Published: July 06, 2008 04:52 pm            

John Watson: ‘Big Bear’ opens museum to honor Indians

Some time back I met Leonard “Big Bear” Beal through our mutual association with the Johnson County Historical Commission. Big Bear is a member of one of the Cherokee Indian Tribes.

As we became better acquainted he started telling about the Indian Museum he is setting up near Grandview. I recently visited the museum just to see what all he had.

First, I’ll let him tell a little about himself.

“My name is Leonard Beal, known as Leonard Big Bear, name given to me by my mother at birth — 4-24-’23. Mom was American Native (Cherokee), Father white.

“I am one of the Chiefs of the Lumbee Nation, Calif. — 11 years. My wife is full Navajo; her name is Anna. I have four military discharges: National Guard, Marines, Navy World War II, and Navy Reserves. I retired locomotive engineer — Santa Fe — 1971, policeman, ’45-’50, wrestled professionally 1950-51, 32nd degree Mason, Scottish Rite, Long Beach, Shrine Al Malaikah, VFW Lomita. I and my wife worked in lots of movies.”

His mother and grandfather were both doctors.

When we arrived at the museum, I thought Leonard would take us directly to the Indian artifacts, but he took my wife and me to a side room where he had several sewing machines, many of them the old treadle type, and some of the early portable sewing machines.

He next showed us a collection of saddles, and then we went into the first section of the museum. This section contains many old antiques and memorabilia from his movie-making days.

In his early days in the movies, he worked with such stars as John Wayne and Chill Wills. In later years he appeared with Andy Griffith in Matlock. His wife Anna also worked in the movies. She once worked with Whoopie Goldberg in “Baghdad Café.”

A sign on the wall read: “Dance – 10 cents.”

“When I was growing up, the speakeasy, as they called them, beer joints today, the girls used to come in and sit around the wall every Saturday night,” said Big Bear. “You could go in there and get 50 cents worth of tickets, that’s five tickets, and then you would pick out a girl and ask, “Would you like to dance.” She would get up because she got a ticket, and you would dance. Maybe you would get one of the other girls the next time. At the end of the night she would get a nickel, and the speakeasy would get a nickel for each ticket. A lot of people do not know about that today, but I do because I grew up with it.”

On one table is a guitar made from a cigar box. I had heard that my uncles made cigar-box guitars during the Depression just to have something to play, but this was the first one I had actually seen. Big Bear made the cigar box guitar in 1988.

Off to one side is a large, toy, metal truck and an old Ford Tri-Plane, which he played with as a child.

The next section of the museum houses Indian artifacts. Here are display cases full of flint arrowheads and spearheads along with bows and spears displayed above the cases.

He pointed out one particular bow and said, “That bow I made when I was 12 years old in Boy Scout Troop No. 2, Texarkana, Texas. The scouts will be here July 26 for a visit. I will be glad to show them my card that I was in the Boy Scouts when I was 12 years old; I’m 85 now.”

Another case displays beaded moccasins. One display shows the leather for a moccasin when it is first cut out and still flat. The next display shows how the beadwork is put on the leather before it is formed into a moccasin. The moccasins on display were made by Mrs. Whiteshield of Clinton, Okla.

He showed one pair of moccasins that were well worn and said he wore them out dancing all over the world — Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico City and Hawaii.

Near one side of the room hangs a large, feather headdress. The feathers on each side must hang down almost six feet. The headdress is made from eagle feathers.

“It is against the law to buy, sell, own or posses eagle feathers if you are not classified as American Indian,” Big Bear said. “In 1972 Jimmy Carter made a proclamation giving the American Indian religious freedom and the use of eagle feathers. Up until that time we didn’t have religious freedom. I used to get onto them and tell them, ‘I walk down the street and see you with a cross on, that’s your religion, I’m all for you. When you see me with my eagle feathers, leave me alone, that’s my religion.’”

Sitting on the floor nearby are two Navajo cradle boards and more cradle boards from various tribes hang on the wall.

Another display case contains Indian jewelry made from turquoise and coral. The coral comes from Italy, but there is a trading post in Gallup, N.M. that Bear has traded with for twenty five or thirty years. Some of the jewelry is also made from silver. Bear is an accomplished silversmith and has taught silver working.

This is just a partial description of the items presently in the museum. There are two large shipping containers at the back of the museum that are full of collectibles and antiques he brought with him from California in 2002. The museum is a work in progress.

The museum is located at 8125 County Road 409 near Grandview. There is no admission charge, but you might call ahead to be sure someone will be there. The number is 817-866-3400.



John Watson is a Cleburne

resident who can be reached at texastraveler@sbcglobal.net.

        

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