The mural, over the bar at the Detroit Athletic Club, is a good mural. I remember the unveiling of it very well, and the unveiling of murals in those days was not an every year event.

The artists were invited. Clyde Burroughs and I were the committee to see that the right artists came and behaved themselves at this cultural event.

First we knew it should be a dress affair, tuxedos were in order. We knew a few artists owned such an article so we decided to go in our regular clothes and say nothing to the artists about dress--artists are touchy about being told what to wear--but we guessed wrong, because Clyde and I were the only ones there with regular clothes on. Every other artist had rented or borrowed tuxes and was the best-dressed artists I had seen for years, but they had lost all of their character and you couldn't tell them from the D.A.C. members. When artists wore a uniform, which tuxes really are, they lose something and artists should realize that fact.

Eventually the mural was unveiled, and after quite a few informal speeches, the picture was accepted. The drinks were passed around and the artists and members of the club discussed the mural. After about six, the discussion become more of a critique as a painting done by somebody else had a bad effect on an artist, especially if he has had a few drinks.

This affair kept right on--more free drinks, more talk--more drinks, more talk--until it looked like the artists were going to stay all night. The D.A.C. members could only stand so much art talk, so the house committee turned the lights off for a moment (about four times) and the artists eventually took the hint, gathered up their coats and proceeded back to the Scarab Club to argue about the artistic value of the picture--a practice that makes being an artist worthwhile.

The mural artist, Dean Cornwell, who came back to the club, eventually gave us some inside information on the mural and it was very interesting to me. It seems he started the mural with a lot of research. He found that the Indians used few of their won feathers and blankets when going to a meeting with the soldiers--they wore red coats, high hats and boots acquired by trading their furs for them. An Indian would trade anything he owned for liquor or the soldier's old uniform. It was a shame as the Indian costume with his feathers, deer skin outfits with beads and furs made about as picturesque outfits as you will find any place in the world.

So this picture might not be historically correct, but the artist painted it as the average person would like to see it. I think that's the right thing to do, and artists and writers of history have done it all through the ages. This is a good thing for students of history to remember when we use our history books for judging people and facts in our studies.

One thing that bothered the mural committee was an Indian pony, in the foreground, looking inward towards the center of the picture. They thought some D.A.C. members might make smart remarks about the rear end of the pony. The artist turned the pony around, maybe spoiling the composition a little, but removed what is some times called a conversation piece.