MR.

RED JACKET (BY WIER).

66

R. WILLIAM L. STONE has performed He-that-keeps-them-awake." He received an acceptable work in bringing out a new the name Red Jacket from a richly-embroidered edition, with a few corrections, and many ad- scarlet jacket presented to him by the British ditions, of the Life, written by his father, bear- for the services which he rendered them during ing the same name, of the famous orator-chief the war of the Revolution. When the first was of the Senecas, whom we know as Red Jacket.* worn out another and another was given him, It is not our purpose here to present even a and long after, in 1794, he received still another sketch of the life of Red Jacket. We merely from the United States, "in order to perpetuate premise that he was born about 1750, near the the name to which he was so much attached." place where now stands the beautiful village of He died in 1830, worn out not so much by years Geneva, in New York. His original name was as by intemperance. His remains after having O-te-ti-ani, "Always- Ready." Long after, been buried were disinterred, and the bones are when his eloquence had made him the Chief now (December, 1865) kept in a wooden chest Sachem of his tribe, he received the name, by by the remnant of his tribe; but it is said, we which he should be known, of Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, hope truly, that "measures are on foot by the The Life and Times of Sa-go-ye-wat-ha, or Red Jack-Buffalo Historical Society to give the bones an et, by WILLIAM L. STONE; with a Memoir of the Author, appropriate burial." by his Son. Albany: J. Munsell.

In spite of Mr. Stone's admirable work, in

remove the stain. Red Jacket always wore this medal on state occasions. He never sold it, though sometimes in his later years, when hard pressed for means to buy whisky, he is said to have put it in pawn. Upon his death it fell into the hands of James Johnson, his successor in the sachemship. In 1851 Johnson seems to have been prevailed upon to sell the medal to some parties who wished to secure it for the State Museum at Albany. This transfer was prevented by Mr. E. S. Parker, who paid the sum for which it was to have been sold, and has had it in his possession ever since.*

which "He-that-keeps-them-awake" is pre- | giver and receiver, could then set to work to sented in his true character as orator and statesman, the popular idea of Red Jacket is founded upon a poem by Fitz-Greene Halleck, in which he is presented as a warrior as well as an orator.* Our present purpose is, however, simply to speak of the relic of Red Jacket, which has an interesting history. In 1792 he went to the Federal capital as a member of an embassy from the Six Nations. Washington, on this occasion, presented him with the silver medal, of which our engraving presents a transcript, of the exact size of the original. It is of pure silver, upon which the design is engraved. To the mind of Red Jacket there was something symbolical in this medal. Its costly material was emblematical of the great value of the friendship which was ever to subsist between the United States and the Indians; its brightness indicated the perfect purity of the peace between the two peoples. Its pure surface would show the slightest tarnish which might accidentally come upon it; and both parties,

This poem is entitled "Red Jacket: on looking at his Portrait by Wier." The poem certainly does not at all convey the idea of the portrait. From the poem Darley made a drawing, in which Red Jacket is presented in blanket, leggins, and top-knot as an Indian "brave" on the war-path. We present a copy of this drawing; and also, by favor of Mr. Stone, its possessor, of the portrait by Wier.

The life of Mr. Parker presents some interesting features. He is apparently of pure Indian descent. In 1848-49 he read law, but by the rules of the Supreme Court of the State

It is said that there are in existence other medals, each purporting to be the genuine Red Jacket medal. Possibly copies of it may have been made when it was at one time or another in pawn in the hands of those to whom Red Jacket had pledged it for whisky. But none of these copies were ever owned by Red Jacket himself. The original medal, from which our drawing was made, is, as we write, open to public inspection at the Jewelry Establishment of Messrs. Browne and Spaulding, in Broadway, N. Y., by whom, with the assent of the owner, it was placed at our disposal for illustration. We have in our possession the most abundant proof that it is the genuine, and only genuine, medal presented by Washington to Red Jacket.

was not "white." The world does move, after all; and we wonder whether the man who was thought worthy to be chosen Military Secretary by our Lieutenant-General would now, should he desire admission, be excluded from the bar. If there be any existing "rule" of the Supreme Court of the State requiring this, we very respectfully suggest to their Honors the Judges to rescind it as soon as possible. We do not think that their judicial dignity would be seriously impaired should it happen that they were some day called upon to listen to a motion or plea from Mr. Parker, Successor to Red Jacket, Sachem of the Senecas, and Brevet-Colonel, U. S. V.

and Virginia, where he remained until an En- | State of his birth simply and wholly because he gineer was no longer required upon that work. He was then appointed Constructing Engineer in the Light-house district of the Upper Lakes; then, in 1857, he became Superintendent of the construction of the public buildings at Galena, Illinois. These completed, he was transferred in the same capacity to Dubuque, Iowa. "During all this time," he writes, "I did not neglect the interests of my people, being frequently compelled to visit Albany and Washington on their account." In May, 1863, he was, without any solicitation on his part, appointed Assistant Adjutant-General of Volunteers, with the rank of Captain, and sent to the Army of the Tennessee. He reported at Vicksburg just four days before its surrender to General Grant. With Grant he went to Chattanooga, and witnessed the battles thereabout in the autumn of 1863. Next spring, Grant having been appointed Lieutenant-General, Mr. Parker accompanied him to the East as Assistant Adjutant-General, and was with him during the entire campaigns from the Rapidan to the surrender of Lee. During this time, in August, 1864, he was appointed Military Secretary to the Lieutenant-General, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In February, 1865, at the special request of the Lieutenant-General, he was, with the rest of Grant's personal staff, promoted to the rank of Colonel by brevet. In August, 1865, he was appointed by the President one of the Commissioners to negotiate a treaty of peace with the Southwestern Indians, many of whom had been allies of the Confederacy. The efforts of the Commissioners were very successful; they succeeded in making a general treaty of peace with twelve Indian tribes.

To us this seems much. Yet the man who has since performed all these duties was only a few years ago excluded from the bar in the

E. 8. PARKER

All seamed with blood-red scars they fell
Amid the battle's feverish breath;
Their requiem was the cannon's note,
The jarring sounds of war which smote
In vain the ear of Death.

They heeded not the blinding smoke,
The low, sad groan, the deafening roar,
The fiery onset's sudden clash,
The battle's fierce, tumultuous crash,
Who sank to rise no more.

Their hearts were wedded to the cause

For which their costly blood was shed; They held their precious lives as naught Compared with that for which they fought, With that for which they bled.

Theirs is the warrior's wreath below,

And theirs the martyr's crown on high;
Revered of all who love their land,
Their names on Fame's bright roll shall stand,
And there shall never die!

For blest are they who give their lives

In Freedom's cause, her battle fought; The babe shall learn to lisp their praise, And poets celebrate in lays

The deeds which they have wrought.

They are the witnesses above

The shadowy battle-mounds which rise;
Unseen of mortal man they stand,
And with uplifted arm and hand
Point they toward the skies.

Take heed, ye rulers, that your deeds
Be pure and honest in God's sight,
Before those witnesses that stand
Above the graves which fill our land-
Be mindful of the Right!