Life, 1924-11-20 · page 13 of 40
Life — November 20, 1924 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a poem by Percy Crosby with accompanying illustration depicting early colonial encounter. The narrative describes a European barque with sailors arriving at a foreign shore, where Native Americans greet them with the traditional call "Wally wally hee!" A Pilgrim character (Mister Hall) responds enthusiastically, proposing they "hang" together. The Indians reply by sarcastically singing "My Country, 'tis of thee, Sweet Land of Liberty." The satire's point appears to be ironic: the cartoon critiques European/American hypocrisy regarding liberty and freedom, given the subsequent treatment of Native Americans. The title "Lest We Forget" suggests this is a cautionary reminder about broken promises and the gap between ideals and historical actions toward indigenous peoples.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Lest We Forget (Composite Thanksgicing Ode) A PARQUE, sailors and people—a hundred or more— Set out from Europe for a foreign shore. The wind blowed north, south, east—yes, and even west, While all souls on board floated in search of rest. Indians, trees, land, stretching far beyond a rock, Was all that met the eyes of the sea-tossed flock. “Wally wally hee!” came the Indians’ call. Up spoke a Pilgrima Mister Hall, Crying: “What ho, Redskins, together we'll hang!” Whereupon the Indians replied as they sar- castically sang: “My Country, ‘tis of thee, Sweet Land of + and so forth, Percy Crosby. comicbooks.com