The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1917-12-09
Uncle Joe Wells Happy Be-
cause He Can Still Enjoy
This World.


afternoon about o'clock little ole
colored man leaning upon a hickor,
cane and followed by a big bushs
haired dog can be seen no matter wha
kind OF weather. No doubt many Mis-
soulians a. well as numerous visitors
have noticed the unusual picture thai
the pair make as they stop for a mo-
ment 1T the corner of the First Ma
tional bank and watch the rapidly
moving crowds on the street.
The question has often been asked
Who is this little old fellow? How
old is he and why is he always sc
cheerful?
The answer is simple. He is Joseph
Wells, better known as Old Uncle Joe
He 10 10 years old and his companion
In Nero. whose age Is only that Of
eight winters, but who moves with all
the dignity and slowness that is typi-
cal Of his master.
The reason for the old mans cheer
fulness can be easily obtained il one
will just ask him.
why. I'm happy just cause I am
still young and can get out an enjoy
this great big world" That is what
Uncle Joe will tell you and few mo-
ments' talk with him will convince any
one that his optimism is sincere.
Still Feels Youthful.
OF course, he is few years older
than anyone else in Missoula. but it is
impossible to make Uncle Joe think
that there is any difference between
himself and the bustling business man
who passes by hurriedly on the street,
so far as age is concerned.
Uncle Joe smiles out upon the world
and watches with keen interest its
rapid progress. To him age is leg
acy. for with his 10 years behind him
he can compare the present with the
days far back in the early nineteenth
century, and to him this is Won
derful possession, for he knows that
he has been granted the wish that
many men have made but that few
have received--that they might live
beyond q hundred years just to sec
what is going to happen.
Let us go back to n bright June day
In the city Of Louisville, kentucky. in
the year 1907. Standing on one of the
principal thoroughfares is big stone
hotel which has the reputation OF being
one Of the most famous hostelries in the
country at that time. 1t is the Gold
House and on his broad veranda many
wealthy ladies and gentlemen are
spending an idle afternoon.
But II is not the front Of that build
ing in which we are interested. In
one of the tiny rooms in the rear of
the building very small colored baby
has just been brought into this world
ing his kinky little head.
Has Mother One Day.
This picture of an African Madonna
exists only for a few hours. A short
time later that same day the mother
is told that she has been sold to one
OF the big plantation men and that she
must go. OF course, the baby Is not
wanted. He must be left behind.
That was Uncle Joe's first contact
with cruel and exacting world. In
:hose same servant quarters there was
another colored mother of a day and
she took the little child and nurscd
him with her own. Uncle Joe never
saw his mother again. but his adopted
parent became all that he could ask
for q NANNY.
Although born in the days when
slavery was practiced in its most vi
cious manner, Uncle Joe was fortunate
to escape the most horrible experiences
that befell his parents. He was always
small for his age and no one bid high
for him a. a laborer.
He became attached to a man whose
principal business was trading in negro
slaves and as a body servant to this
trader Uncle Joe saw the worst as.
poets Of slavery.
Saw Horrors Of Slavery.
1t was the custom of this trader t,
buy up q large number of slaves il
Missouri and take them down souti
whore they were sold at a good mar.
gin Of profit. 1t was at the age of l,
years that Uncle Joe began to max,
these trips with his master and as h,
tells of some Of the horrible scene.
he witnessed going down the Missis
sippi on boat loaded with slave,
packed In like cattle, ne shudders will
disgust.
On these trips the traders woult
gamble day and night. Hundreds o
dollars changed hands during the thre
days 1t took to make the voyage. Uncl
JOes master was a proficient gamble
and clever enough to know that none,
could be consistently won only by dou
BILE crossing the other fellow. So h.
would have the little colored boy wall
around the table and give him a ii,
on the cards held by the other player,
1T sure was pretty risky business.
said Uncle Joe. in referring to his par
in the gambling. III I'd been caugh
it would have been all up with m
cause those fellows would have kille
me on the spot
When the civil war broke out Uncl
Joe. along with four other colored mer
became the bodyguard of General Miles
During the entire four years OF tn
struggle he. was constantly with tn
general and faced many dangers. bu
always escaped without accident.
To Uncle Joe the war is never tn
civil war. When he speaks of it totia
he calls II by a name he has cQine
hkmn0lf-"tho cri,o1 waro