The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-07-21
Bows And Arr8vs:

"You see" said DIR. Carver, as he de-
posted a whole sheath of brightly-feath-
cred arrows on-a table, took off bis UNI
brageous felt, and drew up a chair, ST
must be shooting something or other all
the time. If it isn't a Winchester, it's a
DOW and arrow. Pretty, they are, but
most too fine! Fancy things, these ar
rows, for handsome young ladies to
shoot on grass plots ct straw targets.
Now an Indian arrow is o good bit
longer-maybe thirty-twe inchesLand
when a Sioux draws it chock Tip to the
bow it fairly HUNS when he lets 1t fly.
! An Indian arrow has grooves cut in it
behind the barb-that Is to say the ones
they use in hr1nting-so that the blood
can flow; otherwise the wound would
swell and spoil. The fighting arrows are
nasty things. The barb is so put on the
shaft that when it hits you the steel (old
hoop IRON stays in the flesh when you go
to pull out the arrow. Dear sakes, what
ugly wounds I have seen them make!
An Indian boy begins to handle a light
bow when he toddles, maybe ut four or
five years. His bow is tallerthan he is.
He shoots at everything around the
camp. When he Is twelve he uses sharp
arrows. A boy must be strong at eigh-
teen to use a mans bow. Now, a white
man WHO takes an Indian bow for the
first time has all he can do to bend it.
1t needs some strength but more knnck.
The bow Is made straight. When it Is
strung the cord, even when in tension,
almost touches the bow. 1t is thick,
some four and a half or five feet long
that is their hunting bow-and has extra
stiffness by having sinews pasted on it.
l have seen We-shessa-has-ka-that is,
the long mainland he was the best of
the OgalalIa Sioux, kill an antelope with
his arrow at 125 measured yards. We
shessa-has-ka was nearly seven feet tall
and q good Indian. On horseback,
broadside to- buffalo, I have more than
once known that Indian to send an ar.
row through a big COW. The arrow
hung out on the other side. The bow
for horseback and for war is a trife
shorter, and maybe sitter. You do not
draw the arrow to the eye, but catch aim
as I do, when shooting from the hip.
That can be acquired only by long prac-
tice. The string is drawn by the clutch
of the whole fingers. though some of the
tribes use the thumb and three fingers.
The1ong man could shoot an arrow in
the air out of sight, aud SO a ] (the
doctor pointed to an arrow buried up to
the feathers in the ceiling of our office,
his own peculiar ornamentation of the
Forest and Stream sanctum). I think
that in a couple of months I could get
into perfect practice, for I used to hold
my own with any Indian on the plains,
Sometimes after I had been shoot
ing with my Winchester an Indian
would come up and show his bow, and
tell me his bow was smuchee good but
then I used to take his own bow and
beat him at it. To pass away the time
when I was at the Brooklyn Driving
Park, bought on English bow-and or
rows of Robertson, and soon got into
the trick of it. I hit blocks of wood
thrown into the air quite as often as I
missed them. The English bows and
arrows are fancy, but good. I would
rather have an old Sioux one, made Of
hickory or ash, but the boss bow I ever
owned was made of buffalo ribs. An
Indian carries his culver of arrows over
his right shoulder, so that he can get his
arrow quickly. When he has discharged
one arrow, with the same motion he
uses in pulling the string he clutches
another arrow. If he shoots one hun
dred yards he has three or four arrows in
the air all going at the same time. It's
great fun shooting at a bird with a long
tail hat flies over the prairie. Knock
out his tail and his steering apparatus is
gone. I have knocked the tail from
many a one, and SO caught him in my
hands when he tumbled. Forrest and
| ,Gronno