King Con

  he showed them: Ibid., p. 103.

  He gave his name as: Ibid.; La Stampa (Turin), June 24, 1925, p. 3.

  Even the hospital’s director: L’Express (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), January 24, 1925, p. 4.

  CHAPTER 24

  People began to wonder: La Stampa (Turin), June 24, 1925, p. 3.

  When he propositioned: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 18, 1925, p. 3.

  Daunted by his tales: La Stampa (Turin), June 24, 1925, pp. 3–4.

  Edgar composed a note: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 130.

  Atta still felt sympathetic: Journal Suisse, January 16, 1925, p. 4.

  he hoped to escape: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  Over lunch he capitalized: La Stampa (Turin), June 24, 1925, p. 4; Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 75.

  Dominating its front page: La Nation Belge (Brussels), December 24, 1924, p. 1.

  In the window: La Stampa (Turin), June 27, 1925, pp. 3–4.

  And he got talking: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 23, 1925, p. 3.

  he felt the need to scam: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 130.

  Falling for Edgar’s showy talk: L’Express (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), January 24, 1925, p. 4.

  The invitation led: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 18, 1925, p. 3.

  Edgar said he’d repay: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 21, 1925, p. 4; Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, pp. 101, 107.

  “Atta is such a nice girl”: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 135.

  He told the owner: Ibid., p. 104; Gazette de Lausanne, January 20, 1925, p. 2.

  And he began flirting: La Stampa (Turin), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  In the twenty-one days: Corriere del Popolo (San Francisco), February 20, 1925, p. 2; Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, pp. 96–97; Corriere della Sera (Milan), June 27, 1925, p. 4.

  he succeeded in luring: La Stampa (Turin), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  From Ticino: Gazette de Lausanne, January 20, 1925, p. 2.

  He was not only seeking sanctuary: L’Impartial (Neuchâtel, Switzerland), June 25 1925, p. 5.

  “The comedy’s over”: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  CHAPTER 25

  caused by shrapnel: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  When the time: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 18, 1925, p. 3.

  Too melancholy for conversation: Corriere della Sera (Milan), January 21, 1925, p. 4.

  Even the showbiz trade paper Variety: Variety, February 18, 1925, p. 5.

  “I am very sorry”: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, pp. 78–79.

  As an excuse for their own gullibility: Ibid., p. 85.

  Edgar sought help: Ibid., p. 78.

  His chosen defense: Ibid., p. 103.

  For the journalists: Davenport (IA) Democrat and Leader, July 3, 1925, p. 11.

  Under cross-examination: La Stampa (Turin), June 26, 1925, p. 5.

  Challenged about his reference: La Stampa (Turin), June 24, 1925, p. 3.

  He plumbed similar: La Stampa (Turin), June 26, 1925, p. 5.

  How did he come to obtain: Davenport (IA) Democrat and Leader, July 3, 1925, p. 11.

  THE INCREDIBLE REAL-LIFE MOVIE: La Stampa (Turin), June 26, 1925, p. 5.

  On its fifth day: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 111.

  CHAPTER 26

  Near the end of the summer: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 118.

  The attorney, Girolamo Bevinetto: Ibid., p. 158.

  In this, he pretended: Ibid., p. 147.

  But he declined her offer: Ibid., p. 161.

  “latest episode”: Ibid., p. 172.

  THE RISE AND FALL: Paris-soir, February 7, 1927, p. 1.

  On the assumption: Bevinetto, Le avventure di Edgardo Laplante, p. 175.

  “con man supreme”: Ibid., p. 141.

  “a dangerous character”: Boston Herald, August 18, 1929, p. 21.

  CHAPTER 27

  Save for a dog-eared copy: Margaret Burrows, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 20, 1929, p. 9.

  ROPE & TWINE: Photo from the collection of Brian Merlis of Brooklynpix.com.

  “quite content”: New York Times, September 20, 1929, p. 26.

  “And to think”: Margaret Burrows, Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 20, 1929, p. 9.

  EPILOGUE

  Under that name: Boston Herald, March 4, 1930, p. 33.

  His reappearance: St. Louis Post-Dispatch magazine, October 20, 1929, p. 4.

  Yet he or: U.S. Census, 1930.

  “For a year and a half”: David Loth, Milwaukee (WI) Journal, October 12, 1930, p. 33.

  He also suckered: Sedalia (MO) Democrat, January 24, 1932, p. 8.

  “world’s greatest American Indian”: Mason City (IA) Globe-Gazette, November 1, 1930, p. 4.

  The next recorded reference: Daily Mail (Hagerstown, MD), May 14, 1934, p. 1.

  Before the speeches began: Chicago Sunday Tribune, June 28, 1936, p. 5.

  Until his death in 1960, Herbert R. Davis would continue posing as Chief White Elk. Occasionally assisted by his wife, Loraine, aka Princess White Star, he made guest appearances at theme parks, school fairs, zoos, banquets, and other events in his home state of Delaware. For these, he donned his feathered headdress, performed his interpretation of Native American war dances, and told anecdotes about his fictitious Sioux heritage.

  “little Indian”: Santa Ana (CA) Register, August 15, 1939, p. 2.

  He said his objective: San Diego Union, August 16, 1939, p. 3.

  His latest variation: Corvallis (OR) Gazette-Times, August 20, 1939, p. 6.

  a long interview: Times-Picayune (New Orleans), July 26, 1942, p. 27.

  his Italian adventures would: With the publication of the Milanese poet Delio Tessa’s posthumous collection Alalà al pellerossa (Howdy to the Redskin), which cast Chief White Elk in the central role within an anti-fascist satire, he launched a career as an artistic inspiration. Next came Cervo Blanco (White Elk), a 1980 novel by the prominent Italian literary figure Ernesto Ferrero, who fictionalized Edgar’s royal progress through Italy. After a gap of more than twenty years, Ferrero published L’anno dell’indiano (The Year of the Indian), a second novel based on Edgar’s escapades. But Edgar’s potential as a character in fiction had not yet been exhausted. In Switzerland in 2004, Renato Martinoni released a novel about Edgar’s time in that country. Entitled Il tramonto degli dei (The Sunset of the Gods), it provided the basis for a 2006 Italian-language Swiss television drama entitled L’enigma Tewanna Ray (The Enigma of Tewanna Ray). Danny Quinn, the handsome Italian-born son of Hollywood star Anthony Quinn, played the title role.

  fatal heart attack: Edgar’s death deprived him of the opportunity to see his old adversary, Chief Red Fox, receive his comeuppance. It arrived gift-wrapped in what seemed to be the venerable chief’s supreme triumph—the publication of Red Fox’s autobiography, which ascended the bestseller charts at home and abroad. But the popularity of The Memoirs of Chief Red Fox placed the old rogue under a disastrous level of scrutiny. Large chunks of his self-professed reminiscences were exposed as the product of plagiarism. And residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he claimed to have been born, said they’d never heard of him.

  Maricopa County Cemetery: This has since been renamed the Cementerio Lindo.

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