"Old employee, formerly of the Hudson Bay Company" - to Jeff Kopp

[Robert Kentta]

That's interesting history of the term "bit" that I'd never heard an
explanation of before - I grew up hearing people refer to quarters (25 cent
pieces) as "2 bits"- 4 bits is a 50 cent piece.

.......and am I the only one who remembers the old cheer..... "2 bits, 4
bits, 6 bits, a dollar, all for Siletz (or whatever team), stand up and
holler"

Robert Kentta
Siletz Tribe - Cultural Resources



----- Original Message -----
From: "Leanne Riding" <riding at TIMETEMPLE.COM>
To: <CHINOOK at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:12 PM
Subject: Re: "Old employee, formerly of the Hudson Bay Company" - to Jeff
Kopp


> I think I did have a chance to see it, now that you mention it -- and
> took a shot at trying to figure out which one it was... I never got very
> far, though I made some inroads. Seems to me that the approach I took
> was to study the word "bit," gave a specific currency value. I then
> distracted myself by learning a little about the valuation of American
> dimes. Something about how many "bits" was equal to one Spanish Real??
> or another Spanish coin?? Something about a half dime??
>
> Looking for my notes...
> Oh here are my notes...
>
> My notes say:
>
> "The book comes 30 years after 1817, according to the introductionit
> comes after 1847." Can't remember what the introduction said.
>
> I looked at spelling of the word "mar-kook" (was that in there?)but
> decided that this "has been a consistent and popular spelling throughout
> the years." ie. John Jewitt in the early 1800s, Stannard some 50 odd
> years later, Owen Wister "JimmyJohn Boss," 1900. I'm not a linguist
> though, what do I know?
>
> Here is what I wrote about the half dimes:
>
> "The book mentions that "bit" means dimes and half-dimes. This word
> "bit" changes depending on what is in circulation at the time it is
> recorded. Initially, a "bit" was a silver Spanish Reale. One dictionary
> that I have read mentions that the word "bit" meant one dime, or 12 1/2
> cents (the valuation of a Spanish Reale at the time). Apparently the
> Reale circulated up until the late 1850s, when the gold rushes caused
> gold to become more available than silver. The silver Reales were
> hoarded and melted down because they had become more valuable as
> bullion. After 1837, dimes and half dimes became popular. 1873 was the
> last time the half-dime was issued. It became rarer due to hoarding
> during the civil war, but still existed in circulation. So we have
> established a time period of 1847-1873. But it could go on after 1873,
> and anyway, the author might include it out of nostalgia."
>
> Hmmmm... this next part is interesting -- I wonder if I was right about
> the following (not really sure, as I tend to write my notes more
> confidently than I actually feel):
>
> "Here's an important clue: The author mentions that in the last census,
> the number of tribes was numbered at about 50. Well, this is an
> excellent clue. This did not begin until the census of 1880. According
> to the Report of the Superintendent of the Census...1889 (p. 26) "An
> attempt was made...to enumerate [Indians living on reservations] upon a
> very elaborate plan, and many of the tribes, particularly those on the
> west coast, a full enumeration was obtained; but the investigation was
> stopped by the failure of the appropriation, and was not resumed." The
> relevant schedule for this census is the 1880 Questionnaire-Schedule 1,
> "Indian Division". (University of Virginia Geospatial and Statistical
> Data Center. United States Historical Census Data Browser. ONLINE. 1998.
> University of Virginia. Available:
> http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/census/. [Tuesday, January 27, 2004].) In
> 1890 and onward they recorded similar but not quite so extensive
> information, which also included tribal affiliation."
>
> I added to myself: "Therefore, our date is now firmly fixed 1880 or later.
> Mr. Eels also helped here. He lived in Union City at the time."
>
> Wonder what I meant by "here" -- with the Census, or with the book???.
> That part could be pure speculation, or wrong.
>
> I add, "Perhaps our little booklet was created for the purpose of
> interviewing a native person for the next census."
>
> and "I'm wondering if this might not be written by John Kelly, an
> interpreter who did work for the US department of education regarding
> Alaska in 1889-1890."
>
> So I think, what I was about to decide, before I quite writing my notes,
> was that the booklet was put together as part of the "very elaborate
> plan" of carrying out the 1880 census. I am unsure why I mentioned
> Eells, or why I thought that John Kelly might have been involved with
> the book.
>
> - Leanne :)
>
>
> Jeffrey Kopp wrote:
>
> > Whoa, great detective work, guys!
> >
> > When did the "Our Roots" project appear, and how is it related to
> > canadiana.org?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jeff
> >
> > P.S. Perhaps I should put up the "Houts mystery dictionary" again for
> > possible identification; Francisc never got to see it. and am not sure
> > Leanne has--although it is almost certainly from outside her
> > neighborhood (looks like southern Puget Sound).
>
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>

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