Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-03-13
SALEMS HISTORIC "WICK-E-UP"

"Wick-eup" is the Piute name for the paatial man.
sions in which the Indians of that tribe reside to be
exact put in their time when at home They are made OF
frame work Of several willow poles the smaller ends OF
which are fastened together with raw hide strip and
the other ends spread in a circle the ground Around
these are wrapped SKINS old saddle blankets, pieces Of
canvas cast away by white folks along the immigrant.
roads, cedar bark, in fact any old thing that will keep
part of the wind out and Of the smoke and smell m
They are not attractive to the eye adding nothing o
the beauty Of the landscape even on the sandboWn and
alka powdered deserts of Navada where discarded tin
can with the label still it thing to attract the atten-
ton and make wonder at the peculiar beauties Oh
sage brush fora
Inside they are as vanous as they look outside and
that pretty strong assertion They have just one re-
deemng quality and that is that they do not remain long
in one place, their owners moving whenever the sage
brush rewood gets nconvenent for the squaws for the
latter do the moving without gumbng on the part OF the
bucks so long as the latter do not have to do any OF the
work
That is where they have great lead over the white
mans wickeup brought here by the Oregon California
railroad when Ben Holiday the big chief OF the tribe
of Webfoot and dedicated forever to the of the travel
ing public and the citizens of Salem as a depot.
That was along in the late Sixties and the faithful old
wckeup has stood in the place since that time keeping
some of the wind out and surprising the usual Indian
shack by keeping all the smell in.
Holiday passed away and the S. P has seen Hartman
and other great financers who its proud owners
travel on into the elsewhere; Republican has succeeded
Democrat and Democrat Republican under the big dome
of the capitol only few blocks away The old constitu
ton has been changed and amended the Oregon system
become the vogue the long looked for bridge across the
Willamette that tuned the Tyre of Sam Simpson has been
built and washed away all but the bonds; second one
built to replace has roted away though built Of steel;
Salem has grown from whisting station to city of
180OO has paved 40 miles of Streets built magnificent
public buildings within sight of the venerable Wlckeup
and car lines one of which is connected with it; has
grown and prospered and changed Yet like time or a
hobo this Holiday gift to Salem has known no change
it was painted dark brown color like the taste of the
morning after; and IA years ago during smallpox scare
the folks in charge of the pest house painted it dirty
yellow.
President Sproule was here a few days ago. and while
he made no promises stated that he looked at the old
building and weay sighed from which it is believed he
realized the s. P Co. was up against again and that the
old wickeup really needed another coat of paint The
members of the public utility commission that has charge
of the railroad matters in the state and who seeking
reelection should get cut of the wckeup and have ii
printed on their cards for distribution during the cam
pagn 1t is a shining example of the power of commits
sions to accomplish so much for the public