The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1886-05-20
The Red Man and the Coon

te caused loss of life. The deck hand
a. in these days were all white, a COO
could not be hired to go on board {
Is one of the Yellowstone boats, bu
'e as the Indians became less danger
% GUS and the roustabout's wage
u smaller the white deck hand gradu
1t ally disappeared and the coon too
u his place and holds it till to-day, 70
e the Yellowstone is now as safe a
the Ohio. The agency Indian
G thought these black faces loading
and unloading freight were masqua
: rading and would often try to rul
J. the black off which would caus,
: the burly coon to become offended
y at the noble vagarant and shake hi:
! head in a manner which would
D cause the red man to laugh at him
as the moke grew madden. TheRpa
! pooses or children of the Indians
: would not 60 near them on any
terms and the squaws would look
: terrified when they saw a steamer
. coming in sight. The bucks would
begin to make signs with their
: hands to indicate the color of the
skin and the happy hair which they
thought the funniest thing In the
world. As soon as the stage plank
of the boat was lowered and put
ashore there was general ego as
you please" scramble to get on
shore and to go aboard. The yell
lowstone was was Manageable as far
Fort Keogh, Montana in 1880. The
steamboat goes to the falls now
about q hundred miles above the
last named point. At Keogh there
were $50 Crow scouts who had new
er seen black face and they were
almost sure they must belong to the
evil spirit. The mates of the boats
had much to do with fastining this
belief in the minds of the reds.
Steamboat mates are not very
choice in their language nor in the
way they hustle roustabouts so the
Indians opinion of the coon was
about the same as it is of the sol
diers, which they regard with con-
tempt for allowing themselves to be
cuffed about by squaw officers, as
the Indians term some OF the u. S. |
cadets. These scouts would play |
tricks of every kind on the roust-
abouts for they were really afraid of |
the Indians and the truth is, many |
a tender foot felt uneasy at the sight |
of these walking arsenels, for the
scout was privileged to buckle six
shooters on belt of death dealing
ammunition and stalk about among
the people as if they were looking
for some one to send as a scout to
the happy hunting ground and it
was not unfrequently they managed
TO find pale face who they com
PEELED to make the trip without a
guide and were upheld by court
martial for indulgence in innocent
sport of such a nature. 1t was no
wonder the moke rousIabouts felt
shaky when their white brethren
were forced to walk a chalk line or
lose his scalp. In the course of
time the feeling of contempt wore
away and coon and red skin became
more friendly toward each other
anu OhCy oCCACO W ndI DGI- |
ter than the red and white, yet they
never forget to make fun of the
dusky crew of a steam boat and oc-
casionally, or rather when a chance
occurred, would lift happy scalp,
net that it would be worn by any
brave but more to keep in practice
perhaps than anything else. They
also honored the remains of the
coon more than the hated pale face,
the latter they invariable mutilate
to keep out of the happy hunting
ground, but the moke's body is left
whole minus the scalp. They toy
with it for short time and forget
it soon. The darky claims that the
reason they will not disfgure their
body is that they hold through
ticket to the heavenly city which no .
marks or designation can keep
them from reaching. The warrior {
says "too mnchy perfume and heap
which translated means a
quantity of bad smell too much for Y
Indian nostrils aud buffalo enough
to bar him from the Indians hunt |
ing ground, for tradition among I
some tribes of the red skins SAYS j
but the unmutilated body j
Of the paleface and the noble red ]
nan can reach the land of wig Y
vans in the happy hunting ground. '
When darkies first went into the I
Yellowstone trade some very funny I
Kings happened around some of ]
he landings. At night they would I
Iometimes get out of wood so the ]
would have to go ashore T
md gather it at distance of fifty ]
'r hundred yards from the river I
Ind it was more than probable that 7
hey would return with a single
tick or perhaps fail to get any. "
They were so frightened at this
luty that it was often hard to find
hem. They would hide in the hold
o keep from gathering wood. At
,lace called Glendive, on the Vel &c &c
owstone, there were white men liv- O.
ng in tents and OF course they Il
new how the moke dreaded the
IDjun." They thought they would
lay q trick one day as the roust-
bouts were picking up wood. Some
wenty darkies were in the bush at
nee, their eyes looking like moons
for the scalper to rush
own on them. Suddenly trapper
red his rife, at the same time rails 81
ag the war cry of the Indian which
aused the coons to rush madly
rom the woods in the direction of
ne river, and as the bank was steep
long the river some fell over it and
licking themselves up run right in
} the stream and the hunters keep
lg up the war cry on the bank
'ould cause every darby who was
shore to run in the river and it
as not uncommon to hear Of some
eing sucked under by the whirl
pol. These trappers were careless
bout the life of a man. So they /