The Sunday Oregonian., February 23, 1908, Magazine Section, Image 47

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BY ARTHUR CHAPMAN.
F you visit Crow Indian reservatifcn.
In Winter, the chances are you will
see the gleam of a sheep wagon toi
somewhere on the prairie. On making
your way to -the wagon, instead of finding
the customary sheep herder, you will
find an artist working vigorously away at
some bit of reservation landscape, and in
thRt way you will become acquainted
with J. H. Sharp, universally conceded to
be the greatest painter of Indians, be
sides being one of the finest landscape
painters America has 'produced.
Mr. Sharp has been honored with some
irreat commissions. Several years ago the
United States Government purchased a
doien Indian heads for Smithsonian In
stitutionshowing how strong Is the eth
nological appeal of the man's work and
Mrs. Phoebe Hearst, of California, gave
him a five-year commission to paint' In
dian heads and pictures for the Untver
elty of California, which now has about
a hundred paintings of the chiefs and
leading men of various tribes. In addi
tion, Mrs. Hearst has many of Mr.
Sharp's paintings In her private collec
tion, which is one of the finest In the
United States. -
Mr. Sharp's studio proper is a commo
dious log cabin at Crow Agency. This
retreat, which Is filled with Indian paint
HAD FUN WITH A SEVEN
National Magazine.
ONE of the overture stories of this ses
sion of Congress was told In the cloak
room by Senator Nathan' B. Scott, of
West Virginia, whose dramatic' mode of
narration made the tale doubly impres
sive. It seems that a judge of his acquaint
ance had a very charming wife, but she
was overneat and was forever brushing
microscopic' dust from his clothes; still,
all went well until she started on tne
"hair hunt." After that she never sat
beside her husband for five minutes but
she perceived a hair of some sort on his
clothing, and hastened to remove it. be It
hair of dog, cat. or human being.
About this time there came to the town
a long-haired lady, possibly one of the
Sutherland sisters, who sat in state at
one of the principal hotels, daily exhibit
ing her seven feet of black hair to an ad
miring audience. The. judge was present
at one of these exhibitions, watched his
opportunity, and secured a hair.
He and his wife were regular attendants
at church, and at the Sunday morniing
services he suffered most from his wire's
hair-finding proclivities. Just as he com
posed his mind to listen to the reading
the sermon or even the prayers he would
feci a sudden pluck at some part of his
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ings from various reservations, and rare
Indian curios collected in all parts of the
West,' is called "Absaroke hut" Absa
roke being the tribal name of the Crow
Indians. It is here that Mr. Sharp does
the bulk of his work. He spends his
Winters on the Crow reservation, for the
superb landscape effects, this being one
of the most beautiful parts of Montana.
Then, too, the Crows are probably the
finest physical specimens of plains In
dians and make excellent subjects for the
painter, though they are very difficult
to secure for posing. In. this respect
Mr. Sharp finds constant trouble. He vis
its the various reservations in rotation,
and seldom does he find an Indian who is
a willing subject. For 15 years he has
been working' against such discourage
ments, and but for the fact that his fund
of patience Is inexhaustible, and also
that his wife renders htm Invaluable aid,
he would have abandoned his great work
long ago.
Difficulties With Models.
"The public has no idea what a man
undergoes in painting Indians," said
Mr. Sharp, speaking of the difficulty
of getting' the redmen to act as mod
els. "It Is impossible, almost, to' get
models for a picture like 'The Voice
of the Great Spirit." In working; out
such a painting one has to make sep
arate studies, without letting the
model see the picture itself. One fine,
clothing a hair was discovered and so
on all through the service. The judge
feared that some time he would be heard
to say a naughty word In church.
On the Suhday after his brief visit to
the long-haired lady his last preparation
for worship was singular. A corneY of
his Ji and kerchief was carefully arranged
to peep from his coat pocket, and. show
Inly upon the white background, dangled
an end of black hair.
With marvelous patienca he endured the
searchipg scrutiny of the good lady be
side him; her eyes soon reached his
pocket, but a chance to secure the hair
without attracting attention did 'not ar
rive until the sermon - began, when the
Judge crossed his arms and was evidently
absorbed In the eloquent utterances from
the pulpit. A cautious Jerk brought away
a foot of black hair another- yank, an
other "foot. There was a little surprise
that the end was not reached a third
foot came to light, then a pause to be
sure that the "hunt" was unnoticed. A
fourth yank: still no end to that hair.
The good lady was exasperated and yank
number five was energetic still no end.
The thing was like a n!ghtmare:a chill
came over her, but she was a determined
and courageous American woman yank
number, six desperation talk about
nightmare it was a Joke to this! Once
more pull and seven feet of hair was on
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THE SUrDAY OREGOXIAN, TOIITLAND, FEBRUARY 23, 190S.
ITS
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Indian Life as Portrayed by J. H. Sharp, Amer
ica's Foremost Portrayer oi the Red Man
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Juno-like woman I needed for the
painting mentioned, and I tried for
week to bribe her with money, pres
ents and coaxing. I was In despair,
and happened ,to mention my difficulty
to the agent. He said: Til get Julia
for you.' In a short tUne he brought
her over and she posed. When I asked
the agent how he had worked the mir
acle, he said: "Well, Julia wants to get
married, and l-told her that I'd hold
up the wedding until she posed for that
picture.' There Is another story in
connection with that very painting and
the same model. Julia balked at the
bare ankles. Later I got another wom
an for that. After much coaxing she
went over to a neighbor's tepee and re
turned with one bare ankle. I had to
paint it, and then she returned to the
tepee, put on the moccasin and leggln
and took off the others, and returned
to pose for the other ankle.
"I pay all my models $2 per sitting
of from two to three hours, but it is
hard to get them' at that. Some of
them have peculiar ideas of posing.
Old Slow Bull, a noted Sioux chief,
was on the reservation last Summer.
He has a beautiful face to paint, and
I coul'dn't rest until he ' promised ' to
give, me a sitting. On the .appointed
day I waited until afternoon, and was
about to give It up, when another
Sioux came to tell me that Slow Bull
couldn't come himself, but had sent
this man In his stead to do the posing.
- FOOT HAIR
the seat between, her and the Judge. It
could not be left there for the sexton to
marvel over, so it was hastily thrust un
der the heavy cover of her hymn book,
while she mopped the perspiration from
her face and fixed her eyes in rapt at
tention on the face of the minister, de
voutly hoping that the "hair hunt" had
been unobserved by the congregation.
Quietly the Judge's hand slipped down
to the hymn book a moment and the
hair was in his pocket; r.o matter if it
broke now. The sermon ended, the ireful
lady grasped the book with relentless
grip, holding on for dear life, as she
walked home, concocting scathing sen
tences to be uttered in the privacy of
home no word of the Judge's pleasant
conversation was heard.
The front door closed behind them.
"William, what did you have in your
coat pocket this morning?"
The Judge looked at her with an Inno
cent and questioning gaze.
"You had this," she went on, sternly,
opening up the cover of the hymn book.
There was the fly leaf with the- name
neatly written on It nothing more, abso
lutely nothing more. STie turned pale
and stared blankly at her husband.
"Could I have lost It?" she said, faintly.
"You could not have lost a speck of
dust from that book coming home. Mary."
he gravely assured her. "1 saw the ex
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it-
And this fellow was not palntable. or
interesting at all.''
Caught the Indian Spirit.
Fifteen years ago Mr. Sharp started
to paint Indians. Previous to that time
he had been a member of the faculty
of Cincinnati Art Academy for 30 years
and had been abroad half u dozen
times for study. Despite the discour
agements that .met him from the' start,
he found the work among the Indians
most fascinating. He has visited all
the reservations, and numbers many
personal friends among the redmen.
Nor are the Indians slow to praise
the work of this artist, who has al
most become one of them. No doubt
this Is due to Mr. Sharp's mastery of
detail, such as the funeral trappings at
the grave in "The Voice of the Great
Spirit." He hs caught many customs
peculiar tb the .Indians of the older,
generation customs that will soon
vanish in the present process of "clvllT
lzing" the red race.
His sheep wagon studio is always a
matter of the keenest interest to the
visitors that stray into Crow Agency
and find the painter at work among
such unique surroundings. The wa,gon
has seen service on the sheep range,
and. is one of the typical vehicles used
by far Wresjern herders, who are often
compelled to live in them for months
at a stretch. It Is a heavy wagon,
covered with a canvas top, like a prai
rie schooner and containing a stove,
traordinary way you gripped It. What
did you think was inside?"
"Think!" she said, indignantly- "I know
I had a hair there yards long," and she
told the whole story.
The Judge surveyed her, "more In sor
row than anger."
" My dear, you have imagined the whole
thing; this hair hunting is becoming a
positive mania with you," and he pro
ceeded w:Ith a speech as eloquent as any
ever addressed to the listeners in a
crowded court.
Senator Seott says that today if the
Judge should walk out fairly festooned
with a. thousand hairs, it Is doubtful if
his wife would remove even one.
Politeness and tlie Clock.
Atchison Globe.
When a very polite woman has com
pany she never looks at the clock. If
by any means her eyes must wander to
that side of the room she very carefully
looks above the clock, or. below It, or to
one side of it, but never Is she guilty
of the rudeness of looking at the clock
Itself. When a guest looks at the clock
and comments upon the lateness of the
hour, th'en a hostess may look at It, but
she must immediately. In very polite and
ladylike terms, inslBt that the clock lies;
that it is at least four hours too fast.
The clfick is 'an Important factor in true
politeness. Only by utterly Ignoring It
when there Is company can a woman
become a perfect lady.
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a bed and "all the comforts of home."
The painter works in it a great deal
In Winter, finding It admirable for
killing ground and otln-r reflections,
besidoa keeping the paint ffom freet
ing. .Indians' Domestic Lire.
Mr. Sharp has succeeded in doing what
few white men have done getting an In
sight into the real home life of the In
dian. His Indians are not the austere,
mock-heroic types that are 'painted by
artists who work chiefly from Imagina
tion. In reality the Indian is a fun-loving
Individual, enjoying his joke and his
dance and his social hours even more
thoroughly than the average white man.
Of course, he la superstitious, but there
are many fine and beautiful things about
his religion. Working from the sympa
thetic standpoint of a man who under
stands these things, Mr. Sharp has pet a
new standard for Indian painting and has
upset many deeply rooted fallacies.
Thanks to him, the Indian becomes less
of a tradition and more of a human be
ing. Such pictures as "A Gift for Her
Brave," and "The Death Spirit" are tell-,
ing glimpses Into the real Indian home
life, showing the Joy and the sorrow that
alternate In the tepee, even as thejt al
ternate at- the hearth of the white
family.
With the same perception, the attist
seems to select the types that, from the
ethnologist's standpoint, are nearest per
fect. Little Na-tu-ya (Blessed), the Black-
WHERE DO
BY THEODORE ZEIU
WHERE do wild animals die and
what becomes of them after death?
These questions have often been asked
and many learned naturalists have
tried to . find satisfactory answers to
them, but even at the present time
comparatively little is known that
would throw a clear light upon that
subject. The question is simple enough
and easily answered in some cases, but
extremely difficult in other cases. In
a large number of cases the animals are
killed by other animals or by man and
eaten. They find their grave in the
maw of their enemy, who in turn may
find his grave In the stomach of some
other more powerful creature. Of all
living creatures man is the most blood
thirsty, and more animals fall victims
to his greed, cruelty or appetite than to
the murderous instincts of carnivor
ous or other animals.
It has been asserted that man Is
compelled to kill to prevent an exces
sive increase In the number of animals,
which would threaten his very exist,
ence. The mission of the carnivorous
animals seems to be a similar one.
That such Is the case may be learned
from numerous examples. How neces
sary are cats arid dogs to prevent rats
and mice from becoming too numer
ous Is well recognized in all parts of
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foot maiden, has a purity of profile that
would grace a gold coin In place of 'the
type St. Gaudens selected, yet she Is all
Blackfoot. In the portrait of Two Leg
gins, one of the leading men in the Crow
tribe, all the dignity of this admirable
and always friendly tribe stands forth.
When his mastery of color Is added lo
the qualifications that have been men
tioned. It Is not strange that Mr. Sharp
has taken pre-eminence in the field of In
dian portraiture.
Mr. Sharp has not won his position In
a day. Besides his struggles with his re
calcitrant models, he has met reverses
that would discourage a less earnest man.
Once his cabin In the Blackfoot country
THE WILD ANIMALS DIE?
the world Infested w.ith those rodents.
It is alsa well known that agriculture
would be practically impossible in
some parts of India were It not for the
tigers. In some districts wild hogs and
monkeys are so abundant and destructive
that no harvest could ever be hoped for
without the welcome intervention of the
tigers, which decimate the numbers of
those enemies of agriculture. For that
reason many voices have been raised
against the threatened extermination of
the tigers In India. Another example
is furnished by the enormous Increase
in the number of rabbits which were
introduced In Australia, where there
are no carnivorous animals to hold the
increase in the rabbit population in
proper check.
How effectively animals check an
excessive Increase in the number of
animals living upon vegetable food be
comes apparent from figures given by
various writers. According to' Jules'
Gerard, 60 lions In the district of Bona
killed more than 10,000 animals of dif
ferent size during the year 1856. One
single wolf, which made the country
around Tegernsee. Bavaria, insecure
for nine years, caused damage to cattle
to the amount of 10.000 florins during
that time. In Russia 180.000 head of
cattle and other large animals and
560,000 smaller animals are killed by
wolves every year, not cseinting the
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burned down " and destroyed a great
amount of valuable work. The artist was
away fishing, and his wife went to meet
him. as she did not want anyone else to
break the news. When he heard what
had happened, the artist, still smiling
cheerily, remarked:
"I had a splendid day's -Ashing."
Someone asked tlie painter how he man
aged to keep at his work amid such
drawbacks, and he said:
"You must give my wife full credit for
what we are doing. She la my constant
companion and chum, going everywhere,
and is also Interested In the Indians. I
would not stay among them three, days
without her."
poultry which becomes their prey. It
Is Incredible how many animals an
eagle or hawk will kill and devour In
one year.
Some have made the assertion that
certain animals, when they feel the
approach of death, retire to some hid
ing place, a cave, a hollow tree, or
some crevice in the rocks and there
await the end. That may he true and
is decidedly probable, but does not ex.
plain the fact that only in rare cases
are tne remains or ieaa animals touna
in such places. It has often been com
mented upon that even in the districts
where monkeys are abundant dead
monkeys are scarcely ever found. An
cient writers like Pliny speak with
remarkable erudition of the ago
which certain domestic and wild anl
mals'reach, but their writings throw
no light upon the question as to what
becomes of the animals after deatn.
The number of carcasses and skeletons
which are actually found is far too
small, to give a satisfactory cxplana.
tion of that puzzling question which is
Still waiting for its Oedipus.
As a result of the Milan exlilbitlon It has
been decided ta start an Italian monthly re
view In the. interest of Italian women. The
publication 1 to be railed Vita FemminHe
ta!ina. and its object is to Improve the
moral, social, educational and economic con-
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