The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-10-19

there by the hair. and lot OF other
souaws and children came swarminY
from tents in all directions to the spot.
They surrounded me, spit in my face,
jumped on my body, kicked me, pinched
me, thrust the points of knife blades in
my flesh, and tortured me in every way
they could think of. Besides, my arm
was paining me tremendously and dye
ing the snow all around me with
the blood that flowed from the
wound. The big Indian stood by with
his tomahawk in his hand, and, fortu-
nately for me, he gave the women and
their young devils too much time to have
their sport with me, for suddenly there
came the sound of a gun near by, and
two squaws fell dead in the snow by my
side. One of our boys had discovered
my situation. The other squaws and
their young ones scampered away, but
the big Indian determined to run the
risk of getting my scalp anyway, and
he pounced down on me, with his knees
on my chest, drew his knife, and the
next second, although it seemed hours
to me, the top of my head was in his
hand, and he was gone.
L" Imagine some one who hates you
with the utmost intensity Sanbertson
said, in describing the sensation of the
scalping, 'and he suddenly grabbing a
handful of your hair, while you are
lying PROSTATE and helpless, and giving
1t quick, upward jerk with force
enough almost to loosen the scalp; then,
while this painful tension is not relaxed
imagine the not particularly sharp blade
of a knife being run quickly in a cir
Gle around your scalp, with saving
like motion. Then let your imagination
grasp, if it can, the effect that strong,
quick jerk on the tuft of hair to release
the scalp from any clinging PARTICLES of
flesh that may still hold it in place
would have on your nerves and physical
system. and you will have an inkling
of how it feels to be scalped. When
that Indian sawed his knife around the
top of my head, first a sense of cold
numbness pervaded my whole
body. This was quickly followed
by flash of pain that started at
my feet and ran like an electric shock to
my brain. That sensation was but mo-
mcntary, but it was terrible. When the
Indian tore my scalp from my head it
seemed as if II must have been connect
ed with cords TO every part of my body.
The pain that followed the cutting
around the scalp had been frightful, but
it was ecstasy compared to the torture
that followed the tearing of it from my
head. Flashes of pain shot to every
nerve. Ny knees were drawn up almost
to my chin, and the fingers of my one
hand closed conyulsively in the snow,
those OF M left hand being poweric's
owing to the shattered arm. That was
all | remembered. When l came 10
| was in tent. The cavalry
had come up in the meantime, and the
Indians were routed. Only a few es-
capel !, but Black Kettle was among the
few
"Sanbcrtson lay for weeks in the
Government Hospital at Fort Laramie
perfectly helpless and suffering untold
agony. lie finally recovered. and in
the meantime his term OF enlistment cx-
pircj. lie had no desire to re-enter the
service, and General Custer jocularly
remq ked TO him that he made a mistake
in quitting the service. For think,
said The General, 'how surprised and
disguised some Indian might be, if you
should stay with us and happen to fall
in his hands when he went to raise your
hair to find that some one had been
there before him. l say' Saabcrtsor
several years afterwari. and the same
raie-;ei, fiat, round, blrc spot was on
top of his head, showing where hi!
! scalp hal been torn away, as had seen
it when he left the h ospital. He said
that it was extremely tender, and in
damp or cold weather was very painful.