Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 226, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 September 1914 — SOCIALISM BRED INDUIAN WARS DECLARES CHIEF THREE DEMIS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SOCIALISM BRED INDUIAN WARS DECLARES CHIEF THREE DEMIS

Head of the Aboriginal “400” Reviews the Days of His Youth— Biaekfeet Were Plutocrats of the West,.Says Old Warror Representing Vested interests—Old Man Interesting and OWeAt Indian of Tribe.

Denver, Colo. —So far as can be learned from hlßtory, that section of the Rocky Mountain range now designated as Glacier National Ptfrk has been the exclusive home of the Blackfeet Indians since the first record of Its habitation by man. ' And the word exclusive Is used with its full meaning, especially in the legends of these redmen, who proudly relate that the Biaekfeet braves have "held the fort" on the roof of the Rockies In northwestern “Montana against all Invading tribes for so many moons that it is ancient history. The Biaekfeet of the Rockies enjoy the distinction of being the aristocracy of the American red race.

It is a strange coincidence that v on the reservation which adjoins Glacier Park there are now only 400 fullbloods left. They have had translated to them the significance of the meaning of “the 400” In English, and the little band of tribal aristocrats feels very proud of this numerical distinction. . v

Three Bears probably Is the most Interesting Indian that is left among the Biaekfeet, and he is the oldest. He gives an interesting explanation of how -the Biaekfeet came to be marked as the American Indians, and in his story he brings tout the fact that socialism is-an innate disgruntled spirit of the human race that is not confined to white men, by any means. He does not say it In just this language, but he emphasizes the fact that the Indians of other tribes always were jealous of the Biaekfeet and coveted' their position of contentment amid—the luxuries which this great natural game preserve of the Rocky Mountains furnished In the way of wild animals, from which the Blackfeet got a bountiful food supply, and the finest skins for their raiment and shelter. Is It any wonder there were socialists, and even anarchists among the Sioux/ Grows, Nez Perces, Kootenais and other unfriendly tribes? Three Bears does not talk a word of English, but through an Interpreter he will tell you that these tribes always were the enemies of the Biaekfeet, who, by the way, boast proudly of the fact that they never went to war with the white people. Members of the other tribes hated the Biaekfeet because they always dressed so well in deer skins and lived on the fat of the land.

In the days of the buffalo, that animal furnished almost entirely the food supply and shelter for the prairie Indians and the tribes of the Sioux

nation often found thebuffalo leaving tbe burnt grass plains to graze up under the shadows of the Rockies, where toe grass grows green. Thus, in their hunts, the Sioux had to encroach upon the Blackfeets’ domain. And that meant war.

It was not dCfly against the Sioux from the East but tribes from the South, North and West that the Blackfeet had to wage war. They- were almost constantly on the warpath to hold their own country against invasion in the early days. Three Bears says.

And at this juncture of his story old Three Bears will proudly tell his listeners that the Blackfeet never were routed from their Rocky Mountain homes. Often they fell back into Cut Bank canyon, the Two Medicine valley or some of the other Rocky mountain fastnesses, but always as a ruse. There they wbtrtd lie In ambush and slaughter their enemy at a psychological moment.

Three Bears is one of the few remaining Indians of the bow and arrow days. He has strung at his belt the claws of six grizzly bears he killed with the bQw and arrow. He must have been a powerful man sixty years ago, when he was in his early ’3os,. If his physique of. today is any criterion. Notwithstanding that he ia nearing, the century mark, he stands almost erect, bis huge frame having shrunk very little from Its original height it « feet 4.

Lazy Boy, another Blackfoot of the older generation, who was a boy when Three Bears was in his prime, says the old chief was known far and wide for his strength. Ha says the squaws lmd to gather the heaviest Sarvis berry bushes to get poles big and strong enough to make bows for Three Bears. This giant of his tribe need a bow made of a pole nearly an Inch and a half in diameter; and the arrows he shot were heavier than those used by the ordinary Indian. They were twenty-four Inches long and tipped with a long, s£arp, spear-shaped flint stone. Three Bears used a fortyinch bow and oh gala events, when

the tribe was assembled and games and sports were In order he used to amuse his people by shooting arrows so far into the sky that even the keenest sighted young brave could not see them. His bows and arrows, Lazy Boy says, were the wonder of the younger Indians. He always wrapped the penter of his bow with raw-hide for a hand-hold and the thong he made of sinew from the bull buffalo. A snake-skin or two always were wound around the how that Three Bears "drew." And an eagle feather dangled from toe upper end of the thong. That was significant—because it was regarded as "good medicine.” Lazy Boy says he never saw Three Bears kill bear with his bow and arrow. That was before Lazy Boy was born, but he says he heard much about it, for the stories of Three Bears’ prowess with the bow and arrow have been handed down among the Blackfeet, who cherish the greatest respect for this old Indian. Lazy Boy, however, is a living witness of the fact that Three Bears has killed many buffalo and even mountain goat with his bow and arrow. While the killing of buffalo with the bow and arrow, as any old Indian knows, required mostly strength In Tdrawihg the bow,” the highest form of skill in marksmanship had to be employed to bring down mountain goat from the ledges high up on the mountain sides. When the Indian trader Invaded the B&ekfoot country with his old flintlock guns, about forty years ago, Three Bears was quick to bring in all the buffalo hides he could, that his tribesmen might be armed with these more deadly weapons. A trader whom Three Bears and hla people called Buffalo Brows, because of his shaggy eyebrows, sold many guns to the Indians, Three Bears says, exacting fifteen buffalo skins Tor each gun. For each horn filled with powder the Indiana paid one or two skins extra. But the Sioux were pressing them pretty hard about that time, so th€t Blackfeet were glad to exchange buffalo hides for firearms. The man known as Buffalo Brows now is a millionaire mid owns a string of banks in Montana. . That Three Bears and bis people became good marksmen with the flintlock guns is shown by one of the

many battles which. Three fleers relates, they had with the Sioux. Ttefa ing on the mountainside in die Cut Bank canyon from behind which Three Bears and thirty Blackfoot braves ambuscaded 250 invading Sioux. They nearly annihilated the Sioux warriors, killing all except forty-eight, who made their escape back to the prairie country nnder the cover of darkness. During the recent Lend Show fetid In the Chicago Coliseum, there was in attendance at the Glacier National Park exhibit a band of Blackfoot In- , dlans. Three Bears had been picked by the Indian agent to be one of this party, but the old chief was not feeling well so he did not go to Chicago. His failure to visit the Windy City was a great disappointment to members of the Adventurers’ Chib, who - had planned to make him an honorary member of the organisation, which consists of some of the best-known war correspondents, military heroes and scientists, men who have seen service in all parts of the world. Theodore Roosevelt was the first and only honorary member this club had adopted. The members, most of whom know Three Bears, regarded him as the one American Indian upon whom they could confer this honor. However, Lazy Boy, Three Bears' old friend, who was one of the visiting band of Biaekfeet, was finally selected for the distinction, Inasmuch as the organization’s by-laws made It obligatory that the candidate be present ter Initiation.

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