This post is dedicated to my friend Brian Huseland who asked me to photograph the Spokane Garry Bell. This history of the bell is engraved on a granite monument that stands in the heart of Chief Lot Cemetery in Wellpinit, Washington. The engraving reads:
The Story of the Bell
Thomas Garry, the adopted son of Chief
Spokane Garry, took care of his father’s bell. Thomas told Sadie, his wife, the
history of the bell—how his father received the bell from the original First
Presbyterian Church and took it to his cabin on Pleasant Prairie. A whiteman
stole his farm. Spokane Garry rescued his bell taking it by horse back to
Indian Prairie where he was helped by three friends: William Three-Mountain, Solomon
Scott, and Thomas’ brother Tidas Williams, to set up a new church for Christ
and the bell. After three years they were forced by whitemen to move again, this
time to Spokane River Church. From the rising waters of the Coulee Dam, Thomas
fled to Wellpinit with his father’s bell. Now, his wife Sadie has had the bell
taken from rusting junk to be polished and placed on this monument as an
everlasting memorial to the Garry’s.
A more complete version of this history appeared in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on July 20, 1973 in an article titled: Historic Garry Bell Part of Indian Memorial Rite.
The monument stands on the lower end of the cemetery.
The story of the bell...
A rusted angel...
Chief Lot's tomb in the late afternoon...
Brian asked me to photograph any engravings or dates on the bell. I didn't see any dates or numbers, but I did see an engraving that presumably had some reference to the manufacturer of the bell. One side reads: "SUTTONBR S&BELL."
The other side reads, "INDIANA PA."
I went back the next day to get
a better view of the bell at midday.
Chief Lot's tomb at midday.
The ancient initials of Jesus appear on the cross.
The inscription on Chief Lot's gravestone reads:
In memory of Chief Lot
Died: April 6, 1902
Chief Lot Cemetery
Who, profoundly stirred by the Holy
Spirit, went to Washington D.C. with the request: ‘I like a school house.’
Rhode Island Women’s Indian Association heard his prayers from a mission and school
for his people and sent Miss Helen Clark. His dream at last fulfilled: ‘My
heart is big now.’ Miss Clark said of the Spokanes: ‘—as a whole, they are well
behaved and respectable.’
Could any greater compliment be paid to a
race?
Dedicated: Oct. 23, 1969
Sadie Boyd Garry
*
I do have to admit that being well-behaved and respectable is actually not the highest compliment someone could pay to my race, or any other race. When they called us well-behaved, does that actually mean that we did not resist the settlement of our country by the American masses?
No comments:
Post a Comment