Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-07-27

or points are left within the fish, and by
means of the leather string the captive is
drawn from the water. A forty-pound sal
mon Will give strong man trouble to land
him, and two persons are often required
when the fish is unusually stubborn. Long
Haired Dick, one of the Indian inhabitants
OF Baird, captured four huge fellows weigh
ing at least forty pounds while l watched
him for about ten minutes. They were
caught above the dam. He seemed to take
great pleasure in the sport.
The fish upon being removed from the
spear is thrown back into the water above
the dam, where it is left to die as a result
OF the wounds rec eived. 1t proved in two
or three cases that the salmon were dis
eased. as could be seen from the sores tnat
marked them. This was because the salmon
above the dam had not a sufficient current
OF water such as the fish below obtain
They had managed when young and small
in size to go through the lattice work of
the dam, but could not get back as they
grew larger. The Indians. however, do not
mind matter of this kind, for Long
Haired Dick" threw his four big salmon
back into the water. where the current
swept them up against the dam and kept
them there until come squaws picked up
the whole bunch. They were treated Just
like the healthy fish and hung up to dry
for the winter.
The NeighbOring Indians,
The Indians in the vicinity of Baird be-
lcng to different branches or clans of the
Wintona tribe. found one young man
among them, full-fedged Indian, who is
a son of the chief of the band. He speaks
and writes English much better than many
white persons, and even carried with him
a small typewriter. He gave me his card,
which VAS a small piece of ordinary writ
ing pa per with the name printed by the
typewriter. The Indian gets his name from
some characteristic he possesses, and he
takes an English Iame according to his
own fancy.
The Digger Indians have always been
friendly with the whites, but last summer
while l was at Baird they had a big pow-
WOW. and after deposing one chief elected
another. The new head of the band is, I'M
like his followers. opposed to the white
men and their customs He refuses to do
business by mail. although he can read
and write English quite WELL If a white
man desires to transact any business or
communicate with the chief, appearance
In person is necessary. for this particular
Indian would not condescend to open a let
ter; he would even refuse to accept 1t, and
the writer would find his letter promptly
returned by the postal authorities
whenever a member of the band dies the
whole tribe has big time for many days
and nights.
Dogs and Squnws.
The Indians are very fond Of dogs, and
the animals they possess are generally of
a curiouc mongrel type. Each family has
iIoHl Ciie u three CdIllHeS. SnOulQ you see
an Indian camp in motion you would per-
haps first encounter two or three barking
ours. then the head of the family stalking
along, accompanied by the children and
followed by his squaw, who would be fair
ly bending over with her burden, for If
there Is anything to carry the squaw must
do the carrying. The one I saw had a
huge basket on her back which resembled
an inverted cone. 1t YVES held in place by
her hands and by means of a strap sIung
over her forehead. / saw one Indian NOV
had to do all the work. She made several
trips across the dam before her task was
completed. But 1T Is Indian custom, to
make the women do all the work, and if
anybody should try to reverse this duty
and lay it upon the man he would find the
squaws themselves against. him. The
squaw I speak of was very old and fairly
tottered she picked her way over the
narrow plank walk of the fish dam.
Life at the fishery is trough at it's best
In the summer time the weather Is intense
ly hot. The mercury ran up one day DUR
Ing my visit to lib degrees in the shade
The nights, however, are quite cool There
is no ice and the good housewife whose
husband may happen to bring her here
would find 1t extremely difficult to keep the
butter in good condition.
Prof. Stone finds sufficient leisure from
his duties as superintendent of the station
to indulge in a game of chess, aor in the
evening to play lawn tennis. The visitor
who can play these games is always well
come at the station. But the professor
never allows sports pastimes, fond as
duties. He is the author of a number of
papers on salmon culture, in
which he Is recognized as an authority.
G. H. W.