EDITORIAL 



557 



self-sacrificing men as Martin are to be 

 classed with the soggy, bull-necked, watery- 

 eyed money-bags who own the kennels where 

 the ''yellow dogs" are kept. 



In fact, whether it is "The Truth of the 

 Oliver Cromwell," "Dory-mates," "The Sal- 

 vage of the Bark Fuller," or "On the Geor- 

 gian Shoals," his stories seem to ring true. 



For anybody who is fond of seafaring life 

 or sea stories we can recommend no better 

 book for an evening's enjoyment than "The 

 Deep Sea's Toll," published by Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons, Nos. 153 to 157 Fifth Avenue, 

 New York City. $1.50. 



WAMPUM-MOONS 



BY CHARLES HALLOCK. 



Readers of the Recreation magazine have 

 •all heard of Indian wampum; but did you 

 ever hear of wampum-moon? The word sig- 

 nifies in aboriginal vernacular that it will pass 

 current for wampum, and is interchangeable 

 as an equivalent, same as we take diamonds 

 or other standard gem stones in lieu of coin 

 at a fixed value per karat. 



In the breech-clout and blanket days, pre- 

 vious to 1880, wampum-moons were the best 

 and most convenient collateral which a 

 wealthy redskin could possess. A large one 

 as big as the palm of one's hand would buy 

 five ponies, or fifty buffalo robes, or a second- 

 rate squaw. With furs they constituted the 

 currency of the section of country adjacent to 

 the Rocky mountains on both slopes : a beav- 

 er skin being the unit of value at a dollar 

 a piece. 



These trinkets were made of the peach- 

 blow cheeks of the conch shells of the Pacific 

 coast, and were nearly round, varying in size 

 from the dimensions of a quarter of a dol- 

 lar to a silver dollar. They were certainly 

 very beautiful, and were very much affected 

 by aboriginal dandies, especially by the moun- 

 tain and river braves of Montana. Chiefs 

 and wealthy men suspended them by a t<hong 

 around the neck, wearing them as substitutes 

 for honor medals bestowed by the Great Fa- 

 ther, and the women as pend d'oreilles. They 

 were originally obtained from a family of 

 farmers named Frost, in New_ Jersey, who 

 manufactured them from the pink cheeks of 

 conch shells. They were also obtained 

 through middlemen in regular course of bar- 

 ter with the Pacific coast Indians, who learned 

 to imitate them. 



It was in the year 1881 that I attended a 

 council of Crows which met commissioners 

 from Washington to negotiate and cede a 

 right-of-way through their reservation to the 

 Northern Pacific railroad, and as the price 

 agreed upon was $26,000 in silver, which was 

 a pretty snug pile for the ten bands, there 

 promised to be flush times at no distant day. 



Now, it so happened that I had in my valise 

 some tarpon scales (les grandes ecailles) 

 which I had obtained in Florida the previous 

 winter, which was before the tarpon had be- 

 come the notorious game fish it has since. 

 They were great novelties everywhere, espe- 

 cially to the Indians who dwelt along the 

 Great Divide. The natural chased silver-foil 

 which covered the half of each scale with 

 what appeared to be the real metal impressed 

 them mightily, as it suggested the idea of 

 value. Besides, the Indians had a legend that 

 the tarpon, or silver king, as he was known 

 to them by tradition, once used to swim about 

 in the caves of the Rocky mountains when 

 the waters which in the ancient days covered 

 the foothills made estuaries of the canon 

 mouth, and the whole adjacent floor was 

 ocean bottoms. Consequently, they regarded 

 these silver-chased fish scales as the biggest 

 kind of "medicine," and old Medicine Crow, 

 Two Bellies, Long Elk and some others went 

 so far as to allow that one of them might 

 go for two wampum-moon, s'pose? 



Under these favoring conditions it did not 

 take very long for Agent Kellar, Clerk Bars- 

 ton and myself to gdt up a syndicate to open 

 up a trade with the Florida coast for the 

 goods. I made myself quite solid with Chief 

 Medicine Crow by giving him one of the 

 scales, and he showed his appreciation by 

 standing me up beside him in the Council 

 lodge before all the rest, throwing a painted 

 buffalo robe over my shoulders, saying that 

 it was for me, and calling me his "son." 



Everything would have gone through swim- 

 mingly right along, but, as hard luck would 

 have it, the grand coup for killing off the 

 buffalo on the upper Yellowstone took place 

 in that winter's snow, and this prevented the 

 Indians from gathering robes as usual ; then 

 they were short on dry furs, and again the 

 ever-faithful government failed to come down 

 with the "plunk" as was expected ; so that 

 they were a heap poor. Of course our scheme 

 to get up a market for tarpon scales failed 

 ignobly. It may seem silly to those who 

 know, but the simple Apsorikus (Crows) act- 

 ually expected the bursar of the United States 

 treasury to pour out the treaty coin in little 

 shining piles upon the buffalo hides which 

 would be spread on the grass before each 

 chief of the ten bands, to be distributed by 

 them according to allotment among the fami- 

 lies and bucks ; whereas Chief Commissioner 

 Luce had to tell them that the money could 

 not be paid until Congress had first passed an 

 appropriation bill, and — well, you all know 

 how that is? 



The meeting did not break up pleasantly. 



For many years I tried to ascertain if that 

 money had been paid, for I was interested; 

 but, in fact, I never heard that it was paid 

 at all. 



