The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-01-12
HIGH-PRICED sCALPs.


BIoodthirsty Apache Indians.
chihuahua Correspondence San Francisco Chronicle.
''There they come SAID a little fellow, as he
raised a yell that fairly made my throat ache to
hear.
"And what are theyF" 1 asked, still ignorant
of the cause of all the uproar.
why. the rancheros and the Indians" he
said. Come to the tower, Senior, and see the
grand sight. $ he continued, darling away toward
the cathedral. But, needless of the invitation,
though still excited, l pushed my way along to
the wall in front of the church, and, crawling to
a place made for me. looked as directed and
caught sight of a slow-moving body of men,
horses, flags and women coming down the street.
A band leading the procession was performing
some sort of a wild, SoulStirrlng march, but the
music was hardly audible above the inceSSant
cheering by the people lining the streets.
Marching steadily toward me, L soon saw
the composition of the strange army. Di-
rectly behind the band came some thirty
horseman, each man carrying the gun he had
used, while his pistols hung from his wel-worn
sadie. Of all the swarthy, heavy bearded and
tan-browned faces which looked upon the cheer
ing masses, not one wore an expression other
than stolid indifference. The furious welcome,
manifested in d hundred different ways, never
drew even a smile from the set lips.of the brave
hearted fellows who had risked their lives for
the peoples safety. Calmly looking upon the
upturned faces, they rode slowly along, as i'm
movable and undisturbed as the white walls of
the houses they passed. Behind the ranchmen,
who rode two abreast, came eight men on foot,
who held long poles, which they continually
moved I'D and down, and fastened to them were
eight lcng-haired, blood-stained scalps, the proofs
among the people of the death of so many hated
Apaches. When these hideous trophies were
seen the people grew frantic with joy. Braves
resounded on all sides; men shouted until hoarse;
women waved their shawls, and the excited
gazers applauded.
But the scalp-bearers had hardly passed before
there came the squaws who had been taken. The
minute these bare-headed, dirty, homely, hard
fanaA uOpna yo~a Caan tho chenpiD0 aud nXcItp-
ment increased, while the boys in the street
pressed hard against the guards and tried to
strike at the wives of those who had killed and
tortured their parents, brothers and sisters.
Some of the prisoners held their nursing babies
in their arms, and needed only them. The big
eyed nurslings. held as lovingly by their wild
mothers as ever the women of civilization hold
their own in time of danger, cried with fear, and
even the food their mothers offered them so pit
eously did not serve to comfort them. 1t was
enough to make the heart ache to see these
ignorant mothers. hated and struck at because
born in a wilderness and the wives of savages,
caress their children to their breasts and hold
them away from the cruel hands outstretched
to strike. And yet so hated is an Apache
that every wall was hailed with joy by the
friends of the victors. l saw not one face
among all the mothers there that had pity
TO see the ragged squaws, and laughed at the I'M
happy wives and cursed them. chihuahua for
got its Sunday and the people forgot their re-
ligion. The cathedral stood near by, the air was
soft and beautiful, and still not one mothers
heart apparently pitied or prayed for the unfor-
Inmates who marched to a living death with the
scalps of their husbands swinging before them.
An hour later, when the city was enjoying its
Sunday evening quiet, 1 met the consul of the
United States, and asked him what became of
the captured women.
''They are to be confined in the fort at Vera
Cruz for life"
"And the children9'
They are given to whoever wants them, and
are brought up as servants"
''Slaves, then, you meant" I said.
Hardly that. They will be paid wages when
they earn them, and such lives will be better for
them than if they had not been captured"
What is done with the scalpsF / asked.
The scalps! Why, the government buys
them. Every one brings 5000. The Apaches
have long been the scourge of Northern Mex
leo"