The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-12-04
THE PONY WAR DANCE.
Glorious Riding, Splendid Horses,
Brilliant Trappings, Paroxys-
NAL Feryor.
As Ii Ghosts Had Come Back to
Parody Eras That Have
Vanished.
Realistic Dramas on tho Frontier-Acting
Fierce and with Desperate Zest-Im-
pressive, Inspiring.

The sun blnzed down on the great camp
that afternoon and gloriicd tho place 40
that 1t looked like a miniature Switzerland
of snowy peaks. But it was hot, and
blankets were stretched from the tent tops,
and the women sat under them to catch tho
air and escape the heat. The salnried ma
tive policeman of tho reserve, wearing a
white stove-pips hat with feathers and q
ridiculous blue coat, and heaven alone
knows what other absurdities, rode around,
b~oasting of deeds he never performed,
while n white cur made him all the more
ridiculous by chasing and yelping at his
horses tnil.
And then came the grand spectacle. The
vast plain was forgotten, and the great
ampus within the circle of the tants was
transformed into a theater. Tho scene was
n setting Of white and red tents
that threw their clear-cut outlines against
a matchless blue sky. The audience
was composed OF four white mon ant
the Indian boys, whe were flung about by
the startled horses they were holding for
us. The players were the gorgeous cav
%alrylnen of nature. circling before their
women INT old men and children. them
selves plumed like unheard-of tropical
birds, the others displaying the minor
splendor of the kaleidoscope. The play
was "Yho Pony War Dance, or the Depart
ure for Battle" The acting was fierce; not
like the conduct of a mimic battle on our
stage, but performed with tho desperate
zeAt of men who hope for distinction in
war, and may not trit1e about it. 1t had
the earnestness Of q challenged man who
A,s.c ihn fn;l, rr;tb , 4,tnv @,,p ;,,-
pressive, inspiring, at times wildly excit-
ing.
There were three score young men in the
brilliant cavalcade. They rode horses that
were as wild as themselves. Their evolu-
lions were rude, but magnificent. Now
they dashed past us in single file. and next
they came heltar %skelter, like cattle STAN
peding. For awhile they rode around and
around, as on a race course, but at times
they deserted tho inclo3ure, parted into
small bands, and were hidden behind the
curtains of their own dust, presently to re-
appear with a mad rusl, yelling like
maniacs, firing their pieces and brandish-
ing their arms and their hnery wildly on
high. The orchestra was composed Of
seven tomtoms that had been dried taut be-
fore a camp fire. The old men and the
chiefs sat in a semicircle behind the drum
iners on the ground.
AL tlb AStllVOlilb WtEc III IL Ills
play, the cherished gewgaws, trinkets, arms,
apparel and finerv they had saved from the
fate of which they will not admit that they
are themselves the victims. 1 never saw
on old time picture of a type of savage red
man or of an extravaganza of their COS
tuning that was rot revived i'll this spec
tacle. 1t was AZ il the plates in my old
school books and novels and tales of adj
venture were all animated and passing
before me. The traditional Indian with
the eagle planes from crown to heels was
there; so was he with the buffalo horns
growing out of his skull; so were the idyllic
braves in yellow buckskin fringed at every
point. The shining bodies of men, bare
naked, and frescoed like a Bowery bar
room, were not lacking; neither were those
with colored beads. But there wore as many
peculiar costumes which | never had
seen pictured. And not any two men or
any two horses were alike. As barber poles
are covered with paint. SO we're many of
these choice steeds Of the nation. Some
were spotted all over with daubs of white,
and some with every color obtalnable.
Some were branded fifty times with the
white hand, the symbol of peace, but others
bore the red hand and the white hand in
alternate prints. There we're horses painted
with the figures of horses and OF serpents
and foxes. 10 some Eaddlos wore affixed
colored blankets or cloths that fell upon
the ground or lasled the air, according as
the horse cantered or raced. One horse
was hung all around with great, soft, woolly
tails OF Eoine white material. Sleigh-beils
were upon several.
Only half a dozen men wore hats-mainly
cowboy hats deoked with feathers. Many
carried rifles, which they used with one
hand. Others Brought out BOWS and ar
rows, lances deckod with feathers or rib
bons, poles hung with colored cloths, great
shields brilliantly painted and fringad.
Every visible inch of each warrior was
painted. tho naked ones being ringed,
streaEed and striped from head to foot. I
would have to catalogue the possessions of
the whole nation to tell all that they wore
between the brass rings in their hair and
the cartridge belts at their wajsts, and thus
down to thsir beautiful moccasins.
1--we strange features further distin-
guished their pageant. One was tho APP
penrance of two negro Ministries upon one
horse. Both had blackened their faces and
hands; both wore old stovo-pipo hats and
queer long-tailed white mems coats. One
wore a huge false white mustache. and the
other carried a conl-soutt!e. The women
and children roared with laughter at the
sight. The two comedians got down from
their horses and begun to make Erimnoes,
and to pose this way and that, vsry comic
ally. Suoh q gerformanoe had mover been
seen on tho reserve before. No one there
could explain whore the men had seen ne
gro minst els. The other unexpected fea-
ture required time for Development. At
first we noticed that two little Indian boys
kept getting in the way Of the riders. As
we were not able to fad any fixed place
of safety from the excited horse
men. we marvelled that these chill
dren were permitted to fisk their
man on horseback chased the little boys.
leaving the cavnlcade, and ~circling around
the children. He rodo back into the ranks,
and still they lo.tcrel i'll the way. Then