Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1916-1918, 1917-01-16
A. Great American
By Frederic ]. Haskin

living in the pueblos of Cochiti, Of Zuni
and Isleta. He was made a member of
the tribe at Cochiti. The scene of his
novel, The Delight Makers is laid in
these old cliff dwellings and the char
acters are drawn from real Isleta In
dams, whom he knew intimately.
In the same way he exploded all
manner of myths relating to life in the
southwest before the landing of Column
bus. He laid the foundation for aireal
history of one of the most romantic
and colorful sections of the United
States. The work he did later in
Peru and Bolivia was of the same ma
ture. By living among the Indians
there he showed that many Of the &C.
cepted romantic notions of the an
cient lncas were founded on nothing
more than the imagination of Indians
and old Spanish chroniclers. He did
more than tear down accepted beliefs;
he worked until he found the truth to
put in their places.
The importance of Bandelierss con.
tribution to the sciences of history
and archaeology can hardly be over
estimated. It seems one Of the satir
ical whims of circumstance that man
of his calibre and accomplishments
should be comparatively so little
known. Yet this fact is due In no
small part to his own character. He
had great dislike for ostentation and
n0toriety. He even dislfked having
any title, such as 'doctorr or profess
sor' attached to his name. Il profess
nothing" he would say; or TIN in
good health; why doctor me? II you
must put handle to my name, cab me
Mister He was Of retiring typa be.
ing rather exclusive by nature. But
wherever he lived for any time In the
course Of his work as at. Santa Re, he
made many warm friends.
The story of Bandelier's life Is "a
striking example of how . man viii
find the line of work for which he Is
naturally fitted in spite Of ctcam-
stance. He did not make his irst
field expedition until he was almost
forty years old. He was born IN
Switzerland, but came to the Unlaed
States as small child. His fxther wGs
engaged in banking and general I'M
port business in Highland, Illinois,
where he was Swiss consul q well.
Bandelier early showed the remark.
able aptitude as inguist, that was to
stand him in good stead later. When
he was eight years old. he was writing
French and German letters for HIS
fathers consular ONCE.
He learned English rapidly, and al
SO taught himself Spanish. IN later
life he became 50 proficient in this
Language that he was Frequently taken
for native of Latin America. Most Of
his immense stock Of general nowi
edge he delved out for mmDelf. for. he
never attended school after Lbs eighth
year. He was HreSess worker, for
he believed that m1n IN hig field
could not afford to be specialist He
must be at once historian. an afchAe-
ologist, and ethnulogfst and IN anthro-
pologfst That goal Bandelier attained.
He was slwsys disting for his
remarkable memory. From. -120a to,
1911 he suffered from WHIST Was pFac-
tically q Temporary blindneR, due to
cataract During this period he went
on with his work with the help Of his
wife, He had little or no trouble In
locating references in his large library.
Almost always when he wanted par.
ticular passage, he could refer to It
without hesitation by volume and even
by the number Of the page that con-
tained It.
His passion for certainty and accur.
acy was extreme. He projected =
whole series Of novels such a. Tho De-
light Makers. WAich should show tho
life of the southwest through all the
years Of its early history. He had
gone so far as to wri.e several chaD-
tiers Of second book laid in the ttnne
OF the Spanish conquerOrs. when no
touched point where it was necesy
to describe an ink wen Of the pedod-
He hsd no such ink we'll and he wos
unable to find one. So he laid s1fdo
the book until he should come acruaB.a
suitable Ink wen. Afterwaxd he ssa1eh-
ed for that tribe through half the MosA
Gums Of Europe, but he never f0and
it, and never went on with bis book
It was unfortunate that BRndeer
did not receive more fully during hin
life time the recognition out3de hb-
torical and archaeological circles that
was his due. The setting aside 1t tho
Bandefier monument Is fitting rocog-
milton of one Of our great 0e0.