The Coconino sun., 1925-10-09
INDIANS OF THE EN-
CHANTED DESERT
BY Leo Crane

Here is book of interest to all
Americans and of especial interest to
the people of Arizona. The Indian
agent has been a man unheard and
unhonored and it is high time his
knowledge and experience should find
voice. And clear and eloquent
voice it proves to be IN the book
written by Mr.. Crane.
He was a Baltimorean, and a news
paper man before entering the United
States Indian office, where he stayed
| for seven years. At the end of that
time in 1910, he came to Arizona for
the same dismal reason that has
brought so many fasteners to the
desert country; and during his pursuit
of health, he served first as clerk
on an Indian reservation, and then
was appointed superintendent of the
so-called "Moqui' agency, where he
was to serve for eight years. In all,
Mr. Crane has managed four agencies
and has but recently resigned. He
did his job we'll; he knows his Indians
and his country; he speaks as one
having authority.
The Moqui agency, in the Painted
desert country, covers almost 4OOU
square miles of land, and has control
over both Hopi and Navajo Indians.
Mr.. Crane paints feeling picture OF
the responsibilities and difficulties OF
| the agent. AS wise cavalry colonel
told him at the outset: Young man!
You have an empire to control. Either
rule it or pack your trunk" Mr..
Crane did rule his empire, and his
trunk was long unpacked. 1t was his
task to look after banking, finances,
construction work such as roads and
buildings, the health of his charges,
police and judicial duties, and twenty
odd other things of divers kinds. His
difficulties were prodigiously increas-
ed by the politicians at Washington,
and his complaints of official red
tape, endless delay, political cowardlce,
and lack of understanding are forclble
and bitter. He received the most ac-
tive support during Roosevelts adj
ministration (Which, considering the
| fact that Roosevelt had been much IN
! the west, and knew the Indian at
! first-hand, is not surprisingly; but his
severest indictment occurs in para
graph on page 223. Speaking of the
regulations of the Indian service, he
| saws: Before coming to the field IN
1910, | saw three secretaries of the
interior steadfastly uphold these regu-
lIations, and as an Indian agent IN the
field | have been strongly supported
j bv three other secretaries of the IN
! terror, to the end that my Indian
charges until 1922" (the bold-face is
| Mr.. Crane's) "were the best-protected
people on earth"
AS for the state of Arizona, Mr..
Crane speaks with pleasant approval
of its sensible and helpful attitude.
And of Congressman Hayden and
Governors Hunt and Campbell he
says: "In these men the HoDi have
had good friends, and at least one
moungwi, (agent) found them filled
with understanding of the desert and
its peculiar conditions"
! The Indians themselves and their
ways of doing, their relations to one
another, their customs and ceremon-
les, and their peculiar point OF view
| form the main subject-matter OF the
book. The author found that the way
to get on with them, naturally enough,
/ was to exercise reasonable and un-
wavering firmness. He believes that
their own native customs, so far as
they are harmless, should be respect
ed and let alone-a view which has
ALWAYS been that of nations or off,
Ecials which have shown great admin
istrative ability. But he found that
Indian police and Indian judges were
not to de depended on, and that justice
had to be secured mostly by the Wnlte
man. Some n tives were lrreconcll-
able. Old Chief on Keoma constant
Ily rebelled against United States au-
thority; the agent had sometimes to
get military help to fetch the children
out for schooling, and otherwise en-
force the demands of the government.
The Hopis and Navajos do not get on
together, and the Navajo bullies his
less strenuous neighbor. This was
source of frequent trouble
"Indians of the Enchanted Desert
lis rich in out-of- -the-way information.
Mr.. Crane tells of medicine sings, I
of weddings, of marriage customs, OF
jthe Indians shows, of their dress, and
a dozen other matters of interest. His
description of the Snake dance, and on
the tourists who crowd to see 1T, are
among the most informing and llvely
4 chapters of his book He apparently
does not accept the often published
report that the Hopi's have sure
4 antidote for rattlesnake poison; at the
time, he is definite in his denial that
the snakes are drugged or dulled'
Their poison-sacs, too, are left intact
He is able to solve no problem, ac-
cordingly, that the Snake dance raises
The desert affects different tenn
peraments in different ways There
are those to whom its vastness, It's
sombreness, and its solitude are ap-
palling and crushing; Mr.. Crane i