The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-25
THE ''BEEF ISSUE
A SPECTACLE AS BRUTALIzlhG AS
SPANISH BULL FIGHTING.
Sccnes ut nm Indian Agency on the
Great Sioux Reservation-Cattle Await
ing slau:hter-Ladies WITNESSING: tho
Shootin: of the Animals.

Great sionx Rescrvntion-Cattle Await
ing slau:hter-Ladies witnessing tho
Shootin: of the Animals.
aOh, its going to bc lovely day for the
beef issue. Pm so glad" says young lady
at the breakfast table. Every ono Is am
mated and cxpectant. 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 to the beef issue" All through
the dav before and far into tho moonlight
nirht long professions 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 carly hour of the morn
ing the whole landscape is full OF life and
movement. The Indians are decked out III
their cavcSt attire. and some of their cos,
tunes arc pictorial enough. Most OF thcm
still wear the native dress, but some have on
1, combination of Indian and civilized Sarb,
which is uglier than either alone. Nearly aH
arc barellcaded, and their long black hair,
nartcsl in the middle, falls back over their
shoulders Their faces arc painted i'll vari-
ous bright co!ors and i'll all kinds of grotes4ue
figures The indian men are very fond OF
wearing tails, and when on foot like to have
strip of bri sht colorctl cloth dangling Mt their
heels OF dragging along on the ground behind
them They nearly all wear blankets, which
at this time of tho year are, most OF them,
sheets of dirty, gray looking muslin or sheet
Ing These they wrap closely around them,
often covering the head and fGce, all but tho
eyes
!, rs we look about us after breakfast we see
the Indian women and girls Harvesting their
horses. Carriages are brought to the door
for guests, and VIC are soon all on our way to
the government. corral. Everybody is going;
residents about the agency, young ladies' who
arc teaching schools in the distant camps and
others who are visitors from eastern cities.
All arc in high spirits. Acquaintance ex-
change greetings Indian wagons fllc'l Wth
women and children arc moving over the
plain from all directions. There arc hundreds
of Young Indian mon and women Oh horse
back. They go curveting and racing about
the plain. The Indians never look well on
horseback, but they manage to stay on.
2heir ponies are slight and ugly looking, but
tough and enduring. They are the most use
full and respectable dcnizcns of the Indian
country, and are about the only creatures
hero who earn their rationS Tho girls sit
nstridc, the same as the men. Some OF Tho
bellies arc in costly apparel I count moro
than fifty elk teeth on large cape worn by
radiant brown maiden. As each elk has just
two teeth q whole herd must have been
slaughtered to furnish the bravcryof her at
tire. She reminds me of New York Fifth
avenue bellies with dead birds on their heads,
but the clkS were really killed for fool.
CATTLE AWAITING SLArGIITEE
Tho corral is large stocIade II the mid
die of = plain, which slopes upward to low
hills AL arolnd. Here arc many hundreds o.
cattle aaritin. slaughter to furnish rations
for the noble red men, their squaws and
{,apooscs, .tla wards OF the nation" There
nre about 2,ND Indians present. A large por-
ton of the Iacn arc armed with carbincS or
improved rifles. There is all army officer
here from the nearest fort. to represent tho
government Oh the occasion. A brass baud
has come out from somo railroad town to
commitment the ladies and frighten the already
distracted cattle with the barc Of their music.
The entertainment opens with q popular air.
The ladies applaud ,lrlicately, ani the nl;lsi-
Clans bow their Acknowledgements. Mounted
cowboys enter tho corral, spur their horses
among the cattle, and drive groups OF them,
with shouts yells and blows, toward the
chute leading to the scales, wherc they arc
weighed, a tlozcn at time. After leaving
the scales, in a narrower part of the chute,
each animal is branded with hot iron, and
passes on into another division or apartment
OF the corral. This first brand shows that the
animal has been received from the contractor
Nfter ell have passed through this experience
they arc again driven into tho chute with the
same accompaniment of yells and blows, and
receive another brand This is to identify the
hide after it has been taken OFF.
All this is but overture and prelude, but the
curtain will soon rise and the play begin.
Ladies and visitors arc assigned tho best
points Of view for the coming spectacle. Tho
Indian wagons with the women and children,
and the d;,sky eQucstriennes, press close to-
gether around the walls of the corral Tho
Indian horscmcn are drawn up in two long
lines, forinin;; lane from the gate Of cSreSs,
far out on the plains. Their carbincS CLEAN
in the sunlight turn and note the sweet
ness of the June morning, the hcauty Of tho
circling hills, the fla. of our country floating
above the government buildings, and, i'll the
n,omcntary hush, the gushing song of a
meadow l1r.;, far or across the grass. Hum
slretls of Intliun dogs troop about, hungry,
watchful and expectant. A tall Indian, with
a voice like that of an cXh0rter at m Arkan-
sas camp meeting, climbs up to the top of the
gate and shouts lhc names of the men who
nre to receive the CATTLE rs, ono after another,
they arc released to their doom. The gate
opens and q gigantic steer leaps ont, fright
cncd md Wild eyed He trOtS uncertainty
down tI,o Ionr of horsemcn The docs tly at
him, and he sets OF i'll a gallep Two Indians
Eallop after him, and everybody looks that
way. Dut by this time another is out, and
soon half tozci, are racing away il different
directions, each closely followed b. two or
three mounted Indians
SHOOTING TIE ANIMALS.
Soon shot Is heard, and then another, and
tho ladies strain their eyes to sec, hut the
steer Ca!loi,s Oh. The ladies look Il little dis
appointed They arc going out of sight. Is
this all it j.; Going to be!" But wait. More
shots, and more; a,:i now they come faster.
l;ko t!r. ominous, irregular but increasing
slirmi,h firing hcfo:c battle. Five or six
OF the cattle go off together, with dozen men
prrssin,, bchal aai at the side of the fleeing
croun. \ horzem1n fires, and q steer drops
50 suddenly, head first, that he turns com
pletc su:n:ncrSault, and the pony just behind,
unah" 10 stop. repeats the movement, tnnlb-
ling @. or tho ,ymtratc beast, alH dismounts
llis rIsr. SOM Of the cattle are ut first ONLY
slightly wounded, others are crippled SO that
they ca:ino. run, bIt several shots arc ic-
ouircl to dispatch them. NOW and then one
turns il fury n:'on his pnrsaers, and Tho
noaics swcrvc aside to avoid bis charge. The