More 19th Century Reports of Captain Kidd's Treasure Buried Off Pelham Shores

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It should come as no surprise that by the 1870s, nearly the entirety of Huckleberry Island off the shores of Pelham had been dug up by treasure hunters.  By that time, rumors that Captain Kidd once buried a portion of his storied treasure had circulated throughout the region and been reported in newspapers throughout the nation!

Introduction

I have written before about the infamous 17th century pirate William Kidd, known as Captain Kidd, and rumors that he buried part of his storied treasure on Huckleberry Island off the shores of Pelham.  See Fri., Jan. 22, 2016:  Did the Notorious Captain Kidd Bury Treasure on an Island Off the Shores of Pelham?  The story of Captain Kidd's buried treasure is merely part of Pelham's long and storied history of legends of buried treasure as well as actual discoveries of buried treasure.  For examples, see:  

Tue., Nov. 24, 2015:  Another True Tale of Buried Gold Found in Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 23, 2015:  Yet Another Tale of Buried Treasure in the Town of Pelham.

Thu., Aug. 20, 2015:  Pre-Revolutionary War Pewter Plates Were Discovered in Pelham in 1938.

Mon., Jan. 26, 2015:  Hidden Treasure that Once Belonged to the Father of John Hunter of Hunter's Island in Pelham Found in a Discarded Chest in the 19th Century.

Thu., Feb. 19, 2015:  Another Account of Gold and Silver Treasure Found in a Pelham Manor Backyard in 1889.

Wed., Jun. 11, 2014:  Buried Treasure Off the Shores of Pelham: The Legend of Pirate's Treasure.

Wed., Oct. 14, 2009:  1879 News Account Provides Additional Basis for Some Facts Underlying Ghost Story of Old Stone House in Pelhamville (tells legend that Mrs. James Parish hid gold on the grounds of the home).

Mon., Apr. 06, 2009:  Paper Recounts Burial of the Bell of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester To Save it from the British During the Revolutionary War.

Mon., May 01, 2006:  The Legend of the Recovery of Pirate's Treasure on an Island Off Pelham.

Mon., May 16, 2005:  The Discovery of a Gold and Silver Treasure in the Backyard of a Pelham Home in 1889.

"William Kidd, Privateer, Pirate," an 18th Century Portrait by

Sir James Thornhill. Source: "William Kidd" in WIKIPEDIA --

The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jan. 16, 2016). NOTE: Click

on Image to Enlarge.

William Kidd

William Kidd (1645 - 23 May 1701) was a Scottish sailor who sailed as a privateer and became infamous as "Captain Kidd," a notorious pirate.  According to one source:  "Some modern historians deem his piratical reputation unjust, as there is evidence that Kidd acted only as a privateer.  Kidd's fame springs largely from the sensational circumstances of his questioning before the English Parliament and the ensuing trial." 

Source:  "William Kidd" in WIKIPEDIA -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jun. 4, 2017). 

As he neared the end of a lengthy career as a privateer, Kidd made his way back to the New York region.  According to one account: 

"Prior to returning to New York City, Kidd learned that he was a wanted pirate, and that several English men-of-war were searching for him.  Realizing that Adventure Prize [a ship he was returning with as a captured prize] was a marked vessel, he cached it in the Caribbean Sea and continued toward New York aboard a sloop.  He deposited some of his treasure on Gardiners Island, hoping to use his knowledge of its location as a bargaining tool. . . . Kidd found himself in Oyster Bay, as a way of avoiding his mutinous crew who gathered in New York.  In order to avoid them, Kidd sailed 120 miles around the eastern tip of Long Island, and then doubled back 90 miles along the Sound to Oyster Bay.  He felt this was a safer passage than the highly trafficked Narrows between Staten Island and Brooklyn."  Source:  Id. 

"Captain Kidd in New York Harbor," A Painting Created Ca. 1920

by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris. Source: "William Kidd" in WIKIPEDIA --

The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jan. 16, 2016).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

His efforts were all to no avail.  He was arrested and imprisoned in solitary confinement in Stone Prison until authorities sent him to England for questioning by Parliament.  Thereafter, he was tried in the High Court of Admiralty in London on charges of murder and piracy on the high seas.  He was convicted and, on May 23, 1701, he was hanged at Execution Dock in London.  During the execution, the hangman's rope broke and Kidd had to be hanged a second time.  His body was gibbeted over the River Thames for three years as a warning to "would-be pirates."

The Gibetted Body of Captain Kidd Hanging Over the River Thames

from "The Pirates Own Book" by Charles Ellms. Source: "William Kidd"

in WIKIPEDIA -- The Free Encyclopedia (visited Jan. 16, 2016).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Nineteenth Century Reports of Kidd's Treasure Buried on Huckleberry Island

There is no doubt that Captain Kidd sailed in Long Island Sound and the waters of New York during the late 17th century.  Of more dubious reliability are the long-whispered rumors that Captain Kidd buried part of his storied treasure on Huckleberry Island off the shores of Pelham.  

Huckleberry Island, once known as "Whortleberry Island," lies in Long Island Sound about a mile east of David's Island.  It is about ten acres in size.  I have written before about the island that long has been used for celebrations of the "Huckleberry Indians" of the New York Athletic Club.  See Fri., Dec. 04, 2015:  Early Celebrations of the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club. 

Google Maps Detail Showing Location of Huckleberry

Island (On Far Right). NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

As early as 1876 and 1877, newspapers as distant from New York City as The Kansas Chief in Troy, Kansas and the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser in Buffalo, New York were reporting rumors that part of Captain Kidd's buried treasure was hidden on Huckleberry Island in Long Island Sound.  (See below.)  Clearly, even before then the rumors had been around for years.  Indeed, The Kansas Chief noted that the entire island had been dug up many times over the years in search of the treasure.  According to the paper:  

"[Captain Kidd] usually provisioned his vessel in this vicinity, and many men of desperate fortunes from the neighborhood flocked to him, hoping by so doing to secure great treasures.  It was reported that he had buried great treasures in the islands in the sound and the shores around, and consequently almost every part of land and island has at some time or other been dug up by infatuated treasure seekers.  Every few years this mania is revived, and we hear of those that are in search of the pirate's hidden gold, but, as yet I believe none has been discovered.  Huckleberry island was a favorite resort of the renowned freebooter -- almost every inch of the soil of which has been turned up.  Kidd's Point, on the opposite shore of Long Island, has also received attention in this way, much time and labor having been expended there."  (See below.)

Huckleberry Indians Presented "The Kidding of Captain Kydd" in 1904

The longstanding rumors of Captain Kidd's treasure on Huckleberry Island prompted the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club in 1904 to present a comical play based on the rumors during one of their famed celebrations on Huckleberry Island.

One news article, transcribed in full below, details the entire story line of the "burlesque" in which Captain Kidd appeared before the Huckleberry Indians of Huckleberry Island and dug up his storied treasure in their presence.  That treasure included several amusing items as well as the "original" deed to the island proving that it belonged to the Huckleberry Indians, their heirs, and assigns forever.  

Artist's Depiction of Captain Kidd Overseeing Members of His Crew

Burying Treasurer on Gardiner's Island in Long Island Sound.  Illustration

by Howard Pyle Published by Harper's New Monthly Magazine in 1894.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of a number of items that form the basis of today's Historic Pelham article.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"Colonel Kane has changed the time of the Pelham coach and now leaves the Brunswick on alternate days at 5 P. M., for the Neptune House, New Rochelle, a fashionable summer resort on Long Island Sound, sixteen miles from the city via a very beautiful route.  It will be, I fancy, quite the correct thing to go to New Rochelle on Saturday afternoon, spend Sunday at the Neptune House, and return to town, four-in-hand, on Monday morning.  The hotel has a historical reputation and was the homestead of the Underhills, who descended from the Rhinelanders, who fled to the country with the Huguenots from La Rochelle, France, as long ago as 1689.  Opposite the house is Locust Island, where Edgar A. Poe use [sic] to live, and just above is Huckleberry Island, which tradition gives as a rendezvous for Captain Kidd.  Three changes of horses are made, and the fare has been put at $2 instead of $1.50, and the coach has 

MORE WOULD-BE PASSENGERS

than it can carry.  Mr. Augustus Whiting, and Mr. Hugo Fitsch, Vice-Consul of Austria, both of this city, have established a coach line at Newport in emulation of Col. Kane, the popularity of which no one can doubt.  The fare has been put at one dollar."

Source:  [Untitled], Buffalo Commercial Advertiser [Buffalo, NY], Jul. 11, 1876, Vol. XLV, No. 15,018, p. 1, col. 6 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).

"THE HUGUENOTS.
-----
The Settlement and History of New Rochelle. . . .
CAPTAIN KIDD.

The harbors of the sound here and on Long Island, were frequented by the notorious pirate, Captain Kidd.  He was employed in 1690 to suppress the 'buccaneers,' from the knowledge he possessed of their numbers, strength and places of resort.  It is said he was unable to govern such a horde of men under no pay, as composed his crew, and therefore he was in a measure compelled to engage in the very business he was employed to suppress.  This, however, is more than doubtful.  

After a short but desperate career of a few years, he was captured at Boston, and sent to England, where he was executed in 1701.

He usually provisioned his vessel in this vicinity, and many men of desperate fortunes from the neighborhood flocked to him, hoping by so doing to secure great treasures.  It was reported that he had buried great treasures in the islands in the sound and the shores around, and consequently almost every part of land and island has at some time or other been dug up by infatuated treasure seekers.

Every few years this mania is revived, and we hear of those that are in search of the pirate's hidden gold, but, as yet I believe none has been discovered.

Huckleberry island was a favorite resort of the renowned freebooter -- almost every inch of the soil of which has been turned up.  Kidd's Point, on the opposite shore of Long Island, has also received attention in this way, much time and labor having been expended there.

The superstitious firmly believe that Kidd's ghost guards his treasures to this day, and many amusing stories are told of the adventures of those who have essayed to rob him.  Men have declared that they have reached and would have secured the gold harvest but for the sudden apparition of Kidd himself seated on his boxes, guarding them with a drawn sword.

M. M. T."

Source:  THE HUGUENOTS -- The Settlement and History of New Rochelle. . . . CAPTAIN KIDD, The Kansas Chief [Troy Kansas], Jan. 18, 1877, Vol. XX, No. 31, p. 1, cols. 4-5 (Note:  Paid subscription required to access via this link).  

"HUCKLEBERRY POWWOW.
-----
INDIANS AND FLUB DUBS.
-----
Treasure of Captain Kidd Comes to Light at Last.

Yachtsmen from all of the clubs along the Sound gathered at Huckleberry Island yesterday to attend the annual powwow of the Huckleberry Indians of the New-York Athletic Club, and the Flub Dubs, of the Larchmont Club, which marks the close of the season.  For their burlesque this year the yachtsmen produced a comedy entitled 'The Kidding of Captain Kydd, a Komical Kid for Komical Kidders,' by Klay M. Greene.  About two hundred yachtsmen took part.  Owing to the prominence of the performers, a guard was stationed at the island during the performance to warn off all pale faces and inquisitive persons, such as reporters.

The performance was held in the open air in front of a log cabin.  It opened with the appearance of Chief Rudee, who emerged dejectedly from his wigwam, carrying a siphon of vichy and a glass.  He stalked feebly to his seat on the lawn, and putting his hand to his forehead, complained to the braves that he felt terrible, and was going to swear off drinking.

'What got you soused last night?' asked the medicine man.  

'Whiskey,' replied Chief Rudee.

'And what saw the great chief in his dreams?' asked the medicine man.

'Sea serpents!' yelled Rudee.

As the chief spoke a sea serpent, fifteen feet long came floating from behind a cliff, manned by two boys with canoe paddles.  Seated on its back were Neptune and Aphrodite, the latter clothed in pink tights with a sea grass skirt, and her flaming red hair floating in the breeze.  At the sight of the sea serpent the braves set up a war whoop and made a rush for the shore to carry off Aphrodite.  This fair maiden finally was carried off blushingly to the tepee of Chief Rudee.

A confidence man and a broker named Chinchenheimer, accompanied by Miss Broadway, Miss Metropole, Miss Stanley and a bevy of upper Broadway countesses then visited the island in an automobile and wanted to buy it.  Chinchenheimer offered as high as $100,000 for it, 1 per cent down, but Neptune advised the Indians not to sell their island because it contained the treasure of Captain Kidd.

The confidence man angrily told Neptune to go back to the briny deep and chase crabs and lobsters.  While the broker and the Indians were haggling about the price of the island a loud explosion was heard, and Captain Kidd and his crew of pirates, armed with cutlasses and pistols, came defiling through a pass.  The pirates were made up entirely of yachtsmen from Larchmont, and they came down the Sound on Lloyd Phoenix's big black schooner Intrepid.  Their first shout as they rushed on the island was:  'Drink, give us drink to warm our blood in this icy air!'

After warming his blood and washing away the thirst of his crew, Captain Kidd made a speech.  'Historians call me a pirate,' said he.  'Romance has made me a hero.  History is as good romance romance is good history, and both are liars.  I did exist somewhere about the time they wrote of, but there are more crooks, pirates, bandits and grafters here within the sound of my voice than all the Kidds ever written about.  None of my crew, to say nothing of myself, ever were hanged on Execution Rock, and there never was a treasure enough in the whole country at that time to make a decent bank roll.'

Captain Kidd then borrowed a spade and began digging up the hidden treasure.  The first thing he took out was an axe.  'This,' said he, 'is what President Van Wormer uses to enforce the payment of dues at the New-York Athletic Club.'  He then took out the boots with which 'Jimmy' Haslin does most of his kicking, and next followed a file which somebody else was sent to have used on his voice.  Thee last find among the treasure was the original deed for the island, showing that it was the property of the 'Huckleberry Indians.'

When Captain Kidd read the document, which declared that the title was invested in them, their heirs and assigns forever, a big shout went up from the tribe, and they took the pirates by the hand and escorted them to their reservation, where they treated them to refreshments and a clambake, while the band played the stirring refrain, 'The Ghost That Never Walked.'

The characters in the burlesque were:

Captain Kidd...................................Joseph Grisman
Fusejoti, his Bos'n's mate...............Peter J. Kane
Rock and Rye, his first lieutenant...Frank Unger
Applejack, his boatswain................W. A. Stadelman

IMMORTALS

Father Neptune, his dopes of the danky deep...........Forest Robinson
Aphrodite, her nymphs of the wooing waves.............Newton Linde

MORTALS

Con Wall Street, a Wall Street 'con'........................... ----------------
Cinchenheimer, a sure thing promoter......................Frank Hardy
Other promoters and 'cons.'

HUCKLEBERRY INDIANS.

Chief Rudee.................................Rudolph Shaffer
Medicine Man..............................W. E. Hinsdale
Sachem Fullgraff.........................Frank Fullgraff
Little Chief Haubold.....................E. W. Haubold
Sachems, squaws, and the balance of the tribe.

During the festivities a large fleet of yachts anchored off the island, among them William E. Iselin's Emerald, Wilson Marshall's Atlantic, Paul G. Thebaud's Normona and Arthur Cary's Wahneta."

Source:  HUCKLEBERRY POWWOW -- INDIANS AND FLUB DUBS -- Treasure of Captain Kidd Comes to Light at Last, New-York Tribune, Sep. 19, 1904, p. 9, col. 5.

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Early Celebrations of the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club

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The "Huckleberry Indians" is a social organization made up of New York Athletic Club members.  The organization has been around nearly as long as the N. Y. A. C. facilities on Travers Island.   The original N. Y. A. C. clubhouse on Travers Island opened in 1889. 

The organization takes its name from Huckleberry Island, a small island located off the shores of Pelham Manor and New Rochelle.  Huckleberry Island, once known as "Whortleberry Island, lies in Long Island Sound about a mile east of David's Island.  It is about ten acres in size.  The island became famous in the 19th century as one (of many) legendary locations of the buried treasure of the notorious pirate Captain William Kidd.

I have written about the Huckleberry Indians before.  See Fri., Nov. 23, 2007:  The Festivities of the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club Off the Shore of Pelham Manor on July 12, 1896.  

Google Maps Detail Showing Location of Huckleberry Island

(On Far Right).  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Huckleberry Indians long have held gatherings and celebrations on Huckleberry Island in Long Island Sound.  Many of the celebrations held in the 1890s and early 1900s became legendary.  Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog reveals a little about these gatherings.

For an extended time in the late 19th century and the earlly 20th century, the N.Y.A.C. Huckleberry Indians held an annual "pow-wow," often with a similar group from the Larchmont Yacht Club known as the "Flub Dubs." The event was considered a celebration of the end of the "yachting season" on Long Island Sound each year.    

While celebrations of the sort that were held on Huckleberry Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries might be considered politically incorrect today, from an historical perspective they must be considered in the entirely different context of their own day.  The Huckleberry Indians and the Flub Dubs dressed in their versions of Native American regalia -- in many instances actually authentic regalia and not merely inauthentic costumes.   

Each annual celebration typically involved a major theatrical performance, sometimes with as many as two hundred performers.  Most such performances included a story line that included, of course, Indians.  Preparations for the annual festivities on Huckleberry Island seem to have been nearly as important as the festivities themselves.  The Huckleberry Indians liked to claim that outsiders so desperately wanted to gain access to their preparations on the island that the organization was required to hire private security to interdict intruders and, then, co-opt such intruders to become members of the organization.  

As one might expect, enjoyable drinks flowed freely (as most reports suggested somewhat inferrentially).  Additionally, most such celebrations included a spectacular island clam bake.  
Given the prominence of so many members of the Huckleberry Indians, The New York Times reported each year on the annual pow-wow.  Its reports and those of other local newspapers are collected below and shed fascinating light on the traditions followed by the Huckleberry Indians during their annual pow-wow celebrations.

1904 Huckleberry Indians Souvenir Given
to Members of the Organization.  NOTE:
Click Image to Enlarge.

1909 Huckleberry Indians Souvenir Pocket

Flask in the Shape of an Indian Tomahawk

Head.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of a number of newspaper articles describing the festivities of the Huckleberry Indians.  Each item is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"LARCHMONT CLUB POW-WOW.
-----
Farce by Lambs' Shepherd to be Given on Sunday.

Preparations are being made at Larchmont and Travers Island for the annual pow-wow of the 'Huckleberry Indians' and the 'Flub Dubs,' which is to be held at Huckleberry Island next Sunday afternoon.  The clubmen are keeping mum about their performance, which always winds up the yachting season on the Sound, and in order to keep inquiring pale faces off they will have a force of private detectives stationed at the island.

It is learned, however, that the clubmen are to produce a burlesque entitled 'Captain Kidd, the Kidder,' written by Clay M. Greene, shepherd of the Lambs Club.  The piece ends with a dance performed by a bevy of soubrettes and mermaids.  About two hundred clubmen will take part in the show, impersonating Indians and pirates.  At the close of the performance everybody will join in the annual handshake and clambake."

Source:  LACHMONT CLUB POW-WOW -- Farce by Lambs' Shepherd to be Given on Sunday, N. Y. Times, Sep. 16, 1904, p. 7, col. 5 (access via link requires paid subscription).

"SKIPPERS PLAY INDIAN ON HUCKLEBERRY ISLAND
-----
Big Pow-Wow Ends Yachting Season on Sound.
-----
POLICE WARD OFF PALEFACES
-----
Two Hundred Clubmen Present 'The Kidding of Kaptain Kidd' and Woo a Festive Clambake.
-----
Special to The New York Times.

LARCHMONT, N. Y., Sept. 18. -- The annual pow-wow of the 'Huckleberry Indians' and the 'Fleet Dubs,' held on the historic island from which the red men take their name, signalized yesterday the closing of the yachting season along the Sound, and was made the occasion for much merriment, in which clubmen from far and near participated.

In connection with the day the Travers Island Indians and the members of the mysterious inner circle, which lives at the Larchmont Yacht Club, presented for the uplifting of their friends the anti-dry burlesque entitled 'The Kidding of Kaptain Kidd, a Komical Kid for Komical Kidders.'  Clay M. Greene, shepherd of the Lambs, was responsible for the sketch, the performance of which was given in the open air with a cast of at least 200 persons.

Lest inquisitive palefaces should seek to put foot on the island, the entire constabulary of Larchmont, Pelham, and New Rochelle ,assisted by a regiment of private detectives, formed a cordon about it, while fleet patrol boats circled its shores without ceasing, warning off any venturesome craft which might approach.

The story evolved by Mr. Greene deals with the hidden treasure supposed to have been planted upon Huckleberry Island Capt. Kidd.  The characters, as shown by a scroll of white birch bark which hung from the sachem pole of the chief's wigwam in the very centre of the island, where it was jealously guarded, were distributed thuswise:

CAPT. KIDD, to whose compulsory croak some legendary con has ascribed the naming of Excursion Rock -- Joseph Grismer.

ROCKANRYE, the Captain's First Lieutenant -- Frank Unger.

WHISKISOWER, his Second Lieutenant -- Louiis Spence, Jr.

APPLEJACK, his Boatswain -- W. A. Stadjeman.

FUSELOIL, his bos'n's mate -- Peter J. Kane.

FATHER NEPTUNE, His Dopes of the Danky Deep -- Forest Robinson.

APHRODITE, Her Nymphs of the Wooing Wave -- Newton Linds.

CONN WALLSTREET of Wall Street -- Mortimer Smith.

CINCHENHEIMER, a sure thing promoter -- Frank Hardy.

BELLE BROADWAY,  a siren -- Dick Ownes.

MINNIE METROPOLE, a tendril -- Edware Murphy.

CHIEF RUDEE of the Huckleberry Indians -- R. Schayfer.

MEDICINE MAN -- W. E. Hinsdale.

SACHEM -- Frank Fullgraff.

LITTLE CHIEF -- E. W. Hanbold.

Capt. Kidd and his officers, bold spirits all, headed an army of pirates.  Father Neptune and Aphrodite were attended by strange followers from the deepest caves of ocean.  Belle Broadway and Minnie Metropole boasted a retinue of sirens, and Chief Rudee seemed to have depopulated the Travers Island village, so numerous were his Huckleberry Indians.  The costumes were more elaborate than at any preceding powwow.

The burlesque ended with a procession to the Huckleberry Reservation, where the whole company was treated to a clambake, while the band played 'The Ghost That Never Walked.'  The rejoicing lasted until the ending of the powwow, which came with the setting of the sun.

In addition to those who took part in the burlesque there were hundreds of clubmen who looked on and joined in the concluding festivities.  A large fleet of yachts was anchored off the island while the fun lasted."

Source:  SKIPPERS PLAY INDIAN ON HUCKLEBERRY ISLAND, N. Y. Times, Sep. 19, 1904, p. 7, col. 3 (access via this link requires paid subscription).  

"HUCKLEBERRY'S POW-WOW.
-----
Annual Succotash Feast and Big Medicine at New York A. C.

Braves of the greatest tribe of North American Indians that ever set a foot on Manhattan, the Huckleberry Indians, held their annual big medicine pow-wow, succotash feast, and other old things last night in the banquet room of the New York Athletic Club.  All are members of the 'Mercury Foot' totem sign, and the scene of their 'dances' is the small Island of Huckleberry, a short water trail from the country clubhouse of the New York Athletic Club at Travers Island.

Big Chief Rudolph Schaefer president at the solemn feast, and all of the braves won headdresses of eagles' feathers.  As a souvenir each received a bronze statue of an Indian in war dress and a small lampost such as lights the weary wanderer on the night trail.  Clay M. Greene, when it came his turn to pow-wow, said that he did not understand the significance of the lamppost to the Huckleberry tribe until he witnessed the braves in action.  Senator T. C. O'Sullivan, John M. Quinn, and others also spoke.

Robert C. Kammerer acted as master of ceremonies, and the menu was arranged in the form of a mileage ticket on the Little Water and Huckleberry Island Railroad."

Source:  HUCKLEBERRY'S POW-WOW -- Annual Succotash Feast and Big Medicine at New York A. C., N. Y. Times, Mar. 19, 1905, p. 6, col. 4 (access via link requires paid subscription).

"HUCKLEBERRY INDIANS DINE.
-----
Brilliant Display of Paint and Feathers In New York A.C.

Mild consternation was created among the two or three hundred women who were watching the fencing contest in the gymnasium of the New York Athletic Club last night when late in the evening a dozen or more Huckleberry Indians adorned in all the regailia that has helped to make them famous appeared on the floor, evidently to see whether the rapier was a more effective weapon than the tomahawk.  

With bristling feathers sticking from their heads and other warlike forms of the red man's dress, these New York Athletic Club Indians looked fully as ferocious as their name indicates.  The Huckeberry tribe, however, was simply holding its annual pow-wow or dinner in an upper room, and some of them, tired of the belated speechmaking, wandered down to the gymnasium to see what the real warriors from West Point and Annapolis were doing.  

It was the ninth annual dinner of the Huckleberry Indians and every feature was carried out in characteristic style.  Navajo blankets were suspended from the ceiling and the room was handsomely decorated with greens and flowers.  Boxes of huckleberries were brought on the table in place of the sorbet, and the souvenirs were gilded arrow points.

Over 100 members of the tribe were present, including the Sachems, C. F. Stoppani and Frederick Vilmar; Medicine Man S. Stewart, Col. W. F. Cody, the Scribe, who was also compelled to talk after the dinner,, and R. C. Kammerer.  R. J. Schaefer acted as toastmaster.  He introduced the speakers in a felicitous manner, and every man who arose was greeted with the typical Huckleberry yell.  Controller Herman A. Metz made a characteristic speech that aroused wild enthusiasm, and among the other called upon were Capt. T. Franklin of West Point, J. W. Kuhlke, President of the club; James A. Sperry, Arthur C. Palmer, Clay M. Greene, George T. Wilson, and D. F. Cohalan.

Among those present were E. S. Innet, C. L. Burnham, Capt. E. F. Haubold, Col. Jacob Ruppert, Jr., Prof. H. W. Peckwell of Columbia, F. M. Crossett, H. E. Zietel, James Wetherspoon, B. J. Vollmer, G. S. Stow, F. W. Perkins, S. S. Mapes, J. E. Kelley, R. O. Haubold, W. H. Griffin, T. J. Davies, M. J. Austin, R. H. Goffe, Jr., F. L. Norris, and H. W. Walter."

Source:  HUCKLEBERRY INDIANS DINE -- Brilliant Display of Paint and Feathers In New York A.C., N. Y. Times, Mar. 31, 1907, p. 34, col. 2 (access via link requires paid subscription).

"YACHTSMEN CELEBRATE.
-----
Huckleberries Entertain Flub-Dubs on Huckleberry Island.

Special to The New York Times.

NEW ROCHELLE.  Sept. 1.--The annual pow-wow of the Huckleberry Indians, marking the closing of the yachting season on Long Island Sound, was held today.  About noon a fleet of Canoes filled with 'Indians' of the Huckleberry tribe, under Big Chief Ruda (Rudolph Schaefer, the brewer), landed at Huckleberry Island, where camp fires already had been lighted.

About the same time the Flub-dubs, costumed as pilgrims and cavaliers, sailed from the Larchmont Yacht Club on a decorated float.  The Flub-dubs carried old fashioned blunderbusses and halberds and were accompanied by a noisy band.  The landing of the clubmen was accompanied by the firing of salutes by the Indians and speeches of welcome, after which there was a levee and fire-water dance at the royal tepee.  

At 1 o'clock there was a grand open air burlesque called 'Pocohontas and Capt. John Smith up to date,' written by Clay M. Greene.  The leading characters were:

Powhatan, Chief of the Tuscaroras......George Barnum
Pocahontas...........Tom Wise
Capt. John Smith........Forrest Robinson
Missionary...........Frank Hardy
Chief of the Pirates...........Charles E. McManus

The performance was followed by a clambake, and from that tie on, as the programme announced, 'the proceedings were informal.'"

Source:  YACHTSMEN CELEBRATE -- Huckleberries Entertain Flub-Dubs on Huckleberry Island, N. Y. Times, Sep. 2, 1907, p. 16, col. 4 (access via link requires paid subscription).

"INDIANS' SUMMER POWWOW A SUCCESS
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Huckleberry Tribe, with Larchmont 'Flub Dubs,' Hold Annual Show.
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SKIT ON CAESAR'S DEATH
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Novel Entertainment Enjoyed by Several Hundred People on Huckleberry Island -- Prominent Persons Present.
-----

The Passing of Frozen-Face.
A Huckleberry Indian Summer Pow-wow.
By Clay M. Greene.
(Assisted more or less by consultation with W .Shakespeare.)

Characters -- Frozen-Face, Chief of the Stoney-stares; Gif Graft, Glad Hand, Foolish-Water, Big Noise, Jo-Ka-lot, Little High-ball, Co-Ka-Tay-Law Chief of the Flub-Dubs, Feather-Taile, chief squaw to Frozen-Face; Wiggle-Waggle, (Fiancee of Glad Hand), Pommerysek, Roo-Ee-Nah, Big White Seal, Mum Brute,  Blackandwhite, Hatganhaig, Wilsonthatsall, White Rock, Pollywater, and White Horse.

Frozen-Face was an Indian chief until yesterday, when he was slain by his tribe because he couldn't see a joke or crack a smile, and his body was laid at rest with all the ceremony and pomp of that old and well-known local tribe, the Huckleberry Indians, on their stamping ground, Huckleberry Island.

When the flames rose high from Frozen-Face's funeral pyre the Indian ceremony was thoroughly realistic, except that Frozen-Face, being a wily brave, had sneaked out of his coffin when it was laid on the ground near some bushes while the funeral pile was being arranged.

The play was a travesty on the death of Caesar, Frozen-Face being the Indian Caesar and Glad Hand and Big Graft doing respectively the Brutus and Marc Antony businesses.

Frozen-Face, on being rated for his lack of risibility, says:

I did smile one.  There was a time when I could laugh like others and see the point and substance of a joke.  Then I met a man they said was funny -- a joker from the Piccadilly tribe, from a land its sachems call 'at 'ome.'  He cracked a deadly thing he called a wheeze.  I tried, but could not see the point that day, nor the next, the next, and the next.  Then three months passed and still I was not next.

And when Feathertail, his wife, warns him, like Caesar's wife, not to go to the council fire he says to the waiting chiefs:

The great chief's shine squaw has been seeing things, and in the dope finds threats of plots to do me.

And when Feathertail is questioned about Frozen Face's departure for the fatal council fire by Glad Hand this goes off:  

Glad Hand -- Come tell me this:  Went Frozen Face forth to-day?

Feathertail -- No:  second, I think.

Huckleberry Island, in the Sound opposite New Rochelle, was never more alluring than it was yesterday, and its natives, the Huckleberry Indians, all members of the New York Athletic Club, never enjoyed an annual pow-wow more.  B. A. Marburg, William J. Kelley, Wilfred North, Francis McGinn, Frank H. Belcher, Malcolm Williams, Edwin Forsberg,, Gus Weinberg, Robert Haines, Arthur Shaw, William Greene, members of The Lambs, had all of the principal parts in the play.

This pow-wow, or annual war dance of the Huckleberry Indians, is far from being a serious affair.  But yesterday's ceremonial was probably the funniest ever.  There was something doing from the time the 'Flub Dubs,' members of the Larchmont Yacht Club, landed on the island until the Indian Salome (William Greene) in trying to climb  the centre pole of the 'feed' tent fell into the clambake which was being served at the time.

The Flub Dubs included Mayor G. G. Raymond of New Rochelle, Judge L. J. Conlin, Commodore Hazen L. Hoyt, James E. Elverson of Philadelphia, A. J. Stone, J. G. Patten, A. H. Walker, J. J. Harrington, E. M. MacLellan, Theodore D. Rich, H. R. Harper, W. C. D. Tanner, H. E. Smith, F. S. Unger, F. Hardy, F. V. Alexandre, and William Penny, who came over from Larchmont in several launches and Mr. Elverson's yacht Parthenia.  There were among them Greek warriors, Roman ladies, Roman hoboes, chariot drivers, Turks, and Egyptians.  The Indians, who received them at the landing with their own brass band, were all in Indian regalia, consisting of more or less real clothing.  They were Big Chief Rudolph H. Schaefer, with the suit that Iron Tail of Buffalo Bill's show presented to him when he was admitted to the Sioux tribe; 'Bob' Kammerer, who is known as Little Thunder among the really truly Sioux, had on the cowboy suit that he wore in the big Western round-up last year; Samuel Stewart, E. F. Hanbold, E. S. Innet, Judge E. Dineen, Judge L. Zeller, John M. Jones, C. F. Stoppani, T. E. Deeley, C. F. Hofferberth, J. H. Haslin, C. H. Siebert, D. Nicoll, R. Gough, T. M. Magiff, and H. E. Toussant."

Source:  INDIANS' SUMMER POWWOW A SUCCESS, N. Y. Times, Aug. 31, 1908, p. 7, col. 5 (access via link requires paid subscription).  

"HUCKLEBERRY INDIANS DINE.
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Braves of the New York A. C. Hold Winter Entertainment.

With wild yells and the beating of many tom-toms 130 members of the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club marched into the Green room at the clubhouse last night and sat down to their big annual feast, while the orchestra played 'Tammany' over and over again.  It was the big Winter pow-wow, and every member did his best to make it the jolliest and noisiest affair of the kind.  The organization, which is composed of many prominent members of the New York Athletic Club and many of the city's best-known men, was out almost to a man.

The banquet room was beautifully decorated to represent Huckleberry Island, the island in the Sound where the club camps out during the Summer.  Branches spread overhead, Indian baskets and bows and arrows were everywhere, and across the entire south end of the room stretched a huge canvas painting of an Indian scene, with canoes, tepees, and warlike regalia.

Every member found at his place at the table a headgear of feathers and these were promptly donned and worn throughout the evening.  In the centre of each table stood a tepee with an Indian maiden in front.  The menus were in the form of small school slates, and the sherbet was served in miniature tepees.  Souvenirs in the form of cigar cases were at each plate, but the chief souvenirs of the evening were beautiful bronze buffaloes, which stood six inches high.  

The following officers for the coming year were elected:  R. J. Schaefer, Big Chief; C. O. Toussaint, Little Chief; R. C. Kammerer, Wampum Keeper; C. S. Innet, Scribe; S. Stewart, Medicine Man; and J. M. Jones, Sagamore.  

The speeches opened with the presentation of Indian headgear, blanket, and weapons by Big Chief Schaefer to ex-Little Chief E. F. Haubad, the latter having previously been Honorary Little Chief.  A loving cup was also presented to Haubald by J. M. Jones, the newly elected Sagamore.  Then followed speeches by W. L. Mitchell of the New York Athletic Club.  Morton W. Smith of the Larchmont Yacht Club, and F. Hardy of the Flub Dubs, an organization similar to that of the Huckleberry Indians.  F. V. S. Oliver, Jr., Commissioner of Licenses, and Clay M. Greene also spoke.

The Carl Duft quartet rendered several Indian songs, which weere very enthusiastically received."

Source:  HUCKLEBERRY INDIANS DINE -- Braves of the New York A. C. Hold Winter Entertainment, Feb. 26, 1911, p. 25, col. 2 (access via available link requires paid subscription).

"HUCKLEBERRIES' POW-WOW.
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Adjunct Tribe of Travers Island Band Hold Festivities on Island Home.

The Huckleberry Indians, an adjunct tribe from Travers Island, denizens of the Summer home of the New York Athletic Club, held their midsummer pow-wow yesterday afternoon on the organization reservation, at Huckleberry Island, in the Sound, with an attendance of about 150 of the braves of the association.  This was supplemented by forty of the Flubdubs, a neighboring band from Larchmont.

As in times gone by, the island yesterday was an unsafe place for those who lacked the necessary identification slip.  The torture tepee awaited those who ventured on forbidden ground, and, following the custom of previous functions, many scalps of interlopers were added to those already hung at the entrance, for more than a dozen would-be braves attempted to make their way to the reservation without the proper recommendations.

The sign over the entrance, 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here,' was lived up to the letter of the law, with the result that the interlopers found that their 'butting in' found a punishment fitting the crime.  When Brave Deeley, the Curator of the Huckleberrys, got through with the interlopers and showed them the various snakes in possession of the band new converts were found and new Indians made.

After being put in touch with the many mysteries of the Island the new braves were put through the stuts, which are part of the curriculum, and the Indians found their numbers increased by an apparently unwilling list of converts.

The disagreeable weather failed to put a damper on the materialization stuff, and everything went off with the same eclat as on previous occasions.  Supplementary proceedings were held at the Travers Island clubhouse, and altogether it was voted a gala day."

Source:  HUCKLEBERRIES' POW-WOW -- Adjunct Tribe of Travers Island Band Hold Festivities on Island Home, N. Y. Times, Aug. 28, 1911, p. 5, col. 2 (access via available link requires paid subscription).

"FLUB-DUBS INVADE HUCKLEBERRY ISLAND
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Grand Annual Pow-Wow Enlivened by a Play Followed by a Clambake and Council.
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NEW WAR SONG ADOPTED
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'The Huckleberry Rag,' Picked as Their Official Anthem -- Dinner Call on Tom-Toms.
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Once every year the territory of the Huckleberry Indians, a tribe of the New York Athletic Club which inhabits Huckleberry Island, in the Sound, opposite New Rochelle, is invaded by another tribe known as the 'Flub-Dubs' of the Larchmont Yacht Club.

This year's pow-wow was held yesterday, and, while an aboriginal atmosphere was maintained throughout the ceremonies, many features of the day smacked of Broadway and the Lambs Club.  A play called 'Treasure Island, or, The Happy Hunting Grounds,' was produced by Clay M. Greene, aided by other Lambs.  To this Arthur Weld contributed 'The Huckleberry Rag,' which at the council held after the play was adopted as the official war song of the two tribes.  The festivities wound up with a clambake.

At noon yesterday 100 of the Huckleberry Indians, resplendent in war paint and feathers, gathered on the rocky shore of their island, and with tom-toms gave the dinner signal to the Flub-Dubs.  There was Big Chief 'Ruddy' Schaeffer, in a buckskin suit Chief White Cloud presented to him, and 'Shorty' Haubold, decked out in barbaric raiment given to him by the tallest chief in Buffalo Bill's show.  These two were surrounded by Bob Kammerer, Jack Breen, Louis Sharp, Joseph Herbert, R. Mulford, Barney French, T. Hewlett, Frank McGinn, Judge Donnelly, Judge McAvoy, Judge Dineen, Dr. T. O'Connor, Charles Hafflebarth, Theodore Gerrs, Robert Brown, Edward Reynolds, Henry Ottman, Edward Lyons, Ray Allen, Otto and Herman Touissant, William Miller, Charles Starr, Charles Reed, E. Picard, D. Garry, Thomas Dealey, Horatio Gates, and others, all in war paint and feathers.

The play was an amusing skit in which John Findlay as St. Peter, Arthur Perry as 'Big Talk,' Joseph Grismer as Blatzky, and others amused themselves and the audience with hits at the expense of the company."

Source:  FLUB-DUBS INVADE HUCKLEBERRY ISLAND, N. Y. Times, Aug. 26, 1912, p. 6, col. 5 (access via available link requires paid subscription).   

"N. Y. A. C. INDIANS' POW-WOW
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Larchmont Y. C. Flub Dubs Join in Huckleberry Island Celebration.

A party of suffragettes and nondescript hords of predatory wealthy Flub Dubs led by Ponce De Leon rested yeterday in their search for the Fountain of Youth and landed on Huckleberry Island in Long Island Sound, where they found the long-sought fountain and held high jinks with their hosts, the Huckleberry Indians.

It was the great annual powwow of the Huckleberry Indians of the New York Athletic Club and the Flub Dubs of the Larchmont Yacht Club.  Two hundred men, most of them well-known business men, ,jurists, lawyers, professors, physicians, actors, playwrights, and artists, dressed to suit the weather, disported themselves on the rocks and among the trees of the mossy grove enjoying their annual 'day off.'

At 1 o'clock a fleet of launches from the Larchmont Yacht Club was sighted and the Huckleberry Indians received the visitors at Prosit Rock.  Some of the aborigines fled to the bushes when they spied several stylishly attired feminine forms in the launches.  The 'ladies,' who were also Flub Dubs, were welcomed by the Indians, and the seekers of the Fountain of Youth were conducted to the council grove in the 'East.'

The members of the Lambs Club presented a play by Clay M. Greene entitled 'Ponce de Leon,' being a misture of allegory, sentiment and foolishness, teaching the moral 'How seldom we know when we've got enough.'  The play introduced burlesque impersonations of such famous men as President Woodrow Wilson, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, and Gov. William Sulzer.

Those appearing in the play were Henry Mortimer, Thomas McGrath, Rollin White, Joseph Keegan, H. J. Rosencrantz, J. P. Drouillard, Edward Poland, Thomas A. Wise, Willard Louis, William Demming, Ernest Lambert, George Backus, Hy Mayer, J. Clarence Harvey, Robert Cain, Joseph R. Grismer, Francis X. Conlon, and Paul Everton.  Frances D. McGinn was director.  

Some of the novelties shown in the new ones were the Snake Box, with slapstick accompaniment, the Fountain of Youth telephone, and the registering throne.  The Fountain of Youth contained everything but fizzless grape juice.  The ceremonies were followed by a real Huckleberry Island clambake and a swim."

Source:  N. Y. A. C. INDIANS' POW-WOW -- Larchmont Y. C. Flub Dubs Join in Huckleberry Island Celebration, N. Y. Times, Aug. 18, 1913, p. 7, col. 6 (access via link requires paid subscription).

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