The following article is taken from the 4 April 1954 issue of the Aberdare Leader, a newspaper
published in Wales:
Aberaman man's son is Red Indian chief
Most unusual and fascinating stories have been related at 7 Holford Terrace, Cwmdare, in the
past couple of weeks, when the Palmer family (Mr. Edgar Palmer and his nieces, Miss Etta
Palmer and Miss Winnie Palmer) have been entertained with tales of Indian lore by their relative,
Dr. William R. Palmer, of Utah, U.S.A., who is spending a holiday with them.
For the two Miss Palmers their uncle's tales have brought back very happy memories of the
holiday which they spent with him in 1950, and Mr. Palmer has been given glimpses of a
colourful and strange new world. Dr. Palmer, who is his first cousin, is a well-known authority
on the history of the State of Utah and was awarded an honorary doctorate about three years ago
for his work in Historical Research and Humanities. He has done a great deal of work among the
Indians, and was the first white man in Utah to be initiated into an Indian tribe (the Pahutes) and
made their president. He originated the Mormon Sunday School among the Indians.
Traced Relatives
Dr. Palmer, who hails from Cedar City, Utah, was born in the United States, but his parents
emigrated from Aberaman. His mother was originally a Pontypool woman, and he is delighted
that he has managed to trace relatives on his mother's side at Ebbw Vale.
He comes from an arid land of grey landscapes, with its beauty lying in the glorious richness of
the colours of the huge rock formations, canyons and mountains (red, yellow, salmon-pink and
purples), and he has been utterly enchanted by the greenness of the Aberdare Valley and the
"intimacy of structure of the valley." At the age of 77, and making his first trip to Britain, he has
not been one whit deterred by our bad weather.
He tells nostalgic stories of his childhood when his father and mother used to entertain all the
Welsh people in the district, sing the old songs in Welsh, and perhaps weep a little sadly for their
homes in Wales. Even more fascinating are his stories on Indian legend, a subject on which he
well-qualified to speak.
His book on the Pahute Indian legends, published in 1946, has sold widely, and part [sic] from
the charming way in which the stories are told students can be sure that every detail is correct.
Some of the stories Dr. Palmer read out to the older members of the tribes as many as six times
before they were completely satisfied. The delightful illustrations in this attractive book were
done in pen-and-ink by his son, Eugene, who is a spare-time artist, and a bookkeeper by
profession.
Dr. Palmer's room full of Indian crafts is apparently a Mecca for students and University
professors, as it contains genuine basketry, bead-work and deerskin and buckskin work. It took
Dr. Palmer some time, he told me, full to understand the Indian beliefs and philosophies, but now
he understands them and their language well, and speaks it fairly well also.
Before his retirement, he was the secretary of a large church group in Utah, and he became
chairman of the Church Welfare programme-a tremendous project by the Mormon Church. His
present work is for the Utah State Historical Society, and the Church Historical Society.
Since has been in Aberdare (two weeks) he has been able to fill in many of the hitherto blank
spaces in his genealogical table (for the Americans are fond of tracing their pedigrees). Already
he has been to visit St. Fagan's Folk Museum with which, naturally, he was fascinated, and on
the day I interviewed him he was going to Cardiff Castle. Recently he went on a coach tour of
Wales with Miss Etta Palmer, and he will go to London before he returns to America on the S. S.
United States on September 23. He travelled to this country on the same liner, having flown from
Cedar City to Washington, D. C., where another of his sons, Bill, the eldest, lives.
Wartime Caller
This eldest son, who visited the Palmer family at Cwmdare in 1930, is the head of the
Department of Statistics for the Bureau of Reclamation for Agriculture, in Washington. Rodney,
who called in at Cwmdare while he was in the American Forces in this country during the war, is
a doctor in California. And Dick, also in California, is the highest civilian officer attached to the
U.S. Naval shipyards. All four sons, and his daughter, who has died, were University graduates.
His wife died nine months ago after a long illness. Dr. Palmer has 11 grandchildren, and one
sister, Mrs. Kate McFarlane, of Salt Lake City.
He described the varied industries of the State of Utah--agriculture, livestock, iron-ore mining
among them. Actually Cedar City itself is part of the Iron County--descriptive of its industry.
Almost all the towns of Wales are represented in the town, either by descendants of pioneer
settlers or by later settlers, and Cedar City has always been a very musical town, the old choirs of
Dr. Palmer's childhood having been conducted by ardent Welshmen.
When this grand old American gentleman returns to the land of his birth he will be richer in the
satisfaction of knowing just what the land of his fathers is like.
Rhiannon Davies
