Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1886-09-07
THE BEEF ISSUE"
A SPECTACLE AS BRUTALizikG AS
SPANISH BULL FIGHTING.

!
ing slau.hter-Ladies Witnes,in. the
Shooting of the Animals.
"Oh, it's going to be lovely day for the
beef issue. I'm SO 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 in just in time; you
must stay to the beef issue" All through
the day before and far into the moonlight
night 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 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 but some have on
a combination of Indian and civilized garb,
which is uglier than either alone. Nearly ell
are bareheaded, and their long black hair
parted in the middle. falls back over their
shoulders. Their faces are painted in vari-
Gus bright colors and in all kinds of grotesque
figures. The Indian men are very fond Of
wearing tails, and when on foot like to have a
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 are, 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 and girls Harvesting their
horses. Carriages are brought to the door
for guests, and we are soon all on our way to
the government corral Everybody is going;
residents about the agency, young ladies who
are teaching schools in the distant camps and
others who are visitors from eastern cities.
All are in high spirits. Acquaintance ex-
change greetings. 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
two teeth a whole herd must have been
slaughtered to furnish the bravery of her at
tire. She reminds me of New York Fifth
avenue bellies with dead birds on their heads,
but the ellls We're really killed for food.
CATTLE AWAITING SLAUGHTER
The corral is u large stockade in the mid
die of plain, which slopes upward to low
hills all around Here are many hundreds of
cattle awaiting slaughter to furnish rations
for the noble red men. their squaws and
papooses, 1.-The wards OF the nation" There
are about 6, 1000 Indians present. A large por-
ton of the men are armed with carbines OF
improved rifles. There is an army officer
here from the nearest fort TO represent the
government on the occasion. A brass band
has come out from some railroad town tc
compliment the ladies and brighten the already
distracted cattle with the blare of their music
The entertainment opens with popular air
The ladies applaud ,lelicatelt, and the mllsi-
clans bow their Acknowledgements. Mounted
cowboys enter the corral, spur their horses
among the cattle, and drive groups of them
with shouts, yells and blows, toward the
chute leading to the scales, where they are /
weighed, q dozen ct a time. After leaving |
the scales, in u 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 I
After ali 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 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 are assigned the best
points of view for the coming spectacle. The
Indian wagons with the women and children,
and the duslly equestriennes, press close to-
gether around the walls of the corral The
Indian horsemen are drawn up in two LONE
lines, forming a lane from the gate of egress,
far out on the plains. Their carbines CLEAN
in the sunlight. l 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
hush, the gushing song of a
meadow lark, far off across the grass. Hun
lreds of Indian dogs troop about, hungry,
and expectant A tall Indian, with
/, voice like that of an eXhorter at an Arkan-
'as camp meeting, climbs up to the top of the
gate and shouts the names OF the men who
ire to receive the cattle, as, one after another.
hey are released to their doom. The gate
opens and a gigantic steer leaps out, fright
med and wild eyed. He trots uncertainty
lown the lane Of horsemen. The dogs fly at
Tim, and he sets off in a gallop. Two Indians [
,allop after him, and everybody looks that
way. But by this time another Is out, and
DON half a dozen are racing away in different
directions, each closely followed by two or
hree mounted Indians.
SHOOTING THE ANIMALS.
Soon shot is heard, and then another, and
be ladies strain their eyes to see, but the
teer gallops on. Tie ladies look little dis
ppointed. "They are going out of sight. Is
his all it is going to bes' But wait. More
bots, and more; and now they come faster.
Ike the oninous, irregular but increasing
kirmish firing before battle Five or six
f the cattle go off together. with dozen men
ressing behind and at the side Of the fleeing
roup. \ horseman fires. and q steer drops
} suddenly, head first that he turns COM
lete summersault, and the pony just behind.
nable to stop. repeats the movement, tumb
ne over the PROSTATE beast, and dismounts
Is rider. SOME Vi Ndtlic Aic IA 81 o3iib
lightly wounded, others are crippled so that
aey cannot run. but several shots are re-
uired to dispatch them Now and then one
rms in fury upon his pursuers. and the
onies swerve aside to avoid his charge. The
dies turn quickly from side to side. to note
le most interesting occurrences The dying
nimals lie all about the plain. Some strug
lie long, getting up and falling again. and
le Indians wait warily, till it seems safe to
for MORALLY wounded beast vii;
,ueti,nes make plunge at his tormentorS