Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-09-12
SAW HEAVEN AND HELL.

CherOkees I'm Awe of Tribesman
They Came Near Buryfng.
Tooley Catron, a Cherokee Indian Of
21 or &c years, who declares he has
arisen from the dead, is just now the
center of more attention than Is usual
ly accorded one who has never been
known beyond the narrow confines of
his neighborhOod, says the Muskogee q.
To- correspondent of the New York
Herald.
Not many years ago young Catron
was returning from TahleQuah, a dis
lance of about ten miles from his home.
Travelling on foot, he came to river
and he proceeded to wade across when,
without an instants premonition of i'll
ness, he suddenly fell unconscious on a
gravel bar. There he remained for some
time when he was found by a passer-
by, who, supposing him to be dead, car
ried him to his hut in the forest near
Barren Fork Greek.
There Catron was laid upon his bed
and efforts were made to restore him to
consciousness, but to no avail, and he
was given up for dead.
All the next day he lay stark and
cold and it was decided to bury him
on tho following day Consequently,
preparations for performing the last
offices were begun, but, after all, the
interment was not to be, for before
the sun had arisen OH the day set for
In O6cnn71inS ut ho01n tn
show signs of returning animation, and
by the time the sunbeams were disSi-
pating the mists in the Barren Fork
Valley the supposedly dead man was
very much alive and ready to partake
of food and drink and in a few days, as
strong as usual, was to be seen about
his usual haunts.
But while he was we'll physically as
ever, the processes of Catron's mind
were diverted into other channels.
Whereas he had previous to his I'M
conscious state entered into the COM
monplace conversations Of his compan-
! ions with readiness, he now assumed q
| greatly changed manner of speech. His
demeanor, too, was different. lie as
sumed a more dignified carriage.
All of this was in itself surprising to
his neighbors. already mystifed by his
return from what was supposed by
them to be death, but their surprise was
even greater when CatrOn informed
| them that he had really been dead, had
seen 10th heaven and hell and the posi-
4 -, h.
by the red, white and black races.
His future on earth, he indicated,
would be different from what it had
been In the past. In conversation with
an old acquaintance, CatrOn Informed
him that he (Catron) was like the Lord
in that he, too, had been dead and had
arisen Claiming at first to be man
of business, Catron purchased a suit
case, and, going to yelling, boarded a
train, saying that he intended going to
Washington for the purpose of consult
ing the President on the public ques-
lions Of Importance. However, he did
not make an extended journey, but was
back home in few days, making prep
arations for preaching, and addressed q
large crowd of fullbloods in the noun
tain regions, far down the Illinois
River.
Catron is a slender, dark man Of or
binary appearance and one of the last
that would be supposed to have a "mis
sion" to perform, but his having sc
strangely fallen into what was appar
emily the state of death and having re
turned will, no doubt, cause him to be
regarded with a peculiar veneration
and awe by large bands of his people.