Show amilcar ami I 1 aar aloft fi aces cand aind some ayot 1 yo so Ta familiar 7 e af 4 Y 0 X 0 vz V ollie clue JP am 0 of tile imort tail and the buffalo 01 Vanc eDillon 1 V by ELMO SCOTT WATSON favorite american myth has been exploded the in than faaee api lears oil the buffalo til clel Is nut chief two cling white aalf of the 1 cacti feet for many years such captions as face you recognize in burtalo nickel r youe ills portrait in your rocket you carry its ile ture perhaps und ills face Is worth a fortune in els have appeal ed over ale tures of bill in the newspapers innumerable glacier national park to montana 01 ef mass acre have exhibited to friends back home a picture tm guris which they took of the buffalo nickel indian white calf two guns white has bag taken to all parts of the united states lie he has been photographed interviewed advertised and written ritten A up as the indian v whose hose likeness appears on every buffalo nickel all ot of which has built up a typical american myth and now it turns out that the buffalo nickel L indian chief two guns white calf in the parlance of the day its two other oilier fellows or possibly three the authority for that statement Is the man who if anyone should know lie ile Is james earle carlo frazer a famous sculptor if you visited the canama pacific exposition in san fran tisco in 1915 perhaps perli aps you remember his striking piece of indian statuary the end of the trail whose design for the buffalo nickel was accepted by officials of the united states treasury department when plans tor for issuing that five cent piece were made some 13 15 years ago the other day mr frazer wrote a letter to the office of indian affairs in the united states department of the interior in which lie said that he be had not used two guns white calf ns its his fits model but that lie he had used the profiles of three other indians for his des design agn one was chief iron tail of the ogallala sioux another was chief two moons of the northern and the third was an indian whose dame came he had forgotten of course if you insist upon cherishing use the myth you can believe that ine glacier park paris chief is the third indian whom mr frazer lias has forgotten but even difficult in face of tile the fact that the sculptor was quoted as saying he had oever dever seen been two guns white calf cut but even though this does demolish our popular beliefs it has its compensations for one thing it makes valid a publicity story put out k by a press agent press agent yarns 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 1 kind ind which require more than it a grain of salt for the taking A generation ago when hen the late col william F r cody was amazing and delighting two continents with ills his fatuous 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 be was a chief in the bhoj program whether sh ether the ogallala looked upon him is as such or not cot named iron tail later iron tall tail traveled with the combined buffalo bill and pawnee efel wild west shows and still later in the ranch show boned ow ned by the miller brothers of oklahoma and edward arlington soon after the appearance of the buffalo agent vil whose be name nickel some inspired press Is unknown had a photograph such as is shown above taken of iron tal tad and one of the buffaloes carried by the show and gave out the information that this was tile the original indian and buffalo on the new dew buffalo nickel whether he be really knew that frazer had used iron tails profile in making r ills his design Is also unknown anyway it was a good story and the press stuck to it il r rut but ut for some reason the story catch on with the public ae perhaps it was dismissed as just another press there was some element agent yarn even though of truth in it in the next few years the wild west show business languished the automobile and improved roads began t to 0 mall make americans it a race of motor gypsies I 1 instead of waiting for the 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 one of the tourist ft and rid in addition of the favorite leccas scenery there were ere also to its marvelous indians reat real indiana indian I 1 in feathers feathera and blankets and paint to greet them jhc thc m with guttural Il one of these vi ho became best known was two guns white calf ali and then some other unknown press agent for ivhon or what the started arted that not know present chronicler does yarn about two guns being the original buffalo nickel indian and this press agent who had no real foundation for his batory was believed who had bad where the other press preas agent tried to tack that fame on iron tall tail and who had real justification for his story I 1 so 80 the myth grew I 1 and grew until tats year when hen james earle frazer exploded it note in many states the third friday in september is i observed obier ved as a american indian indianu day an occasion for recognizing the contribution of the american indian to our national tradition the obera ance this th year comet comes on september 28 and publication of th aks article dealing with some komg indians indiana whose fame has hac been imperishably preserved preer ved in enduring metal is especially appropriate as that date draw near but more important than establishing the v veracity in one case at least of a press agent is the fact that frazers fragers Fra statement recalls once more the name of a really great indian chief and americans may well look upon the buffalo nickel with new interest because they now know that the indian profile thereon has in it some of the dignity and strength of the features of chief two moons of the northern two moons rose to a position of importance among the because of his feats as a warrior lie ile was many times wounded in battle both with indians of other tribes and the whites once a pawnee arrow tore its way through ills his flesh on another occasion he was shot by a crow in the yellowstone Tellow stone country in a fight with american soldiers in utah he be was shot through the thigh cut but lie he also counted many coups on both red men and white the opening of the indian war in 1876 found him the chief of a band of Cho in the powder river country and when the sioux were joined by their allies the two moons moona had a conspicuous part in the battle of the rosebud when hen crazy horse of the Ogal lalas defeated general crook A week later two moons and his band were encamped on the little dig bis horn when custer 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 clown by hamlin garland anil and which appeared in the old mcclures mcclunes McC lures magazine tor for september 1898 1809 Is one of the most graphic and at the same time one of the most important from the indians indiana viewpoint narratives of that famous engagement ever written in telling of his interview with two moons garland writes there was something placid and P powerful powerful in the lines of the chiefs broad brow and its gestures were dramatic and noble in sweep ills extended arm his musing eyes his big deep voice combined to express a meditative solemnity profoundly impressive there was wag no anger in his voice and no reminiscent ferocity all that was strong and fine and distinctive tive in tile the cleyonne Cle Cie yenne character came out in the old mans talk he seemed the loader leader ant ami thoughtful man lie 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 f famous l battle tha th attack by general mackenize Mack onize on dull knifes village that batt bitter er winter whiter night of when the power of the was broken the next spring two moons realized that the game w was as up and he led his people to fort I ort keogh mont to surrender to gen nelson A miles in 1879 lie he served as a scout under W p I 1 clark in the effort to catch the cheyenne chief little wolf after his big epic dash from oklahoma towards freedom in the north after the close of the indian nars two moons was looked upon as head bead chief of the northern and he be was zealous in lead lending them in the white mans road even after blindness handicapped him mm in his later years the indian on the buffalo nickel however Is not the only one or which a notable red man was the model the other day a statue which has blood bt at the toot of eighme eighteenth anth street in chicago for nea nearly aly 40 years was wag removed from its atone base and taken to the chicago ills society building for safekeeping until so travelers travel cra Is determined its final disposal coming into the twelfth sart station in chicago over the illinois central or michigan alch ran central will no DO IOD longer er catch ft a fleeting glimpse ot of the tha spirited bronze group which once stood near the site of the historic fort dearborn massacre tile the group Is a representation of one of the most stirring incidents in that tragic affair it shows black partridge a pottawatomie chieftain saving sirs mrs helm wife ife of one of the officers of the fort dearborn garrison from the tomahawk of a blood mad young brave and theres an interesting story connected with the indians who were used by the sculptor as his models in making this piece ot of statuary for they were none other than chief short bull of the brute brule sioux high priest of the ghost dance religion which came so near to resulting in a great uprising of the sioux in al and chief kicking dear bear of the sioux a fierce warrior who was irreconcilable to domination by the white man and saw in the ghost dance excitement a chance to rouse his big people against their enemies how it happens that these two indians from the plains of the dakotas came to be the models for a memorial to a tragedy on the shores of lake michigan Is told la in a book published in 1803 1893 the chicago massacre of 1812 by jos joseph kirkland as follows carl kohlsmith kohl rohl smith a danish sculptor who had already won distinction in surope and america and who ho came to chicago under the strong attraction which preparations for the worlds columbian exposition offered tor for all artists won notice and praise hy by his statue of franklin cast tor for the entrance of the electrical building ile he was invited to prepare a model tor for a group commemorating the fort dearborn massacre of 1812 mr kohlsmith kohl rohl smith set himself to work with utmost diligence fortune favored him for there happened to be just then some indians of the most untamed sort at fort sheridan only a few miles away in charge of the garrison as prisoners of war mar they having been captured in the rine pine ridge district whereof the affair of wounded knee was the chief event cy by general miles permission sir mr kohlsmith kohl rohl smith was NILS allowed to select two ot of these red men to stand as moden models for the principal savage figures in the group the two best adapted were kicking hear bear and short dull cull concerning them sir mr kohlsmith kohl rohl smith says kicking lear hear Is the best specimen of physical manhood I 1 have ever critically examined lie he Is a wonderful man and seems to enjoy the novelty of posing besides evidently having a clear understanding der standing of the use to which his figure will be put the assailant of sirs mrs helm the one with the uplifted to tomahawk mahak short bull fills the historical idea that the assailant was a young indian naturally one who bo would not be as fully developed as the vigorous manly black partridge the presence of these indians has bag 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 interpreter and the newspaper of the day gave some amusing accounts of their demeanor in the studio their mixture of docility and self assertive ness cess etc it chanced that the real dispositions of the two principal kodeli were ere the r reverse everse of their assumed characteristics and kicking gear bear who when ulten wearing his native dress and war paint carried a string of six scalps was much amused at the fact that lie he was wag assigned the more humane part sie me good injun he cried ilam bad injun 11 anil and he laughed 1 loudly eidly 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 bein being 1 believed and a press agent story with no DO basis of fact becoming an american myth has its counterpart in the paradox connected with the model for the indians in the fort dearborn Blai sacre monument statue so long as its bronze endures short null dull who ho was it a visionary a dreamer a man dian of peace who mho did nt not desire war with the whites will III continue to threaten the life of a woman of the white race and the figure of kicking rear near a warrior a hater of the white man alq and a luider kader who sought to use religious frenzy to stir up his people against the whites will continue to hold out a restraining hand to save a white hite womans comans ufa I 1 Q by western newspaper union |