The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 14, 1897, Page 17

| 4 i W, " Btate contiguous t6 my own and that he THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1897 gnn’mmmnxmfim TETOT | - as just been placed on ex- T the Aborigines room of be museum at Golden Gate Park a coltection of objects which were formerly property of certain individual mem- of the Cahroc tribe of California Indians. The aggrezation is the result of nearly forty years of patient continuou: lation through purchase and gifts, direct from the Indians, bv Joln Daggett, Superintendent of tne Mint, who has donated the collection entire to the m. Mr. Daggett has lonz been a mine- owner within the territory of the original Labitat of these Indians, and from the t ning of his acquai 1 he hasbeen their friend. employed them, advised them. on accu He has He is a great chief in toeir es- Sympathizing with his penchant ion of objects of their use, all sources in search of them and brought them to him, some- times for pay, when parting with the par- icular thing would otherwise entail too great a draft upon their resources, but often they were bestowed eagerly as a tribute of their regard. The collection is believed to be the most appertaining to a single tri ns. It bas the further feature of not being a body of hit and miss s, each without relation to the mute, descriptive record, of silent evidence re- teem. ivery utensil or tool or ticle which enters-into his domestic or s-tribal existence, the seeds of his food, e weapons of his chase, the fantastic trinkets and habiliments of his festal celebrations or his funeral solemnities, all dre numbered among the ‘five hundred or more objects which comprise the exhibit. Nor has this protracted and exhaustive to collate the implements and erments of this nation of savage ns been of worth greater than and are the most entitled to civilized regarG. To the miserabte “diggers” of ral or Southern California they were which as Indians they pproached more nearly the tie Iroquois of the Atlantic rolices of the middle in California there wasusually the native tribes ss; they were , indeed, they ed the zone of aridity the poor human pproached the well-watered reas of respondingly relaxed. It is to the circumstance of natural sur- more th at the supe characteristics of the Cahrocs were T th umber now only resident upon srvation, vet in the days of roamed the wide Siskiyou County, b bank of the | the Trinity and therefore, is now e so and betwee rivers. s broad aree, bounded upon three | by streams of white froth and blue | crystal, in which swam the saimon and | tire trout, the country surface broken by | c which roamed in bands the 1deik, this region was e Cabirocs; above them | nceship with | | assisted | ns in the life of the | ty and barren, | he north his condition | were the Modocs, below them and extend- {ing to the sea coast the Euhrocs. The | three names have a signiticance in the | Indian language—Modoc, ‘‘head of tke ‘ river’; Cabroc, “up the river,” and | Eubroc, “‘down the niver.” | Food of the animal sort abounded, but | not less so than thatof the vegetable king- |dom. Above the clustered antelope nod- | dea the pinon pine, rich with itslarge | cones, at the base of whose many scales | were the edible and nutritious seeds. | Hemming the forests grew the manzanita | shrub, with its wealth of berries, and the | acorns, which to the Indians are a staple comparable to wheat in the civilized esti- | only by the scale of miles. | The Cahrocs were not nomadic. They | ived in fixed residences, grouped in vil- |lages, always on the river bank. In the | exhibit are thirty or more photographs | showing these villages, their huts and | their inhabitants. They had a peculiar | way of constructing u house. A large | round excavation, three or four feet in depth, was dug in the earth, About the sides of this were driven long poles whose | | ends were bent toward | the center, in which position they were held by withes or sinews, and sometimes they were threaded, basket fashion, with ferns. The jends were trimmed to leave a circular | manhole in the center, whereupon the | mound was covered with earth | depth of several inches. A notched pole was planted in the middle, which sus- | tained the roof and provided a stairs, for in ana out this hole, which served alike | for ingress of inmatesand egress of smoke, | | and down and up this pole the Indians | | crawled like rats. | In this house they slept. | | smoke with which it was always fillea gave them sore eyes, one of the ever present 1t was to this hut that the Cahroc gal- | | diseases of the tribe, [ lant brought his newly purchused bride. | t of the people would deserve. | She was often pretty, for the Cahroc belles | rocs of all the California Indians |ure described as being pleasing even to | | the Anglo-Saxon eye. Withsmooth hazel | | skin, hazel Lrilliant almond eyes, oval | | faces with red showing in the cheeks, full | In the vari- | figures, ample and well shaped busts and | | rounded limbs, such a bride would be | worthy of purchase anywhere, and among tie Cahrocs they came high. They were | the property of their fathers and they | were sold for value in money or other | chattels. The greater the price the pater- | | nal autocrat set upon them the more they | were esteemed by their purchasing spouses | and by society. | | Toeonly limt fixed to the number of | wives a man might accumulate was the | {length of his strings of aliicochick, the number of his white deerskins or the | scalps of his red-topped woodpeckers. | The first and last of these were currency and many specimens of both are shown in the Daggett colleetion. Allicochick are the shells which conchologists ¢all denta- lum from their resemblance to teeth. They are made by a genus of marine mol- lusks. The shell is long, tabular and coni- | cal. They were never attainable in their | native state by the Cahrocs, but were se- cured in exchange from the Euhrocs, wko were partially a sea-going tribe, Upon the length of these shells depended their monetary worth. Unless they m. as. | ured irom the base to the first joint of the | miadle finger—a length of about two inches—they were not specie, but useful as fringe and n.cklace ornaments. The | mation, fell from trees whose dark thou- | sands stretched over areas measurable | to the | In it during | winter they prepared their food and the | A CAHROC INDIAN CHIEF. were servicable in computations of tbis sort. The woodpecker medium, valued at about $5 per scalp, was required to be of a particular variety of woodpecker, for there were several of thespecies. The bird must his head bordered with black and no other color. He was prized because he is ex- ceedingly difficult to shoot, 1s rarely trans- fixed upon an arrow and even seldom brought down by a shotgun. The Cahrocs solved in a simple marner capitalists of the community invariably had bars tattooed upon their arms, which the question of property possession and | transmission by heredity, which now ap- be a big fellow with a black biil, the red of | | pears in such a painful manner to vex ized society. | sessions with the owner's body. There therefore, no property left by the de- ceased to produce quarrels and engender bad blood among his kinared. Every man | was the architect.of his own fortune; and, as women were sold, it came to pass that, those who possessed nearly all the wealth of the community being the old men, the | young and pretty girls were selected by the ancient wealthy males, while the young and poor men were compelled to | mate with the crones, the harridans, the They buried the pos- | i cast-offs, who could be had for nothing and who were a drug on the market. Thus was attained by the admirable stroke of an economic policy the effect sought to be secured through the medium of religion by the founder of the Oneida Society of New York. But this enormous social function and power of money among the Cahrocs made the young men thieves, so that they are described as being as adroit and subtle in filching with their “‘prickers and stealers” as any the nimble - fingered gentry whom civilization has trained to dexter- LLIILLE ity. Their slyness was comparable only to that of the coyote. There was one feature in their civil sys- tem, however, which doubtless saved them a great deal of trouble, and whose benefits were twofold: First, if a husband did not, after some experience, feel satis- fied with his wife he could return her to ber father and receive his money back, and second, he could with impunty kill his mother-in-law. For any one else whom he might be pleased to kill, how- ever, he must with sreed indemnify the relatives of such person, else his own life would be taken in reprisal. A few strings of allicochick, equalin purchasinz power to about three years' labor of one man, were deemed ample satisfaction for such an injury. Thus private revenge was the only pun- ishment which met the commission of the crime of murder, and as it was profit- able for this to be vented it occurred that a man had more concern evinced at the manner of his demise than was given to the method of his living. It was reckoned that so long as one should continue to live he could look out for himself and hi: property, and visit upon his offenders such punishment as he considered their crimes deserved; but this he could not do if the offense inflicted him with death. The wealthiest man of the tribe was entitled to be its chief. But his powers were advisory, not coercive. rle had no means to enforce his suggestions. The recipients of his views micht accord their conduct to them or not, and infrequently they did not. His official functions ap- pear to have been anomalous, which was due to the fact of the tribe being a peace- loving one. Such was not the case with warlike tribes. Among the articles in the collection are about twenty-five baskets made by the women of ferns, bark and roots. The Cahrocs excelled in this art, and all the designs which the Navajos put into their | blankets and the Oregon Klamaths shaped | into their beadwork appear here woven in the fibers of these baskets. The de- | signs are artistic, often intricate, some- | times involving geometrical figures, a | | product which for excellence in workman- | ship and ornamentation is not to be ex- | celled by any civilized artisan of the craft. | Many of the baskets displayed are hats, | | | others are sip-nooks or trinket baskets, | yet others are shaped as the inverted | frustum of a cone, as receptacles borne | upon the backs of squaws sustained by & | band attached to eiiher side and spread around the forehead of the carrier. Other baskets are the incasements of papooses as transported upon their mother’s backs, and still others are large ovate affairs with semi-globular lids, used as tranks or for storage purposes. The ceremonial costumes, comprising buckskin jackets and aprons deeply | fringed with their strips of buckskin heavily strung with frazments of the 1ri descent sheil of the haliotis, embellished with festoons of eepe seeds, with feathers | of the blue quail, all comprising trappings of gorgeous wealth and pompous ostenta- tion, the otter skin bands for the feminine coiffures, necklaces of shells and berry water vessel, and the chisels, hatchets | allicochick purses of elkhorn are numer- ousand curious enough inthe cabinet. But among the most interesting of the departments is that devotsd to the wea- pons of the chase and the snares for game. There are a_number of bows, spears and beads, besides soapstone ollas, the Indian | \ mrmmrn'fiv; RARE RELICS OF THE FAMOUS CAHROC INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA 2099200990990829209222929299200992990299222292290220922222222022229222902222920292929209 RFFYTHHARARLLARLLA! ummuxmnm.uuuuxj of twisted grass fiber, and like heavy rope traps for deer, in which bear are some- times caught. A skin of the face and skull of the bear are present, testifying its past use asa disguise. Witn this anda bear robe an Indian might approach very close to a band of deer. In such manner they captured much ot their game, as in order to make certain the shotof an ar- row the sportsman must be much nearer his quarry than if armed with a rifle. One of the curious modes of decoying zame is to fasten to the ankles, Mercury fashion, some strips of marten or other fur, and thus protected by the tall grass creep softly afield in direction of the antelope. When approach has been made as far as caution will allow, the hunter | rests upon his shoulders, his raised legs in the air kicking vigorously, the skin streamer curvingin gyrating antics. This does not frighten the beasts, but it stirs their curiosity; they move close to the wiggling things to inquire what tuey are; then when very near they stand around and look at it. They do not gaze long, however, for in another instant the other nd of Indian is up and he has an arrow in the biggest buck. But perhaps an object which suggests the most pathetic memories is a picture of the temescal with the ancient medicine man standing close beside it. This house is a sweat cabinet where the sick go to rid themselves of their disturbing humors, the internal pains of which they believe 10 be occasioned by gnawing snakes smug- gled into them through the spells of malignant witches. They have only two or three medicines in the nature of vege- table specifics, their chief treatment for diseases being the sweat bath. The temes- cal is almost air tight. Fire is built within it early in the fall and is kept up until spring. Healthy women, except the old medicine crones, are not permitted to enter it. The afflicted submits himself to this sudorific corrective and when the exudations have become excessive, if he is able to move, he rushes out into the open air and plunges into the river. Ifin spite of each peculiar remedy the patient insists upon dying he is “decently interred.” All his trappings and effects which comprise his wealth are put upon his body 1n the most effective full-dress fashion. His allicochick is wound around his neck, his “Boston money’’ is crammed into his mouth. The knees are then pressed up against the chest, the body en- tirely covered with his best deerskin or bear robe and securely bound with sinew. The stout chief then throws this upon bis back and heads a pracession of the trbe moving toward the burial cave. ‘Whileen route he strikes up a doleful tune in a song, in which he recounts the many virtues of the deceased and be- wails his loss. In this lamentation all voices join. When the cave is reached he bundle is deposited therein in a sit- ing position, the song is ended, and thenceforth no man dare, under punish- ment of death, utier the name of the ae- ceased. In the long study which Mr. Daggett has made of these Indians, his intimate associations and deep sympathy with them have enabled him to present this most curious and interesting of the Cali- fornia tribes with a completeness only at- tainable through such diligence as his ef- forts have engaged. He has prepared two lectures upon the subject, which he illustrates with his lantern views, and which he expects soon to deliver; and he srrows, with their heads of obsidian, tal- jwill in time, doubtless, present his re- cose slate and bone and agate chisels for | searches to the public in a formal publica- | chipping the heads; fishing nets woven | tion. Joux E. BENNETT. UB‘O’Q g g e Ca r my first | 1es that his singular ons of ich we were leaving behind us. home, family and friends, and eculal upon the probabilities of the future what it had 10 store for us, I that | » tear forced itself from my eves at this | moment, and unwilling that a display of masculine weakness should b: observed I turned to my berth, but was arrested by a remark of a fellow-passenger, who said | mutually agreed to join for:unes and to stick together in our quest of riches so | long as fate compelled our remaining in | the Golden West. This was early in the fifties, and for ten long and laborious | years we had loyaliy stood by each other in sickness and in health, through good and evil report and in all the mischances | of & miner's career. The end of the first decade after our arrival found us fairly well to do. Tnited our fortunes amounted | .000. We had sold our last claim, and with no interests in the interior we | decided to visit San Francisco and to taste again some of the comforts and joys of ized lite and to take for a time & com- “THE MINE IS THERE! that he came from a portion of the| had embraced the first chance of bel:om-‘ ing acquainted with me. | L knew him at once, though I had never | ken 10 him before, but his family was | ’ well known in our county and con- | dered most reputable. The acqueiniance thus began soon: | ripened in the constrained atmosphers of the ship to a close intimacy. Boti® of us were just of age, each was in the prime of - early manhood. and as we knew each other better we found a sympathetic union. of ideas influencing us, and long before our arrival at San Francisco we had ‘- l uncertainties inseparable from a miner's | THE SPIRIT LEADS ME.” plete respite from the harassing cares and occupation, A rest of three months left us with ade- | termination to embark in some enter prises for which we were both calculated, and after considering careiully the merits of many locations, we came to the con- clusion to prospect. To describe our weary tramps over the greal quartz re- glons would be simply to repeat an experi. ence familiar to hundreds of thousands, but after three months’ industrious search, we finally located a claim in the upperaiti- tudes of Calaveras County, a country which had up to tuat time been neglected | was leading him would not betray. ¥ mnmmnmmmmmmmmrmrmnmvmnxwrmg 1 THE STORY OF THE UTICA MINE by the early prospectors, but which dis- played splendid surface indications of | riches hidden beneath the eround. The way we finally decided upon this locality made a deep impression upon my mind, especially when the future came with its after developments. Ten days before we arrived upon the spot, my partner, Eames, suddenly threw bis pack from his shoulders and shouted frantically: “It 1s here! “What is It is here! here?” I replied rather uneraciously, the sudden change of my | partner from depression to frantic joy had so startled me. “Ourmine,” my partneranswered. *‘Itis around here. We wili find it if we search.”” “How do you know?”’ was my next in- quiry. ““Because I have seen this place before. Itisall clear to me now. They have guided me here and are pointing their fingers toward the hill. . They have prom- isea to lead me to wealth.: Come on. They are going before us. . Let us follow.” In every other respect but this hallucin- ation about the unseen guide Eames was quite himself. He shared the labors of each day and in all of our conversations no evidence of mental incapacity was ob- servable. Pity and sorrow for his strange delusions quite overpower ed me at. times. He, however, confidentiy asserted that nsiead of his being the mad one it was I who was deiuded. He would prove, he said, that the guide which We would both be convinced of the truth be- fore long. Fora week after this conversation we dragged our way over the pathless ranges, myself the victim of the most violent de- pression, but “Bob” as hopeful and deter- mined as possible. Utterly fagged with both mental and physical fatigue 1 ono day threw myse f upon the ground and swore | that I would no longer follow this silent guide. Bob, praved, begged and appealed to our loyal friendship that we should stay together just a little longer, and then we agreed that if in two more days th ob- ject of our search was not attained he would consent to its abandonment. The next morning a ray from the rising sun shone upon a rock standing up from the mountain’s side about half s mile distant from our camp. “There is our mine, George. That is the rock they have been pointing to for a week past,” said Eames. The hope that the mirage that my friend bad been following for so long was at Jast at its vanishing point nerved me to follow his hurried footsteps with my pick and hammer, only anxious to know how cruelly be had been deceived into following intangible guides and boping that thi d experience would cure my faithful friend of his unhappy malady. I saw him from a distance strike the rock with his pick and eagerly grasp the fragments. Then I saw him spring into the air with a glad shout and fall to the ground as if dead. With trembling limbs I approached the <pot, a prey to the most dreadful antici- pations, but I found my friend not dead, but alive and lauzhing for joy. *They are true guides. rock,” said he. My friend had good grounds for his ex travagant and hysterical elation. The vowlder from which he had broken a great piecs was solid quartz, with veins of pure gold extending in every direction. Night saw that rock broken into a thousand pieces, and for days afterward we were busy crushing the tragments and extract- ing the free gold. In all, our treasure yielded us over 100 ounces, even with our imperfect method of extraction. Our sea- son’s work had been successful and I urged a return to the bay. My friend assented, and that night we packed our belongings and prepared for an early start. The visions that haunted thé mind of my partner seemed to have been driver away in the tumultuous ex- | citement which accompanied our find of | the bowlder and subsequent labors, and |I had hoped they would trouble us no more. The night passed in the pro- foundest slumber, but in the morning Bob asserted that his guide had again ap- ing could persuade him to disobey the unseen messenger, and I consented to wait. We did search the locality far and wide. Nothing escaped our watchful observation and we were rewarded. We found where the bowlder had become detached, and only a short distance from the surface dis- covered the vein exposed—the source of our present wealth. Until winter came with its fierce blasts we remained with our mine. Nota soli- tary prospector had disturbed us during all that summer. which we bad commenced the summer's work had doubled. We bronght the first news of the great discovery of ours, and early in the suc- ceeding summer we again started for the camp. But we were not alone. Thou- sands who had learned of the rich quartz tind in Calaverss County came after us, and thus was Angel Camp founded. We called our mine the Utica, after our home in New York, and sold itafterward at a sum which realized our greatest anticipa- tions. At this day it is the most produc- tive gold mine in the State and distributes to its already rich stockholders over $100,000 every month. It is possible that we should have re- talned possession of the Utica but for a sad affliction whic) befell my friend, Bob. A disorder manifested itself in his eyes and gradually he became totally blind. He vehemently asserted the reality of the euides, and derided the possibility of a de- lusion on hispart. They were visible to nim even when the sight of his eyes be- came obstructed. To him they were tan- gible creatures. Without them, he as- serted, we should never have discovered our way. to riches. The subject was dis- tressing to me, and finally was dropped between us. I took him to 8an Francisco and visited an eminent oculist, who cured him. He said that Bob had what is known as senile cataract, and that strange visions were an accompaniment of the disease. Twenty years afterward Bob told me he had seen no spirits since the cataract was cut away from his eyes. A Look at thnl( peared and had told him to search. Nothe | Our share of gold with : gb’ TEEEEEEEY CL LN L L A A R L A R R L L L AR R L rmnxmnn‘o’nnm SCIENCE AIDS THE VETERAN GWWMMWWW&RWWJ 7N OLD veteran of the Union army, bi Lving in this City, who has been K suffering for forty years from in- juries received in the Civil War, was re- cently struck with the happy thought that the X ray might be made a more effectually influential friend to him than any heretofore induced to workin is be- half. Heis so much elated with the suc- cess of his appeal to this new agency that he wishes the news to reach a wide circu- lation, so that haply many other old vet- erans with similar cases to his own may learn of the use to whict he put the radic- graph and profit by his example. The veteran is A. A. McLean, who was a member of the Calfornia Cavalry Battal- ion, attached to the Second Massachusetts Cavalry. This body of 500 men was the only organized troop that went East from California to serve in the Union army. Mr. McLean was in fifty-two engage- ments, and among a number of other wounds received a severe one in his right foot, which has been greater pain and im- pediment to him than all the others. On the occasion of this painful injury his horse was shot under him, and falling violently upon the bard ground caught the rider's foot beneath the crushing weight. Mr. McLean was borne from the ftield insensible. His foot had been in- jured, and the peculiarity was that it gave no external evidence of the extentand permanence of the detriment, 50 as to e able a physician to give positive testi- mony to the fact, and thus enable the vet- eran todraw a pension, to which he was clearly entitled if the proof of his disable- ment could be put before the Pension Office in proper shape. The problem of how to prove to the offi- cers of the Government that the damaged foot was a permanent impediment to his activity has at last been solved by the X ray. Mr. McLean had his foot photo- graphed by a powerful instrument in the office of Dr. E. 8. de Puy, with the result that the internal condition of tke foot is shown so clearly that any competent physician can now positively certify that the injury to the foot is so great as to be reason sufficient to demand for the vet. eran a pension. This radiograph of McLean's foot has been admitted as evidence by the Pension Office and his claim filed for a hearing. It 1s the first case of the kind from this coast and the second on record at the Pea- sion Office. McLean supposed that he was the first to think of introducing such evidence, but in reply to his apolication his lawyer sent him a letter saying he was the second on record and inclosing the following clipping from a Washington paper: The X ray has made its appearance at the Pension Office. Abraham Silverstein of New York filed & photograph as proof in his claim, showing how all the Bones of his wrist were attered by a bullet wound. The external appearance failed to convince the surgeons of the fact, but the X radiograph is conclusive This s the first instance when the X ray has been used in proving a pension claim. Up toa very recent date the courts, ] through a “strange reverence for pre- cedent, had refused to admit as evidence the testimony of this wonderfnl X ray, which can see through barriers impene- trable to human eyes; but Judge Le Fever of the Colorado Superior Court has deliv- ered a decision in Denver upon a mal- practice case which admits the radiograph as eyidence. Tkis breaks the ice of hindrance from lack of precedent, and the X ray will hereafter penetrate into sucred precincts of the courts to enlighten them on points which, without its aid, would remain enshrouded in darkness. It is probable that this decision by the court influenced the Pension Office in the resolution to accept such evidence from the old soldiers, and in this connection it will be of interest to read Judge Le Fever's dslivery on the subject. It is as follows: During the last decade at least, no science has made such mighty strides forward as sur- gery. 1t is eminently a sciontific profession, alike interesting to the learned and the un- learned. It makes use of all science and learn- ing. It has thus been of inestimable service to mankind, It must not be said of the law not lend a helping hand. Rather iet the couris throw open the door to well-considored sci- entific discoveries. Modern science has made it possible to look benesth the tissues of the humani body, and has aided surgery In telling of the hidden mysterics. We believe it to be ourduty in this case to be the first, if you please to consider it, in sdmitting in evidence 2 process known and acknowedged as a deter- minate science. It may soive a present condi- tion; the exhibits will be admitted in evi- dence. The radiograph of Mr. McLean’s foot shows depression of the tarsal bones and impairment of the plantararch. Thisde- that itisso wedded to precedent that it will | pression of the bones causes an unusual and unequal pressure upon the terminal nerve filaments contained in the inter- articular cartilages, and the result is great pain and interference with motion. When an experienced surgeon sees this picture he knows at once that the applicant for the pension does not exaggerate in stat- ing that the pain is so acute and tne diffi- culty of locomotion sc great as to entitle Without this picture the pension might have firmly believed the = representations, but the testimony neces- sary for compliance with the law could not have been obtained, and the vsteran of many battles would have had to bear his lifetime pain without even the small mitigation of the moderate pension al- lowed for such cases. Speaking of the great benefits now being conferred on humanity by the dis- McLEAN'S RIGHT FOOT, SHOWING INJURIES. covery of the X ray, Mr. McLean men tioned that his :ather haa carried a bullet lodged in his hip for forty years, to his serious inconvenience and pain. I had to be dressed twice a day. Had he lived in the days of the skiagraph the bullet ould have been readily located and the bultet extracled. The time of exposure to the X ray in taking this picture of the injured 100t was 134 minutes. The result of Mr. McLean's successful plan_of getting his case before the Pen- sion Office in effective shape will probably be that many more veterans oi the Civil War wilt learn how to make their true condition unmistakably known, so as to draw the increased pensions they are en- titled to. If this is accomplished it will gladden the heart of veteran McLean, for it was with such hope for motive that he told his story to a representative of TrE Carr,