Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1894-05-08
SOME MOUNTAIN AGO MEN.
Remnant ef . Great rrib. Dwelling On
resss aud Comfort.

Gssfs ant totnfort.
Especial Corrsspondsnos.l
QuAIIA REsERvE. ". G.. May s.
There are q score or two ~ idle, drunk
on Seminole Indians left In southern
Florida. the remnant u strong and
warliko tribe which was beaten and
Transported beyond the Mississippi more
than so year agn Tho only other indiana
In the southern states bctwcon the Allan.
tic and the Mississippi are the 500 %
more Chcrukols who. sinoe the ret %
the great tribe was sent west by Goner'
al jackson, have occupied this ro-sTya-
tion ~ some ~. 600 acru- In a ssrios 10
the most BEAUTIFUL valleys In all the
Appalachian rango
Through this splendid reservation
there fi0w the OcOwo and Loco. two
clear mountain streams, the tributaries
of which arr filled with trout These
mountain Chorukces In wealth. culture,
Obedience 90 law and everything that
indicates civilization arr abreast II
not In advance ~ their neighbors the
white m0untainccrs ~ the Black. the
Balsam and Great Smoky ranges. The~e
Chernkoos have gUod farms. churches,
schOOlhOuse-. fair rlals and such me-
chanical industries as are os-sntial a.
their own wants
Here. walled In from the rcst ~ tho
world by cloud kissing mountains. A. Il
the toy nation ~ And0rra, we have an
independent r'public with its own laws,
customs and its regularly elected chief,
all a. distinct and separate from tho
great state AMI nation al1ut them ~
And0rra T. independent ~ France and
Spain. The new chief i oloctcl for four
year.. like our president. with . salary
Of $500 year and travelling erpcns'-
when he ventures on state business out.
side the domain ~ Qualla
In this republic there are political
parties without political impurity. The
Baptist and Methodist churchos claim
nearly all the adults n communicates
In mo- part II the country Il the marriage
vow moro respected than among theSo
little known Chcrukec-, and drunken
ness and divorce aro practically un'
known
Like their br,thrn of the Indian Ter.
ritory, the Cherokccs q Qualla have
their own written language and their
own alphabet, invented by that wonder
ful man. the Indian Cadmus, Soquoia
While the white mOuntainocrs ~ this
part ~ North Carolina are an unimag'
NATIVE and leg,ndlcss race. the Chero-
k"s are mot poetic and roman
tic people. and with every strvam. val
ley, prucipicc or mountain peak therr l.
some legend or myth connected that
lifts u out ~ the stupid and often gru-s-
ly vulgar nomonclature ~ the whites
and giye- u IA addei charm by associat.
ing IL with some stirring event 90
heroic character u the past
An Englishman whom l met down
here. and who, being az Asheyille, near
by, was induced to come over declares
that Qualla l. the most beautifully ~
mantle place ho has ever socn, and that
the Chsrokocs are by all odds the mott
interesting p"ople he has ever met, yct
outside this ncighburhOod there l. not
ono American In ten thousand who
knows anything about the place OF the
people.
Although gopi Christians. the CherO-
kcc- at Qualla like their kinsmen L..
yond the Mississippi, still retain many
of their old tribal rites. which oNoe hal
and still rtain -ome religious signih.
cance They have just finished series
~ dances and festivities intended t0
propitiate the powers that control frui'
ton. which always prccc,le their plant.
ing ~ crops After the harvest Is In. !
am told. they have what i known a.
their "com dances. which l am AZ
sured lit Is worth crossing the continent
90 Sc.
While tours are heing made to the
Yellowstone and to even NJ far away ~
Alaska, here l. place. within easy
mach ~ all eastern cities which for
the beauty ~ its surroundings and the
interest II it, nj inhal ants IL un.
equalcd by any part u tho great rcpub-
lie, and yet even IT, name and it, where
abOuts are practically unknown to our
poOple ALFRED X CALHOUN.