The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-04-26
MAN WITH HORNS,

MAN WITH HORNS.
Mr.. Weaver's Collection Was Probably
the Largest In the Country.
A curious fad is that which has pos.
sessed an Anaconda man for the past
three years. Some collect stamps, some
coins. some flowers, others mineral speci-
mems, but A. c. Weaver, the locksmith,
on Cherry street, near Front, has had a
passion for horns, not tin horns or brass
horns, but the kind that are worn by ami.
mals-the range steer, buffalo, Rocky
mountain sheep, deer and elk-were his
special delight.
His little shop and the cubby hole which
served HIM as kitchen, bedroom, parlor
and dining room all combined were, up
to a few days ago, bristling with horns.
Everyone of them was mounted in the In
dian style as hat racks or ornaments for
hanging on the wall. There were more
than 400 of them in all and they gave the
room most fantastic appearance.
All the Indians who come TO Anaconda
with horns to sell seem to know of him
and seek him out before offering their
goods elsewhere; thus he acquired the
choicest of horns that could be obtained.
With them he would barter and trade for
half q day for q desirable set and, if ueces-
sary, pay cash to get them. The market
value Of a set Of horns be estimates at
the rate OF 30 cents per horn for cattle
horns and on others there Is no fixed
price; for buffalo horns, says he,
you've got to pay we'll for to get at all. -
The Indians guard we'll their secret in the
preparation OF horns for market, and he
claims he was never able TO find out the
process. The squaws do the work and
the men sell the product, investing the
proceeds in tea and tobacco, their only
lnynriaQ Thu hat orb, . 4.
by the Chippewas, though most of the
horns sold in this part of Montana are
polished by the Flathead and Bannock
tribes.
When bartering with Indian visitors the
old man would always get out an old
bonnet that set jauntily on top of his
grizzled head and from which an eagles
feather Haunted like the crest of a chief
tain, and never failed to duly impress the
red skin visitors of his importance. He is
known to them all as the "Muchihorn
chief of the Anacondas."
The old mans favorite chair was one
made af the hors of Montana cattle, over
his bunk hung group of black polished
buffalo horns and the prongs of Rocky
mountain goat. When he hung I'D his
coat and hat it was on a rack of horns,
when he drank from the water pail he
used horn dipper and he stirred his
black coffee with a horn spoon.
Weaver himself is scarcely less interest
ing than his collection of horns. In the
eight years that he has lived in this city
few have received his confidence. The
neighbors think him kind of queer" but
as he is jolly old fellow and ever ready
to crack a joke, they all liked him very
well, and when he parted their question
1ngs with jest no one ever pressed him
for his history. He is So years Of age, and
was q pioneer of Minnesota, living in
Wabasha county for many years follow
m hnf lffna he Ill
about the only inhabitants of that state,
and with them he seems to have been
most intimate, and perhaps from that as
ISOLATION derived the taste which is now
his predominant characteristic.
A shaggy head of hair falls in clusters
about his neck and an untrimmed iron
grey beard covers his face. Between his
teeth is an ever-present pipe, his clothing
hangs loosely upon him and though he
wears linen shirt and collar he seld ON |
changes or removes them. This is be-
cause he has mo woman to look after |
he now is cynic with regard to woman. |
kind. be is a genius at mending locks |
and has opened many a combination safe |
which defied the owners skill. The little |
shop that has been his home for years is a |
veritable curiosity shop. Remnants of |
old locks, springs and bits of steel, frae- |
ments Of iron and pieces of wood finished |
and rough clutter the work bench and |
litter the floor. In q little back yard there
Is pile of lumber, odds and ends thar
most people would consider only good for |
kindling, but which form a part of /
Weaver's stock in trade.
Such is the man who is about to shake
tho dust Of Anaconda, all that will fall
of, from his feet and seek a new field of
Iabor. The other day a traveller from
New York happened along and bought all
If the horns that the oil man would sell
Ind shipped them to his home back East,
paying for the collection q sum in the
,eighborhood of $500. The remainder of
Mr.. Weaver's trumpery has all been
backed away, with as much care as
nough 1t were upholstered furniture and
'late glass and is to be removed to white-
iaii which is the place selected for his
lew camping place.
He has taken down the branching
lorns which were perched on his sign over
he door and intends to take his departure
3 soon. he says, as the Northern Pacific
abroad furnishes him with a car bic
nough to carry away his stock and