The Canton advocate. [volume] (Canton, D.T. [S.D.]) 1877-1897, 1881-06-16
A DESCRIPTION OF INDIAN WAR
ARROWS.
How the Indian Boy is Taught to Shoot.
Forest and Stream,

Forest and Stream.
"You see," said. DIR. Carver, as he de-
posted whole sheath of brightly
feathered arrows on a table, took of
his outrageous felt, and drew up a
chair, II must be shooting something
or other all the time. If it isn't Win
chester, it's bow and arrow. Pretty
they are, but most too fine! Fancy
things, these arrows, for handsome
young ladies to shoot on grass plats at
straw targets. Now, an Indian arrow
is good bit longer-maybe thirty-two
inches--and when a Sioux draws 1t
chock up TO the bow it fairely huns
when he lets it fly. An Indian arrow
has groves cut in it behind the barb
that is to say, the ones they use in
hunting-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 60 to
pull out the arrow. Dear sakes, what
ugly wounds l 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 II he uses sharp arrows.
A boy must be strong at IS 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 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 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-h aska-
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 good Indian. On
horseback, broadsidc to a buffalo, l
have more than once known that In
dian to send an arrow through a big
COW. The arrow hung out on ne 9TH
err side. The bow for horseback and
for war is q trihe shorter, and may be
sitter. You do not draw the arrow to
the eye, but catch aim as l do when
shooting from the hip. That can be
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, and SO can 1 (the
doctor pointed to an arrow buried up
to the feathers in the ceiling of our Of
fee, his own peculiar ornamentation of
The Forest and Stream, sanctum.) I
til ink that in couple of months l
could get into perfect practice, for l
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 l used to take his own
bow and beat him at it.
"To pass away the time when I was
at the Brooklin Driving Park, l bought
an English bow and arrows of HOLDER
ton, and soon got into the trick oft l
hit blocks of wood thrown into the air
quite as often as I missed them. The
English bows and arrows are fancy, but
good. l 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 quiv-
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 long tail
that flies over the prairie. Knock out
his tail and his steering apparatus is
gone. 1 have knocked the tail out of
many a one, and SO caught him in my
hands when he tumbled