Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1933-03-02
BLACK HAWK Galena, Ill

1&ft~tN ~ N4Ag 0O10JLOt IL
America that before one knows It, an institution
or familiar detail of the surface of life be-
comes antique
AS matter of fact 1t would seem that both
Mr. Ford and the antique dealer In Penn Yam.
n. T., got real bargains when they paid only
800 for their wooden Indians For NJ t. Blum
enthal, writing In the Saturday Evening Post
only short time ago, reported finding "a much
battered wooden Indian of the sort without
which no cigar store was considered au falt or
even de riguenr twenty-five years ago. In Junk
shop and the dealer asked $3.50 for It, declaring
that the price was mot out Of the way at all.
It's male Indlan-squaws are cheaper-and It's
good example of early American carving"
But his statement that squaws are cheaper
Is not borne out by the following item which
appeared soon afterwards In the Paris MOI
Mercury. 1T Is not generally known, but cigar
Indians, formerly the outdoor Sign OF cigar
stores. have become valuable antiques. and good
specimens bring us high as $500. A firm Of deal
ers has been negotiating with the Paris Cigar
company for the very plump and handsome
squaw that has graced Main street. Paris, now
for more than forty years. but Frank Jones'
owner and manager, Is man Of sentiment and
has, 1t Is said turned down an offer Of $500 for
her. You see. he said, she's been here SO long
tion or the weather, never SO much as taken d
trip or changed the cut of her clothes, that 1t
would be cruel to uproot her and sell her either
down the river or up. / have known her since
small boy, and am downright attached to her
Some things mean more than money. My squaw
Is not for sale. She knows too much ABOUT Paris
past and present, to risk out OF sight and In
addition know Of no other man who can boast
of that rarest Of all earthly blessings, a wooden
squaW who cannot talk. You have no Idea how
satisfactory she Is at times ="
Consider also the case of Chief" who stands
In front of cigar store In Colorado Springs
Colo. Frank and Clinton Osborn, propretors
OF the store, say that they have had frequent
offers ranging all the way from $500 up to 81 900
for this 600pound metal warrior whom they OBJ
taned at an auction sale of unclaimed goods
In storage warehouse In that city some 20
years ago. But they have steadfastly refused all
offers for "Chefn
Like the Osborns there are other owners of
cigar store Indians who won't part with their
prizes for any price. There's Bob Parsons, pio-
neer tobacco dealer at Ashland, Wis, whose
store still is guarded, after 40 years. by fierce
eyed Chief Sitting Bull. Parsons Is intensely
proud Of his Indian Thousands OF tourists have
visited his store to view the brave Indians, too,
come sometimes. but reverently.
Sitting Bull Is an exact model of the great
chief who ruled the Dakota plains when white
men first pushed beyond the Mississippi river
says Parsons. HE was carved for me by hand
from white pine by Herman Kruske, a wood
worker at Ashland, half century ago."
Sitting Bull, a TALL bright yellow figure, DOM
mates the drab street that is his tribal domain.
The black, braided hair, that holds a single
upright feather. falls over the shoulders Of his
frInged buckskin coat. His left hand grips his
tomahawk; his right supports the end Of huge
cigar. He is the gloriied realization of mem
cries of cigar store Indians
Each morning Sitting Bull Is rolled to his
position before Parsons shop, which cllngs to
traditions of the past and sells tobacco only.
Each night he's rolled back into his tepee to
keep a vigil over the darkened shop.
Parsons has refused several offers for Sit
ting Bull and declares he'll never sell him. He
hopes that when he's gone the old chief will be
cared for by the Chequamegon Bay Old Settlers
association.
Chief semloh, CALIFORNIA; Oldest Indian and
a veteran Of the gold rush. stands before the
shop Of 5. II, Holmes In San Francisco. This
wooden brave was shipped around Cape Horn
on sailing vessel In 1850 from New York, con-
signed to a pioneer tobacconist In Margsyllle,
Calf Marysville, I40 p4llaS- from San Francisco.
then was throrged with inspectors Chief
semoh did duty for GO years Il this town.
Ten years ago. new owners lrreverently COM
mitted Chief Semloh to the basement Resur-
rected by his present owner. the old chief under
went surgery year ago and now Is perhaps the
most modern Indian In the United States At
cost of several hundred dollars Chief Semloh
was equipped with speaking voice and the
faculty OF smoking cigars. Now he pnffs away
and gives advice to smokers as he keeps guard
before Holmes shop
An eghty-two-year vigil before the door OF the
MalIzberger cigar Store In Reading Pa, ended
In 1923 for Old Eagle Eye. blueeyed wooden
Indian cut from a solid block Of wood by
New York carver He was purchased by cigar
store proprietors OF the city and placed in the
Reading museum
tchv Western Newspaper Union)