This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ThelmaWhiteYeager Surnames: Case, Hays, Simes, Smith Classification: marriage Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.pennsylvania.counties.greene/11148/mb.ashx Message Board Post: NOVEL WEDDING CEREMONY OF DAUGHTER OF FORMER WAYNESBURG MAN W. T. Hays, of Los Angeles, formerly of Waynesburg, announces the marriage of his only daughter, Wilma, to J. Wesley Case, of Colorado Springs, Col. The young people first met in the Grand Canyon more than a year ago and later made plans for a most novel and unique wedding. On the evening of October 22, the bride's birthday, two automobile touring parties, the bride's party from Los Angeles and the groom's from Flagstaff, Ariz., met at a lonely trading post on the Navajo Indian reservation, nearly 100 miles from the nearest railroad point. Here a suspension bridge, built for the Indians by the government, crosses the Little Colorado river. At eight o'clock in the evening, in the middle of the bridge, the wedding ceremony was performed by the Rev. Smith, an Indian missionary. The guest list was augmented by a band of curious Indians who illuminated the scene with a weird light from brush torches. At the conclusion of the ceremony the party was taken in charge by the Navajo Indians, who conducted them to their hogan (house or hut) and the end of the bridge and there the bride and groom knelt on an Indian blanket while an Indian medicine man performed the solemn Navajo marriage rites. This ceremony, in part, consists of the bride pouring water into the palms of the groom's hands, which he cleanses. This is repeated three times. The groom then takes the vessel and pours the water on the hands of the bride. A flat Indian basket containing corn meal is then placed before the kneeling couple and upon the surface of the meal the medicine man draws a design with his forefinger. From the center of this design the bride and groom are directed to eat three times in unison. Four points eminating from the center of the design represent the four points of the compass, and both eat of the meal at the terminus of each of these points. They now stand and the medicine man, with much ceremony, sprinkles the remainder of the meal upon the feet of the couple and bids them depart into the night toward the east so that the first light they shall see will be the dawning of a new day over nature's wonderland "The Painted Desert." Taylor Simes, formerly of Waynesburg, a cousin of the bride, conducted the party from Los Angeles to the Navajo Indian reservation, about 600 miles into the desert country. Source: THE REPUBLICAN, Waynesburg, Pa., Nov. 5, 1925 Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.