The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-02-21
PREHISTORIC COTTON
WHAT THE INDIANS USED BE-
 FORE THE SPANIARDS CAME.
Recent Discovery-New Light on the Subject of its Cultivation ! Moquis Made Blankets and
 Belts-A Fibre Used in
 Sacred Ceremonies.

Washington Star.
 Recently new light has been thrown on the cultivation of cotton by the Indians the United States.
 It has been a puzzling question as 10 when ard where cotton was first used TOT the purpose of making cotton cloth
 When the SpaniaTds explored the conn- try from Florida to the Mississippi they found cotton growing in that regi >n, put made no mention of its being spun CT woven into fabric.
 When American pioneers pushed their way into Arizona and New Mexico they fo und the Indians living in inaccess:i le villages called pueblos. The pucblcs were for the most part situated on higR pla- teaus called "mesas," whiLh were 0eAr- tically barren of vegetation. In order to pro vide food for themselves the In3ians journeyed each spring to their farn,s sit uated some distance froH .heir villages when the soil was fertile and the waters abundant.
 For this req ,on some of the travellers related many stories of these people based upon this half view of their nfe, SC | to speak, which subsequent investigations
 have proven to be erroneous. Because
 thy Called to see thiag they declared 1t dic not exist.
 Among the Hopis. By visiting these farming districts. had they known of them, they would have found cotton cultivated by some of the | tribes. For instance, ( the Hopi Cor Moqui, as 1t Is som etimes spelled) Indians now | cultivate cotton which they state, was given them by the Mormons, but they claim that they always had cotton, dat ing back to time before the Spaniards hrst visited their country. The Zuni Indians dc not now grow cot ton or u3e 1t for making blankets, kits or belts. For many years past, indeed ever since scientists nere studied these people-and how maly years prior to that time is not known-the Zuni have pur- chased their blankets and belts from the Hopi. In fact, some of the Zuni claim that it has been their practice to obtain their cotton fabrics from the Hopl, just as today We purchase an article from Paris because It is Parisian and there fore distinctive.
 The NavaJos, on .he other hand, used wool in the manufacture of their famous and much-prlzed blankets. Before the introduction among these people of the sharp practices of the white man these blankets were made wholly of wool and colored with native dye stuffs. To these
 materials, as much as to the cunning workmanship, is due the lasting qualities and richness of these blankets. Learning, however, the tricks of their | conquerors. they have substituted an in- | ferior grade of wool and employed aniline | dyes, instead of those of their own man. | ufacture, finding it more profitable, since the traders were unable to detect the de- | ception.
 A Tedious Task. The custom of purchasing cotton gar | ments from the MoqIl by the Zuni had
 its inception in very practical reason. | The task of manufacturing cotton cloth was no easy one with the facilities al | their command.
 The flores were picked from the seeds l by hand, spread upon a stone, or other | fiat surface and beaten with little bun. | dle of sticks to separate the flores, so as | to properly arrange them for spinning into | thread. It can readily be seen that this | must have been a long, tedious and del | icate task.
 The Moqui and the Zuni, however made | ceremonial blankets, belts and other fab- rics entirely of cotton and from the edge | of the ceremonies In which they were | used, of some kind must have been known | to them for centuries. From whom then did they get their cot | ton?
 The Spaniards found cotton growing ir | this country when they first explored it.
 so evidently the Indians did not obtain il | from them.
 In some recent explorations. made by | Dr. Walker Hough, of the National Mu-
 scum, cotton and squash seed were found | in some of the ancient pueblos near | Walpi. How many years have elapsed | since these seed were placed there 1t is | impossible to say.
 From This Old Seed. The various articles associated with them seems to prove the ste 10 nave | been an ancient burial place. Some of the | seed now used to grow cotton, which Is | thought to be identical with those found
 in the graves. have been turned over to F. V. Coville, botanist of the Agricul- | tural Department. for Identification As | there is considerable confusion still re- l maining as to the several species of com mercal cotton it Is necessary to grow the plant before the identity of the species | can be determined. These trials have not | annnOh tO Qatfla the | question.
 If the seeds found in the grave sites and l these modern ones prove to be Identical | than either the Moqui claim relative tc | the Mormon origin Is wrong or else the
 antiquity of the pueblo as burial site | is disproved.
 Against these two contending views
 comes the statement of the Zuni that
 the beginning" that 1t is native witt | them.
 For long time 1t was supposed that the
 cotton seed used by these latter Indian: | was some species of gossypium, like tha
 found in the other pueblos in our South | ern States.
 Not Real Cotton.
 Not until this last summer did there l exist any known reason to suspect tha | the prehistoric cotton was other than that l species of cotton now grown by the Mo | qui or some variety closely allied to 1t
 
 scientific corps of the Bureau of Ethnol | ogy, and the only living authority on Zun
 culture, in making a collection of the na
 tive plants used by these people for med | icinal religious, culinary and technica l purposes, found a plant which the Zun | priest who brought 1t to her informed | her was their ancient native cotton | The priest likewise claimed that this | was the cotton which had been used fol | making their sacred ceremonial blankets | and prayer plumeS.
 | An examination of the plant proved il | to be not a species of cotton proper. thai l is a member of the gossypium family, but
 a variety of milk weed-the Asclepia! | MeXicana.
 | When the long silky flores have beer | separated from the seed and beaten into | shape by the native skill, 1t is practically | impossible to distinguish it from our mod ern cotton.
 This plant is found in abundance during the month of August in their outlying | farming districts al Ojo Calente and Pic | cado, New Mexico. It grows In certain l isolated spots; hence 1t is usually over | looked by the traveller. Planting the Fumes. This prehistoric cotton was brought tc | Mrs Stevenson's attention by Nai-u-chi | who is one of the rain priests. and also
 elder brother of the Bow priesthood. H.
 makes the cotton thread used upon tho
 prayer plumes.
 l While there are a number of these ralr | priests the first six are the most import l six na1 hN fa