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The
mightly Indian Confederacy has left its lasting influence
on the development of our country. We in this area are
particularly fortunate to be walking on the hallowed
ground of the Oneidas, one of the five original nations
of the strongest of all American Indian alliances.
We are certain that the many events which occurred
in the hills, valleys, woods, and streams of this country
side played an important and significant part in local,
as well as national history. Of the many recorded events
and legends of early days, there is one of specific
interest to the American Management Association and
its friends. It is the story of the great White Eagle.
This revered and honored leader of the bird kingdom
is the official emblem of the American Management Association,
and Indian tales inform us of a white eagle’s
home on the Northwest shore of Lake Moraine in what
is now known as the AMA Grove. The many strong characteristics
that have made the eagle honored and respected all over
the world give universal meaning to it as a symbol.
Because the white eagle exemplifies all of the finer
qualities found in the eagle family, he stands in all
of his regal splendor as the spirit of AMA.
Realize, if you will, that you are now living in the
land of the mightly Iroquois and witness with us "The
sign of the White Eagle."
"Brothers of the Iroquois, I come in peace. Look
not to the knife in your belt not the hatchet of war.
Let me draw near to your fire; in its light you will
see that my face is not painted for battle. I hold out
this hand in friendship, but take it not; it is the
hand of a spirit. Harken to me and open your ears to
what I have to say. I come to you in peace from the
great Castle of Spirits where your forefathers dwell,
where darkness has driven from the Heavens and the light
of Full Harvest shines over all and forever."
"White Eagle dwells here once again and guards
this place as once he did before I was a spirit. Again
he brings these things to all who look to him: integrity,
resourcefulness, judgment, keenness of vision. Brothers,
take him for your sign. See how he sheds the darkness
and appears as Hiawatha and the wise men saw him-THERE!"
With sincere appreciation to Joe Huther whose dedication
and loyalty captured and preserved this legend.
L.A.A. |
In
1955, the late H.K. Bowers was the Division Manager
of the White Eagle Division of Socony–Vacuum.
At the time I was in Kansas City, he was a salesman.
When the AMA opened in the Grove, I wrote and told Mr.
Bowers about the White Eagle globe and asked him if
there were any others. He found one other that is slight
different in shape. More significantly, however, he
discovered the original iron eagle after which White
Eagle Petroleum was named and all the pump globes modeled.
This beautiful fellow adorns the pedestal at the foot
of the flagpole on the Grove waterfront (just beside
Seneca Cottage)
That same Summer, the American Management Association
moved into the Astor Hotel on Times Square in New York
City, taking over three and one-half of its floor. Part
of the tenth floor, that the AMA had completely remodeled
for its meeting room facilities, had been occupied by
the famous Belvedere Room, the Astor’s night club.
The Belvedere Room was opened on April 22, 1904, which
is the day on which I was born. Over the bandstand at
that time was placed a huge white eagle with its wing
spread wide. Hearing of our interest in eagles, the
management of the Astor gave us this fellow and now
he appears within the black, electrified iron fence
enclosure at the main entrance to the Grove.
In
the early days of the construction and development of
the Grove and other AMA properties on Lake Moraine,
many of our furnishings were in early American antiques.
Mrs. Appley and I continually shopped the antique centers
of Central New York State. In the course of our antique
shopping, I was cluttered room of one unique place when
I discovered, up in the rafters, a dust-covered Indian
Chief. I purchased it for $35. Some weeks later, I took
it to an art shop in Utica to have it cleaned and framed,
only to be startled when the proprietor identified it
to his wife as the long-sought original of Katie Fisher's
"Indian Chief, White Eagle"—many copies
of which are in existence throughout these Central New
York Valleys. Offered a sum many times what I paid for
it, I obviously clung to it with some emotion. It now
hangs in White Eagle Lodge on the wall opposite the
fireplace and lighted by the twenty-four hour glow of
the original pump globe.
Let us not yet stop this story. My Mother, Mrs. Joseph
E. Appley of Basking Ridge, New Jersey, visited the
AMA Grove in the Summer of 1957, just preceding her
86th birthday, and heard the story of the white eagles.
Thrilled as she was, it was obvious that something was
tugging at the depths of her memory. Upon her return
home, she went to my father’s library and in it
found a book from my Grandfathers library, which is
a government study of Indians and printed in the late
Nineteenth Century. In this book is the history of Chief
White Eagle, which discloses that he was originally
one of the famous seven Omaha Chiefs, who later came
to the Iroquois Confederacy to discover the secret of
their successful government. He remained here as a part
of it.
"I come to you from the Castle of your Ancestors,
who hunted here in these rolling hills in the days before
your grandfathers, who fished here in the days before
your grandfathers – here, when this Lake was but
a brook, rushing to join its brother waters in the mighty
Susquehanna."
"Brothers, I am Sadakanahtie, nephew of Hiawatha,
wise man of the Onondagas. My uncle sends me to you;
Hiawatha bids me greet you as he greeted your forefathers
gathered here in council beneath this tree. I, Sadakanahtie,
know this place. It is a Hiawatha said. This was the
sacred ground of the Oneidas. Here, the sachems of the
Five Nations met to trade in wisdom and to forge the
chain of brotherhood. Here met the worthiest of the
Iroquois to plan for the common good, and in their planning
all the nations prospered."
"There was a sign here, brothers, sent by the
Powers beyond the clouds to mark this place. When wise
men made their way to council here, a great White Eagle
came to guard and to guide them. This was the place
of the White Eagle. All nations, East and West, revered
this bird and knew him for a sign."
"Lo" said the Oneida, "The White Eagle
comes to us in council and lends us the strength of
his wings and talons, oh brother Iroquois."
"See how he wheels and soars," said the Seneca.
"The White Eagle is the most alert and resourceful
of all created things. Let us be like him oh brothers!"
"His keen eye pierces the heavens," said
the Cayugas. "He looks beyond the hills, for nothing
escapes him. May our vision be as true and as far, oh
brothers."
"Look to his boldness," said the Mohawk.
"He soars above the clouds and bids us follow him.
Let us be as resolute as the eagle-king and soar to
heights unknown."
"Let him be a mark to us," said Hiawatha,
the Onondaga. "Let all men know this: where the
White Eagle spreads his wings, there will be wise and
fruitful leadership, there will the crafts and skills
of man be used for the good of all."
"Brothers, these were the words of the Iroquois
Chiefs who gathered here to forge the chain of brotherhood
in days before this Lake was born. Now hear this message
sent to you from Powers beyond the clouds; this mark
remains on all who meet in council here."
"Where the white eagle spreads his wings, there
will be wise and fruitful leadership; there will be
crafts and skills of man be used for the good of all!"
(Iroquois legend)
It was my privilege to be with the Socony-Mobil Company
from 1930 to 1941 (at the time, it was the Standard-Vacuum
Oil Company). In the middle '30s, part of my work was
helping to integrate numerous newly purchased subsidiary
companies into the parent organization. For this purpose,
I was in Kansas City, Kansas, for a number of months
with the White Eagle Petroleum Corporation.
On every gasoline pump belonging to White Eagle Petroleum
was a beautiful, molded glass white eagle. One of the
unpleasant duties I had to perform was to get the newly-formed
White Eagle Division of Socony-Vacuum to replace their
eagle pump globes with a rather somber round globe with
the official Socony seal on it. (This was before the
days of the Flying Red Horse). The last evening before
I left the White Eagle Division to return to New York,
a few of my good friends there had a small dinner. The
feature of this dinner was the presentation to me of
one the white eagle pump globes, mounted on a wooden
base and wired for lighting. This was a very precious
souvenir to me and I have valued it greatly through
the years. Even though it came from a subsidiary, it
was one of the symbols of many happy years of affiliation
with a great corporation. The White Eagle organization,
furthermore, was a great group of men.
Much as I wanted to display this eagle pump globe in
a prominent position in my home, I secretly agreed with
Mrs. Appley’s opposition to the idea. The eagle,
therefore, was relegated to the attic of our Summer
cottage in Hamilton and there remained in a tenderly
lined muslin and cotton box until 1955.
It was in 1955 that the American Management Association
opened its headquarters at the AMA Grove on Lake Moraine
in Hamilton, New York. This Grove is adjacent to the
Summer cottage that Mrs. Appley and I have had since
1929. It is difficult to guess what happened when we
discovered that a great Iroquois Indian Chief by the
name of White Eagle once frequented this area and is
said to have held tribal conferences either in, or in
the vicinity of, the AMA Grove? Obviously, the main
Lodge of the Grove was named White Eagle Lodge, and
the white eagle pump globe came out of its seclusion
and found its perch on the huge mantel over the fireplace,
where it is lighted twenty-four hours a day. This, however,
is just the beginning of the story. |