Arizona weekly citizen., 1891-06-06
Ills OCCUPATION; ZONE
NOHACAT5 THERE IS Y=EY LITTLE
FOR a SCOUT TO DO.

NoHAChT5 THERE IS Y=EY LITTLE
FOR A SCOUT TO DO.
The Csllrozi aad the Telegraph Have
I TAKE. Away His Avoca.ion-Inp port
ance OF the Scout Of Former Times
His syon.,srfu, Eycs'x'it-tndIsn Trails.
The scout OF the frontier Is like the
/ typical cov;bcy-aa mythical parsonage N
these days Of steam and electricity. The
recent Indian war was conducted with
/ ont MIN, and iae travellers On the prairics
| do Lot need his services. Trailing IS IS
much an ar5 rs Is painting or sculpture.
and almost as few become profciert in
| it IS in the handling OF brush Or chisal
| IL is impossible u realize nowadays
! the importance of scout Of former
times. No party dared cross the Pains
alore without professional trailer TO
| lead il, and no maraJding band of In
dams or wl:it.-j could be overtaken ILL
| less they were tracked across the bound
| less waste "a sod.
4 Traveller across the plains Of New
! Mexico relates to the writer that oEe
day while riding with guide hs stopped
| and pointed to q clear and well defined
| bears track in the sand.
The guide looked at it attentively
| moment. then, without dislnountinG,
declared: "You are mistaken: it is not
bears track"
Isn't it, said the American. Then
never saw one"
"Ycs, you have seen many. but this
isn't one"
Quickly alighting, the American
pointed out the heel and toes Of the
track rs clear and well defined as If
| made few minutes before.
We'll" said the guide, If it does
look like bears track. still it isn't one.
The marks you imagine TO be the heels
and toes are made by those spires of
grass. which, bent by the wind, scoop
out the sand in the manner you see.
"You ought to have seen that your
self" he went On. but you didn't stop
to think You Amer ans never do.
Americans travel with their eyes shut
and their mouth open. An Indian or
Mexican will travel all day without
speaking a word to any one unless ALSO
lutely necessary, but nothing escapes his
observation, while an American will
talk continuously ard see nothing but
the general features Of the country
through which he travels"
The guide was probably right, for few
Americans become a'tepts at trailing
either men or animals across the plains
OF the west.
FOLLOWING A TRAIL
1t is impossible to learn the ART, from
books, though there are 2~few general
rules WHICH Cad ne Observed. For in
stance, every scout knows that to over
take party which has perhaps run off
some stock, provisions must be taken TO
last several days; that the start must be
made slowly and the course followed
persis.ently and 1T moderate pace. Civ
ing the horses the nights to rest in and
start at daylight III the mornings.
Then, when the pursuers come near
the pursued, it is the scouts business to
tell the number and condition of the
enemy, and how many hours have
elapsed since they passed the spot on
which YOU are standing. for it may be-
come necessary for you to remain con-
cealed until you decide upon the manner
of attack, for if the party be made up Of
Indians they will scatter before you can
capture them.
Again. any scout can tell whether the
h. Of ,+-y t,a
cause no Indians take their families with
them on the warpath; hence no lodge
poles drag behind the ponies. If there
is 10 trace of these it is safe TO consider
that a war party is on the rampage.
One of the difficult things to determine
is the age of the trail, and to do it cor
rectly requires much practice. If the
track is very fresh it will show moisture
where the earth is turned Ip. which
after few hours becomes dry. Should
rain have fallen the edges will be less
clear and will be washed down some
what.
The expert Mexican scout can tell by
a glance what tribe of Indians has made
given trail, its age, and every particu
lar about it as truthfully as though he
had himself seen the cavalcade pass.
A party following an Apache trail dur
ing the Indian difficulties of 1888 sud-
denly came to ledge OF bare rock. The
officers Of the troops examined it care
fully, but could see nothing TO indicate
where the tribe had gone. But the scout
led them for two miles across it as IN
erIinc as though the trail had been made
il heavy grass.
KEEN EYESIGHT.
When asked what told him the way,
he called attention to the fine moss which
covered the rock, and that by close
scrutiny gave evidence of having been
pressed by the foot, an indication so
slight that it would have been passed
unnoticed by ninety-nine out Of a hun
bred, yet his keen eye detected every
footprint rs easily rs could be wished.
In the grass trail can be seen for q
long time, as the blades will be bent in
the direction followed by the party, and
even after it has recovered its natural
position an expert trailer will detect q
slight difference In the color Of the grass
that has been stepped on and mat grow
ing around it.
So the appearance of the tracks will
also show him the gait at which the |
party was travelling. and he thus KNOWS |
how TO regulate his pace in order to
pVertake it
1t is rare to find q white person who |
can retrace his steps for any great dis
lance in the open country, but it is sim
ply impossible to lose an Indian. No |
matter how circuitous the route by |
which You have reached certain place |
the Indian will find his way back to the |
place of starting by the most direct |
route, and without hesitating for mo-