The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1893-01-12

pony, sign language, IRE, arrows, INIT
steel and mirror. The code of sun gias:
signals to which you refer is part of q
regular system of signals at great dis
tances which has been reduced
TO science by the Indians
On a bright day and when the sur
is il the right direction piece OF look
ing glass held in the hollow OF the hand
Of the chief directs the movements Of
the whole field. The reflection OF the
suns rays thrown upon the ranks
serves without trumpet or command &c
communicate the order OF the chief.
According to the direction Of the rays
the ranks move east or west or north OF
south; should there be distinct flashes,
the party hurries forward, moving u
/ right or left. as the flashes Indicate If.
on the other hand, the scouts sent on
ahead discover a large force close al
| hand a continuous, quick, vi0ratOry,
| tremulous motion is given the mirror,
but no distinct flashes. The party IN
that case scatter ard secrete them
selves. The system" said the medicine
chief, SIS simply perfect. A chief II
this way can sit on his horse on the top
of knoll and without word and with
only 2 slight movement Of the hand,
direct the movements Of his men in the
valley below. Civilization has never
been able to invent such system OF
drilling a troop Of cavalry in the field y
What is the secret among the In
dams of sending up smoke in great
puffs and then no smoke? How Is il
done?"
They hold blanket for awhile over
small fire, and when the blanket is
full of smoke they open it and send up
the stipple. Indians notice every OBJ
iect as soon as it moves. Ages of trans
rnitted power have trained their vision
to keen perception. The signal is only
an expansion of the sign"
How do the Utes bury, and why is a
dead Ute never found?'
They bury by night" said the med
icine man, Sin a cave, and seal up the
cave 50 you would never know where to
begin to look. They will never talk
about it to anyone"
How do they split the buffalo col
umn?"
Suppose column of buffalo coming,
perhaps fifty miles wide and a hundred
miles long. The Indians will ride
against that rushing wall and split it
into two separate wings by means Of
what is known as the flying wedge.
One Indian rides ahead. then two, then
three and SO on. They shoot buff
{alo at the center of the line, say,
and quick as 1t falls another right be-
hind it, and another, till they have
felled three or four, thus opening Il
path which they may enter and which
opens gradually wider and wider until
the vast herd splits and the two wings
slowly separate"
What are fire arrows used for and
why do they make them?" said TO the
conjurer of secrets.
Fire arrows are sent up sometimes
as n signal OF danger. They are seldom
used in war and are generally used for
the purpose of burning out raccoons,
bears, rabbits, etc, from old hollow
trees.
What are flint and steel used for?
For information. Take an example"
said the chief. "A party go out to sup
prise a camp of Indians. An Indian scout
is sent ahead. He crawls close to the
tepees, counts the lodges and then turn
ing round and drawing his blanket
about his head only letting the front
of his face show, he strikes off sparks
on the finder and the counted number
of the sparks is the number of lodges"
sis it true that the Indians We're the
first masops and that their masonry an
tedates all others in the past?"
Every tribe of Indians" said the
conjurer, has its secret societies,
which have passwords, grips and signs.
They will all deny that such a thing
exists, because it is big medicine but
nevertheless it does, for all that. Each
tribe, moreover. has It's own peculiar
chart of masonry, proving beyond all
peradventure that the Indians were the
first masons in America. The four fol-
lowing charts, which have not been
made public before, will probably
throw some light on this subject and be
recognized by those who arc adopts in
the mysteries Of masonry as incontesti-
bic instances of true masonic order
having existed among the Indians prior
to any other like order known among
the white men of the country"
what is the sacred medicine made of
which they carry with them in their
medicine bags"
Each brave" replied the medicine
chief, puts a peculiar medicine OF his
81
his person and buried with him. Ithas
religious siGniication as we'll as a
mysterious one. If warrior has run
of luck with his medicine he swears by
it and retains it. If not he changes it
at once"
as the tribal medicine simply an
expansion of that idea?"
at is. With most of the Indians the
thing is secret. With some, like the
Cheyennes, the thing is known, With
the Cheyennes it was fifty years ago a
bundle of sagebrush. But the famous
medicine arrow changed all this, Now
1t Is a bundle of arrows tied together
and tightly wrapt in a 'par-feche' and
suspended in good DAYS over the door
of the wigwam. This is the Indians
Ark of the Covenant There was a
secret society connected with it among
the Cheyennes. This society met in
lodge outside the camp. Ii they lose
this holy bundle in war the whole
tribe viii inpoverish itself to get it
back. The tribal medicine Of the Nav
aiOs was little squat stone figure
which they got from the Pueb-
los. as the Pueblos got il in