davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15
Story of an Odd Ceremony Performed Among the
Usage Indians in the Indian Territory

demanded, stepped forth from the tee
pee in neat fitting suit of broadcloth,
white shirt, standing collar tie, patent
leather shoes and a Derby hat A
loud objection was made to rnIs by the
fullbloods, who thought he should have
observed all of thier customs. A com.
mittee of the head men of the tribe
went to him and urged him to don the
blanket and feathers. He refused.
They insisted and he finally told them
plainly that he was there to be mar
ried and he was going to wear the
clothing of the white man. He also
added that if they did not like his plan
they could go to place hotter than
the Usage reservation. A council of
the committee was held and Bonnie
castle won his point. Here the groom
introduced another feature not on~the
program and not in accordance with
the traditional customs, but no objec-
tons were made to it by the Indians.
After the argument about the groom s
dress was settled, a priest stepped out
of the crowd of white people and per-
formed the rites of the Catholic church.
The Indian ceremony was then resum-
ed and the races were called.
Sassy Calf, mounted upon fine
horse belonging to the groom, rode
about 200 yards from the crowd and
fired a gun. This was the signal for
the start of the race for the groorns
horse, saddle and gun, and the con-
testants in this race can be only rela-
tives of the groom. AS BonIiecastle
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

ent time three-fifths of the gold pro-
duced is taken from ths' quartz veins
and cement deposits, and the greater
PARTON has to be treated by various
processes for freeing the gold from
| base metals
When the great bonanza was opened
up on the Comstock vein mining had
no past history by which the American
miners could be guided In the little
that had been done in California the
mining had been used.
Mexico had been mining gold for
| 200 years, but she had done nothing
but surface work. and her machinery
had not progressed beyond the arastre
and patio. process, crude methods of
grinding the ore and amalgamating the
| gold and silver which are sufficiently
typical of the times to be described
| The arastre by means of which the
ore was crushed consisted of a stone
bottomed pan with a frame of wood
some ten feet in diameter. Inside the
pan were heavy stone drags attached
with rawhide to arms which extended
over the framework. Horses or mules
were hitched to the free end of the
arm and driven around and around,
crushing the ore under the drags as
they went.
After the ore was crushed in the
arastre it went through the patio pro-
cess OF amalgamation. In this process
the crushed ore with the quicksilver
was put into an enclosure paved with
stone, and surrounded with stone
wall. Horses and mules were let in
and driven around until the gold or
silver had amalgamated with the
quicksilver. The quicksilver was then
drained off, squeezed and retorted.
Early Stamp Mills.
Previous to the discovery of the
Comstock mines the arastre has been
superseded in California by a crude
stamp mill which crushed about one
ton of ore to the stamp in twenty-four
hours The stamp was of wood with
an iron shoe, and dropped about forty
times minute on piece of cast iron
placed on a mortar block and inclosed
| in wood.
This stamp mill, with the patio pro-
cess, was employed on the Comstock
| but the patio process could not be
used at profit where labor was high,
as it was there.
The American miners felt that they
were unable to handle the difficulty
alone and sent to Europe for experts.
The Europenan mining schools sent
their best material to the Comstock,
and the machinery was imported
which had been adequate to work the
gold mines of Europe and Africa, but
failure was the result, and the outlook
for vein mining was very dark.
The Americans then solved the prob
lem for themselves. They saw that
what was needed was ilabor-saving ma
chinery and they proceeded to provide
it.
Rapid advance was made in mining
machinery and in all methods of hand
ling ore. The wooden stamp was re-
placed by steel stamps which dropped
100 times minute and crushed five
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

eligible young men at the reservation.
The young man said this was like pur-
chasing steers, but he left the arrange
ages the lover never enters into the
trade, but some 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 Sas-
sy Calf, near relative of the girl, and
told him of the desires of his brother.
Sassy Calf at once assumed the role of
matchmaker and sent out word that
upon certain day he would receive
bids for the hand, if not the heart, Of
Angie Penn. Upon the day set four
young bucks, all accompanied by their
relatives. appeared at the home of Sas-
sly Calf. A feast was served and the
relatives of tn young men squatted in
a circle, in the center Of which stood
Sassy Calf, ready to conduct the sale.
Previous to this, the young men had
been allowed an opportunity of taking
a look at the girl, but were not al
lowed to talk to her. Each made up
his mind just how much wife of that
kind was worth to him and notified his
relative how much to bid before drop
ping out Of the game. Bonniecastle
told his brother that he wanted the
girl and to outbid all of the others.
The bidding was spirited, but Bon.
Necessities brother was declared the
successful purchaser. The proceeds of
the sale went to the girls relatives and
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

| tons of ore to the stamp every twenty
| four hours.
The Pan Process.
The pan process of amalgamation,
in which the mixing and amalgamation
are accomplished by mechanical
means. replaced the old patio process
and where, with that process fifty pc
ons and 100 horses and mules had been
employed, an eighty horse power en-
CINE did the work.
| High explosives were introduced
and high speed hoists and mining
| cages were invented, all of which
made it possible to mine and hoist
with one 200 horse power engine, 1000
tons of ore from depth of 1900 feet
in one day. With improved pumps
and pumping machinery the water
problem was solved.
| In five years, with this ma chinery, a
body Of ore was exhausted, which with
| Mexican methods, would have employ
ed thousand horses and mules and
1000 poems for 100 years.
1 Most of the ores of this country re-
.quire the treatment of fire before the
precious metal can be extracted from
the base, yet. during the first two
years neither roasting nor smelling
processes were used on the Comstock
and as consequence, fully 40 per
cent of the gold and silver values were
lost. The same waste was character.
istic of all American mining of that
period. During the first years of Cal
ifornia gold mining % per cent of the
gold was lost.
In Europe the reverberatory furnace
was being used for this purpose. 1t
was finally introduced here, but the
method was found too tedious and
costly to be applied to the ore Of this
country.
| What was needed was an automatic
| roast furnace, and after the failure of
the reverberatory several automatic
furnaces were invented and tried.
| They We're all built on the same, lines
and while they were an improvement
on the reverberatory they still con-
tanned numerous defects.
Roasting Furnaces.
The process through which the ore
went was substantially as follows:
First, dampness was eliminated, then
It"ASAA q lSAapSldIulC VI lUU uCSlSSS
was reached the sulphur took fire and
passed off as sulphurous acid, next
the arsenic fused and passed off in
fumes.
AS the ore reached still greater
heat, chlorine, formed from the salt,
which had been introduced with the
ore, formed volatile chlorides of anti
mony and zinc blende and fixed chlor-
ides of silver. The gold was then.
| free.
This method was successful in the
treatment of silver ore The working
of silver was cheapened and the out
put greatly increased.
The furnaces were not so satisfacto-
ry in treating gold ores, however. 1t
was found that from 10 to so per cent
of the gold values, varying with the
character of ore, was lost from volatili-
cation, which occurred when the met
al came into contact with the flames,
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

toward defraying the expenses of the
wedding. The amount finally agreed
upon forithis girl was $500 in cash for
the wedding feast, a racehorse, known
as Hoodoo, and valued at $3.50, and fif-
teen good Indian ponies, valued at
$3.50. The horse Hoodoo was to go to
Sassy Calf, the matchmaker, and the
fifteen Indian ponies were to go to the
guests atsthe wedding.
Her Husband Stranger.
The bride was not even told who
was to be her husband. All she knew
was that she was going to be married
and that is. considered enough for any
Indian woman The order for the
BRIDES ;trousseau was given to the
Delaware Indians who live east. of the
Usage reservation and who are adopts
at Indian needle and. fancy work. 1t
was the most elaborate ever worn by
an Usage bride and its cost was near.
ly $1,500.
During the preparations the bride
was not willing to be married. She
feared she was to be married to some
blanketed buck and such husband
did not suit her progressive ideas. Her
objections were not taken into consid-
GRAFTON by the relatives and little at
tention was paid to her.
The day for the wedding arrived and
all the Indians were in attendance at
the Indian camp near Pawhuska. They
had arrived several days before the
date, and were enjoying a season of
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

An elaborate Indian wedding,
thought by many of the tribe to be
the last of the kind that will ever be
celebrated, took place a few months
ago among the Usage Indians on the
Usage reservation in the Indian Ter
ritory. The ceremony was the most
elaborate that ever occurred in the
tribe. At one point in the midst of
the ceremony it looked for a time as if
the affair would be declared off be-
cause the groom refused absolutely to
attire himself in blanket and red paint
and because he insisted on having a
priest pronounce the words of the
white mans marriage contract be-
tween himself and his dusky maiden
bride.
The contracting parties were Ar
thur Bonniecastle, full blood Usage
and Angie Penn. The bride has a
small strain of white blood. Nearly
800 white persons and the Indians in
the district were there.
When Arthur Bonniecastle was 8
years old his parents died and he was
sent to the Usage Mission in Kansas,
and later to the Carlisle institute,
where he was graduated with high
honors.
When the first call for volunteers in
the last war was made he enlisted and
saw service in Cuba. He went to
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15
Yellow Metal for Which Men Risk all Is Lost by mperfec
Machinery Many Improvements
Demanded. #@. -

preston was that the appliances then
IN use saved practically all the gold
contained in the gravel. In time it
was demonstrated that rs per cent of
all the gold contained in the aurifer-
GUS gravel deposits was float gold -
SO termed because it floated on the
water. 1t could not be brought into
contact with quicksilver, and for years
it was a total loss.
On the North Bloomfield mine in
Nevada county, California, for instance
several shafts were sunk to bedrock
in order to test the gravel. Experts
! agreed that its actual value was 90
cents cubic yard and estimated that
40 to 60 per cent of this could be say.
ed in sluices.
Experiments with the problem of
roasting ores have continued however.
TWO muf1e furnaces are now being in
troduced in Colorado, in the practical
working of which the mining world
is much interested. The furnaces are
built on the same lines and differ prin-
cipally in mechanical construction.
The heat is applied to the outside of
the cylinder, so that the flames do not
come in contact with the ore. The ore
| is fed into the cylinder and carried
through In detail by automatic means
No draft is used. and no more oxygen
is permitted to enter than will be con.
sumed by the fire. AS a consequence
any gold which is volatilized remains
with the ore and is discharged with
lit.
| The loss of the sulDhurets which
were carried away in the water from
the stamps was another source OF
great loss. Soon, however, mechan-
ical concentration was invented which
was capable of working twenty tons
a day.
BY means of this concentration met
ais containing the values were separat-
ed from the gangue even when these
metals had specific gravity of only
from one to one and a half greater
than the gangue. These concentrates
We're then worked up to a high per
cent by the chlorination process.
BY The time these processes and de-
vices had been perfected, practically
all the gold mined from veins was be-
ing saved with the exception of that
which 1loated in water and could not
De prougnt IN contact with quicksilver.
DrywashIne Method.
Placer mining had in the meantime
been progressing with equal rapidity.
When the American placers were first
discovered Mexicans fiocked into the
country, and as they had had much eX-
perience with placer mining, the Amer
lean miners were prepared to profit
by their teaching.
J Their principal method, however,
was drywashing, and would not answer
at all with the new placers. The
miners worked for some time with
pick shovel and pan, and managed to
make make good wages where the diggings
were rich.
| Soon the Cinnamon came with the
rocker, decided Improvement over
the pan. The Long Tom was the next
improvement. The writer remembers
walking twenty miles one Sunday to
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

had only one relative, his brother, the
race was easily won by him. Then the
buggy, in which the bride had been
taken to the teepee, was drawn out
about 200 yards from the crowd and
another gun was fired. Nearly every
squaw present was in this race, as it
is a sort of a free for all, and any OF
the women are at liberty to run If they
desire. The first one to the buggy won
it. e--4l~
Gifts to the Guests.
The fifteen ponies given by the
groom for the bride were given away.
some to the relatives of the bride and
some to the white persons in attend-
ance. The best part Of the ceremony,
to the Indians, was yet to come The
feast had been prepared and all sat
down to eat The bride and groom
sat at the head of the table on the
ground surrounded by their relatives
and those who had taken part in the
marriage, while all of the other Indi-
ans sat around and stuffed themselves
with the eatables provided with the
$500 paid by the groom
At this wedding feast both the bride
and the groom partook Of the food at
once. The bride has about $4,000
worth of property, besides her share
in the tribes general money and her
annuity from the government. Bonnie
castle has about $4,000. A featuresof
the ceremony was the refusal Of the
Indians to be photographed and not q
camera was allowed in the Indian
camp.
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

| the strong draft In the furnace carry
| ing the volatile gold off in fumes.
All metals, with the exception of
platinum, are volatile, and gold in GER
tain combines is the most volatile of
all. In telluride of gold, for example,
which has been found to contain Sc
per cent gold, although not trace of
metallic gold could be found with the
most powerful glass, the gold passes
off with the tellurium in the form of
yellow vapor at a temperature of $50
degrees Ordinarily gold does not
fuse until 2,l00 degrees of heat is ap-
piled.
4 At the time that the automatic fur
naces We're being introduced the chlor-
! ination process was being put into
successful operation in California. In
this process, in which gold is extract
ed from the auriferous material by
means of chlorine gas, it is necessary
/ to roastiall ores containing sulphurets
and arseniurets.
itAutomatic Furnace.
An attempt was made to use the
automatic furnace here, but the loss
of gold was so great that it was found
more, economical to use the old rever-
beratory furnace, which, though ex-
pensive and tedious, was free from the
Objectionable draft. Chlorination
plants today are Still using this fur
mace and stirring the ore by hand.
In the early SOS, hydraulics were
first employed in placer mining. In
the beginning of the industry a canvas
hose, some six inches in diameter
capable of standing pressure of
from thirty to forty pounds, with noz.
zle about one and one-half inches in
diameter. was used. With this hose
four or. five times the, amount of gray
ell one man could handle could be
washed down into the sluices.
Not content with this Improvement
iron pipes capable OF standing pres
sure of 500 pounds were introduced.
To the end Of these pipes a nozzle six
inches in diameter was attached.
Construction Of sIuices.
Sluices were constructed from two
to four feet wide, into which the wa
ter from the hydraulic washed the
gravel as it was broken down. These
sluices were fitted with undercurrents
rifles, grizzlies and all the gold-saving
appliances then in use,
Through these iron pipes 5000 min
,er's inches of water could be forced
"a power greater than that required to
I run one of the largest modern battle
ships The hardest cement melted be-
fore this mighty stream, and whole
mountains of gravel found in the old
| Pliocenes channels were washed down.
Hydraulic mining dseon filled up the
rivers in which theiTefuse was dump
! ed, and the valleys for fifty miles be-
low the mines were covered with sedi-
ment.l This wroughtisuch havoc with
the farm, lands, that the farmers APP
piled to the COURTS and "a permanent
injunction stopped ak hydraulic min
ing in California and with it, one-half
the gold production Of the state.
In place as lin vein mining much of
the precious metal was lost in the first
years of the industry, though the i'm
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

China, with his regiment and was the
second man over the walls of Pekin.
For this service he wears a medal, CIV
en- him by the United States govern
ment. He was transferred to the Phil
ippines with his regiment and served
there until nine months ago, when he
was honorably discharged and left the
service as first sergeant of his COM
pany. Six months ago he went to the
reservation, the home of his boyhod.
To him all the manners and customs of
his people were new and it required
some little time for him to again ac-
quire the Usage language, although he
speaks English, French and Spanish
He is the ideal type of the Indian
tall, straight as an arrow and is alb
solutely honest. go
A Beautiful Woman.
Angie PENIS beauty is known from
one end of the reservation to the other.
There is not a more beautiful Indian
woman in the country than She She
is IL years old, and her husband is "a.
One day, while at the agency at Paw
huska, he saw the girl, told his brother
about her and informed him that he
was going to call upon her. This was
one of the manners he had learned
while in the white mans country, but
it is not the custom of the Indian.
Henry Bonniecastle, the brother, ex-
planned that in order to secure the
woman of his choice he must buy her,
and also that he probably would have
to bid at an auction sale against other
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15
Where Gold IS Wasted Y

There is no business so difficult to
master as the mining of precious min
erals, and none in which the practical
experience counts for so much, nor in
which SO much of progress is due to
bhe practical worker. In every in
stance 1T has been the scientist who
las followed, and the miner who has
broken the path with pick and shovel.
The United States has had no small
share in this empirical progress. Deep
vein and hydraulic mining, and the
whole host OF improvements in mining
machinery which made possible the
great gold protection of the last half
century, were first tried in the United
states, and today mining machinery
the world over is of American inven-
zion and American make.
Much of the large production of gold
in the United States is due to the great
body of the metal contained in the
gold fields which deep vein and n.y.
draulic mining lay bare, but even more
is due to the Introduction of machin-
cry for working low grade, refrac-
tory ores, and processes for saving
flour gold, gold too fine to be saved by
washing and it is to the perfection
of this machinery that the country
must look largely for continuance of
her supply of the precious metal
The Investment Side.
Forty years ago ore paying less than
SIS to the ton was considered of no
value; now ore paying $1.50 a ton is
worked at a profit. Mining investment
has laid many trap for the unwary
Ind consequently capitalists are apt
10 entertain prejudice against invest
ments in gold mining and yet in the
opinion of expert engineers there is
no other industry in which $50, 900 900
could be invested with such certainty
Of return.
In the United States alone there is
a great quantity of low grade refrac-
tory gold ore and in the gravel depos-
its and unlimited supply of float gold.
With the investment of enough money
to perfect machinery and processes
to work these at a profit the gold pro-
duction of the country could be dou-
bled in ten years, it is asserted.
1t was deep mining and placer min
Ing by hydraulics in the United States
with their consequent great production
OF gold, that first called the attention
of miners to the enormous waste Of
gold under the old processes and caus-
ed the production of machinery to
save this gold.
Deep vein mining had been carried
on in California on a small scale since
the early SOS but it. was not until 1858
with the discovery of the Com stock
vein in Nevada, that deep mining be.
came regular industry. When these
mines were first discovered they were
believed to be only surface deposits
no thought of their containing in depth
was entertained. This was entirely in
keeping with the experience and theo-
ries of the Anne.
Mining Succeeds PIacering.
Up to that time seven-eighths of
the gold mined in the world had been
taken from the placers. At the pres
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

Judge Thomas did everything he could
to bring this about but he was unable
to do so and finally Mr.. Cousins was
convinced that he could not secure
the selection of his candidate, Mr..
Dawley, and threw his vote to Reed.
Judge BirdsaH whose interests in the
struggle were not particularly strong
after the withdrawal of Mr.. Longville
of Dubuque was then persuaded to
come over from Mr.. Healy and these
two votes with. the votes of Senator Al
lison and Mr.. Haugen which had been
with Reed from the start, gave him
the necessary four to win. The recon-
mendation to the President will be
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

tenth district, has had one or two long
conferences with Secretary Shaw
lately. 1t is intimated that these talks
may have something to do with the
congressional situation in the tenth.
This is Secretary Shaw's old home,
too, and the secretary has many friends
there among whom there might an.
pear opposition to Mr.. Conner provided
there was any opposition at all. 1t is
said that recent talk of possible op-
position has brought Judge Connor
many letters assuring him of support
and asking him to stand for renomina-
ton. Judge Connor is universally adj
mired and respected in Washington
Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-03-15

had no right to send that way
through the mails. The fellow exhib-
tied certain mail packages still sealed
as alleged proof. Col. Hepburn was
astounded at the mans audacity and
in his mast vehement and forcesnl
manner soon cleared UP affairs as far
as he was concerned and furthermore
turned the tables on the liquor man by
asking him how he happened to have
the mailed packages in his possession.
There seemed to be strong evidence
that the mails had been tempered with
and if Col. Hepburn decides to push
the matter there may be further de.
yelopments.