The Holly chieftain., 1908-03-06
WHY NAMED SEQU0|A
Origin Of the Title Given to Cali.
fornia's Big Trees.
HONOR TO A FAMOUS INDIAN.

The Wonderful Work Of Joseph ousss,
Halt orssd Cherokee, Whose Lat.
tnixsd Name. Thanks to . Generous
Scientist. the Giant Trees Bear.
In California's wonderland nothing Il
more interesting or wonderful than the
Sequoia gigantea. which grows along
Sierra Nevada's slopes. and Its lesser
cousin sequoia sempervirens. inhabit-
ing the lands near the coast around
Santa Crux- "What is the meaning Of
sequoia? ! asked a Judge. ut is un
doubtedly Of Latin derivation. but
fail to remember its Significance" was
the judicial reply. The physician de-
clared 1t well chosen scientific nomen-
cature" and stopped. man on the
street said he guessed 1t was the
name Of the fellow that discovered the
trees" 80 / came to the conclusion that
but few know. and yet the story is In
teresting.
A long time ago. as the story books
say. there lived near famous old Fort
London. in east Tennessee, not far
from the Georgia line. a very great
man Of whom not one American In q
hundred has ever heard. Joseph Guess,
or Sequoia. half breed Cherokee In
dian, was born in 1760 and possessed
qualities which would have made him
great at any period or among any peo-
pie in the worlds history. Combined
with q powerful creative intellect were
indomitable energy. application, per-
sistence. that no encouragement could
affect. and firm confidence in his own
ability to overcome obstacles. In his
youth he acquired distinction In his
tribe as a craftsman In silver, his
handiwork showing not only technical
skill In execution, but unusual ingenu-
ity and originality Of design.
1t was not, however, until 1909 that
he began the work that was to entitle
him to place among the earths truly
great. In that year Sequoia's ambition
was fred by the knowledge that the
whites had a method of communication
by means of writing and books and set
out to devise written language for
his own people. When 1t Il realised
that sequoia was illiterate, knew not
single letter of the English alphabet,
had no basis in his own language to
build upon, the stupendous difficulties
Of the task he set for himself may
well be imagined. He began his great
work without doubt Of his ultimate
success, with the superb faith that be-
longs only to the great. From an old
English spelling book he copied all the
letters, giving to each sound, modi-
ned some Of the letters he found. in
vented others until he had eighty-nve
characters, by means Of which might
be expressed every sound in the Chero-
kee language. Not only would this
have been impossible with our alpha
bet but % simple was the system that
any one speaking Cherokee might with
IN . week or two learn to read and
write 1t. There are not lacking learned
and distinguished philologists who ua-
hesitatingly declare that Sequoia's a.
phabet u the most perfect ever dsv1s-
Cd for any language.
he had at nrst the usual experieaos
e inventors. Shafts Of ridicule were
aimed at him, and be even received
violent abuse from many Of his tribes
men for bis attempts to introduce this
remarkable innovation, but his triumph
came in 1921 in California. He was
then sixty-one years Of age, whsa Z
council Of Cherokee chiefs formally
adopted his invention. Soon printing
press was established, and quite .
large and varied literature was It.
fruit, while even q Newspaper was
printed In Cherokee BY the aid Of D.
quotas alphabet
The desire for learning among the
Cherokees was remarkable. 70 much 70
that in . very few months after the
invention was given to the nation thou
sands Of its members could read and
writs. Considering the dimculties Of
his undertaking, think we are safe In
writing the old chief who died full Of
honors far from home in Mexico one Of
the greatest of Americans.
Tennessee has given to the wsrld
many great men, Presidents Jachsoa.
Polk and johnson standing In the fore
front. The nation they served has b.
come one Of the drst Of the earth, and
% their names are known Of all men.
The people toward whose uplifting g.
quota spent his life are scattered to
the four winds Of heaven. Only q rem