6
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
Another Apache Mission
The Indian missionary work of the
women of the Reformed Church of
America has been one of great success as
well as of great interest. It is among the
Apache prisoners, at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma.
The story of those Indians will be re
membered by some of our readers and is
of unique interest. The men were of old
great hunters and the women performed
the hard labor 'of dressing skins, cutting
and carrying wood, and doing the farm
ing. The last war of these Indians was
in 1885-'80 and at its close they surren
dered to Generals Miles and Lawton.
Prominent among the Indian leaders were
Geronimo, now a genuine Christian,
Naiche and Chihuahua, the first of whom
was a medicine man, ihe second being
the hereditary chief and a man he is,
having command like a sovereign. Upon
their capture they were sent to Fort
Marion, Florida, while Geronimo and
sixteen others were confined at Fort
Pickens on an island in the Gulf of Mexi
co. The next year they were sent to Mt.
Vernon barracks, Alabama, where later
those from Fort Pickens were sent to join
them.
It was at Mt. Vernon that the mis
sionaries of our Maaclvnett-s auxiliary
began work among them, having a
school, building a cottage, a tank for
bathing, and marked progress towards
civilization was made. Governmental
officials also began their industrial civil
isation in earnest, the Indians built a
village under the direction of the officers
stationed over them, plats of ground
were given them, and agricultural train
ing began. Suddenly in the autumn of
1894 the whole colon3r was removed to
Ft. Still, ' Oklahoma, where the same
civilization ' work was continued, and
later the Women's Board of the Reformed
Church opened an efficient mission
among them. They engaged the services
of Rev. . Frank H. Wright, himself an
educated Christian Indian minister, and
it has proved to be one of the whole
country. The Board built a schoolhouse,
in camp worker and teacher were engaged '
for the- school and for work among the
women, the need of a kindergarten was j
met, another teacher and another build-
ing were gained, a noun lunch was grant- I
ed for the school with a matron to prepare j
it, a dining hall and kitchen were added, j
and presently an orphanage will be well
established to be called The Ida Van
Alst Orphanage, in a memorial building.
A church has been organized and fine
ly housed,with a Sunday School and two
good Christian Endeavor Societies, all of
which is great progress indeed.
Yet even there one may still hear wild
Indian songs at times and meet sullen
faces, as must be expected among any
people tenacious of their own religious
ideals, strong-hearted, strong of will, and
sturdy of character. To win such to "the
gentleness of Christ" is a work of long
patience and of Christly devotion, bntthe
reward is a great, even their salvation
for the present life and for to come.
Ex. .
CRONISE STUDIO
The best studio in the city of Salem
to have your photographs taken is the
Cronise Studio. Prices are reasonable
and the work is always executed in the
latest styles. This studio has won for
itself a reputation among its many pa
trons in and around Salem, and if the
students of the United States Training
School desire a fine photograph they
should call at this excellent art gallery.