The record-union., 1893-06-12
ARROW MAKERS.
The Industry of the Red Men of
the Country.
How Bows and Arrows Are Manufact-
ured and the Secret of Using Them
Successfully In Battle or In Chase
The Strong Bow.


Pedro, the husband of the beautiful An
serino, in little hogan, with his beauti-
Jul young wife seated by his side. He is
an iron and silversmith, and barbs arrows
for war and hunting.
Tell me the story of an arrow" 1
queried. Tell me- Padro, the whole
process of making a fine bow and ar
row."
Pedro, who can talk broken English,
then began this interesting story:
'The first Western Indians to use ar
rows were the Cheyennes. The Indians
cut their arrows in the fall, in the arrow
season, when the wood is hardened to
Withstand the blasts of winter. The shoots
must not have any branches or knots on
them. They are not quite as thick as
ones little finger, and they are sorted and
tied in bundles of twenty and twenty
five. These bundles are two or two and
one-half feet in length, and wrapped
tightly from end to end with strips of
rawhide or elk skin. The sticks are then
hung up over fire, in the tepee, to be
smoked and dried, and the wrapping
keeps them from warping or bending.
When they are seasoned, which takes
several weeks, the bundles are taken
down, the covering removed and the bark
scraped off. The wood is very tough then
and Of yellowish color.
The next thing is to cut the arrow
shafts exactly one length, and i'll this
great care must be used, for arrows Of
different lengths fly differently, and, I'M
less they are alike, the hunters aim is
destroyed. Another reason for measur-
ing the length of arrows Is to Identity
them. No two warriors shoot arrows of
exactly the same length. Each warrior
carries measuring or pattern stick, and
IL is only necessary to compare an arrow
with the stick to find out to whom it be-
longs. But should the arrows by chance
be one length then there are other marks
OF Identifying them. Every hunter has
bis own private marks in the head the
shaft or the feather. The shafts being
made even, the next thing is to form the
notch for the bow-string. This is done
with sharp knife, and when done prop
erly the bottom of the notch will be eX-
actIy IN the center of the shaft The ar
row is then scraped and tapered toward
the notch to prevent the string from
splitting the shaft and to make a firm
hold for the thumb and iorehnger in
drawing the bow.
''All the arrows are peeled, scraped and
notched, and then the warrior creases
them. To do this he takes an arrowhead
and scores the shaft in zigzag lines from
end to end. These creases, or fiuted
cutters, III IQe SQdlJ are 10 lSL inc DlOOu
run out when an animal is struck. The
blood flows along the little cutters in the
wood and runs oil the end of the arrow.
The arrow head is made of steel or stone.
1t is shaped like heart or dart and has a
STEM about an inch long. The sides of
the stem are nickel or filed out like the
teeth of a saw. Nearly all the wild In
dams now use steel arroWheads, they be-
ing great article of trade among the
SaYages. Eastern firms manufacture
thousands of them and sell them to the
traders, who sell them to the Indians at
fabulous price or trade them for furs.
"Wh' II the shaft is ready for the head
the warrior saws slit with a nickel knife
IN the end opposite the notch and inserts
the stem of the arrowhead. The slit must
be exactly in the center of the shaft and
as deep as the stem is long. When
properly adjusted the teeth OF the stem
show themselves on each side of the slit.
Buffalo. deer or elk sinew is then Softened
in water and the wood is wrapped firmly
TO the arrowhead, taking care to tit the
snew in the teeth of the stem, which will
prevent the head from pulling out.
The next process is TO put on the
feathers. To do this properly great care
must be taken. Turkey or eagle quilts
are soaked in warm water to make them
split easily aud uniformly. The feathers
are then stripped from a quill and put on
the shaft OF an arrow. Three feathers are
placed on each shaft and they are laid
equidistant along the shaft. The big end
OF the feather is fastened near the notch
of the shaft and laid six or eight inches
along the wood. The feathers are glued
TO the shaft, and wrapped at each end
with fine sinew. The arrow is now
painted, marked, dried and ready for
use.
when the arrow is fired into the body
il cannot be got out. If you pull at the
laf bQ Cl1 10
out, leaving the arrowhead in the wound.
Some war arrows have but one barb, and
when this arrow is fired into the body, if
the shaft be pulled, the barb catches in
the flesh and the steel turns crosswise in
the wound, rendering il impossible to ex-
tricate it. Fortunately but few Indian
tribes now use the poisoned arrow. Each
tribe had its own way of poisoning. Some
did it by pounding up ants in a mortar
mixing them with the spleen OF an am
NAL and then letting it decay, after which
they tipped their barbs with it.
ARROWS are first smoothed by being
rubbed between two grooved stones held
firmly together in one hand (as Pedro
smoke he slid an arrow between two
rrooved stones) till the bark flies off
Disputes sometimes used to arise as to
who some particular carcass belonged
TO after the slaughter of herd OF buffalo
If the arrow still remained in the body,
the question was easily decided by draw
ing il out and examining the make of it.
The Pawnees took good care OF their
arrows and never mace them detachable
&C the barb. Some wing their arrows
with two feathers, like the Comanches;
come with three, like the Navajos and
Utes. and some with four, like the Tonic
Apaches."
Here Pedro stopped and beckoned to
his beautiful little wife. She handed
him cigarette, and having lit it, he con-
tinued his story:
Now, to make good bow: Well, every
tepee has its bow-wood hung up with the
arrows in the smoke OF the nre, well out
of reach OF the flames. \ warrior with a
sharp knife and sandstone or file can
make bow in three days, if he works
hard, but it most generally takes a week,
and sometimes month, to finish fancy
bow. When done, il is worth 8 in trade.
See. the bows Otter in length and
atrength being gagged for the arms Of
those who are 10 use them.
"a white man would, until he learned
the sieight of it., find himself unable to
bend even the weakest war bow. The
force of such an arrow may be imagined
when it is remembered that While
Colts revolver will not send n ball
through q buffalo, an arrow will go
through a buffalo and come out on the
other side. \ mans skull has been found
transtixed to a tree by an arrow, which
had zone completely through the bones
and imbedded itself so deep IN the wood
as to sustain the weight of the head. de
had been tied up to the tree and shot.
az once saw said Pedro, "a Plains
Indian ride alongside OF a large buffalo
cow. going at such speed that II re-
ouired a fleet pony to overtake ana Keep
nm with her. Leaning forward the In
dian drew his arrow to the head and