St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-06
Indian George, Though Drunk,
Remains Faithful to His
Bessie.
A Rather Peculiar But Salts
factory Letter Sent to
His Friend.
The Strange Story Of Affee-
tons Consistency in the
Wild West.

New OrS Post.
Prominent among those reds who be-
came familiar about our home were
Spot" ''Indian George" Bessie"
'Injin Charley" and Christ" Spot
was like most of his Indian brethren-a
lazy fellow and exceedingly vain.
George was an artist. Six feet three
inches in height. straight as Norway
pine, broad-shouldered as Atlas, clean
| faced, smooth-skinned, with shiny black
hair, low-crowned, wide-rimmed hat,
neatly trimmed with beautiful
head-braid made by himself, al
ways sporting spOtless white
linen shirt, moccasins decorated
with dyed quilts of the fretful pOr-
cupine, leggings to match, and over it
all a long drab linen buster, also scru-
| pulouSly clean, rolled we'll down to show
| his shirt front, but securely buttoned
| from waist to knee--he was veritable
Last of the MohIcans in his manly bear
| ing, and as gOod-natured as tat boy.
Bessie was complete counterpart of
| George. and she was a SquaW whom
| George had stolen from man in some
| other band. Bessie was evidently glad
llilb SIlC lldIt ttCli SlOlCH CIC " oS y OuI7
| and as pretty as very fat, round
| faced, black-haired, large-eyed, dark
| skinned squaw could be, and she was.
| like George, child in most of what en-
| terS into life for men and women who
| have reached maturity within the con-
| fines of civilization.
We have often employed Bessie in
| the house, and had ample opportunity
10 study her. What amused US was
| the loyer-like relationship that always
seemed to exist between those two semi
5avages. When Bessie came to the
| house George always accompanied her.
! lie would wait at the door as stiff and
| dignificd rs Queens footman. until
| Bessie should come to him. If she re-
manned to work he would saunter off,
| turning 10 wave goOd-by.
| AS GRACEFULLY AS ANY TRAINED
BEAU.
| Neither of them could read a word, and
| yet both enjoyed looking at pictures as
/ heartily as ever white children did. We
! discovered this one day on seeing Bessie
| examining little Ciara'S block alphebet.
| One block had picture of an Indian.
| Finding that, Bessie ran with it to
| George. full of childish delight. They
| studied that picture long time, as if
| trying to understand how that Indian
could have been put into the block. We
! had a number OF old pictorial papers,
| and George aid Bessie spent
| hours and whole afternoons sitting
upon the earth-bank that was piled
! all around the house to keep out the
cold in winter, looking at those pictures.
New they would be nudging each other
with elbows; again they would be kick
! ing their ankles together sideways,
laughing and ''z-k-k-ins :" just like two
| oiitflrpN without q n1
/ a cloud in or over their lives.
Charley was cheap mean 1niin," as
the sequel will show. Christ was a
! little. Old, wrinkled gray headed fellow
| whose cropped hair stood stiff and
! straight from its roots in ever direction,
| giving him the appearance of an irate
hedgehog in the presence of al enemy.
| But he was an ''h0nest lnjin" neverthe-
| less.
We had not been long in OSceola be-
| fore Spot made up his mind TO steal a
squaw from sick Indian OF band
| some seventy miles away. He talked to
us freely of his project and said he
would show us chow Injin git i'm wife. -
| He snOt an eagle, decorated himself
with its feathers and came to show MS
| how handsome he was in his wo0ing
costume. We told him that perhaps the
| other Indian might object to having his
| wife stolen. Spot smiled. His vanity
would not permit suspicion or failure.
| He was almost white i'll this respect.
| Abiding to the other Indian, lie would
| say: .'Him sick Injin."
HIM HEAP SICK INJUN.
| Me no trouble get him squaw. Me show
! YOU mex week how InJin bring wife
! home"
He borrowed pony and started. the
| bows cheering him away. In a few days
he returned without the squaw, and a
more foolish-Ionking, bedraggled, shame
| faced man never was seen. His eagle
| feathers wore broken; he had been in
river or pond somewhere; his face was
! scratched and cut, and altogether he
was the sorriest specimen of unSuccess-
| full lover | had ever seen. He would
| squaw, and whenever a question was
| asked about it he would go away in
| Stantly.
But we never lacked for amusing
| Illustrations of Indian lOve-making as
| long as George and Bessie were there.
! 1t was genuine, too. George had stolen
another mans wife, but neither the
! thief nor the stolen property saw any
thing wrong in that. 1t was their way
| OF doing such things, had been prdcticed
for ages by their ancestors, and was
IlSUl-lO ltitui. liiCSC LNtliiIS NCIG
ways in their honeymoon. But one day
''trader''-that is, some fellow draw
| ing whisky, guns and ammunition
| about the country, robbing and de-
grading the ignorant Indians-came
to the village, and in few
| hours the reds were all drunk, men
! and women alike. with the exception of
'.Christ.'' If we can trust his word. We
could hear the reds yelling outside the
| village all through the evening, but as
| they never had shown any diSpositiOnto
| be ugly with the whites, we felt no
| alarm. | retired early, but my sister
! and her husband sat up talking until
near midnight. Soon after they had re-
tired. and before Mr.. Rivers had fallen
asleep, he heard some person treading
heavily across the floor of the outer
room. Thought of the Indians was
| first in his mind, and he sprang out
of bed to fasten the door. but as
he reached it the door was
| pushed open, and an Indian woman. as
he could see by the dim light, staggered
| into the room and up to the bed where
my sister lay half asleep, but confuSedly
thin king that | was ill and had risen to
| get something. Calling my name,
SHE REACHED UP HER HAND
and laid it. as she thought, on my head.
but 1t dropped into frightful wound
from which the warm blood was flow
| ing so fast that it ran down her arm and
| into the bed. She screamed, of course,
and Mr.. Rivers. unable to strike light,
| tore away the window curtain and flood
| of moonlight poured in, revealing poor
| Bessie almost fainting from loss of
| blood, and stained and soaked in it
| from head to foot. To all our inquiries
as to what had happened to her she
could only reply, George did UNI.
George want kill me. George did UNI.
George did um." The wounded creature
| kept repeating this as if the thought
were more painful than the terrible
gashes upon her head. We gave her
arnica and water to drink, and bathed
her head, and did all i'll our power to
make her comfortable. | was ar
ranging a shakedown for her on the
floor when neighbor hurried in to tell
US that the Indians were moving and
there was something wrong among