The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-02-27
WHY NAMED SEQUOIA
Origin Of the Title Given to Cali
fornia's Big Trees.
HONOR TO A FAMOUS INDIAN.

The Wonderful Work Of Joseph Guess
Half Breed Cherokee, Whose Lat
inixsd Name, Thanks to q Generous
Scientist, the Giant Trees Bear.
In CalIfornia's wonderland nothing Is
more interesting or wonderful than the
Sequoia gigantea, which grows along
Sierra Nevada's slopes. and its lesser
cousin sequoIa sempervirens. inhablt-
ing the lands near the coast around
Santa Cruz. "What is the meaning OF
sequoia?" asked Judge. 1T 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-
clature" and stopped. A man on the
street said he guessed It was the
name OF the fellow THAT discovered the
trees" so came to the conclusion that
but few know, and yet the stony is In.
terestlng.
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. very great
man Of whom not one American in a
hundred has ever heard. Joseph Guess,
or Sequoia. half breed Cherokee In.
dian. was born in 170O and possessed
qualities which would have made him
great at any period or among any peo-
pie in the worlds history. Combined
with a 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 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 1900 that
he began the work that was to entitle
him to place among the earth's truly
great. In that year Sequoia's ambition
was fired by the knowledge that the
whites had a method of communication
by means OF writing and hooks and set
out to devise a written language Tor
his own people. When It Is realized
that Sequoia was illiterntc. knew not
a 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 lpodi.
fed some of the letters he found. In
vented others until he had eighty-ave
characters, by means OF which might
be expressed every sound In the Chero-
kee language. Not oniy would tlls
have been impossible with our alpha,
bet, but SO simple was the system that
any one speaking Cherokee might with
In week or two learn to read ana
write It. There are not lacking learned
and distinguished phllOlogists who un-
hesitatingly declare that Sequoia's al
phabet IL the most perfect eyer devils
ed for any language.
He had at first the usual experience
Of inventors. Shafts of ridlcule were
aimed at him, and he even received
violent abuse from many of his tribes
men for his attempts to introduce this
remarkable innovation, but his triumph
came In 1921 In California. He was
then sixty-one years or age. when a
council Of Cherokee chiefs formally
adopted his invention. Soon printing
press was established and quite a
large and varied literature was Its
fruit. while even a newspaper was
printed ID Cherokee by the aid Of Se-
QUOTAS alphabet.
The desire for learning among the
Cherokees was remarkable SO much 80
that In very few months after the
invention was given to the nation thou
sands OF Its members could read and
write. Considering the dlfiicxlties OF
Ills undertaking, ! think we are safe IN
writing the old chief who dleh full Of
honOrs far from home IN Mexico one Of
the greatest OF Americans.
Tennessee has given to the world
many great men. Presidents Jackson.
Polk and Johnson standing In the fore
front. The nation they served has be-
come one OF the frst Of the earth. ana
10 their names are known Of all men.
The people toward whose uplifting Sc
quoIa spent his life are scattered to
the four winds OF heaven. Only RPM
naut remains, and In few more gen.
erations they will be but memory,
and his achievement will be known
only to the curious.
The Old chiefs life work yas not In
vain No life 0f unaaIfnh day0fi0n