Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-04-09
APACHE SCOUTS
Their Equipment and Speed At.
tanned by Them in Marching.

eAAoos, llVllS CLOSE 10
the Yukon and Mackenzie rivers, with.
in the Arctic circle. For centuries he
has been pre-aminent over the more
peaceful nations about him for COURAGE.
skill and daring in war; cunning in de-
ceiving and evading his enemies; feroci-
ty i'll attack when skilfully planned
ambuscades have led an unwary foe
into his clutches; cruelty and brutality
to captives; patient endurance and for
titudc under the greatesE privations.
In peace he has commanded respect for
keen-sighted intelligence. good fellow
ship, warmth of feeling for his friends
and Impotence of wrong.
No indian has more virtues and none
has been more truly ~ferocious when
aroused. He was the firstof the native
Americans to defeat in battle or outwit
in diplomacy the all-conquering,
smooth-tongued Spaniard, with whom
and his Mexican-monerel descendants
he has waged cold-blooded. heart-sick-
ening war since the days of Cortes.
When the Spaniard had firearms and
corselet of steel he was unable to push
BACK this fierce, astute aborigine, pro-
vided simply with lance and bow. The
past fifty years have seen the Apache
provided with arms of precision, and,
especially since the Introduction of
magazine breech-loaders, the Mexican
has not only ceased to be an intruder
upon the Apache but has trembled for
the security of life and property in the
squalid hamlets of the states of Chihua-
hua and Sonora.
On the present march each wore q
loosely fitting shirt of red, white or
gray stuff, generally of calico, in some
gaudy figure, but not infreqnently the
somber article of wooden raiment
issued to white soldiers. This came
down outside a pair Of loose cotton
drawers, reaching to the m~occasins.
The moccasins are the most important
articles of Apache apparel. In a fight
or on long march they will discard all
else, but under any and every circum-
stance will retain the moccasins.
These had been freshly made before
leaving Wilcox. The Indian to be
fitted stands erect upon the ground
while a companion traces with a sharp
knife the outlines of the sole of his
foot upon a piece of raw-hide. The
leggin il made of soft buckskin, at
tached to the foot and reaching to mid
thigh. For convenience in marching,
it is allowed to hang in folds below the
knee, The raw-hide sole is prolonged
beyond the great toe, and turned up
ward in a shield, which protects from
cactus and sharp stones. A leather
belt encircling the waist holds forty
rounds of metallic cartridges. and also
keeps in place the regulation blue
blonse and pantaloons, which are worn
upon the person only when the Indian
scout is anxious to ''paralyze" the
frontier towns or military posts by {
display of all his finery.
The other trappings of these savage
auxiliaries are a Springfield breach
loading rifle, army pattern, a canteer
full OF water, Il butcher knife, an aw
in leather case, Il pair of tweezers anc
a tag. The awl is used for sewing
moccasins or work of that kind
With the twcezers, the Apache young
man carefully picks out each and every
hair appearing upon his face. The
tag marks his place in the tribe, and is
in reality nothing more or less than q
revival of a plan adopted during the
war of the rebellion for the identified
ton of soldiers belonging to the differ
ent corps and divisions. Each male
Indian at the San Carlos is tagged and
numbered, and a descriptive list
corresponding to the tag kept, with q
full recital of all his physical peculiari'
ties.
This is the equipment of each and
every scout; but there are many, es
pecially the more pious and influential.
who carry besides, strapped at the
waist, little buckskin bags of Holden
tin, or sacred meal, with which tc
offer morning and evening sacrifice
to the sun or other deity. Others,
again, are provided with amulets Of
liglntning-riven twigs, pieces Of
quartz-crystal, petrified wood, con-
c%retionary sandstone, galena, or chal
chihuitls, or fctiches representing some
of their countless planetary gods o fkan,
which are regarded as the ''dead medi-
cine" for frustrating the designs of the
enemy or warding off arrows and bull
lets in the heat of action. And a few
are happy in the possession of priceless
sashes and shirts of buckskin, upon
WHICH dFG ClllDitAOIcu GuC SlSl1S VI CIe
sun, moon, lightning, rainbow, hail
fire, the water-beetle, butterfly, snake,
centipede and other powers to which
they may appeal for aid in the hour O,
distress.
The rate of speed attained by tho
Apaches in marching is about an even
four miles an hour or foot, or not quite
fast enough to makea horse trot. They
keep this up for about fifteen miles, al
the end of which distance, if water be
encountered and no enemy be sighted,
they congregate in bands of from ten
to fifteen each. hide in some convenient
-avine, sit down, smoke cigarettes, chat
and joke. and stretch out in the sun
light, basking like the negroes of the
South. If they want to make a little
fire they kindle one with matches, il
they happen to have any with them; il
not, q rapid twirl, between the palms,
of a hard round stick fitting into a cir
cular hole in another stick of softer
fiber, will bring fire in from eight to
forty-fve seconds. The scouts by this
time have painted their faces, daubing
them with red ocher, decr's blood, or
the juice of roasted ''mescal." The
object Of this is protection from wind