Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-09-13
Most Remarkable Indians.

THEY LIVE IN A DESERT WITHOUT WA
TER-THEY WALK HUNDREDS OF
MILES WITHOUT sToPPNG-s SEVEN
OF THEM EAT A BIG DEAD HORSE,
BONES AND ALL, IN NINETEEN HOURS.
Capt. John Moss, Superintendent
of the Piute Mining Company, is uti-
lizing the labor Of the Piute Indians,
and has about twenty of them con-
stantly employed at various work. |
witnessed their labor with much in
terest. They work with alacrity like
children, so long as they can endure
rapid movement; then they take rest.
With patience, time and discipline,
think they will make good and profit
able laborers. They are paid fifty
cents day and board. 1t is curl
Gus and picturesque sight to see them
at work.
Captain John Moss has absolute
control over this nation of. Indians,
as we'll as over all the tribes for a
distance of thousand miles north
and south, west of the Sierra Nevada
range of mountains.
He is altogether remarkable char
acter. He is worshipped by the In
dians, and with them his will is as
the fiat of a superior creature. He
has been among the Indians for twen-
ty years; and among those of the
Great Basin, west of the Sierra Neva-
da mountains, twelve years. He
speaks twenty-five differently languages,
the peer of the Indian in every thing,
and is, besides. man Of talent, re-
fnement and culture.
A large faction Of the Piute tribe
of Indians live on the Great Ameri-
can Desert, region about 1000 miles
long from north to south, and about
800 miles wide from east to vest
There are on this desert stretches of
100 miles without grass or water. 1t
is a region of sand and rocky noun
tains, with but little vegetation, and
this of peculiar stunted character.
Here and there, at distant intervals,
there is little wood, little grass,
and a little water procured from holes.
A running stream is almost unknown.
There is almost a total absence of wa
ter in the air, so that the solar heat
is fearful in its intensity, ranging from
120 to 100 degrees Fahrenheit. This
is the home of the desert Indian"
and some facts exhibiting his nature,
habits and peculiarities may be inter-
esting to our readers.
The desert Indian" is as much of
a reflection of the country he inhabit5
as the lizard or horned frog. He
is followed d-cheeked, thin, 1.-THE and
active. His necessities have render
ed him superior in endurance, quick
ness, sagaeity and intelligence to all
neighboring tribes. Two months ago
a desert Indian" carrying express,
travelled 120 miles in % consecutive
hours.
Their upper extremitics are very
slender; they carry scarce any flesh
but that employed in locomotion.-
Their life has impressed upon them a
wonderful physiology; their capacity
to eat and to starve is truly astound-
ing. Six months ago seven Indians,
including child six years old, ate a
horse that perished from drinking al
kaline water, which weighed not less
than one thousand pounds, from 3
o'clock in the afternoon to 10 o'clock
in the morning of the succeeding day
-intestines, heart, liver, lungs and
all; even the bones were crushed, and
the marrow taken from them. In
short, at 10 o'clock next day nothing
remained of the horse but the hoofs.
So in less than twenty-four hours they
consumed per capita, more then one
hundred pounds of meat.
Another instance about year ago,
a gentleman driving a number of
horses across the desert lost thirty
of them, at intervals, along the road.
A party of "Desert Indians" started
in upon the road, so fatal to the
horses, and devoured every one of
them as they went, coming out on
the other side of the desert, as fat as
seals. They travel in the scorching
heat of the desert from seventy to
eighty miles a day without difficulty.
1t would seem that the Piute tribe
of Indians are in process Of spontane-
GUS and natural extermin alton, inde
pendent of any destructive effects
from contact with civilization.
The statistics of Europe and Amer
lea, procured in the most accurate
manner, and on the largest scale, give,
of the births, 21 boys to every 20
girls. The uniformity is complete,
rigid and unvarying. For number
of years past, in the Piute tribe, from
careful investigation, it has been ascer-
tained that three boys are born to
every girl. Everywhere is observed
a great deficiency of squaws among
them. 1t is mathematical, at this
rate, that ere long the Piute tribe will
become extinct from inherent causes.
For the last six years the "Desert
Indians" have found it exceedingly
difficult to exist. Hare and rabbits
were their great sources of food, a1
at one time they fairly swarmed am
ong the sage and stunted vegetation
of the desert. They were invaded,
some ten years since, by some epi-
demic disease, so that now only few
remain.-Alta Californian.