The effect of scenery upon the mind of man has often been noticed and
much has been written about it. Illustrations of this are generally
drawn from the historic lands and from the ancient people of the East.
The civilized races, such as the Greeks, Romans and other nations who
formerly dwelt on the coast of the Mediterranean, are taken as
examples. The Greeks are said to have owed their peculiar character
and their taste for art to the varied and beautiful scenery which
surrounded them. Their mythology and poetry are full of allusions to
the scenes of nature. Mountains and springs, rivers and seas all come
in as the background of the picture which represents their character
and history. The same is true of the Romans, Egyptians, Phenicians,
Syrians, Hebrews, the ancient Trojans and Carthaginians. Each one of
these nations seems to have been affected by scenery. They were all,
with the exception of the Carthaginians, confined within the limits of
a narrow territory, and remained long enough in it to have partaken
fully of the effect of their surroundings.
The Romans were warlike at the beginning, and bore the air of
conquerors, but their taste for art and literature resembled that of
the Greeks. The Egyptians were sensuous and luxurious people. Their
character bore the stamp of the river Nile with its periodical
overflow, its rich soil and mild climate. The type of their religion
was drawn from the gods who inhabited the same river valley. The
Phenicians were a maritime people; they were the first navigators who
reached the great seas. Their gods resembled those of the Assyrians
and Chaldeans, but their character resembled the seas over which they
roved; they did not originate, but they transported the products and
inventions of the ancient world.
The Hebrews had a national character which seemed to have been
narrowed down to a small compass by their isolation and by their
history, but their religion was as grand as the mountains of the
desert, and their poetry as beautiful as the scenery along the river
Jordan, which ran as a great artery through their land. It was a holy
land which gave impress to the Holy Book. The effect of scenery upon
human character is also illustrated in the case of the ancient
inhabitants of America. This land was isolated from the rest of the
world for many centuries--perhaps for thousands of years. It is
supposed that up to the time of the discovery the tribes were
permanent in their seats.
Each tribe had its own habitat, its own customs, its own mythology and
its own history. The effect of scenery must be considered, if we are
to understand the peculiarities which mark the different tribes. Some
imagine that the Indians are all alike, that they are all cruel
savages, all given to drunkenness and degradation and only waiting
their opportunity to wreak their vengeance upon helpless women and
children. Those who know them, however, are impressed with the great
variety which is manifest among them, and are especially convinced
that much of this comes from the scenery amid which they have lived.
The Eastern tribes may have had considerable sameness, yet the
Algonquins, who were the prairie Indians, and the Iroquois, who dwelt
in the forest and amid the lakes of New York, differed from one
another in almost every respect, and the Sioux and Dakotas, who were
also prairie Indians, differed from both of these. They were great
warriors and great hunters, but had a system of religion which
differed from that of any other tribe.
The Sioux were cradled amid the mountains of the East, and bear the
same stamp of their native scenery. They resemble the Iroquois in many
respects. The same is true of the Cherokees, who were allied to the
Iroquois in race and language. They were always mountain Indians; but
the Southern tribes were very different from either. They were a
people who were well advanced in civilization so far as the term can
be applied to the aborigines. Their skulls are without angles and
differ greatly from the keel-shaped skulls. They were dolichocephalic
rather than kumbocephalic. They resemble the Polynesians, while the
northern tribes resembled the Mongolians. Whatever their original home
was, their adopted habitat was in accord with their tastes and
character. It did not change them but rather made their traits more
permanent and stable.
The tribes of the northwest coast were seafarers; they inhabited the
forest and worshiped the animals which were peculiar to the forest and
took as their totems the eagle, wolf and raven, but they drew their
subsistence in great part from the sea. They worshiped the animals of
the seas, such as the shark, the whale and the sculpin. Their skill
and courage as navigators have never been equaled. Taking their
families and the few articles of commerce gathered from the forest
they entered the symmetrical and beautifully carved canoes and
breasted the storms and waves of the great sea near which they lived.
There was a wildness in the waves which just suited them. The sea
brought out the best traits and developed the heroic character. They
were the "sea kings" of the Northwest. They were great navigators and
great hero worshipers.
The tribes of the interior, the Pueblos, the Zunis, differed from all
other tribes. They were surrounded by wild tribes, such as the
Apaches, Comanches and Navajoes. Whatever their origin, they had
remained long enough in this territory to be affected by the scenery
and surroundings. They were mild, luxurious, given over to religious
ceremonies, made much of mythology and had many secret societies. They
built their terraced houses, taking the cliffs and mesas as their
patterns, and made them so similar to the rock and cliffs that it was
difficult to recognize them at a distance. They did not mould the
mountains into villages as the Mayas did, but they made their houses
to conform to the mountains, and took the mountain gods and their
nature divinities as chief objects of worship.
The contrast between the ancient tribes of this region and the wild
tribes which intruded upon them was very great. The Navajoes were a
mountain people and drew their religion from the mountains. They
borrowed many myths and customs from the ancient Pueblos, and like
them, settled down to an agricultural life; but their sand paintings
and their ceremonies reveal a taste for art and a poetical imagination
which are very remarkable. The lone Indian who places his wigwam in
the midst of the mountains seems to be always a stranger. The scenery
has no effect upon him. It makes his spirit sad and his music
plaintive, for he breathes out his spirit in his music. He never has
had and never will have the character which some of his ancestors
cultivated amid the wild scenes. His race is doomed; his fate is
sealed. He can never catch up with the progress of the time.
The railroad is bound to take the place of the Indian trail; the
miners' cabin must supplant the Indian wigwam. Great cities will rise
near where ancient villages stood, but the savage fails to appreciate
the thought or the character of the people who have supplanted him.
The wigwam amid the mountains is a symbol of what he is, but the
locomotive at its side is an emblem of progress and of promise to
those who will use their opportunities. The mountains are in the
background--they suggest the possibilities which are before the
settler. They interpose barriers, but the barriers themselves are
fraught with good influences. Freedom has always dwelt among the
mountains. Reverence for the Almighty has also prevailed. The leveling
process must cease and man become more elevated in his thoughts as he
rises to the altitude of these great heights.--The American
Antiquarian.
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