloning, 42; average belonging,
35; average daily attendance, 32.25; pupils
present ever y day nd having no tardy
marks are. Bertha Largent, Pearl Wetzel,
Lenard XWe'ner, Willie Gehring, Albert
Elrick.ln and Jessie IIerring. Those pres
ent every day aud not having more than
two ta'rdy m:arks are, Ella Gehring, Lena
Lux, Kit'y Lu, Amanda Erickson, Frank
I'ie'ner and II.rry Herring. Visitors du
ring the montio as follows; Miss Mary E.
Johns-tone, county superintendent, Miss
Emmna Johnston:e, _Mrs. Dockery, Mrs.
IIackshaw, Mrs. Walker and Mr. Ka
backer.
J. M. LUI5OaENT.
Religious Notes.
Last Sunday night the Rev. J. M. Lar
gent preached on "Repentance and Con
version" and in spite of not feeling well
the preacher becoming warmed with the
glory and expansiveness of his subject suc
ceeded in holding his audience in wrapt
attention till the close. At the close of the
service the minister invited anyone to step
forward who felt a desire to attend to their
spiritual welfare.
The morning Sunday school has been
discontinued indefinitely and the school at
3 p. in. will be held as usual.
The Rev. -John Reid will preach next
Sunday evening. His sermon will be on
"Hope." Prayer meeting every Wednes
day night. All evening meetings at 7:30.
All are welcome.
A Great Feature,
The TRBEINE has secured the services
of Mr. W. S. Smith, a brilliant and pleas
ant writer and paragrapher, who will fur
nish this paper with short western sketches
each week, besides a serial story which
will be commenced in a few weeks. His
first sketch entitled "Hidden Treasures," a
sparkling gem; will appear in our next
number. All who are not subscribers and
cannot borrow a copy of the~Tarsus reg
ularly, are invited tosendin~heirsubscrip
tion at once.