Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-08-09
PRESERVING THE AMERICAN INDIAN
BY FREDERIC }. HAsKIN

| horse. which had been used for 10,
hunting. and was noted Jumper The
oohie"era'es made him put his hands
| ,h the air and ride In front OF them
Presently they went down a road
with high fence on either side 4,
| this point the Indian had most pecu
mar seizure lie began TO squirm and
twist and wriggle In his saddle Tn.
Confederate officer asked him what
was the matter. He explained tina,
some Kind OF bug had bitten hin,
right In the middle OF the back. ana
ne was crazy with the desire TO
scratch His contorions were so c1
prcsSire that the officer began to feel
nch! himself Finally he told IN.
indian. who had been disarmcd -,
scratch and be done with II. The In.
uiah had "A gun cleverIy concealed T.,
ms sleeve. lie carefully scratched
AROUND TO TINS. drew II, shot the Off.
eel mount. jumped his own over ~.
fence. and escaped. because thcr. wa.
no Other horse In the detachment maj
could follow.
Make Special study Here.
In addition to studying the Indians
mat are sun with US. the scientist.
"t TINS new and cnterprisinE museum,
are making Il Special study Of ma
terial near home. Or. Alanson Sk,r.
ner. OF tn" scientific stan. formerly
assistant curator or the Museum OF
Naturai History. has Just returned
from an exploration OF the Susouc
hanna River Valley. This was a u,ost
uhGsua! exploring expedition. in that II
generally camped on farms or IN tbc
suburbs OF cities. Nevertheless. into,
rhtihH remains were discovered Of a
ttie-known and remarkable trib. OF
lhdians-the AndaEtes Of cones,oEas
Ihese Indians lived along the Susuu.-
hanna III the days before the famous
'roquois confederacy reached It's great
: = 80 h H.,
man who ever saw much OF them alive
was Captain John Smith. who came
over about 300 years ago.
lie says that these Andastes were
IN" hncst Indians he ever saw They
were OF immense stature: and it has
been estimated that they stood nearly
SIX and "a half feet in height Their
bearing was very polite and friendly.
they were great hunters. as shown
ty tho, fact that they dressed them
selves in the skins OF bears and wolves.
"hlch are not easy TO kill without a
gun. one OF their favorite sports was
killing bears with clubs in hand-to-
hand nights. Captain Smith was espe.
cially Interested in their great stone
tobacco pipes, which, he said n.era
nearly a yard LONG. and heavy enough
to beat out mans brains with
This tribe persisted because it was
too proud TO admit IL was beaten Th.
ferring death TO surrender. which was
very heroic. but hard on the tribe as
1t whole. They whipped the Iroquois
ana they whipped the whites. Then
the lrouuois and the whites combined
against them. Most of them were
killed. and the few survivors were
absorbed by other tribes.
The average modern American thinks
of the Indians only as band Of saw
ages who tried To murder his grand
father. He does not think of the long
centuries before Columbus came when
these first Americans possessed tho
land IN peace and worked at tho prob
iems OF existence and struggled to-
ward better ways OF living, Just as we
are DONG to-day. In Peru, i'm Mexico
and in New York there were then
Young civilizations of great promise
The story of pre- Columbian America
is that OF man making the crude
beginnings Of civilization. 1t is the
hrst chapter of our own story, and
therefore. immensely significant and
interesting. These scientists are striv-
ing to put 1t together and read IT, bit
by bit. from the crumbled remains of
cities and peoples that were.