The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1938-03-25

LOhA Nooo JO1<cS
The following letter from the
versatile pen of Lulu Cobb Jones
of Hardin, regarding our 1888 au-
tomobile license plates, is we'll
worth printing. Mrs. Jones clinch-
es her argument for an Indian
head.
After all the good suggestions
about using the profile Of an In
dian head on our auto license
plates, and after all the good work
the Montana State Highway Com
mission has done to advertise our
Land of Shining Mountains,'
someone has fallen down on the
job by designing u new license
plates. Many are asking who de-
signed it. Personally, I thing the
guilty fellows conscience will be
punishment enough if he has to
look at many of the plates tor
a year, without any of us Knowing
Just who made the blunder.
There will be nc danger Of 9TH
er states wanting one of our Ii
cense plates to decorate their cars
with, as in the case of Wyoming.
Two children were playing in
front of a car with a Yellowstone
county number on it. One pointed
to the figure IS" and the deco
rative Co design, and said: Dis
is a angle worm, and dis is a
spider" I could readily see the
resemblance myself. Lots of
grownups are wondering just what
the spot represents. Some say it
is supposed to be a buffalo skull.
There is, after all, a bit of sat-
i~sfaction in the fact that at a
short distance one can't tell whe-
ther the spot is a buffalo skull or
a ragged edged buffalo chip.
However, the latter designation
does tend to stir the cookies of
the hearts of those who remember
the value of the dry buffalo chip
when in days long past they
we're forced to camp on the wind
swept prairies miles from timber.
But those days are no more, as
we'll as the days when trails were
strewn with the bleached skulls
of dead buffalo. The memory of
which I would like to forget, since
it recalls the ravishing deeds COM
mitted by white men, for sports
sake only. And it seems more fit
ting that a state so filled with
life and beauty should advertise
with the symbol of something
alive. There is nothing that at
tracts people to these western
states as much as the cowboy and
the Indian. I recall the words of
the royal party from Stockholm,
Sweden, the Lady-in-Waiting to
the Crown Princess, who said:
The Montana Indians with their
gorgeous colored costumes attract
me more than words can express.
I gave a few lectures on Mon
tana and wyoming to teachers
and students in Texas, and found
the students were more interest
ed in the cowboys and Indians.
I found the same subjects held
the highest place of interest for
college students in eastern states,
as far east as New York.
wyoming our sister state, with
a foresight that Montana can we'll
envy, has chosen and is using the
cowboy on the pitching bronc on
her auto license plates. 1t is a
thing of beauty and life-Western
life, in one of it's thrilling phases
and we'll we know as does Wyo-
ming, cts great publicity.
Now back to the skull of the
dead buffalo, that we auto driv-
ers of Montana will have to dis
play, if we are allowed to use our
cars through the year of 1888, it
seems this indicates to the world
that Montana's greatest attraction
is her fossil deposites, and in
that case a picture of a dinosaur
would be more fitting.
It is true that Charles Russell
used a buffalo skull as a personal
brand with his signature on his
famous paintings, but it was the
cowboys and the Indians, the
western life and action, that he
painted on the canvas that sold
the pictures and brought him
worldwide fame.
South Dakota, with her few In
dians, is wise in using their pic
lures in every suitable way she
can to attract people to her spots
Of beauty and interest. How much
more Montana with her eve III
dian reservations could do to pub
l!cise if we displayed the picture
of an Indian head on our auto
license plates instead of the skull
of a dead buffalo. Now, what do
you think?
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