The Saint Paul globe., 1904-05-22

upon their own resources for cloth
Ing. They used buckskin for moe
casins and sometimes for leggings;
nearly everything else they wore had a
civilized origin.
How the Indian Dressed.
"a brave might have his moccasins
on and his buckskin leggings, both
moccasins and leggings trimmed with
beads and porcupine quillS; he might
put feathers in his hair. But if the
weather wasn't very warm, his shirt
would be made of calico, generally q
gaudy pattern, he'd have short trous-
ers of heavy wooden cloth, dark blue
or gray, sometimes scarlet, and above
all, he'd wrap around him his big
government blanket-a very thick,
solid blanket, white, blue, gray OR
scarlet.
TN very cold weather he might have
on both cloth and bucks6in leggings,
and he might use, instead of a blanket,
blanket OVercoat, that is, a big coat
made with sleeves, ETC., from an Old
blanket. and having hood that he
could pull over his head when out Of
doors.
"On the other hand, if the weather
was hot Mr.. Indian would leave off his
shirt and substitute a cloth breech-
clout for his trousers. But he'd use
his blanket still to protect him from
the sun.
"A squaw wore calico shirt waist
as we'd describe it now. The more
gaudy the pattern the better she'd like
it. She preferred those fiowery effects
we used to call the Dolly Warden few
years ago-I mean in the 70s. She also
had on fairly long skirt of blue, gray
or scarlet cloth. This would come to
her boot-tops, only she would wear
buckskin moccasins instead of boots,
and cloth leggings instead of open
work hosiery. For some reason the
women never wore buckskin leggings
at that ttme-perhaps they thought it
looked too bold and mannish. In ad-
dition to what I've mentioned, the
squaw would put on a blanket as a
wrap and few beads by way Of
jewelry.
THE little folks. being well trained
like all Indian children, were taught
that they should be seen and not
heard. They wore no loud clothing.
If the weather was warm, they wore
none, or next to none; in cool weather
they put on small blankets, leggings,
ETC., like their parents.
Promenades for Indians.
You can imagine, then, that Third
and Jackson streets looked decidedly
gay back in the 40s, when crowds Of
Indians were strolling about shopping,
carrying his gun and his tomahawk-
pipe, his neatly painted countenaflce,
and his tall head-feathers.
Here is what Frederika Bremen,
the Swedish authoress, said of St
Paul, and she didn't visit us till 1850:
The city is thronged with Indians
The men, for the most part, go about
grandly ornamented, bearing naked
hatchets, the shafts of which serve
them as pipes. They paint themselves
so utterly without taste that it is in
credible
when I said dancing in the
streets, 1 meant It; not dancing to
hand organs like the New York chill
dren, but dancing to their own sweet
voices. Almost any day, as l was
working in my store at the northwest
corner of Third and Jackson streets,
where the Hale block is now, I would
hear chorus burst forth outside
''Ow, ow, Wam-duskai Wam-dus-
ka! Ow, ow, o-o-oow, Wam- dus-ka!"
I'D go to the door and see several
hundred braves arranged in double
lines around the corner, jumping up
and down nervously and chanting,
rather than singing, in tones that
shifted abruptly back and forth be-