Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1872-10-31
AN AB0RIGINAL POLITICIAN.

From "To-Day." by.Max Adeler.I
During the recent visit of party OF
Indians TO the East, one Of the mum
Der, Sauatting Bear, was observed to be-
have himself in very remarkable and
mysterious manner. Heseparated him
self from his companions Upon one oc.
1 passion for several hours, and was then
seen returning dragging huge Saratoga
trunk behind him through the streets
with string. When he REACHED his
lodgings with the trunk, the other Indians
were puzzled. Some of them believed
the trunk to be model for a new kind
of wigwam with Mansford roof, while
others conceived the idea that it was a
patent bath tub of some peculiar sort,
and that squatting Bear, in moment Of
mental alteration, had Geea selso4 with
an inexplicable and unprecedented de-
sire to wash hIaself The souls of the
sayages burned with fiery Indignation as
they contemplated the possibility of the
adoption Of this revolutionary, enervat-
ing and demoralizing practice of the
pale-faees by the noble red man. But
when they Questioned bdpsttiBf Bear
and demonstrated with him, thst inlom
prehensible brave merely placed his
coppercolored finger upon his burnt
umber nose and winked solemply with
his right eye, -
The trunk wcs carried thFopgb TO the
wigwam Of Squatting Bear unopened tat
the expense of Uncle Sam and within
the precincts OF his home it was hidden
finally from view, and was soon entirely
forgotten.
In the tribe the braye who killed the
largest number of enemies in any given
year and secured the usual trophies of
victory was entitled to occupy the posi-
ton as chief. SquattiRg Bear was
known to have ardent aspirations for the
Office, and he worked hard to win It,
For a while after his return he was al
ways foremost in every fight; and when
the soalps vers counted around the
campfire, he invariably had secured the
greatest number. Gradually, however,
certain OF the braves were impressed
with the notien that the Squatting's tro-
phies sometimes did not bear very
correct proportion TO the ferocity of the
contest or TO the number of the slain.
Several times, aftpr brief skirmish in
which ten or fifteen men we're killed,
Squatting would come siding home with
as many soalps as there we're dead men,
while, at the same time, the other war
Tiors would together have nearly as many
more.
The braves thought it was queer, but
they did not give the subject very serious
attention until after the massacre of
certain band of emigrants which had
passed close by the camp of the tribe.
There were just twenty persons in the
company, and after the butchery several
Indians took fhe tgogb.e 70 count the
bodies end to keep tally With p butcher
knife upon the sige Of Q chip. That
light, when the sc6lps were Numbered,
each brave had one or two apiece, b6t
Squatting Bear handed out exactly
forty-seven of the most beautiful punches
of human hair that ever were seen west
Of tie MississipSj. The braves looked !
cross-eyed at each other gnS cleared |
their throats Two Of the number stole /
CUT 70 &c battle field for the pdrpose Of
Counting the bodies sgein, and of ascer-
Ei~nE II lulo na4 otNn = A1CAoAe Ill 7
q lev Ssqble,headed persons in the |
party, H Et
Yes, there lay exactly twenty corpsesi
and, to make matters worse, one Of them |
was bald headed man, who, fer addi-
tional security to his scalp, had run a
skate strap over his head and buekled 1t
under his chin. ..I |If
Whom they returned, the entire camp
devoted itself to meditation aud csleu-
lation. Twenty men killed Gn9 forty
seven scalps in the possession Of q single
brave, without counting those secured
by ether participants in the contest
The more the yarriors pondered over
this fact, the more perpieHing il became. i
A brave, while eating his supper aud
reneeting upon the problem, would sud
denly imagine he saw his way clear, and
he would stop, with HE :=ea.h fell Of