Talk:Mona Darkfeather

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Mestizos are, by definition, half Native American. She may have lied about being a Blackfoot, but she still had native blood. Edits to come, after I get off work :p Simoes 14:35, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

Mona Darkfeather was not Mestizo. I apologize if I have confused people. I called her Spanish/Mexican the same way I would call an Italian immigrant to the U.S. an Italian/American. Her grandfather was William Workman who emigrated from England and settled in the then Mexican territory of Califonia. He became a Mexican citizen. He married Nicolasa Urioste, a Spaniard living in the Mexican territory of Califonia. Their son, Joseph Workman, (Mona Darkfeather's father) was therefore half English and half Spanish. Joseph married an English woman, Josephine Belt, making Mona Darkfeather 3/4 English and 1/4 Spanish. Ted Wilkes 20:44, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

Seeing this interesting article prompted me to start a Molly Spotted Elk article which maybe you'd be interested in.Notjim 22:25, 21 September 2005 (UTC)

A few corrections: William Workman first settled in Missouri and from there came down to the area around Taos, New Mexico. It was here that he met his wife Nicolasa. We think she might have been a native of the Pueblo there although Basque is also an option. It was in New Mexico that William became a Mexican citizen. His son, Joseph, was also born there. With his business partner, John Rowland, W. Workman led the first party of settlers overland to Southern California. There is some evidence that their party arrived before the Bidwell party (which history records as the first party to CA of settlers), they almost certainly arrived at their destination of Los Angeles before the Bidwell party finished their drive in Northern CA.

Mona's real name was Josephine, named after her Mother, Josephine Belt. J. Belt was the daughter of George Belt, third alcalde of Stockton, who arrived in CA as part of Stevenson's Regiment of New York Volunteers. He was Scottish in Ancestry. His wife, Josephine's mother, was from Chile and probably part of a large Chilean contingent that came to California for the gold rush even before east coast Americans showed up (the news reached Chile before it reached the east coast).

We have been unable to find any record of a marriage to Artie Ortego although a number of websites make this claim. Seems to be just a case of repeating from another site. Josephine outlived all her siblings and, in the end, was placed under guardianship by the L.A. courts. The guardianship company removed her from her home and placed her into a convalescent hospital where she died a relatively short time later. They then buried her in an unmarked grave in Holy Cross Cemetery. We don't know, at this time, what became of all her property (her house, for instance) and possessions. "a great grand nephew," 11/04/2005.

Well, a lot has been done to this page since I was last here. Couple of changes that need to be considered. I'm not sure where FredR is getting his information but half of Mona's father's ancestry is thought to be either Native American out of Taos Pueblo or Basque. We're leaning towards the Native American. We have baptisms for who we think is the mother (mentions grandmother) and the names are Spanish, but family stories (e.g., Nicolasa (grandmother of Mona) spoke an off-dialect of Spanish) suggest something other than the daughter of a Spanish soldier, etc. As an aside about Mona's parents, her mother ran one of the more notorious houses of prostitution in the early 1900s Los Angeles crib district (mentioned in a couple LA Times articles, 1/16/1904 for instance, on the district, and on liquor license irregularities). David Parten, Belt's final husband was also implicated in a murder and 2 diamond thefts, the last involving his stepdaughter Lucille's diamonds!. The 1900 Census also lists David Parten as a roomer in the boarding house (house of prostitution?) run by Josephine Belt. Mona is also living there and her occupation is listed as 'Whistler', a name for a barker. In any case, nice to see some organization applied to the site. "a great grand nephew," 2/5/2009 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.178.132.148 (talk) 15:41, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Questions for FredR: 1. What is the source for the description of what she did during her stage performance in Tacoma in 1918?

2. Where is her garb described as a 'rattlesnake' dress? or is this a generic term for a type of Native American Dress?

3. While I personally don't believe she was, there is no evidence that Art Ortego wasn't married to her. Why remove it? we didn't come across Wessling until the last couple years and that was almost by accident.

Other comments:

1. Basset Station is now the neighborhood of Bassett.

2. Parten and Workman took out a marriage license in March, 1915 so the marriage was probably 1915

3. Saying Nicolasa was Spanish is probably not correct. It'd take another whole wiki to explain our reasoning with all the supporting suppositions but, right now, the best guesses are Native American or Basque. (Don Rowland's Book on Rowland and Workman chose Native American). The one reference I've seen that states she was the daughter of a Spanish soldier isn't supported with a citation nor by what we know of the lady. "a great grand nephew"

Mona's mother was probably not of Taos Pueblo with the confusion coming from a period where non-Native American settlers were allowed to move to the Pueblo for protection. This probably why Joseph and AM Workman's baptismal records list Taos. The surname listed for their mother/grandmother is Valencia. This family apparently didn't live in Taos but a pueblo farther south toward Santa Fe.

Is that really Mona's face in that Warbonnet? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.225.241.126 (talk) 18:08, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

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