another........ ----- Original Message ----- From: "Red Anthony" <redpata@hypertech.net> To: "Vicki Shaffer" <tngibson@worldnet.att.net> Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2000 9:39 PM Subject: Did you do the rain dance??? March 21, 1846 Arkansas Intelligencer Van Buren, Crawford County, Arkansas As it is very much desired at present by all, and particularly our merchants, that the river should rise, so as to enable steamboats to reach this country, we make known for their benefit, a message, sent down from the Seminoles, by a gentleman who just arrived. They say: "We all want the river to rise, as we have goods promised us by the Government, which we are much in need of- and the merchants also want goods to sell- you must tell them all, if they will send us some good big plugs of good Tobacco, we will set all our Rain Doctors and Medicine Men at work, and they will see the river rise, to have plenty of goods and (whiskey), and we will come and trade; but if they are too stingy to send us Tobacco, we can do without our goods as well as they can, and we won't work for rain unless they send the Tobacco. Looks like the Rain Doctors and the Medicine men must have worked hard because of the following extractions from the Arkansas Intelligencer in the following issues.(This was a weekly paper): April 4, 1846 We are happy to state that some of our merchants complied with the hint given by the Seminoles, and sent them the plugs of good Tobacco. We, being also anxious for a rise, sent up our big China Pipe, with a good quanity of the best "fine cut". April 11, 1846 The river commenced rising on Saturday evening last, and rose some 6 feet; it is now in excellent boating order. The Oella arrived on Sunday and passed up for Fort Gibson the same day. So I would say the Indians did not speak with forked tongue! It would have taken the merchants about a week to get the tobacco overland to the Seminole Nation during that era so it make one wonder just how much the Lord helped the poor old Seminole Indians!