Natchee was a fiddler, born in Louden (near Peebles), who became well known in southern Ohio in the 1930s. He and Lloyd “Cowboy” Copas traveled with promoter Larry Sunbrock, who staged fiddle contests pitting Natchee against other famous fiddlers of the day, including Clayton McMichen, Curly Fox, and Clark Kessinger. It was Sunbrock who decided to promote Copas and Storer as “The Cowboy and the Indian” because of the popularity of all things western at that point in time, so Storer came up with the name Natchee. Natchee was a showman and trick fiddler and would win a lot of the contests. The general consensus is that the contests were probably fixed (most of the fiddlers were paid by Sunbrock). Later, Copas and Natchee worked on the Boone County Jamboree at WLW in Cincinnati and on WKRC in Cincinnati. There is some doubt that Natchee was even an Indian, although one of his relatives claims that he was part Indian (1/4thone quarter or 1/8thone eighth); he was also rumored to be either Italian or Greek. To add to the confusion, he worked on radio with “Indian Bill and Little Montana” (Bill and Evalina Stallard). He apparently also worked around Dayton and Cincinnati with Emory Martin and with Jimmie Skinner. When Copas left Cincinnati to work for Pee Wee King, Natchee stayed in Cincinnati and played clubs there for most of the rest of his life. Aside from all rumors, people who saw Natchee remembered him for his showmanship and his excellent fiddling.
STORER, LESTER VERNON “NATCHEE THE INDIAN” (1913-1970)