The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-09
OF HUMAN HAIR.
.Ftf|s 6slie Owned and Priced by ar
indian Chief.
.Iladelphia Times.)

UQtdH CHl6l.
IPhiladelphia Times.)
81 ~ |b4 indian relics in the posses
sion g fafious collectors throughout
1Nf 1oontfF there is probably none
.,IHz striking. more CHASTITY, more her-
fIt'4 z14r the one which is owned
and priced py an Nold Indian chief in
W!1f&* sci lie lives in the Wauatchee
<a|I@| a the upper Columbia valley,
|t II1tie hut which he has built for
I'i'HtsiE Hefore his door the grew
SONS E9IIc Hangs-a lariat, 80 feet of
f4It I44ae from human hair, wrested
IIt'N tsf heads of women who fell be-
f4Ee me knife and tomahawk of the
Ha1foWeStern Indians a quarter of a
century ago. when their cruel barbar-
is ll,st the encroaehments of the
settlers 81 the northwestern states hor-
riiied the states.
There IS no other lasso like this one
Nj VII Tire world. 1t is a braided rope,
three quarters of an inch thick. 1t
Show 4lIe qark tresses of the brunette
woman mingled with the brown and
7nfH4lt and in half dozen places yell
Low EHeFe are traces of gray and
white twisted here and there in the
e5zAn4 I9riat, and it lis estimated that
about women were scalped to make
this Ie9rtul relic, nearly all of whom
Nz4f &.Inposed to be the wives and
N7<I fEffa of settlers of the Blackfoot
1IS. aoNeYer, is questioned. Old lie
Pier hes told the story of how he be-
caI11e possessed of the lasso, and it
IS tNe 8Snefally accepted story. al
Though many of the settlers of the
i3IH@@5 0Qt valley have good reason for
9e:}eN1nB they are correct in saying
that FMS hair was taken from their
QUI5 {3esh and blood.
Mrs Eauby an old woman now liv-
ine With a brother in this valley, says
tnat Sne saw. about 1866 the Indian
c'1lef. le Pier, raiding the settlement
Wafre she lived, and that she saw him
Rip'l1E only women. She was her
self q prlsoner, having been captured
8 seFNt4t Gays prior to the general massa-
sac Wizfeh Followed. She says she first
He4rq Of the human hair lasso ten
Years later and firmly believes it was
maae Of hair taken from the women
Killed Ct The time, of whom her daugh-
k2k ana her sister were victims.
<}'Q lie Pier. however, says that he
o4laluea the material from which the
asSo Wa5 made few years before the
Nasniuston massacre. A party of
N4fn1cn converts from the New
England states, numbering about
49Q. ne says. had crossed the Missouri
river and were far north of the usual
YQ1le, noping to escape the Indians.
who we're then infesting the overland
These Immigrants had camped near
the toet Of the Black Hills range, as it
Ia histo6icaify known. They were at
facHe4 ~ the-Indians and were all
nazsae1ed except two girls, who after
WARD escaped to Fort Sully. Old LIE
Riee says that his tribe of Blackfeet
were AS war with the Sioux, who raid
ea flle Mormons, and when his people,
WHO we're out looking for trouble, learn
IA Of the raid and the rich treasure
their rivals had acquired they resolved
70 nay the Sioux long deferred visit.
THE light 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.
al that the Mormons possessed. Among
tine khings recovered were the scalps
Qf the men and women of the party
who had been killed. Each scalp was
intact and lie Pier appropriated the
seafps Of the white women to his own
nAR because the hair was long and
I'd 70