St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-08-09
THE sCALPiNG SENSATION.
How 1t Feels to Have That Part
of Ones Self Removed.

How 1t Feels to Have That Part
of Ones Self Removed.
New York Times.
sin hand to hand fight, of course, it
was every man for himself, and l soon
found myself on one edge of the camp
firing and bayoneting ana clubbing my
gun just at the situation for the moment
required A messmate of nine, who
was fighting by my side. was killed by
an Indian who fired from behind tent,
and he fell so was obliged to step over
him. AS did that ball shattered my
arm at the elbow, and it fell helpless by
my side. Immediately following that
shot, big Indian, doubtless the one
who had killed my messmate, sprang
from behind the tent and rushed at me
with his tomahawk raised. My gun
was empty, and, my left hand being
useless, could not load. would have
run my bayonet through the advancing
Indian, though, before he could have
used him tomahawk on me, but an In
dian woman had stolen up behind me
and she threw one arm about my neck
and jerked me backward in the snow.
"None of our men were near me, as
the thickest of the fight was in another
part of the camp. The big Indian who
had come at me with his tomahawk
seemed to be, also the only warrior of
this band who was not in the general
engagement, The squaw who had
jerked me down in the snow held me
there by my hair, and let of other
squaWS and their children came swarm
ing from tents in all directions to the
spot They surrounded me, spit in my
face. jumped Oh my body, kicked me,
pinched me, thrust the point of knife
blades in my flesh, and tortured me in
every way they could think of. Be
sides, my arm was paining me tremend-
me with the blood that flowed from the
wound. The big Indian stood by with
his tomahawk in his hand, and, FORUM
ately 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 was 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.
Imagine some one who hates you
with the utmost intensity" Sanbert-
son said, in describing the sensation of
the Scalping, land he. suddenly grab
bling handful of your hair, while you are
lying PROSTATE and helpless, and giving
n1v aud nriy
enough to loosen the scalp; then, while
this painful tension is not relaxed, i'm
.agine the not particularly sharp blade
of knife being run quickly in circle
around your scalp, with a sawing-like
motion. Then let your imagination
grasp. if it can, the effect that strong,
quick jerk OH the tuft of hair to release
the scalp from any clinglng 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 Tan like
an electric shock to my brain. That
sensation was mOmentary, but it was
terrible. When the Indian tore my scalp
from my head 1t seemed as if it must
have been connected with cords to ev-
cry part of my body. The pain that fol-
lowed the cutting around the scalp had
been frightful, but it was ecstacSy COM
pared to the torture that followed
the tearing of it from my head.
Flashes of pain shot to every
nerve. My knees were drawn up
almost to my chin, and the fingers of my
one hand closed cOnvulSively in the
snow, those of my left hand being pow
erless owing to the shattered arm. That
was all | remembered. When came to
l was in tent. The cavalry had come
up in the meantime, and the Indians
were routed. Only few escaped, but
Black Kettle was among the few" San
bertSOp lay for weeks in the government
hospital at Fort Laramie perfectly help
less and suffering untold agony. He
finally recovered, and, in the meantime.
his term of enlistment expired. He had
no desire to re-enter the service,
and Gen. Custer jocularly remarked
to him that he made mistake in
quitting the service. For think said
the general, 'how surprised and dis
gusted some red devil of an Indian
might be, if you should stay with US and
happen to fall into his hands, when he
went to raise your hair to find that some
one had been there before him. | saw
Sanhertson several years afterward, and
the same pale red, fiat, round bare spot
was on top of his head, showing where
his scalp had been torn away, as l had
seen it when he left the hospital. He
said that it was extremely tender, and
in damp or cold weather was very
painful.
A Comforting Night Cap.