, 1890-12-11
WILLIAM NYE DID IT
He Started the Indian Mes
siah Craze.
JOHNSON SIDES LAMP0ONED
Here Is a Letter About the Mes
siah, Written Before He
Grew Famous.


to the effect that Bill Nye Is re-
sponsible for the Messiah craze
among the Indians. Bill wns in
Carson last spring, where he met
johnson Sides, the Pluto chief, who
Is now posing as the Messiah. He
wrote long letter about Johnson,
and when 1t appeared In print tho
whitesmcrciiessly guyed the chief,
who became indignant, rejoined his
tribe and began working his Messiah
fake. Here Is the letter that Mr..
Nye wrote:
The Piute wears bright red lap-robe
over his person, and generally stif
Quaker hat with q leather band. His
hair Is very thick, black and coarse, and
isimostly cut oil square In tho neck by
1t Is eaten off by the moths. The Pluto
Is never bald during life. After he Is
dead he becomes bald and beloved.
Johnson Sides is "A woll-known Flute,
who had the pleasure of meeting me AZ
Reno. He said he was great admireI
OF mine and had my writings in a scrap
book at home. He also said that ho
wished would come over and lecture
for his tribe. | afterward learned that
he was an earnest and hopeful liar from
Truckee. lie had no scrap-book ut all
and no home.
Mr.. Sides at one time became quite
civilized, distinguished himself from his
tribe by reading the Bible. He now
established hotel up the vallcp, in thu
| Sierras, and decided 10 lead life of in
dustry. He built q hostelry called thu
Shack do Poker Huntus, and advertised
in the Carson Appeal, paper, even the
editor of which, Mr.. Samuel Davis, says,
Inn lar aftS
whom he knows the people actually sub
scribe for 1t. Very soon Piutes began to
come to the Shack to spend the heated
term. Every Pluto who took the Appeal
saw the advertisements, which went on
to state that hot and cold water could be
electric bells, baths and silver-voiced
chambermaids, overcharges and every
thing else connected with 1rst-class
hotel could be found at this place.
So the Piute people locked up their
old homes and, ejecting the cat, they
summer hotel. They took their friends
with them. They had no money, but
they knew johnson Sides, and they Wis
tied him all the summer. In the fall
Mr.. Sides closed the house and resumed
his blanket, and won't back to live with
his tribe. When tho butcher wngon
came next day the driver found notice
of sale, and, in the language of Sol
Smith Russell, Good reasons given for
selling"
Mr.. Sides has been temperance man
for year. at least externally, but with
the humiliation of this great financial
wreck came \ wild dssire 70 tiee
inR been monkeying With the
maddening crowd all summer so
silently he concealed a bottle of Reno
embalming fluid and secreted himself
behind a tree, where ne was asked to
join himself in a social nip. He had
hardly wiped away an idle tear with the
corner of his blanket and replaced tho
stopper in his tsar-jug, when the local
| representative of the u. u. j. Il. Il. A.,
OF Reno. came upon him. he was rc :
ported to the lodge and his character
bade fair to be smirched so badly that
nothing but saltpeter and a consistent
life could save II. Atthis critical stage
Mr.. Davis, of the Appeal, came to his
aid and not only gave him the support
and encouragement of his columns, but
told Mr.. Sides that he would see that
the next legislature took speedy action
in removing his alcoholic disabilities
| Through the untiring efforts OF Mr..
Davis, therefore, bill was framed
whereby "the drink tnken by Johnson
| Sides at Nevada be and Is hereby de-
clared null and void" on certain day
Mr.. Davis told him that the bill would
come up for final passage and no doub;
| pass without opposition, but "a sack
would have to be raised to deiray the
expenses. The tribe began TO collect
what money they had and TO sell their
| grasshoppers to raise more.
| Johnson Sides and his tribe gathered
on the day named and seated themselves
in the galleries. Slim old warriors, with
| firm faces and beetling brows. to say
nothing about having their hair roa ched
but yet with no flies on them to speak
of, sat in the front seats Large, corpu-
lent squaws, wearing health costumes,
secured by telegraph wires, listened to
the proceedings, not knowing any more
of what was going on than other people
do who 60 to watch the legislatures.
Finally, however, Sam Davis came and
told Mr.. Sides that the bill hnd passed
and that he was now as pure as tn,
driven snow. saw him last week, but
1T seemed to me IL was about time TO go
some more special legislation for him.