Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1893-05-23
A QUEER COLONY.
Some Strange Settlers In the In
dian Territory.
Religious Enthusiasts Who Wear Masks
Day and Night and Regard 1t q Sin
to Look Upon the Face ofR
Human Being.

Since the practical abandonment of
the Cheyenne and Arapahoe rescrva-
ton has left that country almost
wilder than it was before the opening
u year ago, a small colony of religious
enthusiasts have settled in what is
known as L county, among the sand
hills. The leaders of this colony went
there from Sedgwick and Barber
counties, Kan, and took with them
following of seventy men and women.
That was six months ago. Since that
time they have been joined by at least
sixty persons, SO they now number
about one hundred and thirty.
Their belief, says a Texas correspon-
dent, is exceedingly simple. They
worship an unknown god as repre-
scented by life. and deem it moral sin
TO look upon the face of human be-
ing. Men and women wear masks day
and night, and never by any chance do
they gaze upon the face of one an
other. They teach morality in the
severest perfection, not permitting the
two sexes even to dwell in the same
valley, their homes being about two
miles apart. There is daily religious
service, when all come to q central
point, for such services are in the
open air, regardless of the weather.
=. John Walrond, formerly of Sedgwick
county, conducts all communication
with the outside world, and only on his
visits to El Reno and Kingfsher does
he lay aside his mask. After each one
of these trips he buries himself in soil
tudc for ten days and expiates. the sin
of having come in contact, uncovered,
with mankind.
Walrond and e. M. Scott, another of
the leaders, were formerly well-known
N Kansas Us alliance organizers. When
the alliance was merged into the
peoples party they resolved to gather
snch followers as they could and retire
from the world, or at least to disappear.
from the so-callcd civilization of the
present day. The result was the found
ing of the colony in the Indian Terri
tory. No name has been adopted, none
is wanGed. They have sought seclusion
and have found it. What little prop
erty there is in the community is held
in common, anyone using any par
ticular thing he sees fit to desire at the
time. The colonists believe it sinful to
seek to accumulate property.
They have twenty log houses equally
divided between what are in reality
two communities, and two storehouses,
from which they draw their supplies.
The work is done regardless of sex,
men and women alike engaging in all
the vacations common to q new coun-
try. They appear to be contented and
healthy, and were it not for the I'M
slightly dark-red mask constantly worn,
they would appear as other people after
having been divided off into separate
communities. They say that they are
happy; that they have no want I'M
supplied, and that they could not be
induced to return to the world. :.
The chance visitor to the colony is
treated kindly and courte6usly, and is
given lodging in n cabin kept for that
purpose. He is not invited to stay, nor
do they give him hint to leave. They
converse without hesitation, but per-
sistently refuse to listen to anything
about the world they have left. They
talk simply about their spiritual state,
its beauties and it's blessings.
There are several married couples
there, but they live apart. There has
been no rule adopted regarding life
of celibacy, each one being his own
judge in this matter. In fact, no one
seeks to control any of the others. It
appears to be a community without O
head or n ruler.