Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1895-04-25
WEAPONS OF INDIANS.
Modern Firearms Have Displaced
the Bow and, Arrow.
Tho Tomahawk- and. War -Cluh.Are Now
Almost Obsolets-Skll OF tho Rod
men In tho USo II Their
Primitive Weapons.

The Indian of to-day has discarded
his primitive weapons. OF war. and
adopted the white mans. An Indian
an reload an empty rifle or revolver
hell as we'll as white man. How he
.'ocs it is a mystery, for the white man
needs n special set of tools for the pur-
Jose, and the Indian has none that are
not improvised. The fact remains, how
yer, and was so well known to Gen.
lilies that, when campaigning after
Geronimo in 1886, he published an order
directing that soldiers should turn over
20 their officers all empty shells, in
order that they might not be left on the
ground and utilized by the Apaches.
The bow is used in war when a stealthy
attack is meditated, and quite gen.
rally in hunting, for there it answers
- well and is more economical. The
,lcgrce of skill attained by the Indian
II archery is truly astonishing, but it
: the result of long and constant prac-
ice. The Indian boys first lesson is to
moot with small bow and blunt ar
low. Finally he receives the strong
DOW, and with it fits himself for war.
These latter are powerful weapons.
Inc that an Indian would, with the
gcatest ease, draw to the arrows head,
Duld scarcely be bent four inches by a
,vhite man. They will send an arrow
I've hundred yards, and put it through
u board an inch thick.
On one occasion n mans skull was
found transfixed to n tree by an arrow,
which had gone completely through
the bones and imbedded itself so deeply
in the wood as to sustain the weight of
the head. He had probably been tied
up to q tree and shot.
The Sioux make the best bows. Cedar
and hickory are favorite woods. The
wood is carefully seasoned by being
hung, sometimes for months, just out
of reach of the flames of the tepee fire.
The bow is four feet long and an inch
thick in the middle. A warrior, with a
sharp knife and file, will take a week
to make n bow, which will sell for
about three dollars in trade.
The crows make bows of elk horn,
each bow requiring four pieces, nicely
fitted to each other and spliced and
wrapped together. When ornamented,
carved and painted, these bows are
beautiful, and readily sell for twenty
i've or fifty dollars. 1t takes an In
dian about three months to make one.
Before they came much in contact
with the whites the Indians frequently
used poisoned arrowheads. The Sho-
Shoncs made their poison of ants, dried
and powdered, and mixed with the
spleen of some animal. The mixture
was then placed in the sun and allowed
to decay. The result was such a deadly
poison that if the arrow ever broke n
persons skin it was sure to produce
death.
Arrows are made very carefully, for
upon their construction depends the
bowman's success. Three or four are the
limit of days work, even when the
rough material is at hand. The branches
from which they are made are cut IL
The fall. when the sap is not running
and arc tied up in bundles, SO they will
not warp. They are then hung up il
the tcpcc. in Il similar manner to the
| bow wood. The shaft is usually chan
nclcd, or groovcd, SO as to allow the
| flow of blood from the wound. Arrow!
| pertaining to different tribes may bt
| distinguished by the expert after ex
animation of the fcathering, painting
or carving. Indeed, it is said that in
| dividuals of the same tribe can tell eacl
others arrows in the same way.
The tomahawk and war club ar,
hardly used at all. Their place ha
been taken by the knife, one or NOR
being always carried by a wild Indial
in sheath attached to his belt. Use'
principally for slSinning game, thes
knives are nevertheless, at close quar-
ters, deadly weapons of attack or de
Tense. They are also used for scalping