The snake dancers who appeared in McCoy’s aftershow for Ringling were mostly Hopis. The live rattlesnakes they used were obtained from “Snake” King in Brownsville, Texas. (Wasn’t that Manuel King’s father?) The snakes cost $5.00 each and were received in monthly shipments of twelve at a time. (McCoy never explained why the rattlesnakes needed to be replaced so often. Perhaps they didn’t survive very long while on the road or maybe they escaped on a regular basis!) McCoy’s aftershow also included trick shooting, trick roping, Australian whip cracking, and an impalement artist who, while blindfolded, threw battle-axes at his two nieces, splitting apples on their heads. Incidentally, the tall man standing fourth from the left is Iron Eyes Cody, the famous Indian actor who is probably best remembered today as the Indian with a tear in his eye from the TV commercials about roadside litter prevention. |
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
Col. Tim McCoy #6
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Toward the end of Iron Eyes life it was revealed he was of Italian ancestry.Born Espera Oscar De Corti in Kaplan,Louisiana.His parents were from Sicily.
I saw him in 1987 in a St.Patricks day parade in Hollywood,California.
He was honored late in his career for his portrayal of Indians.
By whom was he honored for his portrayal ?
Paul Gutheil
Maybe they (rattlesnakes) were eaten. Tastes like chicken!
The weak assertion of Iron Eyes being Italian-American was made by his supposed half-sister, May Abshire (born 1916). The New Orleans Times-Picayune for Sunday, May 26, 1996, reported “May recalls that even as a youth Iron Eyes would dress up as an Indian and lead neighborhood boys in outdoor games. ‘He always said he wanted to be an Indian.’" The article also explains that the parents had separated, the mother remarried, and the three boys from the first marriage (including Iron Eyes) were soon with their father in Texas. This Italian father died in 1924 when Iron Eyes would have been 20 and his half-sister only 8 year old. Her ability to remember her older half-brother playing Indian “as a youth” before the family separated suggests she would have been younger than 8 and so seriously questions her credibility. There is enough evidence to suggest that the supposed half-sister had three step-brothers but there is absolutely no documentation to connect them to Iron Eyes Cody other than her own claim seventy years later. She would have been less than eight with more than ten siblings to distinguish in her young mind during an era when a child playing Indian was common. To date, no one has attempted to document Iron Eyes’ claim that he was born in Oklahoma and that the parents he claims existed, his father even having worked for Buffalo Bill. No wonder Iron Eyes’ New York Times obituary was smart enough to reference but not simply accept the assertion. That is why it is said to be a “newspaper of record.” And, interestingly, at the time of Times-Picayune's 1996 article, none of the wire services picked it up the story, suggesting some skepticism about the Times-Picayune reporting. But the internet, including Wikipedia, asserts and accepts that Iron Eyes was of Italian heritage. Sources need to be evaluated and questioned by historians, not just accepted.
Dick Flint
Baltimore
P.S. Perhaps another tear is now going down Iron Eyes face.
He was honored in 1995.This for his contributions to the Indian community.From the Idians.In Hollywood this per bio info on him.Not me!!
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