Phillips County herald., 1922-02-03
LEARNS SECRET
OF ARROW HEADS
illinois Man Gets Credit as Only
Man Who Knows How
to Make Them.
INDIAN CHIEFS LOSE TRICK
Many of Them Confess Their lsno.
rance of Just How to Make Arrow
Heads-Are Identified by
Tribal Marks.


pringfield.-Making of Indian ar
row heads has been reduced to its
first principles here by Herbert Wells
Fay, custodian of the Lincoln monu-
ment, who has gained the distinction.
which it Is said until now has been
undisputed. of being the only white
man to make real arrow heads.
Indians are among the foremost in
creditlng Mr.. Fay with this ability.
Drawn to the last resting place of
Abraham Lincoln, various present-day
Indian chiefs have openly confessed
their Ignorance of "just how" to make
arrow heads, and then have voiced
their surprise at the excellent work
mnnship of the white man.
Finding that his arrows have been
taken for the work of real Indians.
Mr. Fay no longer makes arrows of
flint, but to prevent fraud uses only
glass.
Worked Near Dclsab.
His study of arrow heads was
>hthti iui SNig itis hOai'N
ut Dekalb, in which vicinity. lie said,
there had been seven Indian camps.
Mr. Fay takes issue wi,h-other au
thorities who say arrow heads may he
identified by their shape as the wor!;
of particular tribe. Years of study
and the actual making os arrows prove
otherwise, Mr.. Fay declares.
His conclusions rs to urrow-making
are outlined as follows: Indians first
tried stones that break with II con
choidal fracture Qilie the inside OF !;
spoon). They found that the deeper
the break at the top of the llat-sur
faced stone the longer would be the
break in the stone. but 1t would be
cOrespondingly wide. They wished.
however. u long. narrow piece as more
suitable for an arrow head.
''They then found that by breaking
the stone ut u corner they could pro-
duce such flake (raw arrow head
one, two. or even five times its width.
according to the skill Of the artisan.
Such an arrow head always has a
ridge on one side and the other side
smooth. The ridge Is the corner OF
the stone from which the flake was
broken.
"Next, the Indian found that In fin
ishing the arrow head. II the stone
breaks easier from one direction on
the top. 1t would break just rs easily
from the other on the bottom. This
gave rise to the belief that arrow
heads were made to revolve. Such was
not the intention OF arrow makers. as
the same natural pecnliarity appears
In spear heads. which are too heavy
to revolve, as spears We're seldom ex-
pected to go more than u few times
their length.
''I'hese principles being true OF nll
stone used by the Indians. 1t Is nn evil
dent impOssIbility for any collector IN
tell what tribe made certain arrow or
spear heads. The width. depth and
thickness. determined by the depth Of
the fracture Of the stone, determine
the shape and appearance Of the fin
ished product"
Most OF the arrow hends Of the
north Mississippi valley. Mr.. Fay said.
were made Of ebert. a chalky fiint.
taken from the vunrries In Union
county, Illinois. near Cairo. The bluffs
ut that place along the Mississippi
river show outcroppings of this ebert
and prolific evidences Of the activity
Of Indians, who went there from nli
parts Of Illinois. Indiana. Iowa and
Wisconsin. he added.
LESS than per cent Of the arrow
heads found In this wide territory"
Mr.. Fay continued. 'seem TO have been
made from local stone. The unian
county quarries have been determined
us the principal source because arrows
found throughout thnt region corre-
sponded exactly to the quality Of the
unien county stone. II Is not known
whether expert fake mixers held
the quarrics IN Union county and dis
trlbutcd material 10 tribes ms they
came down, or whether cnch tribe had
lis flake makers and visited the quar-.
ries periodically.
Implements used by Indians In max.
Ing arrow hcnds. according 10 Mr. Fny.
were made with one tool II piece ~
bone somewhat like the handle of
toothbrush.