Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1902-04-10
A Pipe With
A HISTORY.

Johnny Meyer of st. Elmo Hotel has
received a splendid recognition from
Shickallamy Tribe, l. O. r. NJ. of Sha-
mokin, in return for an act Of genero-
sity esteemed most highly by the Red
Men.
To begin with ii must be stated that
Johnny in his time was an Indian
fighter. He enlisted in the United
States army ON December 6, 1866, and
was discharged at Fort Sanders on
December &, 1869 During,the three
years. he saw service in Utah, Colo
rada, Dakota and Wyoming.
While stationed near the site Of the
present city of Cheyenne Il very curious
pipe in the hands of one of the Indian
braves one day caught his eye. He
suggested trade with the Red man
Offering in exchange for the pipe plug
of Navy tobacco and a government
shirt The Indian took him up and
the unique pipe passed into the hands
of the white man. 1t was sort OF a
reversible affair with a reed stem near
ly two feet i'll length. When one end
of the stem was inserted it was a pipe :;
when the other end was inserted it be
came tomahawk. The implement
was Of Indian manufacture, the bowl
portion being formed of a peculiar
kind of red clay, which when first
taken from the earth is soft and pliable
and may be shaped into any form, but
which when exposed to the air for some
days becomes as hard as flint.
Johnny kept the pipe, carefully trea-
surfing it as a highly priced souvenir
until four weeks ago today when the
Shickallamy Tribe Of Red Men came
over from Shamokin to visit the local
lodge and were guests at the St. Elmo
Hotel The Braves from the Coal Reg
ions by their courtesy and gentlemanly
attributes made such a favorable i'm
preston upon the genial landlord that
he decided to present them with the
Indian pipe, realizing that no gift
could be selected more appropriate and
more acceptable to the Red Men
He was not mistaken. The visiting
Tribe accepted the gift as mark Of
the highest honor. They returned
home and nothing more was heard of
the affair until day or so ago when
Johnny received set of resolutions,
handsomely framed and bearing the
seal of the Tribe which adequately re-
fleets their esteem and high apprecia
ton of the gift. The resolutions read
as follows:
Whereas, Mr. Johnny Meyer of Dan
vile, Pa, has shown much kindness
and good feeling toward this Shickal-
lamy Tribe by presenting Us with a
handsome calumet, made most valu-
able by its remarkable record in his
tory and tradition. Now be it
Resolved, That the brothers with one
accord accept the emblem from our
kind friend, Mr. Johnny Meyer, in
token of his good intent and by rls-
ing vote of the chiefs, assembled in
Council on the 10th, sleep, Warm Moon,
G.. S. e., All, extend our grateful
thanks and assurance of our earnest
appreciation of his noble gift, which
we will cherish as one OF the most prec-
ious souvenirs in the possession of the
Tribe to be carefully preserved in the
archives of the Wigwam, And,
Resolved, That copy of this resolu-
tion be properly framed and sent to
the doner of the gift and that it be
spread in full on the records of the
Tribe.
Shickallamy Tribe, No. l4S, Shamo-
kin, Pennsylvania, March 10, 1902.
ADAM d. HANCOCK, Sachem;
THOMAS LEECH, Chief of Records
JOHN H. VENN, r. J. REDMOND
and FRED B. MOSER.