The Daily Alaska empire., 1936-02-10
A REAL AMERICAN PASSES.

Former Vice President Charles Curtis, who died suddenly Saturday in the national capital was real American not alone a result of his devotion to coun try but by ancestry. He the first of Indian stock occupy the second highest office the land Born in Shawnee county Kansas, MT. Curtis Of Indian French Canadian blood His father traced his American ancestry back to 1921 while his Indian blood went back beyond the landing of the Pilgrims.
 As a boy MT Curtis loved the free life of his h. dian kinsmen After his grandmother Julie Poppin had him his white relatives at Topeka he once returned the Raw reservation having tired of the restrictions of the city in Topeka That his last extended visit the Kaws One night around the camp fire in the Indian settlement Julie Poppn crawed over to him and in whispered tones ordered him to return his white relatives and become of them because the Indians could not offer him the opportunities for success in life She led him to his pony placed him in the saddle and hit the animal blow with a qurt The boy rode away to return member of the Indian camp
 For several years thereafter MT Curtis put to the skill of the Indians horseback riding with considerable success jockey various western tracks. That experience came to an end when his Grandmother Curtis started him to school The boys love of the track and it's performers persisted nevertheless throughout his life While he was a senator and vice president he frequently visited the tracks nearby Washington to indulge favorite recreation.
 To his last days MT Curtis carried scars from in- juies received in fall over 40-foot embankment ill Kansas City There in race he riding Headlight,
 notorious renegade horse who bolted from track broke through fence and hurled his rider over the embankment
 The Kaws always remembered Curtis for feat he performed when he was eight years old In June l868 his tribe attacked by the Cheyennes Curtis slip ped through the lines of the attacking tribe slab of dried buffalo meat in his pocket for food walked 57 miles to Topeka to summon aid.
 Never regarded a of flashing genius MT Curtis noted chiefly as one who had courage and persistence He of the hardest workers in public life in Washington, getting results by his eternal diligence and losing his temper During his campaign for the ce-presidency vsbly irritated only when he declared west ern audience who heckling him was too damn dumb to understand" When his running mate in the 1928 campaign Herbert Hoover, made only few speeches, MT Curtis every section of try and spoke virtually every day
 Although not considered among the front rank of senatorial orators MT, Curtis his start in the legal profession by oration-hs commencement ad- dress when he graduated from the Topeka High School His speech made such impression upon Mrs. A. H Case wife of of the leading lawyers of Kan at the time that persuaded husband to let Curtis study law in his office In 1879 Curtis was admitted a member of MT. Cases firm
 While member of the House of Representatives MT. Curtis presided that body upon the occasion of the visit of the late Prince Henry Prussia He also member of the House committee that drafted the gold standard act in 1900
 MT. Curtis rarely made a speech in either house of Congress. He had happy faculty of retaining friendships in groups and factions both branches.
 America mourns the passing of real American who served his country long and well.