EXPOSITION, TRANS-MISSISSIPPI AND INTERNATIONAL. 



255 



their weapons, utensils, industrial appliances, cere- 

 monial objects, burial structures, and handiwork. 

 At regular intervals entertainments were given, 

 including horn dances, war dances, grass dances, 

 scalp dances, and friendly dances, which were par- 

 ticipated in by the Sioux, Blackfeet, Assiniboins, 

 Crows, Apaches, and Wichitas; also sham battles, 

 in which the Indians were divided into two parties 

 led by chiefs and illustrative of their methods of 

 warfare. The Sioux usually took the part of the 

 attacking party, and appeared on the scene just in 

 time to rescue a comrade from the stake. After 

 brief engagements they succeeded in releasing the 

 captives and driving off the enemy, only to be at- 

 tacked in return by the re-enforced Indians, and 

 on each occasion in the final charge they were de- 

 feated, leaving many of their braves upon the field. 

 Under the supervision of James Mooney, of the 

 Bureau of American Ethnology, there was a minia- 

 ture reproduction, historically correct in all details, 

 of the last great council of the amalgamated tribes 

 of the Kiowas and Apaches. In the preparation of 

 this circle Mr. Mooney had the assistance of sev- 

 eral survivors of that famous council. Among the 

 famous Indians present were Natchi, the chief of 

 the Apaches, and his noted head man, Geronimo ; 

 also White Swan, a Crow, who was a scout under 

 Gen. Ouster, and who was badly wounded at the 

 fight of Little Big Horn. It was considered doubt- 

 ful as to whether it would.be possible to ever again 

 secure the presence of so many different represent- 

 atives of the fast-vanishing aboriginal inhabitants 

 of this country. 



Stamps and Medals. The Post Office Depart- 

 ment issued a commemorative series of stamps in 

 recognition of the Exposition. A picture indicative 

 of the development of the region beyond the Missis- 

 sippi river formed the center of the stamp. The 

 denominations and views were as follow : 



One-cent, " Marquette on the Mississippi," from a 

 painting by Lamprecht, representing Father Mar- 

 qurtte in a boat on the upper Mississippi preach- 

 ing to the Indians. Color, dark green. 



Two-cent, " Farming in the West," from a photo- 

 graph representing a Western grain field with a 

 long row of plows at work. Color, copper red. 



Four-cent, " Indian hunting Buffalo,'' reproduc- 

 tion of an engraving in Schoolcraft's " History of 

 the Indian Tribes." Color, orange. 



Five-cent, " Fremont on the Rocky Mountains," 

 from a wood engraving, representing the path- 

 finder planting the United States flag on the high- 

 est peak of the Rocky mountains. Color, dark 

 blue. 



Eight-cent, "Troops guarding Train," represent- 

 ing a detachment of United States soldiers convoy- 

 ing an emigrant train across the prairies, from a 

 drawing by Frederic Remington. Color. dark lilac. 



Ten-cent, "Hardships of Emigration," from a 

 painting by A. G. Heaton, representing an emigrant 

 and his family on the plains in a "prairie schooner," 

 one of the horses having fallen from exhaustion. 

 Color, slate. 



Fifty-cent, " Western Mining Prospector," from 

 a drawing by Frederic Remington, representing a 

 prospector with his pack mules in the mountains 

 searching for gold. Color, olive. 



One-dollar, "Western Cattle in Storm," repre- 

 senting a herd of cattle, preceded by the leader, 

 seeking safety from a gathering storm, reproduced 

 from a steel engraving after a picture by J. Mac 

 Whirter. Color, light brown. 



Two-dollar, " Mississippi River Bridge," from an 

 engraving of the great bridge over the Mississippi 

 at St. Louis. Color, sapphire blue. 



The issue included 100,000,000 1-cent, 200,000,000 

 2-fent. 5,000,000 4-cent, 2,000,000 8-cent, 5,000,000 



10-cent, 500,000 50-cent, 50,000 $1, and 50,000 $2. 

 The stamps were discontinued on Dec. 81, 1898. 



The commemorative medal issued by the exposi- 

 tion authorities was unique and characteristic, and 

 as usual was struck under the direction of the 

 United States Treasury Department, by whom the 

 dies were made. The obverse showed a medallion 

 made after a composite head, the creation of an 

 eminent artist, from the photographs of 48 beauti- 

 ful young women, natives of the 24 Western States 

 and Territories, thus idealizing the highest type 

 of Western young womanhood. The legend was 

 "Trans-Mississippi Exposition, Omaha, 1898." The 

 reverse side bore in low relief a spirited group 

 showing a typical American Indian mounted on a 

 pony, in the act of spearing a buffalo. It repre- 

 sented a scene suggestive of the conditions existing 

 in the West before the encroachments of the white 

 man drove both Indian and buffalo into the moun- 

 tains and finally accomplished their almost com- 

 plete extinction. Below this design was " 1848," 

 being the date, half a century ago, when the Indian 

 hunted the buffalo undisturbed. 



Opening 1 Exercises. The opening of the Trans- 

 Mississippi Exposition was set for June 1. On that 

 day a civic procession two miles long marched to 

 the Arch of States from the business center of 

 Omaha, under the grand-marshalship of Major T. S. 

 Clarkson, assistant to President Wattles and gen- 

 eral manager of the fair. Owing to the war with 

 Spain the escort of the military was omitted, ex- 

 cept in so far as its place was filled by the High 

 School Cadets and the Sons of Veterans. There 

 were four divisions in the procession, and the or- 

 ganized bodies that marched included representa- 

 tives from various fraternal and benevolent organi- 

 zations. The Exposition officials, State and county 

 officers, and invited guests were conveyed in car- ' 

 riages. The procession entered the grounds just 

 before noon and proceeded to the wide space at the 

 east end of the main court, where a temporary plat- 

 form had been erected. This was occupied by the 

 officials and distinguished visitors, the United States 

 Marine Band, and the Exposition chorus. The- 

 " Star-Spangled Banner "was sung by the chorus 

 to the accompaniment of the band, and after an in- 

 vocation by Rev. Samuel J. Nichols, of St. Louis, 

 addresses were delivered by President Wattles, 

 Hon. John L. Webster, of Omaha, Hon. John N. 

 Baldwin, of Council Bluffs, and the Hon. Silas A. 

 Holcomb, Governor of Nebraska, and then came the 

 following telephone message direct from President 

 McKinley, who, with Vice-President Hobart, Speak- 

 er Reed, the Nebraska congressional delegation, and 

 members of the Committees of Ways and Means 

 of the House and Appropriations in the Senate, 

 were gathered in the reception parlors of the White 

 House : 



" The events of the memorable half century which 

 the Trans- Mississippi and International Exposition 

 commemorates are interwoven with the history of 

 the whole nation, and are of surpassing impor- 

 tance. The mighty West affords most striking 

 evidence of the splendid achievements and possi- 

 bilities of our people. It is a matchless tribute to 

 the energy and endurance of the pioneer, while its 

 vast agricultural development, its progress in manu- 

 factures, its advancement in the arts and sciences, 

 and in all departments of education and endeavor, 

 have been inestimable contributions to the civiliza- 

 tion and wealth of the world. Nowhere have the 

 unconquerable determination, self-reliant strength, 

 and sturdy manhood of our American citizenship 

 been more forcibly illustrated. In peace or war 

 the men and women of the West have ever been in 

 the vanguard. I congratulate the management 

 upon its magnificent enterprise, and assure all who 





