The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-12-24
POISON FOR ARROWS.
HOW THE DEADLY STUFF is MADE
BY THE INDIANS.

Carefully Guarded.
had been cattle ranchman on the
plains of southeastern Arizona for some
two years before [ could find out how
the Apaches poison their arrow tips.
The Indians inherit from their ances.
tors an intense secretiveness as to the
manner of their preparation of venom
for hunting or warlike purposes. A trib.
al chief years ago would as soon think
of cutting off his own head as to let an
| other chief know some method peculiar
to the tribe for preparing powerful
poison. Now that the savages use fire.
arms almost to the exclusion of their
primitive weapons the older warriors
will not, if they can, allow information
concerning their tribal manufacture of
venom to become known among the
palefaces. had in my employ bright
young Indian buck, who gave me full
information concerning the way the
plains Indians have for many genera
| lions made the poisonous fluids for their
arrows. One day he went so far as to
| get permission for me to go over to the
mountains to see tribe of Yavapais
get their weapons in proper poisonous
condition.
Rattlesnakes afford most of the Apa-
| che and Piute Indians Yenomous COM
pounds. To see the savages prepare the
poisons and try their efficacy on them
selves is enough to distress even from
tiersman's dreams. The bloated rattle
snake of the hot alkali deserts of Ari-
IONA or the panhandle of Texas makes
the most powerful poison. There is no
more hideous and deadly serpent in
America than the bloated RATHER. 1t is
terror even to an Apache Indian, and
if there is one thing that is worse than
rattlesnake in the opinion of plains
men and settlers in eastern Texas and
southern Arizona it is an Apache Indi-
an The Piutes, although a more cow
ardly gang than the Apaches, hold this
rattlesnake in less horror, but they give
it plenty of room. The Piutes draw on
the snake for their poison after it is
dead. The Apaches, in spite of their
fear of the snake, make it contribute its
venom to them while it is alive.
The rattlesnake of the Arizona desert
grows to length of feet and attains
girth of inches at the thickest part.
They have tremendous sets of rattles.
This snake has fangs an inch long and
is frequently fitted with two sets. The
poison sacs at the base of these fangs
are as big as hazelnut The snake is a
bright yellow in color.
The desert rattlesnake is dreadful
enough customer any day in the year,
but during August takes on the fullness
of its frightfulness both in appearance
and conduct About the middle of Au-
gust, when the weather is insufferably
hot, this snake becomes bloated from
some cause until it is third larger than
its normal size. Its appearance is as if
the snake had been blown up like
bladder or charged with gas like bal
loon. This RATHER is always sluggish
and slow in its movements, and like all
of its kind usually makes an effort to
get out of the way of its intruders, but
in August it simply lies still in bloated
responsiveness and will not move for any
thing, being ready at all times to strike
at everything that comes near it. As
near as you can get at it, this rattle
snake at that time of the year is simply
swollen reservoir of venom.
A Piute Indian who wishes to lay in
stock of poison for his arrows kills, at
this time of year, eaough Of these rat.
tlesnakes for his purpose He cuts off
their heads and takes them to his lodge
He places in one of the rude earthen
vessels that are among the Piute house
hold effects ten or a dozen of these
snake heads. To them he adds perhaps
a pint of tarantula killer, as the big
hairy Texan or Mexican spider is call
ed, or rather he puts the abdomen OF
the spider in with the snake heads.
This spider has sting that injects a
poison subtle enough almost to kill a ia.
rantula instantly, which is itself about
as poisonous member of the animal
kingdom as one would care to meet
The poison sac of the tarantula killer is
in the lower abdomen of the insect, and
it is this the Piute brave mixes with the
rattlesnake heads. He then pours in
a pint of water, seals the lid of the YES
sci on with moist clay and places the
vessel in pit where he has made a bed
of hot Goals. He buries the vessel in
these Goals, and besides that builds
blazing fire on top of it. This fire is
kept burning fiercely for several hours,
when it is swept away, and the Indian
digs his vessel out of the Goals. With a
long pole he knocks the lid off and does
not venture near the pot until the steam
that arises from it as soon as the lid is
taken off entirely ceases to appear.
The Piutes say that to inhale the
smallest quantity of that steam would
be instant death. Whether that is true
or not I am not able to say, as l never
saw it put to the test. After the fiery
ordeal to which the snake heads are put
is over, a brownish residuum remains in
the bottom of the kettle. That is Ger.
tainly the double quintessence of poison,
if its action on human blood, or, at
least, Indian blood, is any Indication.
The Piute always tests his poison before
trusting his arrows to it. He cuts a
cash in the fieshy part of his leg and
draws the blood, which he let's trickle
down his leg. When the red stream has
run down six or seven inches, he dips a
stick in the poison and touches it to the
lower end of the bloody streak. If the
poison is all right, it actually burns
the blood almost like hot iron touched
to water and rapidly runs up the trio
king stream. The Indian has his knife
ready and scrapes the poisoned blood
off. IF it were permitted to reach the
wound, it would be all up with the Pr
ute. The arrows are dipped into this
poison, and the Indian feels that what