Omaha daily bee., 1903-02-22
INDIAN BEFORE The CAMERA
How the Noble Red Man Likes to Have
His Picture Taken.
ABORIGINAL BEAUTY P%ERPETUALLY SAVED
Rineharts Idea and How IL Was
Carried out to the Point of
Success In Art Mt
Amy Rate.

~ - w. 49, -
many OF these climbing into overalls, som
breros, country schools and politics. even
a very short-sighted man must see the
finish Of the race.
This conceded. how very apparent II be-
comes that +. A.. Rinehart made a master
stroke when, in 1898, he undertook to
photograph the best remaining specimens.
The "Rinehart Indians" in FIVE years have
spread over pretty nearly the whole civil
lized world and parts Of Missouri. Ugly
old Geronimo's face is in almost as many
libraries as is Andrew Carnegie's. Hattie
Toms is on the wall Of many a den be-
tween the Gibson girl, the stanisiaws girl
the Christie girl and the real girl. Jack
Red Cloud has intruded into many a dainty
boudoir where formerly James K. Hackett
and John Drew reigned supreme. Chief
Vets Il Is selling strong in Milwaukee and
Chief Three Fingers has become almost a
fad in Kentucky. Burtelda. is being stamped
in dainty ware by a Frenchman because OF
his resemblance to the young Napoleon and
a German crockery decorator has appropri-
ated half a dozen other heads.
With this growth Of the demand for%the
pictures has ZONE a growing demand to
know something Of the incidents OF their
taking, and on this point Mr.. Rinehart and
his first assistant, A. F. Muir, were inter-
viewed the other day by The Bee.
Muhr's q of the Campaign.
Patrons were claiming much of Mr.. Rine-
harris attention, so Mr.. Muir did most OF
the talking. Mr.. Muir is an easterner who
saw few real Indians until he came to
Omaha and who realized what the eastern
demand for the pictures would De- he
said:
81 knew the pictures would take safely
enough, but whether or not the Indians
would take was another matter, and Mr..
Rinehart wisely took the precaution to get
into their good graces at the Transmits
sippi Exposition through Captain W.. A.
Mercer, who was fathering them for the
government.
EVEN with the captains very valuable
assistance it was rather dificult work for
a time. We had to get acquainted, to begin
with. and tina is not a particularly easy
task for a man who speaks only English
= and has to parley through an interpreter.
''Then there were numerous superstitions
to be overcome. For example, they had an
idea that the photographing would shorten
the life Of the subject. We photographed a
baby early in the exposition period and
shortly afterward the infant CHANGED to die
OF course. that, to the Indians mind. was
conclusive proof of the correctness OF their
theory still. It didn't hamper us much
after we once got them going. Once photo
Eraphed and shown the picture, a buck
would display the eagerness of a child and
the vanity OF a woman. He would wish &c
pose every time ne got a new ornament OF
a new design In paint and 1t was hard to rio
ourselves of some of them.
Jack Red Clouds Business Idea.
"others developed q shrewd business in.
-aa-.A nh.y y,anaad rnonay-usuallV ~ fol
a sitting. 1 had trouble with young Jacl
Red Cloud, son Of the famous old chief
over that word sitting. l was to pay one
OF his braves 50 for a sitting and Jack came
along. I took one shot and prepared Il
take another While I was arranging thu
camera Jack motioned the brave out OF thu
chair and wasn't going to let me take an
other picture unless l put up another 81.
This same Jack and l became goo(
friends later, and had our only difference
when he insisted on my getting his whisk!
flask re-nlled for him as a medicine TO
colds.
strong on Poses.
How are they at posing? Splendid
Once In a position they will hold II rigidl!
from sunrise to sunset il you desire. TIL
greatest trouble we had about this was tina
they wanted TO do their own designing
! White Man OF the Kiowas got the notioi
y that he should be taken while recumben
on his lance with one arm appraised Il
defense, and we had a hard time to &c
him to change. Many wanted pictures t
perpetuate some fight or other inciden
of their lives. That is the Indians wa
Of writing history. Not a few of ther
make crude drawings on skin or linen, pic
turing their struggles and valiant deeds
and ! have seen series of such drawing
which told the history of a whole lf'
White Swans series includes ten drawing
and among these is one OF Custer the da
before his last battle.
VERY few OF the Indians cared for pic
lures OF their families. Goes-to-War wa
taken with his squaw and children sewers
ines, but not many others, The squaN
themselves were entirely Indifferent to III
slight, and not many OF them would hay
anything to do with the camera men. Som
OF them sealously guarded their pappoose
too. l spent July. 1904 up on the Gro
agency and for more than a dozen morning
laid for one particular squaw with
particularly deliberately decorated an
beaded pappoose-earrier. I had my camel
planted in some bushes near where 81
came for water. but she detected my d.
signing aud morning after morning can
down with a huge umbrella concealing h,
back.
On the Crow Reservation.
That reservation visit was a great e.
perience. / had become well aoquaint,
with A, b. Upshaw, a fuilblood Crow wi
lived among his people, but who was a pc
fectly educated man and was planning
write a history OF his tribe, for which bo,
the pictures would be valuable. Though
son OF an old chief who belonged to q
Black lodge. an organization OF ~patriarc
: who will have nothing to do with the viii
man. young Upshaw helped me in ma
ways and was sponsor for me at the reuni
Of Indians held at Pryor Gap. thirty-h
miles from Billings. This made II possit
for me to take pictures Of some very wo
derful scenes. as at this reunion the q
tendAnts gave themselves up to aborigir
pastimes. They drove their cattle abe
madly. as they used to do with the buffa
and shot them down for roasting orgies .
unlike the southern barbecue in some I
spects, They had a real bear dance, u
and ! was permitted to photograph I
bear women as they leaped about the stuI
where the bearskin was, the young bra
as he tore the skin with his teeth and I