Indian Pipe. Flat

Catalog numbers E1762, a flat pipe; E2483, a red stone pipe; and E2464, a woven sash. The flat pipe was collected by Thomas L. McKenney, and may be Sioux. This pipe may have also been presented as a gift to President James Monroe by Iowa chief White Cloud, who visited Washington, D.C. in 1824. The sash was identified by Deborah Harding in 2007, as a fingerwoven sash with diamond and chevron patterns, two rows of s-twist twining at each end, and two-ply twisted fringes. The red stone pipe and the sash were collected from the Missouri River Valley and were formerly part of the U.S. Department of War collections. --- FROM CARD [referring to #s E1758 through E1967]: 1758-61 FROM WAR DEPT & NAT. INS. 1762-67 FROM SIOUX. INCLUDED AMONG THESE MAY BE FOLLOWING ITEMS; LISTED IN THE ORIGINAL CATALOG OF JOHN VARDEN'S WASHINGTON MUSEUM, (IN SMITHSONIAN ARCHIVES): "JUNE-JULY 1836 INDIAN PIPE STEM (NO. 201 OF CATALOG) FROM OSCAR MISE". "MARCH 1839 2 PIPE STEMS FROM THE OLD STOCK OF GENERAL CLARK OF ST. LOUIS FROM THE ROCKEY MOUNTAINS," OBTAINED FROM HENRY F. FLAG, WHILE VARDEN WAS IN NEW ORLEANS. HOWEVER, THESE OLD VARDEN COLLECTION SPECIMENS MIGHT HAVE BEEN THOSE INCLUDED IN CAT. NOS. 1771-77 (WHICH SEE)."

FROM CARD: "'FROM THE SIOUX' - CAT. BOOK. RED, BROWN, AND WHITE QUILLS; HORSE-HAIR STREAMERS. DECORATION OF HORSE'S HOOF PRINTS ON ONE SIDE OF QUILL WORK. Paper tag [barely legible] afixed to this pipestem by J. [sic, should be T.] L. McKenney: 'This pipe was (...) by White Cloud, an loway Chief (...) Secretary of War on the (4th) August 1824 (...) depation (...) in the (...) Rock (River? or Island? ) (...) TL McK'. Loaned to Political History Div. July 18, 1974"

ACCORDING TO JOHN EWERS ("PIPES FOR THE PRESIDENTS", AMERICAN INDIAN ART MAGAZINE 6(3), 1981, P.65: "A HANDSOME PIPE STEM, RECEIVED BY PRESIDENT MONROE FROM WHITE CLOUD, AN IOWA CHIEF WHO VISITED WASHINGTON IN 1824, IS PRESERVED IN THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION .#1762.."

As of 2011, the paper tag/label glued onto the pipe stem is pretty much illegible, even when examined under black light and other types of light sources and magnification at the Smithsonian Museum Conservation Institute (see attached Imaging Report MCI #6356). The label does seem to have parallel lines around the margin, and this is consistent with certain tags and labels which are with other John Varden artifacts and which appear to be in Varden's hand. For example, see labels with E5469 and E5470.