River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-06-16
A DESCRIPTION OF INDIAN WAR
ARROWS.
How the milan Boy is Taught to Shoot.


"You see,a said DIR. Carver, as he de
posted whole sheath of brightly
feathered arrows on a table, took of
his outrageous felt, and drew up 8
chair, II must be shooting something
or other all the time If 1t isn't a Win,
chester, it's bow and arrow. Pretty
they are, but most too fnel Fancy
things, these arrows, for handsom
young ladies to shoot on grass plats al
straw targets. Now, an Indian arrow
is good bit longer-maybe thirty-twC
inches-and when Sioux draws il
chock up to the bow it fairely huns
when he lets it fly. An Indian arrow
has groves cut in il behind the barb
that is to say, the ones they use in
huntlng-so that the blood can flow;
otherwise the wound would swell and
spoil. Fighting arrows are nasty things.
The barb is SO put on the shaft that
when it hits you the steel, the old hoop
iron, stays in the flesh when you go to
pull out the arrow. Dear sakes, what
ugly wounds have seen them make!
An Indian boy begins to hands light
bow when he toddles, maybe at four or
five. His bow is taller than he is. He
shoots at everything around the camp.
When he is IL he uses sharp arrows
A boy must be strong at Is to use a
mans bow. Now, 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 knack. 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 half or five feet long
that is, their hunting bow-and has
extra stiffness by having slnews pasted
on it. have seen We-shessa-haska-
that is, the long man-and he was the
best of the Ogalalla Sioux, kill an ante
lope with his arrow at 125 measured
rods. We-shessahaska was nearly sew
en- feet tall, and a good Indian. On
horseback, broadside to buffalo, /
have more than once known that In
dian to send an arrow through a big
COW. The arrow hung out on he 9TH
er side. The bow for horseback and
for war is a trifle shorter, and may be
sitter. You do not draw the arrow to
the eve, but catch aim as | do when
shooting from the hip. That can be
acquired only by long practice. The
string is drawn by the clutch of the
whole fingers, though some of the
tribes use the thumb and three fingers.
The long man can shoot an arrow in
the air out of sight, ano so can | (the
doctor pointed to an arrow buried up
to the feathers in the ceiling of our of
fee, his own peculiar ornamentatlon of
IL \
tt ink that in "a couple of months [
could get into perfect practice, for |
used to hold my own with any Indian
on the plains Sometimes after | had
been shooting with my Winchester an
Indian would come up and show his
bow, and tell me his bow was 'muchee
good" but then | used to take his own
bow and beat him at it.
"To pass away the time when | was
at the Brooklin Driving Park, [ bought
an English bow and arrows of Holber-
ton, and soon got into the trick ofit. |
hit blocks Of wood thrown into the air
quite as often as missed them. The
English bows and arrows are fancy, but
good. | would rather have an old
Sioux one, made of hickory or ash, but
the boss bow | ever owned was made of
buffalo ribs. An Indian carries his qulv-
er of arrows over his right shoulder, so
that he can get his arrows quickly.
When he has discharged one arrow,
with the same motion that he uses in
pulling the string he clutches another
arrow. Ifhe shoots one hundred 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
that flies over the prairie. Knock out
his tail and his steering apparatus is
gone. l have knocked the tail out of
many one, and so caught him in my
hands when he tumbled.