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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 txy" / ' ■ 'vi: I III III, .■■111 «"«, ;,«/«f. Omi WILD K'DIl^^S: iR]^ -mXEE YEAIIS' i'Ell^ JNAL EXPi'llIHCF am\;nu ■. h! Ki' U M'EX OF THE (illEAT WeS'. .■i ■ .ifll.AB ACOOXSr (»1- niLii^ rrm ■S •nil'; (^R»C^lVTLA.ms ANO :>. T|iE .HOtXV' '\:^ ;■'>. \r' ,■'•■: ■^. ^!,ii;J^!'l^L T^l' TIS .:l]STnM^.. LXPLOITo, .FTC. ^-.^^ h -t ^^i A: ■ ■ V- . *.. i.; '•( -'-:■■-■,■ ''^j ' .■? ' ,:;-^ ■;■ '^ :-■-;'" . -^ ^ ,■;' :■>• . . All^ rBCAMl- JO ItNJtltJV;., >«§Sl»IA'tl. ;. ;;: \?ITH \N INTKOPUCTION 1.^''GBXEKAL 8nEi{>tiLN ■■;I A'- jLvnrFOi.'Ti, (X>::y.: A. D. T,\o.c'r]ii\GT«:)y ^xn compaxv. A. i^ap/ A isgyrarx , 'ft!-''-?; VC,*-_ ■ "V "i ' ; ,1 ^T:.^"f,i::"':^-.r7'^-'^' .■•■•■..iw,r.^. OUR WILD INDIANS : THIRTY-THREE YEARS' PERSONAL EXPERIENCE AMONQ THE Eed Men of the Great West. A POPULAB ACCOUNT OF THEIR SOCIAL LIFE, RELIGION, HiBITS, TRAITS, CUSTOMS, EXPLOITS, ETC. WITH r.i^ ■' EljriUing ^trijenturejE^ ani JExptxitnm ON THE GREAT PLAINS AND IN THE MOUNTAINS OF OUR WIDE FRONTIER. :f^ >v. BY COLONEL RICHARD IRVING DODGE, UNITED 8T1.TB8 ABMT. ' 'AlD-DB-OAMP TO 0KH8RAL BHBBMAM. ■* . ■••■ ■■►■3;>K^r . > ' '(M^ St''',-**' ^'5 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 4+1 By general SHERMAN. '.'■»' ^ttllg lUustrattb foh^ portraits on S5ttel, Jull-pagt €ttgra(>mg8 on Moob, anb <|hu C^romo-^Pit^ograg^ pat«8. a- '-.? HARTFORD, CONN.: A. D. WORTHINGTON AND COMPANY. A. G. NETTLETON & CO., CHICAGO, ILL. N. D. THOMPSON & CO., ST. LOUIS, MO. C. C. WICK & CO., CLEVELAND, O. W. E. DIBBLE & CO., CINCmNATI, O. , A. L. BANCROFT & CO.^ SAN FILiNCISCO, CAL. 1882. :y :h^i^- :vir'i fell ~-.r Entered, according to Act of Congross, in the year 1882, By a. D. Wokthinqton and Company, In the OflSce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. 0. e'SP:' ->r?6tf^.*l-A5-.JW>^^St'A^-!': _ir-Jt-7? -V*?.. DEDICATED (bt permission) TO WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN. (Ecncral OF THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES. ''% • }, r.t*- ■^■■^A . T^i*.'; - '\J-* K ^'r y. %7 •■ J* '-''\'r,^i. * ; Nf -*i ■'' ; r- -'Z'^f''^''''y-',\\-*-'^\"''^y ^'^ ^■: y:- '*:r^v c:- \ <<* '■'J .•;■«,?">?" mmm ■>y'i'. ■ vi ?' . •> AUTHOR'S PREFACE. HE greater part of the past thirty-four years of my life has been spent on the frontier in more or less direct contact with Indians. It was not, however, until 1872 that I was induced to attempt to excite for them the interest of others. From and after that year I occasionally wrote short articles on Indians and the Indian question, some of which were contributed anonymously to the press. In 1877 I published a book entitled "The Plains of the Great West," a work mainly descriptive of the topography, climate, game, etc., of that portion of our countr}'^ known as the "Plains," to which I added some sketches of Indian life. Determined to be entirely unbiassed in my opinions, and with, I hope, a not unpardonable vanity to be original, I carefully abstained from consulting contemporaneous authorities, — either books or men. The extremely flattering reception which that book met at the hands of the critics, and, more especially the unexpected encomiums bestowed upon the brief and imperfect Indian sketches (which I had added to the volume more as a finale than with any hope of attracting particular attention to the subject) en- couraged me to continue my studies of Indian life, but in a wider field. In those sketches I had briefly given my opinions; I now determined to know the facts; and this could only be done by comparison of my opinions with those of other men who had . :. K. t^mmtif^ h .w;» ■I i James E. Taylor. John Karst 2. SpottedTail Assassinating Bio Mouth A Rival 86 _A ^ 3. Hocn-B-A-YuM - The Great Medicine I jj > James E. Taylor, Charles Speigle . 138 4. IndianSelf-Torture— Enduranceand ) DEFIANCE of PAIN \ ^^^> ^' ^O-Vlor. John KaTSt 6. The Last Resting-Place of the In- dians —A Cemetery Among the Trees on Medicine Lodob Creek, Indian Territory Ernest Griset, A, Bellinger C. OUH Stealthy Foes — The Attack on ) THE WAQOir Train \ Ernest Griset. A.Bellinger. 150 164 182 tU >; , m ■3& '!fi James E. Taylor. John Kamt ... 242 BIOBS j S. A SUCCESSFUL WAR PARTY CELEBRATING) ^^^^ fjriset. PannemaUv . . . 3G0 Victory - The Scalp Pance . . . . ) 10. A Chronological and Historical ) Reproduced in Facsimile from the \ .n. Chart of a Band of Sioux , . . . ) Original Chart ] '^^ IJ. Surrounded— Desperate Charge ofI Gen. Crook's Cavalry at the Bat- j- James E. Taylor. John Karst ... 446 tle of the Rosebud J 12. Heroissi ..nd Death of Sergeant-Ma- ) ^ „ „ , , . „ > James E, Taylor. John Karst ... 472 job Kennedy ) 13. WiNinn on tee Plains— A TfrribleI ErcPERinNCE in the Teeth of a I- James E. Taylor. Charles Speigle . . 504 "Norther" J 14. Sam Cherhy's Last Shot James E. Taylor. Charles Speigle . . 518 15. At the Mercy of Savage Captors— ) , Torture BY SLOW FIRES. .....( •^«'»«''^- ^«Wor. Charles Speigle . Cl'6 16. A Sudden Surprise — The Attack on) .-HE UNITED states Mail coach . .( •^'^<"'S'- C. Laplante . . . m 17. Rescuing a Wounded Comrade — He-) Boic exploit of Amos chapman. . .\ '^'*^» E- Taylor. Charles Speigle . . 632 <^Xb\ ■h ■J-; -Ai-'ilA.. .■:^.; I: -;.:f^T r^f^V.'. ^fi'J-'"'-,!"^' -■'>■'•■';■■ "fifrf f^'f^: "*»i>i»!v55".'-'j(Y-!tr''. k-^ ' ■w -^s'K ;r. Dm the PAOI 220 242 360 n the\ 403 . 446 472 eigk . . 504 eigle. . 518 dgle . : Ci;6 e . 5C0 iigle . , 632 !^ % 1 LIST OF Chromo - Lithograph Plates, WITH ©escriptfons anti !ExpIanatton0, Note by ttte PrnLisnERS. — Tliese chromo-Uthograph plates are extremely accu- rate I'l drawing anil coloring, no expe.'se or pains having been spared to distinguish thoMi in these respects for their tidelity tt the objects they represent. Kach group was first photofjrapheil to the proper size, tl'iiis insuring fulness of detail aud perfect accuracy, and at the same time preserving tlie relative size of one object to another. The original objects and the i)hotographs were then placed ii; the hands of a skilful artist, who exercised tlie most painstaking care in painting the photograph of each article directly from the object itself. These painted photographs were ihen transferred to stone, from which the plates herewith presented were printed. Each plate requires no less than flftut'u printings to produce tlie various colors and tints absolutely necessary to a faith- ful representation of the objects shown, thus requiring ninety encraveu stones to proiluce tlieso six plates. The engraving and ^rinclug were duue by Meiisrs. Biugham, bodd & Co.,41art{ord, Conu. Plate I. Page 128. Red Cloud's War Bonnet— Douglas's Tobacco Pouch — Famous Pipes, &c. 1. War Bonxkt of Red Cloud, Principal Chief of the Sioux. 2. Ute Bkaded ToiiAcco Pouch. u. Sioux War Club, 4. Watf.b Jab, made of Grass and Lived with Pitch. Once belonging to Chipeta, wife of Oiuray, head cliief of the Utes. 5. Sioux Gourd I'attle. 6. Beaded Tobacco Pouch. Formerly owned by Douglass, the chief of Utes who murdered the Meeker family. 7. Tobacco Pipe of the Siioshones, or Snakes. 8. Tall Bull's Tobacco Pipe, ornamented with Feathers and Scalp-Locks. Tall Bull was chief of a band of outlaw Cheyennes and Sloux. I'e was killed at the battle of Summit Springs, Colorado. His wife, who was c iptured at the time, said the scalps attached to t?ie pipe wero those of .vh'i,c ettlers on the Sallna Ulver, Kansas, taken only two weeks previously. Seveuty-.wo sarages were killed at the battle of Summit Spriugs. jp* I Sioux Tobacco Pipes. 11, A Famous Peace Pipe. This pipe was used at the grand council held at Ued Cloud Agency when the question of the surrender of the Black Hills to the United States was discussed. ix mr ■•■WV'}i"\ i^-'- LIST OP CHKOMO-LITHOGIiAPH PLATES. Plate II. Page 266. Sioux War Shirt— Apache Caps— Moccasins FROM THE Battle-field of Gen. Custer's Death— Totems, &c. \. Apache Cap. Made of red flannel, and ornamented with feathers and buttous. 2. Apache Cap. Ornamented with turkey-feathers and buttons. 3. A Pair of Sioux Moccasins. Found on the battle-field of Gen. Custer's death. 4. A Sioux War Shirt. This elaborate war shirt is made of fine-dressed buckskin. It is ornamented with bends and skius, and fringed with many scalp-locks. 5. Totem, made of a Turtle-Shell. Worn suspended from the ueck, 6 Tobacco Pouch, elaborately Beaded. 7. Totem, made op a Beaveb-Skin. 8. Tobacco Pouch, beautifully Beaded. 9. Medicine Bao, made of the Skln of a Beak's Foot. Plate III. Page 306. Squaw's Dress, Bow-Case and Quiver— Musi- cal Instruments— Cradle— Rattles, &c. I Ute Bow and Arrows. Sioux Flageolet, or Flute. Cheyenne Flute. Sioux Kattle. Made of the ends of buffalo-toes. 6. A Pair op Cheyenne Mocca.sin9. Beautifully embroidered with beads. 7. Bow-Case and Quiver, made of a PANTnrH-SKiN. This once belonged to the wife of Yellow Bear, a prominent chief of tho Cheyennes. 8. A Cheyenne Tobacco Pouch. 9. A Cheyenne Squaw Dress. Tliis elaborate and valuable dress is ornamented with the eye-teeth of Elk. Kach pair of teeth represents one Elk. The Indians valued the dress at eight ponies, or about tteo hundred dollars. 10. A Cheyevne Rattle. Made of the ends of Buifalo-toes. U. A Cheyenne Beaded Cradle. This once belonged to the wife of a prominent chief. It is most elaborately embroidered with beads, and b.d cradled an Indian baby a year, before coming into possession of the author. '•*WM AOE 256. LIST OF CHROMO-LITHOGEAPH PLATES. XI SINS l<'S Plate IT. Page 412. ted with Fac-Similes of Indian Drawings. (Drawn with colored peDCil^ by Big Bacic, a Clicyennc Indian.) (A) Indian CorRTiyo Scenes. (1) The Approach. (2) The Couple wrapped in one Blanket. (B) Genkual Mackenzie's Fight with tue Chevennes, and Death of Lieut. McKlNNEY. Only prominent chiefs who were killed at this fight are represented on the Indian siile, and the fatal wound of each is indicated by blood flowing from it, or — in some cases — from the mouth. The names of the chiefs thus shown in this picture are : (1) High Bull ; (2) Walking Calf ; (3) Whirlwind; (4) White Face Bull ; (5) B\tll Hump; (0) Old Bull. Short lines with a dot at one end repre- sent flying bullets. The bullet passing through Lieut. McKinuey's body (7) indicates the manner of his death. (J 1' 'LGE 306. lusi- c. Plate Y. of tho Each ponies, Page 422. Indian Weapons— Tomahawks, War Shield, Clubs, Bows, Arrows, &c. 0. in. 11. V2. 13. X4. Comanche Tomahawk. Ornamented wltli red flannel, scalp-locks, and feathers. Ute Tomahawk Pipe. } Sioux War Clubs. Sioux Bows and Arrows. Comanche War Shield. Ornimu'nted with feathers, and the tall of a horse. This shield is proof against rifle bullets. Bow-Case and Quiver of the Bannock Indians. Made of very Wne buckskin, and elaborately embroidered with beads. I Sioux War Clubs. Tomahawk Pipe. Once bulonglo? to Little Bear, a prominent chief of the Northern Apaches. Kiowa War Club. CouANCHE Tomahawk Pifb. •;»;; \ ■ Ji. irately oniing 1"3^ U5S 1 »?', xii LIST OF CHROMO-LITIIOGEAPH PLATES. Plate YI. Page 514. Objects of Interest and Curiosity: Scalps of iNblANS AND V/HITE PEOPLE— ORNAMENTS MADE OF Human Skin and Bones, &c. 1. 2, 3. 4. 6. 6. 7, 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Kio'WA Medicine Rattle. Sheath of Scalping Knife (Sioux). Sheath of Scalping Knife (Cheyenne). Scalping Knives. Scalps of Two White Men, ahranged on a VTand fob the Scalp Dance. Scalp of a Sioux Indian. Elaborately ornamented with feathers and beads. Scalp of a Sioux Indian, taken entire. Scalp of a Little White Gikl. This scalp was taken from the Conianches. The little girl was about nine years old. Ute Match Safe, Beaded. Ute Needle Case, Beaded. Ute Necklace, with "Medicine." Made of shells from the Gulf of California, passed in barter from tribe to tribe. Cheyenne Squaw's Gambling Isiplement. Made of the tones of a bear's foot. NoBTnEHN Cheyenne Necklace. Made of the first joints of human fingers. Gambling Bones, and Beaded Case. Belt made of Human Skin. This was taken fiom a Tonkaway Indian, who had made it from the skin of a Comanche. <«?•' f>'^'- •.^.Vu'jt. i»L-.,->.I ViJ it* ■^*r:jv'-'^^iv-4^\'-: 9-, AGE ni4. PS OF TS CONTENTS. Introduction, bv Gex. William T. Sherman . Page XXXV )ANCE. me years o tribe. Bkin of a CHAl TER I. MY EARLY LIFE — FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH INDIANS — ADVEN- TURES AMONG THE COMANCHES. My Early Home — First Sight of Warriors — A Tlirill of Horror Re- called — Sudden Transformation of My Views — A Beardless Lieu- tenant — The Texan Frontier — Nights with the Comanches — Their Cunning and Treachery — Tlie Sleepless Foe — A Fatal Stumble — On a Cavalry Sqout — Adventurous Pursuit — Surprising an Indian Camp — Invited to be the Guest of an Indian Chief — Wai-ned of Danger — Outbreak of Hostilities — Young Warriors with " Bad Hearts " — The Bandera Pass — An Exciting Adventure — Separated from My Command — Making the Best of It — Ruined Ammuni- tion — On the Edge of Peril — Reconnoitring the Indian Camp — My Flight and Pursuit — The Race for Life — My Escape — Rejoin- ing My Command — Thirty Years of Indian Warfare, Page 29 CHAPTER II. BEYOND THE MISSISSIPPI — THE LANGUAGE, NUMBERS, HABITS, ETC., OF THE INDIANS OF THE GREAT WEST. Origin of the American Indians — The Defect of Writers on the Indians — Wonderful Diversity of the Indian Language — Curious Facts and Tendencies — The Effect of War — Stupendous Vanity — Invention of Dialects — The Passion for War — The Crafty and Bloodthirsty Apaches — The Cheyennes and Arrapahoes — A Marvellous Alliance — Tlie Sign Language — Estimates of Population — Superstitious Dread of being Counted — Indian Extermination — Nomadic Pro- clivities — The Winter Encampment — Home Attachments — Love for an Old Encampment — Cherished Memories — " Home Sickness " — Mental Peculiarities — Acute Perceptions — Ill-Directed Efforts — Indian Schools —Indian Orators — How they Rehearse their Speeches — Swaying a Savage Audience 42 1 !5-^,( -i,'h~o, r. !J Xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. . WILD LIFE ON THE PLAINS -INDIAN CIIAEACTER, TRAITS, AND PECULIARITIES. The Country of the " Plains Indians" — The Dream of an Enthusiast — The Indian as he is — His Conduct in tlie Presence of Strangers — Clothes Only for Show — His Conduct in his Own Camp — A lioUick- inc Miscreant — Night Scenes in an Indian Camp — The Disgrace of being Surprised — A Pair of Climbing Boots — The Hero of tiie Tele- graph Pole — How a Lady Excited Surprise and Admiration — A Comical Incident — The Story of a Wooden Leg — Carrying a Joko too Far — A Summary Ejectment — Endurance of Pain — Patience, an Indian Virtue — Blowing his Own Trumpet — Extravagant Self- Praise — An Indian's Idea of Modesty — Honor among Thieves — Kicked Out of Camp — Early Lessons in Stealing — Apt Pupils — A Flagi'ant Case — A Fair Field and No Favor — Ditferences of Opinion, 52 CHAPTER IV. INDIAN CHIEFS AND RULERS — TRIBAL GOVERNMENT — HOW PLACE AND POWER ARE WON. Powers of the Head Chief — The Avengers of Blood — Tlie Death Penalty — Deadly Hostility — Sitting Bull's Indomitable Band — Ouray's Lost Prestige — Little Robe and Little Raven — Two Tribes that are Firm Friends — Disobeying Spotted Tail's Orders — Fate of Deserting Warriors — Severe Punishment — A Secret Society — The "Picked Corps" of Warriors — The Ciiief's Body Guard — Expiating a Sin — A Noted Comanche Chief: Ilis Courage and Daring — Death from a Broken Heart — Red Cloud's Career- War to the Knife — A Thrill- ing Episode — Rival Suitors — Spotted Tail's Duel — Locked in Death's Embrace — Big Mouth's Assassination, . . . ,68 CHAPTER V. SWINDLING AND ROBBING THE INDIANS -MY OWN OBSERVA- TIONS. The "Treaty System" — Its Absurdity — Stipulations that cannot be Kept — How Indians are Swindled and Robhed —" Wards of the Nation" — Modoc Jack — General Canby's Murderers — Expiation '^ ,j^*(;-.v,T«j;ii;^.T,j- j-,.«-A,':,.;,*>i';,- «■ /■^■^r '.^V?*-' CONTENTS. xy on the Gallows — The " Indian Agent" — His Absolute Power — How Massacres are Invited — Poor old Mr. Meeker — Our "Indiiin Policy" — Forcible Contrasts — My Own Observations — What I Have Seen — Unexampled Scoundrellsm — Stone Calf's Daughter — The Flower of the Wigwam — An Ill-fated Journey — Concealed in a Thicket — Thrciitened with Instant Death — Escape to a Friendly Teepe — The Old Chief's Agony — A Heart-broken Warrior — My Inability to Help Him — Praying for the " White Man's Road," . . .87 CHAPTER VI. RELIGION OF THE INDIAN — A STRANGE FAIXn — THE GREAT MYSTERY OF INDIAN "MEDICINE." The Indian Idea of God — The Good God — The Bad God — The Per- petual Struggle between Them — "The Happy Hunting Grounds" — How the Indian Soul is Excluded from Paradise — Horror of Being Scalped — Desperate Eilbrts to Save a Friend's Soul — How the Soul Escapes from the Body — The Indian Idea of Hell — "Good Med- icine " versus ** Bad Medicine " — Ridiculous Superstition — How "Medicine" is Made — Its Great Mystery — A Sacred Secret — De- . ciding on the Ingredients — Appeasing the Wrath of the Bad God — Sacred Ponies — Driving a Sliarp Bargain with the Devil — Stick- ing to the Faith of their Fnthers — Spotted Tail's Argument with Captain Rjindall — " Black Beard " — My Talk witli an Aged Chief— Who Made the World ? — Fetichism — Digger Indians. . . 96 CHAPTER VII. TIIE MEDICINE CHIEF — HIS GREAT . POWER AND INFLUENCE — AN OFFICE WON BY RECKLESS DARING. The Medicine Cliief — His Power and Standing in the Tribe — How the Oflice is Won — Proving His Own Medicine — A First-Class Aristo- crat — The Idol of the Squaws — An Indian Physician — His knowl- edge of Herbs — No Cure no Pay — A Pandemonium of Howls — Incantations Over the Sick — A Remedy Worse tlian the Disease — Heroic Treatment — My Reception in an Indl.an Camp — Black, Beady Eyes — An Aspirant for Fame — Sitting Bull — Medicine Arrow — A Favorite of Fortune — The Most Remarkable Chief of His Time — His Famous Arrows — Arrows for Ponies and Ponies for Rum — End of a Strange Career — Splendid Types of Courage — . The Charge on Forsythe's Rifle Pits — Indian Quacks, . .114 "'T^*' ./;:'"\*'^'TV''?'^~'t'r' I*' .*' ?:.• \ >> ,1 XVI CONTENTS. CHAPTER VIII. SECRET RITES AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES— AN INDIAN MYS- TERY—THE SACRED "SOMETHING." The Sacred Conclave — IIow One of My Officers Gained Admittance — What He Saw There — Curious Solemnities — Sacred Mysteries — The Medicine Pipe — ITow an Indian Smokes a Cigar — A Blazing Stub— IIow the Pipe is Used for Casting Lots — IIow the Fatal Signal is Determined — Secret Societies, Pass Words, and Gri{js — Medicine Arrow's Great Influence — The Sacred "Something" — What is it ? — An Object of Awe and Veneration — Cai)tur(j of the Sacred Symbol by the Pawnees — A Pious Fraud — The Utes and the Squat Stone — Its Capture by a Hostile Tribe — Their Flight with It — Consternation at its Loss — AVild Pursuit and Vengeance — Burial of 'iMed- 124 the Sacred Insigu' i — The Lost Treasure — Sitting Bull's icine," CHAPTER IX. H6CH-fi-A-YUM — THE GREAT MEDICINE DANCE — SUFFERING AND ENDURANCE OF THE DANCERS. The Cotton Wood Lodge — The Medicine Dance — Prtiparations for the Cei-emony — Extent of the Suflering Involved — In the Circle — The Spectators — Selection of Warriors for the Dance — Death the Penalty of Failure — Stripped for the Struggle — Eyes Fixed — The Sus- pended Image — Wild Enthusiasm — The Dance of Endurance — The Weary Round — Shouts of Encouragement — Wail of the Scjuaws — An Exhausted Dancer — Di-agged from the Fatal Arena — The Victim -— Death of the Dancer — The Furies of Ilell Let Loose — Fleeing From AVrath — Rallying the Bands— Four Days' of Suffer- ing — Sticking it Out to the Bitter End — Recognition and Reward — Rushing in at the Eleventh Hour — Carrying off the Prize, . 134 CHAPTER X. INDIAN METHODS OF SELF-TORTURE — ENDURANCE DEFIANCE OF PAIN. AND The Warrior's Ordeal — Panting for the Knife — IIow Suffering is Courted — Stalwart Endurance of Pain — The Greatest of Indian Virtues — Remarkable Religious Fervor — Indian Pride in Self-Torture — Prep- arations for the Trying Ordeal— Fasting, Silence, and Meditation — :'tei!feSi##3^' ''*"•■**' ;*-t 'v'T*if'"^'v CONTENTS. XVU The Candidates Brought before the Medicine Chief — Deciding on the Kind and Amount of Torture — The Merciless Thrust of the Knife — Inserting Horseliair Ropes — Tlie Wounded Devotee — Muscles Torn from the Breast — Incredible Suffering — The Vic .n's Tragic Efforts to Break Loose — Suspended in Mid-air — Indescribable Agonies — Lips that Never Murmur — Dressing the Woiinds — The Consequences of Flinching undoi' the Knife — The "Sun Dance" of the Sioux — Expiation of Crime — Exasperating Forms of Tor- ture 146 CHAPTER XI. THE INDIAN'S LAST RESTING-PLACE — BURIAL OF THE DEAD. The Excitement Caused by a Death in Camp — An Indian Cemetery — Depositing the Body in a Tree — The Burial Case — How the Body is Dressed — My Horrible Discovery — Following the Trail — Another Disco v'eiy — The Dead Body of the Comanche War Chief — How He Died — Ti-eating His Body with Indignity — Comical Epitaph — Stealing a Body for Dissection — The Body-Snatchers at Work — The Midnight Foray — Unexpected Arrival of Squaws — Consterna- tion of tlie Thieves — Terror and Flight of the Women — What I saw in a Deserted IJte Camp — Graves Safe from Moi'tal Eyes — Secrets Betrayed by Human Bones — Ouray's Death — His Secret Burial — Discovery of His Grave, 153 CHAPTER XII. MOURNING FOR THE DEAD — HOW INDIANS FEEL AND SHOW THEIR GRIEF. In " Sackcloth and Ashes " — The Mark of God's Displeasure — Pai'ental Anguish — Tlie Death of a Son — A Warrior's Tearless Eyes — Real Grief — Mourning for a Dead Wife — What Happens at the Death of a Chief — How the Squaws Mourn — A Chorus of Howls from the •'Blessed Sex" — Self-Mutilation — Inflicting Ilon-ible Wounds — A "Good Cry" versus a "Good Howl" — Inconsolable Widows — Midnight Wails — Letting off Superfluous Unhappiness — Joining in the Howl — The " Luxury of Grief" — Vigorous Lamentation — How an Indian Makes his Will — Scene at Ouray's Death Bed — His Will — Clamoring for the Destruction of his Property — A Narrow Escape — The Sacrifice of Seventeen Horses — Firing the Pyre, . 167 2 SSiV.sf... Xviii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIII. THE FUTUEE LIFE — THE INDIAN'S IDEA OF HEAVEN — THE HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS. Conceptions of the Hereafter — Indian Ilon-or of Being Strangled or Scalped Explained — An Eternity of Green Fields and Pastures — Equipped for the Long Jovirney — Death Overcome — Touching Traits of Character— Complete Oiittit for the Dead — The War- rioi-'s Grave — Starvation and Death Preferred to Robbing the Dead — How Physical Defects are Carried into the Next World — Fate of an Emaciated Form — Mutilations of the Body — Transfixed with Arrows — A Dismal Superstition — Why Indians Rarely Make Night Attacks — The Effect of Being Killed in the Dark — Crawling into Camp — Stealth and Cunning — Avenging the Slain — Incident of the Campaign of 1873 — Fate of a Band of Surveyors, . 175 CHAPTER XIV. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH -LIFE AND TRAINING OF INDIAN BOYS AND GIRLS. The Redskin Baby — An Original Outfit — Feathers and Fur — A Real " Nest of Comfort " — Tossed into a Corner — " In the Tree Top " — Learning to Ride — Stopping the Baby's Cry — A Novel Method — Rough Schooling — Adoption of Captive Cliiklren — The Comanche Women — A Coveted Baby — Ready to Swap or Buy — An Inter- esting Experience — Tlie Warrior's Pride — A Touching Story — Bound to the Stake — The Old Chief's Sacrifice — Childliood Sports — Fi'eedom of the Lodge — Trained for the Chase — Roaming at Large — Cold-Blooded Ati'ocities — Daring Attacks — In Pursuit of Fame — A Momentous Hour — What I saw at an Indian Dance — Matri- monial Hankerings — Married at Sixteen — Old Age at Thirty- 'fi^' CHAPTER X\. LOVE-MAKING IN AN INDIAN CAMP -COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. Indian Lovers — Suitors for a Maiden's Hand — Going to "See His Girl " — At His Inamorata's Lodge — " Tlie Old Folks at Home " — Indian Match-Makers — The First Real Meeting — Picturesque Re- luctance and a Pretty Surrender — Tete-k-Tete— Engaged at Last — •:wy^'*^ CONTENTS. XIX Appearance of Rivals — An Indian Flirt — A Dozen Lovers at Her Feet — Competition tlio Life of Trade — Plans for the Wedding — How Paternal Consent is Obtained — Indian Elopements — Love De- fiant of Locks anil Bars — Escape from the Lodge — Flight and Pursuit — Assessing the Damages — Tiie Girl's Market Value — A White Admirer's Perfidy — Gushing Frankness — An Unfortunate Dilemma — " So Glad You Asked Mo " — A Widow's Pathetic Ap- peal, 190 CHAPTER XVI. INDIAN WOMEN — THEIR VIRTUES AND VICES - INDIAN LODGE. • LIFE IN AN iIAN BOYS The Life of an Indian Woman — Where the Bead and Feather Work Comes From — A "Model" Wife — A Squaw's Right — Seeking a New Husband — How the Custom Originated — The Go-Between — Secret Conferences — Winning the Affections of Another Man's Wife — Scandal in the Camp — The Old Warrior's Darling — Flight with a Youthful Admirer — The Honey-Moon — Housekeeping in a Friendly Teepe — A Dark Day — A Terrible Punishment — Tickling a Girl's Vanity — Liaisons Among the Arrapahoes — Curious Safeguards — The Stoiy of Powder Face — A Notable Couple — A Precocious Young Rascal — First-Class Sensation — Madmen and Idiots — A Professional Tramp — His Capture by Hostile Sioux, .... 200 ^^& ;V--| CHAPTER XVII. INDIAN NAMES, TITLES, AND EPITHETS — TIIEm MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE. - THE TOTEM. Indian Idea of their Origin — Traditions — The Family Coat of Arms — The Totem, and What It Is — Surnames — Pet Names — Titles •— Nicknames — P.alpable Hits — The Original " Punch " — Odd Traits and Fancies Indicated by Names — Why Indians Name Themselves — Curious Titles — " White Eagle" — "Lone Wolf " — " Yellow Bear " — " Powder Face " — " Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses " — Loafing "Jims" and Indolent "Tonys" — Unblushing Beggary — Eff'ect of Incident and Adventure — An 111- Fated Expedition — An Unsolved Mystery — The Place of Lost Souls — he " Great American Bull- Whacker" — The "Picketwire" — Indian Nicknames of Army Offi- cers — Ridiculous Appellations — Gray Beai'd — General Crook's Indian Name — Why they Call Him "The Gray Fox," . 216 m .^.? "^^Ste? E / CONTENTS. ■■■..■^'""*'7"' ' ^': CHAPTER XVIII. EVERYDAY INDIAN LIFE -SIGHTS AND SCENES IN INDIAN HOMES, TEEPES, AND WINTER CAMPS. An Indian Ttepo — How it is Mivdo — Tho " Wlcl;4'j;!i-:',.iAiv:i;.^- Aobe — A Wai-rlor with n Sweet Tooth — The First Lot of Matches — An Astonished Indian — Curiosity Aroused — A Wonderful Box — Testing the Matches One by One — Scorched Fingers — My Treasures from the Utc Campaign — Blanket of Rare Beauty and Design — A Dishonored Statute — The Trapper Tliirty Years Ago — Domieiled with Savages — A Wild Free Life — Admitted to the Indian Brother- hood — Sliaring Hairbreadth Escapes — The Gaming Tal)le — Tlie Trader's Grip on the Red Man's Tliroat — Barefaced Swindling — An Open and Shut Game — Ilobson's Choice — The Traders' Trey, 2G1 CHAPTER XXI. INDL\N COOKS AND COOKINC; — FAVORITE FOOD AND ODD DISHES — AMUSING FXI'EUIENTES. Indian Cooks — TeejM) Manners — "Fingers i)efore Forks" — The " Tonisli " Thing in Serving — How Indians Cook for Themselves — An OlV-IIand Roast — Tiio Marrow-Bones — The Choicest Bonno BomcIh! — Enormous Feeders — Eating Twenty Pounds at One Meal — Gluttony of the Red Skins — Tlio Call for More — Cunning and Strategy — Accumulated Breakfasts — An Astonisliing Appetite — Job's Turkey — A Tougli One — An Abandoned Fowl — An Odd Sui)erstition — Unblusliing Clieek — Eating Ten Feet of MaiTow Guts — The Use of Salt — Red Pepper and Black — Selection of the Entrails — The Indian's Most Delicious Morsel — My Invitation to Dine with the Pawnee Chief — A Disgusting Repast — Dog Flesh — Fat Puppy — Skunk — My Interview with Stone Calf, . . 271 CHAPTER XXII. THE BUFFALO AND ITS DESTRUCTION — THE INDIAN'S GREAT FALL HUNT — EXCITING ADVENTURES. The Indian and the Buffalo — The Old Days of Plenty — Habits and Instincts — Immense Herds — A Column Fifty Miles Wide, and of Unknown Depth — A Thrilling Adventure at Pawnee Rock — Danger from a Stampeded Herd — " Splitting " the Column — Safe at Last — Scenes of Wild Animation — Mistaken Ideas of Old Plains- men— IIow the Indians Hunt Buffalo — The "SuiTound" — Closing In for the Attack — The Signal — Wild Onset of Wan'ioi-s — Desperate Resistance — The Slaughter — The Sioux Plan — My Camp on Big Coon Creek — My Adventure with a Panic-stricken Herd — A Camp Aroused at Midnight — Hairbreadth Escape — The Extinction of the Buffalo — Wanton Slaughter — Barbarous Practices, . . 282 ;»"r'*l >% ^ f^-^- 'm ' '^^<£^'1. .Vi^t.fe;:-^-v.^/; \\ ^J [k>' -'<•- 'i XXii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIII. CLOTHING, FINERY, AND PERSONAL ADORNMENT OF ETDIANS. The Breech-cloth — Donning a "Biled" Shirt— How Little Raven "Received" — "Fixed up" for White Company — Ludicrous Com- binations — Remarkal)le Appearance of Turkey Leg in Council — The Green Veil and Stove-Pi pc Hat— Bugbeare of Indian Life — A DisgusttM Warrior — Ceremonial Costumes — Fringe Made of Scalp Locks — Dressing the Hair — The "Pig-tail" Style — The Receptacle for Odds and Ends — Female Attire — The Buckskin Skirt and Jacket — The Kirtle of Fringe — How Indians Pnint their Bmlies — Bracelets and Beadwork — A Good Story — The Captain's False Teeth — A Cheyenne Chief's Glass Eye — Terror Caused by itJ" Removal — Kicked out of Camp as Doubtful "Medicine," . 297 CHAPTER XXIV. DISEASE AND DEATH — TIIE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. Homesickness — Driven from Pillar to Post — Fate of the Pawnees — Frightful Mortality — The "Policy" that Drives Indians to Despera- tion — The Only Misfoi'tunc Over which an Indian Broods — Rude Remedies — The Sweat House — A Cold Plunge — Disease among Indian Children — A Shocking Surpicion — Wild Flight — Super- stitious Terror — Abject Prostration and Alarm — The Wail of De- spair — Dead and Dying Left by the Wayside — Scenes of Indescribable Horror — Hydrophobia — Curious Facts Concerning the Bite of a Skunk — Awaiting the Worst of Fates — Suicide — Defiance of Tor- ture — Preparing for a Desperate Raid — Shot Dead in liis Saddle — Deathbed Scenes — Chanting the Death Song — The Final Fare- well 311 INDT CHAPTER XXV. GAUIBLERS — THEIR GAMES OF SKILL AND CHANCE- DRUNKENNESS — SCENES FROM LIFE. Indian Gamblers — A Favorite Pastime — Preparations for the Game — The Stakes — The Whirlpool of Fortune — An Exciting Contest- Dexterous Manipulation — Counting the Points — Sweeping the Stakes — Experts with Cards — The Mysteries of " Monte " — " Ways that aie Daik " — Cheating a Fine Ait — The Loaded Hand — L m '^''•y ■'»'■■ .W<;<'?vCv'^f ;-""'^';^;^^'^'^ "■•'' Viv; ''^J'/tT.'' 7t,r.Wif7-f'!/;'i::''--y-^\.'''h'i(Af-<'f^,"- r; CONTENTS. XXIU OF niDIANS. Little Raven idicroiis Com- in Council — ndian Life — njre ]\Iiide of Style — The Buckskin Skirt nt tlicir Bodies aptiiin's False aused by ha le,' 297 nSTENCE. lie Pawnees — ms to Despera- Broods — Kude •isease among 'light — Super- e Wail of De- " Indescribable :he Bite of a ifiance of Tov- i his Saddle — i Final Fare- . 311 CHANCE— ■ the Game — ig Contest — weeping the e" — "Ways led Hand — Hbavy Stakes — Bad Luck — Wives and Children Lost — The Co- manche Gambler — The Fatal Throw — Gambling Customs — " Passing the Bono " — In a Whirl of Excitement — Aboriginal Dice — Lucky Numbers — Favorite Gams with the Cheyenne Wo- men — Born and Bred Swindlers -- Anything for Whiskey — Enjoying his Whiskey Alone — Sneaking off for a Debauch — A Sound Thrashing — A Blubbering Warrior, . . . 325 CHAPTER XXVI. INDLIN AMUSEMENTS AND SPORTS — WONDERFUL FEATS AND MARVELLOUS EXPLOITS. An Indian Story Teller — The Favorite of the Women — The Sign Language — Outdoor Sports — Life in the Saddle — Wonderful Feats of Horsemanship — Marvellous Exploits at Full Gallop — Novel Races — An Arrant Jockey — Tricks of the Trade — An Adroit Comanche — Mu-La-Que-Top's Scheme — Sharp Practice — A Sheep of a Pony against a Iventucky Mare — Fastest Race on Record — A Put-up Job — Disgusted Army Officers — Bow and Arrow Games — Scandal Mongers — Indian Rumors — The Outbreak at Fort Reno — Beating the Telegi-aph — Incredible Despatch — Scouts and Run- ners — Something New about Wives — Squaw Fights — Off with the Wrong Man — Facing the Consequences — An Unequal Con- test, 336 CHAPTER XXVII. INDIAN MUSIC AND MUSICIANS - CURIOUS MUSICAL INSTRU- MENTS-POETRY AND SONGS. Indian Musical Instruments — The Cheyenne Tom-tom — A Curious Work — Constructive Skill — My Wonderful Present — The Sioux Rattle — " Flutes and Soft Recorders " — Weird but Winsome Notes — ^j-n Indian Serenade — The War Song — The Indian "German" — Thrilled with Military Frenzy — Transported with Adoration — " Songs Without Words " — Permanence of Indian Music — The Celebration of Valor — Selection of the Tune — Fitting the Words — Practising in Chorus — Night After Night at Work — The Song Completed — Odd Indian Melodies — Every One His Own Poet — The Cheyenne Courting Song — Winning a Married Woman's Love — The Conditional Elopement — The Round Dance — Music of the Kiss Dance — Wild Notes Recovered — An Interesting Re- sult S18 1 V ^\ Z' m m. Y^y m -sSSc .^^ % M ta '^^£5^1 ..*ifj 1 f- >,;>.<••;: f. :• XXIV INDIAN DANCES CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. -SCENES OF WILD EXCITEMENT AND FEENZY — LUDICROUS EXPERIENCES. Indian Dancing Customs — Preparations for the Scalp Dance — A Hid- eous Picture — Tlie Circle of Wands — On the Border of Frenzy — Bringing Out Old Scalps — Enlisting for the War — " Striking the Post " — My First Sight of a Scalp Dance - - Prisoners Gracing the Ceremony — A Boy's Pluck — Exasperated by Ridicule — Begging Dance — Reconciling Old Foes — Interesting Incident of Crook's Campaign — Indian Dii)lomacy — Disastrous Blow to New-made Friends — Impoverished by Hugs — The Lost Chance — Ar Eveiy- day Scene — Virtue and Vice Side by Side — Stolen Bodily from tlie Indians — The Sign Dance — Tlie " Kissing Dance " — Mischiev- ous Couples — Practical Jokes — The Indian Love of Humor — Ludici'ous Experiences — A Delicious Bit of Masquerading, . 356 CHAPTER XXIX. THE SIGN LANGUAGE - -WONDERFUL EXPERTNESS OF INDLAN SIGN-TALliERS. The Need of a Common Language — The Great Battle Ground of the Plains — The Struggle for Existence — Imperilled Interests — A Question of Fate — Desperate Encounters — Common Methods of Communication — Signs and Gestures — Origin and Extent of the System — The Cheyennes and Arrapahocs — Enforced Companion- ship — Fighting, Racing and Gambling Together — Ignorance of Signs Among the Utes — Ouray's Explanation — Sign Pictures — Rank of tiie Kiowas as Founders of the System — Oral Language — Skeleton Forms of Speech - - Individual Styles — First Lessons in Signs — Curious and Interesting Illustrations — A Powerful Sys- tem — Its Effect upon Indian Life — Tlie Expert Sign-talker — Conversation under Difficulties — Talking under a Blanket, . 379 CHAPTER XXX. INDIAN CHRONOLOGY— DEVICES FOR RECKONING IIME- KEEPING TRACK OF TIIE YEARS. Keeping Track of the Years — Counting by "D.ays," "Sleeps," "Moons," and "Winters," — My Personal Observations — The Fruits of Research— The Moon when Corn is Planted — New Year's ■.-.-.A. . ;^Vi'":«5*f'^i^*'. ■f^'- ■''^''-'tf^^ii^t^X''-'" >■'^■ •^Vyr;T'"V"'- j<^ 'j^*'*^; C'^iM-i'-^'- f*l' ..',■ 'J ?!.;' CONTENTS. XXV D FEENZY— nee — A Hid- of Frenzy — Striking the Gracing the le — Begging it of Croolt's o New-made — Ar Every - )dily from the — Mischiev- of Humor — ing, . 356 OF INDIAN Ground of the [nterests — A Methods of ■Extent of the I ConijKinion- Ignorance of n Pictures — Language — it Lessons in o wilful Sys- iign-talker — ket, . 379 E- KEEPING " " Sleeps," — The Fruits ■New Year's Day — The First Snow-fall — A Puzzling Interview — An Old Chey- enne's Opinion — " Some Years Have More Moons than Others " — The S.oux Calendar— A Wonderful Chronological Chart — In the Hands of Curiosity-hunters — Excited Hopes — Provoking Revela- tions — Fac Simile of the Calendar — Seventy Years in a Nul^sheil — Tell-tale Hieroglyphics — Solution of the Mysteiy — Applying the Key — Finding an Old Woman in f ^uft'alo — Old Folk Lore — A Legend of the Pacific Coast — A "Boston Man," . . .395 CHAPTER XXXI. INDIAN ART AND ARTISTS — SIGNIFICATION OF THEIR PICTURES AND INSCRIPTIONS. Progi-ess in the Arts — Semi-Civilized Indians — Obtaining an Educa- tion — Their Knowledge of the Industrial and Mechanic Arts — The Pi'cblos — Spinning, Weaving and Tailoring — The Navahoes — How their Dwellings are Constructed — Beautj' .and Excellence of their Blankets — Tlie Apaches — Canoes of Bark — Adepts at Carving — The Making and Ornamentation of Pipes — Bead-work, Paint, Feathers, and Fringes — Indian Artists — Their Delight at Pictures — Portraying tlieir Remarkable! Exploits — My Exploring Expedition to the Black Hills — What I Found under a Cairn of Stones — Indian Hieroglypliics — Inscriptions on Rocks and Trees — Indian Signa- tures — IIow Warriors Keep a Record of their Lives — Indian Pictures 406 CHAPTER XXXII. INDIAN WEAPONS — now TIIEY ARE MADE — SKILL AND EXPERT- NESS IN THEIR USE. Bows and Arrows — How Indian Boys Learn to Use them — Forays for Scalps and Plunder — The First Gun — An Incident of My first Fight witii Indians — Why Tliey Still Cling to the Bow — IIow the Bow is Made — Its Strength and Elasticity - Arrows and How they are Made — Their Penetrating Power — War Arrows — Indian Marksman — Beaten by a Wiiito Alan — The War Club — The Tomahawk — Tlie Scalping Knife — "Keen as a Razor" — The Lance — A Formidable Weapon — The Shield — Patience, Care, and Thought Bestowed upon its Manufacture — How the Indians Obtain their Firearms — A Party of Sioux Visit my Camp — A Well- Armed WaiTior — Fate of a Wealthy Sportsman 415 ■■*!-'. i •v. ^^i ij§^ ■^ f!-^ t|v>-. :;^«:^ ^^4 .". ' ' h'*'^ ' ' — ''•]W* V*'^^*' ' '■'v'i'' Iv;^^ "*•■' ;.-t; >---»;'i^ ■ ■..-7'. ;,•;/ , ' ■■■;■ ,-- '"t" " .v XXVi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXIII. INDIAN DRILL -SIGNAL FIRES AND SMOKES - WONDERFUL METHODS OF COMMUNICATION. How Indian Boys Learn to Ride — Testing the Speed of Eveiy Horse — The Most Skilful Riders in the World — Indian Boys' Fun — In for a Good Time — Making Bets— In Search of Adventure — How Indians Drill — Show Drills — Secret Signals — Sacredness of an Indian Oath — "I have Sworn " — A Well-gnarded ]\Iystery~ How Warriors are Drilled with a Tiece of Looking-glass — The Best Cavalry in the ■VVorld — Indian Methods of Communication at Long Distances — How it is Done — Signal Smokes — Their Variety and What they Mean — Night Signals — Signal Fires — Indian Scouts — Wonderful System of Telegraphing — Marvellous Feats of Horsemanship — Practising at Carrying off the Dead and Wounded, 425 CHAPTER XXXIV. INDLVN FIGHTING — TIIEIR MODE OF WARFARE — THRILLING AD- VENTURES AND EXPERIENCES. Indian Courage, Craft, Patience and Cunning — The EffecL of Surprise — Their Fights with Each Other — Danger from a Wounded Indian — Tenacity of Life — My Command Ordered to Protect a Railroad — The "Talking AVire " — Discovering the Position of the Enemy — Indian Strategy — The Battle of the Rosebud under Gen. Crook — A Terrible Conflict — The " Valley of the Shadow of Death " — Personal Experiences — " .Tumped " by Indians — A Thrilling Adventure — Surrounded by Sixty Hostile Sioux — An Exciting Experience — Charge of the Yelling Savages — We are Again Surrounded — A Narrow Escape — My Adventure near Fort Dodge — Preparations for the Fight — Stowing away ".Tulia" — A Ludicrous Experience — Diplomacy Saves our Lives — A Disgusted Indian, . . 435 CHAPTER XXXV. ARMY LIFE ON THE PLAINS — TIIRHXING ADVENTURES AMONG THE INDIANt,. The Real Pioneer — General Custer's AttJick on Black Kettle — A Des- perate Conflict — Undaunted Savages — The Story of the Massacre of Major Elliott and His Nineteen Men — Three Thousand Warriors •i»r>'!.'\'ri!"'»'.' ' ,t - ". K p'-j'';' i.">)y-", r*;'T';f?'!v :>>• W'*.; CONTENTS. XXVU IDERFUL eiy Horse — in — In for a low Indians Indian Oath Varrioi's are iilry in the nces — How ley Mean — 3rfiil System — Practising . 425 ELLING AD- L of Surprise inded Indian I Raih'oad — le Enemy — . Crook — A ' — Personal ^dventiu-e — xperience — ■ounded — A Preparations Experience , 435 lES AMONG le — A Des- he Massacre md Warriors Rush to the Assistance of Black Kettle — Wild Alarm — The Indians surround Major Elliott's Command — IT-»sty Preparations for the Worst — AtUicked on all Sides — The Fight for Life — The Death of Twenty Brave Men — The Li.st One to Die — Courage and Heroism of Sergeant ' 'ajor Kennedy — Alone, Sabre in Hand — Exulting Savages — Inviting Instant Death — Kennedy Suddenly Kills a Chief — An Instant o*" Torj-'fied Surprise — Death of Ivennedy, Pierced by Twenty Bullets — The Battle of White Stone Hill — Every Man for Him- self, 468 CHAPTER XXXVI. ARMY EXPERIENCES ON THE FRONTIER — POWELL'S FIGHT — THE HEROISM OF TIURTY-TWO MEN. The Phil Kearney Massacre — Annihilation of the Whites — Prepara- tions to Strike Back — Red Cloud's Resentment — War to the Knife — The Situation at Fort Phil Kearney — Majjr Powell Ordered to Piney Island — Surrounded by Indians — Improvised Defences — Iron Walls and Breech-loaders — The Heroism of Thirty-two Men — Cool Heads, Bravo Hearts, and Steady Nerves — The Carnival of Death — Repulse with Desperate Loss — Red Cloud's Consternation — The Bloodthirsty Advance — Awaiting the Deadly Onset — Heroic De- fence of the Corral — Routed and Driven Back — Recoverins- the Wounded — Dragging off the Dead — The Gallant Band Relieved — An Old Trapper's Story of the Fight 478 CHAPTER XXXVII. GENERAL MACKENZIE'S FIGHT WITH THE CHEYENNES— A DES- PERATE HAND TO HAND COMBAT. • Indian Tactics — Surprises and Ambuscades — Attacking Detachments in Detail — Appalling Massacres — Courage and Craft — The Night March — General Crook's Indian Allies — Pursuit of Crazy Horse — His Escape — Discovery of the Cheyenne Encampment — A Night of Horror — The Surprise at Daybreak — Desperate Attack and Re- sistance — Hand to Hand Combat — Death of Dull Knife's Favorite Son — Holding the Victors at Bay — Lieutenant McKinney's Splendid Dasii — The Dead Hero — Reinforcements Summoned — My Com- mand Ordered Forward — Our Forced March in the Dead of Winter — We Lose the Trail — Sleeping on the Snow — Flight of the Indians — Untold Hardships Endm-ed — The Fatal Route, . . . 490 'I m '%. ■..«/!■■: ■;V. ■;^. ■n "c:s f^x^ ;■«>■ ^^c "■^JSt. •i i""' ^.,.'* •!* ■ M ..->•..?")■■■ ■ ""S'.-" XXViii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVIII. WINTER ON THE PLAINS — ITS DANGERS AND HARDSHIPS- DENTS AND PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. ■iNa- Difflculty of Surprising Indians — Starvation and Cold their Worst Enemies — Tlie Remarkable Winters of tiie Plains — Piercing Winds — Excessive Cold — Certain Death to Every Exposed Living Thing — Flying to Shelter — A "Norther"— Terrible Hardships and Suffer- ings of Fifteen Men — Braving the Dangers of the Elements — The Pluck of Captain Mix — Threats of Instant Death — An In- cident in My Own Experience — Iloi-ses Frozen to Death — A Stir- ring Incident — Captain Henry's Experience — In the Teeth of a Furious " Norther " — Wandering Blindly through tlie Snow — Iloi-ses Frantic Avith Cold — Hands and Faces Frozen — Utter Helplessness of the Party — Looking Death in tlie Face — The Race for Life, 501 CHAPTER XXXIX. TAKING THE SCALP — HOW AND WHY IT IS DONE— THRILLING INCIDENTS. The Indian Custom of Taking the Scalp — Origin of the Practice — What Becomes of the Scalps — Strange Superstition attached to them — The Head Chief of the Pawnees Pays me a Visit — Ho Discloses a Freshly Taken Scalp — A strange Performance — How the Paw- • nees Wear their Hair — Custom of the Chctyennes, Arrajjahoes, Kiowas and Comanches — How the Scalp is Taken — Different ways of Doing it — Taking the Ears with it— What T wiw in an Indian Camp— Wliy Colored Soldiers are never Scalped — Mutilation of the Body — Why General Ouster's Body was not Scalped — Sam CheiTy the Guide — A Thrilling Incident — Fears for his Safety — Working Out tlie Stoiy of the Tragedy — His Last Shot, . . .612 CHAPTER XL PRISONERS AMONG INDIANS — VICTIMS FOR THE TORTURE — CAPTIVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. Certain Fate of Captives —Held only for Torture — Savage Instincts — Delight in the Agonies of his Enemy — Torture by Fire — Terrible Face of a Little Drummer Boy — Human Fiends — Tied to a Tree — Setting Fire to Pino linots Stuck in His Body — Sufferings of the yW:'' ''.-' ;iif :]'->: Sf'i'j,^ '''fi^'''J'*\-"^'«''?*'^-^V^i'''«''"'''S7'V?W*X"'~ '***'•" T'"'''.V^"'' ■' ' '■' CONTENTS. XXIX IDSIIIPS- -INCT- 5. )kl their Worst -Pioix'inp Winds d Living Tliin- ships and Siifl'er- tho Elements — Death — An In- Death — A Stir- the Teetli of a D Snow — Iloi-ses ter Ilelpl essness !e for Life, 501 IE— THRILLING f the Practice — 1 attaclied to tliom t — Ho Discloses -How the Paw- les, Arrai)a]ioes, — Different ways iw in an Indian Mutilation of the d — Sam CheiTy ifety — "Working . 612 3 TORTURE — rage Instincts — Fire- Terrible 'ied to a Tree — sufferings of the Poor Boy — Death's Relief— " Staked Out " — Devilish Ingenuity — Horrible Brutality — Building a Fire on the Breast of Living Victims — Female Captives — A Fate worse than Death — Unhappy Slaves — A Favorite Stake at the Gambling-Board — Passing from Hand to Hand — A dozen Ownera in a Single Day — A Terrible Situation — Giving up Pi'isoners — Experiences of Three White Women Captives — A Story of Horrors — Captive Children — Their Fate, . 623 CHAPTER XLI. THE CAPTIVE'S FATE — INDIAN CRUELTY AND HORRIBLE DE- VICES OF TORTURE — TRAGEDIES. The Indian's Chief Pleasure in Life — Relishing the Agony of a Vic- tim — Craelty to Animals — Indian Women in the Role of Torturers — Hellish Ingenuity — Exultation over a Captive — Cruelty of the Apaches — The Fate of Chihuahua — A Band of Fiends — Bound Naked to the Cactus — Left to Die — The Fate of Captive Women — Bondage Worse than Death — An Exciting Scene — Horrible Cruel- ties — New Devices of Torture — Experimenting with Prisoners — Dissecting Living Human Beings — Torture of a Mexican Captive — Digging His Own Grave — Buried Alive with the Head Out of Ground — Partial Flaying — Dislocations — Scalped and Abandoned — A Ghastly Tragedy — The Story of an Apache Girl — Yellow Legs, 633 CHAPTER XLi'I. A RACE OP THIEVES AND PLUNDERERS— THEIR DARING AND SKILL— ADVENTURES. The Successful Thief— His Standing in the Tribe — The Gravest of Crimes — Horsestealing — Doom of the Captured Thief — Reckless Warriors — Disguised as Whites — The False Trail — Accomplished Sneak-Thieves — Comanche Experts — Crawling into a Bivouac — Indian Wiles — Old Texans Caught Napping — ^My Night Adventure at Fort Lincoln — The Blacksmith's Death — Shot Dead in his Tracks — The Prince cf Trailei's — A Thrilling Incident — My Experience with a Comanche — The Fiend's Bravado — A Wild Leap — A Race of Thieves — A Wagon Train Starnpeiled — The Night Attack — The Old Rifle Regiment — A Remarkable Ruse — Horses Frantic with Fear — • Unearthly Yells —The Mystery Explained, . . .642 p ■3 i I i r^^i >.- m. XTTX COISTTENTS. CHAPTER XLIII. HOW INDIANS TRAVEL -THEIR MARVELLOUS JOURNEYS AND EXPLOITS - PL AINSCRAFT. Unerring Instinct — Straight as a Bee Lino — Over Trackless Wastes-, Without Star or Compass — The Only Instance of an Indian being " Lost " — Memory of Landmarks — Acute Observers — Born Ex- plorers— Penetrating Unknown Lands — The Old Guide Espinosa's Story — A Batch of Young Raiders— The Solitary Wanderer— Ex- emption from Danger — On the Alert for Enemies — The Love of Ad- venture — Meandering Deli' wares — A Notable Tribe — An Indian Explorer — A Wonderful Story-Teller — A Strange Ambition Gratified — Across the Rocky Mountains — Life in Mexico— Black Beaver's Career — General Marcy's Guide — Female Instinct — In the Thick'jt — Breaking Camp — The Advance Guard — The Mound Builders, 550 CHAPTER XLIV. TRAILING -INDIAN EXPERTNESS IN READING "SIGN"- WONDERFUL CAREER OF PEDRO ESPINOSA. • THE Savage Art — Expert Trailers — Frontiersmen and Indians — An Inimitable Faculty — Mexican Competitors — The Best Trailer I ever Saw — Pedro Espinosa — A Wonderful Career — Captured in Childhood — Made a Warrior at Thirteen — Suspected by his Cap- tors — Leading a Savage Life — Nineteen Years of Captivity — A Fortunate Bear Hunt — The Midnigiit Flight — Entrusted with Union Despatches — Arrested and Shot by the Enemy — Thrilling Reminis- cences — Pursuit of Comanches — Six Days on the Trail — An Excit- ing Manoeuvre — Indian Tactics — Cunning and Skill — The Wrong Scent — Scouting for Apaches — The Fresh Track — A Successful Ruse — Every Man for Himself — An Extraordinary Feat — Chey- ennes at Bay — Major Munck's Victory — The Pawnee Guide, 559 CHAPTER XLV. INDIAN HUNTERS — ADVENTURES ON THE PLAINS ■ SCENES — THE HAUNTS OF GAME. • EXCITING The Best Hunters in the World — Their Stealth, Cunning, and Endur- ance—Getting Position — "Many a Slip" — The Lost Chance — An Astonished Indian — My Successful Shot — The Indian's Disgust — S'v,' "»^y;' 'r.ip*T": ■ ■"•i!i{-;r.:.»ii?/.'j!.(! >T?>,J«' .iJH' ■*-?'* "^'''"^ '■'■•"A' ^*'''^'''>''i!!'''-''''-''"''^*" ./'fi-'ftS; »,".';■ «,-'.i»J' ' ,vv:^^-v CONTENTS. XXXI >URNEYS AND The "Pot-Shot" — Exciting Scenes — The Buffalo Snrroimd — The Square Chase — Hunting the Elk — Cutting tlie Hamstring — Butch- ered at Leisure — Tl»e " Good Olit Times'^ — Terrified Animals — Fun in Mid-Winter — Trajjs and Snares — Luckless Anglers — Abhor- rence of Fish — The Staked Plains — Origin of the Buffalo — A Curious Superstition — Stone Calf and the Legend — Lieutenant Ogle and the Sioux — Preparing for the Surround — The Onslaught — Discovery of a Fresh Herd — The Indians Dissatisfied — Threatened Attack, 674 CHAPTER XLVI. DOMESTIC ANIMALS— SPEED AND ENDURANCE OF INDIAN PONIES — ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. Indian Stockbi'eedei's — Chief Ouray's Ambition — "Animal-Stealing" Tribes — The Cherokee Ponies — An Inseparable Companion — Ponies a Necessity, Wives a Luxury — Where "Blood" Doesn't Count — The Express Rider and his Wonderful Pony — The Daring Mail Carrier — Riding by Night and Hiding by Day — A Marvellous Roadster — The Indian's Treatment of his Horse — An Animated Skvicton — Browzing on Cottonwood — The Diet of Bark — Thrilling Chapter in Indian IIi;;tory — Escape from the Agency — Marching like Victors — Encounters with Troops — An Ambuscade — Turning the Tables on the Redmcn — Col. Lewis Shot — Flight of the Indians — Hoi rors of the Kansas Raid — Munck's Cavalry Pursuit — Speed and Endurance — Race and Trick Animals — The War Pony, 584 CHAPTER XLVH. -EXCITING ON THE FRONTIEIl — TRAPPERS AND SQUAW MEN — TRADING POSTS AND INDIAN AGENTS. On the Frontier — The Border Line — The Early Trappers — Playing the V/ild Rover — Romantic Adventures — Adoption by the Tribe — The Old Trading Posts — A Winter's Work for Whiskey — The Indian Trader — Perambulating Groggeries — Indi.an Wives and Half-breed Children — Growing Rich — Influence with Washington M.agnates — Die Squaw Men — Adventurers and Outcasts — The Asy- lum of Thieves and Murderers — Pliant Tools of Corrupt Agents — Treachery and Debauchery — Leading a Band of Sioux Hor thieves — Inciting the Indians to Deeds of Atrocity — A Thousand of such " Missionaries " — Indian Marriages — Social Degi'adation — The Black Hills War — A Costly Sacrifice — Dishonest Interpreters — How the Indians are Misled — Escape from a Disastrous Con- test, 596 •Hf wm i<^,C ^i '.',"'■•;■, T '■■■*•?" V-. u & 't-; m m Xxxii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XLVIII. FRONTIERSMEN -TEXAS COW-BOYS AND BORDER DESPERADOES -A STRANGE AND THRILLING STORY. Frontiersmen — Who They Are — The Miners and Gold Hunters — Un- savory Buffalo Hunters — Texas Cow-Boys — A Life of Privation, Hardship and Danger — A Plains •' Norther" — The Most Recliless of all Desperadoes — Utter Disregard of Life — Spoiling for a Fight — The Terror of the Frontier — Cattle Thieves — A Strange and Thrilling Stoiy- History of a Bloodthirsty Combat- A Remarkable Incident of Border Life — A Noted Desperado — His Gorgeous Ap- pearance — Stealing a Herd of Cattle — Tracking the Thieves — Their Discovery— Watcliing for a Favorable Opiwrtunity — Killing his Victims One by One — A Merciless Foe — Death of the Sixth Ruffian — He Proves to be the Leader of the Band — A Question ofTime 607 CHAPTER XLIX. BORDER RUFFIANS -A LIFE OF PRIVATION AND DANGER - THRILLING PERSONAL EXPERIENCES. Fugitives from Justice — Escaped Criminals — Beyond the Settlement^ — Commencing Life Anew — An Exploring Expedition in Northern Texas — Thrilling Incident in My Early Military Life — My Camp near the Squatter's Cabin — Alone with a Frontier Ruffian — A Dan- gerous, Companion — He Threatens my Life — Strange Hospitality — A Reckless Frontiersman — Tiie Monomania of Assassination — A Wonderful Two-handed Shot — Desperate Combat of Two Border Ruffians — Dying Happy — Slade, the Notorious Desperado — An Ar- rant Coward — The Influence of Drink — Strange Freak of a Man of Wealth — A Tender Heart Beneath a Rough Exterior — Burying Himself in the Wilderness — A Lawless Life, . . . . 619 CHAPTER L. FRONTIER .SCOUTS AND GUIDES — HEROIC ACHIEVEMENT AMOS CILAPMAN- FACING DEATH. OF Plainscraft— Importance of Guides — The Old Trappers — Lessons from the Indians— How an Experienced Guide was Lost — Old Bridger — Kit Carson — The Requisites of a Good Scout — Boots Hill — California Joe— Wild Bill — Buffalo Bill — Amos Chapman — His Wonderful ;^v^! -9 ■■_ - CONTENTS. XXXIH DESPERADOES r. Hunters — Un- fe of Priviition, Mos: Reckless ing for a Fight Strange and A Remarkable Gorgeous Ap- Thieves— Their y — Killing his of the Sixth (1 — A Question . 607 D DANGER - the Settlement'^ on in Northern fe — My Camp ifRan — A Dan- e Hospitality — Bassination — A 'f Two Border irado — An Ar- ik of a Man of rior — Burying . 619 EMENT OF - Lessons from OldBridger — n — California lis Wonderful Achievement — What Gen. Miles Said of Him — Heroic Conduct of Chapman — Surrounded by Indians — A Thrilling Deed — "Amos! Amos! Wo have got you now " — UcmaiKablo Pluck — Facing l^eath to Rescue a Wounded Comrade — Major Forsyth's Fight — The Alarm, "Indians!" — Gallant Defence — The Charge of Roman Nose and His Band — Terrific Volley from the Whites — Secret Departure of the Scouts for Help — Threatend Starvation — Living on Decaying Mulo Flesh — Succor at Last, 624 CHAPTER LI. THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE INDIANS - WHAT SHOULD BE DONE. -JMY IDEA OF "Wards of the Nation" — Charity Begins at Home — Official Tyranny — Hidden Crimes Against the Indians — Their Need of Help and Sympathy — Their Future — Contrasts Between Their Condition a Few Years Ago and Now — On the Verge of Stiii-vation — Why They Do Not Progress — The Indian Ring — A Powerful Organization — How the Indian is Robbed, Swindled and Imposed Upon — The Soui-ce of all Indian Ills — Neglect by the Government — Criminal Responsi- bility—My Idea of What Should Be Done — The Tide of Immigra- tion — Only a Question of Time, 639 8 :ik •)! I K iA U m ^•1 ii -«^:^:h^^ ^^^-4#0i INTRODUCTION, BY GENERAL WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. Coi-. RicriAun I. DonoE. ti[inl U. S. lufantnj, A ule de Camp, &c. Dear Coloxel, — I have now completed the Jirst rending of the proof-sheets of your forthcoming book on " Our Wikl Indians," and congratuhitc you upon having accomplished a work of such general interest so well and so handsomely. The Indian of America has been for centuries the subject of study and of romance ; alternately treated as an unmitigated savage, or as the dashing, bold hero fighting for his native land and his inherited privileges. Yours is the first attempt of which I have knowledge, to treat him as he exists in fact, — the creature of ancient habits, of manners and customs imposed on him by former ages, modified by recent and modern changes, — and I am sure that your work will be of inestimable value to the army, and to mem- bers of Congress, who alone can legislate so as to save what is valuable in his character, and provide against the everlasting conflict necessarily incident to his clinging to old prejudices and habits in the midst of a race so dissimilar as ours. You have had the experience of a third of a century xxxy -s^v- ■ ■^j'^cr^ij ^^' L^f5^^ n i ■I-'*'!' XXXVl GE5f. Sherman's introduction-. in absolute contact with the various tribes of the Indians from the British line to Texas, :N'cw Mexico and Arizona, living- Avith them, hunting with them, in peace ; id in war; and therefore your book is the record of your own personal observations, with dates, facts and figures, which constitute the very best testi- mony possible on the s ibject-matter treated of I and nearly every army officer, with less personal experience, can verify much that you describe, and in reading your chapters I have been struck by the ekill with which you have grouped the various branches of the subject discussed, making plain and logical deductions from the scattered obser- vations of many army officers, who have had simi- lar experience; I notice with great satisfaction that unlike most authors who have preceded you, you draAV the broad distinction between the tribes like the Chippewas of the Lakes; the Seminoles of Florida; the Kiowas, Comanches, etc., of Texas; tlie Chey- ennes, Arapahoes and Sioux of the Plains; the Utes and Apaches of the Mountain?; the Xavajoes and Pueblos of N^ew Mexico; the Diggirs and the fish- eating tribes of the Pacific Coast. There is as wide a difference in these types of the same I'ace as between the Swedes, French, Spanish, and Italian peoples. The character of each tribe or nation has been formed by long antecedent events, by the nature of the country in which they have resided, and the means necessary to obtain a livelihood. I do not agree with you and the world generally in accusing our ancestors and the General CJovern- ment with a deliberate purpose to be luijust to, and to defraud these people. I think a perusal of the statutes and of the many treaties exhibit a purpose to deal ''i\^.ni'^p.%''>'y':iS'^.-nyfn»i''y-.^f^^^ GEN. SIIEKMAISr's INTRODUCTION. XXXVil with them liberally; but so rapid has been our develop- ment that violence was sure to happen. Our wisest and best statesmen did not and could not foresee the future. Mr. Van Burcn, in 1838, in urging the Cherokees, Creeks and Choctaws to exchange their possessions in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi for lands west of Arkansas, announced, as he believed truthfully, that there they could never again be dis- turbed by white neighbors, because the land was not suitable for white men, but admirably adapted to Indiitn life. So in 18G8, the Indian Peace Com- mission, composed of four most humane and honorable citizens, and three army officers (Generals Ilarney, Terry, and Sherman), had no conception that in ten years the region north of Laramie and east of the Rocky Mountains could become habitable to the white race. Nor do I think it just to accuse all Indian agents of being incompetent, if not dis- honest. I have personally met a great number of these, who are generally kind, honest, and well-mean- ing people, badly f)aid, and deprived of all the comforts which civilized men desire to enjoy. Some motive higher than a desire to plunder must actuate men who risk so much, and endure such hardships and priva- tions. If our Indian policy has failed, we should seek for the cause elsewhere, in the nature of things, rather than in a systematic desire to do wrong. In the treatment by the National Government of the indinn, the military and civil officers of Govern- ment have generally been diametrically opposed, the former believing the Indians to be as children, needing counsel, advice, and example, coupled with a force which commands respect and obedience from a sense of fear, the latter trusting mostly to moral suasion and 'I -T"-. "'T^'. "*'^- ^ I' :^ xxxviii GEN. Sherman's inteoduction. religious instruction. The absolute proof produced by you that the Indian has a strong religious bias but is absolutely devoid of a moral sense as connected with religion, more than ever convinces me that the military authorities of the United States are better qualified to guide the steps of the Indian towards that conclusion which we all desire, self-support and peaceful relations with his neighbors, than the civilian asrents, most of whom are members of some one of our Christian churches. Congress, however, alone •has jurisdiction of the whole matter, and I am sure your volume will be received by its members with great satisfaction, as it will enable them better to understand a subject which has always been involved in honest doubt. As you are perfectly aware the treaty system began at an early period of our history when the white settlers and Indian tribes were more nearly equal than now, and my recollection is that this system was first discounte- nanced on motion of General A. H.Terry, by the Indian Peace Commission of 18G8-9. Still, as long as distinct tribes like the Sioux, Cheyennes, Kiowas, Arrapahoes, Utes and Apaches are assigned to specific reserva- tions, there must always exist something like a treaty or bargain, so that both Indians and whites may understand their true relations. My recollection also is that the same Peace Com- mission recommended to Congress to provide for each group of Indian reservations something like a territorial government, with a code of laws applicable to each member of the tribe; with a governor, coui'ts, and executive officers to enforce the law as against individual criminals, instead of as now, resorting to war to punish a whole tribe for the individual acts of Ilk gif-qi^i '•'•y^f^*T;Fy;T>'^H'S^;<»*Vf''3";'VJJJ;'''^."*' T:' •oof produced gioiis bias but as couueeted me that the es are better dian towai-ds -supjDort and in tlie civilian some one of ►wcver, alone tl I am sure embers with 'm better to een involved ystem began vhite settlers iian now, and st diseounte- ^y the Indian ig as distinct Arrapahoes, ific reserva- like a treaty whites may Vace Com- 5rovide for 'ling- like a > applicable ^ov, courts, as against 'sorting to ual acts of GEN. SHERMAN'S rNTRODUCTION. XXXIX a few. The time is now opportune to perfect that system, and your volume will greatly aid Congress in the accomplishment of that end. The subject-matter of your volume has dramatic interest to a large class of the American people, is fair and just in its reasoning, and liberal in its tone; and I therefore take great pleasure in recommend- ing it to the military student and to the general reading public, as by far the best description extant of the habits, manners, customs, usages, ceremonies, etc., of the American Indian as he now is. You are hereby authorized to use my name as authority for its publication and circulation; and I invite all persons interested in the subject of the ISTorth American Indian to read this book carefully, to the end that public opinion may aid the national authorities to deal jnstly and liberally with the rem- nants of that race which preceded us on this continent. Washington, D. C, January 1, 1882. vt^'i.-'. f ■?; ^^^ ■;■'>■■ '-'Vi>-" J, •<« l-'-t :y'«. tr "•\M ■;V'-;/- v7v4V;i'frv/'rT',^'-, •.';*?ft7*^-f/^ .'^■•rtf.-',' OUH WILD INDIANS. CHAPTER I. MY EAELT LIFE — FIRST EXPERIENCES WITH IN- DIANS — ADVENTURES AMONG THE COMANCHES. My Early Home — First Sight of Wan-iors — A Thrill of Horror Ro* called — Siulden Transform lation of My Views — A Beardless Lieu* tenant — The Texan Frontier — Nights with the Comanches — Their Cunning and Treachery — The Sleepless Foe — A Fatal Stumble — On a Cavalry Scout — Adventurous Pursuit — Surprising an Indian Camp — Invited to be the Guest of an Indian Chief — Warned of Danger — Outbreak of Hostilities — Young Warriors with " Bad Hearts " — The Bandera Pass — An Exciting Adventure — Separated from My Command — Making tlie Best of It — Ruined Ammuni- tion — On the Edge of Peril — Reconnoitring th3 Indian Camp — My Flight and Pursuit — The Race for Life — My Escape — Rejoin- ing My Command — Thirty Years of Indian Warfare. AYAS born in western North Carolina. My earliest recollections arc tinged with stories of Indian atrocities; for the Cherokees yet occupied "the land of their Fathers," and were only a short distance from us. It is true the Chero- kees had committed no outrages, but their white neighbors, being in constant dread of what three or four thousand warriors might do, were vociferous in demands for their removal beyond the limits o^ the State. This "hue and cry" was led by some men of intelligence and position (who may have had solid 29 ^■■■■iM '''/■■■;'*.'*■,' '■^r/C^.'V'^'"^.*'^'^.^^* '■ .'^'■'^'■■■'.V *'■'■'-''.' "■- Jv-"^';'"-^Y-'*?''-'-^:'^ ?■'■*■■ f:-'-';r-' ■'■'.'>*> ■■■■«' 7. v;w-\.'v- -r-^ FIRST SIGHT OF INDIANS. pecuniary reasons for wishing to get rid of the Indians), and these so worked upon the fears of the masses of uneducated whites, that there was constant danger of rupture of peaceable relations. The negroes were especially terror-stricken, and, forgetting for the time, their usual stories of witches and ghosts, often caused my " hairs to stand on end " with their thrilling narratives of the cunning, fero- city, and immunity from danger, of Indians. Accord- ing to them an Indian could make himself invisible as air, and was much harder to kill than even a witch. Several times in each year, small parties of Indians would suddenly make t>eir appearance in the little village in which my parents resided; and I can yet feel the thrill of horror and dismay which quivered through my frame when, a small delicate lad of six years, I one day found myself in the midst of a band of tLirty or forty stalwart, painted, feather-crowned warriors, bows in hand, and some in the very act of discharging arrows which, my negro nurse had often- times assured me, were a thousand times more dangerous than bullets. Instinctively seizing the hand of a venerable friend of my father, who was in the crowd about the Indians, I gazed with wonder and dread; which was hardly dispelled when I com- prehended that the Indians were shooting at six- pences held in cleft sticks, stuck in the ground at thirty or forty yards distance. In spite of the assurances and protective kindness of my old friend, it was some time before I could regain my equanimity, and I had hardly begun to be interested in, and enjoy the sport, when at a loud call from one of the number, the whole party started with fVv" ,;,^jv,».=.4, ^.rjy,.^jf,-yr-,f^ ,;>';.,» ■ ■::rHy\<" COMANCHE THIEVES. 31 rapid strides towards my father's house, which was near by. Again I was tormented with doubt, suspi- cion and fear, and I could scarcely be made to com- prehend that the Indians had gone to our house to ask my mother to play for them on the only piano that our small village then boasted. Here, their grave and quiet demeanor, their appreciative notice of myself and sisters, and their unalloyed delight at the music, allayed all my fears, and I began to believe the Indians a greatly slandered race. Next day they were gone, and the favorable im- pression made was soon almost entirely effaced by continual repetition of stories of their horrible cru- elties. Each succeeding visit of Indians left me with more favorable impressions of them, but each such visit seemed more and more to exasperate the white men. Before I was ten years of age, I had heard all the changes rung on the terrible possibilities of Indian character, and though my personal experience made me something of a doubter, I could not gainsay the evidence of the people about me, backed as it was by the history of the colonies, of which, about this time, I began the study. My next experience dissipated all my doubts. A beardless second lieutenant of the army, I was stationed in Texas at a little two-company frontier post, exposed to the wiles and machinations of the most cunning, the most mischievously artful, of all the United States Indians, the Comanches. Wliile not so coldly bloodthirsty as some other tribes, — prid- ing themselves upon their silent stealth and cunning, and ranking the expert horse-thief above the dashing warrior, — the Comanches are at night the most ^ % Ul L^ '?^ . «r#;y 7j>.' 32 ITNCOMFORTABLE HUNTING. dangerous of call Indians. Crawling into camp and bivouac, he will, in his efforts at theft, harmlessly pass close by sleeping men, whom one blow of his knife miffht silence forever. But woe betide the unfoi-tunate who discovers him, or attempts to interfere with his favorite pastime. His weapons are ever ready. A shot, or quick j^lunge of his knife, and, in the confusion and darkness, he vanishes like a ghost, leaving death and terror \behind him. For months after the establishment of this little post, there was scarce a night when an attempt was not made on our picket line. The sentinels soon learned their lesson, and hiding themselves, watched the ground and fu'cd at every unusual object. On each such occasion the commanding officer required the officer of the day to turn out the whole guard, deploy it as skirmishers, and scour the chapparal around and in the vicinity of the corral. How often, when engaged in such duty, thrusting my sword into every clump and cover, have I inwardly thanked the Indian for his disposition to put as great a distance as possible between himself and danger. Though I hunted faithfully many nights, I never found an Indian. If I had, these papers would probably never have been written. Exasperated by the constant failure of their efforts to steal, and possibly emboldened by the lack of casualties, resulting from the fire of our poorly armed and badly drilled soldiers, the Indians became more enterprising, no part of the post being safe at night. Finally, the blacksmith, — an excellent man, — hap- pening to stumble one night over a crawling Indian, was shot dead within a few feet of his tent. Up to this time, our annoyance had come from ..^.^■.--.. --:..».'■ f.'*"^-; MY FIRST FIGHT. 33 little marauding parties of from two to six Indians on foot, who, separating on occasions of alarm, left no trail which conld be followed with any hope of over- taking them. Xow, however, they began to come in larger parties, and on horseback. Onr cavalry was therefore ordered out, and at least twenty men kept continually on the move; watching passes through the mountains, following trails, and making the Indians understand that they could not visit our section of country without danger. This led to my third scene of Indian experience. A party of Comanches passed near the town of Castroville, Texas, committing various thefts and depredations, finally murdering a whole family of Germans. I was ordered with twenty-five soldiers to pursue and ])unish them. For more than four weeks I followed the devious windings of the trail, and finally overtook and surprised them in their camp, killing some, dispersing the others, and capturing all their horses, saddles and equipments. This was so severe a blow that the Comanches almost entirely ceased to frequent that portion of country, and in a very few years after, that military post was abandoned, as no longer necessary. Before this occurred, however, I had been trans- ferred with my company to another post, near which were located several tribes and bands of Indians, all apparently peacefully disposed, and here I gained another exjierience of Indian life. I had been at the post but a few weeks when it was visited by a party of Lipans, who were excep- tionally demonstrative in theii* evidences of friendly feeling. They encamped near the post for some days. ■■■■imiMpPWP"") '.•'■: il.i;,".';y'v,i *r-,t;H*ir\i'.'fT^^,y, ■ tf ■" ^ '-,.-*, ''-;* ".'*V^T* r**^*^ f ""' 34 CAMPED WITH INDIANS. One (lay I was out with dog and gun after quail, and finding a large covey near the Lipan camp, had got it nicely scattered in good cover and was thoroughly enjoying the sport, when I found that I had a following of at least a dozen Indians. Having no knowledge of the shot-gun, their hunting was confined to large game, and they were filled with astonishment, not only at my hitting so small lui ohject, but that I killed it flying. At each successful shot, they gave vent to their admiration in loud applause. When my dog could no longer find any birds, I stopped hunting, and with some vanity (for I had shot unusually well) showed the Indians my gun and equipments. They were so delighted, especially with the minute No. 9 shot (which they had never before seen), that the chief invited me to visit his main camp on the head waters of the Perdinales, promising me not only an abundance of those '' little birds" (quail, for which they had no special name) but also of Guacalotes (turkeys). The offer was too tempting to be refused. Returning to the post, I stated the case to the commanding officer, and obtained his pei-mission to be absent. Two days after, mounted on a good horse, accom- panied by one soldier, who led a pack-mule, laden with our tents and supplies, I started with the In- dians for their main camp. Arriving there, I pitched my tent in a pretty clump of trees near the village, and for nearly a week had a most delightful time, bagging great quantities of small game. The In- dians, as a rule, kept aloof from me, which I attrib- uted to the diflicultios of intercourse; our only means of communication being a mere smattering of very bad Spanish on both sides. One day the chief ssssammmm DECOY DUCKS. 35 came to mo and told me I had better go home, as some of his young men had " bad hearts " towards white men. Thanking him for his hospitality and warning, I was soon packed, and returned without molestation to my post. "Within two weeks after my return, information was brought that these very Indians had broken out, and were murdering settlers, right and left. It after- wards transpired that the outbreak had been deter- mined upon some time before; that the visit of the chief to the post was for the purpose of obtaining information as to the numbers and character of troops that could be put into the field; and that my invitation to visit his camp was to ward off any sus- picion of their intent until all their arrangements had been completed. "Not very long after this I had yet another experi- ence, differing from all the others. I was returning with my conmiand from a long scout; our route led through the Guadalope mountains, by the Bandera pass. These mountains were at thai: time infested by hostile Indians, who, secure in their fastnesses, watched the plains below, pouncing upon settle- ments or unwary travellers, and hurrying with their l^lunder through the Bandera pass to their secure retreats. Coming upon a pretty stream, we startled a flock of ducks, which, flying a short distance, settled upon the limf)id water. Hurrying off alone, I followed eagerly; for our larder had run to its very dregs. For an hour or more, I was tantalized with "the delusions of hope," the provoking birds flying but a little way, but always flying before I could get within shot. At last they went far away, and I started to ^Tr^-^'^^^.ii;'?^-V»^?^-^-T»l^^?*,i>:*'*/.-'^7iHC«^,"".' 'j-^'l^:' ■;';"? v-'-^?.y^?.:.*.i:*W- 38 A PEEP AT THE SAVAGES. of sight in the thicket in much less time than it take to tell it. After fastening her, I, from the thicket, carefuUl reconnoitred the open space. The animals wer| Indian ponies and stolen stock. I knew too much not to be obliged to know mon The camp .vas evidently just under the bluff. Crawll ing most cautiously to the edge, I peeped over thJ bank, and my heart felt dead within me, as I saw, no] forty yards away, seven Indians squatted around pot, eating their breakfast. I got back to the thickc as quickly and cautiously as possible. What to dc was the question. My mule, though strong anc enduring, was slow in a race. I had two alternatives, either to make off at once on the mule, trusting that the Indians might not discover my trail until I had a good start; or to s^^cal a horse and get away on that. Under the circumstances I had no conscientious qualms on the matter of theft, but I doubted my ability to select the best horse; and the selection, and the necessary change of saddle, would take precious moments. Besides, the loss of a horse would be dis- covered at once ; my trail might not be noticed for some time. I mounted the mule, and proceeded cautiously until sure of being beyond hearing of the Indians, when whip and spur were vigorouslv applied. The mule responded nobly, and, as if comprehending the neces- sity for extra effort, fairly flew over the ground for the next five or six miles. The Guadalope was crossed, then the Verde, and yet no sign or sound of pursuit. The race so fav had been on a broad Indian trail, through wcods and thickets, but from the timbered fringe along the Verde to the summit of the pass, ; _**:«*:.■-. S't'^'^' ^AGES. 5S time than it takes e thicket, carefully The animals were ^ed to know more, the bluff. Crawl- [ peeped over the n me, as I saw, not squatted around a )ack to the thicket ble. What to do ough strong and d two alternatives, nile, trusting that trail until I had a get aAvay on that, no conscientious ut I doubted my the selection, and uld take pi-ecious )rse would be dis- ot be noticed for d cautiously until he Indians, when >ned. The mule snding the neces- • the ground for lope was crossed, ound of pui-suit. )ad Indian trail, 'm the timbered fiiit of the pass. THE BACE IS WON. 39 was a three-mile slope of bare prairie. Until I could get through the pass I was obliged to keep the trail, the mountains being elsewhere almost impassable; but once through it I was safe, for then, leaving the trail, and plunging into the ravines and thickets of the Medina River, I could elude pursuit until night should give me the opportunity to reach my post. ^\^en about half way over this bare ground, to my inexpressible delight, I ran into the trail of my com- mand, but had hardly time to congratulate myself when several Indians emerged, in full pursuit, from the thickets of the Verde. Under whip and spur, my good mule soon brought me to the summit of the pass, and looking back I found the Indians had stopped, on striking the trail of the troops, and were carefully examining it. Feeling very easy, I also stopped to watch them, and to give my mule time to recover her wind. After some consultation, the Indians turned about, and went off as fast as their horses could carry them, evidently expecting that the pursuers might in turn become the pursued. In an hour or two I overtook my command, none the worse for my adventure. These experiences, with numbers of others of similar character, though less n^arked, had come to me by the time I was twenty-three years of age, and had been scarcely two years an officer of the army. For more than thirty years (with the interlude of the war of the rebellion), I have been more or less among Indians, having in that time had intercourse with thirty-four tribes, speaking different languages, having somewhat different manners and customs, and occupying various and widely sundered portions of country — from the coasts of Texas to the waters of ■I, i?:-^^ OATLIN. 43 iANGUAGE, NUM- INDIANS OF THE )f Writers on the Imlians age — Curious Facts and lous Vanity — Invention Crafty and Bloodthii-sty — A Marvellous Alliance »pulation — Superstitious ination — Nomatlic Pro- ne AtUxchments — Love fies— "Home Sickness" — Ill-Direoted Efforts — Rehearse their Speeches the origin of the is out of place titil scientific men as to the origin SufHce to say n is, to my mind, e unity of races. m, savages have 1 each with the I have not so far ^e entirely gotten it to have been is no jDhysical or 42 geographical reason why it should not have been peopled from Asia or elsewhere. Even before the days of David, people "went down to the sea in ships; " the winds blew then as now, and a succession of adverse storms might have peopled America, from any one of the earlier maritime nations of the Eastern world. Whether the very many customs which the Indians have in common with the ancient Jews arc evidences that the " Lost Tribes " have been found, or whether the fair complexion, blue eyes, similarity of language and " coracle " of the Mandans, prove that the Welsh expedition under Madoc really settled on the banks of the Ohio, it is not my purpose to inquire. My object is to give a minute and accurate account of the manners, customs, habits, social life, and modes of thought of the wild Indians of the present day. Many admirable writers have preceded me on this subject. Chief of all, and, illustrating and ennobling his theme with both pen and brush, is Catlin. But the supreme defect of Catlin, and, indeed, of almost all writers on the Indian, is, that they have contented themselves with externals; giving page after page, illustration after illustration, to portraiture of dress, dances, ceremonies ; but scarcely a word to govern- ment, religion, character, social life, etc. Catlin, who, of all other writers, has had the most perfect opportunities, is, of all others, most remiss in this particular, and, however much the reader may enjoy his vivid descriptions and graphic illustrations of scenes and incid jnts, it is impossible to finish his book without a feeling of dissatisfaction. We see the Indian in a thousand curious and picturesque scenes, but we see him as we see the I >(•- •'»^i ' •«. fTT M?^ -tffa ^ ^t^^jC (f-*:^ ^' <^; i\ P ?3b^ <-'p ^Z' -K; 1 ife- ii?';^. -^ty^. ii ^x I ; n i i €^1. '!-ft.;rt-r;':"r. 44 DIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE. actor on the stage. However beautiful the dre and faultless the delineation, we do not know hii Our natural curiosity is not gratified by even glimpse of his every-day character, or peep into tl scenes of his every-day life. In my own reading I have found this to be the oi great lack of all writers on the Indian, and to supp this lack, to the extent of my ability, is the purpoj and intent of these pages. Whether the Indian languages have been derive from one, or from several roots, must, and probab will, be determined by the eminent philologists wl are now making this subject their special study. Their great number and infinite dissimilarity ha^ always excited the marvel of all who have had cans to look into the matter, either by contact with Ir dians, or through books. At the present moment, there is, for about ever thousand of the !N"orth American Indians, a language more or less imperfect, but amply sufiicient for a the needs of an illiterate people, and differing i every essential particular from every other languag< This wonderful diversity can only be accounted fc by a knowledge of the Indian character and habits. Wiir is, and so far as we can know from histor and tradition, has always been, the pleasure and pas sion of the Indian. With or without cause, tribe occupying lands adjacent to each other were almog constantly on the war-path. Each tribe, with vanity not entirely aborigina believed in its own infinite superiority, and disdaine to learn even a few words of its enemy's language though this might easily have been done throng prisoners. This warlike disposition and the necessit MB '•^vx^^-r.;/j!.f..); ■/;?,;•■■ ^f}jw<%'$M^^}^:^^vii ' i^-*3-*r^J-r-7y\\ '■• ;7M'»;;i'<-^ VJ'^lfJ'V ■''"^34: 46 CONFUSION OF TONGUES. There arc nineteen bands of Shoshones or Snak two bands of which, wandering eastward over Kocky Mountains, became entirely estranged fr the parent tribe, and are now known as Bannocl having lost even their tribal name. They cann speak w understand a word of their mother tongi There are twenty-eight bands of Apaches, speakii dialects of the same language, and undoubtedly o shoots from the same parent stock; yet, before th< were conquered and placed on reservations, th< waged incessant war with each other, and no trib on this continent were more bitterly and uncon promisingly hostile, than were these bands of tl Bame tribe, one to the other. The Apaches were strong in numbers, warlike i spirit, crafty and energetic in action, and occupied country almost inaccessible to whites. But for thi internecine strife, it would have cost the United State Government many years of bloody and expensive wa to have subdued them. It will thus be seen that his own warlike tempera ment and disposition to roam have been to the India the cause — fruitful as Babel — of the confusion o tongues. There are other causes which may not ha" been without effect, to add to this confusion. Th indisposition or inability of the Plains Indians to lear a spoken language other than their own, undoubted! led to the adoption of the E'ign-language as a mediui of communication, and the knowledge of this, reacting forever precluded the necessity of learning any on language. For sixty years the Cheyennes and Arrapahoe have been the firmest friends, occupying the sam country, living in the same camps, making peace c .-'..J \'^\::i*ii^.-. f^.-ftbi^:. '.»...s:\;-»s."=i'..w.--5 S'.A^^ .'.".^ >iL.j:'j"i».^'V*:'*^-- '■»• V v'. ^ '^'-r*ji)''M.-''-j*'i» ^'--^wr -^jj ^f^ijti'', •■^«"j-'f-'^;nnr Wk"**- TRADER'S WORDS. 47 war with the same enemies at the sumc time, and conducting themselves in everything (except inter- marriages) as if they were one and the same tribe. The children play, fight, hunt, and constantly asso- ciate together, yet not one in ten of the men, women, or children of either tribe can hold even the most ordinary conversation in the language of the other. What makes this fact yet more remarkable is, that while one language is comparatively easy, the other is so exceedingly difficult, that even the best inter- preters are forced to resort to sign-language. Under these most exceptional circumstances, it would seem inevitable that the easy language would in time become the common means of communication of the two tribes. Such, however, is not the case; each tribe uses its own language to communicate with its own people, and the sign-language to com- municate with the people of the other tribe. When the white trader invaded the solitudes of the Indian, he took with him, or soon picked up, a small stock of wo^'^.s which, by his constant use among the tribes, have become, as it were, common property; thus "squaw," the Narragansett name for woman, the Algonquin "papoose " for child, "chuck," food, and many other words, have become universal among all the North American Indians east of the Rocky Mountains, when speaking to a white man, or Indian not of their own tribe. The maltitude of languages is a peculiarity of savage life. Let the student remember the condition, in this respect, of Northern and Western Europe, even as late as the time of Julius Caesar; of Africa and South America at the present day, and (without intending to be facetious, and with the desire simply '•v' 'V: .■.if ^ ■■■/,.' __ ■In ■;.4- -tfSSi .-y ? : ^Wi'/" :^k>: ^-<"/ ^^ ?i3t 'j^^5S ^Jf^^BK 'k 48 NUMBERS. to call attention to the tenacity with which barbaroui peculiarities of language hold their grip on humai nature,) of England, Scotland, and Wales, througl which, even in this enlightened age, an Americai can scarcely travel, satisfactorily to himself, withou an interpreter. As in all other matters where mere guess-work fonni the basis of argument, authorities differ extremely ai to the probable Indian population of the country nov known as the United States at the time of its firs settlement by whites, these estimates varying fron three hundred thousand to three millions. Basinf my guess on my knowledge of the wai'like dispo sition of the Indians; of their natural tendency constantly to split into bands, which possibly sooi became fiercely hostile to each other; of the wide extent of territory required by each tribe, not onl^ for its food-supply, but for its safety; and of th( almost universal lack of fecundity of their women, ] am of opinion that the number of the aboi'iginal in- habitants of the territory mentioned has never at an^ one time much exceeded half a million of souls. The number of Indians has always been, and it now, very greatly overrated. This comes from th( vanity of the individual Indian, who, if asked aboul his tribe, will tell you that they are as " the leaves or the trees" for numbers; and from the intcrestec reports of agents, who dearly like to feed, on paper a tribe of a thousand Indians, but which has actually only five hundred (or less) mouths. Catlin, on the authority of Major Pilcher, an Indiar Agent, estimates the Blackfeet at sixty thousand (about 1835). There were really, probably, not more than a fourth of that number. INDIAK EXTERMINATORS. 49 h which barbarous irgrip on human d Wales, through age, an American himself, without e guess-work fonns differ extremely as )f the country now le time of its first ates varying fi-om millions. Basing he wai'like dispo- natural tendency lich possibly soon »ther; of the wide ich ti-ibe, not only afety; and of the of their women, I the aboi'iginal in- d has never at any lion of souls, ^-ays been, and is 3 comes from the 10, if asked about as " the leaves on m the interested 'o feed, on paper, *^hich has actually Pilcher, an Indian t sixty thousand Yy probably, not p. All Indians have a strong superstitious repugnance to being counted, and this of late years, (that is since the government has been issuing rations to Indians), is liable to a suspicion of self-interest, the Indians themselves entirely appreciating the advantage of getting from the agent five hundred rations for three hundred or less mouths. The number of Indians in the United States (ex- clusive of Alaska), as stated in the last official report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, is, in round numbers, two hundred and fifty- three thousand. This is probably at least one-fifth too great, but it will be impossible to arrive at the exact population so long as the government makes it to the interest both of the agent and of the Indian to exaggerate their numbers. The Indians have, undoubtedly, greatly diminished in numbers within the last fifty years. This is not due to imusual wars, nor even to the white man's fire- water (as is commonly believed), but principally to those great Indian exterminators, small pox, measles, and cholera, and to that "humane" policy of the government, which takes Indians from salubrious mountainous regions, and settles them on reserva- tions in malarious districts, where they arc soon deci- mated by fever and nostalgia. Probably because they live in tents, which are easily and frequently removed, we generally think and sjioak of Indians as "nomads." They are no- madic, but this peculiar life does not prevent their having the strongest possible " home " attachment, and the most ardent love of country. I have already spoken of the wide extent of territory necessary to the comfortable existence of even a small tribe. Dur- ing the spring, summer, and autumn, the tribe roams X .■!?; 'i" ■■'tfiTm \i*ity^',i^ -^in/ -j;*»y.,-»f Wei ■'i%/ 50 LOVERS or COUNTRY. at will throughout the whole length and breadth of thip territory, wherever it is led by abundance of grass for their ponies, or food for themselves, the camp being changed as frequently as necessity or caprice indicates. Within the limits of their territory, and during the seasons mentioned, Indians are veri- table " nomads." The winter encampment is regarded by them as pck'mancnt, its location not being changed during the whole three, four, or five months of cold and bad weather. The spot selected for the winter encamp- ment one year may be many miles away from that selected the year before or the year after; but the memory of each is affectionately cherished; a specially good and happy encampment not unfrequently giving the name to the year. Outside the limits of their territory Indians never go, except on war or hunting parties ; on rare occa- sions to pay a visit of ceremony to a neighboring friendly tribe; or on long solitary journeys, as will be described. Within the limits of their territory they are " no- mads," but the territory itself is their home. Their attachment to it is one of the strongest traits of their character. Ko people are more truly " lovers of their country," no people suffer more from "home- sickness," when forced to leave it. The mental capacity of the Indian is of superior order. His perceptive faculties are remarkably de- veloped, and his reasoning powers ai'e not to be despised, however crude. He is thoroughly master of all branches of education necessary to the comfort and safety of his savage life, thus giving evidence of capacity for a higher order of education. I ' I '^'i..i^<-r''^v^t''^. '^ii^yJK.iicc ', ■".j*e^-,iit,'-"L'^', '/}iaz:'' yptXtyj' i^rt^--^! . PUBLIC SPEAKING. 51 of of the or |?ri- That he has shown little aptitude for, or devotion to, the rudiments of our civilized education, is due partly to his excitability of temperament and impa- tience of restraint, and partly to the simple fact that 'those who had charge of his education cared more for their compensation than for the progress of their pupils, or were impressed with the idea that tho necessities of his soul were paramount to those of his intellect. Until very recently the efforts at Indian education were so ill-directed, so entirely unadapted to the real necessities of the problem, as to be absurd. No important question can be decided among Indians without a vast amount of verbiage; and tho faculty of speech-making seems to be even more universal among lied, than White Americans. Every male Indian is his own reporter, his own newspaper. lie is expected and required to sound his own praises, and to be modest about it would only redound to his discredit. Knowing that he is obliged to speak in public, ho spends no little time, not only in the preparation and elaboration of the matter of his speech, but by fre- quent rehearsal satisfies himself in the manner. Almost every warrior speaks well, some few of them eloquently; but his best efforts are those addressed to his own people, when seeking to establish his reputation as a warrior and orator, or when endeavor- ing to sway his audience to his own views on some contested point of Indian policy. As a rule, his speeches to white people are trite and commonplace, a parade of the Indian poverty, as compared to the white man's wealth; and his peroration is almost in- variably a whining and abject appeal to the charity of his hearers. « ■Km ■■\;i^»lvP^;i':F>f'>"/iI?,i7'V;':yK!j! ^ m ■■*v CHAPTER III. WILD LIFE ON THE PLAINS — INDIAN CHARACTER, TRAITS, AND PECULIARITIES. The Country of the "Plains Inul.^ns" — The Dream of an Enthusiast — The Indian as he is — His Conduct in tlie Presence of Strangera — Clotlies Only for Show — His Conduct in his Own Camp — A Rollick- ing Miscreant — Night Scenes in an Indian Camp — The Disgrace of being Surprised — A Pair of Climbing Boots — The Hero of the Tele- graph Pole - How a Lady Excited Surprise and Admiration — A Comical Incident — The Stoiy of a Wooden Leg — Carrying a Joke too Far — A Summary Ejectment — Endurance of Pain — Patience, an Indian Virtue— Blowing his Own Trumpet — Extravagant Solf- Praise — An Indian's Idea of Modesty — Honor among Thieves — Kicked Out of Camp — Early Lessons in Stealing — Apt Pupils — A Flagi-ant Case — A Fair Field and No Favor — Difterences of Opinion. " HE term " Indian " is applied to all the aboriginal inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere ; comprising hundreds, possibly thousands of tribes, occupy- ing every diversity of climate from Arctic snows to Equatorial heats. As climate exerts a marked influence 7r? - »'5'<..7!^;*v'; ■ --^T- ■;''»•• 1^'- "^"^^^ r^V/f-Vl^VV "'"* 'Myi'"-'- SB, It — ► • THE PLAINS. y^'^^^T?)^ t'l'^i^i^i/rj: 53 Even wit' the comparatively narrow limits of the. United States, the Indian tribes, though presenting a general similarity of character, vary in habits, man- ners, customs and beliefs, in so remarkable a degree, that no general description is applicable to all, except, that all are savage, ail are swindled, starved, and imposed upon. Though I have served in almost every portion of our wide frontier, my largest experience has been with the " Plains Indians," those inhabiting the coun- try between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. Among these Indians J have spent many years, much of the time in peaceful, every day intercourse. Within the limits specified, reside at the present time not less than sixty distinct tribes, cut up into bands innumerable, comprising more than half of the whole Indian population of the United States. Extending from the British line almost to the Gulf of Mexico, they would appear to be subjected to such climatic variation as might greatly influence their character. That this is not the case is due to the peculiarity of those great elevated plains, or steppes, high, dry, and generally destitute of trees, except along the margin of streams. All these tribes are mounted, and all, until recently, depended upon the buffalo for all the necessaries and comforts of life. Though distinct in language, differing somewhat in character, and each tribe, as a rule, hostile to all others, their common necessities have so assimilated their habits and modes of thought as to enable the student to group them, for description, into one gen- eral class. These Indians I know best, and from them I have ■■'f>, ft ,1" -;«. Pj#3 '^; «=%>• ■m ^?^:\«''-^:'>--^.- 54 THE IDEAL INDIAN. N. drawn most of my illustrations. In the following pages, when I speak of Indians, I mean the " Plains Indians," except when the context shows that I mean the whole race. When I wish to draw attention to the peculiarities of other Indians, as Utes, Apaches, etc., I will speak of them by name. The ideal Indian of Cooper is a creation of his own prolific brain. I^o such savage as Uncas ever existed, or could exist, and no one knew this better than Cooper himself. All hostile Indians — Mingoes, Iroquois, etc. — are painted as fiends, in whom the furies themselves would have delighted. His stories are striking and artistic, but they will not bear the test of consistent criticism. He assumed his ideal, clothed him in moral and Christian virtues, and placed him prominently in contrast with his sur- roundings. How he could possibly have arrived at those good qualities, when born and rehired among savages without a moral code, is a question that ad- mits of but one answer, — "no such individual could possibly have existed." The wild Indian of to-day is the Mingo painted by Cooper, modified somewhat by time and his sur- roundings; a human being, in the earliest stage of development; a natural man. Of all writers on the IS'orth American Indians, Catlin deservedly stands first. In an intercourse with Indians extending over half an ordinary life- time, I have frequently been struck by his quickness of apprehension, and the vividness of his colorings of Indian life. But Catlin, as he himself admits, was an enthusiast. Though a poor painter, he was wrapped up in his art of painting. Give him a model suited to his taste, — a wild, free savage, adorned ij Jjf. ^'n«. .ii^i. 'yL.'i^rr-^:Yi~'^}^f^ ;^^^'i>5,f-S;-i"'f^»Vw-» ,5r^;■^^»,^nc■~^■•!■■'f'*■:p:•«^-.•f■p^:;•'i'■;'>J^^^ ;»-^-^^ AS ENTHUSIAST. 55 with all the tinsel-trappings of barbarous life, — and he immediately clothed him with all Christian virtues and Imightly honors. His pen-portraits of Indians are admirable in one sense, in another faulty beyond measure. Indians of whom he wrote are still living, their tribes maintain- ing to this day the same manners and customs which h*^ so vividly describes. To see them now is to have seen them then, yet how diiferent the pictures from those he drew. He could see only the natural noble qualities. To the natural ignoble qualities (insepa- rable from the savage state) he evii»ced a blindness inexplicable in a man of such perceptive faculties, except on the hypothesis of excessive enthusiasm. Of the miserably low condition of the Crows and Blackfeet, he has not a word to say, but gives pages of eloquent writing to the beauties of their dresses and the magnificent length of their hair. He descants on the modesty of some tribes, but tells us, in almost the same breath, tli it sevei*al fami- lies, consisting of men with two, three, or more wives, and children of all . f^es and sexes, occupy, for all purposes, one single lodge of twelve or fifteen feet in diameter. His whole attention is occupied with externals, — dress, dances,^ religious and other ceremonies. No- where does he give us a close insight into their inner life, their religion, social and domestic habits and customs. Had he written of these things, his char- acters must have assumed other shadings than those his " fancy painted." Plere and there throughout his works are evidences that he does see these things, but is detenuined to say nothing about them. He evidently regarded the ■■Vii % "■i\ ts' ,''",".T 56 THE RACE OF PROGRESS. S<^J^ .vc- -Isiv' '»i 4 v- A- Indian as doomed to speedy extinction, and in so far, already dead. He constitutes himself his biographer, and closely adheres to the ehai'itable Roman maxim, " nil de mortuis nisi honum,'' (say nothing but good of the dead). Writing of the Indian of forty years ago, Catlin says, " In his native state, he is an honest, hospitable, brave, warlike, cruel, revengeful, relentless, yet honor- able, contemplative, and religious being." To these epithets, which are yet true in a certain sense, as I shall show hereafter, I add, that he is vain, crafty, deceitful, ungrateful, treacherous, grasping, and ut- terly selfish. He is lecherous, without honoi- or mercy ; filthy in his ideas and speech, and inconceiv- ably dirty in person and manners. He is affection- ate, patient, self-reliant, and enduring. He has a marvellous instinct in travelling, and a memoiy of apparently unimportant landmarks simply wonderful. In shoi't, he has the ordinary good and bad qualities of the mere animal, modified to some extent by reason. Primitive man is an animal differing from other animals in but one single quality, the greater develop- ment of the reasoning faculties. The condition of the races of mankind is simply the greater or less progression of each from that starting-point. The Indian, though so far behind in this race of progress as to be still a savage, is yet far ahead of many tribes and people. The grand difference between the N'crth American Indian and the civilized people of the same continent comes not from degrees of intelligence, or forms of religion, but from what we call morality. The intellect of an Indian may be as acute as that of a congressman, and his religion as austere as that of .. ■■'*■'■ "f '^< ■•* "■ "''^"'' ■*c'.:'"'^*'T'-" \^