The Arkansas advocate., 1835-05-15

hef duSWefed mat they Were-that they had shaken hands with the Americans, and were friends Bill was again protesting that he would kill the chief, but was again hlndered by the same significant threat as before. As they now began to come in greater force from the village, we directed the chief to order them to keep their dis tance, and we moved forward agreeabIy to the request of the chief, who wished us to encamp near the village. Notwithstand- Ing our former order, the Indians pressed upon us, all armed with spears and bows; and seeing that Antonio hesitated, through fear, to interpret for us, directed the chief n Spanish (at which 1 was the only lin- guist,) to send back his men, or we would fire upon them. This threat produced the desired effect, and we were molested no more until we reached the place for en- camping, upon the edge of marshy spot of ground, with here and there hole of water. Just above Us was the village, consisting of about twenty lodges, together with some additional minor ediices. A good Caiawa, or Cumanche lodge, is about fifteen feet high, made with six or eigh: poles, and in the form of cone, covered with dressed buffalo hides, which. when new ire per fectly white, but grow brown and smoky with age. 1nasmuch as these Cumanches are wandering Indians, and as 1t is seldom that they find .hen1s, Ives iii n place where they can obtain lodge poles, they are obli- ged to carry them wherever they go. Thus you may know their trail by the marks which the poles make as they are dragged along, suspended on each side of their hor- ses. They likewise carry an abundance of stakes for securing their horses.
 The Cumanches are q nation entirely distinct from the Pawnees. with whom they arc often confounded, because a part of the western desert IS common ranging ground for both nations. Generally speaking, westwardly from the degree of longitude distant four hundred miles from the border of Arkansas territory, and extending to the Rocky mountains, and bounded on inc north by the upper branches of the Arkan- sas, and on the south by the Rio del Norte, is the country of the Cumanches. Still, as have mentioned before, the Pawnees do rob and murder along the mountains 10 a considerable distance south; and, as we'll as the Caiwas and Arapehoes, are to be found on the main Canadian and to the south of t.
 The Cumanches are part of the Snake or Shoshone nation, and speak nearEy the same language. They have no settled place of abode, and no stationary villages. They follow the buffalo, and are most com monly to be found, in the winter, along the Pecos and Del Norte; and in the summer. on the Canadian and Semaron; but even to this there are exceptions. This last win. ter they were upon the Canadian, as they were likewise in July, 1882. In the win ter of lS3l-2, they were not on that river at all, but were gathered in numbers along the Del Norte below the Pass. As to their number of warriors, doubt if any one knows much aboutit. The country through which they range is so large, and they are so liable to be confounded with other tribes, that we are not likely 10 have any certain idea of their numbers. l have heard the whole nation estimated at 10000 warriors; but l am mistaken if they have more than five thousand. As we knew that the part of the Cumanches living to the south along
 
 the PresIdIo del Norte, and bordering on the Indians of Texas, were, for all our pur- poses, entirely distinct from the northern fCnmanches, we took great pains to find out to which our present acquaintances be- Elonged. We knew that those in the south were more friendly to the Americans, and less treacherous than those in the north, who, although speaking different language from the Caiawas, are still always allied with them, and are, like them, the deadly enemies ofthe Americans They uniform ly asserted that they were from the Del Norte, and were friendly. In corrobora- ton of this. they had few red and green American blankets, which we thought they must have obtained from San Antonio in Texas. They might, however, have ob- tained them of the Snakes, as they do their guns; while the Snakes are supplied by the trappers and traders. Seeing bu, few war riors about, we inquired where they all weres They answered, s'To the north, hunting:' and this induced us 10 believe on- ly that they were with the Caiawas on the track of the returning wagons. The old chief told us, too, that when he was in San ia Fe just before, he went thther for the purpose of making peace with the Ameri- cans there as he had done in San Antonio. If he was in Santa Fe, he and his party were the Indians who killed the nephew of Viscara. On the whole, we concluded to believe them to be hostile and northern Cumanches, whom fear, and not their own good will, forced to keep peace with us.