The Leavenworth weekly times. [volume] (Leavenworth, Kan.) 1870-1880, 1870-11-17
GLINPsES OF INDIAN LIFE.


Il
acquires Of the habits of the animals he pur-
sues as game, is displayed in hunting the elk,
by what is called swapping the twig." 1t
is "still hunt " throughout, and requires a
degree of patience and skill to overcome the
watchfulness and self-preserving resources Of
the elk which is almost inconceivable. The
elk, for self-protection, as an offset against
many physical disadvantages, is possessed of
the keenest scent and the most exquisite
hearing. 1t depends for safety
more on precautionary measures than
ON aggressive defence or speed. To hunt the
animal successfully when he is resting
through the day, with every faculty wide
awake is therefore a test of skill which the
Indians, along the line reaching from Can
ada to the Pacific, Justly feel is worthy of
a warriors skill. The habits of the animal
are taken advantage of, to find trail made
by him in going to his regular drinking
place. This don, the Indian hunters, one
armed with rifle and the other with dry
twig, know that the elk is spending his day.
light repOse somewhere along this trail,
which NAV be half mile in length. So
acute is the hearing of the elk that these
Indians have to approach this trail always
from right angle, with the greatest pre-
caution, not even in their progress disturbing
a Leaf, or making the slightest sound by
their footsteps. Coming to the trail in this
way, they examine the footprints, and no
well-written document is more plain in its
story to scholar than are these natural signs
to the children of the forest. The fact is
developed, for instance, that the elk is be-
tween the spot of the trail they have reached,
and the water it drinks. Moving cautiously
away at right angles, they make an immese
circuit round, until they reach another spot
in the trail, The sign now is, that the elk
lies between the first and last examined
spot. Again the Indians patiently make
another immense circuit, and strike the trail
again-this time near enough To make gun
shot calculation Of the animals resting place
Approaching the trail the third, or possibly
the sixth time, by this slow process. they
are at last rewarded by distinguishing the
elk's enormous antlers above the long grass
and intervening brush. The Indian with
his gun makes ready, and his companion
snaps his dry triy across his Knee. The elk
springs upon his forelegs. The sound is not
necessarily 4 suspicious one; it might have
been made by another elk, or by dried
limb falling from 4 tree, and for an instant
only he speculates; but this exceptional hes
itatiOn is fatal, for the hunter fires, and the
noble animal falls dead in his track-a vic
tim of the superior wiles of man.
HUNTING THE ELK IN MASQUERADE.
The "Northern Indians have a method |
of hunting the elk in masquerade which is |
very picturesque, and of a kindred character |
with their brethren of the West, who Use a
disguise to kill the buffalo, The skin of an |
elk is carefully preserved, with the head and |
horns left intact. Two hunters pass this |
heavy, unwieldy mass over their heads and |
shoulders, the skull and horns often weigh
ing sixty or eighty pounds. Thus equipped,
and armed Only with bows and arrows, the
hunters make straightway 10 some previous
Undiscovered feeding place, where the elk in
drove are feeding ON the long sage, or
browsing on the limbs of the trees. The
masquerade is perfect enough in motion and
general action to deceive even the native
quickened wits of the victimized animals.
They take no notice of the intruders, and go
on with their cropping, unconscious OF dan
ger. a proper point obtained, sometimes
before they are alarmed, two or three noble
animals bite the dust, for the arrows do their
deadly work without unnecessary noise. AT
last the herd take the alarm, and, giving q
cry Of terror, break away, but not until the
now nndisg,l:sed Indians fire one or two
more deadly shots. Such are the novel and
Intellectual contests which call forth the wit
ofthe woods.
The buffalo, or bison, formerly covered the
plains of the great West" in countless
We say formerly, because, in 4
few years more, the railroad across the con-
tinent. and the attendant train Of civilizing
events, will confine the grea; American bison
to narrower limits, and their constant de- I
will make the spectacle Of herds
reaching from horizon to horizon an impos-
sibility. There is something very grand in
the appearance of these tremendous gather
ings, these vast supplies of food, not only for
the Indian, but for all the wild beasts Of the
field, and the vutures in the air. Following ,
the buffalo herd at a respectful distance, and
ever ready to pOunce upon wounded ami
NAL, or upon the weak and inoffensive, is .
always to be seen the large white or kiota
wolf. 1t is one of the most rapacious and [
cruel Of all the animals Of prey, and is APP
parently the buffalo most dangerous enemy.
While feeding the bufialoes keep the COWS
and Young in the centre, and then, as pickefs
and skirnishers, have their strongest and /;
most powerful bulls to fight off the ever-sur-
enemies, among which, as We have |
already stated, is the kiota wolf I
The Indians, who are great students Of {
Nature, study for their individual benefit the a
hahits Of all animals with which they come G
in contact. One Of the favorite methods Of |
the buffalo within reach Of their '
leadly arrows, is to conceal their persons in I
he skin of the KiOta Wolf. In this mas b
Inerade, they will make their appearance on u
he plains, and perfectly Initiating the eccen- 7
ric actions of the animal they represent, they
will travel on their hands and knees for
niles if necessary, so as to approach the herd
nd its fierce guardians withOu: exciting sus-
'icion, for the buAaloes are excellent judges b
f the manners Of the Kiota wolf, and the c,
lightest variation from the original would de- a
at the Indian object As rule, the hunter is al
uccessful. 1t is grand sight to see the old b
eteran bisons standing on guard, .jealously NJ
atching these disguised enemies, and rolling p
p their eyes in undisguised wrath, and claw al
lg mp great clods of the prairie. in demon II
rative anger. When the Indians, who act d,
concert, reach shooting distance, suddenly 70
sing on their:knees they seldom fail driving N,
leir arrows through and through the tough
nj well-protecfed sides Of their game n,
le herd now takes the alarm, and the In ?,
ans, dropping their disguise, manage to
tain one or more successful shots before the n:
ightened animals beat their retreat from an Ar
emy more terribly destructive than even te
e KiOta wolf
This method Is only pursued when buffalo in
e few in numbers, and wary from repeated d
lnts Occasionally great herds will move
ward a lodge, and then the Indian Stays W
th the blood-thirstiness Of the tiger Posi- aA
y some stray animals may be surprised 90
thin the very sight of the inmates Of the r.,
llage; on such occasions, the young war an
rs show their courage and fieetness by pur- 10
ing the animals on foot. The scene il in
irited, and, if it could be transferred to mr.
nvass, we should have naked Apollo, -,
,cefnl in action, perfect in form, to contras; N
III the huge and terrible-looking game.
Not the least Of Gods miseries is the ap-
rent decay of the faculties by age, as a pro- Gel
ion for death. 1t is the ripening Of the fir
pie, that it may fall without violence. de
The Sabbath does not stand on areu- bic
Mt alone, but on the everlasting want of bo,