White Feather
Real Name: White Feather
Identity/Class: Normal human/Mystic
Occupation: Seems to help at the S-ranch and with the deputying
Affiliations: Arendsoog (Bob Stanhope)
Enemies: Mostly prejudice, in addition to all enemies of Bob.
Known Relatives: White Beaver (father)
Aliases: White, Black Owl
Base of Operations: S-Ranch, Mining Valley, Arizona
First Appearance: Arendsoog #1 (1935)
Powers/Abilities: White Feather´s senses seem to be at least as keen as possible for a human being. His hearing is incredible, he can hear a horse arriving, while sitting in the living room of the S-ranch during a rain storm, and identify it as the sound of a single horse, and one that is ridden. His knowledge of the use of plants for medical purposes is greater than that of most 19th century doctors.
In addition to that he has some more or less mystic abilities, he has "feelings" warning him for danger and such. More clearly is the fact that when Bob was falsely reported dead White Feather managed to discover in a trance with certainty on which side of death his best friend could be found. It may well be that his coversion to the Roman Catholic faith kept him from using those mystic abilities to find out more.
His English is not perfect, but he is not ignorant in that either. "What are Attorney-General?" "You know what is a Secretary of State for Justice?" nod- that kind of weird mixture of knowledge and ignorance.
White Feather is not a bad shot either. He is a master when it comes to stealthy movement. To him and his student liberating by stealth six prisoners held by a gang of a 25 armed outlaws, is easy, hardly a challenge. White Feather's tracking abilities are roughly on the same level. He is a great rider and a greater horse trainer. His horse has been trained to become unrideable except for on command, but is mostly described as following Lightfeet.
History: White Feather was a Native American ally of the crimefighting cowboy Arendsoog.
Comments: White Feather’s history is mostly a mystery; it is not even known to which of the native peoples he belonged. They seemed to live in Arizona, but whether they were native Arizonans, or recent immigrants there was never clarified. It seems that the characters in the series know it, but they never mention the name of the people. He is from the start of the series Bob's friend, their friendship develops in something like kinship.
Initially White Feather was described more or less as a savage, who needed to be baptized and all by a Roman Catholic missionary. His good but savage nature was contrasted both with the bad guys and with Bob's civilized Christian goodness. Bob stopped White Feather killing a bad guy, who had done enough despicable deeds to perhaps justify killing him. In the later books White Feather grew into a more human character and their world became one that was clearly a White Man's World. Prejudice and discrimination against Native Americans was that bad that White Feather could not even go and help with a train disaster to prevent rumors about "them Injuns" doing it. In their world a bi-racial friendship between men is that rare that the friends are often recognized by the combination of their races, even if they have assumed false identities.
Profile submitted by Theodoor Westerhof.
CLARIFICATIONS: None
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
All images and characters depicted on this site are copyright their respective holders, and are used for informational purposes only. No infringement is intended and copyrights remain at source.