Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-01

1
| concern assumed the cost of getting the
company together and supplying it's out
| fit, though, If successful, this initial out
| lay might be more than made up by the
sales of the manager on the road When
the company was once started It was
expected to pay its own expenses from
the sale of medicine. Indeed. the man.
! ager of the company was called upon
to make weekly reports to the home
! Office. and his credit there for medicine
would be extended only to a safe limit.
! The travelling company was conveyed
| from place to place usually by hired
teams. as it was customary to work IN
sections remote from the railroads and
=, navigable streams, though both of these
| means Of carriage were made use OF
when practicable. In summer Inc shows
were given in a tent and in winter In
empty barn. as circumstances might
prompt.
X
The shows consisted of songs, dances,
monologue and vaudeville acts by the
white comedians and dances and the ex-
hibition of their tribal customs by the
Indians. The companies might have
three comedians and six Indians. Some
times one or more Of the white men or
Indians would have his wife with him.
giving the company two or more women
as the case might be. Their services
were utilized in giving the shows.
The principal idea Of this travelling
show was to advertise the Indian med
icine and at each performance the man
ager delivered to the audience a snort
talk on the virtues of the remedies he
had for sale, his lecture usually including
description of certain diseases their
symptoms and cure. The lecturer was
supposed to have some knowledge OF med
icine and was often a physician. He had
a small tent beside the larger show tent,
where he kept Office hours for consulta-
ton with the afflicted Of the community.
A part of the system was to distribute
printed matter generously, and after q
pretty we'll flooded with the iitsrature o.
the medicine concern represented. The
remedies would find their way into many
families, and more or less OF perma-
nent demand for the medicine would be
created. This method of advertising was
found effective from 1850 down to about
1880, when the multiplication of trans
portation facilities made the circulation
Of newspapers SO general that advertis-
ing patent medicines in their columns
Supplanted the ftinerant companies even
In the west and southwest.
The Maryland man who spent more
than thirty years on the road with one Of
these companies said the travel over the
country, WITH long StOQS, giving OppOT-
tunity to meet the people and often make
their acquaintance, had a peculiar charm
and satisfied to the full the wandering in
stinct which many men possess. When
medicines of some merit were sold. he
said. the communities visited were ben
friends scattered all over the United
States whom he had restored to health
and with whom he has had occasional
correspondence through the intervening
years.
Naturally, such a nomadic life brought
to those participating in it many strange
and some thrilling experiences. Storm
and flood they constantly met, the winter
blizzard was almost yearly their portion.
They were sometimes the victims Of
hoodlums and had to fight for self protec-
ton. At rare intervals the hostility of
the community visited would be aroused
and force exerted to drive them away.
Once the manager was thrown into
prison. and several times the outfit was
attached for unpaid bills contracted when
success did not attend the venture in
some place visited. Two or three times
the tents were wrecked and once COM
pletely destroyed by tornado. A rail-
road wreck killed two of the company
out in Texas, and the boiler of steam
point to another in Arkansas blew up
In South America it was sometimes diff
cult to get along because of imperfect
knowledge OF the language and the GUS
toms of the people. but in Nc Xico and
Brazil the Indians attracted great at
tention and made themselves understood
generally by means of tier sign Ian
guage.
The Indian show, as described by the
ex-manager. was interesting feature
OF the program anywhere. They gen
orally exhibited some Of the customs of
their tribe, especially the dress worn by
the II warriors at different times. One OF
them would be painted as his tribesmen
appt AIRED on the warpath. The medicine
dance was an important part OF the
weeks program, and usually the greater
part OF one evening would be given up to
it. One of the Indians dressed as the
medicine man of his tribe. and the mean
ing of his actions was explained to the
audience by the lecturer as the show pro-
coeded. The medicine man showed how
the herbs were brewed and PREPARED. q
tripod and kettle being in the center OF
the stage for the purpose. The medicine
man first entered and made his powwow
over the boiling herbs. satisfying himself
that they had been stewed to the proner
degree. Then the remaining Indians. rem
reSenting the tribe, would enter perform
the medicine dance and drink of the
herbs from the hand Of the medicine man
III true aboriginal fashion
Il
AS an accessory, of the show the lee
turer gave a short talk describing how
the Indians collected herbs banks. roots
and gums. He pointed out their special
virtues and told the method of curing
the medicines. Some were cut when the
sap was in the top. others when 1t was
in the root. 1t appears that the Indians
observed the medicine dance twice each
year. in spring and fall, at the change of
the seasons. and in the course of the
festivities drank great quantities of stew
ed herbs. intended to tone up the physi-
Cal system for the weather changes about
to occur. The lecturer dwelt upon the eff
fcacy of these natural medicines and
generally gathered in good harvest of
sales in connection with the Indian medi-
cine dance.
At other performances the Indians pre-
scented their war dance. the green corn
dance. showed the marriage custom, if a
squaw happened to be with the company.
and a good many of their religious cere.
xryit in, oh