McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-11-20
INDl4N CURIosIrYEs.
Weapons Which Are Manufactured Merely
to Sell to the Whites.
st. Paul tMinn.) Day.

st. Paul Mimi Day.
A few leisure moments of represen-
tative of the Day were improved this
forenoon in looking over the array Of
Indian articles of warfare. toilet. luxury
and general utility, exhibited for sale in
the show windows of a popular bust
ness house of st. Paul. There were war
clubs, tomahawks, bows and arrows,
necklaces of Elk's teeth and bear s
claws, stone pipes and moccasins of
every description, so arranged as to at
tract the attention of the relic hunter.
"Where do you get these things?" in
quired the Day representative.
WELL" said the merchant, 1--WE get
them from Indians, trappers, post traders
and sometimes from amateur travellers
and Adventures who have started out
on small means and after reaching st.
Paul on their way home from the west
find it necessary to. sell their relics in
order, sometimes, to obtain a meal. 1t
is astonishing how many people go west,
thinking they will make a speculation in
procuring Indian toys and selling them in
st. Paul. These people usually find it
hard to sell their specimens at any price.
post traders and trappers often
come to st. Paul with specimens, ex-
pecting to realize handsome profits, but
they are generally disappointed. l re-
member trapper who came to my
store four or five years ago trying to
sell me a rare specimen of Indian work
manship He stated that it was made
by one of a distinct tribe, and the only
relic left as mementO of the race. l
learned afterward that he had tried to
sell it to several dealers, both in St.
Paul and Minneapolis, but had failed.
He had started out asking the exOrbi-
tant sum of $500 for the specimen, but
had knocked off at each successive store
until the price asked was only $40. l
looked at the man moment and lis
tened to his story about the rarity of the
specimen, etc., and said to him: My
friend, that's very pretty story you're
telling, but you see [ shan't be able
to make any one swallow it, and
the fact is I'll have work to get ten
cents for the trinket.'
"'Well, hang it, said he, give me
drink of whisky and take the cussed
10 luC Ill tilC uol
west that | haven't tried to sell it to,
and I'm broke and dry as powder
horn. Take it along, stranger and
gimme drink and quick and call the
deal squar' | gave the man good
flask of whisky and a cigar, and he
wandered off apparently happy"
"Well, how much did you get for the
toy?"
''Oh, happened to be in luck" said
he, with twinkle in his eye. "An Eng
lish lord came along, and L told him the
story had learned from the trapper,
and think l got $3.50 for the speci-
men,"
''Do you sell many of these goods:?'
Eyes, good many; but nearly as
many to Americans as | do to Euro
peans. Of course, eastern people buy
them; but we have to be very moderate
in our prices in order to sell to this class.
We can get fancy prices for the goods
from Europeans, and particularly from
English and Scotch people. During the
summer season our sales upon these
goods to Europeans mount up to thou
sands of dollars, while the Americans
oSdlCCiN lhto ltthiiiC'to.
care these goods genuine-that is,
made by Indians for their own use?'
''Well, no, not all of them. A large
portion is made by the Indians express
ly to sell to white people. Such goods
would never answer the purposes of an
Indian
Here the merchant showed the differ
ence between practical war club and
fancy one, practical tomahawk and a
poetical one. ''The Indians, half
breeds and some of the frontier whites,
make many of the toys expressly to
SELL said the doctor. ''But then, you
see, it's not necessary to mention that
fact to foreigners. The cheats bring
about as big price as the genuine arti-
cle."