New-York tribune., 1910-01-23

had received. Sickness prevented my returning
to Carlisle to finish my course, when / got
well some months after my companions had re-
turned to the school 1 looked about for a
place.
my father had neglected the farm for the
ready cash that was to be got for shovelllng
coal for a contractor so, taking shovel,
joined my father. Soon 1 able to handle
the work in a way that allowed him to return
to the farm, which better for his health
and better for the land that he owned. 1 took
his position and worked hard until one day my
employer gave me full charge of the coal sta
ton at Laguna. That offered the first opportu-
nifty for me to carry out my desire to do some
thing for my people, and taking advantage or
it [ discharged the Mexicans and Italians, VINO
were always dissatisfied, and hired Indians to
take their places They were a great improve
ment over the others, and this fact worked to
my advantage as well as to theirs.
'"The agent showed greater confidence in me
than before, and not long afterward L was gwen
charge of all the coaling stations from Albu-
querque, n. NJ, to BaSdad Cal AT all OF
these coaling stations put Laguna Indians at
work. procured transportation for their wives
and children to points away from the reserva-
ton and told them 1 wanted them to do their
best to justify my discharging foreigners and
putting real Americans in their places.
Il continued to be on the lookout for every
opportunity to give an Indian work whenever
the chance came, and when later L opened the
shops at Winslow, Ariz, 1 put fifty young IND
ians in the different departments, where they
held positions from wiping engines to firing sta
tionary and switch engines. The shops at
Winslow were so successfully manned that L
given charge of the shops at Gallup, N NJ
and there, too, 1 placed young and able bodied
work their small farms.
THE change that this brought about in the
methods of living among the Indians was little
short of wonderful, and shows truly the prog
ress the Indian is capable of if he is given a
chance. The crude plough and the OK cart are
things of the past, and their places nave peeh
taken by farm wagons and fine steel ploughs'
while an OK is as much a curiosity a horse
or a mule is a necessity. Modern implements
have replaced the clumsy tools of home manu-
facture and even the blanket has been cast
aside for the garments of the white man. The
money earned on the railroads has been put to
the best use in developing farms and forward
ing civilization and it will not be long before
the old Pueblo is a person of the past and the
new Pueblo will be among those who are work.
ing to turn the territory of New Mexico into one
of the first of the United States. the States
which gave me all of the education which L
have and which I trying to make the
most Of
Nor was this case an exceptional one, as the
MANY letters received by Mr.. Friedman demon
strated Others told of what they were doing
with the simple mOdesty which is characteristic
of the Indian yet with a directness that showed
they are working in accordance with the teach
ings they received at Carlisle One who learned
printing in the school shop began as a practical
printer in Seattle, and later became reporter
and writing special stories of Indian life for
newspapers and magazines. He put to his
knowledge of music gained through his con-
nection with the Indian band at Carlisle and
organized brass band among his fellow tribes
men which of the finest in the section
of the Northwest where he lived
Another in Wrangell, Alaska, wrote that he
owned fine house and lot and was a licensed
pilot one of the river boats near his home
Il am using my influence with the parents here
to get them to send their children to school," he
wrote, land 1 am working for the equal dis
tribution of justice to all of my people in this
and neighboring towns I have tried to con-
vince those of my tribe that a man in this coun-
try may be what he desires and that if he
strives he get above his level
From Morris, Mimi, an Indian girl wrote that