The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-02-13
Former Republican
Vice-Presidelat Dies
At Home Suddenly
Charles Curtis SuccumbS To Heart
Attack In Washington Home
During Past Week

Charles Curtis, former vice presi-
del4C, who left an Indian tepee to
scale the heights of American pub
lie Office, died unexpectedly of a
heart attack in Washington Satur-
d at the age of rs.
For 40 years he had been in the
thick of Republican political COM
bat, and, despite his age, death
came just as he was planning
return to the arena as champion OF
his old friend and fellow Kansan,
Governor ALI M. Landon, for the
presidency.
Suffered From Cold
several days Curtis had been
ST ering from a cold. Saturday
m ing, however, he seemed much
in owed.
the White House, President
r, yelt is. led statement:
/ am de- "ly distressed to learn
of the sudden passing of my old
fl /, Charles Curtis. Whether
tt ,1new him as senator, as the
vice president of the United States,
or as the man that he was in his
own right, his legion of friends will
ren- ember him, always affectionate-
1y, and will mourn his passing"
81 was always fond of him." said
Vice President Garner 81 was as
sociated with him in the House, and
then the Senate He was fine man
and good friend"
Curtis successor as Republican
leader, Senator McNary of Oregon,
praised him as "a quiet and yet
successful Republican leader" and
a popular and efficient presiding
officers when he was vice president.
He added:
'He was an able and lovable
character"
Political Career
Curtis's political career knew de-
feats as well as significant victories
before the Roosevelt landslide swept
him out of office with President
Hoover in 1882. In an active life
time, the high points were:
1884-Elected prosecutor of
Shawnee county, Kansas.
1892-Elected to the House of
Representatives.
1903-Defeated in campaign for a
seat in IT,. Senate.
f907-Elected to the Senate.
1912-Defeated for reelection.
1914-Returned to the Senate.
1S24-Became Republican leader
of the Senate.
1928-Elected to the vice presi-
dency with Herbert Hoover.
1932-Defeated seeking re-elec-
ton.
These dates sketch a saga of sue
cess, described by Senator Vanden-
berg, Republican of Michigan, to-
days as an "epic of American OPP
portunity."
Lived With Indians
Curtis was born in 1860, on a
farm near North Topeka, the son
of a Kansas pioneer, Capt. Orren A.
Curtis, who had married a girl of
Indian descent. Curtis, himself was
one-eighth Kaw Indian, the only
person of such ancestry ever elect
ed to the vice presidency.
Curtis was still an infant when
his mother died, and his wrinkled
old Indian grandmother, Julie Pop
pin, daughter of Chief White Plume
of the Kaws, took him in charge.
He spent his boyhood on the Kaw
reservation. He liked that life so
much that once later, he wanted to
return to it but was dissuaded.
At fifteen, he left the reservation.
An expert with horses, he quickly
found employment as a jockey on
Kansas race tracks. His love of
horses and racing stayed with him
throughout his life. For years, he
was a familiar figure at the Mary
land tracks, carrying his own elab-
crate form book and making pune
tilious entries after each race
But after a year or so as a jockey,
he went to school, supporting him
self by driving a hack in the eve