San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-08-03
The Indians fuinre.
by BILL NYE

The question Ot what IL 10 VIZ wv H''
rions ultimately Of the red men IN Amer
ic, is Que which demands ~ ~. 81 III
consideration. Will afe~ Il '"rinR YEAR
extirpa,e and ,Xtermiu't- from me
face of the earth race Uhi"h rHS ~
long filed our fourth readers aud our
school drclama,ions with crnd orat"iy,
aud leave the untutored child OF nature
10 exist only rs a smoke tanned, bead
trimmed memory? Will the beautiful
picture of the brunette Indian maiden
stlast b ecome nothing but the frontpiecs
ola time honorrd legend and the trade
mark Of fpc eat factory? Let rs hope
that il will not.
We have crossed toe wide ocean and
wrested from these people their leads,
and then, to add insult to injury, we
have taught them the mysteries OF our
civilization.
With the white man came the doctrine
of vicurious atonement aud the open
back shirt. He brought with him the
dictionary and'the garden hose, saliva.
ton and saleratus. The tale was soon
told. aud now on the vertebrm OF the
continent the telephone and The morn
ing papers ara crowding tie red wild
over aud the pigeon tod scion of Pow
hatan into the moaning sea. The
r,stle,s wave of civilization and soap
have crowded old Rise Up William
Riley and his whole tribe into the black
night Of forgetfulnees and death
Gradually he has picked up his houe-
hold goods and his wife and upright
piano, and stolen towards the couch of
the dying day. Now ne stands upon
tho rocky battlements that border tho
new States, and bathed IN red sun
light md nothing else in particular,
he shakes hands with his approaching
doom.
Had he taken more kindly to the bath
tub Of the pale face and fraternized
more adequately with the crash towel
of the European, his oblivion would
have been less speedy and the black
tom cat night of eternal sleep less for
merly.
Silent and unrelentipg, unmoved
above the broad cemetery of his peo-
pie, stolidly awaiting forgetfuIness and
death, we cannot help admiring the
brawny brave with the undaunted eye
and the buckskin pants with the seat
cut out. Nature gave thee, thou dusky
warrior, strength like the eagle, and
swiftness in the chase, but in her wis
dom denied thee the copper lining that
is required TO meet and conquer the
vintage of progressive age. The
mountain lion may meet thee and yield
up his life at thy hands, but the juice
of the centipede, that is distilled by
the paleface and sold to thee, taDgles
up thy duodenum and cracks the crown
sheet of thy digester.
Brave orator of the school book,
grim relic of the days of Pocahontas,
we watch with tear-dimmed eyes thy
closing hours. Adieu, thou Indian
mother standing on the steep, precipit-
GUS shores of eternity. Behind thee
rest the dead heroes of thy race ard
at thy side the brindle relic of mighty
tribe of Indian dogs, fatigued and list
less pets his favorite flea. No one can
look upon this sad and smoky group
The fading remnants of a
glorious petty larceny mob. Had he
adopted the Prince Albert coat and the
doctrine Of protective tariff, instead
Of the plug hat and the whisky sour, =!
his future might have been a resplend-
int one, and his life less clonded with '
allure and remorse.
We should learn from this to shun c
he errors which have busted the glori 1
,us future of the red man. Let us |
,rofit by his example and eschew the C
lowing bowl We should also avoid
he exposure of an outdoor life. A L
,onstant communion with nature and v
vet feet shortens life, and clouds the d
pathway with gloom and catarrh.- v
Boomerang. =