Los Angeles herald., 1892-11-14
WOUNDED IW!|ElNTY-ONE TIMES,
The Checkered Career of Jim
MatsOn, the Scout.
His Experience as Member of the
Sioux Tribe.
The Amount His Ammunition Has
Cost-Captured When Child
by the Sioux = His Ad-
venturOus Life.

'City, uuI low peoplo KNOW nlb Cdrc0T AS
it is chronicled in the following taken
from. the Stockton Mail:
"Do you think Evans and Sontas will
ever be captured?"
The question was put today by we'll
known citizen of Stockton to a tall,
finely proportioned man, neatly dressed
In gray. On the left side Of his neck
there was the scar of a rifle ball. His
shoulders were stooped-the result of a
shot through'th the right lung.
The man in gray and his questioner
were standing at the bar of one of the
high-toned refectories of the town. A
Mail reporter whose attention had been
attracted by the question asked friend
at his side whether he knew the
stranger. The reply was: "He's Jim
Matson, United States army scout-the
trailer that Evans shot,"
Matson is square-shouldered, robust
looking specimen of manhood, feet and
inches tall, according to close guess.
While quiet of speech and modest of ma
ture, he is man without reserve.
Frank and outspoken with his friends,
he answers questions that if put to him
by others would meet with cold silence.
He has been United States army
scout for 80 years. He is 52 now. So
he has been scouting ever since the age
OF %.
"Jim," asked his acquaintance, as
they drank couple of pineapple cock
tails without going through the formal
ity OF clinking the glasses, "I've been
acquainted with you for a long time. but
I've never thought to ask where you
were born."
"In Kentucky"
"That accounts for your being dead
shot"
"No. That's from practice. sup
pose I've shot away $4,000 worth Of
ammunition"
FIFTY thousand?" in tone indica-
tive of incredulity.
"Yes."
"For Gods sake, how much money do
you maker"
"Two hundred and fifty a month";"
There was q pause, expectant on the
part of the Stocktonian, and then the
scout explained.
"You see," he said, sowing to my
position l get all the ammunition 1
want, not only from the army but from
the manufacturers, who like to have me
try their makes. That's the secret of it,
and that's why can shoot pretty we'll.
Everything comes from practice. Be-
sides, have been accustomed to arms
ever since boyhood. As you know, l
used to belong to the Sioux tribe"
Captured when boy, I've heard
you eay," interposed the other.
"Yes. 1 was only 5 years old when
they took me. We were crossing the
plains to Oregon. My parents were
killed and was adopted into the tribe.
/ lived with the Sioux as one of them
until 10 years of age, and then one day,
as Indians will, some of our band loafed
into Fort Laramie, taking me along.
The commander there saw at once that
1 was not an Indian, and he took charge
OF me-"
"Did you want to stay? ?"
"Want to stay nothing! l wanted to
20 back to the Sioux, of course. l
couldn't speak hardly word of English,
and my manners and customs were
those OF the Sioux Indians. Besides,
the life 1 had been leading was an en-
chanting one in its way-huntirg buf-
falo, trapping game and stealing horses.
Ah stealing horses-there's nothing
like it on the plains. Why, I've stolen
horses all over that country lying be-
tween the Rocky mountains and the
Mississippi river, half way down to the
gulf. When it came to horses the Sioux
were right in it,"
"Did you have any clothes to wear,
Jim?"
1--WE had everything we wanted, and
more. The tribe numbered about 5000,
and we had $4,000 head of horses. All
the buffalo meat, venison, bear meat and
other game, plenty of everything-why,
we lived as we'll as the majority Of white
people live today, and a d. sight bet
ter than good many of them. And as
for actual pleasure and contentment in
life, we had great deal better time
than many Of your rich white people do
at this very day I'll gamble on that. "
"You can talk the Sioux Language? ?"
''It was the only language knew up
to the time l was captured by the
whites at Fort Laramie after being an
Indian for IA years."
did they treat you well?"
"Yes. The man who had me was at
the head of a band of 100, and !
was liked by all. As soon as 1 could
take part in the chase and steal horses
from the other tribes was one of their
big men. I was very sorry when the
whites kept me at the fort, but l got
used to it soon, and I've been with the
army ever SINCE"
The bartender duplicated the pine-ap-
pie cocktails, and there was some desul-
tory talk about the election, after which
the scout and his friend returned to the
original subject. The Stocktonian evil
IDENTIFY took q keen interest in the
strange life of Matson during his boy
hood, for he turned the matter over like
a kaleidoscope, getting different COM
bination and an entirely new view every
time. He put great many questions to
the scout. Some of them were trivial,
but others brought out highly interest
ing responses. One of the latter class
was this:
"Did you feel as intelligent during
your life among the Sioux as you do
now?"
ga great deal more intelligent" was
the astonishing reply.
Continuing, Matson said that the
Sioux were very intelligent people.
They were much more intelligent than q
great many white people. There was as
much difference observable in the in
tellects of different tri bes of Indians ae
there was among the whites. Some
we're very low and degraded, and some
were of noble character and sentiment
warped, however, by their surroundings,
as matter of course. The medium
class of whites, if placed in the same
condition, would act just about as the
C;orx oct thov would he M moro moral