The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1873-07-17

Not far from Emp0Tia, Kansas begins the Kaw
reservation, where seven hundred native
Kansas Indians, or "Kaws," as the French lam
guage scOffingly named them, are located. Thous-
ands of acres stretching away in either direction
are given up to them, and are consequently de-
void Of cultivation. The Kaw of the present
generation is by means prepOssessing being.
Dirty, lazy, and in many instances dishonest, he
is hardly grateful for the respect government
accords his traditional methods of life. Not far
from the residence of the agent, government once
built n. number of eoinmodiOus stone houses,
which The Indians were solicited TO occupy; but
they stabbed their ponies in the structures and
camped IN their wagons outside. As we entered
the reservation, violent storm of sleet aid cold
rain in progress, but one adventurous brave
galloped across from little village To the slow
ly-mOving train. and cautiously approaching us,
as if he feared treachery on our part, uttered q
s0norons +" How How !" and sullenly accepted
the cigars and fruit offered him. He a true
SOP Of the plains just as far from being convert
ed to civilization as his ancestors three hum
dred years ago. Sitting on his pony as if he
were Cenfaur, he pulled his blanket over his
coal-black hair, and gallOped back to camp. A
little farther on, we came To an Indian grave.
The snn of one Of the chieftaiGs had recently
died, and the Raw method of burial had been
observed on a little knoll near the railway. Two
ponies, the property of the dead man, had been
slain, and their bodies left on the grave: and
over the spot q United States flag was flying.
Upon the fag-staf were tied ears Of corn, wam-
pun, and some broken arrows, while other ar
ticles which the dead man might be supposed to
require on his journey to the happy hunting
grounds" were buried with him.
The present generation of Kaws is much d.
minished in stature and bravery below that Of
the one preceding it, and any reclamation Of it
seems utterly hopeless. The whole tribe partici-
pates in yearly hunting excursion, and rarely
returns without having had sharp fight with
its especial enemies, the Comanches. The men
and women still adhere rigidly to the Indian
costume the men wearing buckskin leggings,
moccasins, and gayly parti-colered Blankets
which, in rough weather, are fastened over their
heads in q peculiar manner. At every turn in
the railway route, we crossed the reservation,
we saw groups of " warriors" hunting with bows
and arrows, or galloping hither and yon across
the plains, in utter disregard of the weather
The Kaws, a rule, refuse to speak English to
strangers, and will only converse by signs. They
still sigh for the time when their forefathers
wont to swOop down upon the wagon-trains
tOiling from the Missouri State line to Santa Fe
in New Mexico. when the traders were almost at
the mercy of the fawny banditti, until the post
Of Council Grove, q hOurishing town, was
established as q general rendezvous, where cara
vans numbering hundreds of wagons and thous-
ands of mules could form into professions Of
sufficient strength to protect themselves.-Scrib
aer's Monthly for July.