Show rt OLDEST T s L vv L LIY LIVE EV NEAR E R s SALT LT i LAKE V CITY T oA r Ir r I 1 I HJ H ruder Haggard was was' doubtless drawing awing on his hs fancy wl when n ho he described de de- de- de scribed e te unutterable age on the face o his he heroine oine She after she stepped from f from the subtle flames in the Caves f. f f Kor An And Ard yet the plc pic picture ture so sc F graphically drawn dawn would stand very w well ll for two living breathing being Ing whose home is within tw tWO o days days' 3 journey from Salt Lake Cit City i AWay vay up in a sequestered valley vaney of f fth th the th Oquirrh range Iange amidst the quiet Of t f the mountains dwells delIs the remnant remnant remnant rem rem- nant of a a. nce powerful Indian tribe attl atI two them live to tell the story j st Y cir their time owe greatness who t. t to m and womanhood be- be ei e- e i the whIte ma maui had gazed on the j pi ii Which untold years ear had tb hunting grounds of their fath fath- I 3 If 11 Expanse anse of Alkali Fl Flats FIets ts Ir Hush h valley is a a. barren plain which I ie between the Stansbury and Cedar mountains that stretch to the south o othe of tb the Great Salt lake laIte As far as the eye can can see there Is nothing but white forbidding forbidding for lor- bidding alkali flats fiats with here and there therea a patch of greasewood until you are 1 W well ll alon along on your journey up the val val- ley There is not a tree or anything else to break the monotony of ot the scene nothing but and desert desert and a quiet unbroken unbroken unbroken un un- un- un broken by anything that has a sign of life The trav traveler ler passes through a vale of death for even the birds seldom fly flyover flyover flyover over the parched plain This goes on for miles mUes and miles until the mountains curve m itt on oil either side narrowing the valley down to a mere defile Here a afew afew few ew tiny mountain streams ms make their way down to the plain giving the life life- giving moisture which c changes anges the desert to an oasis It is in one of these Il little fertile spots that the remnant of the rl shutes have built their lodges It Is a little village of six or seven families all that Is left of a tribe tube which was ivas once the undisputed owners of nearly all the lands that now comprise the State of Utah War Val and disease and the blighting Influence in influence influence in- in fluence of the white hite man have depleted their numb rs until there are only about thirty five five of them left Among these live the old man and a still older woman to see whom the writer braved the journey across the desert Scene in the Village It was about 2 Z o'clock in the afternoon when the tepees were reached which clustered around a clump of birches where a tin tiny stream gained the plain down a series of cascades from the mountains above The usual barking of ofa A multitude of dogs heralded the tie coming of strangers and all of the i younger members of the village came cameI pouring out of the tepees Accompanied Accompanied Accompanied I by the youngsters and the dogs the visitors entered the village which w was s the collection of hu huts ts imag imag- A few old bucks were lying around under a tent in the centre of I which a worn out smoky camp sent out a little warmth They scarcely looked up as the strangers appeared appeared ap ap- ap- ap but a few dusky faces belongIng belonging belonging belong belong- ing to the younger of the squaws looked ou out t from among the parted rags that covered the tepees with a sort of stoic curiosity It was not until the the visitors had alighted from their buggy that any anyone one of the men seemed td take notice of their presence Then a young buck sauntered out from on one of the hovels and without saying a word held out his hand p in Silence r f fOh Oh its it's is it it said you ou Eph the guide I have brought this gentleman to see the old folks Are Aie they well The young Indian answered In good English that he thought they w were re all allright allright right but that the old man was having havinga a case of the dumps which I found out to my cost waS wag a a. fact The present of a pound of tobacco went far tar to assure assure assure as as- sure the old men In the tent that the visit was a friendly one and we were Invited to take te a no seat under the cover This of course was accepted and we sat in the smelling ill-smelling place for some sometime sometime sometime time smoking in silence while the In Indiana Indians Indians In- In diana conversed in the Ute tongue which even the guide did not under under- stand The young Indian who had bad first spoken at last turned to the guide and said The stranger wants to see the father What are his reasons I wish to t o tell the white men about him and to fo hear him FIlm im talk of the long ago before re th tho white man came into thes valleys I answered before my guide had a chan to reply to the question ques ques- tion He speaks no English Do you Understand understand un un- the tongue of the Utes No I replied I will talk through you you H He made 10 no reply but when I slipped sUpped a silver dollar Into his hand he instantly instant ly got up and ard made a motion for us to follow We passed around the outside of the tepees until we e reached the one at the extreme end of the village when the Indian In In- dian threw back the blanket at the thedoor door and end told the visitors to enter To describe the filth and squalor of place would be Impossible It was smelling ill and end disgusting be beyond ond thought Sitting over in one corner was an object so unutterably weird anc and ghastly that we forgot the stench anc and the filth In hi a feeling that was akin to awe i iA A Most Ghastly Object In the dim light that sifted silted through the rents of the covering of the tepee a being that I could hardly make myself w was s human was as crouching upon a Bile of ot rags which served for a bed Age beyond thought was written on every JS feature had nr had stamPed itself on form an and and limb mb bending and twisting them ou out of h human man shape snape Sf uman yet leaving that which ch Challenged ll the soul of the beholder to deny that It still sUll was hum hu- hu m man ine me race was wrinkled by lines Innumerable in innumerable in- in numerable and the skin which was 6 Of f a Go sickly yellow ellow was stretched over the bones of the face In a manner that tha showed the grinning outlines of the skull kull beneath looked Like a a. Mummy The eyes had receded far into th the head and were smell small and beadlike while hile the eyebrows curved over th the ghastly sockets beneath appearing hard and shiny like horn The whole form seemed to have become mummified fied fled before death I could not take my eyes from the place where he was crouching I was fascinated by th the awfulness of age by the paradox o of fate which had kept this being living I to see th the decline of his people th the death o of all ll he had held dear to live on hopeless and aimless in the filth and squalor of of his wretched abode While I was standing looking at him the young Indian approached him and hiding his face beneath his like claw hands refused to make a reply It took a great deal of persuasion and I the offer of tobacco together with other other oth oth- I er trinkets before he would consent t tsay to say a word As was natural the first question pu put through the interpreter was to his age I cannot count my winters was hi his reply Have you E seen en years Remembers the Wars My y head was gray years ago D Do you remember t the first grea great war My people have bad had many wars r j i J i-J I a la I n WT Tor Rr I mean the war fought by the first great white father I I had danced the war Wal dance of my people when that occurred How did you hear of dt The word came to us by wanderers from the East f 4 White men do ou mean r I INo No white man Had fad d visited the mountains moun moun- then they came I ater 1 Do you remember th the th e name of the first grea great white chief A big c city ty where the Pr present sent great white chief lives is named after him but I forget his name And you were alive at that time I have said sald that I was was' a warrior then Do you remember the whiteman white whits' man you ever saw saw saw- It was many winters ago yet I re re- re member Did he speak as I speak No he spoke the Mexican l tongue In my youth I learn learned d it The stranger spoke that tongue He was not a 3 Mexican yet yet yet-he he spoke spokes as s they When did you see the first of my people l e Grows Remi Reminiscent Years after He He was a a hunter and arid hi lib hils wife was a squaw And the next one one He He was a great gleat chief with his war i I How old were you then My hair hall was as white as the wing ing J A AAI of the gull and for years I had been the chief of m my people Do you remember when the white men came to settle in these valleys valleys' That was but yesterday esterday I watched them as they drove through the canYons canyons can can- Irons with their white-covered white wagons They are arc my brothers now Other questions were put and answered answered answered an an- after the same fashion but no definite information could be gained as asto asto asto to time and nothing could be gleaned from th the other members of the tribe that could fix the date of or his birth further further fur fur- ther flier than that when the oldest were children the Father as they call him was an man so old that the years since then have haye scarcely changed him In passing v An Older Woman I left the hovel with witha i a a. feeling I cannot cannot cannot can can- not describe Here was wa waa a man who if his memory was not at fault was In u o JIn Iz IzA A AA A r. A 1 Athe the flush of youth when Washington I was fighting for foi the Independence of ot the colonists When Clay and Webster were electrifying their countrymen with their eloquence he was an old man A nation had beep been born and grew to lusty manhood within the span of his life Ufe The geni genius s of mankind had transformed the world during the years of his manhood and yet nothing had added to his comfort or pleasure I So hemmed in and narrow had been his life that even his memories are useless to the rest of mankind After we left the tepee I asked to see the old woman r To my deep wonder I found that she was still older than the man In fact she had been a maiden when he was a babe The two had no po rel relationship except except except ex ex- ex- ex the tribal one but had lived had lived In the same village all their lives The AThe young I Ithe Indi Indian n who acted as our c conductor was the great-great-grandson great of bf f the woman wo wo- wo man and she lived in his lodge e. k kI I I was In a measure prepared to see something weird in the ap appearance arance of the woman from front having seen the aged chief So when we entered the tepee I 1 Iwas Iwas was not as shocked as I would otherwise otherwise otherwise other other- wise have been To describe the woman woman woman wo wo- wo- wo man would be only to add to the de description description de- de already given of the man I found that she had become an imbecile and had lost nt nearly arly every sense Her form torm was emaciated beyond all thought In fact she looked no larger than a year old child and yet the unutterable age that was vas as depicted on face and form made a picture that will vIll haunt my dreams for y years ars One glance was all I cared for and I left the loge lodge satisfied that whether the tales told of the two were all true or not there was was was' visible evidence enough to prove that they had lived far beyond a century and were possibly the oldest oldest oldest old old- est human beings on the face of the earth |