The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-04-20

S6~ ~
When California was first invaded by
the crowd of gold-diggers in l849, be-
yond the few thousands who had collect.
cd round The Spanish missions in Lowe
California, and were in a state of [.
most abject subsection to and depend.
ace on the priests, there must hav,
roamed over the wide region more thar
100000 Indians, living in a state of free.
dom and Of nature, as complete as the
elk, antelope or sage rabbit, which furn.
shed their then by no means ~precarious
livelihood A headdress of feathera
with a scanty Goa Of paint on his face,
was the full dress of brave, while .
fringe of bark or grass suspended from
her waistfurnished q complete wardrobe
for his squaw. To this day the males
go naked during the summer, If living
at a distance from the whites.
The men have no beard, this being
! plucked out by the squaw with a couple
OF shells as soon as it appears. They all
! wear ornaments In their ears-or, al
least, they did. The children had theirs
bored at an early age, and larger and
larger pieces of stick being inserted. un.
ill the aperture was capable of taking 1,
one Of the larger bones of o ~pelican's
wing-ive or six inches long, carved in
rude style, and decorated at the end
with crimson feathers-which is worn
permanently. The back hair of the
men is fastened up in a net, and made
fast by a pin of wood pushed through
both hair and net, the large end being
ornamented with crimson feathers, OBJ
tanned from the head of the ''carpen-
tere" woodpecker, and sometimes, also,
with the tail feathers of an eagle. The
women, before the advent of the whites,
wore no hair nets or ornaments. Before
beng corrupted by the rude gold-dig-
gers and lumbermen, they were not a
bad Kind Of people on the whole.
The men were treacherous, but, unless
ill-treated. were harmless enough, and
the girls frank and even confiding-per-
maps quite as much as young grizzly
bears. But then the men always were
i~ll-treated. and the children could
scarcely be expected to be very confd-
ing to n pale-face, when from infancy a
white man was the bugbear used to
Brighten them into submission to the
maternal will. A California boy could
no more tell you when he first learned
TO swim than he could say when he re-
membered to have first walked. The boy
has bow and arrow put into his hand as
soon as he can use them; while girls
learn to weave blankets and make bread
of acorns. They are much more famil-
lar with tho points of the compass than
their northern neighbors. If q ball or
an arrow is lost. instead of searching
about in all directions for it, the one
who saw 1t fall will say: ITO the east; q
little north; o three steps northeast"
and SO on. Even in the darkest night
an Indian will fetch water from a spring
by following the directions of a COM
panion who had been there previously
Three hundred steps east and twenty
north"
They are excellent crackers Of game,
and say it is impossible to mistake a
white mans foot, even if bare, for it is
deformed by the pressure of boots or
shoes; while The Indians foot, never
trammelled by any such foot-gear, is so
formed that he can use his toes to hold
arrows whilst he is making them. They
roam about from place to place, as the
attractions of game or other food may
incline, and hence are generally well ac-
quainted with a wide range of country.
From 'Ihe Peoples of The Rorld," By
DR.. Robert BroUn. :.