THE PEN WITH WHICH ROOSEVELT SIGNED THE FIRE CLAIMS BILL OF HAWAII.
Washington, Jan. 23. The pen with which the President signed the Hawaiian Fire Claims Bill [Bila Poho Ahi Hawaii] is a remarkable pen. This pen was made from the quill of a feather of a wild eagle, and that feather was taken from a war headdress of a wild Arapaho Indian. This pen is now in the care of Pratt to be placed in the Bishop Museum of Kamehameha in Honolulu.
This pen was gifted to the Hon. William A. Richards, a former Governor of Wyoming, and currently a Commissioner of Public Lands [Aina Aupuni]. This feather was taken by Richards from the headdress of an Arapaho Indian 18 years ago. He thought it was the right time for this feather to be put to some important use for Hawaii, therefore, he ordered one of the workers in his office to fashion the feather into a pen. Let it be remembered that this person who was given the feather to make a pen is a man of much seniority who was working in that office for fifty-one years.
(Aloha Aina, 2/7/1903, p. 1)
Ke Aloha Aina, Buke IX, Helu 6, Aoao 1. Feberuari 7, 1903.
Filed under: Government, Law Tagged: Arapaho, Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bila Poho Ahi, Bishop Museum, Fire Claims Bill, J. G. Pratt, Joseph G. Pratt, Theodore Roosevelt, William A. Richards
