THE ENDURING INTRIGUE OF GLASS TRADE BEADS

The Enduring Intrigue Of The Glass Trade Bead

Less than fifty years after Columbus first set foot on the New World and almost two generations before our Pilgrim Fathers were even born, our Southwest had felt the first European footsteps. The glass trade bead was destined to play an often overlooked, but very important part in the exploration and colonization of the New World. The first recorded introduction of glass trade beads in the Americas was done by Columbus himself. On October 12, 1492, he recorded in his log that to gain the admiration of the natives of San Salvador Island, he gave them red caps and some strings of glass beads which they placed around their necks.

The Southwest and particularly Arizona, because of its very early and long continuous exposure, is no doubt one of the richest areas in early Spanish trade beads, as well as many other varieties. Each succeeding generation of conquistadors, trappers, explorers, Indian traders or colonizers left with the American Indian countless numbers and types of colorful glass beads.

These simple, but usually colorful, glass trade beads, that are found scattered over the Southwest, in our museums and a few private collections have intrigued and baffled students of trade and history for decades. Not one expert or standard reference exists that can answer many of the complex questions and problems these beads present.

While history and the historical records were kind with many other materials that frequently show up in archeological sites, providing us with the material and means to frequently date the use of rusty pieces of firearms, broken dishes, pieces of furniture and even nails. Very little information exists today that helps the historian date the majority of trade beads discovered. Not even the volumes of historical records and documents shed much light on where and how these beads were made, when were various types brought to this country, how long were these types made and by whom were they traded.

Last year the Hudson's Bay Company celebrated their 300th anniversary of continued business. They admit frankly that the information as to the types and descriptions of trade beads they once used, along with the invoices and their sources of supply, have not survived in their archives. Today the only samples of the beads they once traded, are preserved on the examples of Indian arts and crafts they have collected for their museums. As a matter of interest, after 300 years, they still “trade” beads to the Indians, but they stock only twelve colors of the tiny “seed” beads imported from Europe, that are used to decorate mainly articles of clothing.

From some of the earliest journals and diaries, we know that the year 1540 was important in the history of the Southwest. That year Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza sent Spanish conquistadors into what is now Arizona and New Mexico, searching for the fabled Seven Cities of Cibola.

From New Spain marched Francisco Vásquez Coronado with his helmet of gold and his gilded armor, leading a colorful army of sixteenth century fortune seekers. Also, traveling west from Sonora, was the ill-fated Melchor Díaz, who met his tragic end by impaling himself on his own lance, but not until after he had blazed the long-used and notorious el Camino del Diablo. (The Devil's Highway) Viceroy Mendoza's armies of conquistadors were well armed and equipped for their day when they marched over the Southwest with their stout Andalusian horses, carrying heavy armor, crossbows and their unwieldy arquebuses. Supplied with the important glass trade beads and other expeditionary trade items for building goodwill with the Indians, these first Southwest explorers left countless numbers of glass trade beads scattered over the Southwest. They blazed trails into new lands that have been followed for over 400 years by later explorers, colonizers, missionaries, trappers, traders, and even today, on some highways, the modern day travelers.

Never finding their rich fabled Seven Cities of Gold, but only the Indian pueblos, the surviving conquistadors returned to New Spain disillusioned and disappointed, not knowing the potential wealth of this great land they had passed over. They did, however, leave their mark for history and some mysterious and intriguing glass trade beads.

While the use of the glass trade bead had traditionally been more closely associated with the colorful and adventurous fur trade of North America, these simple glass beads played a highly significant, but little recognized role in the early Spanish explorations and colonization of the Southwest.

From the earliest journals we know the first recorded exchange of glass trade beads in the Southwest was done by Coronado in 1540. While there has been no written record found, it is very likely that Friar Marcos de Niza also exchanged beads with the Indians on his trek in 1539.

Cabrillo, exploring the California coast in 1542, exchanged beads and other gifts with the natives. In 1579 Sir Francis Drake landed on the California coast north of San Francisco and probably gave the customary glass beads to the Indians. Sebastion Viscaíno, exploring the California coast by sea in 1602 also traded with the Indians.

The giant of the fur trade, the Hudson's Bay Company, was formed in 1670, but it is doubtful if any of their trappers or traders worked their way into the far Southwest at an early date. However, it is very likely that some of the beads of this company were traded among the Indians themselves and in that way found their way into the Southwest.

Father Eusebio Francisco Kino explored the Southwest in the very early 1700's, baptizing countless thousands of natives

SELECTED TRADE BEAD BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beck, Horace C., “Classification and Nomenclature of Beads and Pendants,” ARCHAEOLOGIA, Volume LXXVII, London, 1928.

Ewers, John C., Blackfeet Crafts, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1945.

Ewers, John C., Crow Indian Beadwork, Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Gregory, Hiram A. & Webb, Clarence H., “European Trade Beads From Six Sites in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana,” THE FLORIDA ANTHROPOLOGIST, Volume XVIII, No. 3, Part 2.

Haldeman, S. S., “On a Polychrome Bead from Florida,” Annual Report for 1877, Smithsonian Institution, 1878.

Harris R. King & Harris, Inus Marie, “A Pilot Study of Wichita Indian Archeology and Ethnohistory” (Trade Beads, Projectile Points, and Knives pages 129 to 162, plates 52-53), National Science Foundation, August 1967.

Kidd, Kenneth E. & Kidd, Martha Ann, “A Classification System for Glass Beads for the Use of Field Archaeologists,” Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History No. 1, National Historic Sites Service, National and Historic Parks Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Ottawa, 1970.

Lyford, Carrie A., Quill and Beadwork of the Western Sioux, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Haskell Press, Lawrence, Kansas, 1940.

Murray, Robert A., “Glass Trade Beads at Fort Laramie,” Wyoming Archeologist, Fall, 1964. Has recently been reprinted.

Orchard, William C., Beads and Beadwork of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, N.Y., 1929.

Pratt, Peter P., Oneida Iroquois Glass Trade Bead Sequence 15851745, The Fort Stanwix Museum, Rome, New York, 1961.

Sorensen, Cloyd Jr., & Le Roy, C. Richard, “Trade Beads: The Powerful Companion of the Explorer,” Brand Book Number One, The San Diego Corral of the Westerners, San Diego, 1968.

Walker, Edwin F., Excavation of a Yokuts Indian Cemetery, Kern County Historical Society, Bakersfield, California, 1947.

Whitley, Philip W., “Trade Beads Among the American Indian,” Denver Westerners Brandbook, Volume 7, Number 8, 1951.

Woodward, Arthur, Indian Trade Goods, Oregon Archaeological Society, Portland, Oregon, (publication No. 2), 1965.

and no doubt distributing more glass trade beads, as he traveled from village to village, than any other single person. There seems little doubt that these beads were readily accepted and held in great esteem by the Indians of Pimeria Alta, in some instances for the magic power which was said to reside in them.

Father Junípero Serra, on the “Sacred Expeditions” to California, traded beads to the Indians along his route in 1769.

Father Escalante who explored the Great Basin, from Santa Fe, New Mexico to as far north as Utah Lake, in his journal gives an insight as to the use of glass trade beads. On October 16, 1776, after leaving their camp of Arroyo del Taray, today the site of old Fort Pearce a few miles southeast of St. George, Utah and on the Arizona State line, they talked to eight Indians who told them the way to the Colorado River and indicated the kind of journey that lay before them. Escalante wrote, “We gave them a present of two hunting knives and to each a string of beads and told them that if one of them would guide us to the river we would pay him.”

Meanwhile in the far North the use of the glass trade bead was constant. In 1728 the first Russian explorations of North America were done by a Dane, Vitus Bering, who was working for Peter the Great. In 1778 the Englishman, James Cook explored the Pacific Coast and told the Western World of the fur trade potential there. In 1783 the Northwest Fur Company was formed and the first English trade began on the Pacific Coast in 1787. In 1799 the powerful and long dominating Russian owned, Russian-American Fur Co. was organized.

This was a principal route of the bead traders INSCRIPTION Rock, a camping place on the old AcomaZuni trail, in New Mexico. The rock, with a base roughly triangular and narrowing to a rounded and comparatively thin edge at the eastern end, covers about 12 acres. Here, in centuries past, with what instruments it is difficult to say, perhaps sword points, the Spaniards and others carved historical "entries." The earliest now legible (1605) is that of Governor Oñate, the first colonizer of New Mexico. It is The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 opened up vast new territories for the American fur trade and in 1804 the American government lost no time in sending Lewis and Clark to explore the new territories of the purchase. From the journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition we learn of considerable use of trade beads with the Indians. The first American owned fur company was the Missouri Fur Company formed in 1808. In the same year Astor organized the American Fur Company. In 1810 the Pacific Fur Company was formed. In 1821 the great Hudson's Bay Company merged with the Northwest Fur Company and the greatest competition in the northwest fur trade began. Whether working for the various fur companies or independently, the rugged early fur trappers or mountain men blazed trails for the later vast migrations of colonizers of the western United States. They left an indelible mark on this nation's early frontiers and along their wandering paths, in search of furs and adventure, they also left countless millions of these glass trade beads, which were exchanged for vast fortunes in valuable furs. Some of these simple glass beads extracted from the Indians as many as two, or even more, beaver pelts per bead. The beads in turn became a source of wealth and prestige among the Indians and were frequently traded among the various bands and tribes, following the ancient Indian trade routes. In this way many of the northwest trade beads eventually found their way into the Southwest. In the same manner a few beads traded in the east by the Dutch, French and English found their way into the Southwest.

Though Coronado passed this point 65 years earlier, but there is no record in the rock which contains more than 500 deciphered inscriptions and names. Numerous Spanish governors following Oñate left their names. General Don Diego de Vargas, who reconquered the Pueblos after the rebellion of 1680, carved a brief record of his conquest, as did many explorers and members of expeditions into the Pueblo country. One of the names is that of Lieutenant Edward Fitzgerald Beale. Members of freight and immigrant trains likewise recorded their passage. Soldiers, scouts, traders all sorts and conditions of men left their mark, the only claim to immortality some of them have. On top are ruins of three pueblos, partially excavated and restored. They are said to be the remains of an early Zuñi habitation. The cleavage, a blind canyon, runs deep into the heart of the rock, and in this an old spring has been uncovered. It had been reported by members of earlier expeditions, but was lost in later years and was rediscovered recently by an old Navajo who had served under the Apache, Gerónimo.

To many people, when you mention trade beads, they immediately think of wampum. For the record, technically speaking, wampum beads are small cylindrical, smoothly shaped shells, approximately one fourth inch long, one eighth inch in diameter and white or lavender in color. These shell beads are made from the shell of the hard clam. For all intent, wampum was made by white men and traded to the Indians, particularly between 1600 and 1800. The bulk of the wampum beads traded in this country was made by John Campbell and his descendants in New Jersey. These well made shell beads are not frequently found here in the Southwest. The word "bead" has its origin from the Middle English word, bede, meaning prayer. For thousands of years man has used beads of all sorts, including shell, bone, stone, pottery, copper, gold, silver and glass as decorations and ornaments.

Complexly decorated glass beads have been found by archaeologists to as far back as the 19th and 20th Egyptian Dynasties, ranging from 1146 B.C. to 1100 B.C. The ancient Egyptians used glass beads as decorations and ornaments on their mummy cases. The Romans and Saxons also used glass beads. From Coronado's time until the late 1600's a good part of the glass beads traded on the American Continent were probably made in the glass factories of Murano, Venice. Here known manufacture of glass beads dates back to at least the eleventh century. The tiny republic of Venice probably enjoyed a near monopoly of bead manufacture for nearly 600 years and influenced glass craftsmanship over all of Europe. To protect their major export, the Venetians passed laws that would imprison the nearest relatives of any skilled glass worker who defected to another country. If he refused to return an emissary would be dispatched to kill him and his relatives set free. This decree did not stop all of the defecting glass workers however. It is known there was a glass bead factory in Amsterdam from 1608 to 1680 and beads from this factory show close resemblance to the Venetian craftsmanship. There were also early glass factories in Sweden, France, Spain, England and in America at Jamestown. Recently it was learned that glass blowers and perhaps master glass craftsmen accompanied Viceroy Mendoza to New Spain in 1535. By 1542 the glass industry established, along with other crafts, in the present state of Puebla, was greatly expanded, and was unique in all New Spain. Crystal-white, blue and green glass was reportedly worked there and this industry supplied Spaniards and natives of these regions and beyond with their products. There were even exports to Guatemala and Peru. Little yet is known of their products, but it is logical to assume that glass beads were in great demand. It is possible that the white, blue and green glass beads found throughout the Southwest and thought to have been traded by the early Spanish, were products of this unique industry in New Spain. The earliest known glass factory was at Tel El Amarna in upper Egypt, dating from the 18th Dynasty. The Venetian type trade beads most familiar in the United States often show close resemblance to beads made two thousand years before in Egypt. The Venetian craftsmen copied the old designs and methods used in Egypt and Mesopotamia. The bulk of the trade beads traded to the American Indians were glass, but beads of other materials were also used including brass and copper molded beads, beads made from sheet copper or copper wire and sometimes beads were made from ivory or tusk, polished bone pipes, wood, Mediterranean coral, as well as the shell wampum mentioned.

There never has been a completely satisfactory method of nomenclature or classification of glass trade beads. Glass beads can, however, be divided into four basic types depending on their method of manufacture.

Beads made by rapidly drawing hollow molten glass into a long tube, which is then broken into short bead size sections, are known as tube drawn beads, rods, canes, bugles or simply tubes.

Beads made by winding a thin ribbon of molten glass around an iron rod or mandrel into, more or less, a doughnut shape are simply referred to as mandrel wound beads.

Beads made of pressed or molded glass, often of unusual shapes or designs, are known as molded beads.

Blown glass beads are actually hollow bubbles or expanded tubes of glass frequently blown into a mold. Blown beads are extremely fragile and quite rare in archeological sites.

Quite often glass trade beads will show evidence of a combination of several methods of manufacture. Starting with a simple mandrel wound bead as a base, it is possible to reheat it to a plastic state, press or mold it into another shape and then press pieces of different colored glass or complexly designed canes or rods into or on the base surface, creating a beautiful and complexly decorated polychrome bead that the Venetians are still famous for. These fancy "inlaid" beads are relatively simple to make, but very time consuming. Frequently they were made in the homes of the Venetians, probably on some type of contract with the glass factory.

Many times the original long canes were reheated to a plastic state and the sides pressed or drawn into square, hexag onal or octagonal cross sections. They were then broken or cut into short bead lengths and just the ends faceted with a grinding wheel, giving an overall multi-faceted appearance.

Most of the confusion existing today over trade bead classification and nomenclature is due to the lack of a standard reference guide. A basic problem has been the naming of trade beads by where they were found, who traded them, tribes that used them and even by the methods they were transported or from the ports they were shipped. A classic example is the "pony" bead which generally is considered to be a simple, sometimes rather crude, monochrome glass bead about one eighth inch in diameter, that were first brought into the western states by the "pony" pack trains of the traders.

Another example are the "Russian" trade beads that are usually considered to be short bugle or cane type beads with multiple facets. This bead is most often seen in various shades of transparent blue, but is also seen as a deep transparent green or amber, a translucent white, occasionally in ruby red and lavender and rarely in opaque light blue and white. This bead was no doubt traded by the Russians along our northwest coast, but certainly not exclusively, because it is one of the most widely distributed glass beads in the United States and is very frequently found in the Southwest. Evidence is quite strong that this bead may have been traded first by the English in the Northeast.

Some collectors still insist that the "Russian" beads were made in Russia, but there is no known evidence that the Russians made any glass beads at this early date. There is some evidence, however, that these beads were made in Venice, shipped to China, perhaps by the English companies, where they were traded to the Russians as well as other fur traders and companies. One more example of the confusion in trade bead names are the glass, irregular shaped, off white to ivory, porcelain-like beads that enjoyed widespread use and are frequently found in old Southwest cremations. These are sometimes erroneously known as "California," "Arkansas," and "pony" beads. More correctly perhaps they are referred to as "quartz," and some times "China" (material) and "porcelain" beads. There are probably several beads that are known by some as "Canton" or "Chinese" trade beads. It is highly questionable that any early trade beads were actually made in China, but probably imported by one of the British companies, perhaps restrung using Chinese labor and then exported to the various traders. Old strings have been collected that have oriental carved ivory and wooden beads strung along with the glass beads. Evidence points to the fact that the Peking beads came in too late to be of much concern as trade beads.

The beautifully simple, opaque sky blue, mandrel wound glass bead, with an unique satin-like finish that is usually known as the "padre" bead, is thought to have been one of the earliest beads traded in the Southwest. There is a mystery surrounding its history, but it may have been traded by Coronado himself or other early conquistadors and padres. To the author's knowledge they have never been found in a cremation or have they been found in a California site. This bead is sometimes found in old Pima shrines and early Spanish contact sites. It is a rare bead, still highly valued by the Indians of southwest Arizona and sometimes handed down through a family. A very similar bead, however, is found in the Northwest, especially along the Columbia River drainages. Careful study by persons familiar with both bead types, however, can usually show minute differences.

There are a few glass bead types that are well known, with much less confusion existing over their nomenclature. Perhaps the "Cornaline d' Aleppo" also known as the "early Hudson's Bay" trade bead and unfortunately sometimes called the "California" trade bead by some California collectors, is among the most famous and quite widely distributed over the United States. They are more plentiful in the northern states and in California's San Joaquin Valley, but examples are occasionally found throughout the Southwest. The early examples are believed to have been traded from the very early 1600's to the mid 1700's. They are characterized by an opaque brick red exterior over a light to dark transparent green interior. At first glance the centers appear to be black, but when viewed with transmitted light, it is found to be a shade of green. This early glass bead has been seen in sizes ranging from the tiny "seed" bead, about the size of the head of a pin, to long bugles or canes, as well as short thick beads over a quarter of an inch in diameter. Some of the earliest examples have longitudinal stripes, usually of white.

A later version of the "Cornaline d' Aleppo" appeared during the early 1800's and is characterized by a transparent bright red to orange exterior over an opaque white, sometimes yellow and rarely pink interior. These "late Hudson's Bay" beads, also known as "white hearts" or "under whites," range in all the sizes and shapes of the earlier version, except the long thin canes and none are known to have the white stripes on the exterior. They are also sometimes found as large cylinders, in this case almost always with an opaque yellow interior, rang-ing up to an inch in length and a half inch in diameter. The Blackfeet used a small "white heart" for children's necklaces and they apparently coined the term "under whites" for these bright beads. These beads are sometimes found along the Gila River or Southern Immigrant Trail in Arizona and southern California and may have been traded by the Argonauts follow-ing this southern route. Also this may have been one of the types of glass beads traded to the Pimas ("Pimos") by General Kearny's Army of the West in 1846, as recorded by Lt. Emory in his Notes of a Military Reconnaissance.

The highly decorated polychrome beads mentioned under types of manufacture, were highly valued by most Indians, but because of their complex, time consuming manufacture, they were expensive and consequently quite rare. Generally these beautiful beads are known as "polychromes," "fancy," "inlaid" or "flower" beads. Many have flower designs, some have spots or "eyes," there are others with colorful inlaid or raised designs and a few have gold leaf decorations. The Blackfeet again coined a name for such fancy beads and called them "skunk" beads. These glass beads approach the ultimate in glass bead art.

One of the best known, oldest and most interesting beads and rightfully sometimes called the aristocrat of beads, is known as the "chevron," "star," "paternoster" (our father's), or "sun" bead. This complex and very colorful, compound tube drawn bead has been found in many parts of the United States and Canada, as well as in many parts of the world. They range in size from one third inch up to two inches in length and generally the length exceeds the diameter. They are found most frequently in 16th or 17th century sites and in the Southwest the "chev-ron" can certainly be connected with early Spanish expeditions such as Marcos de Niza, Coronado or Don Juan de Oñate. Two "chevron" beads were found in the Hendricks-Hodge excavations of the Zuñi Pueblo of Hawikuh.

The "chevron" bead was made by the complex arrangement of three or more colors in usually six concentric layers, most often including a rich dark blue, an opaque brick red and an opaque white. Occasionally these beads are seen with a bright opaque red or a transparent green layer. The color layers are divided by the opaque white that somehow was worked into a series of zig-zags or chevrons, that in all known cases form a twelve pointed star on the ends of the beads. Most often the outside of the "chevrons" is blue, but in a glass museum in Venice's Murano there is a single, outstanding example of a "chevron" bead, locked in a glass case, that is about three inches in length with a bright red exterior. Red was an unusual color because the first red glass was colored with an expensive gold compound. The "chevron" beads were made at Murano from the early part of the 16th century.

An interesting use of the "chevron" in north Africa that may have an intriguing connection with the Southwest, is the use of the large two inch "chevron" as a weight on the corners of the camel saddle blanket. It seems very possible that some of these larger beads found their way into the Southwest by way of Beale's controversial camel corps from 1857 to 1861. It is certainly a possibility because the army purchased the camels and the equipment necessary in north Africa and even brought over camel drivers.

Many glass beads were made to imitate natural designs or objects. Some better known examples are the colorless "goose-berry" beads, the knobby "raspberry" and the "corn kernel" beads found in the United States in red, yellow and green glass. The "barleycorn" beads, that are shaped like a barley seed, were in extensive use in the late 1700's and are known to have been made in swirled opaque polychromes, translucent wine red, green, white, blue, yellow and black. More rare are beads shaped like a flower, the translucent green "mellon" bead (one example has been excavated at an early Spanish mission) and the reddish colored opaque glass beads that look exactly like richly grained wood. In the author's collection is a very old Navajo leather pouch with a large and well worn opaque green bead hanging from the draw string, that is a near-perfect imitation of a green pepper.

Some very interesting beads, but very recent as far as Indian trade beads go, are Arizona's own "Hubbell" beads. These unique blue glass beads were traded by Don Lorenzo Hubbell

TRADE BEADS from page 16

at his Ganado Trading Post and closely resemble the finest turquoise. The "Hubbell" beads were apparently made for a short time in Czechoslovakia sometime after the First World War and were in quite wide-spread use by 1926. Today, according to Indian trader Dick Le Roy, you can show some of the older Navajos a string of these beautiful beads and their almost instant comment will be, "Ah, Hubbell beads!". The idea caught on fast with the Navajos and they could pawn their valuable turquoise and wear the imitation glass 'Hubbell" beads. Today these beads are scarce and to some collectors are more valued than the finest turquoise.

Most of the early trade beads were rather large and of the necklace variety. Many of the earliest were well crafted and frequently intricately decorated. Gradually the Indians found new uses for these colorful beads and they began to decorate their clothing, baskets and other belongings with strings or tassels of beads. Finally with the introduction of more of the smaller, plain beads, they gradually began to incorporate beads into their loom weaving and demanding more of the smaller varieties.

Probably the American Indians' earliest uses of these smaller beads, other than for tassels, was for making simple beaded sashes, using beads of any and all colors available, working them into very basic geometric patterns without much regard to color. One of the earliest known pieces of Indian beadwork surviving in the United States today, is a worn and fragile beaded sash on an intricately engraved powder horn, dating to 1760. The beads are black and white, averaging about one-tenth inch in diameter and woven into a two and a half inch sash using spun buffalo wool.

In the early 1800's these one-eighth to one-tenth inch "pony" beads, as they have come to be called, made their appearance on the western plains. Gradually they began replacing the traditional and unique porcupine quill work, that had decorated the apparel and paraphernalia of the North American Indians back deep into prehistoric times.A smaller bead known as the "seed" bead first appeared in the eastern United States in the early 1700's, but it was not until the mid-1800's that this bead saw any extensive use in the western states. Beginning first with the simple geometric patterns used on the old quill work, using a few basic colors, the fine art of Indian beadwork developed into the highly complicated and colorful designs in both loom weaving and beaded buckskin and cloth, continuing in some areas to modern times.

The small "seed" bead still sees use in Indian beadwork in the Southwest, especially in the crafts of the Mohave, Yuma, Apache, Navajo and Zuni.

Color symbolism and preference was very strong with many of the Indian tribes, but because it varied with each tribe, sometimes from year to year and often with each individual, it is difficult to extract any definite conclusions. Also frequently their desire for certain color could not be filled. In the earlier days of trade, red glass was very expensive because a gold compound was necessary as a pigment and careful temperature control was required, making it difficult to produce. For some reason a bright yellow is very rare in old trade beads and orange, until the middle 1800's was impossible. Some orange beads have been collected in the Southwest that are painted with an opaque orange lacquer over a translucent white base. In most Southwest bead collections we find blue, blue-green and white beads predominating.

Trade beads have been extensively used by the Indians of the Southwest in their ceremonies, to decorate their clothing, baskets, dolls, as necklaces, often for stringing the medals given them by the priests and, of course, as a medium of exchange or trade among themselves.

Glass beads have always been highly valued by the Indians and frequently were used to trade for horses, provisions and slaves. In 1900, according to Scottsdale Indian trader, Dick Le Roy, the Pimas would trade 30 of the beautiful, satiny, sky blue "padre" beads for a good horse. With the use of trade beads, it is interesting to note that the U. S. Army paid the Mohave Indians six pounds of white beads, among other items, as ransom for Olive Oatman. (ARIZONA HIGHWAYS, November 1968) Today there are few glass beads left on the reservations of the Southwest. There are many Indian children who have never seen a glass trade bead. Most of the beads that were handed down through the Indian families have been bought up by traders, museums or private collectors, often at fancy prices.

Glass trade beads and products made from them are high on the list of most collectors of Indian arts and crafts, as well as some collectors of western Americana and historians. They represent an interesting and important facet of the Southwest's long and intriguing history. A history that the persuasive but simple glass trade bead influenced from the very first European contact.

It is ironic that the simple glass trade beads that the whiteman once so lavishly gave to the Indians, in the days of exploration, fur trade and colonization, are today highly sought after by the bead collectors, who for some unusual or rare bead, have been known to pay many times over the value of the bead's weight in pure gold. It must seem strange indeed to the Indians when a white man today enters the vast reservations, traveling from village to village, trying to buy back the old glass beads, questioning the old people through an interpreter.

The collection and study of trade beads is a fascinating activity that soon leads you into many interesting facets of American history. Because glass trade bead research is still in its infancy, the serious amateur can make important contributions to the knowledge of trade beads, by working with universities, museums and other collectors, reporting his finds and observations on types of beads, their distribution, methods of manufacturers or even classification and nomenclature. He may even be surprised to find that he is invited to study beads excavated by the archeologists, who themselves admit frankly that they don't know all that they would like to know about trade beads. In a few cases the day has already come when the archeologist is able to use a few distinctive types of trade beads to help date an historical site. However, in most cases, other items from an archeological site are used to help date any trade beads found. Without the powerful and persuasive, simple glass trade bead, the history of the Southwest could have been vastly different. In the "winning of the west," the trade bead deserves a place high above the "influential" Winchester. It may very well have been the trade bead that won the West.

The glass trade bead was a powerful and persuasive factor in the movements of civilization and especially in the history of the winning of the west.

CAPTIONS FOR TRADE BEAD PORTFOLIO

CL105 Brick red "Cornaline d' Aleppo," or "early Hudson's Bay" beads, strung mainly with the white "quartz" glass beads, as well as a strand of small blue and white beads, along with a mass of fused glass beads from a cremation. Beads such as these are rather typical in the San Joaquin Valley of California and consequently are called "California" trade beads by some collectors, but they show up throughout the Southwest and most frequently with the red and white types together. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL106 Hubbell beads, of two main types. In the center are the flat diamond shaped beads, strung with white tubular glass beads. Outside, the string of blue "imitation" turquoise glass beads, as they were sold to the traders on original string. These beads were made in Czechoslovakia, probably in the middle 1920's. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL109 Prehistoric drilled stone beads that were used by the Indians of the Southwest and Mexico before the introduction of glass trade beads. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL113 Small "candy striped" trade beads in multiple strand necklace, as collected years ago. Probably originally strung by the Indians, and shows considerable wear. A few similar beads have been found in the Southwest. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL114 Glass trade beads collected on the lower Columbia River, showing beads very typical but not unique of this area, including light blue round beads, very similar to the southwestern Arizona, "padre" bead. Also red "white hearts," frequently found in the Southwest, as well as a plain transparent, rather small blue bead, quite common throughout the Southwest. (Author's Collection) CL115 Necklace of blue faceted, "Russian" type beads, strung with red, "white heart" beads, both types quite common in the Southwest. Bronze "peace medal," frequently given to the Indians, (especially the chiefs), by the United States Government, as well as England, along with old, Apache arm bands, made of faceted red "seed" beads with blue designs, sinew sewn on buckskin. (Author's and C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL116 Necklace of larger than average "Russian" type, faceted blue beads, with California mission basket. "Russian" beads of this large size are very rare in the Southwest, however, smaller varieties are common. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL117 Collection of old faceted "Russian" type beads in transparent blue, clear and milk glass varieties. A fairly common bead in most parts of the United States including the Southwest. Shown with a handwrought knife from the Plains Area. The two arrows with metal trade tips were picked up from the Custer Battlefield in the fall of the year after the battle by an ex-Pony Express rider. Plains Indian glass beaded moccasins, with older "seed" beading geometric designs. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL118 Necklace of various transparent small glass beads, strung along with long tubular glass beads, sometimes called "bugles," collected in the Plains Area, years ago. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL119 Sioux pipe bag, showing use of "seed" beads in a later complex, geometric design. Probably done after 1880. (Author's Collection) CL120 Old Plains Area glass bead and bear claw necklace, very large monochrome glass beads, typically strung with bear claws. A beaded buckskin rifle scabbard using faceted "seed" beads, and a Winchester '66 Carbine, the first Winchester, and a gun that was very desirable to the Indians. They were frequently referred to as "Yellowboys," because of the brass receiver. (Author's and C. Le Roy Collection) CL121 Center piece is a glass and brass bead choker, collected years ago in the Plains Area. The necklace on the left is a more contemporary type of Mohave necklace. The necklace on the right is the older style Mohave "rope" necklace. The large orange beads shown here are the "coral," or orange lacquered beads, done before natural orange glass could be made. (Author's and C. Richard Le Roy Collection).

CL129 Orange glass trade beads of various ages. Necklace on the left is a type of toggle bead frequently used in the Southwest, especially by the Pueblo Indians and sometimes known as "imitation coral." The large blue teardrop shaped beads are "Hubbell" types. The center necklace is a coral colored lacquered bead, over a colorless translucent glass base, done before the development of natural orange colored glass. Necklace on right is probably more modern, showing the use of shell with the short orange "bugle" beads. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL131 A varied collection of glass trade beads, including very old Venetian types, polychrome or fancy beads, "Canton" (blue) beads, Oriental carved beads, "Hubbell," "Russians" in blue and etc. (С. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL141 Illustrates Mohave's use of glass trade beads, on miniature doll and cradleboard, at least 80 years old, and a large round, braided Mohave necklace with old orange lacquered beads. (Author's Collection) CL142 A rare, fully beaded, Sioux cradleboard, showing the Sioux' use of the "seed" bead, in what is called a "lazy" stitch, on buffalo hide, showing early transitional geometric designs, rather typical of the 1840's and 1850's, along with the use of trade "hawk" bells, larger trade beads and dentalium shells traded down from the extreme Northwest coast. This cradleboard has an estimated 228,000 tiny, "seed" beads, all sewn on the buffalo hide backing with sinew. (Author's Collection) CL143 A collection of what is usually known as Venetian "polychrome" or "flower" beads. These are the beads that were frequently made in the homes of the Venetians, beginning usually, with a mandrel wound base, then designs of other color glass were pressed on or into the surface. Collection shows spot or eye beads with gold leaf decorations. One necklace was collected in Arizona, and strung with some turquoise. (Author's and C. Richard Le Roy Collection)

PIMA WOMEN and YUMA INDIANS

from drawings by Arthur Schott reproduced as chromolithographs in 1857

PIMA WOMEN

Reproduced herein from the book A RECORD OF TRAVELS IN ARIZONA AND CALIFORNIA 1775 1776 of Fr. Francisco Garces Translated and Edited by John Galvin Published by John Howell Books San Francisco, California

YUMAS

CL148 Typical satiny blue opaque glass, "padre" beads from south-western Arizona. This rather rare bead is mandrel wound, frequently shows spiral streaks of darker blue and a unique satin finish. They seem to show up in the early Spanish contact areas and only in Arizona, usually on the Papago and Pima reservations. This bead is probably the "large Venetian blue glass bead," referred to in the twenty-sixth annual Ethnology Report, "as having been brought by the earliest Spanish missionaries, and now found scattered about the sacred places of the Pimas." This bead is thought to have been handed down from one generation to the next, and in 1900, the Pimas would trade thirty of these beads for a good horse. Reportedly they are still prized and collected by some Pimas. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL149 Various types of "Hubbell" beads, traditionally associated with the Lorenzo Hubbell Trading Post at Ganado, from about 1924. Some of these beads are on original factory strings, others have been restrung by the Indians, and at one time were apparently plentiful on the Navajo reservation, but today are a very scarce glass trade bead, highly desirable to collectors, and ironically, probably the most modern Indian trade bead. Shown along with the Navajo silver bridle with Spanish spade ring bit. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL150 The use of trade beads as found in Arizona, here include, on the left, a necklace of turquoise, white "quartz" glass beads, strung with Navajo silver beads and bear claws. Also Mediterranean branch coral. An old Navajo pouch, with a single heavy, green glass bead, hanging from the draw string that looks like a miniature green pepper. A Navajo silver hat band with turquoise and glass trade beads attached, and a turquoise necklace. (Author's and C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL152 Necklaces illustrating the Indians' use of glass trade beads along with their native shell beads. Necklace on the left has various colors of glass trade beads along with the unusual, long, thin dentalium shells collected by the Indians of the Northwest coast back into pre-historic times in the Puget Sound Cape Flattery area. The dentalium shells have been traditionally traded along the Indians' ancient trade routes and many have been collected from the central plains area. Center necklace of cobalt blue glass trade beads strung with prehistoric Mimbres shell beads from the Southwest. Necklace on right is also Northwest Coast dentalium shells strung with glass trade beads. (Author's Collection) CL158 Collection of various types of glass trade beads excavated at California's San Luis Rey Mission years ago. These beads fairly well represent the larger types traded during the mission period in the Southwest. Note there are no Arizona "Padre" beads in this collection. The one light blue bead on the extreme left, is not a "padre" bead and appears to be much later in manufacture. The yellow beads shown here are unique and rarely this plentiful in the Southwest. (San Luis Rey Mission Collection) CL170-A Pima basket, with unusual Apache type designs and beaded with opaque bright blue glass beads around the rim. On the right edge, a small string of Arizona "padre" beads. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL172 Miniature Pima horsehair basket with tiny blue "seed" beads around the rim, encircled with a string of Arizona "padre" beads. (C. Richard Le Roy Collection) CL175 A beautiful example of the Pueblo Indians' use of the brass trade beads along with the double-barred or French Lorraine cross. Above the brass beads, that are also known as "French" brass beads, are the glass, brick red coated early "Cornaline d' Aleppo" glass beads also known as "early Hudson's Bay" trade beads. (Le Roy Collection) CL178 The famous "chevron" or "star" glass beads used in a variety of necklaces. The necklace on the far left, with the blue and white oval glass beads, has a two inch "chevron" at the bottom that is the size reportedly used as a camel blanket corner weight. The necklace second from the left has old Navajo silver beads strung with very old and unique "padre" beads found on the Pima Reservation, with three small "chev-ron" beads. Blue necklace in center is made entirely of "chevron" beads of assorted sizes and shapes with an unusual large green, red and white "chevron" at the very top and two rather rare small green "chevrons" just below. The red necklace in the center has very rare and unusual opaque red beads strung with a few crude silver beads, with an extremely unusual and rare red, white and deep navy blue "chevron" at the bottom. The necklace second from the right has 32 "padre" beads picked up just west of the Papago Reservation in Arizona's Sauceda Mountains, strung with "chevron" beads, including two green "chev-rons" at the top. The two army buttons at the top were found in the same area as the "padre" beads. The button on the right was official army issue from 1855 to the 1870's. The button on the left was found in a long abandoned Apache village in the Sauceda Mountains. It was official army issue from the very early 1850's until the Civil War. The "D" in the center of the button stands for Dragoons. Just behind this very early (for the Southwest) army button is a single delicate "polychrome" blue glass bead with white and pink flower designs and was found just a step away from the dragoon button. It is interesting to speculate how the Apaches acquired the army buttons sometimes found in their old camp sites. It was not uncommon, however, for the army and the traders to trade old army uniforms and other clothing to the Indians, but it is very likely that the Indians came by them in other ways! The necklace on the far right has deep cobalt blue glass beads with brass beads and an almost round red, white and blue "chev-ron." Round is a rather unusual shape for a "chevron" because generally the length of a "chevron" bead exceeds its diameter. (Author's Collection) CL181 The sash on this beautiful, fully engraved "map" powder horn is thought to be the oldest piece of beadwork in the United States. The even and probably carefully selected beads are a shiny black and pure white from one-tenth to one-twelfth inch in diameter (in the "pony" bead class or size), incorporated into the square style weaving on spun buffalo wool. The beaded sash is two and one half inches wide, having 19 twined warps, and three feet long having ten single wefts to the inch. The engraved powder horn commemorates the Carolina campaigns of 1760 and was given to the commander of the successful 78th Highland Regiment, General Montgomery, by his victorious Col. Grant. Engravings of incidents and places, as well as names, cover the horn, such as: "An Indian War Dance," "The Creek Where Colonel Grant and the Men deffeated (sic) the Indians," "James Par-sons," "The Plan of the Middle and Lower Towns of the Cherrykee (sic) Indians," "John Laidler," "Tuckarichee," "New Cassee," "Watoga" and "The War Woman Creek." The design of the bead work is very typical of the earliest designs, being very simple geometric patterns. This type of beadwork using the twined warp and single weft have been seen in work of the Mohegan, Narragansett, Alibamu, Koa-sati, Seminole, Osage, Sauk, Menomini, Shawnee and Winnebago. In measuring the number of beads per square inch it is estimated that the original or completely beaded sash contained about seven thousand "pony" beads. Latest date of its presentation is probably 1761. (Col. B. R. Lewis Collection).

CL184 Necklace of beads probably as old as any trade beads found in the Western Hemisphere. The "chevrons" are six-layered, with a thin layer of transparent blue-green near the center and very crudely faceted or ground. The two inch long teal green beads are three layers of glass, square in cross-section and about one-quarter inch in diameter. They have been seen "straight" and "twisted" and have been discovered only in Spanish contact sites. They were first reported by Dr. Charles Fairbanks of the University of Florida and he named them Nueva Cadiz, straight and twisted, from the site they were first discovered. The short, square dark blue beads, spacing most of the chevrons, are a variation of the teal green Nueva Cadiz. All beads on this necklace except the first few at the top end are strictly 16th and 17th century and are probably of Spanish manufacture because they are found only at Spanish contact sites. (Author's Collection) CL185 Two varieties of chevron necklaces that are certainly suitable for modern wear. The outside necklace of yellow and black stripes is made up from six layered chevrons. The bottom bead on this necklace is a very unusual seven layer chevron with yellow and white alternating layers with one quite heavy layer of brown glass. Inside, this necklace is made up of "typical" six layered red, white and blue "chevrons," smoothly finished and set off by the unique larger twisted "chevron" that by chance or perhaps choice, was twisted during the hot pulling or drawing operation of the original mass that made the cane. Both necklaces are examples of how old trade beads can be used as modern jewelry. The black and yellow "chevrons" are from a much longer string that was recently found stored away in an old store in Santa Fe. (Author's Collection) CL186 An old Apache beaded "doll" in the form of an awl case and a floral design beaded pouch on a long, double strand necklace of very old 11/2 inch bone hair pipes and brass beads. The arms of thedoll are old style brass beads with tin tinkler and horsehair "hands." The "feet" of the doll are tiny cone-shaped tin tinklers. An old and unusual piece of Apache beadwork. (Author's Collection) CL187 A section of a floral design beaded doeskin vest that belonged to William "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The notarized documentation of this very colorful beaded piece states that the vest was given to Mr. Cody by a very grateful Blackfoot brave when Cody intervened just as some white men were about to lynch the Indian for some unstated reason. The beadwork shows the typical Blackfoot "stitch-down" method of beading. The beads, of a great assortment of colors, are the extremely tiny faceted "French seed" beads that were popular with the Plains Indians for a short time in the mid-1800's. The French seed bead is much smaller than the common seed bead and very difficult to work with. The vest was probably quite old when it was given to Cody and apparently it was one of his most prized possessions, as it was one of the only pieces of Indian beadwork that he kept up to the time of his death. It was purchased in 1925 in Denver from the woman who operated the boarding house where Cody lived until his death in 1917, by an Indian who had been in Cody's Wild West Shows and he recognized this outstanding example of Blackfoot beadwork as one of Cody's favorites. (Author's Collection) CL188 A very early trade iron combination pipe and tomahawk with a later stem or handle wrapped with square copper wire and a piece of beaded buckskin attached. The attached beadwork is typical of the early plains "seed" bead period of the 1850's, characterized by the simple geometric designs. The white necklace of long round tube beads and four brass beads was taken from a 16-foot or more multiple strand with an old and aging tag stating the beads were from a Cheyenne Warrior's outfit Battle of Wounded Knee 1892. (Col. B. R. Lewis and Author's Collections) CL189 Coin and glass trade bead necklace excavated in northern Arizona. A coin collector's nightmare! The bulk of the coins are large copper cents, with the earliest legible date of 1825 and the latest of 1849. There is one copper half cent with an illegible date; two "flying eagle" white cents with one legible date of 1858 and two copper two cent pieces, one with a legible date of 1865 and the latest date of any of the coins. Most of the large copper cents are dated from the mid 1820's to the early 1840's. All holes in the coins are very crudely cut or punched none have been drilled and the edges are all evenly scolloped. Several coins have the initials of "J A" cut into them and seven of the large cents were previously drilled or evenly cut near the edge and plugged later with lead, or in one case copper. The tusks, teeth or claws remain unidentified, although they may be canine teeth of bears. The dates of most of the coins are almost too early for all American coins to be in Arizona unless they came by way of fur traders, probably from the Santa Fe Trail or Taos, working out of St. Louis. The necklace may have belonged to a mountain man who traded it to an Indian or possibly it or the coins were taken from him and the few later date coins added at a later time. It is a very unusual and bewildering piece of Americana that tries the imagination and also shows the secondary but complementary use of glass trade beads.

CL190 Surface finds of beads and small related trade items found by the author and his wife in Southern California, Arizona and in one case, extreme Southern Utah. We have often driven over a thousand miles round trip to explore a site that we had researched and showed a good possibility of an abundance of trade beads, only to come home empty-handed. Once we made two trips to Gila Bend, Arizona and then traveled another 100 miles by four-wheel drive to look over two old Indian village sites and were rewarded with a handful of precious Arizona Padre beads, a single flower decoration "polychrome" bead and two old army buttons, not to mention the enjoyment of just being outdoors and exploring Arizona and seeing many game animals including a mountain lion at less than 30 feet. On the top right is an extremely rare "blown" glass bead found along the old Butterfield or Southern Emigrant Trail at San Felipe Creek on the very edge of the desert in San Diego County. With its delicate pink color and opaque white band it resembles a tiny Christmas tree decoration. Several "blown" glass beads were reported in the excavations of Fort Laramie in Wyoming. They are very fragile and consequently very rarely found in excavations. Also, note the number of "cut-glass" or "faceted" "Russian" type beads frequently found in the Southwest, most often in some shade of blue, but also in clear, translucent white, green and red. The blue beads in the center strung with opaque white "quartz" pony beads, are the beautiful, satin-like Arizona Padre beads found on an old Papago site in Arizona's Sauceda Mountains. Next to the padre beads, also from the Sauceda Mountains, but from an older Apache site is a single blue "polychrome" bead with an inlay design of pink and white flowers. The colorful pendant and blue "Russian" bead were found in an old Indian village site in upper Coyote Canyon just inside California's Riverside County and just off the old de Anza Trail and could easily be dated to the period of one of de Anza's expeditions.

Next to the largest white bead, near the center of the string, of the beads picked up on California's western Mohave Desert, are two unusual "barleycorn" beads popular in the later 1700's. The smaller is a bright, almost transparent red and the larger is an opaque dull coral color. On the longer string of mostly blue beads from southern California's San Felipe Valley, along the old Southern Emigrant Trail is a large black bead with white spirals similar to some excavated at San Luis Rey Mission. Also, on this string is a red "whiteheart," a small six-sided but uncut blue "Russian," a partly melted green "Russian" and a piece of a string of beads fused together from the heat of a cremation fire. Most of the beads found at the Fort Mohave site are "seed" beads and probably from the later 1800's to the very early 1900's.

The longer string of Arizona beads found south of Casa Grande are mostly from cremations. A number of these beads are partly melted blue and white "Russians." Two of the largest beads at the bottom end have smaller beads fused to their surface. The large black bead with a small bead fused to it, is a multiple faceted bead, unlike the "Russians" in that it has more facets and is ground more round and it has a very characteristic tapered hole. This particular type of bead has been infrequently found throughout the Southwest from Oklahoma to the Pacific Coast. King Harris of Southern Methodist University feels this bead with the tapered hole was supplied to trading posts from the Chouteau & Company of St. Louis and that it came into the "trade" in small numbers around 1820 and were popular in sites dating from the 1830's through to the 1850's. This bead could have found its way into central Arizona by way of the Mexican trading at Santa Fe, Indirectly through Indians trading with other bands or possibly from General Kearny's Army of the West in 1846 (who were supplied in part out of St. Louis) who recorded trading beads with the "Pimos" or a few weeks later by the Mormon Battalion also traveling through Pima county. The mostly small "seed" and "pony" beads found at Arizona's Leroux Springs are an old type and may have belonged to Antoine Leroux himself or from one of the several large expeditions Leroux guided through this area including the Sitgreaves Expedition. The brass buttons were also items of Indian trade as was the single brass bead (between brass buttons). Notice in all these beads that have been found, the predominance of blue shades and white.

CL192 Necklace of very old "polychrome" or "fancy" trade beads that are very characteristic of Venetian craftsmanship or the influence of the Venetians. Strung between the "fancy" beads are "Cornaline d' Aleppo" or "Hudson's Bay" trade beads, ranging in size from tiny "seed" beads to "pony" beads. These colorfully decorated "polychrome" beads were greatly favored by the Crow Indians of Montana and frequently their sacred Medicine Bundles were often full of such colorful and fancy beads. (Author's Collection) CL194 "Russian" type faceted beads made from single layer deep blue, heptagonal or seven sided tubing. When the tubing is cut into bead lengths, the ends only are faceted using a grinding wheel, giving an over-all, multifaceted appearance. These so called "Russian" beads were probably made in Europe, exported to China and then traded to the Russian fur traders. There is no evidence that Russia made glass trade beads. These deep blue beads are strung here with gift beads and are worn as costume jewelry by author's wife. All but the large bead at the bottom were purchased in Alaska from an old Indian in 1910. The large bead at the bottom is of the same type manufacture, 12mm (1/2 inch) in length with an unusually large hole and was found on Vancouver Island. These types show up frequently in the Southwest as well as in the Northeast. (Author's Collection) CL195 Beaded collar made up of beads averaging 1/10th inch in diameter which could classify them as very large "seed" beads or rather small "pony" beads. This collar shows typical characteristics of the Mohave Indians, "weaving" technique. (Author's Collection)