Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1852-01-13
hARTINsBURG, Va TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY u, 1857


rivers Of the interior many Of them, how
ever. shaking loose every tie Of blood and
kindred, identified themselves with the In
dams, and sunk into utter barbarism. In
many squalid camp, arnong the plains and
forests Of the west, the traveller would have
| encountered men owning the.blood and Ian
guage o. France yet, 10 their Wild and swar-
thy visages and barbarons costume, seeming
more akin to those with whom they had cast
| their lot The renegade of civilization caught
the habits and imbibed the prejadiecs Of his
chosen associates He 'oged to decorate his
long hair with eagle feathers. to make his
| face hideous with yermillion, ochre and SCOT !;
and 10 adorn bis greasy hunting frock with
horse hair fringes. His dwelling, if he had
one, was wigwan,. lie lounged on bear
skin, while bis squaw bailed his venison and
prepared his pipe. In hunting, in dancing
in singing, and in taking scalp. he rivalled
the genuine Indian lis mind was tiuctured
with the superstitions Of the forest. He mad
faith in the magic drum Of tho conIurer; be
was not sure that thupdercloud could not be
| frightened away By wbistling at it through
the wing bone of an eagle; he carried the
tail Of a rattle snake III bis bullet pouch by
way Of an amulet; and be placed implicit
trust in the prophetic truth of his dreams.
This class Of men is not yet extinct. In the
cherries wilds beyond the northern lakes, or
among the mountain solitude Of the distant
west. they may still be found unchanged in
life and character since the day when Louis
the Great claimed sovereignty over the desert
empire.
Trapper Lfe.-Thosc rude and hardy
men, hunters and traders. scouts aud guides,
who ranged the woods beyond the English
borders aud formed connecting link between
barbarisnl and civilization, have been touched
upon already. they Here distinct peculiar
class, marked with striking contrast Of cood
and evil. Many, though b. no means all,
were coarse, audacous sna inscriptions vet
even in the worst, one might have often found
vigorous growth Of wArlike virtues an iron
| endurance, an undespairing courage, a won
drous sagacity, and singular fertility Of re-
source. In them was renewed, with all its
ancient energy, that wild and daring spirit,
that force and Lardihood Of mind, which
marked our barbarous ancestors of Germany
and Norway. These sons Of the forest still
survive. We may find them to this day, not
| in the valley Of Ohio, nor on the shores II the
lakes. bat far westward on the desert range
Of the Buffalo and among the solitudes of the
Oregon. Even now,s whilc write. some
lonely trapper is climbing the perilous defles
of the Rocky Mountains. bis strong frame
cased in time worn backshin, his rife oriped
| in his sinewy hand. kcenly he peers from
side to SIDE lest Eiackfoot or Arapahoc
should ambuscade bis path borough earth
is his bed, morsel Of dried meat and a
draught of water are bis food and drink, and
death and danger are his companions No
anchorits could fare worse, no hero could dare
more; yet this wild; ierd life has rosistless
charms and while he can WELD a rife he
will never leave it. Go with him to the rem
E, devious, and be is stole no more. Here.
riotiug among his comrades, bis native ape
tiles break loose in mad excess, in deep ca
rouse III desperate gaming. Then follow
close the quarrel, the challenge. the Eight
two rusty rifles and fifty yards Of prairie.
The nurseling of civilization placed in the
midst Of the forest, and abandoned to his own
reserves, is helpless as an infant There is
no clue to the labyrinth Bewildercd and
amazed, he circles round md round in hope
lesa wanderings Despair aud famine make
him their prey and unless the birds ofheavon
minister to his wants, he dies in misery
Not so the practised woodsman To lure the
game, to circumyent the lurking foe, TO guide
his course by the stars, the streams, or the
trees such are the arts which the white man
has learned from the red. Often indeed the
pupil has outstripped his master
lie can hunt as we'll; he can fight better
yet there are nicetes of the woodsman's craft
in which the white man must yield the palm
to bis savage rival Seldom can he boast. ia
equal measure, that safety of sense, more
akin to the instinct of brutes than to human
reason. which reads the printed page, to
which the whistle Of bird can speak clearly
as the tongue Of man, and the rustic Of a lea:
! gives knowledge of life OF death. With us
the name of a savage is byword Of reproaeh
The Indian would look with equal scorn on
those, who, buried in useless lore. are blind
aud deaf to the great world of nature.