The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1899-06-29
LhRIAT OF HUMAN HAIR
Grussoms R,IIo Of an Indian Rad IN Inc Northwest
TeuIlou.

or all the Indian relics in the
possession of various collectors
throughout the Country, there is prob
ably none more striking. more ghastly.
more horrible than the one which Is
owned and priced by an old indian
chief I'm Minnesota. He lives In the
wauatchee Valley. In the Upper Col
umbia Valley, in a littie hut which
ne has built for himself. Before his
door the gruesome relic hangs-a lariat.
fifty feet OF rope, made from human
hair wrested from the heads of women
who fell before the knife and tomahawk
of the Northwestern Indians quarter
OF century ago. when their cruel bar
barity against the eneroachments OF the
settlers of the Northwestern States hor-
rified the country, says a writer in the
Philadelphia Times.
There is mo other lasso like this one
in all the world III is a braided rope.
three quarters OF an inch thick. IL
shows the dark tresses OF the brunette
woman mingled with the brown and au-
burn, ard in half a dozen places, yes-
low. There are traces of gray ana
white twisted here and there in the
strange ldIldl, anu IL 10 tSuhHidtci thos
about thirty women were scalped 10
make this fearful relic. nearly all or
whom were supposed TO be the wives
and daughters OF settlers OF the Black
foot Valley.
This. however. is questioned. Old lie
Pier has told the story OF how he be-
came possessed of the lasso. and IL Is
the generally accepted story, although
many OF the settlers OF the Blackfoot
Valley have good reason for believing
they are correct i'm saying that this
hair was taken from their own flesh
and blood.
Mrs. Candy, an old woman now living
with a brother I'm this valley says that
she saw, about 1866. the Indian chief
l., Pier raiding the settlement where
she lived, and that she saw him scalp
ing only women. She was herself "a
prisoner. having been captured several
days prior TO the general massacre
which followed. She says she nrst
heard of this human-hair lasso ten
years later. and firmly believes IL was
ma ie os hair taken from the women
killed at the time. OF whom her daugh-
ter and sister were victims.
DID lie Pier however. says that he
| Obtained the material from which the
| lasso Has made a few years before
| the Washington massacre. "A party or
| Mormon concerts from the Rev Ea.;-
Iand States. numbering aDC Il iW. Ee
says, had crossed the Missouri River
| and were far north Of the usual route.
| hoping 10 escape the Indians who were
| then infesting the overland trall.
These immigrants had camped near
| the foot OF the Black Hills range, as
| Il is historically known. They were at
| tackled by the Indians and We're all
massacred except two girls. who after
ward escaped TO Fort Sully. Old lie
| Pier says that his tribe of Blackfeet
were at war with the Sioux, who raid
ed the Mormons. and when his people,
who were out looking for trouble, learn
ed of the raid and the rich treasure
their rivals had acquired. they resolved
! 10 pay the Sioux a long-deferred visit.
The fight was long and bloody, and
! while the Blackfeet were victorious,
| they left many dead upon the field.
| They secured all the booty, including
horses. wagons. clothing. and. in fact.
all THAT the Mormons possessed. Among
| the things recovered were the scalps
| of the men and women OF the party
| who had been killed. Each scalp was
| intact, and lie Pier appropriated the
| scalps of the white women TO his own
| use because the hair was long and
| could be worked into ornaments.