The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-04-05

Much Digging for Iron Oxide, Which
Was Used to Decorate Their Bodies.
The first users of radlum ore were
the Indians Of Utah. In pref Columbian
times they employed 1t (the stuff now
known as "carnotite") to paint their
bodies a bright canary yellow.
No work on eminent painters ought
to omit mention of the American abo.
rhymes, who quite generally were In!
earlier days wonderful colorists.
1t is suspected that the first coat
worn by man was coat Of paint. But
the early American artist, when he
had adorned himself like rainbow,
the final touch, perhaps, being to make
the lower half Of his face red and the.
upper half green, did by no means
stop at that.
He painted weird pictures on rocks
and the faces of cliffs. He painted his
wooden house. or his tepee, with SYM
bolic and descriptive designs. he
painted his shield and bow and arrows
He. painted monstrous masks (worn In
ceremonials) and also his pottery. :,
Most Precious to Indians. [
The most precious of all things to,
the Indians-who even nowadays have
not lost their talent in this direction
was paint. A deposit of mineral pig
ment was to them mine Of wealth.
Oxides Of copper yielded blue and
green paints, and from iron oxide was
obtained brilliant red
The first workers in the quicksilver
mines of California were pre-Colum.
bian Indians. Cinnabar, the ore OF
mercury, is sulphide of the latter
metal which we call vermilion. Great
stuff for war paint, as well as fot
other uses. ->.-."...-'"-',, -
Not long ago an important deposit
of ore was opened at Leslie, Mo-, and
mining operations disclosed the fact
that much digging had anciently been
done there by the Indians-not for
iron but for iron oxide contained In
seams and pockets. For the oxide
they had burrowed in all directions
even to depth of % feet.
Trade was extensively developed In
early days among the Indian tribes
and doubtless the pigment produced
by this mine was distributed over
vast territory. The miners employed
there today, when they come out after
a days work, look as If they were
painted from head to foot.
The same diggings in times ante
dating the white man yielded qualis
ties Of another highly valued paint,
namely, yellow Ocher-the latter be.
ing another compound of iron, often
found associated with the red oxide
" Paint From Springs.
A beautiful white paint was OBJ
tanned by the Indians of the Yellow
stone region from boiling springs. It.
was white clay, very finely divided
so that when dried it took the form
of powder. They took it out in the
form of mud, which had only to be ex.
posed to the sun in order to become
f1rst-class pigment material. Some OF
it had pinkish tint.
The Indian women, as well as the
men, used pigments for cosmetic pur-
poses. But, unlike modern young la
dies, they did not try to disguise them.
selves with masks Of white, or to
adorn their cheeks and lips with
rOseate hues, though the white stun
from the Yellowstone springs might
have furnished an excellent "liquid
powder" supplemented by touches OF
vermilion or iron oxide. They painted
their faces with quaint conventional
designs, in obedience to the demands
of aboriginal fashion.-Philadelphia
Ledger.