Evening star., 1902-09-11
A CURIOUS LEGEND
PRINCE MADOC OF WALES AND
THE MANDANs.
The Story Of the Welsh DISCOVERIES of
America and Their De-
scendants.

From the ST. Louis Globe Democrat.
Was America discovered and colonzed by
Prince Madoc of Wales, in the year ITO,
and are there living descendants of his
followers among the Indians of North Da-
kota today?
The subject of the Welsh discovery is by
no means new one. In the days of Queen
Elizabeth, before the first English colony
was planted in America, the belief In the
story of Prince Madoc' was universal in
Great Britain, and was Incorporated into
the histories that were written.
Later in the time of the English colonies,
seemingly reliable accounts Of an Indian
tribe that spoke Welsh and possessed Welsh
relics began to accumulate, and syste-
matte investigation of them was planned.
This was given UP on account of the revo-
luton. After that long period Of war it was
declared that the Welsh Indians had re-
moved to the Spanish territory beyond the
Mississippi. The trans Mississippi became
ours by purchase nearly a hundred years
ago, but the region of the upper Missouri.
where the Welsh Indians were declared to
have gone, was very remote for investiga-
ton, and expert investigators were few.
The popular belief remained however, and
only time seemed wanting for the fullest
demonstration of the alleged facts. South
eys poem of 'Madoc' published in 1900
dQueQ 10 the PUBIC interest IN the subject.
Catin. the greatest authority on the Ameri-
can aborigineS. found the Welsh Indians,
and identified them witt the Mandans to
his own satisfaction and to that of his
readers. But for an amazing event his in
vestigations would have been followed by
others of most exhaustive character That
event was the destruction of the tribe
which occurred in the winter of 1888 80
when epidemic of smallpox occurred,
and carried off all but thirty-one of the
1,GOO or more Mandans. The survivors of
the tribe were mainly women They fed
in terror from the scene of death and in
termarried with the Ricarees and the Sioux,
by whom they were captured. 1t is said
that they seldom spoke after the time of
horror. Between 200 and 800 of their de-
scendants remain. and now live with the
Indians of different tribes on the Fort Ber-
thold reservation in North Dakota.
Truth of the Claim.
1t is unfortunate that the advocates of
the Welsh theory have been deprived of an
opportunity to sift the matter to the bot
tom with the thoroughness of modern ar
Genealogical and pathological investigation.
Yet enough is known to carry a very strong
conviction Of the truth of the Welsh claim.
Taken altogether the story of Prince Ma
doc and the Welsh Indians has passed
through the strangest vicissitudes from the
buring of the Welsh records in ancient davs
to the destruction of the Mandans in the
last century. The vitality of the Madoc
legend and of the folklore pertaining to the
Welsh Indians is phenomenal They have
persisted through ages, in spite Of the
most destructive calamities of various ma
ture. 1t would seem that only the truth
could survive So many adverse influences
The st. Louis exposition will afford an ex-
celient opportunity for revival of the
legends of the Welsh Indians of the Louisf-
ana purchase, and an exhibit of the evil
dences which corroborate them:
Owain Gwynedd. the father Of Madoc,
was one OF the greatest of the old Welsh
monarchs. He reigned from 1137 to 1869
HIS capital was Aberfraw. He had seven
teen sons. Hywell succeeded to the throne
but when he made a visit to Ireland Da
vydd seized the throne and began to slay
or imprison his brothers. Madoc was In
charge OF the fleet He improved the oppor--
tunity to sail westward over the broad
Atlantic. and reached an unknown land
Later he returned to Wales and organized
an expedition Of ten ships and about 300
people These sailed away from point on
the Isle Of Anglesey, about Ave miles from
Holyhead. in 1170. Not one of the COM
pany Is known to have returned, though
there Is an old Welsh STORY of the return
OF one subject. Cynfrig ap Rhy. which pur-
ports to be the work of an old Welsh bard
Gullon Owen. and is said to have been
preserved by monks in an ancient monas-
terry 1t relates that the Welsh taught the
<Ahtei lnuldUS TO use the cOracle. a
culiar Welsh boat. This story is by many
pronounced forgery.
Fair Tribe of Indians.
Jonathan Carver, who explored the Min
nesota region before the revolution. was
told Of a northwestern tribe, fairer than
the other Indians, who cultivated the soil
and were somewhat advanced In civiliza
ton. A long list of respectable men-rnis-
sionaries. military officers and explorers
testified later to having known personally
something Of the Welsh Indians of the
northwest. Catlin lived among the Man
dams and studied their language and char
acterstics. They were fair-complexioned
and had the reddish, wavy hair of the
Welsh. The men were bearded. They made
glass BEADS and many other articles Of
civilized ornament and dress. The words
OF their language corresponding with l. he
she, 1t, We, no, head, Great Spirit father
hammock, call and other words were iden-
tcal with the Welsh equivalents or almost
exactly So But the most striking evidence
or all was the use OF the coracle When
Caesar visited Britain he found the natives
using this peculiar boat, which is a round
basket covered with a skin. 1t held gem
orally one person. who sat in 1t In Turkish
fashion and propelled 1t with a paddle
which he welded in front, drawing himself
forward. Nowhere In the world has the
coracle been used except by the Welsh and
the Mandans. Catlin himself was con-
vinced of the Welsh origin of this now
vanished tribe: and indeed there was much
reason for this. The Welsh in the United
states are numerous and enterprising It
Is strange that they have not set up a
memorial in honor of Prince Madoc In our
centennial year of 1876 a clergyman named
BENJAMIN F. Bowen published in the United
States an interesting volume entitled
America Discovered by the Welsh" which
contains an interesting discussion of the
subject, though 1t is far from complete in
Its presentation Of the evidences to the
truth Of the Welsh legend