The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-05-30
PRAIRIE DETECTIVES.
THE SKILL OF INDIAN TRAILERS-
HOW THEY CAN TRACK A TRAIL.

, The most extraordinary skill exhibited in
the West, either by the white man or rcd ma
! tive, is In the practice of trailing. Here 1t
NAV he accounted an art as much as music,
painting OF sculpture in the East. The In
dian or trapper that is a .shrewd trailer is
! man Of close observation, quick perception,
! and prompt action. As he goes along moth
! ing escapes his observation, and what he sees
and hears he accounts for Immediately. Often
not another step is taken until mystery that
may present itself in this line is fairly solved
! The Indian trailer will stand still for hours
! in succession to account for traces or effects
! in tracks. and sometimes gives to the matter
unremittng attention for days and weeks.
. The trailer is not a graceful man. He car
ries his head much inclined his eve Is quick
and restless. always on the watch. and he is
practiciuw his art uncnnSciOu:ly. hardly ever
crossing the track of mln or animal without
seeing il. When he enters a house, he
brings the habits he contracted in the prac-
ticc of his art with him. | know trailer as
! soon as he enters my room. He comes IN
through the door softly. and with an air of
exceeding caution. Before he is fairly in, or
at least has sat down. he has taken note Of
every article and person. though there may
bc Il dozen vacant chairs in The room. He Is
not used TO chairs. and, like the Indian. pre-
iprs "A more humble seat. When was en-
poycd by General Harvey last summer to
take charge temporarily of the Indians that
were gathered near Fort Randall, Dakota,
to form Il new reservation. one day Il guide
and trailer came to the Generals headquar-
tiers. ! told him to be seated. He sat down
on the floor, bracng his back against the
wall The General saw this. and in yeXa-
ton cried out. My God. why don't you
take chair, whcu there are plenty here
moccupicd." The man arose and seated
himself in chair, but in 80 awkward and
uncomfortable manner that nc looked aS if
he might slip from it any moment. But
when this uncOuth person came to transact
! his business with the General he turned ont to
he Il man of no ordinary abilities. His de-
Scripton of Il route he took as guide and
trailer for the OgallalnS in bringing them
from the Platte TO the fort WAS minute and
exceedingly interesting. Every war party
that had crossed his trail he described with
minutene>s lis to their number. the kind OF
arm they had. and stated the tribes they be-
longed 10. In these strange revelations that
he made there WAS neither Importance nor
suppo,ition, for he gave satisfactory reasons
for every assertion that he made.
an experienced guide and trailer, Heck,
whom | Intcrrogated upon many points i'll
the practice of his art. Nearly all the tracks
! saw. either old or new. as 4 novice in the
art ! questioned him about. In going to
the Nobrara river we crossed the track of
an Indian pony. Ms guide followed the
track few miles, and then said :" 1t is stray.
black horse, with long, hushy tail, nearly
starved to death: has split hoof of the left
lore-foot. and goes very lame. and he passed
here early this morning. AstoniSlled
and incredulouS, | asked him the reason
for knowing these particulars 10y the tracks
of the animal, when he replied: L" 1t was
stray horse, because it did not 20 in direct
line. His tail was long, for he dragged ii over
the snow. In brushing against bush he
left some of his hair, which shows its color.
He was very hungry, for in going along he
has nippcd ut those high. dry weeds which
horses seldom eat. The assure of the left
fore-foot left also its track, and the depth OF
the inlcntiop shows the degree Of his lame
hess and bis tracks show he waS here this
morning when the snow YVES hard with
frost
At another place we came across an lu-
dian track, and he aaid: ut is an old
Yankton, who came to look at bis traps. In
coming over lie carried in his right hand a
trap. and in his LETT n lasso to catch Il pony he
had lost. He returned without finding The
horse, but had caught in the trap he had out
A prairie wolf, which he carried home on his
back, and bundle of kiniknick wood in his
right hand" Then he gave his reasons: 81
know he is old by the impression his gait
has made, and a Iankton by that of his moe
casin. He is from the other side Of the river,
Us there are no Ianktons on this side. The
trap he carried struck the snow now and
then, and in the same manner rs when he
came. shows that he did not lind his pony.
\ drop of blood in the centre of his
tracks shows that he carried the wolf on his |
back, and the bundle Of kinikinic wood he
used as Il staff for support. and catching a
wolf shows that he bad traps But" |
asked, " how do you know itsawolf! Why |
not II fox, or even deer" Said he If
it had been fox, or Il coyote, or any other |
kind of small game. he would have slipped |
the head of the animal in his waist-bclt, and |
so carried it by his side, and not on his
shoulders. Deer are not caught by traps;
hut II it had been deer he would not have |
crossed this high hill, but would have gone |
back by way Of the rnvine, and the load
would have made his steps still more tottcr-
ing"
Another Indian track we saw twenty |
miles west OF this he put this serious con- |
struction upon: "Ie's an upper Indiana
proving rsC-tlef-carried 4 double |
shotgun. and is rascal that killed some |
white man lately, and passed here one week
ago. for" said he, "a lone Indian In these |
parts is on mischief, and generally on the |
lookout for horses. He had on the shoes of
a white man whom he had in NIL probability |
killed, but his steps are those of an Indian.
Going through the rayinc the end of his gun
bit the deep snow. A week ago we hid
Il very warm day, and the snow being
soft he made these deep tracks" sug-
gested that perhaps he bought those shoes
Indians don't buy shoes, and fthey did they
would not buy them as large a. these were,
for Indians have very small feet" The most
noted trailer of this country was Paui Da-
loria, Il mlf-breed, who died under my hands
Of Indian consumption last summer. have |
spoken of him in former letter. AT one !
time rode with him, and trailing WAS natl-
rally the subject Of our conversation. |
begged to trail with him an old track over
the prairie in order to learn its history. | |
hardly made Tue proposition When he drew
up his horse, which was ut Il ravine, and said |
well. here is an old elk track. Let us get of
our borses and follow it," We followed it
but few rods when he said it was exactly
month old, and made Mt O'Clock in the
afternoon. This he knew, rs then we had
our last rain, and ut the hour named the
ground Was softer than any other time. The
track before ms was then n1udp He hrok,