Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About The Ione independent. (Ione, Or.) 1916-19?? | View Entire Issue (June 5, 1931)
e IndtmvB Memorial B ir Fainting by fort Bocfinei; 1833, By EDITHA L. WATSON HE little town of Ignaclo, on the t'te reservation In southern Colorado, Is astir. It is May 24, the anniver sary of the burial of Ou ray. Peneath a simple cement headstone, made by the hands of the In diana themselves, lies their last great chief. Ever since his body was removed to this grave In 1925, Utes from all the bands In Colorado aad Utah have gath ered yearly to honor him with memo rial rites. It Is hard to tell whether this Is a custom patterned after the white man's Memorial day or not. It Is true that only six days later, we who read these lines will pay tribute to our dead. There will be parades and ' speeches, and flowers and flags will deck the resting places of our Midler and sailor departed, while elsewhere in the cemeteries wreaths and bou quets will symbolize our tender recol lections of klnfolk and close friends. There are few communities In our country which have no sort of surv ives. On this day, from coast to coast, the American people give special thought to those who have entered upon the Great Adventure. But If the ghosts of those other folk who lived here before us look back and see us, they understand what we are doing, for once, long ago, the red-skinned people held their day of remembrance, too. It was not always on the same date, across all the country. Some times It was twice a year; sometimes many years elapsed between the days set apart for the dead, according to the tribes which observed the custom. But none the less the Indians before us, in their own wa.", which was some times very much like ours, honored their beloved dead. The Pueblos call them "Those-who-have-gone-before." To their minds the next world Is very much like this, hut the departed are closer to Those Above, and may intercede for the liv ing. They cjme back, also, not In the luminous robes and with the trumpets end slates of seance-spirits, but In the persons of certain living tribesmen who, when they have donned the gro tesque masks of their ancertor-worshlp .rites, seem to acquire something of the power of those whom they are representing. They come back, also. In the quiet hours when their children are Immersed In thought, and give advice and counsel. It is only fitting, then, that the Ilopl should hold ceremonies In their honor, when their representations walk through the villages and hear the sup plications of their living children. It Js a queer sort of Memorial day, true, tut It Is conducted with real reverence and love, and who can ak more? What a beautiful faith this Is, which does not ndrnit of death separating the living and the dead, and which holds these symbolic "family reunions" In token of that faith. Even with this belief, however, It is Impossible for loving hearts not to grieve at the loss of dear ones. Thus we hear Ilopl walling on the anniversary of a death, and If there lias been an epidemic which took a number of the tribe, an official anni versary Is fixed, and observed with Borrow year after year. So, too, the New Fire ceremony sees the Zutil matron, dressed as If to meet beloved friends, weeping softly to her Pelf as she casts food Into the fire on her hearth. This food Is for the ancestors and for those who died In the past year, but If we could see Into her heart we would surely find some beloved one enshrined there, of whom she thinks especially as she makes her offering. The first anniversary of a death was the one most widely observed. Then the widow could put olT her mourning, and the bereaved family could take up every-day life again. The official time of sorrow wus passed at the end of this year. Hut who, be he Indian or white, can say to the mourner, "Do not weep longer; do not grieve fur ther"? The sorrow of death makes a lasting Impression on the heart, which cannot be erased at the end of a year. Anniversaries come as naturully as the seasons themselves. Full comes, , nod those who are left behind remem ber that at the Oroen Corn feasts their loved ones were merry Thus, the 1 - 'J (After Psmtfrf by Tunica guardians. of the cemeteries reminded those who had corn and beans that the time had come to offer them, and the people gladly gathered parts of their harvest and placed them on the graves. If, as the Indians believed, the next world Is so much like this, why should not the departed spirits return on these anniversaries to partake of the spiritual essence of the food and min gle a little while with those beloved ones who had not yet Joined them? Pere Sebastlen Rasles, who wrote an account of the Illinois tribe long ago, ske of their holding dances that were "a token of their sadness at the death of the most Important men of their tribe. It is by these dances that they profess to honor the deceased, and to wipe away the tears of his relatives?" During these dances, It was thought, the spirits of the de parted ones came and danced also, enjoying themselves as they had once done In the flesh. Here we find again the great un likeness of thought between white muo and Indian. Standing between the graves, placing flowers on them, listen ing to the prayers and speeches which seek to recall the dead to us, we would shudder at the Idea that they stood by us. admiring the flowers and hearing with appreciation their eulogies! Vet the Illinlwak found only pleasure In this thought, as If sme dearly-loved ones hud returned from a Journey to be among them, and the fact that they were invisible did not make them fear some or less welcome to the feast In their honor. Indian burial mounds were not for gotten by their' tribesmen, even though they moved far from the place where their people were Interred. No less a person than Thomas Jefferson, speak ing of a mound near Moiitlcello, re lated that "a party passing, about thirty years ago, through the part of the country where this burrow Is, went through the woods directly to it, with out any Instructions or Inquiry, and having staid about It some time, with expressions which were construed to be those of sorrow, they returned to the high road." The Oneida often visited a mound near Itlchfleld Springs, N. Y., saying that It was the burial plane of one of their thief men. The old chron iclers omitted to state whether these visits were performd with any me morial ceremonies, but Judging from what we have learned of other tribes, we believe that there must have been something of the sort. A strange Sioux memorial custom was that of "keeping the ghost," A lock of hair from the bead of the de ceased person wus made Into a roll with cloth and various articles of value. This was kept for a year or so, and other presents collected, when the friends of the dead person assem bled to hold ceremonies. At this time the gifts, together with small pieces of the lock of hair, were distributed. This ceremony was sometimes re peated. Another memorial observance which corresponds slightly to our custom of erecting headstones over the dead, was that described by Adair us fol lows: "To perpetuate the memory of any remarkable warriors killed in the woods, I must here observe that every Indian truveler as he passes that way throws a stone on the place. , . , In the woods we often see Innumerable heaps of small stories In those places, where, according to tradition, some of their disgruntled people were either killed or burled," Kaoh heap Is In creased, he goes on to say, as a last ing monument In their honor. No discussion of Indian memorial observances would be complete with out a description of the strange cus- HHiaaaaMHHHBHMM I 13 l I II IV I 1 : k m - v X Cat. J- lastman ) toms of the Asslnlboln, Mandart, and some other tribes: -These peoplt did not Inter their dead, but placed them on scaffolds or in trees. Ia time the bones of the deceased were all that was left, and these, perhaps, fell on the ground as the scaffolds or platforms, weather beaten and old, gave way. The rela tives gathered and burled the bones, all but the skulls, and these they placed "in a circle In the plain," says Father De Smet, speaking of tht As slnlboln, "with the faces turned toward the center. They preserve these with care. . . . The Indians call the cemetery the village of the dead. They visit It at certain seasons of the year, to converse affectionately with their deceased relatives and friends." Many travelers of the early days have observed and commented on these circles of skulls, and wt are given pictures of them In many of the old volumes. It Is only natural that such a strange custom should be mis understood. Some of those early ob servers did not realize what real af fection prompted the preservation of these relics of, the dead, and hence we read the scornful note that "sev eral skulls were kicking about on the ground." Catlln observed this same custom among the Mandan. anil goen on to tell us that each skull was placed on a bunch of wild sasre, which was re newed as often as necessary. 'There Is scarcely an hour In a pleasant day, but more or less of these women may be seen sitting or laying by the skull of their child or husband, talk Ing to It In the most pleasant and en dearing language that they can use (as they were wont to do In former days) and seemingly getting an an swer back." This custom may seem a revolting one to us, but to the Indians It wns a natural and common observance. In deed, to the white men who knew these people well, their strange Ideas grew less fantastic, and Catlln .re marked, as he rioted the Mandan wom en "visiting" with the skulls of their loved ones, "There Is something ex ceedingly Interesting and Impressive In these scenes," Indeed, they recall to us the famous vault under tln Capuchin convent, where the bones of monks who have died are used to make patterns on the walls, and the skulls stand In rows. Travelers have remarked that the monks who showed them these strange designs appeared to know many of the skulls, and could relate their names and something of their histories. It was noteworthy, also, that they had no horror of the grim vault, but looked forward serene ly to their own time of departing, when their skulls also would help to decorate the walls, and some later brother of the order would name them and tell their stories. Bo It Is with the Indians. Not all of them, of course, regarded death without dread, but surely those of whom we have been resiling did not recoil at the unavoidable step, Trim to their beliefs, they went out brave y. The "Happy Hunting Crntinds" of the Plains people beckoned; the l'n derworld of the Pueblos waited for their return. Anil they believed with firm conviction that they would know about the memorial ceremonies, and be able to share, with the beloved liv ing. In the rites. Whether we agree with them or not It wns a pleasant sort of faith. And although our own beliefs have gone In a far different direction from theirs, Hornetlmes, still we unite once a year to recall the virtues and to honor the memories of Those-who have-gone be fore. ( by WeiUrn NewipmicT Uulun.) WORLD WAR YARNS by Lieut. Frank E. Hagan "Verdun," an Army Mule Down at Fort Sam Houston lit Tex ns there's a longearcd quadruped who Is the most aristocratic mule In the I'nitcd Slates army. No one claims for her a royal ancestry, hut If you should cast any relied Ions upon her for that In the presence of any mem ber of the Fifteenth field artillery, you'd probably have a light on your hands. For "Verdun" Is the official mascot of the Fifteenth, and thowe cannoneers take us much pride In tier live gold stripes for service lu France as any decoration which any member of the regiment wears. It wouldn't be strictly accurate to say that "Verdun" llrst saw the light of day on the morning of April Itt. I IMS, although she was born on that date on the slopes of Verdun Just a short time after her mother hud fin ished hauling ammunition for Itnttery V. of the Fifteenth, which was then part of the Second division. What she did see at three o'clock In the morning when she arrived on earth was the Hash of bursting shells when the ar tillery din was was at Its height Truly a noisy welcome for a baby, but "Verdun" lived through It and I few du)S later when the batlery marched ten miles alio went with It "under her own power." lUfore she was a month old she hud hiked 'M miles In two days ami she accompanied the battery dur Ing every major offensive In which the Second participated. After the Armistice, she marched another hun dred miles to the (thine and spent some time In Cermuny with the Artnj of Occupation. When the welcome news came to the Fifteenth, "we're going home," the presence of "Verdun" was something of a problem. For the quartermaster had put it ban on mascots of all kinds, even the regimental mascot. Hut somehow or other she gol board the transport Julia Luikeitbach, and al though, officially. "Verdun" was A. W. 0. L. when the regiment left (lermsiiy, yet, strange to say, when the Julia 1. uckeiihach diK-ked "Verdun" whs discovered In quarantine on this side of the Atlantic. Then, of course, it was too late to send her back to France.. So she went with Battery B to Fort Sam Houston, then known as Camp Travis, and there she Is today under the watchful care of her "god father," First Sergeant Anthony D. Cone, who has been with Itnttery K since Its organization. No Armistice for Toil While millions of persons celebrated two Armistices, one of them a fake which preceded the genuine article of November 11, there were s few some of them In the army In France, who knew nothing of the momentous event when It actually occurred. One of these was a dusky soldier who had long iigo surrendered his SprluMt ld for s pick and shovel This man had been assigned to one out 111 then another until November II. 1!MS found him linn) hi work with a irn'in of pioneer, repairing hel lorn roml nnd breaking sloiics nurih f Mnl fa ii ci in. Eleven o'clock of Aroilsilce da mine and the bin gain l both sile stopped llielr shell Mpiltl'ig HI one mi other 1'ilt Kl III the pioneers tolled on Came an olhYcr from the hark areas bound wlih a noticeable Inereasf of enthusiasm for Hie front lines It halted the motor cycle to which hi side car was attached and looked down at the toil'ng pioneer. "Say, soldier." called the oflicer cheerily. "The Armistice Is signed The fighting Is over." The black man In khaki looked over his shoulder, a sledge hammer pulsed In air. "I ain't had no orders lo cease firing," he said as ho definitely re sumed his task. "Dovetails" Everybody knows that "shavetails were fresh (o, very!) young Ifeuteri ants. That name is a heritage from the regular army where newly-commls sioned officers, fresh (o, veryl) from West Point were likened to young mules whose first experience In the army was to have their tails shaved except for the brush at the end. Hut what were "dovetails"? l-et this page one Item In (he Stars and Stripes. A R. F. newspaper, for January 10, 1910, answer that question: "Third lleutennnts, the latest thing In uncommissioned ofllcers are be ginning to make their appearance In the replacement camps. They are the men who finished the officers' training schools ufter the 'no more commis sions' order was Issued from Washing ton. Since tfiey are supposed to fit In somewhere between a buck and a see ond loot, they rank as 'Dovetails.' Moit of the men wear a black strljfv on their sleeve which. It has been sug gested. may be considered ns a dell cute tribute lo the memory of the too late Sam Ilrowne. (?) I til, WmtTn Nw,r Union! Ganiui A mass of toinui ml- has grown up iiroiiml this world What a lot of faults are xciised in Its name, what a loi ot credli it misappropriates. We are not born lo success We mils! earn ulmi we achieve Oetilus Is iiro cih 'Ii nurd us e ciipio li) for hard wort. ' ' The Boyhood of Famous fly Americans Dr. William J. Mayo The surgeons were getting ready lo operate. The doctor administering an anesthetic to the pal lent felt faint. A thirteen, year old boy was In the opuratlug room. Ho stepped boldly to the front, took the place of the sick physician, and administered the anesthetic un der the directions of the operating surgeon, i tie iioy w us William J, Mayo, later to be come world famous as a surgeon, Matters of medicine and surgery were familiar to the youngster even lit the age of thirteen, Ills father was Dr. William II. Mayo, one of I lie best surgeons In the West. Ills ances tors had been prominent In the pro fession for generation In England, from which bis father came to this country In 1st.", Young Mayo bad ! -'en brought up In (lie world of curing the Ills of man kind. It wasn't unnatural that he tviis able, miller the circumstances, to crve as an assistant at an operation when he was only thirteen, lit first latlelit recoveriM. Since then he has ii red thousand by t'.ie 'kill of his surgery. The youngster had early ambitions to he a stiiKccoach driver. He win tiom In l.e Seiir, Minn., In 1M11. but Ills father moved to lim liestcr, In the 4iime state, when William was two ears old. Mlunesotii was In the Wild West of those days. There were few lihwiiys running across the rolling prairies. Indians roumed the plains. Many of the pioneers lived In rrudn mi huts. Stagecoach driver were heroes to the boys In Rochester. They were rough characters, hut the glamor of adventure hung over them In the eyes f young Will and hi playmnte. l'bey dashed Into the town, pulling up foam flecked horse with a flourish that was highly Impressive In Juve nile eye. They were a link with the treat world outside the little pralrls settlement. Hut like most of us, who In our fouth dream of becoming firemen, po licemen, engineers, cowboys or stage- onch drivers young Mayo's ambition was scon directed Into other channels. Illf father's practice covered win of the southern purt of the state. The noy often accompnnlcd him on visit to patients far out on the lonely prairie. The youngster saw Indians living In wigwam while on such trip. He held the horses when his father made rnlU lo the sod huts of the homesteaders. occasionally assisting In the setting of t broken limb, lie witnessed suffering and fortitude. Ills environment tended to direct lilui toward the study of medicine, lis made tip bis mind when he was In high school to follow In the footsteps of his father and so many of bis an :estor. After being graduated from the high school In Rochester he at tended Nile academy. From there he went to the University of Michigan. lie was graduated In medicine In I'M lie had hardly returned to the old- fashioned home, which his father had built In Rochester and In which lis spent his boyhood, than be had an upport unity to show the benefits of till training. A tornado, one of those wind storms so dreaded In the flat prairie country, struck Rochester and wrecked part of the village. Ills father turned hi home Into a hospital. The elder Mayo, the newly aide Dr. William Mayo and bis broth er, Charles H. Mayo, then a medical student, treated the Injured. The sons assisted their father In several emer gency operations. Dr. William J. Mayo made nn ex cellent record In college. So did his brother. I'.oth learned medicine as lliey grew up. Doctor Will worked In s drug store during his vacations. Doctor Charles did likewise. Further more they had the direct benefit of the deep knowledge and wide expert ence of their father. They bad a good microscope when they were In high school. Their fa ther bought It specially for them and taught them Its use. They studied with It many winter nights when a lillzzaril roared outside the comfort able home of the Mnyos. Such train Ing and advantage were most helpful when It came time for them to take up seriously the study of their chosen profession. The first real practical experience Dr. William J. Mayo had as a pruc tlelng physician In Rochester Indl rectly brought about the establish merit of the world famous Mayo clinic, Rochester was without a hospital, The need for bucIi an Institution was em phaslzed after the tornado had left ilcatli and suffering In Its wakn, The Sisters of St. Francis, who had served as nurses for the Mayo when they were administering to the needs of the tornado victims, n greed lo In) build a liiispll.il If the Mayos would serve ns physicians and surgeons. Doc tor Will's father donated the land. Tho brut hers thus begun their work to gether. Out of that early association bus grown their own world-known In stitution for the relief of suffering hu manity. (. bjrTbe North Ainrririn Nrwupaper Afli.inrt.) AFTER 40 bowel froubo Constipation may very easily become Chronic lifter forty. And any continued constipation at that tune of life may bring attacks of piles mid a host of Oilier unpleusant disorder. Wutch your bowels ut any e. Guard them willituirlieulnrcMie alter ...!., U 1,.,,,.1'Hf iltv iii-nil unv drill. remember doctor should know what b best for them. "Dr. Caldwell's Syrup Pepsin" fj a dinhr't vrtntiptiun fur tltt tutt$. Icmcii ly 4 years luucucr, u iiu llll lull 111 I Ihoroiiifhlv rlTrrdve III relieving constipation and its ills for men, women ami rnuuicii oi uu ngr. It has proven perfectly sula rven for I, ,.!.,.. M l,i (mm firill laliltlVf? herb, pure pepsin ami other luirmlrns Inurvilienis, 11 ranilol asripc; win not . L-,, v,.ii nr u.' iLimi vim: run be used without harm as oltcn ns your breath ISbail, or wncil your loniTnr wcumru, ll V. Illinois. ItiMSV condition warns of coustipulion. Pa. W. B, Caiowiii' SYRUP PEPSIN A Dottorl family Laxatire Couple's "Carrying On" Not an Unmixed Evil It was shortly after ltdy Aator wns put on the spot for roasting th socallcd "Itrltlsh peerage" that h stated It s her opinion that F.ngland wa too much tied up by moth eaten conventions. "Knglaiid I too prudish, both In It government and lu It dully life. Too touch convention bring dullnea. I overheard a rather dignified man say to hi wife: "'Nelly. Just look at the way Mis (1 I carrying on with that married man. It's simply awful !' "Ye. admitted hi young wife. 'hut what a blessing they are carry ing on. It would be Intolerably dull here without them.'" SAVED HER LIFE ! Portland, Or. "A few yrari ago Dr. Picrct'a doldtn Mtdaal Discovery aavrd my hie. I uught a aevcre cukl which arttlrd in the bronchial tutvi. I lad a Cough which tot ao bad tlut for is wrrki f could nut lie down. I wat 'all in' pbyiicjlly, and brg-iu myself to think there wat no help tor me, when I was advitnl by one of my doclon to take Dr. Pierce's Golden Medical Discovery. This medicine to complete ly relieved me of my trouble that I have never had any return of it." Mrs. Audrey Savin, 5516 3''th Ave, S. P- DruugivK Fluid or tablets. WflU lir. I-IotVi I llnl U ll.IT.ln. H. V.. Mrloalnf wrapper trnm nrillrliw u r"-l in MMiUkl arftlcw. Duly YouBgiter Floyd Foght, eighteen months old, r ii used a lot of excitement In New Orleans, La., recently. First, ho wallowed a three Inch live goldfish from the golilllsh bowl. He wa hurried to a hospital and till life saved. After he was brought back lioine bu opened the birdcage and tried to swallow the canary whole, Ids mother getting to him Just In time. REGULAR The modern Mis needs no "lima out" for tho time of month. If you've ever taken Bayer Aspirin for a headache, you know how soon the pain subsides. It is just ns effec tive in the relief of those pains peculiar to women! Don't dcdicuto certain days of every month to suffcrintt. It's old fashioned. It's unnecessary. Aspirin will always enable you to carry-on In comfort. Take enough to assure you complete comfort. If it is gcnuiite aspirin it cannot possibly hin t you. Mayer Aspirin does not depress the heart. It does nothing but slop the puin, so use it freely. Headaches come at inconvenient times. So do colds. Hut a little Itaycr Aspirin will always save the day. Neuralgia. Neuritis, lthciiinatism. Pains that once kept people home ore forgotten half tin hour after taking a few of these remarkable tabids. So ire the litllo mining- aches that iring fulifiue and "nerves" by day r n sleepless night. Genuine llaycr Aspirin tablets cost so very little after all, that it doesn't pay to. experiment with tmilalioiiHl " "'Vl Sip -