Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-07-29
THE BEEF ISSUE"
A SPECTACLE AS sRUrALIzlhG As
SPANISH BULL FIGHTING.
Scenes at an Indian Agency on the
Great siouI Reservation--Cattle Await
ing slau:hter-Ladies Witnessing the
Shooting of the Animals.

"Oh, its going to be lovely day for the
heef issue. I'm 50 glad, says young lady
at the breakfast table. Every one is ami
mated and expectant. For several days
visitors at the agency, besides the usual hos
pitable welcome have been greeted with the
exclamation: You are i'll just in time; you
must stay 10 the beef issue All through
the day before and far into the moonlight
night long proceSsiOns Of Indian wagons have
been coming across the hills, and their occu-
pantS have gone into camp ON the high slopes
all around At an early hour of the morn
ing the whole Landscape is full of life and
movement The Indians are decked out IN
their gayeSt attire. and some of their COS
TUNES are pictorial enough Most OF them
still wear the native dress, hut some have on
a combination of Indian and civilized Garb,
which is uglier than either alone. Nearly all
are hareheaded, and their long black hair,
parted i'll the middle, falls back over their
shoulders Their faces are painted III "Hri-
Gus bright colors and in all kinds of groieeluc
figures The Indian men are very fond OF
wearing tails, and when on foot like To have
strip of bright colored cloth dangling at their
heels or dragging along on the ground behind
them They nearly all wear blankets, which
at this time of the year art, most OF them,
sheets Of dirty, gray looking muslin or sheet
ing These they wrap closely around them.
often covering the head and face, all but the
eyes.
As we look about Us after breakfast we see
the Indian women AID girls Harvesting their
horses Carriages are brought to the door
for guests, and we are soon all on our way tn
the government corral Everybody is going;
lad ND
are teaching schoC Is in the distant camps and
Others who are ,itors from eastern cities.
All are in high spirits Acquaintance eN-
change greetingr Indian wagons filled with
women and children are moving over the
plain from all directions. There are hundreds
of Young Indian men and women on horse
back They go curveting and racing about
the plain The Indians never look well ON
horseback, but they manage to stay on.
( Their ponies are slight and ugly looking but
/ tough and enduring. They are the most use
/ full and respectable denizens of the Indian
country, and are about the only creatures
here who earn their rations The girls sit
astride. the same as the men. Some of the
bellies are in costly apparel l count more
than fifty elk teeth on a large cape worn by
radiant brown maiden. As each elk has just
.
slaughtered 70 furnish the bravery of her at
tire She reminds me of New York Fifth
avenue bellies with dead birds on their heads,
but the elks were really killed for food.
! CATTLE AWAITING SLAUGHTER
The corral is a large stockade in the mid
die of a plain, which slopes upward to low
hills all around. Here are many hundreds Of
cattle awaiting slaughter to furnish rations
7 II shat, nd
papooses. 1.-The wards Of the nation" There
| are about 1900 Indians present. 4 large por-
/ tion of the men are armed with carbines or
! improved rifles. There is an army officer
| here from the nearest fort, to represent the
government on the occasion. brass band
| has come out from some railroad town TO
| compliment the ladies and frighten the already
/ distracted cattle with the blare of their music
! The entertainment opens with a popular air
! The ladies applaud ielicately, and the musi
clans bow their acknowledgements MOunted
| cowboys enter the corral, spur their horses
| among the cattle, and drive groups Of them,
I with shouts, yells and blows, toward the
! chute leading to the scales, where they are
weighed, a dozen at a time. After leaving
! the scales, in a narrower part OF the chute.
each animal is branded with hot iron, and
! Of the corral This first brand shows that the
animal has been received from the contractor.
| After all have passed through this experience
they are again driven into the chute with the
same accompaniment OF yells and blows, and
receive another brand. This is to identify the
hide after II has been taken of.
All this is but overture and prelude, but the
| curtain will soon rise and the play begin.
th.a hsssf
points of view for the coming spectacle. The
Indian wagons with the women and children,
and the dusky equestriennes, press close to-
gether around the walls Of the corral The
Indian horsemen are drawn up in two long
lines, forming lane from the gate Of egress,
far out on the plains Their carbines CLEAN
in the sunlight. turn and note the sweet
ness of the June morning, the beauty Of the
circling hills, the flag Of our country floating
above the government buildings, and, in the
momentary hush, the gushing song Of a
meadow lark, far off across the grass. Hun
dreds Of Indian dogs troop about, hungry,
watchful and expectant. A tall Indian, with
a voice like that Of an exhorter at an Arkan-
sas camp meeting, climbs up to the top of the
gate and shouts the names of the men who
are to receive the cattle, as, one after another,
Ilef Teleiistl W luelI uoOHL luc kdlt
opens and gigantic steer leaps out, fright
ened and wild eyed. He trots uncertainty
down the lane Of horsemen The dogs fly at
him, and he sets of in a gallop. Two Indians
gallop after him, and everybody looks that
way But by this time another is out, and
soon half dozen are racing away in different
| directions, each closely followed by two or
three mounted Indians.
SHOOTING THE ANNALS
Soon a shot is heard, and then another and
the ladies strain their eyes to see, but the
steer gallops on The ladies look little dis
appointed. They are going out Of sight. Is
this all it is going to beF' But wait. Nor
shots, and more; and now they come faster
like the ominous, irregular but increasing
skirmish firing before a battle Five or six
of the cattle go of together, with a dozen men
pressing behind and at the side of the fleeing
group A horseman fires, and a steer drops
80 suddenly, head first, that he turns a COM
plete summersault, and the pony just behind
unable TO stop. repeats the movement, tumb-
ling over the prostrate beast, and dismOunts
his rider Some Of the cattle are at first only
slightly wounded, others are crippled so that
they cannot run, but several shots are re
uuired to dispatch them. Now and then one
turns in fury upon his pursuers. and the
ponies swerve aside to avoid his charge. The
ladies' turn quickly from side to side, to note
the most interesting occurrences. The dying
animals lie all about the plain. Some strug-
gle long, getting up and falling again, and
the Indians wait warily, till it seems safe to
approach, for q mortally wounded beast will
sometimes make a plunge at his tormentors,
Now a hunted brute dashes madly among
the crowd around the corral, the horses start
and rear, and the brown maidens scramble
hastily on the wagons. large. cow, shot
through and through comes staggering up to
the very walls Of 'the grand stand" The
Indians try to drive her away, but she no
longer heeds their yells and blows She reels.
races herself, turns hrr great beseeching
Eyes up TO the women above her, and falls at
their very feet. The Indian butcher appears
throws of his leggings, and bestrides her with
naked brown legs and thighs. He opens her
throat with a short knife and cuts out the
tongue. He pierces no artery or large vein,
and the poor, tongueless beast dies slowly.