The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-05-02
OF a PECAN CHIEF
TRUE PICTURES OF FORMER LIFE
AMONG H PRAIRIE INDIANS.
Customs Before They Left the War
His Comba with "a eros Ventre.
kim MONTY Letter in New York Sun

TO reside are BleganS, one or the IflbeS OF
the once powerful Blackfeet. With the dis
appearance of the buffalo they abandoned
the old nomandic life and the war trail for
the ways of peace, and although this hap
pened only a few years ago-less than fif-
~teen-they are to-day a prosperous and in
dustrious people, owning fine ranches and
immens herds of sleek beef cattle. But the
memory of those happy times when they
wandered to and fro from one part Of their
vast hunting ground to another is very
dear to them; the old men love to recount
the exploits of their younger days. So.
when 1 saddled up my horse after dinner
and rode up to Double Runners place, [
had no doubt of getting from him a history
of his adventures.
In the old times Double Runner (Ahk'-
OTTO Mak-an) was the war chief of his
tribe. for he had fought more battles and
killed more enemies than any one else, but
he has long ceased to take any active part
in the management of tribal affairs, leaving
that to younger men. He is now nearly six
ty years ago, but does not show it. Very
tall, considerably over six feet, his frame
is as sinewY and erect as ever, and there is
very little gray in his thick black hair. He
has a singularly frank and open counte-
nance. large, honest eyes, and there is MOTH
ing fierce or savage looking about him.
His people call him the generous one,' the
gentle one.''
/ found the old man out at the corral
feeding a lot of big calves he had separated
from their mothers, and after he had fin
ished he went to the house, a neat. clean
structure of three rooms, comfortably fur
nished. We sat up by the stove. for the
day was chilly, and after the pipe had been
lighted ] asked him to tell me a story of
the old times. The old man smoked for a
few moments, and then said:
II was only a boy when first went to
war. My people were camped on the North
Elk river Red Deer river, Canada, a tribu-
tary of the saskatchewan, and l joined
a party going south to war against the
Crows. There were about forty of us to
start, and we were to leave after shutdown,
on foot. In the afternoon my uncle had a
sweat house made, and with others l went
into it and prayed. My uncle prayed for us,
too. He called on the sun to help us; he
prayed the animals TO lend us their power,
so that we could be alert TO see danger and
brave to meet it. He said he would pray
for us every day while we were gone; he
would go through the camp every evening
and call out our names so the people
would all pray for US. My mother had
made me six pairs of strong moccasins,
which she put in a little bag along with an
awl and sl2eW, and some nice pemmican.
She cried when she gave it to me. and said
she would never see her boy again, and
when we started she was sitting out back
of the lodge mourning. 1t made me feel
very sad to hear her crying, and | felt like
backing out. All night as we Travelled
along ] kept thinking of her and my heart
was heavy.
A MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE.
w Travelled most of the way during the
night, and rested and slept in the daytime,
hiding in the thick timber or brush along
the streams, or lying on top of some high
butte where we could see a long way.
Something happened one day near Arrow
creek. 1t was very strange. We were on
tip of a high butte, some were asleep and
some were looking over the country trying
to discover the enemy 1t was a very still
day. Close to us. all around, and as far
as we could see, the country was covered
with buffalo. Here and there bulls We're
paving the dust, and it rose above them
high into the air Ike smoke from a lodge
on a cold, still morning. All at once there
was a loud report which fairly shook the
butte; the buffalo and antelope rushed here
and there; my sleeping comrades awoke and
jumped TO their feet, reaching for their
bows. We were all scared. Every one
was asking at once what made the noise.
and where it came from, but no one could
tell. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, so
1t could not have been thunder; there are
no whites in all that country, so it could
not have been cannon. Our partisan got
out the sacred medicine and we prayed,
and made some sacrifices to the sun. Some
of the men were sure the big noise was a
warning to us to turn back, and a few did
leave us that night and take the trail home.
The most of us, however, had strong faith
in our, partisan; he was a great warrior,
and had a powerful medicine, so Ne stayed
with him.
II can't remember now how long it took
us to get to the Yellowstone lin the Black
foot language Po-nokahis-si-sak-ta-Elk
river), but it must have been twenty days
or more. There was a trail not far back
from the river, which the people of that
country used when travelling up and down.
We saw that those who had passed on it
last were going up, so we took that direc-
ton. too, but we did not find the camp
until we reached the foot of the mountains,
several days travel from where we struck
the trail. We had Travelled steadily all that
night, and 1t was nearly morning when we
heard dogs barking, so we went up on a
high wooded hill and hid. When daylight
came we could see the lodges or the stream
far below us. Some were hidden in the
brush, but we could see the smoke coming
from them, and though there were about
was to see the big bands of horses grazing
about. We noticed. though, that a great
many We're tied close to the lodges of their
owners. THESE. of course, We're the best
ones, the racers and buffalo runners, and
We're the kind we had come to get.
During the day our partisan planned
for us TO get these horses. Those who didn't
care to take any risk. he said, could get
all the common ones they wanted out on
the fiat from the big herds which ran there.
But no one wanted any of them, so he dt-
Vided us up into four parties to go into
the camp from four different directions. AS
soon as each one got what horses he
wanted he was to drive them to q point
back of the bluffs where we were all to
meet. When the sun had gone down We
went slowly to the foot of the hill, and
waited until far into the night. The moon
was shining, and when at last we were
pretty sure the people were all asleep we
moved slowly into camp. You know in those
times every man had a tuk-ka ia chum).
Mine was a boy of mine own age, named
Heavy Breast. He was not so tall nor so
strong as was, but he was very brave,
brave to the last. / will tell you later how
he was killed. During the day he and /
had been planning what we should do when
We struck the camp; so now as we neared
little to the left of them; we came to the
camp and moved slowly along. The moon
was shining, but everything seemed dim
and shadowy.
STEALING HORSES.
1T is easy to meet the enemy in battle
when the sun is shining. Everything is
plain; everything is open; you can see Just
what to do, where to go. how to act. But
in the night as you creep along their lodges
it is different; you hear the people snoring
in their bed, any moment some one may
come out, see you, and alarm the whole
camp. You look closely at every dark OBJ
ject and place, fearing that people are
watching your every move. You constantly
expect 10 feel an arrow pierce your ribs.
Heavy Breast whispered 10 me:
Are you afraid2'
" Yes, l answered.