Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-02

it. that it must have been some sort
of inherited, forgotten hate
And then they showed him them
selves. They got out the ancient blow
guns that have been in the nation for
nobody knows how long, handed down
from century to century. They are not
unlike the blowguns of savage peoples
in the East Indies, and in so far as is
known they are the only blowguns ever
used in North America There now are
only four of them remaining in the res
ervation. They are very effective against
small game.
From among the youth at hand the
Cherokees contrived two Indian BALI
teams and showed Mr.. Rogers the ma
tional sport of the Cherokee, preserved
in its aboriginal simplicity. This is
played by a dozen persons to the side,
all Of them magnificent physical speci-
mems, naked except for loin cloths.
GOaI-Line Gain.
The idea Of the game is to carry a
little ball the size of a golf ball across
the enemy goal line The referee Is
armed with a 12-foot withe. His office
is to see that the game is played to the
limit OF players endurance. One lag
ging Is struck Smartly across the naked
back. There is no time out for rest or
injury. The annual national cham
pionship, with each Of the six town
ships represented by a team. is quite
without parallel as a primitive specta-
Gle in America.
The coming In this area Of the great
est national park in Eastern America,
making hitherto inaccessible and in
credibly wild region accessible to the
prowling tourist. will not mean a dis
persal or a removal Of the slowly null
tiplied remnant of the most interesting
family of Indians in America, but the
enfolding boundaries of the park may
90 something just as deadly to them
1t may convert them into showcase In
dams, paraded for the amusement Of
the visitor.
Could Restore Tribe.
1t would be possible, of course, to
bring about sort of restoration, but
that IS at variance with the theories
OF the Bureau Of Indian Affairs. 1t has
been the dream, however. of the ablest
white friend the Cherokees have had
in the modern generation and, curiously
perhaps, in whose brain the idea of the
park was conceived and who, more than
any other, has contributed to its frui-
ton. This man is Horace Kephart, by
no means unknown to readers of out.
door magazines and works on camp
craft. Horace Kephart knows the
Cherokees better than any man living.
and perhaps too well to write about
them
Kephart was trained librarian. He
once was an assistant librarian at Cor
nell University. Later he catalogued a
huge library bought in Europe by an
American millionaire. and then became
/ head of the Mercantile Library in st.
Louis. He had never in his life been
out of sight Of town or a railroad
J Nearly quarter of century ago he
/ went stale and became sick OF ciyiliza-
ton. He wanted to get out. He had
to get out. BY q map he picked the
| top of the Great Smoky Mountains as
the widest spot in North America. He
had never been in mountain, but with
a one volume edition of Shakespeare, a
Bible and simple camping equipment
ne dropped out of the world.
Lives Life Of Indians.
Up there he found scattered families
| Of CherokeeS and became one with
them. He became we'll again and STAYED
with them. He roamed the woods. AT
times he was dentist, midwife and
nurse to stricken Indians. He lived
there 10 years without seeing a dozen
white men a year. The war broke out
and he went, with his four sons and
two daughters, at the age Of go, passing
for q man Of 40. After that he moved
down into Bryson City, with his notion
Of 4 park in his head. He started writ
ing extensively, became mayor of the
town and launched the idea of q great
| national park Then he induced the
two States to provide machinery for
acquiring the lands to be presented to
the Government.
And with the help Of Mr. Rockefeller
and the United States Supreme Court
the idea becomes tangible reality, ar
enduring vast sample of what the
mountains and forests of America once
! were like and within sight OF the place
OF desolate tragedy and death of a civil
tzation that might have been.