Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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/ One? Powerful Cat aw has. \ j Announcement of the recent mar^riage of Ervin Gordon and Eliza Jane \ Harris, Indians of the Catawba res/ ervation in York county, recalls to / mind the fact that the remnant of I this once powerful tribe is rapidly f becoming smaller and because of that "j fact a marriage among them is a i subject of unusual interest since | there are so few young men and ; i maidens among them. 1 / Now it is sad to think that this ry-nna mnn-arf 111 trihp whflSft WarHOTS pu " 1 U& V4 AW) ?? as late as the year 1760 numbered S.000, is now reduced to some eighty i or ninety persons, all of whom live ; 011 the small reservation on the banks o^the Catawba, on the eastern outsHrts of York county. Some 500 or i '^\^??r^re acres of land comprise the res^ btion, whereas the whole of York < county and other territory adjoining . was once the hunting preserve of this < dying race who have ever been the : friend of the American white man < and who have lost their all through the avarice, chicanery and robbery of j the white man. ] Support from State. The State of South Carolina an- i nually makes a donation of several < thousand dollars toward the support < of the Catawbas; but the appropria- i tion is so small that it does not pro- < vide them with the bare necessities i of life and many of them are actually reduced to want. A number of < them till the rough and unsuitable i land that forms the reservation, several of the men are good carpenters, who secure employment at odd times in Rock Hill and around the community surrounding, and others do i odd jobs; but taken altogether it is ] a hard matter for them to keep soul < . and body together. ] Just now D. A. Harris, "chief" of i the tribe, as he is known, is making ] a living operating a ferry across the ? V Catawba, between Ebenezer and Fort ! Mill townships. He is paid the ] \ princely sum of $30 per month by < \ York county for his services. Harris 1 "is "chief" of the tribe only in name, i He is the most influential among ] t'ijem and he performs the duty of , -* ? , arDjter in minor disputes auwu& them. Although they have not the i rights of other citizens, the Catawbas i are subject to the laws of the State, i * They give little trouble, however, and j not in several years, to say the least. < has one of them been haled into the i courts. < The Old Order Gone. 1 Up until a short while before the < war between the sections the law 1 among themselves was their own, and i what was between themselves was \ among themselves. Old inhabitants < of the "Indian Land" section, as the 1 vicinity of the Catawba reservation i used to be known, have handed down ] a story that on one occasion an In- i dian named Sam Scott killed a squaw i named Canted, also a Catawba. After the murder Scott ran away to the i Cherokee tribe in North Carolina for i fear of retribution. He stayed there 1 for some six or eight years, but the t desire to return to his own tribe < was strong, and finally he returned, t armed to the teeth, and always on 1 his guard for fear of being killed, i Scott was a lover of whiskey, but t after his return to the reservation 1 he tried hard to avoid liquor, iear- i ing that he' might be taken off his i gnard while drunk and killed. I All went smoothly for a year. The s Indian kept sober and slept with one t eye open. Finally, on one occasion t with others of his tribe, he made a r visit to Columbia, and while there f he got drunk. He returned to the t tribe and after becoming sober and finding he had been unharmed, he was much relieved from his fears and \ forgot his caution. After that he got <3 drunk as often as he could get the a liquor. t Liquor Finally His Undoing. r His love of liquor caused his death, t One day he was lying drunk on the t side of a road. A party of Catawbas r came by, among them a young girl a who was a daughter of the woman I Scott had killed. She picked up a t huge stone and hurled it at his head, a cracking his skull. Other Indians in d the party picked him up and carried him into a wigwam where he e breathed several days, although he i: was given no attention, the Indians o feeling no sympathy for one whose i' sufferings they deemed merited. Fi- t A nally he died, and was buried. The t Indian girl went unpunished for kill- t ing him, the Indians as they called v hereyicdkphimtu part, admiring the s spirit of "the avenger of blood," as e they called her. c When the Revolutionary War be- a gan in 1775 there were 5,000 or more ii Catawbas who comprised the tribe. V Early during the struggle they cast y their lot with the Colonists who were struggling for liberty and they tl . proved faithful throughout the strug- r< gle. Many of them gave their lives b for the cause of their white friends tl and others survived the war to see r< the woodman's axe fell their broad p hunting grounds and to hear the echo b of the ploughman's "gee-haw" to his p plodding horse as he tore through y \ the hills that once resounded with w the Catawba's hunting cry to the G I bounding stag. It is said that more than oOO of them lost their lives in the war of the Revolution. Ravaged by Smallpox. Just a short while after the Revolution their number was reduced to less than one-half by smallpox. There is a tradition that the dreaded plague was introduced among them through the avarice of some white men in order that they might be enabled more easily to get possession of the rich lands of the Indians. In all probability this is true. The fatality of the dreaded plague among them was something terrible. Scores died each day according to tradition, and it appeared as though every man, woman and child of the tribe must fall before the ravages of the disease. Catawba Indian doctors treated all diseases in the same manner and their method was to administer a corn sweat. The mode of giving this sweat was to boil ears of corn, slipshucked, take them steaming out of the pot, and pack them closely around the patient, and as soon as it produced a profuse sweat the patients were taken up and thrown int. the Catawba river. It was more frequently a dead Indian than a living one that was taken out of the stream. Experience proved no teacher to Catawba Indian physicians, and often as many as twenty-five dead bodies were taken from the stream each day during the prevalence of the scourge. A Disastrous Move. The older Indians of the tribal 4.^11 4 V. ? ... 4,-vl ,1 re ill ii a, ii i sun ten lug suuij ii/iu mem by their parents of the time when the fathers of the tribe agreed to the proposition of the State of South Carolina to sell them what, little lands they had left and join the Cherokee nation in the vicinity of Haywood, North Carolina. It was seventy years or more ago that the State persuaded them to sell their lands and move. Most of the Indians were opposed to the step, but through various forms of intimidation and other means they were at last persuaded to move out. It was i sad day among them when they went to join the Cherokees. When they arrived there North Carolina refused to let them stay. They were in a* terrible plight since they had nowhere to go. Finally they wandered back to their former haunts, md there they have since remained )n the few acres allotted them; the n-nmon onfaPoH in tbo mannfartnrp pf rude pottery, pans and pipes svhich they peddle throughout York md adjoining counties for provisions ind old clothes, and the men, most whom are too proud and worth- , ess to work, living in worthless diglitv upon the mere pittance appropriated by the State, and from wages paid for doing odd jobs when they ire absolutely compelled to work. A striking characteristic of this !ast dying tribe is their contempt for ind abhorrence of negroes. Even )ack before ttte war they are said ;o have held the negroes in disdain md the privations and changes in heir condition during recent years lave not changed their feeling of mtipathy for the blacks. Most of he white people, in fact all of them, iving in the vicinity of the Catawba eservation consider the Indians their nferiors socially and otherwise, and lave as little to do with them as pos;ible except in a business way. Since, herefore, the whites will have little o do with them and they refuse to ningle with the negroes, they are orced to live' almost wholly unto hemselves. Education and Religion. Most of the Catawbas can read and vrite, several of them have been stutents in the Carlisle Indian School, Lnd all of the young Indians attend he school which is conducted on the eservation several months each year. Jp until the past few years most of hem have been members of the Mornon church and until a short while igo they practiced polygamy. A Baptist church has recently been milt on the reservation, and quite i number of the Indians have contected themselves with it. The Rev. F. T. Cox, pastor of sevral Baptist churches in Rock Hill, s largely responsible for the erection if the church on the reservation, and t is largely due to his influence and eachings that the Baptist denominaion has gained a foothold among he Catawbas. Up until a short irhile before the war between the ections not a single Catawba had ver professed conversion and become onnected with a' Christian church, lthough missionaries of all denomlations had faithfully preached tne " rord of God among them for many ears prior to that time. Sad, indeed, is a contemplation of lie present state of this miserable gmnant of a once powerful and nole tribe who were possessed of all lie characteristics of the primitive ed man. Even the fish, once their rev and sport in the stream which ears their name, have nearly all dearted, and it can be only a few ears until the Catawba Indians, too, ill have become extinct.?James D. rist. JAXAAAXAAAAXAXAAXAXXXAAXAIl | Meeting | I nen s| * This will never happen to you. if you drive carefully and depend r on us to keep your car in shape. ^ ?? If we do your auto work, you may drive with confidence, for every ?? part of your car will respond to your slightest touch. We are ex- ^ perts?we know how to do, and we do good work. Charges al- y Tf ways satisfactory. 2 4 |? 4 THE MUTUAL, OARAGE T House Phone 55 C. A. ASENOORF, Prop. Shop Phone 45 *?? f" DENMARK, S. C. 4* < . 4* LAMPS ?will make even Arithmetic a little easier. Built of solid brass and nickel plated, they last a life time. Steadier than gas -more restful than electricity ?cheaper than either. Use Aladdin Security Oil?the most economical kerosene oil?for best results. STANDARD OIL COMPANY (New Jersey) BALTIMORE MD Washington, D C Charlotte, N. C. | Norfolk, Va. Charleston, W. Va ^^^^^^Richmond, Va Charleston, S C. VAI Fruits and Candies for Xmas | | BUY FROM THE BAMBERG FRUIT CO. | Y The Cheapest Dealers in Town V Y T Y Big line of fresh fruits and Y Y Candies. Don't buy Y until you visit us. f BAMBERG FRUIT CO. | Y Y Y Agents for Nunnally's Candie s. Y ! X Telephone 48 Bamberg, S. C. X Y v CIN DAY FRIDAY ONLY THE COTTON OIL GO. J|j? All Colors of Fountain Pen and Other Ink If [jilt 1 ^3 ^we" ^ne ?oo'is HERALD BOOK STORE "^jjjjjgjPVs lJVa BANK YOUR MONEY TO-DAY. * YOU MUST DO SO TO HAVE IT TO-MORROW. \ ; BANK WITH US ??WE PAY FOUR (A) PER CENT. INTEREST. COMPOUNDED QUARTERLY. ON SAVING DEPOSITS I Farmers & Merchants Bank I I I BHRHARDT, S. C. I \ ! ? ?mnmimwmmr BURYING YOUR MONEY 1 *$ $ ?? in the ground or hiding it in ^ some obscure place is sheer ex- ->^? travagance. Every day you '9 keep it there you are losing HP J 2 , 4 the- interest it might be earn- T .. ' ing if deposited in the Enter- F\ prise Savings Bank. Open an >, ilWr | * I. - , account and start your savings v \l\jj J//7j^Ojj]| / Alt /' [ l| to earning something. You ,^1 ' 'W/ work for you* money. Make your money work for you. *?-^3 Enterprise Bank | 5 Per Cent. Interest Paid on Savings Deposits. Bamberg, S. C, ??'jg , r~ ? 1 tl The Next Issue of The Bell Directory 1 OOES TO PRESS SOON Every Bell subscriber, almost without exception, is able to buy the goods advertised in this directory. Reserve your space today. Ask the Manager for rates. Supplements ^3j?HgW Changes and v your other corrections advertising in listings but does not ^sJfL should be conflict 3gsgL J|tt made at once 1-? fs\+ now yy j tli \j uxvi i iva vaav aavt? j| j | j^n ^ if i n BOX 108. COLUMBIA. SOUTH^CARMJNA. NO GETTING OUT I AND UNDER I ': j/f\ on the road we repair your car' ^ 6 our wor^ s0 t^lor" llr your auto will surely take you where you want to go and back > ?i? again. Our auto repairing is . just another name f6r auto w.w . .. ?y ? 53 pleasure insurance. FULL STOCK OF FORD PARTS J. a BRICKLE Telephone No. 45-J Bamberg, S. C. I? :T - . ii> 7 > "?