Evening star., 1921-12-21
BEFORE WHITE MAN
LIVED IN DISTRICT
Papers Read at Columbia
Historical Society Meeting
Tell of First Natives.

Papers dealing with the District of
Columbia before the coming of the
white man and the period lmmedi- :
ately following the institution of a
District government under a mayor
were read at meeting of the Colum-
bia Historical Society last night at
the Cosmos Club.
Samuel V. Proudfit. in reading his
paper entitled Aboriginal Occupancy
of the District of Columbia brought
the attention of the assembly to many
Interesting facts in regard to the re-
suits of his researches among the
remains of the local Indian camp sites.
At Benning was located an Indian
village mentioned by Capt. John Smith
in his description of the Potomac.
The village then consisted of eighty
able bodied natives and was continue
ally used as camp site. About the
now stands Mr.. Proudtit said he sat
on the ground and. without moving,
scraped together handfuls of ancient
pottery and implements. On the Vir-
sinia shore of the Potomac. opposite
AnaloStan Island. We're found axes,
knives and arrowheads.
An immense workshop. covering
acres, developed by the Indians, eX-
listed along Piney Branch beyond
Mount Pleasant, where there may be
found thousands of rudely worked
implements. the speaker said. Rose
Hill. near Tenleytown, was found
to have been an old SoapStone quarry
and in the excavations of this quarry
We're found many remains of eX-
amples of Indian pottery work.
One small site was located at a
point just south of the Capitol. north
of Garfield Park between lst and I'd
streets southeast MIR. Proudfit said
that he found a number of specimens
of pottery at this place when the
roads were being graded
Daniel Rapine. the second mayor of
Washington, and the first to be
placed in that office through the
means of an election.
Rapine was one of those who came
from Philadelphia at the time the
general government came to it's per-
manent home in the District during
the latter part of 1900 Mr.. Rapine
was part owner of the Washington
Book Store. then locate&~at the cor
Her of South street and New Jer-
Sey avenue. near the Capitol and on
the present site of. the House Of
flee building. This store, because
of its clOSeneSS to the legislature.
was the meeting place of number
of members of Congress who lived
in some of the boarding houses which
surrounded the Capitol and made up
the best part of the few dwellings
then to be found in Washington.
The bad conditions of the roads and
the lack of personal comfort were
evident from the description of the
..'+v :" come of the letters read in
Mr.. Clark's paper. one of which de-
Cafes mat II one receives a dinner
invitation il costs Il ride of six or
eight miles and the state of the roads
obliging one to return before night"
The mayors of the early days hung
to their office long as possible
until a meeting was held in 1911 at
Davis Hotel. DR.. James H. Blake
held the chair; George Sweeny the
desk. The result of the meeting was
a petition to Congress to change the
heretofore method of President ap-
pointing the mayor to one of election
by an assembly of Il council from each
ward The election took place June
s. 1872. and resulted in ten unevent-
full ballots. Two persons having equal
votes lots were drown and Mr.. Rapine
drew the office and was sworn in for
the ensuing year.
During the year of 1872 the senior
citizens of the city convened at
McLeod's Hotel with DR.. James Blake
and William Lambert, secretary, to
draw up resolution of loyalty to the
government and existing constitution.
Daniel Rapina died Thursday even