Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-02-26

patient, burden-bearing Mary walking
silently and cheerfully behind US.
Whenever l saw the girl look at her
husband, there shone in her dark eyes
the divine light OF love, as frank and
| pure and simple as the love of the
first woman for the first man. And !
felt sad foreboding. What would
she do-this woman OF the wilds who
had laid her heart al the feet of this
man-when the inevitable came? For
surely, when his mining claim should
be worked out, he would leave the dis.
NAL reaches of forest solitude. civiliza-
ton would stretch out its luxurious
arms TO him again, and, with the gold
he had dug from the frozen earth, he
would go back to the city. And then
what of Mary?
BY the time we had reached the
door of his shack, l had brought the
conversation around TO this delicate
point.
Lets not talk about that" said the
squaw man in low tone. 81 try never
to think of It. 1t may be that 1 shall
live here always" AS he spoke saw
wistful look in his eyes-the look Of
a man whose heart was yearning city
ward.
Mary deposited her pack inside and
looked out at him with the happy love
and faith of trusting woman. She
did not see the sword suspended above
her head; but l saw it, and as walk
ed away, pitied her.
Two years later saw my Alaskan
squaw man in San Francisco. He was
just coming out of a theatre with a
matinee crowd. By his side was a
beautifully dressed young woman
whom he was helping into a cab. He
did not seem to be thinking Of Mary. 4
but perhaps he was.
AS an Alaskan example of another
sort, we have George w. Carmack. the
man who discovered gold IN the Klon-
dixie and staked the first claim on Bo-
nanza creek. A year before Carmack
made his great discovery. he had TAX
en- up his abode with the Chilcoots at
Dyea and married one OF them. He
liked the life with the Indians and
nothing pleased him better than TO be
called "Siwash George"
To sum up the case for the squaw
man. l should say that 1t must be
clear, from the various and widely diff
fering examples have cited. that there
can be no valid objection TO him as a
member of society per sc. where his
marriage-his legal marriage-to the
woman of his choice is based upon
real affection Moreover. as I have
said, the distinct gain to the race in
elemental strength and in stature
should not be overlooked.
The revolt against the mingling Of
races is perhaps an instinct Of race
But there seems no rea-
son TO maintain it consciously when
the results are proved to be good rath-
er than bad. And, while such racial
mixtures as those of Caucasian with
oriental or African blood do not, as
has been shown by chronological re-
search, produce good results, the proud
of Pocahontas have true
reason for their pride and. as the
years roll by, so will those of the
Sioux. the Seminoles and the Mo
hawks whose fathers were white men.
NAL. wholesome member of society.
But, on the other hand the squaw man
seeking only for the fleshpots-he who
never marries-is generally as mean
and low a voluptuary as any other car
nal creature-white. black or red. He
is an Offense to society; and II is be-
cause Of him that the term "squaw
man" became one of opprobrium For
in the early days In the west white
men rarely married the Indian women
with whom they lived. But now. save
in Alaska. and in sporadic cases in
the western states. conditions have
to a wholesome responsibility.
Every little while on the reservations
one hears of a wedding that might
seem to the fastener highly romantic.
or highly repulsive. according to his
point of view. but 10 which local peo-
pie and local practice give liberation,
II not free sanction.
For westerners are agrarian in the
broad sense of the term, and when a
ranchman hears OF
James Tompkins marrying Mary Run
ming Horse, he thinks Of the 100 acres
Of land that go with the matrimonial
bargain and of the other like tracts
that will go to each of their children:
and so. on meeting the bridegroom, he
shakes him heartily by the hand and
says:
Good boy. Jim! May you be very
happy with your Indian wife and raise
4 big family"
Lewis Single Binder - the famous
straight cent cigar, always best