Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-10-31
THE EVENING STAR.
FRIDAY. October 81. 1879.
Among the Cses.

SOME OF THE INCIDENTS OF MISS MEsxERS CAP
TIvTTY, AS SHE DESCRIBES THEN.
Miss josephine Meeker who WIS one Of tn
captives In the hands OF the hostile Utes for
Time has written out statement Of the expert
ences OF the captiveS while among the indians.
from which we Gull some extracts. An incident
81 the first halt after the march southwark had
begun Is thus related:
Then the brave chief. Douglass. who had
eaten at our table that very day. walked OF
few feet: returned and placed his loaded gun to
my forehead three times. and asked M II l was
of him nor OF death. and should not run away.
When he found his repeated threats could not
brighten me. all the other Indians turned on him
ara laughed at him. and made SO much fun OF
him that he sneaked off and went over to brighten
my mother heard her cry OH and supposed
that she thought some terrible fate had befallen
me. shouted to her that was not hurt: that
she need not be afraid: that they were only try
ing to scare her. The night was still but |
other. All hands took drink around my bed:
then they sadtled their horses and PurSune led
my horse to me, and knelt down on his hands
and knees for me to mount my horse from his
back. He always did this and when he was 40
sent his wife did it. ! saw Pursune do the SAM
gallant act once for his Squaw. but 1t was ONLY
once, and none of the other Indians did 1t at all
touch of feminine nature is thus deScrib ID:
'sOn Wednesday and other days one OF Sdpan-
zisquaits three sguaws put her hand on M
sorry; you have no father, and you are away OF
with the Utes so far from home! She cried al
the time. and said her own little child had Just
Httttt was sore. When MIS-. fTlt'
came into camp another squaw took her blbv
(Johnny) into her arms and wept over him, and
said In Ute that she felt very sorry for the cap
tiveS"
Miss Meeker witnessed a genuine war dance,
which she describes as follows:
'One of the favorite amusements was to put
on negro soldiers cap, a short coat and blue
pantaloons, and initiate the negroes In speech
and walk. l could not help laughing, because
they were so accurate in their presentations.
On Sunday they made pile OF sage brush as
large as washstand and put soldiers clothes
and a hat on the pile; then they danced war
dance and sang as they waltzed around it.
They were In their best clothes, with plumeS
and fur dancing caps, made of skunk skins and
drZZly bear skins, with ornaments OF eagle
feathers. Two or three began the dance, Others
joined, until a ring as large as house was
formed. There were some SquawS, and all had
knives. They charged on the pile OF coats with
their their knives es and pretended that they would
with frenzy and excitement. The dance lasted
from O'Clock until shutdown. Then they took
the coats and all went home"
The system OF medical treatment among the
Indians is described as follows by Miss Mee6er:
"No whites are admitted to the tents while
the utes sing their medicine songs over the
family, was allowed to remain. When their
child was sick his family asked me to sing with
them which did The Medicine Man kneels
close to the sufferer, with his back to the spec
tatorS, while he sings in a series of high-keyed
grunts, gradually reaching lower and solemn
tone. The family join, and at intervals he
then his voice dies away and only gllrgling
sound is heard as if his throat were fun OF
water The child lay nearly stripped. The doctor
presses his lips against the breast of the SUI
ferer, and repeats the gurgling sound. He sings
few minutes more, and then all turn around
and smoke and laugh and talk. Sometimes the
ceremony Is repeated all night. / assisted at
two OF these medicine festivals. Mrs. Prices
boy became expert at singing Ute songs, and
they sang. to each other on the journey home.
The sfck-bed ceremonies were very strange and
weird, and more interesting than anything L
saw in all my captivity of twenty three days.
The arrival of Gen. Adams is described and
the councils that followed in relation to the sur
render OF the captiveS. The narrative concludes
as follows:
'Next morning we left for Uncompaghre in
charge of Capt. Cline and Mr.. Sherman. The
Captain had served as scout in the army OF the
Potomac, and Mr. Sherman as chief clerk at Los
Pinos agency. To these gentlemen we were
Ouray's house on the Uncompaghre river, near
Los Pinos. We rode on ponies forty miles the
flrst three days, and reached Capt. Cline's
wagon, on small tributary OF the Grand. Here
we took the blackboard wagon and Travelled the
next day to thu GunniSOn river, and the next
and last day OF fear we Travelled fOrtyfive miles,
shutdown.
'Here Inspector Pollock and my brother Ralph
met me- and was happy enough. Chief Ouray
make us comfortable We found carpets on the
floor and curtains on the windows lamps on the
tables and stoves In the rooms, with fires burn
Ing. VIC NCiC given IL NllOIc dlJtf
supper we went to bed and slept without much
fear, though mother was still haunted by the
terrors she had passed through. Next morning
We breakfaSted with Mrs. Ouray, who shed tears
over us as she babe us good-by. Then we took
mail wagons and stages for home. Three days
and one night Of constant travel over two ranges
of snowy mountains, where the road was II 900
feet above the sea, brought us to the beautiful
park Of San Luis.
We crossed to Rio Grande at daylight for the
last time, and moment later the stage and its
four horses dashed up a street and we stopped
before a hotel with green blinds, While the
driver shouted 'AlamoSa.' The moon was shin
ing brightly, and Mount Blanco, the highest
peak in Colorado, stood out grandly from the
four great ranges which surround the park.
Mother could hardly stand She had to be
lifted from the coach, but when she caught
sight of the cars of the Rio Grande railroad and
when she saw the telegraph poles her eyes
frightened and she exclaimed Now feel SAFE
In closing this letter l want to thank Chief
owe our escape"
THE ADVANCE IN THE PRICES almost all