The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-08

Indian guides had made a sketch on { piece of birch bark, and had fxed t ., in the ground. with an inclination to- ward the direction the explorers were | takng. II was message for anybody
 wno @ misnt pas sthat way. .tei,ing M the The composition may be divided, for the purpose of description, into two chief re ws of figures and opjecte. while. at the turtle. The figures I ssiIi sii resemble those Juvenile efforts to represent the human form before the artistic aspirant has at- spessiy od sns sd tSe Sr end row represents the suoaleern officer in charge of the guard of United States
 This military personase is distinguished I by curly line. Intended to represent his | sword. Next to him ts the secretary of the expedition. as shown by the thing
 is ane wee s saS and to to Ps De hammer. Na.S A
 Two assistants and the interpreter are 2 row of infantry soldiers. their guns be- ing represented in q separate row. By the side of each of the principal rows is show that the soldiers had separate fire and mess. YH3s ff
 The bird and turtle denote the results S tns Ss Ss sssse
 
 guides, who are Indiano and represented in the second row have their race des- ignated by the absence of hats. which nothS that % eeh they Sn are %hise a men 1t of s to be noted that the Indian artist has drawn the figures of himself {, and his eompanions at least twice as large as
 Two pictures of great interest are the records of the first crossing of Lake Su- perior by very famous chief of long sarr II ..-A. ~x<kk N- el.x ed in magic. and was of large influence among the tribes. In commemoration of his exploit he set up two inscriptions the iirst st,oI on u the south shore of of, the lake; K. north. where he landed. In the first. the sole human figure is intended to represent the redoubtable chief himself. An arch oage or and the podS ersatars 1t contains is his totem. It is made to nll the entire space, to denote that the entire household bears the same mark. Just below is a wolf-the personal name of the chief. A horned thing In a vio- lent check pattern Is a fabulous horned panther, symbolizing power. The cross ed. mean night and the similar creature. without network, denotes power by day. Then there are lion and a black bear and a moose, all going to show foresight. part of the. chief. Tn like manner two horned snakes. with legs, symbolize swiftress and power to kill. and the wn0s pa%s. he ss tns yaroqs % his enterprise. The companion picture to this one inscribed op rock on the north shore shows that he crossed with live sizes, carrying altogether ffty-one men, represented simply 7and ingeniously by so many little perpendicular dashes along the s9ss 3ss, Of the tns saess st
 manded by a chief named Kingfsher is said to be unnistakably denoted by somewhat equivocal representation of aSovs % % the pgow he crossing @ 9Os Occupied three days. as shown by three suns un- der a shaky sort of rainbow, represent ing the sky. Alongside of this elegant fessed, is not at all clear except to the indicating triumph at reaching land ssan at lest: s S p.-s. sns of eft the Chief 'hf of horseback the upper portion of the war rior only being revealed. the rest of his body being involved dr the most inscrut- and below a comic horned panther and snake (whose attributes were noted in the other picture) are here duly acknewl- edged to have extended their patronage.
 Picture writing, or sign language. was also employed by, the indians In the transmission of news. An example in this tns Sss ss was fGSns deSsst .Se
 
 right hand side was the figure of the fabled animal, the cepper-tailed bear. This was the totem of the hunter, and thing beneath 1t, curved up at each end. denoted the canoe he traveled in. Under this again was the totem Ca cat ish) of companion hunter. with his ca- noe. At the top. to the left, vas 2 conn mon black bear, and below 1t six cat fish. The whole thing meant. ib was ex- plained, that the two hunters in ques- ton. while encamped at that particular spot, killed a bear and caught six cat fish, which exciting intelligence was left for the edification of anybody passing that way.
 1t is Interesting to observe that the idea of those advertisements of soaps, patent medicines. etc, in the shape of puzzles, was probably derived from the | principles of the Indian sign language, as there is a noticeable similarity in | method. And it is further to be re- marked that those persons who delight in exercising their ingenuity over the one will find the greatest pleasure and | satisfaction in their efforts at unravel- | ing the mysteries of the other.