[or-roots] Fort Laramie, Wyoming (aunt Charlotte Book)

[DAVIESW739 at aol.com]

When we reached Fort Laramie , we saw Indian camps everywhere. Some  distance 
away from the fort, we children found a place where the very ground  itself, 
was glistening with bright colored, tiny beads. The others picked up  large 
quantities of them, but Mother told me to leave  them alone. She  explained that 
it was an Indian graveyard, and that ants were bringing the beads  from the 
graves underneath. They were all small anyway and I did not care very  much  
about them, though, of course, they would have been better than  nothing.
 
  Later several women took me with them when they went for a  walk. It was on 
this walk that I  saw the string of beads that stands out  from all other 
beads in my memory. They were on a buck-string and hung in a  great loop through 
a crack in a rude platform that stood five or six feet   from the ground. They 
did not seem to belong to anyone in particular. Here at  last were the very  
beads for me. 
 
  So I caught the string in both hands and pulled with all my  might. They 
seemed caught on  something, so I tugged this way and that and  jerked till my 
breath came in gasps. I was  determined to have them. I took  my  feet off the 
ground and swung with all my might on the  string,  but still the thing above 
that held it, would not give way. So I called for Mrs.  Athey to help  me. 
That was my undoing. She screamed at me: "Charlotte,  Charlotte, come away from 
there at  once. Don't you know those beads are  around a dead Indian's neck? " 
I let go, but not because  of the Indian, I  let go because she told me to, 
and I did it reluctantly, even then. Oh! they  were so  beautiful, yellow and 
blue and black. Such a fine long string  too.
 
  They took me back to camp at once and told Mother about it. She  scrubbed 
me with everything  that she had. She would have boiled me, if she  had dared, 
and I am sure that she did not kiss  me for a week without  afterwards wiping 
her mouth. She treated me exactly as she treated  Jasper  after he had met his 
first skunk. 
 
  I wanted those beads, and I seem to want them even yet. I have  never owned 
a string of them,  though I see them now on everyone. I  sometimes wear a 
lorgnette that hangs from a chain,  fashioned to look like  tiny gold beads. I 
wear it, because it pleases my family, but I do not like  it.  The clasp bothers 
me, it is very intricate and my fingers have grown  old.
 
Walt  Davies
Cooper Hollow Farm
Monmouth, OR 97361
503 623-0460 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20050423/43d6c551/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: walt%20at%2055%20icon.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2892 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://omls.oregon.gov/pipermail/or-roots/attachments/20050423/43d6c551/attachment.jpg>