Washington telegraph., 1854-02-01
INDIAN Life.-.The Comanches,

ia, we copied from the Austin (Texas)
''Statc Times very interesting article on
Indian costume and habits. We now copy
another article from the same paper, on Co
manche life. DR.. Ford, the editor of the
Estate Times" is excellent authority on
matters relating to the Comanche and other
Indian tribes, and we regard the articles he
occasionally gives on Indian subjects as val
uable contributions to our stock of knowl-
edge of the habits and customs of the Indian
! tribes who roam on the great prairies On the
western frontier Of Texas:
The chief of a band of Comanches usual
ly makes a talk to his people very early in
the morning, imparting the news and dis
cussing its purport this is succeeded by
| his orders.
When change of camp is contemplated
the women gather the animals saddle and
pack them The lodges are taken down and
placed on animals. The men and women
ride after the same fashion. Very young
children are on horseback, at an age they
would not be suffered to manage a horse,
with us IN an enclosure. The families leave
as they get ready, except on some extraordi-
nary occasion, or when danger is appre-
hended In any event they have number
of warriors as look-outs on every side. 1t
is almost impossible to approach Conan
che camp without being discovered
When moving with their women and chill
dren, party of Comanches exhibit scenes
of liveliness-the women talking, laughing
and running pack animals to keep them in
place-children with bows and arrows in
hand, beating thickets for small game, shoot
ing snakes shouting for pastme, running
heller skelter in every directon-mules 60
ing at half speed over rocky places, with
long lodge poles trailing On either side
making noise louder than so many empty
wagons-young warriors, with gaudy trap
pings, frolicking and gabbing-when all
these things are jumbled together into dis
corlant mass, then it is really exciting to
be travelling with the red children of the
forest. Sometimes stampede occurs. to
give additional variety to the scene. On
such an occasion, the dogs of the celebrated
chief, Buffalo Hump. felt called upon to do
something; they gave chase to the running
horses. Buffalo Hump became furious
with strung bow and ready arrow. he follow
ed the dogs. The race was over an undu-
lating prairie kind of country, and lasted
some mile or SO The enraged Indian shot
his dogs, and stopped his horses The cum
ming of the animal eluded the impending
harm. The old chief, with all his subtlety
was for a long time foiled by his canine COM
panons. The scenery-the stampede-the
chase-the maddened Indian, made pano-
rama worth seeing, but hardly paying for
the trouble of reading.
A Ealt being made, the women arrange
everything-take care of the horses, set up
the lodges, pack the wood and the water and
cook
The warriors lounge about gathered in
groups, and talk over matters and things in
general In things they cannot properly
comprehend and account for, in some way
they possess considerable incredulity. They
deny the tales they hear about the speed of
a railway locomotive, When some of them
were informed steam car could run from
than day, they declared it impossihle-'a
horse could not run that far in a day
They have a game which may be called
"hide-the- bullet" The players sit down in
circle-sing curious kind Of song. One
takes bullet, changes it from hand to hand,
throwing his arms every possible direction ,
when he thinks his manipulations have suf-
fieientlv mystifed the man appointed for
that purpose, he holds out both hands and
lets him guess in which the bullet is. Ev-
erv guess counts on one side or the other
The number constituting the game is, we be-
lieye, matter of agreement; the ta.hes are
~ T.. ~,
ny articles change hands. There is one
garment, and one only. an Indian never
parts with 1t is betwixt him and nudity.
They play game with sticks. counted
by the way they fall-so many sticks OF
spots falling in certain way counting SC
much. We never could understand the
game.
While all this is going forward, the women
Get a resting SPELL They are talkative, are
5 great laughers, and seem to enjoy bit o
scandal with as much gusto as their more
civilized neighbors. One of their peculiar
amusements would not be much relished in
circles polite. A Comanche woman never
seems more happy than when 'verminizing.
} The luckless little animals are devoured by
those upon whom they had feasted; they
get the full benefit of the le.c talaonas.
The children are roaming about, examin
ing every thicket and every hole bathing
, shooting arrows, and making all those inter
: esting noises of juvenility .a
The Comanches formerly owned larg
| droves of horses They have thined then
: greatly within the last few years, by bein1
compelled to kill them for food. Being
e shut out from the mustang range, betweel
e the Nueces and the Rio Grande, was tn
cause. Horse meat with them, is preferre'
e to anv other The neck Immediately be
meath the name is considered rare dellca