AMERICAN NATIVE RACES OF MEN 



213 



exhibited artistic taste, and there was a wide gap between 

 them and pure savages ; less than twenty-five thousand 

 are left. The Yamasis are entirely gone, while it is doubt- 

 ful if there is a pure-blooded Apalachi aUve. With the 

 Creeks and Cherokees are still found a few Natchez, and 

 along the shores of Calcasien Pass and the immediate 

 vicinity are a few Atakapas. All are passing into history 

 and would be forgotten had they not monuments in the 

 scores of American cit- 

 ies which bear their 

 names. 



Several years ago I 

 made some excavations 

 in an old oyster bed on 

 the St. John's River, 

 Florida, now above high- 

 water mark; it was filled 

 with the broken pottery 

 and implements of some 

 of these people, and evi- 

 dences of their occupa- ^^' ^^ ' 

 tion are found in every country the length and breadth of 

 the land. One of the notable tribes of early days of the 

 last century was the Dakotas. They owned a vast estate 

 by right of ancient occupation, and they held it by right of 

 prowess and force of arms. The Blackfeet were a fine 

 people, far from being savages, and the reader would do 

 well to read ''In the Lodges of the Blackfeet," a volume 

 which throws a new light on these so-called barbarians. 



This Indian State of Dakota stood between the Arkan- 

 sas on the south, the Saskatchewan on the north, and 



Native American Bowl. 



