Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1868-01-04

.-.4c~--
They take great pleasure in aprca,ings,ial red
lin any other color that ispsbsight and gay;
piece of looking glass for breast pin; brass
earrings, and red head dress, generally
complete their toilet "",,rhcse arc their
charms" =, ~
! hadt cuirioyityto attend the funeral Of
a vcryold nnsfarmcr,' who in trutIhaid
die of good old ago, he being over ninety
years, and, ! niust say it .wds conducted in
quiteSa Christian like manner, Il They. first
procured few boards, fpfuwliich they made
a coffin or box, in which they placed their
doad brother, with much care and sorrow =
Attcr ssomc gestures over the body by one Of
the older members Of the tribe, probably
chief, they lowered the coffin in the grave al
lowing the top to be even with the ground
They thcn placed some dirt and stones loosely
on tho coffin, and around the grave they built
fence, over which they placed covering of
brushwooa They then departed in silence.
| wondered why they were SO careful in ar
ranging the grave, &C., and on asking an old
Indian, he Informed ME the reason. lie said,
1t was their custom never to bury one of
their tribe deep i'll the ground for fear he
might not be quite dead, and rs to the fence,
it was built to keep the wild animals away"
Tho Indian character is peculiar one, and
my sojourn among them gave me good in
sight into their real dispositions and habits.
l found that they generally were united i'll
their likes and dislikes, and observed that
when you offended one, the dissatisfaction
spread through tho whole tribe, and his quar-.
rel was made the quarrel Of all. They we're
very dangerous when aroused, and thought
trcacherous, q had always read that they
wcrc,) and l feared thcu whenever | saw
any signs of anger OH their countcuanccs. -
They never sought, however, to do me any
injury, although | was often left with fifty or
sixty of them in the mountains nlono, and
sometimes. had neither salt or potatoes to give
them for several days. They treated nc kind
~, nevertheless, and would willingly cat their
deer and mountain trout without murmur.
| Another characteristic of the Indian is,
that when he takes fancy, he is true
friend, and will willingly share his meal with
you, and do all in his power to mako you
happy.
| can never forget their kindness to me
when they found that was far away from
home and friends. After days hunt, when
the game was being divided among them, they
always reserved share for me- arl would ac-
company the gift with many kindly cxprcs.
sions. One of them called nc the " Wander
ing STAR" because l was SO far from home !;
and when told him about New York and
other great cities, his eyes grew very big, and
he shook his head in donbt
The Indians that served in the late Confcd-
crate States army (thosc that were under my
immediate command [ can speak for,) of
course did not understand the issues that the
two sections of the country were trying to
maintain; but can truly say that the larger
part Of them did all in their power for the
cause they cspouscd, and fought only for peace
once again to their homes.
1t was this result that they thought they
were fighting for, and manyo of them lost then
lives in its defence. They were true to the,
homes and Grcsidcs.
After the war they willingly returned t,
their allegiance to the. United States Govern
mcnt, and would'as willingly take up arms i,
defence of the Govcrnmont,as they did agains
it. All they ask is u hunting ground aud
resting place.