The Vanishing American

1
"We have unmistakable proof
   that throughout all past
time there has been a ceaseless
devouring of the weak by the 
strong ........ survival of the
fittest."

	- Herbert Spencer,
	  "First Principles"

2
In a Western state, far from
 the present haunts of men,
lies a stately valley of great
monuments of stone.

3
Gateway from North to South
  - Since the dim dawn of
  human life it has been the
mighty corridor through which
race after race has trod its way
from darkness into dark.

4
A little while - as Nature reckons
  time - its rocks resounded to the 
  march of feet and clash of battle,
or echoed softly the contented babble
of a people at peace. Then - stillness
again - the hush of the ages. For
men come and live their hour and 
go, but the mighty stage remains.

5
Through the ages, since the
  Great Beginning of It All,
  how many races have
crept within the shadow of the
Monuments?

6
The earliest traces of human
 life in our West date back
 to a little-known race now
described as the Basket-Makers.

7
With the next race, known 
  as the Slab-House People,
  the clan spirit became
more strongly developed.

8
Next came the earliest race
  of which we have any very
  definite knowledge -
the Cliff Dwellers.

9
An indolent, harmless
 people, drowsing in the 
 dust of centuries.

10
Mog, the worker in turquoise,
 could sleep on any excuse
 - or none.

11
Only old Roya, the High Priest,
 saw that the people had
 grown soft and lazy in the
safety of their cliff houses.

12
  "Blame not my son! Blame 
those idle hussies yonder!"

13
By day and night, a sentinel 
  sat on the outer wall.

  NOTE: The robe of eagle feathers was
    intended to deceive an enemy into
    thinking the sentinel a captive bird.

14
Long years of peace had
  dulled the religious sense
  of the people. Their
priests amused rather than 
awed them.

15
So life ebbed away. The days no
 doubt were soft and pleasant in
  the cool shadows of the cliffs,
as a race drowsed on to its pre-
destined end ....
     Then, down from the North,
swept a younger, fiercer, harder
people, driven by urge of
hunger or desire.

16
The first of the race we now
 call "Indians" - coming
 no man knows whence,
thirsting for conquest. 

17
Nophaie (The Warrior),
 hereditary war chief
 of the invaders.

18
Mog, the worker in turquoise,
 had chosen unwisely the
 day on which to roam
afield in search of gems.

19
Terrible and swift as a 
 pestilence, the new-
 comers swept the land.
Of all the Cliff Dwellings,
soon but one remained -

20
No lack now of religious 
 fervor! Old Roya looked
 grimly about him and
prayed that the gods might
see .... and relent.

21
"Run - for your lives!"

22
 "May Paya the Father drive you
into darkness, as you drive us!
May he send a stronger race to
grind you in the dust and scatter
you through the Four Worlds of
Lamentations!"

23
And so the conquerors dwelt
 for ages in the land. They
 raided far and wide. Their
number grew. They believed
no race could be their equal.

24
 "Our people are like the sand 
of the desert. We are mightier 
than any people of the world."

25
Runner after runner brought
 new tidings. Undoubtedly
 the strangers were gods!
But their power, it was held,
came not from themselves, but
from the fire-breathing monsters
they rode!

	NOTE: The Indians had never
	  seen a horse until the white
	  men came.

26
Then spoke the
   old War Chief:

27
 "If we can win one of these 
monsters to us, we may work 
magic as strong as their magic!
Of our young men, who will
risk his life to ride the great 
white monster whose breath is 
flame?"

28
"Go, my son!"

29
The strangers were Don Lopez
 de Cardenas and twelve
 gallant comrades from New 
Spain, part of a larger command
under Coronado, then camped
some hundreds of miles
Southward.

30
The guide - an Indian
 from New Spain, known
 as "The Turk".

31
These were the first European
 eyes to gaze upon the
 wonders of the Grand
Canyon - Oct. 10, 1540, seventy-
five years before the British
established their colonies
in New England.

32
 "I tell you it goes clear
through the earth. It is
the door to Hell itself!"

33
 "Say rather the most 
glorious work of God!
Te deum laudamus -"

34
Mid-afternoon found the
 Spaniards at ease in
 their camp.

35
Celebrating the birthday of
 His Most Catholic Majesty,
 Charles V, the adventurers
broached a cask that had been 
carried by land and sea 
all the weary leagues
from Seville.

36
In every generation, a
 Nophaie the Warrior
 dared to do what no
other would attempt.

	George Magrill

37
On every hand the Indians
 gathered, ready to over-
 whelm the Spaniards if
Nophaie captured the white 
monster.

38
 "In their war chant they
are shouting they will kill 
us 'when the white monster
is theirs'!"

39
 "It is the end. These 
men are gods - they work
with the lightning."

40
So began the conquest of
 the Indian. It was three
 hundred years later that
the final chapter opened.

41
The Indians had fought the
 Spaniards for three centuries.
 They had defied the whole 
United States Army for twenty 
years. A master plainsman, 
Kit Carson, was sent at last to
quiet the country for all time.

42
 "The Injuns is risin' all
through the hills. They're 
ridin' to cut us off at the 
ford."

43
Known and trusted by the
 Indians, Kit Carson had
 hoped to overawe them
by a show of force and avoid
bloodshed.

	Guy Oliver

44
 "Captain, it's no use. We
must strike and strike hard.
Let the guns fall in ahead
- and follow me!"

45
"Ready to fire, sir."

46
 "I'm afraid there is no other 
way - these Indians are my 
friends ..... but I must send 
them to their death ...."

47
With all the forces at his
 command, Carson harried
 the Indians from fastness
to fastness. In January, 1864,
the head men consented
to treat for peace.

48
 "My friends, some of you have
known me for forty years. I
have lived among you. I ask
you to believe me in what I say."

49
 "It is as foolish for you to
oppose the Government as 
it is for that goat -"

50
 "- to butt against the 
tree to which it is tied!"

51
 "Furthermore, I want you to
know that the Great Father at
Washington promises that you
shall live here in these canyons
that you love, forever. Look!"

52
 "The very cliff bears your 
image ....
 We will help you to live as 
white men live. We will teach 
you to farm, to turn the desert 
into green fields. All this I
promise you."

53
 "Father Kit speaks but one 
way. What he says, we can
believe. Let us make peace 
with him."

54
Thus Kit Carson promised .... but
 within three years his lips were
 stilled forever. To those who
followed him, the Indians were but
incumbrances to the soil, to be 
cleared away with the sage
brush and the cactus.

55
By the opening of the twentieth
 century, the Indians had been
 forced backward, into a desert 
country called by courtesy, a
"reservation" - with one narrow 
strip of fertile fields, barely
sufficient to provide corn
for the winter.

56
Children tended the flocks
  of sheep and goats.

57
In the shade of great trees,
 and with flowing water
 murmuring by, the white
 man had laid out - for his
 own use - the town of
 Mesa, headquarters of 
 the Indian Agent.

58
Amos Halliday, the Indian
 agent, had one pet word -
 "efficiency". To him it
 meant filing cases - long-
 winded reports - tabula-
 tions - more filing cases.

	Charles Crockett

59
While Halliday rattled the
 dry bones of the office,
 his assistant, Henry
 Booker, had made him-
 self the real head
 of affairs on the
 reservation.

	Noah Beery

60
 "They advertise that these
drawers are strong enough to
bear a man's weight! Think 
of it, Booker!"

61
 "Ah, I see - red, white and
blue cards. Pretty, very pretty.
The thought does you credit,
Mr. Halliday."

62
Gekin Yasha

	Shannon Day

63
Tolie

	Charles Stevens

64
White men rarely visited the
 barren Reservation - and
 when they came, the Indians 
usually had reason to regret it.

65
 "With his size and markin's,
and doin' them tricks, that
pony'll bring a good price
anywhere, Glendon!"

66
"He's ours right now, Rhodes."

67
In even his short life, Nasja
 had learned that the white 
 man must have his way -
that the Indian can only watch
and endure, and dumbly
wonder.

68
Although the war-cry rang no
 more, there was still one to
 bear the honored name of 
Nophaie the Warrior and to hold 
first place in the hearts 
of his people.

	Richard Dix

69
 NOTE: The character of Nasja is
played by Man Hammer's Oldest Boy,
who has no name of his own. Nor
will he have until he does something to 
distinguish himself among the people of 
his tribe.

70
 "White men take my horse.
Two men - they kick me."

71
 "Courage, Nasja! We will go
to Mesa. The Agent is our Big
Brother - so said the Desert Rose
and her lips speak only truth.
Come!"

72
Near the cultivated fields,
 other white men had
 suddenly appeared,
demanding that all the
Indian horses be brought
before them.

73
 "Take anything that looks 
sound, and put all the crow-
bait nags over to one side,
Work fast, before they get 
an idee what it's all about."

74
"Tell us - why you take horses?"

75
 "G'wan, you wouldn't know if
I told you. See Booker, if you
don't like it."

76
 "Two white men take this 
boy's horse. Please to send 
and stop them before they 
cross the river."

77
 "See Booker. He handles 
all complaints."

78
 "Booker is not friend to
the Indians."

79
 "What do you mean by coming 
in here, talking against Mr. 
Booker? You will see Booker, I 
tell you! We must have system -
efficiency!"

80
 "Eh - eh - Haven't got the 
push-buttons straight - but
they'll make for efficiency
- I wanted Booker."

81
 "Booker's out. You'll have 
to go look for him - or wait."

82
Marian Warner had been
 a teacher in the Indian
 School only long enough
 to conquer her first siege
 of loneliness and to
 begin to win the con-
 fidence of the Indians.

	Lois Wilson

83
Bart Wilson, the Government
 Farmer - a Civil Service
 employe who had seen
 many Agents come and go.

	Bert Woodruff

84
"I saw it! The big boy's out."

85
 "What are you hanging 
around here for?"

86
 "Might ask you the 
same thing!"

87
Nophaie, too, had learned to
 know and trust Marian
 Warner, whom he had
named Benow di Cleash -
"White Desert Rose".

88
 "The agency is the place
where I do business - not 
here."

89
 "The men were sent to inspect
the horses for disease. The boy's
horse was infected, that's all."

90
"But Nasja's horse is not sick!"

91
 "Of course he's sick! The
doctors would not make a
mistake. The boy will receive
twenty-five dollars from the
Government."

92
 "You see, we have the Indians' 
good at heart, Miss Warner. If
we did not kill off the diseased
horses, the sound ones would
become infected."

93
 "Don't be hasty, Nophaie!
It may be as Booker says -
although I do not trust him."

94
 "Has he given you reason
not to trust him. Little White 
Rose? Tell me!"

95
 "I saw you draw away from
him, and I thought of the doe,
as it trembles, ready for flight,
when the mountain lion creeps
so softly through the aspens!"

96
 "No, no! You are quite
wrong, Nophaie! Please ..."

97
 "If you need me you have
only to call, Little White Rose!
Just the little cry and it will 
come to me. I may be far
on the mesa, with the horses,
but it will come to me -"

98
 "We rounded up a hundred
head that seemed worth takin'.
Glendon and Naylor'll cross the
river with 'em before sun-up.
Then, o' course, we killed
mebbe fifty more, fer a bluff."

99
 "Them we got should average
ninety to a hundred dollars a
head, at the railroad."

100
 "Good! But listen - you'll have
to lay off for a while. There's an 
Indian named Nophaie - sort of
a chief - smartest buck on the
Reservation. He smells a rat and
we got to lay low."

101
The Indian Love Moon cast
 its spell over the hearts
 of the primitive desert
children.

102
Miss Prewitt never could
 understand why dear Miss
 Warner allowed a common 
Indian to call, night after night!
No doubt she meant well,
BUT ....

103
There was news in the papers
 those days that sent Miss
 Prewitt's thoughts far from
petty prejudices.

104
 "More interesting to me than
all those stories of old kings and
wars far off, is this Book of your
God. But in it I find much to 
puzzle me. What does this 
mean?"

105
 "I'm not sure I can 
make it clear."

106
 "But maybe I do wrong to
speak so much of your God.
We Indians talk often of our 
gods - white people, no."

107
 "It - it's quite all right, Nophaie.
But perhaps it will help if I tell
you a story. Once, in a town
far away, called Bethlehem ....."

108
  "I came to see you on school
business, Miss Warner."

109
 "Eh - eh - how many children
have you in your grades?"

110
 "The records are at the 
school. You may see them 
there at any time."

111
At the close of 
  school next day.

112
 "I pledge allegiance 
to my flag -"

113
 "- and to the Republic for
which it stands -"

114
"- one nation indivisible -"

115
 "- with liberty and
justice for all."

116
 "You're doing wonders with
the little tots, Miss Warner.
How I love to come here and 
mingle with them!"

117
 "But then you're a wonder-
ful girl, Miss Warner."

118
 "Go get him! Now's your 
chance to shut his mouth 
for good!"

119
"Run to Halliday, Miss Warner!"

120
 "Bring him here! Hold him 
while I smash him!"

121
 "Shoot him, you fool! He
mustn't get to Halliday and 
blab! He mustn't, I tell you!"

122
 "Eh - eh - I came in here
and found Miss Warner and
the Indian - eh - together.
I interfered - and the Indian
attacked me."

123
 "Ask these men! They 
saw it all!"

124 [title ends with animated expletive marks]
 "Booker alongside o' you,
a rattlesnake is a cooin'
turtle-dove! You --

125
 "I'm just like Booker - I hate
to dirty a woman's reputation,
but, Mr. Halliday, it's the truth."

126
 "What's a man to believe, I'd
like to know! It's just terrible,
that's all! Booker, find that 
Indian and bring him to me!"

127
 "It would be just too bad if 
that buck Indian took it into 
his head to resist arrest, and 
you had to plug him! Just
too bad!"

128
 "Nophaie he go to Valley of
Marching Rocks. He tell not 
to worry - Booker's men not 
ever find him."

129
 "He say you trust Mr. Halliday
- good man but big fool! An' if
you need Nophaie, call me, Nasja,
an' I go!"

130
In the Valley of
   the Marching Rocks.

131
Safe in his familiar mountains,
 Nophaie could laugh at pur-
 suit. But through the world,
in those days, a force was moving
which, sooner or later, was to 
touch, in some degree, every 
living person.

132
Captain Earl Ramsdell,
  U. S. A.

	Malcolm MacGregor

133
 "I, myself, saw the order
directing you to help get
horses for army remounts. I
expected thousands to choose 
from. Instead, I find not one!"

134
 "I'm distressed, Captain,
I assure you."

135
 "You have no idea, Captain
Ramsdell, how surly and
obstinate our Indians are! They 
positively refused to bring 
their horses in, that's all!"

136
 "I'll not admit failure -
let me talk to these fellows 
myself!"

137
Do Etin,
 leader of a clan.

	Bernard Siegel

138 [animated title]
"Kleen wuhsteh attahulla!
Tipeh tohquay vahdolay!!!
Hosteen hacco kaibito!!"

139
 "Miss Warner can interpret 
for us."

140
 "They won't bring in their horses 
because the last time they did,
they say Mr. Booker's men took
them away and only paid a 
fraction of their value."

141
 "See here, Mr. Halliday, I'm not
interested in your petty reserva-
tion squabbles! But if we don't
get horses it may delay the whole 
movement of our troops!"

142
 "There is one way to get the 
horses, Captain Ramsdell."

143
 "The Indians look up to and
believe in one man - Nophaie.
If he says the word, they'll 
bring in the horses."

144
 "Won't you try to find him, 
Miss Warner? Booker's men
have been looking for him -
in a friendly manner, I assure 
you - for weeks."

145
"'Friendly', you say, Mr. 
Halliday. But -"

146
 "- Nophaie knows that Mr.
Booker's 'friendly' searchers
would never bring him in 
alive!"

147
 "Me! Why, I wouldn't
harm a little lamb!"

148
 "Booker, maybe I've been a 
fool! Now you listen to this -
if anything happens to this 
Indian - anything, understand
- I'll hold you personally 
responsible."

149
In the maze of canyons
 leading to the Marching 
 Rocks.

150
 "Nophaie, I have news for 
you. We must talk."

151
 "Nophaie, our country is at 
war! The Government wants
the Indians' horses - they've 
sent me here to ask you to 
bring them in."

152
 "The Government comes 
to me - a hunted man -
for help?"

153
 "Oh, I know you have been 
unjustly treated. But Booker 
and his men did that - not the 
Government. This is still your 
country. You are an American 
as much as any of us."

154
"American - me!"

155
 "Yes, Nophaie! And this is a 
war for freedom, for the right.
For oppressed people every-
where. Out of it will grow a 
new order ... a new justice ..."

156
At Mesa the days dragged 
 on ...... weeks passed,
 with no sign of Nophaie
 or the horses.

157
 "It has been wonderful to find
a girl like you away out here on 
the desert, and have her take 
pity on a grouch like me."

158
 "Your face has been growing 
longer and longer day by day.
Just what is your secret sorrow?"

159
 "Don't be angry - I don't mean
to doubt your word - but I'm 
afraid your Indian won't bring in
the horses. It means so much to 
me - my first big detail!"

160
 "It's nothing but sheep. I've
watched those dusty plains until
my eyes ached!"

161
 "I have brought the horses 
as you asked, White Desert
Rose."

162
 "More, too. Since we are 
Americans, we go fight. May-
be if we fight ... maybe if we 
die ... our country will deal 
fairly with our people."

163
 "Nasja got no horse, now,
so he bring Nightingale!"

164
 "Mr. Halliday, I wouldn't think 
of letting these fellows enlist.
They'll cause all all kinds of 
trouble."

165
 "Booker, I've had my doubts
of you for a long time! This 
settles it."

166
 "You've lied to me from the start. 
Booker, you're fired!"

167
Days of hurried 
 preparation - then the
 Indians received their 
 call to report at a 
distant training camp.

168
 "Snap out of it! You're in
the army now!"

169
 "They drew my number 
in the draft. I'm leavin'
fer camp tomorrow."

170
"Aw, rats!"

171
 "Marian, it - it's been wonderful
to know you! I - I'd like to feel 
that you'll be thinking of me -
sometimes -"

172
 "Indeed I shall, Earl. And
I'll write - and hope, oh, so
hard, that you come through 
it safe and sound!"

173
 "Nophaie - you were going 
away without seeing me?"

174
 "It shall never leave me 
until I die ...."

175
"Goodbye, White Desert Rose."

176
 "Pitiful - and tremendous!
Riding away to fight for the 
white man!"

177
In all the annals of the Great 
 War, there were no more 
 thrilling pages than those
written by these first Americans.

178
There was the day on the
 Somme, when a shattered
 force of French infantry
and American machine gun-
ners bore the brunt of a
surprise attack.

179
Nophaie, a Sergeant now,
 led his men to shelter
 in a shell-hole.

180
The enemy machine gunners
 moved into position to
 sweep right and left the
band of Americans holding up
their advance.

181
 "Unless we get help from 
the big guns, we can never 
hold out -"

182
 "There is an officer and a 
telephone over there - I go."

183
 "- Marian - Marian -
I love you -"

184
 "Batteries A and B, Third Field
Artillery, move into position to
support advancing French and 
American Infantry -"

185
 "You're hurt - get to a 
dressing station -"

186
"Forward the French -"

187
"Forward the Americans -"

188
"The enemy's retreating!"

189
The tide of war swept on
 through ghastly, terrible
 months of sacrifice. Then
came the Armistice - peace -
   cheering multitudes wildly
       greeting the first
       returning soldiers.

190
It was months later that
 the straggling survivors
 among the Indians came
 again to their native land.

191
 "We report our return to 
Mr. Halliday - eh?"

192
 "There's nothing out of the 
way! I'm the new Agent, 
that's all."

193
 "Mr. Halliday proved a 
very inefficient man."

194
 "You may be interested to 
know, my friend, that Miss 
Warner has married Captain 
Ramsdell. Yes - in Washington."

195
 "They'll let out a roar when
they learn what's been going 
on. But they'll find I'm boss 
here - and it sticks."

196
 "I didn't have to go across.
Spent my time in trainin' camp,
breakin' in rookies for the
suicide squad - machine guns."

197
"Machine guns!"

198
 "Your field! Don't make
me laugh - it's Booker's
field -"

199
 "Booker took it over for
an 'experimental farm'!"

200
 "Don't be fools. This man 
is an officer and knows what 
he's talking about -"

201
 "Yep - Halliday got a job in
Washington. Couldn't keep 
away from all them filin' cases.
And Booker slipped in while
everyone was busy fightin' the
war."

202
The visions of a shell-
 shocked brain -

203
"Home! Home!"

204
 "Our people all gone - only
me. Booker drive them all 
to bad lands -"

205
Out into the shimmering
  heat of the desert.

206
 "- Booker! He take Gekin
Yasha to his house to work.
She come back to die - calling
for you, Tolie."

207
It seemed then that all the
 teachings of the white race
 fell away from Nophaie -

 Forsaken .... flouted .... utterly
desperate .... he ascended the
tremendous shrine from which
for centuries his people
had prayed to their gods.

208
Dimly remembered rituals,
 learned at his mother's
 knee.

209
Each feather a prayer.
 wafted to Etseastin,
 the Great Spirit.

210
Suddenly the simple faith of
 his fathers seemed a foolish
 thing. He thought of Marian
.... and of Bethlehem ....

211
Clan by clan, the people met
 in the ancient council place
 in the hills.

212
 "While we fight for them, they
steal our homes - our fields! They
kill us slow - why not we die like 
soldiers die?"

213
"Oh, God, help my people!"

214
But this God of the white
 man looked from those
 cold heights beyond the 
stars and let his people 
perish!

215
 "This is indeed a pleasant 
surprise, Miss Warner -"

216
 "- or should I say 
Mrs. Ramsdell?"

217
 "You should not. But Captain
Ramsdell will be here tomorrow
to answer any other questions
you may wish to ask."

218
The ancient signal
 fires of war!

219
 "We go to kill Booker -
and the rest! To burn -"

220
 "You must not go! Can't
you see it would only bring
suffering to ourselves?"

221
At an appointed place.

222
"Nophaie!"

223
"White Desert Rose!"

224
 "Why, Nophaie, I - I'm not
married! I came out to find you
- to tell you some wonderful 
news!"

225
 "The news can wait. Just
tell me you are well - and -
and that - you haven't forgotten 
me, Nophaie!"

226
 "Forgotten, white Desert Rose?
I have carried your memory with 
me always. In a dark world it 
was the only light. Then it
seemed that even you turned
your face from me."

227
 "No, no! As you rode away -
then I knew - knew - that I could
only count the days until you
would come back to me!"

228
 "Stop that squalling! Don't
be scared! With this machine
gun we'll mow 'em down like 
grass!"

229
 "You can't turn that on my 
people - it's murder!"

230
 "I'll stop them - I promise
you! They'll listen to me!"

231
 "There must be no more 
killing! I will talk to them!"

232
 "Nophaie, please, please
don't go!"

233
 "These are my people.
They will not harm me."

234
"Come close to me, Do Etin ...."

235
 ".... and you .... Maahasenie
.... and Shoie ...."

236
 ".... Big Water .... Tolie ....
head men of all the clans ...."

237
 "It grows dark .... dark.
But through .... a veil ....
I seem to see our people
.... coming .... home ..."

238
 "Nophaie dies .... and the
dying speak true words."

239
 "Read to me .... White
Desert Rose ...."

240
"I ... think ... I understand ..."

241
 "- and as a special favor I
asked to be allowed to bring 
the order. It comes too late to 
depose Booker, but just in time
to name the new Agent: Bart
Wilson, whom you all know 
and respect."

242
-- for races of men come --
and go. But the mighty stage 
remains.

243
THE END