Evening star., 1939-03-25

In Field, Laboratory
And Study
By Thomas r. Henry.
The memory Of an almost forgotten
American artist, adventurer and explorer
is revived by . publication Just issued
by the Smithsonian Institution contain
ing the drawings and extracts from the
journals Of George Gibbs, who accom-
panied 4 military expedition into tho
Columbia River country in ls%e.
Gibbs, 4 lawyer with = facile pencil
and yearning for adventure, made COL
lections of chronological material for the
Smithsonian. His journals and diaries
give intimate details Of the ways Of life
of some OF the most interesting Of Amer
ican aboriglnals-the Columbia River
tribes and some Of the peoples Of North
ern acknowledgements whom there
is little uncolored information at 80 early
q date.
Gibbs sketches have been collected.
his notebooks examined, and the story
of his life written by David !. Bushnell,
jr., of the stan Of the Bureau OF Ameri-
can Ethnology. Mr.. Bushnell has drawn
upon contemporary journals and letters
to fill in details OF the country traversed
by the artist and the peoples whom he
encountered. The Oregon country was
at that time a land Of mystery, known
chiefly through guarded details given out
by the Hudson Bay Co. and through the
records of the Lewis and Clark Expedi-
ton.
He was particularly impressed by the
artistic ability of the Columbia River
peoples, expressed chiefly by wood carv-
ing. This had made little impression on
the more practical-minded trappers, SOL
diers and explorers who had preceded
him. He obtained for the Smithsonian
Institution the earliest vocabularies of
several of the Northwestern tribes. These
are now on deposit in the bureaus files
and constitute invaluable chronological
material, since the languages soon after
became contaminated with words adopt
ed from the various European tongues
with which the Indians came in contact.
His drawings not only portray the In
dians themselves and their ways of life,
but also the scenery of the country with
which Gibbs was impressed and which
was almost totally unknown in the East.
Wherever he went Gibbs had an eye
for pretty girls and he grew lyrical over
the klamath Indian women with large,
almond-shaped eyes, sometimes of
hazel color-their only dress the fringed
petticoat, or at most deerskin robe
thrown over the shoulders in addition.
The petticoat with the Wealthier, or per-
haps more industrious, was an affair on
Which great taste and labor were expend-
ed 1t was Of dressed deerskin, the upper
edge turned over and embroidered with
colored grasses, the lower cut into deep
fringe reaching nearly to the knee and
ornamented with bits OF sea shell, beads
and buttons
The round basket cap is worn by the
klamath women, figures OF different COL
ors and patterns being worked into it.
They tattoo the underlip and chin-the
young girls in faint lines which are deep
ened and widened as they become older,
and IN the married women are extended
up above the corners of the mouth"
He made several sketches Of the Kla-
math bellies, which are reproduced by
Mr.. Bushnell
Gibbs was impressed by the relatively
high culture Of these Indians. especially
exemplified in their lodges which were
generally very well built being made of
boards riven from redwood or fir. The
lodges were of considerable size, often
reaching 20 feet square The roofs are
pitched over ridge pole and sloping
each way; the ground being usually exca-
waited to the depth of 3 or feet, and a
pavement of smooth stones laid in front.
The cells OF the better class are also
f1oored and walled with stone. The door
always consists of a round hole in a
heavy plank just sufficient to admit the
BODY, and Is formed with a view to ex-
clude the bears, which In winter make
occasional and very unwelcome visits"
One of the curious customs among the
Columbia River Indians which he re-
corded and sketched was that Of canoe
burial, to which there are only vague
references. in anthropological literature.
The same practice had also been noted
by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
These Indians, 1t seems, placed some of
their dead in canoe, with pair of oars,
choice possessions and food. This was
covered over with another canoe. Origi-
nally the practice may have been to set
the canoe adrift on the Columbia with
the Idea that 1t would eventually float
out into the Pacific and into the sunset
which lay beyond, possibly conceived Of
as an eternal dwelling place for the souls.
In Gibbs day, however, this had be-
come conventionalized. In some cases
the canoe was merely placed in the
ground on the river bank. In others it
was placed In tree, or on a specially
erected scaffold, and the Indians them
selves probably had forgotten the SYM
bolic associations.
On the whole. Gibbs pictures these In
olans OF the Far Northwest in lS49 as
another OF those groups of American
aoorlglnals who were progressing-on
their way to culture of unknown posi-
ollltles had 1t not been nipped in the
bud by the coming of the white men.
Calls for Balanced Budret