Show D X 1 I N n ot 7 V t 0 A W s W F 7 iran tail and the buffalo ba Venc eDillon A by ELMO SCOTT WATSON cotil en favorite american myth h has as been exploded explode dl I 1 the indian w whose hose face appears on the I 1 buffalo buffa 10 nickel Is not chief two guns white calf ot of the BI Blach ac feet I 1 for many years such captions as face you recognize on buff buffalo a 10 nickel youve his portrait in your pocket you carry ills his picture perhaps and ills his face Is worth a fortune in nick elst have appeared over pictures of him in the newspapers innumerable tourists to glacier national park in montana have exhibited to friends back home a picture which ch they took of the buffalo nickel indian in tho the many trips which two guns white calf has baa taken to all parts of the united states he has been photographed interviewed advertised and written up as the indian whose likeness appears on every buffalo nickel all ot of which c h h has as built up a typical american myth and now it turns out that the buffalo nickel indian chief two guns white calf la in the parlance 0 of f t the be day its I 1 ts two other fellows or possibly three threat 1 the authority for fop that statement la Is the man who if anyone should know ile he Is james earle earie frazer it a famous sculptor if you visited the panama pacific exposition in san francisco CIS co in 1915 perhaps you remember his striking piece of indian statuary the end of the trail whose design tor for the buffalo nickel was accepted by officials of the united states treasury department when plans for issuing that five cent piece were made mada some 15 years ago age tho the other othe day mr frazer wrote a letter to th the a 0 office mee of indian affairs in the united states department of the interior in which hie he said that he had not used two guns white calf as his model but that he had used the profiles of three other indians tor for his design on one was chief iron tall of the ogallala og allala sioux another was chief two moons of tho the northern and the third was an indian whose name he had forgotten of course if you insist upon cherishing the myth you can belleve believe that the glacier park paik chief Is the third indian whom mr air frazer has forgotten cut but ven even difficult in face of the fact that the sculptor was quoted as saying ha ba had never seen two guns white calf but even though this does demolish our popular beliefs it has its compensations for ono one thing it makes valid a publicity story put out by a press agent 1 press agent 11 especially those which have to do with the show business the theater the circus the movies et cetera are more often than not of the kind which require more than a grain of salt for the taking A generation ago when the late col william F cody was vas amazing and delighting two continents with his famous wild west show a part of his personnel was a band of ogallala sioux indians from the pine ridge reservation in south dakota among them was a chief at least he was a chief in the show program whether the ogallala looked upon him as such or not named iron tall later iron tall traveled vita eth the combined buffalo bill and pawnee bill wild west shows and still later in the ranch show owned by the miller brothers of oklahoma and edward arlington soon after the appearance of the buffalo nickel some inspired press presa agent whose name la Is unknown had a photograph such a an Is shown above taken of iron tall and one of ct the buffaloes carried by the show aad an d gave out the information that this was the original indian and buffalo on the new buffalo nickel whether he really knew that frazer had used iron tails profile in making his design Is also unknown anyway it was a good story and the press stuck to it but tor for some reason the story catch on with the public perhaps it was dismissed as just another press agent yarn even though thero there was some element of truth in it in the next nest few years the wild west show business languished the automobile and improved roads began to make americans a race of 11 motor ator gypsies gyp instead of waiting for the wilan wild west to be brought to them in tented arenas they cranked up their cars and went to see the wild west such as there was of it left for themselves glacier park became inq on of the favorite leccas of the tourist and in addition to its marvelous scenery there were also indians real indians in feathers and blankets and paint to greet them with guttural Il lowel one of these who became best known was two guns white calf and ana then some other unknown press agent for whom or what the present chronicler does not know started that yarn about two guns being the original buffalo nickel indian and this press agent who had bad no real foundation tor for hla his story was believed where the other press agent who had tried to tack tacit that fame on iron tall and who had real justification for his story I 1 so the tha myth grew and grew until this year when james earle earie frazer exploded it note in many stated irate the third friday J in september is observed obier ved as american indian day an for recognizing the contribution of the american indian to our national tradition the observe ance this thi year cones cone on an september 28 and nd publication of this hi article dealing wa with ith some indiana indian whose fame has ha been imperishably preserved prener vod in enduring metal is if appropriate as a that date draw near but more important than establishing the veracity in one case at least 1 of a press agent Is tho the fact that Fra fragers Frazer 3 statement recalls once more the name of a really great indian chief and americans americana may well look upon the buffalo nickel with new interest because a they now know that the indian profile thereon n has in it some of the dignity and strength of the features of chief two moons of the northern two moons rose rosa to a position of importance among the Cheyenne a because of his feats as a warrior ile he was many times wounded in battle both with indians of other tribes a and ad the whites once a pawnee arrow tore its way through his flesh on another occasion he was shot by a crow in the yellowstone country in a fight with american soldiers in utah he was shot through the thigh but he also counted many coups on both red men and white the opening of tho the indian war la in 1870 1876 found him the chief of a band of in the powder river country and when the sioux were joined by their allies the two moons had a conspicuous part in the battle of the rosebud when crazy of the Ogal lalas defeated general crook A week later two moons and his band were encamped on the little big horn when ouster caster and the seventh cavalry made their fatal attack on the big indian village strung along that stream two moons account of the battle which was taken down by garland and which appeared in the old mcclures mcclunes McC lures magazine for september 1803 1808 Is one of the most graphic and at the same time one of the most important from the indians viewpoint narratives of that famous engagement ever written in telling of his interview with two moons garland writes there was something placid and powerful in the lines of the chiefs broad brow and hla his gestures were dramatic and noble in sweep ills extended arm his musing eyes his deep voice combined to express a meditative solemnity profoundly impressive there was no anger in his voice and no reminiscent ferocity all that was strong and fine and di distinctive s tive in the cheyenne character came out in the old mans talk lie ile seemed the leader and thoughtful man he really was patient under injustice courteous even to his enemies two moons not only participated in the crook and custer battles but also was in another famous battle the attack by general mackenize on dull knifes village that bitter winter night of 1870 when the power of the Cheyenne a was broken the next spring two moons realized that the game was up and he led his people to fort liengh mont to surrender to gen nelson A miles in 1870 1871 he served as a scout under IV P clark in the effort eff ortto to catch tho the cheyenne chief little wolf after his epic dash from oklahoma towards freedom in the north after the close of the indian wars two moons was looked upon as head chief of I 1 the he northern and ho he was zealous in lead ing them in the white roans mans road even otter after blindness blindness handicapped him in his later years the tha indian on the buffalo nickel however Is not the only one for which a notable red man was the model the other day a status statue which has stood at the foot of eighteenth street in chicago for nearly 40 years was removed remove from its stone base and taken to the chicago historical society building for safekeeping until its final disposal Is determined so travelers coming into the twelfth street station in chicago over the illinois central centra or michigan chikan cen aral will no iio longer catch a fleeting of he fhe spirited bronze group which chic h once stood I 1 xa dearbon Dear bom near the site ot of the tha historic fort dearborn massacre the group la Is a representation ot of one ot of tho th most stirring incidents in that tragic affair lit it shows black partridge a pottawatomie chieftain saving mrs helm wife of one of the officers of the fort dearborn garrison from the tha tomahawk of a blood mad young brave and theres an interesting story connected the indians who were used by the sculptor as his models in making this piece of statuary for they were none other than chief short bull of the brule bride sioux high priest of the ghost dance religion which came so near to resulting in a great uprising of the sioux in 1800 1890 01 and chief kicking bear of the 0 u sioux a fierce warrior who was irreconcilable to domination by the white man and saw in tho the ghost dance excitement a chance to rouse his people against t their enemies eneal c s now how it happens that these two indians from the plains of the dakotas came to be ba the models for a memorial to a tragedy on the shores chores of like lake michigan Is told in a book published in 1803 the chicago massacre of 1812 11 by joseph kirkland as follows carl rohl smith a danish sculptor who had already won distinction in europe and america and who came to chicago under the strong attraction which preparations for the worlds columbian exposition offered for nil all artists won notice and praise by his statue of franklin cast for the entrance of the electrical building he was invited to prepare a model for a group commemorating the fort dearborn massacre wass ocre of 1812 mr rohl smith set himself to work with utmost diligence fortune favored him fortiere tor for there happened to be just then some indians indiana of the most untamed sort at fort sheridan only a few miles away in charge of the garrison as prisoners of war they having been captured in the ilia pine ridge district whereof the affair of wounded knee was the tha chief event by general miles allies permission mr kohl itolia smith was allowed to select two of these red men to stand as 03 models for the tha principal savage figures in the group the two best adapted were kicking bear and short bull concerning them mr rohl smith says kicking bear la Is the best specimen of physical manhood I 1 have ever critically examined lie ile Is a wonderful man and seems to enjoy the novelty of posing besides evidently having a clear understanding der of the use to which his figure will be put the assailant of mrs helm the one with the uplifted tomahawk short bull MIS fills the historical idea that the assailant was a young indian naturally one who would not be ba as fully developed as the vigorous manly black partridge the presence pre senca of these indians has been of great value to me in producing the figures I 1 have been enabled to bring out some of their characteristics not otherwise possible the savages were accompanied by an inte preter and the newspaper of the tha day gave som eom amusing accounts of their demeanor in the studio their mixture of docility and self assertiveness etc it chanced that the tha real dispositions of the two principal models were the reverse reversa of their assumed characteristics and kicking bear who when wearing his native dress and war paint carried a string of six scalps was much amused at the fact that he ha was assigned the more humane part me good injun I 1 he ha cried him bad injun and he laughed loudly at the jest so the paradox connected with the model for the indian on the buffalo nickel that of a press agent story with some basis of fact not being believed and a press agent story with no basis of fact becoming an american myth has its counterpart in the paradox connected with the model for the indians in the port fort dearborn massacre monument statue so long its as its bronze endures short bull who was a visionary a n earner a man of pence peace who did not desire war with the whites will continue to threaten the lire life of a woman of the white race and nd the figure of kicking near bear a warrior a hater of the white man and a ender who sought to use religious frenzy to stir up his hla people dignin t the lie whites will continue to hold out a restraining hand to save a white womans comans ulfat I 1 Q by wian UI union |