‘Australian Friends of Karl May’ is a place where the enduring success of Karl May’s stories can be discussed, dissected, elaborated, or simply admired.
It’s a place where his life and work can be researched, questions can be asked, and hopefully answered by other Karl May enthusiasts among us.
It’s a place where we try and link ‘Australian Friends of Karl May’ with places where English language Karl May books and texts are available.
It’s a place where his friends are encouraged to translate Karl May into English – it’s a labour of love and the only reward at the end will be entry into a very exclusive club – the club of translators and friends of Karl May. It’s a place with room for any and all interests in Karl May, his life, his work, his stories, his characters, his wives, his adversaries, his time, his visions, most of all his ‘Edelmensch’ – the envisaged ‘noble human’.
It’s a place where his life and work can be researched, questions can be asked, and hopefully answered by other Karl May enthusiasts among us.
It’s a place where we try and link ‘Australian Friends of Karl May’ with places where English language Karl May books and texts are available.
It’s a place where his friends are encouraged to translate Karl May into English – it’s a labour of love and the only reward at the end will be entry into a very exclusive club – the club of translators and friends of Karl May. It’s a place with room for any and all interests in Karl May, his life, his work, his stories, his characters, his wives, his adversaries, his time, his visions, most of all his ‘Edelmensch’ – the envisaged ‘noble human’.
What about Karl May and Australia?
Mate...be prepared for a surprise...Karl May tells us that "He [Sir David Lindsay - 1856-1922] went to Australia on my advice to cross the continent on camels..."
Mate...be prepared for a surprise...Karl May tells us that "He [Sir David Lindsay - 1856-1922] went to Australia on my advice to cross the continent on camels..."
and this:
When Egon Erwin Kish visits Villa Shatterhand on the 9th May, 1910, Kisch describes the interior of May’s villa and among other things the decoration of the hallway (E.E.Kisch: "Hetzjagd durch die Zeit", Aufbau Taschenbuch Verlag Berlin 1994, p. 85).
“Die Diele betont allerwildestes Wildwest, betont Prairie und Indianerdorf. Mit Tigerfellen ist die Wand drapiert und mit dem Kopf eines Elentiers, Tomahawks und Bumerangs kreuzen sich, doppellaeufige Gewehre und vierschneidige Tigermesser, Lassos und Zaumzeug umschlingen Jagdtrophaen, Schirwans, Mocassins und alles Uebrige, was zur stilgemaessen Ausruestung eines ruhmreichen Trappers gehoert.”
"The hallway emphasizes the wildest of Wild West, emphasizes prairie and Indian village. The wall is draped with tiger skins and the head of an elk, tomahawks and boomerangs cross over each other, double-barreled rifles and four-edged tiger knives, lassos and horse bridles wrap around hunting trophies, oriental rugs, moccasins and anything else that is relevant to the equipment of a famous trapper."
... and did you know that there are six boomerangs in the Karl May Museum? That Karl May connection couldn't be more Australian.
Karl May has never been out of print in over 130 years, yet he is virtually unknown in the English speaking realm. Why? Karl May himself refused English translations because "Santer's son would have found where the Nugget Tsil was and discover the gold nuggets."
Personally, I think the gold is right under our noses...his charming, captivating, moving, awe-inspiring, thought-provoking, spirited tales of a world where humanity is shown a glimpse into the age of the 'Edelmensch', the next step in the human race's evolution where love, respect, individuality, and above all, peace, finds its due reward and recognition.
Karl May double portrait courtesy of Carl-Heinz Dömken, Karl May Society, Germany
Karl May is a phenomenon unique in the literary world. From the beginning his books have been translated into almost all European languages (some into English), and his stories recently reached Indonesia, China, Japan and other lands. Today his books are available in over thirty languages - Chinese being the latest one.
He created captivating, moving adventure stories in a mix of fiction and fact, that range from the quaint German folk tale, to exotic fables for the young and young at heart, early titillating romances, and travel memoirs, to his famous creations of the Orient cycle with himself as the main character Kara Ben Nemsi and his side-kick Hadschi Halef Omar, to arguably his greatest humanistic creation of Winnetou the Apache Chief, blood-brother of Old Shatterhand, again being Karl May's alter ego.
Karl Friedrich May was born on 25 February 1842 into abject poverty as the fifth of fourteen children to Heinrich August May and Christine Wilhelmine Weise, impoverished weavers, in Saxon’s Ernstthal, Germany. Of the fourteen children, nine died under the age of two years of age. One lived to the age of twenty-five, another to forty-three. His sister Karoline Wilhelmine May lived to ninety-six and died in 1945, and Christiane Wilhelmine May was eighty-eight when she died in 1932.
Most likely attributable to the lack of Vitamin A, due to under- and mal-nourishment, Karl became blind shortly after birth and didn’t regain the use of his eyes until four years later. These first four formative years were heavily influenced by his grandmother’s colourful storytelling.
During his entire turbulent life Karl May’s sole intent and raison d’être was to write and tell the stories that his genius continually created through an imagination born out of a desperation to be a success—overcoming poverty—and to be loved. This genius ultimately resulted in almost unparalleled output of work, fame and recognition as a humanist, and saved him from oblivion, yet at the same time it also condemned him to a life of persecution through the artificially created, misconceived ideas of jealous peers and contemporaries, using transgressions committed in his youth and subsequent brushes with the law brought about by his recently recognised suffering from DID.
Yet his readers steadfastly held onto their beloved Karl May, with an instinctive knowing that persists to this day, that this writer and poet was about more than just cheap thrills and a fast buck. His heroes Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, Kara Ben Nemsi and the others delighted, entertained and educated the reader skillfully throughout the 130 years since his first tale ‘the rose of Ernstthal’ was published in 1875. This was also the year when Winnetou was first introduced to his readers.
Karl Friedrich May died on 30 March 1912 in Radebeul near Dresden, Germany, in his Villa Shatterhand, in the arms of his second wife, Auguste Wilhelmine Klara Beibler (4 July 1864 – 31 Dec 1944) from the effects of lung cancer resulting from the unfortunate habit of the times—heavy cigar smoking, and the unrelenting stress of persecution.
His work not only survives him to this day, but has flourished and steadily gained recognition around the world. One quality central to the phenomenon Karl May, and the one most likely to be responsible for the attraction and charm of his style of writing is, in my opinion, his philosophy about openness. As he states in his autobiography Mein Leben und Streben (my life and my work [sometimes translated as ‘my life and my efforts’]), 1910: “I have never tolerated corrections and abridgements. The reader shall get to know me as I am, with all my faults and weaknesses, but not like the editor has trimmed me.”
Old Shatterhand and his envisaged Wild West
Old Shatterhand is Karl May’s alter ego who travels to the ‘new world’ to find adventure and material for his books, as he states on several occasions. During his journey through the Wild West, Old Shatterhand, alias Sharlih, alias Karl May, gains the respect of not only fellow immigrants whom he meets along the way, the white Americans, but the American Indians too, in particular the Apache tribes. He becomes the blood brother of Winnetou, a noble Apache Indian chief after he saves his life, and attains the reputation of being one of the most fair, unbiased yet passionate champions for justice and a peaceful world. He turns into one of those ‘frontiersmen’ about whom incredible yarns are being told around the camp fires at night.
Through a series of novels, the reader can follow Old Shatterhand’s adventures that take him from east to west, north to south, into some of the remotest corners of the Wild West of America as it was known during the mid to late 1800’s. He meets some of the most colourful characters that corner of the world has produced and finds friendship among them that will go beyond mere acquaintance, and as far as laying down one’s life for friend and brother.
On the back of his beloved black mustang, an Apache-trained black beauty called Hatatitla, Old Shatterhand more than once escapes certain death by a hair’s breath. Together with Winnetou on his own black mustang, Iltshi, the pair has become the quintessential image that embodies the Karl May spirit.
Kara Ben Nemsi and his envisaged Orient
Known by the name of Kara Ben Nemsi, alias Karl May, the intrepid adventurer crisscrossed the entire Orient in the pursuit of adventure, learning about and from other cultures so he could write his books. He masters camels, rides a beautiful black Arabian stallion called Rih, becomes the champion of the poor and enslaved and in the process discovers a whole new meaning of life as he perceives it. His journeys take him from one exotic place to another and through his eyes we discover a world of friendship and brotherhood, but also of dangers and betrayal that requires Kara Ben Nemsi’s whole arsenal of wit and improvisation to survive the many trials of this ancient world.
His faithful side-kick who answers to the immortal and unforgettable name every boy and girl learned by heart: Hadji Halef Omar Ben Hadji Abul Abbas Ibn Hadji Dawud al Gossarah, proves his worth to Kara Ben Nemsi in his endearing and loveable manner on more than one occasion. We accompany Kara and Hadji on their travels from the Mediterranean shores through Persia, Arabia and other places that haven’t changed in thousands of years.
Friendships are formed that go beyond the superficial and transcend boundaries, beliefs and age-old hierarchical systems. With his respect for all of humanity regardless of skin colour or religious persuasion, Kara Ben Nemsi becomes a figure of the Orient known not only in the nomad tents of the tribal native Arabs, but also to the various officials of the Turkish Ottoman Empire's bureaucracy of the time.
Karl May's narrative of his adventures in what is nowadays Iraq could have been written yesterday. It is fresh and speaks to us particularly today, describing the difference between the Shiites and Sunnites. It almost seems like nothing much has changed since his times in the Arab world governed by the teaching of the Koran.
Poet, visionary, pacifist, story teller, and, according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica one of the world's all-time fiction best-sellers.
Karl May the Pacifist (german)
Karl May and his work
top Picture Gallery
KARL MAY’S POSTCARDS FROM CEYLON
TO PRAGUE’S DAILY - OCTOBER 10, 1899 (first published on AFKM in March 2005)
With kind permission by Dr. Jan Koten, Karl May Archive, Czech Republic. (Pictures - #1 & 10 postcards)
In Ceylon [Sri Lanka] the monsoon season begins around the first week of November. Karl May landed in Colombo on October 6, 1899. In his diary Karl May noted on October 7, 1899: “Here at the moment we are having the monsoon, which regularly brings rain twice a day. At four in the afternoon and at four in the morning.” [‘In Fernen Zonen – Karl Mays Weltreisen’. Karl-May-Verlag Bamberg-Radebeul 1999, Band 82, p. 114.] Transcribed text of all postcards (German)
Dr.William E. Thomas, M.D.
KARL MAY’S POSTCARDS FROM CEYLON TO PRAGUE’S DAILY - OCTOBER 10, 1899.
With kind permission by Dr. Jan Koten [Karl May Archive, Czech Republic] appear here the original Postcards in English translation, sent by Karl May from Colombo in Ceylon [Sri Lanka] during his Orient Journey 1899/1900. There are eleven of them, the eighth being lost, however the words on it have been retrieved.
The popularity of Karl May books at that time was at its peak, even if the first attacks on him started in the German press. In Ceylon [Sri Lanka] the monsoon season begins around the first week of November. Karl May landed in Colombo on October 6, 1899. In his diary Karl May noted on October 7, 1899: “Here at the moment we are having bad weather of the South-West monsoon, which regularly brings rain twice a day. At four in the afternoon and at four at night.” [‘In Fernen Zonen – Karl Mays Weltreisen’. Karl-May-Verlag Bamberg-Radebeul 1999, Band 82, p. 114.]
Karl May sent during his journey many postcards to a number of people. As he was his own public relations manager, this was part of what we would call nowadays a promotion campaign. On October 10, 1899, Karl May entered in his diary: “In the afternoon came down a typical Ceylonese downpour…. The water was falling positively like a bucketing down sea.” [‘In Fernen Zonen …’ pp.115-116.] Karl May sat in his hotel and was writing Postcards to the Prager Tagblatt, and also to Johannes Dederle, publisher of Tremonia in Dortmund in Germany. He wrote the Postcards one after another with similar content to both recipients.
In the Postcards Karl May mentioned an “Oriental Klondike”, a place where gold could be found in Ceylon. Ceylon has never been known for gold deposits. Ground quartz, tea, rubber and coconuts, amorphous graphite, precious and semiprecious stones, are what the country is known for. In Colombo Karl May met a German who “owned a hotel of a lower rank.” [‘In Ferner Zonen …’ p.114.] Perhaps he was the source of the story on gold findings “twelve hours of riding time” from Colombo. Karl May of course was smart enough not to fall for this ruse. He mentioned that he sent a sample for further tests to Germany whether this was real gold or not, but nothing has ever come out from it. In any case it was a good story to tell to his readers in far away Europe.
The series of eleven Postcards Karl May sent to the editor of the Prager Tagblatt have been put on show by the Editorial Board of the paper in the display case at the entry to the publishing offices of the daily in Prague [M-KMG 013/1972, pp. 19-20]. The story on finding gold deposits in Ceylon also caught the attention of the editors of the daily. On November 11, 1899, the Prager Tagblatt published a feature article [Prager Tagblatt, Jhg. 23, Nr. 312] under the title “A Travel Report in Postcards (Reprint Forbidden)”: “We have received from Colombo in Ceylon eleven very interesting Postcards from the known travel writer Carl May, who is presently on one of his great travels in Asia. The exciting pictures on the exotic postcards (we present them in our display cabinet at the entry to our editorial office) give an idea of the country beauty, the characteristic buildings and various peculiarities of the ‘precious stone- and spices rich’ island in the Indian Ocean. We see on the first Postcard Indian tea pickers at work, while the second presents to us the Temple of Kandy and a festive priest procession. Another card shows the port and the landing bridge of Colombo, the main harbour of Ceylon. A splendid panorama of Kandy, the former capital of Ceylon, situated almost in the middle of the island, presents the fourth Postcard. Further we see a native walking with full impunity under a slim, tall Palm tree of a splendid grove. A picturesque view of the seashore, a glance at a by tropical forest lined canal, and a picture of a richly decorated Buddhist Temple present the remaining Postcards, the gripping content of which we give in the following. The letter shows fully the real May, who despite his 60 years of adventure and enterprising life is still prepared to be helpful to others.”
From this Prager Tagblatt article we have the text of the eighth, missing, Postcard:
“… naturally only tests of the side products and side findings, because about the gold I am completely in the clear and in such a matter one cannot be careful enough.
I am not in the least excited about this discovery, but fully calm. My Winnetou called the American gold dust in his manner just “Deadly Dust”, and he was right. Work for wages is blessed by God; the feverish striving and digging after the gold lumps kills the body and soul. I have enough to live on and do not need more. For me personally therefore this finding has not the slightest worth, and it will not cost me any real effort to take the secret into my grave. I refrain from natu…”
Here are the Postcards again, after one hundred and six years, on display for friends of Karl May. What seemed an exotic and far, far away place to the contemporaries of Karl May, became a holiday destination to us. The more one has to be in wonderment at the courageous spirit of Karl May who undertook such a long voyage to distant countries.
Dr.William E. Thomas, M.D.
Translation of 'Freuden und Leiden eines Vielgelesenen' by Marlies Bugmann
By Dr Karl May—1896/7 original text.
I have not found a sufficiently clear short English term to satisfactorily translate the title of this auto-biographical, tongue-in-cheek piece Karl May wrote.
‘Freuden und Leiden’ is easily enough explained with Ecstasies and Agonies, or Joys and Sufferings. But then ‘eines Vielgelesenen’ has me running for cover. The term ‘Vielgelesener’ in itself holds a cheeky duality in that it may mean ‘one who has eagerly read countless books’ as well as ‘one whose writings are being eagerly read by countless readers’. So which is it? A ‘Vielgelesener’ in the first instance may be translated as ‘avid reader’ ‘prodigious book worm’ or even ‘bibliophile’; but in the second instance, a ‘Vielgelesener’ may mean ‘widely-read’ (so so), ‘prolific writer’ (doesn’t imply that his works are being read, like the German term does), ‘popular author’ (popular he may be, but are the books being ‘viel gelesen’, much read?).
Correctly translated (or transliterated; or explained), this title may be given as: Joys and Sufferings of one whose writings are read much by his countless readers and who also reads many books. Pretty correct, but does not present a very inspired translation.
Ecstasies and agonies of a prolific poet? Karl May was more than a poet; he was that, but also a genius and futurist, a humanist and spiritually well advanced human being, among other things.
Joys and Sufferings of a widely-read? I’m sure Karl May would have thought of something more prosaic if he were in my place.
So, instead, I’ve settled upon:
The Joys and Agonies of being Karl May.
Translated from ‘Freuden und Leiden eines Vielgelesenen’ by K.F. May from 1896/7.
By Marlies Bugmann, April 2005 - read here: http://karlmay.leo.org/kmg/sprachen/englisch/primlit/bio/vielgereist/index.htm
Karl May and Juggle Fred
Juggle Fred - another of Karl May's colourful characters from his 'travel narratives' from the Wild West just became a figure of historic medical significance.
As Dr. William E. Thomas writes: Karl May described in 'The Ghost of Llano Estacado' (see article on Juggling Fred http://www.karl-may-stiftung.de/fred1.html) long before Dr.Waardenburg did, a syndrom named after Dr.Waardenburg - and now this "history first" is acknowledged - see: http://www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/1012.html
Jez (short for Jezabel)
aka Iltshi and Hatatitla
AFKM's mascot
Tasmania's tallest
black drafthorse mare
†2005 aged over 30yrs
Webmaster for AFKM:
Marlies Bugmann
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Karl May
1842 - 1912
The costum photograph in the middle (bottom row) caused a stir when it was published: Hans Grunert from the Karl May Museum: "On this costume photo, Karl May – Kara Ben Nemsi with the Henry rifle, May laid it on a bit thick as he had himself photographed with a Saxon Carbine Model 1873 and passed it off as his magic rifle. He should have known that anyone familiar with weapons would have immediately realised what sort of weapon it was: This weapon was created by rebuilding 10,000 French one-shot Chassepot-guns from the war booty of the German-French war, and which had remained a part of the armory of the Saxon Cavalry until 1891. He was taken to task about his ‘Henry rifle not being a magazine rifle, as the photograph shows’. But Old Shatterhand / Kara Ben Nemsi was above such reproach: ‘You don’t understand, sir,’ he explained to an official of the artillery work shops, and when the official explained to him that weapons were his livelihood, May replied: ‘That doesn’t mean you understand my Henry rifle.’
The trailblazing new agreement between the Karl May foundation, the Karl May society and the Karl May publishing house, to jointly produce a definitive, and 'historically critical edition' (HKA) of Karl May's entire work has been signed end of May 2007. From July 2007 onwards the society will be responsible for the philological work, the publisher for the production and the foundation for the distribution. (German language only).
(left to right, top to bottom)
Last photograph 22 March 1912 (Karl May Museum) | Winnetou & Old Shatterhand, 1960s movies (P. Brice and L. Barker )[a.p.]
Villa Shatterhand ca 1895 / present (Karl May Museum) | Costume photo 'Kara Ben Nemsi' (Karl May Museum) | Costume photo 'Kara Ben Nemsi with Henry rifle' - (Karl May Museum) | Costume photo 'Old Shatterhand' (Karl May Museum)
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AFKM
Karl May and Josiah Gregg
By Marlies Bugmann
During the first week of March 2008, while researching ‘Deadly Dust’, the first half of Winnetou III, I discovered some peculiar ‘Spanish’ expressions for which I couldn’t readily find an explanation. With the help of the marvellous invention of the Internet, I made the connection to Josiah Gregg and his two-volume work Commerce Of The Prairies, a short time later. Because I'd like to know what I’m writing about, especially for a translation of Karl May, I research terms that are unknown to me. While Shatterhand, Winnetou, Sans-Ear, Massa Bernard and Bob visited, or rather were ‘apprehended’ by, Don Fernande de Venango e Colonna de Molynares de Gajalpa y Rostredo, I made a delightful, and for American history significant, little discovery. The following is in part German in part English as that is the only way to demonstrate the parallels in the relevant texts.
‘Deadly Dust’ and the reworked version for the first half of Winnetou III are near-identical, the reference to May’s text (with the relevant passages underlined) is from Winnetou III, Chapter 4, In California, version 1909.
“Das Haupt ist beschattet von einem niedrigen Hut mit sehr breiter Krempe, dem sogenannten Sombrero, welcher entweder aus schwarzem oder braunem Filz oder aus jenem weichen, feinen Grasgeflechte gefertigt ist, das wir auch in Europa kennen, da Kopfbedeckungen dieser Art unter dem Namen Panamahüte auch zu uns herüberkommen. Der Hut eines Sennors, also eines Herrn, mag dieser nun Haciendero, Ranchero oder Räuber sein, ist immer an der einen Seite aufgeschlagen, und eine Agraffe von Gold oder Messing, mit Edelsteinen oder buntem Glas besetzt, hält die Krempe in die Höhe und befestigt zugleich die Schmuckfeder, welche je nach dem Reichtume des Besitzers in der Höhe des Preises wechselt, aber niemals fehlen darf.
Der Mexikaner trägt eine kurze, offene Jacke mit weit aufgeschlitzten Aermeln. An diesen Aermeln sowohl als auch auf den Nähten des Rückens und auf den beiden Bruststücken ist sie mit möglichst reichen Stickereien versehen, welche von feinen Schnüren aus Wolle, Baumwolle oder Seide, aus unedlen Metallen oder aus Gold und Silber bestehen.
Um den Hals wird ein schwarzes Tuch geschlungen und vorn in einem kleinen Knoten vereinigt [body sash replacement]. Die Zipfel dieses Tuches würden lang genug sein, um bis über den Gürtel herabzureichen; doch ist es nicht Mode, dieselben in dieser Weise zu tragen, sondern sie werden über die Schultern geschlagen, was dem Träger [instead of Caballero] ein höchst malerisches Aussehen gibt.
Das Beinkleid ist von ganz besonderem Stile; es schließt um den Gürtel fest an, liegt stramm und glatt auf den Hüften und dem übrigen Teil des Oberkörpers, den es bedeckt. Die Hose aber wird von ihrer Beinteilung an nach unten immer weiter; sie ist unten doppelt so weit als an dem dicksten Teile der Lenden. Ueberdies ist das Beinkleid an den äußeren Seiten aufgeschlitzt, mit breiten Tressen und Stickereien geschmückt und der Schlitz mit Seidenzeug gefüllt, dessen Farbe so gewählt wird, daß sie sehr lebhaft gegen diejenige der eigentlichen Hose absticht.
Auch die aus fein lackiertem Leder gefertigten Stiefel sind stets mit Stickereien geziert. Zu ihnen gehören unbedingt zwei Sporen von ungeheueren Dimensionen. … … … …
Sitzt der Mexikaner zu Pferde, so hängt über dem Sattelknopf noch der Poncho, eine Decke, welche den ganzen Körper verhüllen kann und in der Mitte einen Schlitz hat, durch den man den Kopf steckt, so daß die eine Hälfte des Poncho über den Rücken und die andere über die Brust herabfällt.
…
Ein kurzer Rock deckte die oberen Beine, während die unteren einen Schmutzüberzug zeigten, den man sehr leicht für Stulpenstiefel hätte halten können. Den Oberkörper schützte nur ein Hemd, welches vor Jahren vielleicht einmal weiß gewesen war, nun aber aussah, als sei es zum Ausputzen des Kamins benutzt worden.
…
auf dem Kopfe einen spanischen Rebozo, einen Schleier…”
From: Josiah Gregg, Commerce Of The Prairies, Vol 1, 1844, Chapter 11, Pages 212-216:
“THE best society in the interior of New Mexico is fast conforming to European fashion, in the article of dress, with the exception of the peculiar riding costume, which is still worn by many caballeros. This generally consists of a sombrero — a peculiarly shaped low crowned hat with wide brim, covered with oil cloth and surmounted with a band of tinsel cord nearly an inch in diameter: a chaqueta or jacket of cloth gaudily embroidered with braid and fancy barrel buttons: a curiously shaped article called calzoneras, intended for pantaloons with the outer part of the legs open from hip to ankle — the borders set with tiny filigree buttons, and the whole fantastically trimmed with tinsel lace and cords of the same materials. As suspenders do not form a component part of a regular Mexican costume, the nether garment is supported by a rich sash which is drawn very tightly around the body [May replaced this with a black kerchief and placed the item ahead of the pantaloons], and contributes materially to render the whole appearance of the caballero extremely picturesque. Then there are the botas which somewhat resemble the leggins worn by the bandits of Italy, and are made of embossed leather, embroidered with fancy silk and tinsel thread and bound around the knee with curiously tasselled garters. The sarape saltero (a fancy blanket) [May wrote: ‘Poncho’] completes the picture. This peculiarly useful as well as ornamental garment is commonly carried dangling carelessly across the pommel of the saddle, except in bad weather, when it is drawn over the shoulders, after the manner of a Spanish cloak, or as is more frequently the case, the rider puts his head through a slit in the middle, and by letting it hang loosely from the neck, his whole person is thus effectually protected.
…
The ordinary apparel of the female peasantry and the rancheras, is the enaguas or petticoat of home-made flannel; or, when they are able to procure it, of coarse blue or scarlet cloth, connected to a wide list of some contrasting-colored stuff, bound around the waist over a loose white chemise [shirt/blouse], which is the only covering for the body, except the rebozo. Uncouth as this costume may appear at first, it constitutes nevertheless a very graceful sort of undress in which capacity it is used even by ladies of rank.
…
As I have already observed, among the better classes the European dress is now frequently worn; although they are generally a year or two behind our latest fashions. The ladies, however, never wear either hat, cap or bonnet, except for riding; but in lieu of it, especially when they walk abroad, the rebozo (or scarf), or a large shawl, is drawn over the head. The rebozo is by far the most fashionable: it is seven or eight feet in length by nearly a yard in width, and is made of divers stuffs—silk, linen or cotton, and usually variegated and figured in the warp by symmetrically disposed threads waved in the dying.”
May even referred to the following passage from Gregg, although confining the ‘besmearing’ to the lower legs of the ladies:
“The belles of the ranchos and villages have a disgusting habit of besmearing their faces with the crimson juice of a plant or fruit called alegria [probably Scutellaria coccinea, from Mexico], which is not unlike blood; as also with clay and starch. This is not intended, as some travellers have supposed, as a beautifying appendage, but for the purpose of protecting the skin from the sun. A country beauty will often remain in this filthy condition for a whole fortnight, in order to appear to advantage at some favorite feast or ball; when, by washing off the paint, the cheeks look as fresh and ruddy as the natural darkness of their skin will permit.”
May listed the pieces of clothing in the same order as did Josiah Gregg, from top to bottom, including the horses’ gear and the weapons, and the senoritas ‘fashion’ after the one of the senores. The only significant change May made, probably for reasons of plagiarism, was the ‘black kerchief’ around the vaquero’s neck, instead of the ‘rich sash’ described by Josiah Gregg (relevant passages in bold text above).
May maintained the description of the ‘original shape’ of the sombrero, as detailed by Gregg, very flat, without the characteristically high dome of the modern sombreros, and a wide, flat, not rolled-up, brim. Although he did add a feather plume held in place by a silver clasp.
Even Gregg’s ‘cola de pato’ makes an appearance in May’s text, the weight of the spurs, the wooden stirrups and the tapageres, although, and in honour of Gregg’s accomplishment, I’ve used Gregg’s spelling in my translation, tapaderas; last but not least, the vaqueros' ‘prototype chaps’ also make an appearance just like Gregg described them.
***
When I checked the website of Karl May Society, Germany, for relevant entries I came across two for ‘Gregg’ in their registers: Sachregister 1-130 – K, und Personenregister 1-130 – G.
Gregg, Josiah 114/11, Eckehard Koch, Essen-Kettwig, Die Mescalero, der Llano Estacado und Padre Diterico; und 126/28, Manfred Rauch, Pueblos und Pueblo-Indianer. The article 114/11 of 1997 mentions the ‘possibility that Josiah Gregg’s work COULD have been a source for May’s depiction of the Llano Estacado’—as proposed by Wilhelm Manig and Eckehart Koch—and eleven years later that proposal can be confirmed:
114/11, Eckehart Koch:
[…]
“Zum zeitgeschichtlichen Hintergrund der Old Surehand Erzaehlung (S. 63-86) habe ich einige moegliche Quellen fuer May’s Darstellung des Llano Estacado erwaehnt. Wilhelm Manig, Walderns, haelt es auch fuer moeglich dass Josiah Gregg’s Werk Karawanenzuege durch die westlichen Prairieen und Wanderungen in Nord-Mejico (Dresden und Leipzig 1845) eine der Quellen May’s gewesen ist (pers. Mitt. v. 6.6.1996).”
(This, together with the footnote/quote at the bottom of page 28 in the Pueblo Pecos article by Manfred Rauch, http://karlmay.leo.org/kmg/seklit/m-kmg/126/index.htm , results in a clear identification of Gregg’s Commerce Of The Prairies being translated as Karawanenzuege durch die westlichen Prairieen und Wanderungen in Nord-Mejico von M.P. Lindau, Dresden, Leipzig, 1845/48.
Greggs Llano Estacado von Commerce Of The Prairies, Vol 2, 1844, Chapter 10, Page 181:
“The most notable of the great plateaux of the Prairies is that known to Mexicans as El Llano Estacado, which is bounded on the north by the Canadian river — extends east about to the United States boundary, including the heads of the False Washita and other branches of Red River — and spreads southward to the sources of Trinity, Brazos and Colorado rivers, and westward to Rio Pecos. It is quite an elevated and generally a level plains without important hills or ridges, unless we distinguish as such the craggy breaks of the streams which border and pierce it. It embraces an area of about 30,000 square miles, most of which is without water during three-fourths of the year; while a large proportion of its few perennial streams are too brackish to drink of.
I have been assured by Mexican hunters and Indians, that, from Santa Fe southeastward, there is but one route upon which this plain can be safely traversed during the dry season; and even some of the watering-places on this are at intervals of fifty to eighty miles, and hard to find. Hence the Mexican traders and hunters, that they might not lose their way and perish from thirst, once staked out this route across the plain, it is said; whence it has received the name of El Llano Estacado, or the Staked Plain.”
The German version (of the passage from Gregg’s work), Karawanenzuege durch die westlichen Prairieen und Wanderungen in Nord-Mejico von M.P. Lindau, Dresden, Leipzig, 1845/48 (Volume 2):
http://karlmay.leo.org/kmg/seklit/m-kmg/114/index.htm (page 11, #3, bottom)
“Die bedeutendste dieser grossen Hochebenen in den Prairieen ist diejenige, die bei den Mejicanern Llano Estacado heisst. Noerdlich vom Canadian begraenzt, erstreckt sie sich ostwaerts bis beinahe zu der Grenze der Vereinigten Staaten, mit Einschluss des Quellengebietes des falschen Washita und anderer Arme des Red River, und dehnt sich suedlich bis zu den Quellen des Trinity, des Brazos and des Colorado, westwaerts bis zum Rio Pecos. Sie ist durchaus eine meist flache Hochebene ohne bedeutende Huegel oder Ruecken, wenn man nicht die felsigen Ufer der Fluesse dazu rechnet, die sie begraenzen und durchschneiden. Ihr Flaechenraum enthaelt gegen 30,000 Quadratmeilen, wovon der groesste Teil neun Monate im Jahre ohne Wasser ist, waehrend viele ihrer fortdauernden fliessenden Gewaesser wegen ihres zu salzigen Geschmacks untrinkbar sind.
http://karlmay.leo.org/kmg/seklit/m-kmg/114/index.htm (page 12, cont’d from #3, top).
Mejicanische Jaeger und mehrere Indianer haben mir versichert, dass es suedlich von Santa Fe nur einen einzigen Weg giebt, auf welchem in der trockenen Jahreszeit diese Ebene sicher zu durchaiehen ist; selbst einige der Stellen, wo Wasser eingenommen werden kann, liegen fuenfzig bis achzit Meilen voneinander entfernt und sind schwer zu finden. Daher haben in frueherer Zeit, wie man sagt, die mejicanischen Haendler und nicht vor Durst umzukommen, diese Strasse durch die Ebene eingepfaehlt, und daher hat sie den Namen Llano Estacado, die eingepfaehlte Ebene, erhalten.”
May’s Description in Old Surehand I, Chapter 2, At The Oasis’—(and similarly Winnetou III, Chapter 4, In California):
“Zwischen Texas, Arizona, Neu-Mexiko und dem Indianer-Territorium, oder noch anders ausgedrückt, zwischen den Ausläufern des Ozarkgebirges, der untern und der obern Sierra Guadelupe und den Gualpabergen, rings eingefaßt von den Höhen, welche den obern Lauf des Rio Pecos und die Quellen des Red River, Sabine, Trinidad, Brazos und Colorado umgrenzen, liegt eine weite, furchtbare Strecke Landes, welche die ›Sahara der Vereinigten Staaten‹ genannt werden könnte.
Wüste Strecken dürren, glühenden Sandes wechseln mit nackten, brennend heißen Felslagerungen, die nicht imstande sind, auch nur der allerdürftigsten Vegetation die kärgsten Bedingungen des kürzesten Daseins zu erfüllen…
…
Trotz aller Schrecken, welche diese Wüste bietet, hat es doch der Mensch gewagt, sie zu betreten. Es führen Straßen durch sie, hinauf nach Santa Fé und Fort Union, hinüber nach dem Paso del Norte und hinunter in die grünenden Prairien und wohlbewässer- ten Wälder von Texas. Aber bei diesem Worte ›Straße‹ darf man nicht an die Art von Wegebau denken, welche in civilisierten Ländern diese Bezeichnung trägt. Wohl reitet ein einsamer Jäger oder Rastreador, eine Gesellschaft kühner Wagehälse oder ein zweideutiger Pulk Indianer durch die Wüste, wohl knarrt auch ein schneckengleich langsamer Ochsenkarrenzug durch die Einöde, aber das, was wir einen Weg nennen, das giebt es nicht, nicht einmal jene viertelstundenbreit auseinander gehenden Geleise, wie man sie in den Pampas Südamerikas oder in der Lüneburger Heide und dem Sande Brandenburgs findet. Jeder reitet oder fährt seine eigene Bahn, so lange ihm der Boden noch einige wenige Merkmale bietet, an denen er erkennen kann, daß er überhaupt noch in der richtigen Richtung ist. Aber diese Merkmale hören nach und nach selbst für das geübteste Auge auf, und von da an hat man die Maßregel getroffen, diese Richtung vermittelst Pfählen zu bezeichnen, welche in gewissen Entfernungen in den Boden gesteckt werden.
…
Und wie heißt diese Wüste? Die Bewohner der umliegenden Territorien geben ihr verschiedene, bald englische, bald französische oder spanische Namen; weithin aber ist sie wegen der eingerammten Pfähle, welche den Weg bezeichnen sollen, entweder als ‘Llano estacado’ oder als ‘Staked-Plain’ bekannt.”
***
But wait, there’s more! Being a horse-mad person, I immediately went about checking for the existence of a ‘White Mustang’…from May’s The Black Mustang…and voila!
Commerce Of The Prairies, Volume 2, 1844, Chapter 11, Page 207
“The beauty of the mustang is proverbial. One in particular has been celebrated by hunters, of which marvellous stories are told. He has been represented as a medium-sized stallion of perfect symmetry, milk-white, save a pair of black ears—a natural ‘pacer,’ and so fleet, it has been said, as to leave far behind every horse that had been tried in pursuit of him, without breaking his ‘pace.’ But I infer that this story is somewhat mythical, from the difficulty which one finds in fixing the abiding place of its equine hero. He is familiarly known, by common report, all over the great Prairies. The trapper celebrates him in the vicinity of the northern Rocky Mountains; the hunter, on the Arkansas, or in the midst of the Plains; while others have him pacing at the rate of half a mile a minute on the borders of Texas. It is hardly a matter of surprise, then, that a creature of such an ubiquitary existence should never have been caught.”
Conclusion: Karl May used Josiah Gregg’s German version 1846/48, of Commerce Of The Prairies, 1844/45 as a reference for his own work. Josiah Gregg’s Commerce Of The Prairies can be read here: http://www.kancoll.org/books/gregg/
Marlies Bugmann, March, 2008, Copping, Tasmania, Australia.
