The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-09-08
A Human Sleuth.

A human Sleutbs
"Arkichita: A Tale of an Indian De-
trailing, that would have delighted the
heart of Fenimore Cooper. 1t is told in
| the September st. Nicholas by Lieut.. w.
c. Bennett, Sixth infantry, u. S. A.
Arkichita, typical Indian, was chief
scout at Fort Sisseton, OAK, in 1882
Although he knew English we'll, he held
the old Indian hatred of it's use, and
extraordinary circumstances. He stood
about five feet nine inches in height, was
slender. but wiry, and was about 81
years of age. Ordinarily he was slow
and sedate in his actions-very dignified;
but when the necessity arose, he could
| be as quick as a flash, and had, like
every Indian on the Northwestern
| plains, a pair of eyes that could equal
any field glass.
His services-for he had been employed
| as a scout for some years-had been very
valuable to the government, and, in
recognition of this fact, the officer in
command had secured authority from the
war department to promote him to the
rank OF sergeant; consequently he went
around in neat uniform with chevrons
and stripes, very much impressed with
his own Importance; which he considered
second only to that of the commanding
officer; and he took care that everyone
nifty.
AS his native name is the Sioux for
"soldicr,' it is easily seen why he was so
| named; but he had still another name
which the Indians had given him before
his entering military circles, and that
| translated into English, was the grass
walker" or trailer from his absolutely
marvellous ability to find the trail of any
! thing that left even the slightest trace on
the ground as it passed over it.
"A desperate soldier named Brice broke
| Jail, one night, and was pursued the fol-
lowing morning. The trail led to the
west for trif1e over mile, and we fol-
| lowed until we came to a tree at the edge
of slough to the northwest of the
! fort, called the garden bar slough"
Here Arkichita pointed under the tree,
and said Brice had lain down there to
rest.
The trail here led into the slough.
A Dakota slough is a shallow lake,
| the water Of which is from six inches to
| three feet deep, with soft, muddy bot
| tom, but not generally miry. The center
of the slough is usually free from grasses
| or weeds, but along the edges, from twen-
ty to sixty yards out long tule-grass
grows.
This particular slough was a mile long,
and varied from an eight to a quarter of
a mile i'll width, and there was a foot of
| water covering as much soft mud. Dur
ing the night the wind had rolled the
| water up considerably 1t seemed hardly
| possible to track anything through it,
| except where the tule had been broken
down. Where that was the case, even
| could follow the trail; on reaching open
| water, however, the case was different.
The eastern end of the slough reached
| to a point near the fort not more than a
hundred and fifty yards from brick
yard, on which was a kiln that had been
built during the summer. The kiln was
now ready for firing.
Once l thought Arkichita was baffied,
after all: he had come to a dead stand
still near the tule. Then an inspiration
struck me; perhaps by a circle l could
find the trail. Happy thought! l put it
into immediate execution and found one.
| Rather elated at my success l called:
| Come quick; heap trailr' He came
| over, took one look; just the suggestion
of smile played on his face as he said:
| Cow"
1 did no more trailing but understood
what was bothering him. The post herd
| also had waded through here since Brice's
| escape, and it took all the scouts endless
patience and wonderful eyesight to keep
the trail where the cattle had passed
through it. The grass stem was of no
| use here.
We had passed over half the slough in
this circuitous route, when suddenly
| flies, for the edge of the slough near the
brick-kiln. Was he following the trail?
On he went until he came to the shore
| nearest the kiln; here he stopped, evil
| IDENTIFY bothered again. There was a
| scarcely -discernible footprint in the mud
| and water right at the edge of the
| slough, apparently the last step the de-
| serter had taken before reaching hard
| ground. This footprint showed the toes,
so the deserter was now barefooted. An
| other thing about this print was it's di-
| rection; it stood at right angles to the
| line previously followed. Either the man
! had taken a sideward spring for the land
| from his right foot, or he had turned
around and started back over his own
| trail.
Arkichita went down on his knees, and
| inspected the grass, blade by blade. I
| kept a respectful distance at one side,
| astonished at the turn the affair had
! taken. Now, inch by inch, on his knees,
| he wrenched the secret from the appar-
| ently-unwilling surface Of the earth.
| Eighty yards from the kiln, he looked
| up and glanced at it. The same idea
| evidently instantly occurred to both of
| US. The trail was leading to the kiln
Then he rose, and, bending over, slowly
advanced to the edge of the brickyard.
After reaching the yard, Arkichita
walked slowly around the outer edge of
| it, examining the ground with the ut
most care. until he came to the point
| from which he started, when he said:
| Trail come in-no go out; man in
| there" pointing to the kiln.
And circumstances proved him to be
| right, though it was thirty-six hours be-
| fore the fugitive was located in the kiln,
| and captured.