Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1904-12-30
The Redemption Of Johnson Sides
How a Backsidina Indian Was Enabled
to Preserve His Self Respect.

How a eackslidnq Indian Was Enabled
to Preserve His Self Respect.
The day was hot and the wind was
high and the alSali dust from the sage
brush covered plains sifted into the car
and whitened the stuny upholstering and
burrowed into the nerves of the passen-
gers Everybody longed FOR yhc coming
of night. and the relief Of the climb up
the cool heights OF the Sierras.
/ looked out on the sun-fooded pat
form at Winnemucca and wondered, with
a feeling of irritation against all things
earthly, what | should do with myself
during all the long. hot, and uncomfort-
able hours that were still to be endured
And then saw the big, broad-shouldered
figure and the round, good natured face
OF the NeVadan enter the car and come
straight toward my section. And at once
| forgot the heat and the alkali dust, and
my heart sang with JOY, for ] knew the
NeVadan of old, and knew him for the
prince OF story tcllers. so there was con-
tent in my soul and fore knowledge OF
delightful entertainment with tales new
and old For the Nevadan's old stories
are Just as interesting as his new ones,
because you never recognize them as
ANYTHING you ever heard before. His store
Of yarns is limitless and needs only
listener to set it unwinding. like an end
less cable. warranted to run as long as
his audience laughs.
So the Nevadan talked and / listened
and laughed and felt at peace with the
world And presently he began to tell me
about johnson Sides.
"Of course. you've heard about him
haven't Nou?" he asked. Everybody
who ever lived on either slope Of the ST.
erras must have heard about Johnson.
Wen. johnson Sides is whole lot OF n
man, even II he is only a Piute Indian. II
amt quite fair. though, to speak of him
as only an Indian, for he has developed
into an individual and wears store clothes.
The first time | ever saw Johnson was
away back years ago. when | first went
to Virginia city. Going down street
one day ] stopped to look at some work
men who were eNcaVatiug for the founda-
ton OF "A house. They had been blast
ing and were working away like good
fellows getting the pieces OF rock off the
site On the south side Of the biggest
stone they had removed. where the sun
shone on him and he was sheltered from
the wind, a big Pluto was lying on the
ground and watching the workmen as If
he had been their boss. lie was wrapped
In an army blanket. new but dirty, and
ne wore a fairly good hat and a pair OF
boots without holes. His face and hands
were dirty and his hair hung around his
ears and neck and eyes in that fine dis
order which the Piutes admire.
Il wondered why he was watching the
workmen for II is little short of a mir
acle for a Piute to take any interest
whatever i'm manual labor. SO | spoke to
him. Without paying any attention to
me or what l had said, or even seeming
| to be conscious of my presence, he rose,
Strengthened himself up. threw his head
back, ana said II he were addressing
the world in general: White man work,
white man eat; Injun no work, Injun eat; ;
| white man damn fool.
Il laughed and said: You've struck It,
D -s..l.s ~l...l. .~ssl,
much wisdom as that deserves to be sup
! ported by the community. Here's n dol
llar for you He took the money as dis
painfully as II he had been prince and /
1 a subject paying back taxes, and without
/ once looking at me stalked of down the
street An hour afterward l ran across
Johnson, two other bucks. and a squaw,
sitting on the ground in the sun behind n
/ barn playing poker. Johnson must have
/ ralSed in everything the whole party had,
| for that night the rest of them We're So
| Der and he was whooping drunk. In con-
sequence he got locked up for a while.
The police of Virginia City always gave
Johnson the compliment of locking him
up when he got drunk, for with whiskey
inside of him he was more like a mad
devil than anything else.
After he got out of Jail / saw him
standing around for several days looking
as lordly and unconscious as if he had
been worth n million. But the pangs of
| hunger must have set mis- wits to work.
| For pretty soon he appeared on the
streets with a wrinkled. decrepit old Pr
ute tied to a string. He had fastened the
string to the old fellows arm and he
walked behind, holding the other end,
but apparently as unconscious of the
whole business as If he'd been the sole
inhabitant of Virginia City. He stalked
along with his head in the air, and the old
! fellow trotted on in front until johnson
yanked the string Then they stopped
and the old man began to beg money of
the passers-by, and Johnson turned his
| back on his companion and looked off
down the street, proudly pretending that
! they weren't together If any one gave
| the old man money Johnson took ii at
once and it disappeared somewhere inside
his blanket. Johnson and his prime min
lister, We used to call the combination.
But Johnson wouldn't beg for himself
| oh, no! He was too proud. It's a fact
| never heard of Johnson Sides himself
asking for money, But he kept his prime
minister trotting around for several
weeks, and he never let go the string or
let the old fellow keep a two-bit piece
But johnson was reformed at last
and 1t was the power of the press that
did 1t. Talk about the press as a moral
| agent! Why, bless your soul, when one
newspaper can reform a whole Piute In
dian and make a man of him-well, the
| questions settled, then and there, and the
| pulpit and the platform amt in IL after
that. We didn't try to reform HMM
fact, we'd rather have kept him as he was
at first. He was more amusing But
! the aspirations of Johnson's soul were too
much for us. l used to give him money
sometimes-he was sure to do something
II he got drunk that was worth writing