The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1903-10-11

that all his life. II you were 10 inter
view an actor you could say that you
saw him in his last play. then he would
40 the rest.
But to draw and talk to a solemn old
chief. $ years old. made dOuhly melan-
Choly by the presence Of tall buildings in
stead OF tall mountains. who had closed
up as tight as a clam. was something not
at all easy. / thought Of a chance; l re-
mEmbered my uncle had bought bis horses
and that in his general merchandise store
he had trusted all OF the Indians over
which this man had once ruled Perhaps
he might remember. 50 / asked him n
jargon. do you know John Davenport
The old chief quickly lifted his head.
'Nowwitka. HAS skookum John Daven-
port. Skookum. RkOOkum. skookum. hi
you pOlatch quitan. hi you p~otlatch
chickamen, siah ColfaN.
ALL KNEW OLD PIAToTE.
II my joy I happened to think Of old
PiatOte. and / asked II he knew PiatOte.
Instantly the old chief. who had again be-
come a boy. stood up. "Piatote." he ex-
claimed over and over. in loud. deep tones.
Then he asked II / knew PiatOte, and 1
told MIN YES. He shook with laughter.
The other Indians in the room all laughed
and said Piatote. Finally from a roll OF
red blankets that lay on the floor In the
corner of the room came a Erunt and the
mufhed words, Charley PiatOte, hi you
quitan-'
Gayety reigned for many minutes In
dams laughed that hadn't smiled since
they left their tepees in the far North
west. The old indian peeked out Of the
hEInkets that he might see the old friend
Of Piatote. | asked IL Piatote was sim
alive. Yes" the chief said. and he is
still herding horses
I was IN the midst OF a drawing by this
time Of the old chiefs face. when he
burst into a noiseless laugh. Turning to
Chief Red Shirt. he talked in n different
language about a minute. and the only
WORD ] caught that I understood was
- - L nELnM 81 80
he had said. He said TO Red Shirt, What
kim OF q. world Is thiS2 We come away
from the Indian country. pass through
mountains. then pass more Indian coun-
try and come through DAYS OF great
wheat fields, then rome where everything
is corn. and pass through some big cities.
high buildings and find a man who Knows
Charley Piatote, the Neg Perccs horse
man."
The expression Of the chiefs face
changed noticeably into that 81 decp mel
ancholy. He was more detected than he
was a few minutes before he had been so
back and forth with bowed besd Uo
was a grand sight. although a detected
person
PURE TYPE OF NEz PERCEs.
Chief Joseph, a pure Indian Of the Nez
PerceS tribe. : past s. years Old. but
looks % His skin is as soft as satin.
color is the genuine red Of The real trn,a
It's a relief TO see a colored man without
hearing raE-time music. but when YOU
see men Ike this the banjo gives way TO
inc tom-tcm; time and tune change. When
you look at this man you don't think of
Sayety. You don't think OF caricature.
lie - the type Of man and art where
the work or a. Z. Frost stops and where
that Of Frederick Remington begins an
the otfer hand. you get melancholy when
You see a great broad-mfnded man Ike
Snlet Joseph, You see a man represent
lIE q race that were not dealt with As
they should have been. This prisoner n
war was never charged with cruelty The
only charge against him was that as ne
was ordered from his home and the hunt
ing ground OF his ancestors before him no
said, Il don't want anything the white
man mas / only want to he Let alone
and let live in the beautiful waIava Val
ley. where my ancestors lived and died
and where my boyhood DAYS were so hap
PLY spent"
Notwithstanding this simple plea from a
Jus and honest indian. the troops came
TO take him to a reservation and he nat
Crally fought. and when he fought he
ought IN a manly, dignided way. and had
he had as many warriors az we had he
would have caused our Generals 70 blush.
As IL was. he proved almost a NAPOLEON.
he rightfulfy figured that the whites and
the progress Of civilization might have
spared 10 him the beautiful little valley
a. Ine Junction OF the Walswa and Snake
RIVERS N eastern Oregon. There he
Souid i've as he had always lived at the
head Of his tribe. n weIi-behavcd band
Of Indians.
Personally. Chief Joseph is as diEnifed
as was Gladstone. HIS fine Indian face
ana head though Indian. show great
Strength OF Character. His expression is
IKE that Of Grant he apparently was
When the little child that was with ma
extended the wrong hand TO shake that
OF the chief. his eyes and mouth took on
an expression as tender as a mothsTR