This is a true story, even if highly extraordinary.  It concerns an unusual man, a man who was born on the expedition and was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition.  That man was Baptisle Chareonneau, Sacagawea’s baby.  I should probably post a note here that I’ll be giving away a book to some lucky blogger today.

In 1804-1806, Sacagawea, as we might remember, accompanied Lewis and Clark on their expedition into the West.  She was the only woman on the journey and Baptisle was the only child.  He was born in 1805 in the Minnetaree Village on the Knife River,  just a few miles below the Mandan Village on the Missouri.   His birth was noted by Lewis as February 11, 1805.  Baptiste’s father was a French trader who had won Sacagewea in a gambling wager in a Minnetaree Village, and because he could speak the language of the Indians, he engaged on the expedition, thus bringing his wife along with him, although she was with child.

It’s said by historians that Baptiste inherited his mother’s sunny disposition, her intelligence and attractive features.  Captain Clark was particularly fond of him and called him, “my little dancing boy, and also as “my boy, Pomp,” from Pomp’s tower.  Indeed, Captain Clark had become to so fond of the little boy, that he begged his parents to let him take the boy, whereupon he promised to raise him as his own.  Baptiste’s parents declined, but over the years, Clark apparently did enter both Baptiste and his older, half-brother into school.

Now, here’s where the story gets really interesting.  In 1823 (Baptiste would have been 18), he was introduced to Prince Paul of Wurtemberg, Germany.  The prince was twenty-six and he had come to America in search of scientific information.  It was at the mouth of the Kaw or Kansas River that the two were introduced and a fast friendship began between the two.  Indeed, the prince declared in his written diary in 1829 that he “hunger(ed) for the vast silent places and the simple life among free unaffected children of nature.”  Prince Paul offered to bring Baptiste with him back to Germany, where he promisedt to educated the lad and to tour the European continent.  Captain Clark, who by now was like a father to Baptiste, agreed, and so on November 3, 1823. Baptiste began his journey to Europe with Prince Paul.

For six years, Baptiste lived the life of a prince.  He lived in a castle in a beautiful woodland setting, he learned many different languages, including  German, English, Spanish and French,   He was instructed in the arts and social graces of the court and Baptiste was the companion of Prince Paul for all those years, developing a fast, fast friendship.  Here’s where the story gets even stranger.

To the left is a picture of Prince Paul.  In 1829 Baptiste and Prince Paul returned to America.  Here somewhere along the route, Prince Paul and Baptiste parted, never to see each other again.  Baptiste went on to become a mountain man and a scout for various private and governmental parties.  Why the two friends parted remains a mystery, as none of Prince Paul’s published works mention the affair.  It is, however, speculated that their separation was less than amicable.

To the right here is a painting of Baptiste.  The mystery of Baptiste became highly enigmatic since he never again corresponded with Prince Paul, nor did he keep a diary.  However, because Baptiste went on to be one of the best scouts the West has ever known, we have learned of him from the writings of travelers at that time.

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Baptiste’s life is that he neither married, nore produced heirs, and this in a land where a man could easily have taken more than one wife or mistress.

What happened?  Why did he suddenly cut all ties to the prince in Europe?  Had he fallen in love with some princess, only to be dismissed out of hand because he lacked any real royal standing?  Perhaps.  My asking this question led me to write the story of THE PRINCESS AND THE WOLF, which is still available for purchase.   The book cover is off to the side.

 It’s one of the strangest stories that I uncovered in my research into the West and the many legends   What do you think?  Why did the Prince and Baptiste, who had been fast friends for six years — had toured together, learned together, hunted together — why did they separate, never to see one another again?  Come on in and tell me your ideas.

And don’t forget I have three books on sale right now at http://store.samhainpublishing.com/karen-kay-pa-1676.html – LAKOTA SURRENDER, LAKOTA PRINCESS and PROUD WOLF’S WOMAN.

Order your ebook copy of it today!

I’ll be traveling to Arizona in March to an RWA meeting, where I’ll be speaking, and thinking of Arizona reminded me of — well, I guess it’s a ghost story or maybe a treasure hunt story — a true one — one whose drama took place in the superstitious mountains.  It was this very true story by the way, that served as the inspiration for one of my books, LONE ARROW’S PRIDE.

Here’s the original art work that was done for this book — originally published by AVON/HarperCollins Publishers.  Now, my husband and my brother-in-law were at one time miners, and when they told me this story, I knew it would find it’s way into a book — and it did.  The story of LONE ARROW’S PRIDE doesn’t take place in Arizona, however.  I brought the story instead to the Wyoming/Montana area — to the Bighorn Mountains and to America’s “Stonehedge,” which sets up atop a 10,000 foot mountain.  But back to the true story of the Superstitious Mountains.

As I’m sure you know, in Arizona there is a mountain range called the Superstitious Mountains, which sits just outside of Phoenix.  Some of you might be familiar with the legend of the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.  Some may not.  But bear with me.

There are many, many miners who go into the Superstitious Mountains today, hunting for the Lost Dutchman gold mine.  Many years ago stones were found, upon which was written some hieroglyphics thought to be part of a map.  Many of these stones were discovered all over the Superstitious Mountains and all of them were thought to be part of a map that would lead others to the Lost Dutchman’s gold mine.  Today those stones are on display in a bank where all can see them and try to discern where the gold mine is.

What is not generally known, however, is that many hundreds of years previous, there were Jesuit priests in these mountains.  They befriended the Indians, and managed to get the Indians to bring them gold from these mountains, whereupon the Jesuit priests made artifacts out of the gold.  Many, many artifacts.

There priests were recalled to Spain.  Most of them refused to go and so Spain sent an army into the Southwest to drive the priests home.  The priests got word of the oncoming army and, deciding not to let the army get their gold, nor take the gold back to Spain where it would most likely be claimed by the king, they hid their treasure. It was the Jesuit priests who etched the map on the stones in hieroglyphics and left these stones in fairly inconspicuous places, thinking to come back and collect the gold at a later date, perhaps.

Recently miners have found, after using the stones on display, and digging about twenty-two feet deep in these mountain, two crosses with more hieroglyphics on them.

To date, neither the Lost Dutchman’s mine, nor the stash of gold from the Jesuit priests has been found.  Added to this is the fact that the Indians believed that the Thunder God lived in the Superstitious Mountains and in fact, up until the late nineteenth century, no one was able to go into the mountains and mine the gold without great risk to their lives.  Any white person found in the mountains was at once killed.

Another interesting fact is that earlier on, two brothers got word of the mines in those mountains and were mining one that they had found.  They made two succesful trips into the mountains and obtained a great deal of gold.  On the third trip they were discovered by the Indians.  And so the brothers loaded up all of their gold and put it into bags, which they tied onto their mules.

Of course, these two brothers were found and killed by the Indians, but the mules were let go, still carrying the bags of gold.  The last bag of gold to be found was in the 1920′s or 30′s (I forget which), and contained gold to the amount of approximately $12,000 at that time — today the find would have been close to half a million dollars.

So the question is:  Has anyone ever found the Lost Dutchman’s Mine?  Not to my knowledge.

Has anyone discovered the gold that was hidden by the Jesuit priests?  Not that we know of.  But I would have to ask you this question.  If you were there and you found it, would you tell anyone?

I’m not too certain that I would.  Would you?

Don’t forget to pick up your copy of the new ebooks, LAKOTA SURRENDER and LAKOTA PRINCESS at:  http://www.samhainpublishing.com/retro-romance.htm

I’m sure all of you know that our Thanksgiving comes from the Eastern Indians, and in particular Squanto — and if you didn’t know about Squanto, I would highly recommend the movie, Squanto, starring a young and dreamy Adam Beach.  Sigh…

But what was this festival called Thanksgiving?  Did it happen just this one time?  Was it due to the Indians’ wishing to acknowledge the newcomers, as I was often taught in school?  Was there more to it?  Well, I do believe that there was … is.  So do read on.

Thanksgiving was one of several festivals amongst the Eastern Indians — in particular I’m talking about the Iroquois.  However, these ceremonies were common to all the Eastern tribes.  There were many festivals throughout the year, and they tended to follow the seasons.

The Iroquois celebrated six festivals, wherein they gave thanks to the Creator for all they had.  These festivals would open with speeches by leaders, teacher, etc.  And of course there was much dancing, which was done not only for the fun of simply dancing, but it was also a sense of worship.  It was thought that the Creator needed some sort of amusement, thus He gave the people dancing.

In spring — early March — it was time to collect together tree bark and sap – this was needed to repair houses and other things, such as canoes, bowls, etc.   Spring was also the time for planting.  This was the maple festival.  Next was the Planting festival.  Here prayers were sent to the Creator to bless their seed.

The Iroquois’ main food source was corn, beans and squash (the three sisters).  Family gardens were separated by borders that were broad and grassy — they would even camp on these borders and sometimes they were raise watch towers.

The next festival of the Iroquois was the Strawberry Festival.  This is where the people gave thanks to the Creator for their many fruits (like strawberries).  It was summertime.  The women gathered wild nuts and other foods, while the men hunted, fished and provided various meats for cooking.  Again, each festival was greeted with much dancing and merriment.  Did you know that the some Iroquois believed the way to the Creator was paved with strawberries?

The next fesitval was the Green Corn Fesitval.  Again, the Creator was thanked for the bounty of food that had been raised all through the summer.  Dancers danced to please the Creator and musicians sang and beat the drum.  Again there were many speeches to honor the people and the Creator.  There were team sports.  Lacrosse was the game that was most admired and it was played with great abandon by the men.  Women played games, too and often their games were as competitive as the men’s.

The next season festival was…are you ready?  Thanksgiving — or the Harvest Thanksgiving.  By this time the women had harvested the corn, beans and squash.  Much of it would be dried.  Much went to feed families.  Husks were made into many different items.  Dolls, rugs, mats.  Did you know that the dolls didn’t have faces?  Now was the time to gather more nuts and berries.  Men were busy, too, hunting far away.  Bear, moose, beaver were all sought after and hunted.  Again, there was much celebration.  Dancing, speeches, prayer.  And of course — food.  It was this particular festival that was shared with the newcomers to this continent.

Can you guess what the next festival was?  Although this is a Christmas tree, it was not a celebration of Christmas — but if you guessed this, you were very close.  The next and last festival of the year was New Year’s.  At this time, a white dog was sacrificed as a gift to the Creator.  This was also a time for renewing the mind and body.  (Does that not remind you of our New Year’s resolutions?)  At this time, the False Face Society members would wear masks to help others to cleanse themselves of their bad minds and restore only their good minds.  There was again much celebration, much dancing, much merriment and enjoyment as each person would settle in for the long winter ahead of them.

The First Americans indeed did give this country very much, not only its festivals which we still remember to this day, but also it gave to this nation a fighting spirit for freedom.  In these times when there seems to be uncertainty ahead of us, there is still much for us to be thankful for.  I know I am thankful for my family and my husband and daughters and my new granddaughter.  I’m thankful to be able to travel this beautiful country.  I’m thankful to be able to voice my opinions and for living in a country where I am still able to be who I am.

How about you?  What are you thankful for?  What has influenced your life for the better?  And what will you be doing for Thanksgiving this year?

I may be away from the computer and on the road tomorrow — I hope so — as I return home hopefully in time for Thanksgiving with family.

But before I leave you today, let me share a link with you — this link has two wonderful (and sexy) excerpts from LAKOTA PRINCESS and PROUD WOLF’S WOMAN:  http://sweetnsexydivas.blogspot.com/2011/11/sweet-n-sexy-soulful-quotes.html?zx=ee5d0e72a526e020  Please take the time to go over and have a look.

NEWS ALERT!!!!   LAKOTA SURRENDER goes on sale in just a few short weeks — first time ever in e-books.  Pick up your copy today! If you preorder, it’s on sale!  http://store.samhainpublishing.com/lakota-surrender-p-6643.html

Howdy!

I hope you will bear with me today as I post an older blog, one which I particularly like, and I’ve changed it a little to bring it up to date, but I really needed to fall back on something today because I got hit with some very bad news today.  A very good friend of mine, Jim Bird, was killed early this morning in an accident on the road.  He was a good friend and we had many adventures with each other because we both loved the Blackfeet people and so we often found ourselves trying to help them…together.  So please forgive me for the repeat — but it’s a much older blog and one I really love for its beauty.  So please do enjoy!

As I sit here looking through my many books, I am struck by the beauty of the American Indian style of dress.  But before I begin, I’d like to let you know that once again, I’ll be giving out a free book to some lucky blogger.  Please note that this offer is for those in the greater 50 United States or Canada and void where prohibited.

Okay, all that aside, I thought I’d start with Plains Indian dress, since this is probably what we are the most familiar with.  I might also call this post, a tour of George Catlin and Karl Bodner’s paintings.  The time period in which they worked was in the 1830?s — mostly around 1834.  Off to the left is a painting by George Catlin.  Note that the dress does not hide the natural curve of the animal that it is made from.  Notice too the intricate painting and or beading/quill work on the dress.  All tribes were different, which made it a little easier for the men of the tribe to read trails (they could tell by the mere indentation of a moccasin what tribe had passed that way.)

Note in all of these painting the robe or shawl that encircles the woman.  Both men and women favored the robe.  Most were again intricately beaded or painted or decorated.  To this day, the shawl still survives in women’s dress.  When one goes to a pow-wow and wishes to dance, one wraps a shawl around oneself before entering into the circle.

Many Plains women favored the two-skin dress.  Originally, the skirt with a poncho made of skin was the favored dress.  But by the time the white man arrived in Indian country, the two-skin dress was popular.  Later, still, a three skin dress became popular.  Depending on the tribe, the yoke of the dress was either decorated with beads, quills or with many rows of elk’s teeth.  The bottom of the ankle-length dress could be left in the same shape as the animal, although sometimes the hem was fringed.

Women also traditionally wore knee-length leggings that were laced at the front or the inside.  These were often painted and designed with quill work.   Off to the side here are two Blackfeet men.  Note the fringe on their sleeves.  Not also the robe (or cape) around their shoulders.  This man on the left has his face painted black and there are many, many feathers attached to his head.  This man was a chief and the “buttons” on his shirt are brass and the designs are made of blue glass.   This painting is one of Karl Bodner’s.

The picture off to the right is of a Blackfeet Indian on horseback.  Notice the fringed shirt and fringed saddle, as well as the feather tied to the horse’s mane.  Notice, too, the painted designs on his leggings.  The Blackfeet man’s basic dress was breechcloth, shirt, leggings, moccasins and the ever present robe.  This man’s shirt comes almost to his knees as he is sitting.  And note that the hemline keeps the same shape of the animal that the clothes were made from.  This is a beautiful drawing and shows the richness of a people who, while owning no money, had all the comforts and necessities of life.

I’m showing these two pictures together because both come from the Mandan tribe.  The Mandans were a tribe that traded goods from both southern and northern and western tribes.  They had permanent villages.  The painting on the left is of a man named Flying War Eagle, who was one of their best warriors.  Note the hair-bows on each side of his face, the feathers, the necklace, the earrings.  I would like to point out that those earrings are not feminine at all.  Now around his neck are bear claws.  This means that he had killed a bear.  Note also the wolf tails that are attached to his moccasins.  On the right is the same warrior, but with another man, the one in the foreground, who was an Indian artist.  Note the robe thrown around their shoulders.  They lived in a cold climate.

This next picture is of a Hidasta Indian — the Hidasta were another tribe that had settled in permanent villages, right along the Missouri River.  This man’s name was Black Raven.  Note the elaborate peace pipe, the bear necklace, the hair-bow and single feather.  Note also the beautiful designs on his leggings and moccasins.  This is another Karl Bodner painting.  I have these picture in a larger book at home — that’s how I’m able to see much of the detail.

And here off to the left is my favorite.  The man is Assiniboine, which is a tribe that is related to the Lakota or Sioux.  Note the two hair beads that hang from locks in front.  Note also the hair that is made to come down directly on his nose.  Note that his costume has again kept the shape of the animal at the hemline.  This man’s robe looks very much like a cape.  On his shield is attached his medicine bundle.  Many a warrior would not go to war without that medicine bundle.  I have studied this painting long and often and in great detail.   This is a handsome man in anybody’s culture.  Tall, firm of limb, proud bearing, yet gentle spirit.  Ah…

The painting below is one that I found on the Republic of Lakotah website.  I was particularly taken with it.  While it doesn’t show the manner of dress necessarily, it does show the strength of spirit of not only the man, but the eagle.  It’s a magnificent painting.

Where this painting takes place I don’t know.  Perhaps in the woodlands of the Dakota people — it’s only that I know of very few places in the West where there are strands of dicidious trees as isshown here.  The title of this picture is “Red Road.”

Well, I didn’t get very far today in discussing dress.  Mostly I’m afraid I got engrossed in the handsome pictures of these very beautiful people.  Now off to the left here is the cover of BLACK EAGLE, my latest novel that is still in the bookstores.  Off to the right is the cover of PROUD WOLF’S WOMAN, for the first time in ebook form, which is due to released in February 2012.  If you’d like to read an excerpt of this book, please visit my site at www.novels-by-KarenKay.com.

Off to the right here is the new cover for the new ebook of LAKOTA PRINCESS, which is due out in January 2012.

Well, that’s all for today’s post.  Hope you’ve enjoyed these pictures as much as I do.  So please come on in and leave a comment.  What do you think?  Are these clothes as pretty as the English clothes of the same period?  Remember that at this time period, one’s “betters” dressed differently than the common folk (which was not true in Native America).  Come on in and leave a message.

I love a good mystery. Do you?  I hope so because I’m about to tell you a story that is true, but it’s also a mystery – it’s about a people that the tribe of Salish people call “the mystery people.”

I thought it might be fun to try to guess who these people were — remember that the Salish people are in the northern part of this country and farther west than even the Blackfeet.  So they are not too far away from the Pacific.  Here we go:  This is the story of the mystery people.

In the days of long ago — what would be our grandfather’s grandfathers, a mystery people came to Flathead lake.  They were a small, fine featured people, and they brought with them their wives and children who had flattened their heads, which was the style of the coastal Indians at this time.  These strange people came in strong canoes and they came from the direction of what the Salish people called the Great Salt Water (most likely the Pacific Ocean).

They were very few people and they troubled no one.  The Grandfathers say that they were neither white nor Indian.  Their skin color was as dark as an Indian’s, but their features were not those of the American Indian — and they were much smaller in size and structure from the American Indian.

These mystery people — the men — didn’t flatten their heads — only their wives and children did, again, which was the style of different Pacific Coast Indians.  When these people went west, they were gone a very long time, usually, and when they returned, they brought with them dried salmon, which was much prized amongst the Salish.

These people were skilled in the healing arts and knew how to use roots and different barks and teas to cure many illnesses.  They once helped the natives along the coast when illness struck them by telling them not to use the sweat baths and then plunge into cold water — they said that this would kill them.  They saved a great many people by their wise words.

Who were these people?  The only clues given were that these people came from a land beyond the Great Salt Water and that strong winds had blown them so far off course that they were lost.  Finally they saw the lake and land and came toward it, but another storm broke their great canoe.  The Indians along the shore treated them kindly and they lived with them.  Who were these people?

Here’s a little more about them — they were the same color as the Indians but not Indian.  They were a kind people — kind to women and children and they loved to laugh and to play.  They knew many things that they taught the people — one was about fire — they taught the people the exact right stones to use to get dry kindle to light.  What happened to them?

There weren’t many of them and their sons and daughters eventually married Salish people and over time the mystery people vanished.  Who were they?

I honestly don’t know, but I’m willing to make a guess.  The legend says that they were smaller and fine-feathered — but it says nothing about their eye-shape not their difference in color of skin — so I would rule out the orient.  This was long before the white man ever came to Flathead country.  (The picture to the right, by the way is of Flathead Lake — where the mystery people came to live.)

My guess would be Malaysian or perhaps even India Indians.  Because the Malaysians were close to the water, it’s possible that they might have been blown off course.  But I could be very far off.

Do you have a guess?

Dont’ forget that soon…very soon…Lakota Surrender will see it’s first printing in ebooks.  Look for it in December.  Oh, and off to the right here is a picture of 3 generations — myself, my two daughter’s and my new grandbaby. 

So come on in an let’s make a guess about this together.  By the way all those who guess will be eligible to win a free copy of the book, THE LAST WARRIOR — drawing will be done either late Tuesday evening or early Wednesday.

Do come on in — leave a comment and let’s chat!