Antique Estes Park Post Card

This tourist post card was sent from Estes Park, Colo to Longmont, Colo back when stamps were only 
2 cents! The recipient was Kenneth Clark.                 

    Made on some kind of extremely thin leather,
or product there of, it's not only a nice hello, but a Burro-meter 

This is surprisingly accurate!

Jack thought this was funny. Rosie, not so much. 

Meanwhile, here's a recent image of Estes Park today. No burros, but LOTS of elk

The Significance of the Elk Tooth Dress

Created and worn as ceremonial dress by the High Plains Indian women (think Cheyenne, Lakota, Apsáalooke, Dakota, Kiowa, and more) the elk tooth dress had a story to tell. These dresses spoke of the standard of wealth and status of the family of the woman wearing them. 

A Lakota legend explains the importance of the teeth: 

"Two elk teeth remain after everything else has crumbled to dust… and for that reason the elk tooth has become an emblem of long life. When a child is born, its parents desire long life for it and for this reason an elk tooth is given to a child."

— Oku’te, Lakota Elk Dreamer, early 20th century

The teeth are located in the upper mandible where canine teeth would be positioned. These teeth are actually ivories, as they are what remains from an ancient time when elk had tusks. Each elk only possesses two ivories, as all the other teeth are made of enamel. They were valuble as a statement of the wife's husband's prowess as a hunter, or the wealth that he could trade with. Think of the work that went into obtaining the ivories two at a time! If used in trading, 100 ivories would buy you a good horse.

The common practice of stitching the ivories onto a buckskin dress to be worn on special occasions, like a wedding, was really prominent in the late 19th century, but had all but disappeared by the early 20th century. Thankfully, many of these dresses from the 1800s have survived intact for us to see, today.

Artificial ivories could be constructed from bone, or antlers in the 1800s. Today, artificially made teeth from plastics are available, that can be made to look very authentic at a fraction of the cost of real ivories.

The ivories were not just used on women's clothing, but were also used in creating jewelry. In at least one tribe, when a man killed his first elk, the ivories were gifted to his bride, or daughter, to be used to create special necklaces. 

Tracey Leigh Bryant

• Elk arrive in Colorado

  Elk arrived in northern Colorado around 8,000–10,000 years ago and in southern Colorado around 4,000–5,000 years ago. 

• Elk have ivory teeth

  Elk have two canine teeth, also known as ivories, "eyeteeth," or "dog teeth". These teeth are made of the same material as tusks on walruses, wild boars, and elephants. 
• Elk's ivories are vestigial tusks

  Elk's ivories are actually shrunken remnants of the tusks their ancient ancestors had. These tusks were used for defense and fighting during the rut, but as antlers evolved to be larger, the canines receded.