The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-11-22

Osages the lover never enters into the trade, but some male relative makes the purchase, under the directions of the lover and then draws upon him for the expenses of the transaction.
 The brother in this case went to Sassy Calf, a near relative of the girl, and told him of the desire of his brother. Sassy Calf at once assumed the role of match maker and sent out word that upon certain day he would receive bids for the hand, if not the heart. of Angle Penn. Upon the day set, four young bucks. all accompanied by their male relatives, ap- peared at the house of Sassy Calf. A feast was served and the business of the day declared ready: then the bidding be- gan. The relatives of the young men squatted in a circle. in the centre of which stood Sassy Calf. ready to conduct the sale. Previous to this the young men had been allowed an opportunity of talk ing a look at the girl, but were not al- lowed to talk to her. They made up their minds how much a wife of that kind was worth to them and notified their rela- tives how much to bid before dropping out of the game Bonniecastle told his brother that he wanted the girl and to outbid all others.
 The DlQQlng was SplTltcu. out DohhiS
 castles brother raised every one and H. nally was declared the successful pur- chaser The proceeds of the sale go to the girls relatives and toward defraying the expenses of the wedding. The amount finally agreed upon for this girl was Ssco in cash for the wedding feast; race horse known as Hoodoo, valued at s65O and fifteen good Indian ponies. valued at $750. The horse Hoodoo was to go to Sassy Calf the matchmaker, and the nf- teen Indian ponies were to go to the guests at the wedding. .-.
 The date was agreed upon at this time. and the arrangements were all made by the men. The bride had no hand in this, and was not even told who was to be her husband All she knew was that she was going to be married. and that Is consid- cred enough for any Indian woman. The order for the brides trousseau was given to the Delaware Indians. who live east of the Osage reservation. and who are adopts at Indian needle and fancy work It was the most elaborate ever
 worn by an Osage bride, and it's cost was nearly $1,500.
 During the time these preparations
 were being made the bride was not will
 ing for the marriage to take place. She feared she was to be married to some blanketed buck, and such a husband did
 not in the least suit her progressive ideas Her objections were not taken into con- sidera tion by the relatives. and little at | tention was paid to her; in fact, an In- dian bride Is of small consequence.
 The day for the wedding arrived. and all the Indians were in attendance at the l Indian camp. near Pawhuska. They had
 arrived several days before the date set.
 and were enjoying a season of feasting kI,o .ty,ex slft he Tndd the Indians attired themselves in their
 gaudiest blankets, put on their best paint and brightest feathers. The bride was taken from her home to the tent of a neighbor, and there the squaws proceed ed to dress her in the wedding finery. This was all done according to the cus-
 tom of ages. and it required about three hours to complete her toilet. Then the procession started for the home of the groom to-be, a short distance away. Dur | ing this time the man in the case had not been seen. He was in his tepee, awaiting the appearance of the bride. In a buggy drawn by two Indian ponies
 that were led by couple of the male | relatives of the bride she rode. and with
 her rode the maid of honor. The brides | maids, four in number, rode on horses,
 two upon each side of the buggy. With
 out delay the procession proceeded to the | front of the tepee occupied by Bonniecas- tie. There the bride left the buggy, and | the four bridesmaids placed her on a | blanket. which was wrapped around her, and then four squaws seized the blanket
 and took it inside, where the young man awaited. Now. for the first time, the
 bride saw her future husband. In a few
 moments the two appeared before the | tent surrounded by the maid of honor and | the bridesmaids.
 | At this point the wedding came near be-
 ing declared off because the bridegroom. l instead of wearing blanket, war bonnet and paint. as the Indians all expected,
 and as custom demanded, stepped forth l from the tepee in neat fitting suit of
 broadcloth, white shirt, standing collar. tie, patent leather shoes and derby hat. | A loud objection was made to this by the full-bloods, who thought he should have
 observed all the customs. committee of the head men of the tribe went to him | and urged him to don the blanket and | feathers. He fatly refused They insist ed, and he finally told them plainly that
 he was there to be married, and he was going to wear the clothing of the white | man.
 A council of the committee was held
 and. after a heated argument, Bonnie | castle won his point. and the ceremony prOceeQeu. f1eTe tne DTlueBTOoH IHlIo-
 duced another feature not in accordance
 with the traditional customs, but no ob-
 jection were made to it by the Indians. After the argument about the bride
 groom's dress was settled. a priest stepp-
 ed out of the crowd of white people and
 performed the wedding ceremony accord
 ing to the rites of the Catholic Church. The Indian ceremony was then resumed and the races were called.
 Sassy Calf, mounted upon fine horse
 belonging to the bridegroom, rode about
 200 yards from the crowd and fired gun. This was the signal for the start of a
 race for the bridegroom's horse. saddle,
 and gun, and the contestants in this race
 can only be male relatives of the bride
 groom. As Bonniecastle had only one
 male relative his brother. the race was
 easily won by him. Then the buggy in
 which the bride had taken t. the tepee