The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1897-08-14
FINGERS LIKE CLAWS,
Distinguishing Deformity of the
Robbins Tribe" Of New York.
The Strange kirthmArk Perpstrated
Through Several Generations
with An Occasional Va
Ration.


with An Occasional Va
| Ration.
Ine most tplcturesques stream in west
crn New York is the Cattaraugus
Through most of it's course it is the
boundary line between the counties ot
Erie and Cattaraugus, and it is not q
large stream, except when melting
SHOWS or autumn rains have swelled
1T into a torrent. Rich farms. wooded
slopes, deep gorges whose lofty walls
FORM the high banks, as the natives call
them, and a tangled wilderness where
nature still runs riot, as she has from
the tlrst; these mark the course of the
Cattaraugus. The Indian name is it.
self musically expressive, and recalls
the days when only red men occupied
its banks. There are still Indians
along it, and the reservation named for
1T contains most of the few remaining
members of the Seneca tribe, once the
possessor OF all the region from Lake
Erie to and beyond the Genesee.
The reservation begins near the vii
lage OF Gowanda, and just above there,
shut in by high hills, is the widest and
most inaccessible spot in the whole re-
gion, the valley of Zoar. How or from
whom the place received its Biblical
name, or what is the resemblance be-
tween this secluded spot and the city
which, in the Old Testament story, fig
ures along with Sodom and Gomorrah,
are matters which not even the oldest
inhabitant is able to explain. Here
among the hills, where strange faces
are rarely seen, is concealed remarka-
ble example of natures occasional va
carries and the strange persistence of
abnormalities through heredity Among
the few residents of Zoar there are sew
eral families of claw-fngered persons.
They are not wild or hair-covered, at
least not more so than most of the folk
among the Cattaraugus, but nearly all
OF them have curious deformity of
the fingers and toes which gives them
their name. They have lived here many
years, and, although their neighbors
are still inclined to look upon them
~omewhat askance, they are no longer
regarded as especially wonderful, and
one might travel through the valley
dozen times without once hearing q
word about it's strange inhabitants.
In driving through the valley recent.
ly the writer came across an old farmer
loading hemlock bark by the road
side, and inquired for the claw-fngered
residents.
THAT Robbins tribe ?" was the reply.
"Yes, I've knowed some of 'em for nigh
on forty years, cause was raised right
here. Yes, their hands is like claws.
Some of 'em. It's a mighty Gurus
thing, but faint nuthin' much to look
at. Why, folks come all the way from
Buffalo (between 80 and 40 miles)
to look at 'em, an you'd think by the
way they go on about it that they was
goin' to a circus"
The old man shook his head at the
curiosity of the Buffalo
and turned again to his work.
Although the residents of Zoar usual
y refer to their strange neighbors as a |
;ribe, they use the word only as it is |
employed in rural districts
n speaking of any large family. They
ire by no means looked upon as sep
Irate order of beings. Still there is 4
strong social prediudice against them.
this prejudice has not been
sufficient to prevent marriages with
'ther families in the neighborhood, it
las discouraged such marriages. The
is that there has been
much intermarrying in the family, and
his may have something to do with the
of their deformity.
AS well as can be learned, the peculiar
ligital formation of the claw-fngered
olks has existed in Zoar through four
In the early part of the
entury a man named Robbins settled
n Zoar. He was remarkable because
lis fingers and toes were so bent that
hey resembled claws somewhat more
han they did human digits. In other
aspects there was nothing particularly
striking about his appearance. His
TRANCE, claw-like hands and toes be-
ame objects of considerable curiosity,
ut it does not appear that Robbins
YER explained the origin of his de-
ormity. OF course after it reappeared
l his descendants it became the gen.
raj opinion that Robbins himself in
erited it. Others believe that he was
le founder of the claw-fngered family,
nd that he settled in this remote spot
ecause of his disfgurement.-N. Y.
un.
The Parting Stone"
Among the old landmarks yet re-
aiming in the Roxbury district, one
the most interesting is a large stone
the corner of Center and Roxbury