Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1895-09-13
GODDESS OF CRIMPS.
SHE SHOWED THE SQUAWS HOW TO
WAVE THEIR HAIR.

Singing Bird First Fell Under the Spell
and Carried the News TO the Indian
Compromising Recollections of From.
tier Army Ofhcers Wife.
"Childr,n are alike the world over" Is
an Oft heard remark 80 is woman, say /,
when il comes 20 longing for the heauti-
ful, for what she considers personal adorn-
ment. In recalling my early married life,
away back ia the sixties, spent In the
heart of an Indian country, hundreds of
miles from the nearest railroad, "A comical
| scene comes before my vision. NV hus-
, band an army officer. took me- a bride,
from n comfortable, well appointed Michi-
! gan home ont 10 a tumble down, forlorn
| little one company post in the wilds Of
! New Mexico. shall | ever forget the day
Of my arrival, after long days ride in
a rickcty old stage through scorcLing sand
beds and miles of buffalo grass and
sagcbrU,h, with "A dry hot wind blowing
every step Of the way and fairly boiling
the very water in our cantecnsf
The sun was setting when my husband
exclaimed. There i Fort It AnnicW
| saw by the aid If a strong fieldglass "a tat
tered "Old Glory which the wind threat
ened 10 soon sever from its long, slender
/ pole and under H. folds "A sentry on his
beat. l looked and strained my eyes for
the houses, which l saw not and said 80.
whercupun Captain =. pointed 10 the right
! and said. There i our house. Ye Mcxi-
cans That upheavHl on the side Of the
bank from which a rusty, cracked stove
| pipe pceped} That "our house,
But was bride then, and many happy
days Were spent in the "dugout house,
I 4 =. 1 '.
| hold duties were light in that humble
abode, consisting of one room or an apol-
ogy for two, for l partitioned it off with
large gray government blanket, behind
which was the bedchamber cut small
hole unheknown in the blanket by the
bed, through which often pccpcd into the
drawing room at the late callers and if on
sufficiently intimate terms carried on con
versation at my end Of the line reclining
in state CHANGING from my observatory
now and then TO see the effect Of nv re
marks upon our callers seated there with
my good captain on the upholstered can
die boxes and the three legged stool-the
stool that / found on the praine bcddcd
deep in some sand and sagcbrush, relic
of some camping outfit gone TO no one
knows where.
This small post was in the center Of an
Indian reservation, and the post trader
did a large business with the braves and
their consorts. /, being the only white
woman in that vicinity, was naturally "A
never failing source of amusement and
keen interest 70 the squaws OF the com
munity and my comicll recollection, pre-
viOuslv mentioned. l. connected with these
wild eyed. wondering women.
In the day Of the crimping pin ] was
standing before cracked hand mirror,
Others having been Contiscatcd by the In
dianS, who were pleased as monkeys over
them, twisting my long brown hair in and
out Of the crimping pin. My maid n
buxom, dumpy squaw stood gazing AT
me, giving vent to an occasional grunt and
protruding her upper lip. She also hap
pened TO see me take down my crimps,
when she fairly shook with delight and
admiration and made excited gcsticula-
tions, which amused me greatly, as dis
covered she wanted her hair done in like
manner. To braid "a horses name and
have ii wave nicely is an act, but nothing
when compared To coaxing crimp into In
dian hair. An hours work saw the task
done, however. and my Indian maid wait
ed in feveriSh impotence for the morrow
dawn. before which made her understand
those pins were not 10 be taken down il
she wished her hair like mine
The morrow came AT snail s pace to her,
and with II Singing Bird. smiling and ex-
pee tant. The ecstasy of that poor simple,
lately captured Indian squaw as one pin
after another was unfaStened and the blue
lick masses Of wavy hair fell over her
head and shoulders was worth an artist :
brush. | admired and praised her, but not
more than she did herself. No court beauty
was ever more bcwitched by herself than
she. Crimps or no crimps, the breakfast
had 10 be prepared, but no other labor
would Singing Bird do that morning, not
until she had gone 70 the Indian camp
and sutler store and shown herself What
was the verdict Of her lady friendsY They
all. each and every dusky. horsehaired
squaw of each and every tepee on that arid
plain, returned with my vain Bird asking
that their hair he made heap good, like
white squaw' and Singing Bird :.
had heard Of fashions spreading rapid
~, but never like unto this, and the au-
thor of 1t too Horrors, those 90 or more
heads to pull and twist | saw no way
out Of the appalling dilemma, and calling
the source of all my trouble sent her to
the post traders with "a note begging him
70 send me post haste all the hairpins he
lth III slbNh lIt ldJOT WAS great, anu
the heads were many, but Singing Bird
soon acquired the art and was Of great as
sistance, ~ she put up nearly as many
heads rs /, and such lot Of frizzly heads
as there were in that agency the next day
for many days, in fact No matter what
their deprivationS might be- their heads
were wavy. 1t mattered little If the moe
casins Of their lords and masters were
worn out and beads dropping off for want
OF diligent wifely attention, that wife
hair went in pins every night
shall ever remain as being set apart
the goddess Of crimps In the minds of the !
squaws Of that section. but fear me am
remembered as teacher Of evil ways by |
the heads of those tepees.-J Williams in
Detroit Free Press.
Lawson and the Bottle.
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