That’s A Wrap With a Photo of Princess Mona Darkfeather (Josephine M. Workman), Motion Picture Magazine, March 1914

by Paul R. Spitzzeri

As previous posts here have covered (here’s just one example relevant to this post), Josephine Marie Workman (1882-1977), granddaughter of Homestead founders William Workman and Nicolasa Urioste (daughter of their son, Joseph), was a film star from 1910-1917 playing largely Indian maiden roles for a number of studios and mostly directed by her husband, Frank Montgomery.

The peak of her career was probably the year 1914, when she appeared in many two-reel (generally 15 to 20 minutes) films, and the highlighted object from the Museum’s collection for this post, the March edition of Motion Picture Magazine, includes a portrait of the actor, a rare one in which she is not in her Indian get-up, in the “Art Gallery of Popular Players” section of the publication. The striking image shows Josephine, who otherwise went under the name of Mona Montgomery, with curled shoulder-length hair parted in the middle and her dark eyes providing an entirely different look than her Indian maiden photos.

Darkfeather is also mentioned twice in the “answer pages” at the back of the magazine, in which queries from readers were briefly answered. For one question, it was merely stated that she was with the Kalem Film Company, while for the other, the reply was that she was the star of Against Desperate Odds, a Kalem picture directed by Montgomery and released in November 1913.

The issue of Motion Picture Magazine otherwise contains nine stories based on movies, a debate concerning whether films should be censored, the role of live music in the theater when accompanying films, developments in movie theaters, an essay on psychological drama, industry commentary by columnists, “Greenroom Jottings” concerning “little whisperings from everywhere in playerdom, drawings of film figures, cartoons and many advertisements including a good deal related to acting, film, scenario writing music and other entertainment.

For the month of March, there were a great many media references to Princess Mona Darkfeather and her burgeoning film career. In fact, there were at least 14 of her films that were showing in theaters in various parts of the country during that month, some with plots (with some really wild storylines) and cast listings.

The Joliet [Illinois] Herald of the 8th highlighted “The Tigers of the Hills,” in which Darkfeather played “Bright Cloud, an Indian maid,” opposite frequent costar Charles Bartlett, who worked with her and Montgomery frequently from 1912-1914 and who also directed many pictures. Also featured were Rex Downs, another common collaborator, and Billie Rhodes, who was active in film for about a dozen years through the mid-1920s. In fact, when she was transferred from Kalem’s eastern studio to its Los Angeles one, the Columbia [South Carolina] State of the 1st reported that “Mona Darkfeather is said to be responsible for the change.”

The Herald‘s plot summary includes that immigrants across the plains desecrated Indian burial places and, as a battle burst forth, Army troops were called out and Darkfeather’s character warns her people of the Army’s plans and a fight occurs with “the painted savages.” The explosion of an ammunition train at a fort, a love triangle involving the betrayal of one officer by another and those fight scenes, in which the Indians are the losers, were key components of the story.

Another plot was outlined in the Bristol [Tennessee] Courier of the 15th for the film “Indian Blood,” with Darkfeather playing “Oleta,” the indigenous wife of Bartlett’s Army Lieutenant Hayes and who learns that the husband is ashamed of her, so he concocts a plan to flee with their son before he is sent east to a school. Hayes catches up with them and demands that Oleta return to her tribe, upon which she dies of a broken heart. A decade later, with his education complete, the son learns of his mother’s fate, of which his father lied, and “renounces the ways of the white man,” but, in a battle between the Indians and the Army, the son takes a bullet intended for his father and dies with a smile on his face.

A third film scenario is for “The Medicine Man’s Vengeance,” with Darkfeather playing the “squaw” of a Moqui chief played by Art Ortega, also known as Artie Ortego and who was said to be a California Mission Indian, but whose background appears to be from Californio families in San Jose. In any case, Ortega and Darkfeather appeared in over 40 films together, most directed by Montgomery, while Bartlett and Downs, while it appears that Ortega’s sister, Mary, had a role in it.

Bartlett’s character, Steve, who fled a mining camp upon being falsely accused of stealing gold, revives Darkfeather’s character after he sees that she was in a coma, not dead, and her people gratefully name him a medicine man. When he seeks to see his sweetheart, however, the Indians decline to let him go and Darkfeather’s White Cloud informs her of the issue. The girlfriend alerts white miners, while the thieves of the precious metal appear at the Indian camp, which leads to Steve’s innocence.

When the Indian medicine man sees how well Steve is regarded by his people, he uses loco weed to induce temporary insanity, but White Cloud finds him. The Indian medicine man spreads a lie that Steve and White Cloud were trying to elope, while the thieves escape and convince the Indians to attack the mining camp, leading to a massacre. White Cloud’s husband, the Indian chief, kills her for the purported unfaithfulness and Steve then shoots and kills the chief, with the film ending there.

Speaking of sisters, it was a surprise to find that Josephine Workman’s sister, Lucille (1875-1944), known by the surname of her late second husband George Neath, was given a role in “Indian Fate,” playing the role of the mother of Bartlett’s character, Charles, who falls in love with Darkfeather’s Indian maiden, Wildflower. A white woman, Florence, who wanted to marry Charles poisons his thinking against his wife, though when a child is born and looks too Indian, Charles denounces both wife and child, gets a divorce and marries Florence.

Nearly two decades later, the daughter of Charles and son of Wildflower fall in love and, when their parents and former spouses meet, Wildflower tries to kill Charles, but is disarmed by her son. When the young lovers learn with horror that they are half-siblings, Charles is stricken with remorse and turns away at the film’s end.

While Lucille Neath declared her occupation in city directories and voting lists to be an actress or photo-player, this role is the only one she is known to have had in film. As for her sister, other 1914 pictures in her peak year of stardom included “An Indian Maid’s Strategy,” “An Indian’s Honor,” “Dream of the Wild,” “Her Indian Brother,” “His Indian Nemesis,” “The Paleface Brave,” “Raid of the Red Vultures,” “Red Hawk’s Sacrifice,” and “The Navajo Blanket.” These films appeared throughout the country as part of Darkfeather’s national renown.

With respect to other news of Darkfeather in press reports during March, the “Off The Reel” column in the Los Angeles Express of the 2nd reported,

Frank Montgomery of the Glendale Kalem has just spent about $1500 for real Indian blankets and Mona Darkfeather has paid out $600 for Indian headdresses and beadwork. The blankets and finery are to be used in a big forthcoming Indian production [the couple had a production company for the Darkfeather brand].

In its edition of the 11th, the Belvidere [Illinois] Republican, in promotion for Darkfeather’s film, The Paleface Brave, told readers that the actor “was the hostess on Christmas Day [1913] to the Indians who appear in the Kalem dramas of the west.” It added that she was “a full-blooded Indian and the daughter of a famous chief” and that she “entertained the red men at her charming bungalow in Hollywood.”

The account continued that “following a sumptuous dinner, the Indians went through the dances peculiar to their race and sang the chants which have come down through generations.” The evening ended when “Miss Darkfeather was presented with a superb Indian dress made by the squaws of the tribe.” As noted before, there were frequent media statements attesting to Josephine Workman as a full-blooded Indian, but also those that allowed that she was actually from “an aristocratic Spanish family” in the Angel City.

The Fort Worth [Texas] Star-Telegram of the 10th, in its “Gossip of the Film World” section, briefly observed that “Mona Darkfeather, formerly of the Universal Company, is now appearing in Western Kalem productions,” the difference being that Florida was where the eastern division of the firm was located. The move she made was from the 101 Bison Film Company, which became part of Universal.

Another reported activity, but one that does not appear to have been realized, was reported by the Indianapolis News of the 5th, which informed readers that, albeit with the propagation of the propaganda that she was a “real Indian” (one ad said she was “a full-blooded Sioux”):

Miss Mona Darkfeather, Kalem’s leading Indian woman, is striving to gain prominence as an author. She is compiling a book on the customs of her people, and as she is the daughter of a famous Indian chief and is herself a person of considerable importance among her people, she may well be regarded an authority on the subject with which her book will deal.

To this question of authenticity, the Fort Worth paper, in its issue on the 22nd, remarked that “Mona Darkfeather of the Kalem Company is distinctly different” because, while “she is known all over the civilized world,” the actor “never has worked outside of Los Angeles.” Moreover, it was acknowledged that “she is recognized as one of the best moving picture Indians in the business and yet she never set foot on the legitimate stage.”

The piece ended with the comment that,

Contrary to the general belief she is not an Indian. Her parents are of Spanish descent [actually her father was half-English and his mother, as noted above, was from Taos, New Mexico, and likely had indigenous ancestry, while her mother’s father was from Baltimore, but her mother hailed from Chile, so there may have been native ancestry there, as well]. She was born in Los Angeles and educated there.

In its edition of the 22nd, the Columbia [South Carolina] State reiterated that statement, adding that the actor “is an Indian princess, having been created one by Rising Sun, Chief of the Arapahoes,” though this was almost certainly another fiction created for her persona. Interesting another item in this “Among the Movies” column concerned “Charles Chatlin,” denoted as an “eccentric comedian” who “judging from Mr. Catlin’s three appearances [on film] so far, . . . will make good with a rush.” This, of course, was Charlie Chaplin, soon to take the motion picture world by storm and become the biggest film star on the planet.

Concerning New Mexico, the Star-Telegram‘s “Gossip from the Film World” column of the 11th, as it promoted her picture, The Navajo Blanket, passed along the information that, in the film, “Mona Darkfeather exhibits her skill at making blankets” and it was claimed that “she learned the art while in New Mexico among the Hopi tribes.” If she had never worked outside of the Angel City, how she would have been in that area is the question, though, actually, the Hopi reservation lands now are mainly in northeastern Arizona.

In its number of the 29th, the [Portland] Oregonian, in its “Photo-Play Notes” section observed that “Mona Darkfeather, the charming little [she stood 5’1″] Indian actress has received many interesting gifts from members of her own race and from other people as well.” This evidently included a blanket from an unnamed Indian tribe that was said to depict the story of a chief’s wife “who fled from her people to save her life and that of her pappoose [child],” this having been dramatized with the actor in the starring role—likely it was The Navajo Blanket. It was added, though, that the film star “has also received from an admirer in the Philippines a magnificent pair of boar’s teeth which she has mounted on a gold crescent.”

Later in the month, there were other references of note to the movie star, with the New York Tribune of the 22nd briefly stating that “Mona Darkfeather has acquired a white enamelled limousine,” while it added that “lo, the poor Indian” is old stuff. The Los Angeles Express six days later observed that “Mona Darkfeather, Kalem star, has joined the film auto squad” and that “her machine will soon appear on prominent thoroughfares,” though whether these vehicles were one and the same is not clear.

The publication of this distinctive and dramatic photo of Josephine Workman/Princess Mona Darkfeather in a major film magazine is certainly indicative of the level of stardom she achieved in her fifth year working in the motion picture industry and, again, 1914 looks to have been her zenith, as her career tailed off considerably afterwards and her last starring role was in 1917 (though an uncredited appearance was made in a 1926 picture).

Notably, there are almost no surviving examples of her work, despite her lengthy discography of shorts (and one full-length movie closing her career), but, a film museum in The Netherlands does have a decent quality print of a 1912 film, The Hand of Fate (rendered into Zijn Noodlot in Dutch) and which, remarkably, has Darkfeather playing a Gypsy fortune-teller named Stella involved in a love triangle with a crime component. It is pretty awesome to watch Josephine/Mona in action, along with the well-known actor Hobart Bosworth! A review is also available from Movies Silently.