Nomination for Antiques Roadshow.

Cabot’s Old Indian Pueblo Museum was built, in part, to house Cabot’s Yerxa’s collections of Native American artifacts. The collection is an eclectic mix of art, Navajo rugs, newspapers from the Alaska gold rush, Inuit artifacts, a grizzly bear rug, rare books, and photographs taken of the Gathering of Chiefs in 1903, when Red Cloud stepped down in favor of his son. There are beaded moccasins worn by William Tompkins “Sign Talking Eagle,” a childhood friend of Cabot’s, 800-year-old Anasazi pottery from Chaco Canyon, a saddle from the US Camel Corps, a chair that belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody and a telephone from the 1890’s that is still operational.

Rooms full of artifacts are slowly being archived by volunteers; there is really no end in sight. Recently we found a box of microfilm that recorded almost 40 years of issues from the local newspaper, The Desert Sentinel. We were fortunate that Heritage Microfilm scanned it for us free of charge. The Desert Sentinel has now been added to the Newspaper Archive, an online database, in searchable PDF format.

We believe that the collection has real value both to the community and to the general public. Letters and photographs shed light on the experience of being a pioneer in an inhospitable desert. Household items show the developments in domestic technology.

Later newspaper clippings show the development of a mid-twentieth century town planned as a health community. Across the street from the pueblo is Angel’s View, a treatment center for children with polio. Today polio is practically extinct, but in the early days of Desert Hot Springs, people afflicted with asthma, arthritis and polio flocked to the therapeutic baths and clean air of the desert town. All of these artifacts and documents weave together to tell a story about a community and the very real human beings who inhabited it; real estate developers and crippled children, eccentric builders, vacationing movie stars and Indian chiefs.

For purposes of your consideration, we have limited this to 5 photos: 1. “Waokiye,” is the 27th of the “Whispering Giants” series by Hungarian-born sculptor Peter “Wolf” Toth. “Waokiye,” meaning “Traditional Helper” in Lakota, is turning 30 this year. During a 21-year period (1971-1992) Toth carved 67 giant Native American heads; at least one in each of the 50 states plus several in Canada. Waokiye was made from a 750-year old Sequoia redwood that had been struck by lightning in the mid-1950s. Toth used power tools for the rough shaping, and then set to work with a #5 chisel and a hammer. All of the work was done on site. The finished face is 22 feet high, eight feet in diameter and weighs 20 tons. The feather is made from an Incense Cedar from Idyllwild, it is 15 feet tall, four feet with and one-and –a-half feet thick. The pedestal is 5 feet tall, extends 4 feet into the earth and is made of 2,000 pounds of steel and 33 yards of cement. Local rocks decorate the outside surface. The overall height of the sculpture – base, face and feather - is 43 feet.

2. “Two-Faced White Man” by Chief Paul Semu. The Two-Faced White Man was carved from a living willow tree by Chief Paul Semu of the Chumash tribe for Cabot Yerxa c. 1955. It is approximately 51/2 feet tall. This sculpture serves as a warning to live right. The large snake represents the tendency to allow the

desires of the flesh to put the spiritual aspect of life out of balance. The oversized ears represent man’s tendency to put too much importance on the outside world and gossip. The closed eye represents the human tendency to turn a blind eye to the wrongs one’s own family might be committing while the open eye represents the tendency to scrutinize the affairs of others. The closed mouth represents the hypocrisy of saying nothing about the failings of one’s own family while the open mouth spreads rumors.

3. Beaker from Chaco Canyon. This unusual piece of Black-on-White pottery is believed to come from the Anasazi culture of Chaco Canyon c. 1075 - 1150 ce, Late Pueblo II. 4. Santa Clara Pueblo Pitcher. This Black Ware Pitcher from Santa Clara is undated. We selected it based on its unusual design.

5. Eskimo Doll. This doll was from Cabot Yerxa’s collection. We believe that he acquired it in Alaska, possibly in Cape Prince of Wales, c. 1904