Bismarck daily tribune., 1915-12-22
MONTANA GIRL IS
SOLD BY GYRis|ES
Evelyn Mitchell Restored to Her
Father After Nine Years
of Captivity.
GIRLS STORY READS
LIKE A ROMANCE
Tour With Gypsy Band Takes
Girl All Over World; Mar.
ried to Ten Year Boy.


who for nine years has been the slave
Of gypsy bands in tfis country and
the Old World, threw herself into the
arms of her father, ranchman re-
siding near a Montana town, It was
the tlrst time either had set eyes up.
on the other since the day of the
mothers funeral in Helena nearly ten
years ago. ~. ".,,"t'
M. l.. Hickman, secretary of the
state bureau of child and animal pro.
lection, escorted the girl to the ranch
from Glacier Park, Wnere he met her
in charge of Miss Georgiana Allen, a
Havre school teacher, who agreed to
chaperon the girl to Montana from
a house of detention in Oakland, Cal.
H. A. Davee, state superintendent
of public instruction, VINO was at
.ending the National Teachers asso-
citation, was besought by the Oakland
authorities to provide escort for the
girl back 10 Montana. The city paid
her expenses. Supt. .Davee learned
that Miss Allen, teacher, was short.
ly to come home, and the latter went
to the house of detention, where the
girl has been kept two months to
guard her against kidnapping by the
gypsy band from which she was talk.
en-. There arrangements were made
for bringing her home, and the teach
er and the girl departed secretly
from San Francisco, embarking on 40
steamer for Astoria, from which point
they went by train to Glacier Park.
The necessity for keeping their
whereabouts secret was urged by the
girl, who was in terror of being selz-
ed by the band. She declared that
she was likely to be taken from a
train by members stationed along the
road and on watch, hence the trip by
steamer was devised. 49,
The history of the young woman
reads like a romance. For several
years she has been trying to escape
from the gypsies, bdt, alone and
fniendless, she was given no OppOr-
t,lnity until about three months ago
when the Oakland officials secured
possession of her after desperate
fight in the courts. The MarinO band,
to which she was sold for $1,000 in
1912, is rich, and money, was spent
ldvishly to defeat justice. =, =, +
About ten years ago, following the
funeral of the mother, the girl and
sister were placed in the st. Joseph's
Orphans Home. There they remained
for perhaps six months, when Evelyn
was taken to Butte and in Judge DON
lan's court, upon the representations
of an attorney adoption papers were
made out for MARY" Mitchell, plac-
ing her in charge of a couple named
Gichi 1t developed later that the
Cichis were members of a gypsy band.
Evelyn was an attractive little girl,
and she was soon dressed in rags and
started out as beggar. Her pretty
face and sad eyes affected the char.
iiably disposed, and her collections
were not the least of the loot of the
band. , .~ 81.
AS the girl grew older she longed
for a return to American life,'.' as
she called it. Living in wagons or
tents along the highways, half-starv.
ed and beaten by the Gichi couple
whenever she did not bring home as
much money as they considered ade.
quate. her existence was unhappy
Through the eastern states and down
south the band wandered, and in the
winter of 1912 at Los Angeles Evelyn
enlisted the sympathy of an Ameri.
can woman and the authorities we're
notified. .E. ..,r
Fearing that they might get into
serious trouble if caught, the Gichis
sold the girl for 81 900 to a rich lead9r
of gypsies named Marino. In order to
hold her, Marino had his son, a boy
of ten, marry her Under gypsy law.
This marriage of course was not
binding, although Evelyn believed it
to be. .,... .
Then the Marines embarked on a
long pilgrimage. They coached Eve.
lyn as fortune teller and went first
to New York City. From there they
went to France, then to the lsthmus
Of Panama, then to Honolulu and the
Philippine Islands, eventually coming
back to the United States. About
three months ago the girl escaped
and was picked up by the Oakland
authorities on complaint Of the Mari
no gypsies, and thus she was given
an opportunity to- tell her story in
courr. AS q result she was consigned
to the care of Matron Rich of the
Oakland Detention Home.
During her, stay with the Marino
band Evelyn was beaten severely,
and to her pleadings for freedom she
was told that as soon as she earned
the $4,000, which they claimed 10
have paid for her she would be al
lowed TO have an automobile and to
go where she pleased. ..1,G
During the trial Of the case, which
was bitterly fought, the gypsies claim
ed that Evelyn was not of sound
mind. Mental experts came from the
University of California and made
tests, showing that she graded 100
per cent, in intelligence and sanity.
This disposed OF the subterfuge of the
gypsies. e., s.. r.s,--,e..
Mrs. Hickman says the girl return
ed to the band the jewelry which she
wore at the time of her escape. ex-
cept string of pearls given to her in
Honolulu by member of the Ameri-
can colony. She. was dressed in
American clothing for the first time
in years, discarding the picturesque
costume she wore as gypsy. The
girl is able to read and write, and