Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1894-05-17
INDIAN METHODS " SIGNALING


smoke Zr- + e1- w
tribes II Indians a1s & eTEr -.s
with w ana acquainted -----
are several ue1 VITO 5avs
-1er names f-o- -=- azrzz--=ss IA
tbs r.lla-i0- ~ t1s intangible s5-
stance Sue1 names - little S-3ze
BID smoke. SD0s. maker a1z S,
ara common lr z.s tribes ana Is
instance 7 knew O. E-a VIE was
called Great maker Els fame
extended beyond 1E1 E5he, w1.-1
IS .etL5u- rzra f1r an Indian
a., g -uIa. The fountain tribes z-e
r4e Ires- skilf1l 10 the mani rllz-o-
~ their smoke Signals bur ss1- G.
tze plains Indians have her-a sz-
ceedia- expert this being especially
- v5-l The Com hes Am0l- --4
S.a,E and Cl=y=11es smoke siz-zl.-.
mas reached q high degree Of accuracy.
and li has h-zn found thar there s
L--v-r q movement II either tha paGs
~ -ae soldiers ia -har country t-z-
is Ist transmitted sll over r1e rzs=r71-
zion unless the movement Is -zls
with the greatest secrecy and az might
AI0lg The Crows e1d Aric1aree~ HE
Use &c signals is a-r ~ common. b-,
they have their -Ia- signal 1al.
who transmit messages aud orders
from the chiefs & aEg-l.aBres.
While ,Eas-e 81 Is are ia most gen.
=-al use they aav r tae gulv mez-
~ mluI-irariou sle-1 10 the Ia.
dams. Fire. Of course. Is the only II
srumeIt rhar can D. used by night,
bur the Indian uses dust water. -ees.
his own members and his clothla- IS
well IS bis horse and himself 10 let
his friends know those things that
are essential 70 their welfare IRE
signals ara only used Iu times IF war
cor upon the return IF 4 party that has
long been absent In addition %
torches which are swung about much
after the manner II The signaling done
10 civilized armies the Indians make
Use Of fire arrows which are made by
fastening pil1l or some other inhau-
mable substance 70 the arrow-heads
The ordinary arrow signals are 70
warn The tribe 0f the approach 81 an
enemy Or - announce that an attack
is u be made, one arrow means that
an enemy is near, a second arrow
denotes danger; the third that the
danger is great Should two be sent
up al once il tells that an attack.is
~ Doe made. If three 20 together. the
attack viii be made soon. and when
four are sAo at once il is the signal
that the attack viii b. made at once
These arrows are always sent in the
direction in which the ATTACK is 10 be
made
What might be termed a twin
brother 70 a fire signal is the use Of
mirrors While the army of the border
mas made much Use of heliograph sig
mails, the Indians have established a
code with flashes Of light from small
mirror held ia the hand that Is simply
marvellous ia its completeness and
simplicity. I saw a driu Of more than
a hundred mounted Comanches once
that would have put to shame the
brilliant work Of a crack corps. and
every command was given by a chief
who stood fully a quarter Of mile
from the warriors.
BY simple movement Of the hand
and arm the Indians wheeled and III.
yided. going through evolution after
evolution in manner that was al
most incredible, and in n manner that
was most puzzling TO me until I dis
covered that the chief was directing
each movement by a flash from lit
tie mirror tEat he held in the palm
Of his hand l had seen the mirror
used before, but never with such &C
curacy as at this time The use OF
flashes Of light from mirrors is Of re
cent establishment among the In.
dams, and it is by no means universal
The Comanches and Cheyennes ap-
parenly are better yersed in its use
than other tribes while some bands
have never even seen such signals