The Washington herald., 1907-03-17

{
aboriginal anccstress was a full blooded
Delaware woman. and. as Quay used tc
say. woman OF great personal force
and more than ordinary mental powers.
He was himself thoroughly familiar with
all the Delaware traditions as handed
down from father to son and from mother
| to daughter for generations. Barring
Senator Curtis and Senator Morgan. of
Alabama, who lived among the Indians
when a boy, there probably never was a
member Of the Upper House Of Congress
who knew as much Of Indian lore as
Quay.
he had a great collection of Indian
relics, which included several examples
of old-time Delaware costumes. Some
times he arrayed himself in one of these,
and once. not many years before his
death, he had himself photographed when
so arrayed.
Senator Quay undoubtedly often felt
that longing for the wilderness which has
{ been termed "the call Of the wild" and
+ he attributed the longing TO his Indian
blood. He used sometimes, when fishing
in the summer season TO get entirely
away from the members OF whatever
party he was WITH stretch himself out
I in the sun and lie dreaming Of the free
life of his savage ancestors by tie hour.
He used to tell his friends that these
solitary. sun-bathcd hours were among
the pieasantest in his whole life.
Matthew Stanley Quay was IA good sol
dieT as well as politician. His career as
/ Il soldier In the civil war was practically
/ forgotten during the later years OF his
life, but he was one Of the comparatively
few 20 whom a medal OF honor was
granted by the government because of
| conspicuous bravery on the field, shown
at Fredericksburg, Va, December 13, 1868.
! He never would talk about it to any but
his most intimate friends, however, and
only rarely even TO them.
/ He was In the battle of Gettysburg.
serving as a minor officer. and was sent
with a number Of men 10 hold an exposed
| spot on hill. his orders being to remain
there till recalled. Having given the or
der. the officer who gave il promptly for
got ell about IT, Quay didn't forget, how
ever nor did he fail to hold the position.
II was a gTilling job. however, and al
though he was uuscathed after It was all
over every other man in his little band
was killed or wounded by the witherHg
storm of missiles that passed over the
spot
Night drew on and the hail Of death
ceased, the next day dawRed and Quay
still was forgotten. Then in the gray light
of the morning he was seen, a grim, soIi-
tary figure on the hilltop.
Go up and see who that man IS" the
general ordered. A messenger soon learned
the facts and returned to the general, but
alone
why doesn't he come in?" asked the
]
/ with the order to retire. for which Quay
had been waiting all night.
Most Noted Indian in the Land.
Pleasant Porter. sometimes called Gen.
Porter, has been the most noted Indian In
the land for many years. He is chief Of
the Greek tribe. and 1t wes largely his ef-
forts that brought about the allotment Of
the tribal lands in severalty to the Creeks.
the Choctaws, the Cherokees, and the
! Chickasaws a few years ago He often
has been mentioned as a full-blooded In
dian, but this is not the case; mis- father
was half white. though his mother was a
full-blooded Creek woman. He got his
/ pseudo title Of general" when a so-called
rebellion OF certain dissatisfied Creeks oc-
CURED some years ago. When he learned
Of the disturbance he headed the party
that went out 20 subdue the rebels. Q"
/ They had so much respect FOR him that
they disbanded without ceremony.
That uprising was known as the Spar
recker insurrection OF 1884. He previously
had quelled the Loche Harie insurrection
of 1876 and the Sand insurrecuon Of 1872
/ There have been no Creek uprisings in
twenty-three years, and the Creeks now
! have assumed citizenship and given I'D
/ their tribal existence. Porter was a Con
federate soldier in the civil war. and he
/ behaved 50 we'll that he rose TO a lieu
/ tenancy. After the war he went into
farming and cattle raising. and he is now
a rich man, verging upon sixty, well edu-
Gated, polished, carefully dressed always
rather above the middle height, and show
4 ing his Indian blood IN his slightly COP
/ perry complexion only.
/ As the intermediary between his tribe
/ and the government. Chief Porter has
I been a familiar figure i'm Washington for
many years and not an infreQuent visitor
/ TO New York. He is an elder in the Pres
/ byterian Church at Muskegee, Ind T.
/ and has served at least once as a delegate
/ to the Presbyterian general assembly.
/ He IS also "A Knight Templar and has
taken the thirty-third degree in Masonry.
/ Last fall he figured as one Of the incor-
Iporators and president Of the Indian Cen
/ tral Railroad Company. which is to con-
meet the Kansas system OF the Missouri
Pacific with the tTanscontinental lines in
Texas The line will tap great fields of
/ oil and mineral wealth and the ternini
are Ponca Ind. T., and Paris. Tex.
/ Senator Curtis admits that he has for
Igotten how 10 talk Injun," but Chief
Porter has not. and while he speaks Eng
/ lish better than most men, he still does
much OF his thinking. he says, in Creek
/ He likes New York. St Louis. Washing
/ ton. and other big cities for short visits.
/ but prefers the free Western land in
which he was born as a residence and
always leaves the town for the country
without regret. He tells good stories and
plenty of them, but. Ike Lincoln's, they
always illustrate Il point.
He is also close observer of nature and
seems TO understand the thoughts" of an
imals. Discussing dogs one day with the
superintendent of the Indian Territory
schools two or three years ago. the chief
said that the dog which runs barking
after a railroad train has his own point
of view.
THE dog takes after the train" said
Porter. believing that it should be chased
out of the country. He leaves off when
thu train gets clear OF his territory. His
task is then accomplished. and he is per-
fect'y happy.
CHEF Porter is gentleness itself in speech
and manner and is sometimes highly
amused by the Indian Of stage and fiction.
sometimes grieved. He owns a complete
chiefs costume, feathers and all. and
sometimes wears it, paint and all The
society women Of New York sometimes
wear paint and feathers. too" he said
once when the trappings Ct the savage
were being freely criticised.
No American Indian since the day of
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