Offered in this lot we have a small Crow Apsaalooke Native American trade beaded sash from the mid-1900's, with a twisted tobacco plug. The piece shows intricate beadwork displaying floral patterns. The patterns are arranged in beads of translucent red, chalk white, brown, greasy yellow, and translucent green trade seed beads. The beads are woven in with the buckskin leather backing of the sash with each end of the piece showing a nonbeaded section. The tobacco plug twist is in amazingly good condition considering its age. “Plug tobacco” is simply chopped up tobacco which is combined with molasses or some type of sticky sweetener so it can be pressed into a solid block (the plug), from which the user can bite off a chunk and place between gum and lip. One of Montana’s earliest newspapers, The Madisonian (published in Virginia City), predicted in an 1884 edition that plug tobacco and other modern inventions might well result in the demise of the saloon business.During the nineteenth century, tobacco chewing was particularly prevalent in the United States. Exactly why this happened is not certain, but it became widespread and, in 1880, 55 percent of tobacco produced in the country was plug tobacco, a form of chewing tobacco. While plug tobacco's percentage of total production fell after 1880, gross production continued to rise until 1917, when it reached its all-time peak of 206 million pounds. The sash shows good condition overall with some wear and bead loss across the piece. The tobacco plug twist is 2.25"W x 5.75"L. The beaded sash measures 1"W x 20.5"L