The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-10
A BEEF ISSUE.
HOW RATIONS ARE ISSUED TO
INDIANS.
Cattle Tortured to Death-Semi-
Monthly Issue of Fresh Meat to
the Red Men Of the Cheyenne
and Arapahoe Agency
BOUT 5000 Indians are draw

~ ing rations from uncle Dam
ss IT, II; Issss; Ssss;His is ass Oklahoma: AssPs:
About 1000 of them are Cheyennes, the
rest being Arapahoes. Beef is issued
to them twice month at Darlington,
and at the sub-agency at Cantonment
in the northwest part of the old reser-
yation. One steer or COW Is issued to
every twenty-five Indians, at the head
of whom is an individual who bears
the proud title of beef chief. A Dar-
lington correspondent of the New York
Recorder, describing the scenes at O
beef issue, says:
Two cowboys rode into the steer
Den and drove the frantic animals,
which seemed to realize that they
would soon be mere beef, through the
weighing house into narrow chute,
at the end of which stood Black
Coyote as gatekeeper. Then the issue
clerk, mounting q step which ran
alongside the chute fence, solemnly
opened his book and called out "Bob-
tail Coyote!" at which an old fellow
in battered derby hat threw the
stump of cigarette away and stepped
forward. The first steer in the chute
was pointed out to him and, leaning
over the fence, he tied q scarf about
it's horns and retired and his name
was checked off the book. In rapid
succession White Spoon, White En-
velope, Black Short Nose. Big Belly,
Medicine Dismounting and Cut
Finger were all called up, and each
decorated the horns or tail of his steer
with some distinguishing badge so that
he would be able to pick out his AMI
NAL after all had been slaughtered.
After all the steers had been told Oft
the COWS were driven in and given to
the Arapahoes. all the cattle were
miserably lean and under weight, and
the COWS we're fat uddered, bony ami
mails which looked hardly fit for
human consumption. Next time the
steers will fall to the Arapahoes.
After all the cattle had been decor
ated with ropes, rags and weeds to
show to whom they belonged, the gate
was thrown open and every one scat
tered before the rush of excited ami
mails, which galloped forth with blood
shot eyes and frothing jaws. Back OF
the cattle pens steep bank led down
to the broad Canadian bottom, and the
cattle pushed and scrambled and fell
down this and galloped offon the level
ground, with a couple of cowboys in
pursuit to round them up. The sharp
shooter of the agency, an Indian
named Tony, got out his rifle, an old
fashioned gun, which, when he lifted
up the top of the magazine to insert
cartridge, looked as if he was opening
trunk, so big and clumsy was it. He
got into a wagon with two or three
assistants and drove out slowly to the
bunch of steers, which stood in the
centre of the bottom guarded by cow
boys. The top of the bank was
lined with Indians, like spectators at
q bull-fght. When Tony got close
enough to the animals the spectators
saw puff off smoke, and in a moment
heard q report, snd'a steer dropped to
his knees, and then got up and limped
of, dragging a broken limb behind
him. Several reports followed in
quick succession, and other animals
fell wounded, some of them succeeding
in getting to their feet, others, NOR
tally wounded, making Intellectual
efforts to rise for some minutes, until,
from loss of blood, they fell over,
kicking convulsively. At this the
herd, becoming frantic, got away from
the cowboys, who were lodging to es-
cape the bullets of Tony and his as
sistants, as they were getting ''rattled"
and firing wildly. Then began chase
over the bottom, and the young bucks
joining in as an excuse to get shot
with their revolvers at the fleeing ami
mails. The steers, being brought back,
many of them shot through the back
and dragging their hindquarters, and
others coming in on three legs, the
slaughter was continued. The cattle
were not killed, but wounded, four
shots sometimes being required to
finish the animal.
After the steers had been slowly tor
tured to death. with the exception of
those that were fleet enough to get
away altogether, the COWS were turned
out on the hillside away from the bot
tom, as the smell of the blood of their
slaughtered companions would have
stampeded them. Tony, taking half
dozen assistants, followed them up in
the wagon, and when within thirty
yards of them, all got out, and, squat
ting on the ground in row, began
shooting. I timed the proceeding,
and in an hour and ha.f they had
dropped four COWS, only one of which
was dead. The Indians were either
villainously bad shots or were pur-
posely wouuding the animals to get as
many shots at them as possible. When
the herd broke away one or two COWS
stood on the spot with torrents of
blood running from their sides and
nostrils, and while the marksmen
waited for the cowboys to drive the
others up they practiced on them,
breaking their legs and literally filling
them with bullets. In the meantime,
the herd being stopped little further
the marksmen followed them up, riink-
ing along in the tall grass as though
they were stalking deer instead of
moving on lot of lean, thirsty and
hungry Government contract COWS.
As the work of slaughter went on the
young bucks, unable to Withstand the
sight of 30 much blood and barbarity,
o,o+ o,,t THAR or,n1Sand ri6ino aroun1