Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1899-01-06
An Indian Dinner Raid :
By Eleanor Kirk.
ct AM NOT able to sentimentalize

Denman. young man who had spent
his boyhood in the far west. There is
no doubt that they have been unjustly
and inhumanly treated, and what they
might have been had conditions been
more favorable, it is hard to tell. But
they were the terror of my young days,
and though never once did they harm
me or mine, was in constant fear that
1 might do something which they
should consider worthy of their ven
geance. The braves struggled into our
hamlet from time to time, sometimes
10 sell their bows and arrows, or ex-
change them for eat but more fire.
quently begging or demanding what
they wan ted. their favorite articles of
diet being rice, hominy and meal.
''The squaws came oftener, and
brought herbs and berries of various
kinds. and in the winter rush baskets,
some of them being exceedingly pretty.
Our little settlement was in the
neighborhood of Elk Lake, Mimi. and
our schoolhouse was only short dis
lance from our homes"
Did the Indians ever disturb the
school or brighten the pupils?" one of
the little group fastened to ask, she,
with the rest of us. being eager for a
story.
"They were in the habit, in the win
ter, of coming into the schoolhouse to
warm themselves" the young man re-
piled, land they were generally cute
enough to arrive about dinner time.
You see, out of our fear we had estab-
lished a very bad precedent of dividing
our food with them"
ST should call it a very humane pre-
cedent," another lady remarked. "Poor,
down-trodden creatures! How they
have suffered"
every true" was the smiling reply;
''but of all the persistent and pestifer-
Gus beggars, the Indians carry off the
palm, and if you once begin to give
them you can never stop without a row
of some kind. It was no joke to me,
I can tell you, to see three or four tall,
copper-coiorcd braves horribly paint
ed and we'll armed, glide into the school
house and surround the stove. Indians
never walk like other folks, you know.
They must have had some respect for
education in the abstract, for in all my
acquaintance with them-and it was
much more intimate than ] desired
l.
ton. If one was in progress, they
waited silently until it was over. When
the class was dismissed, each brave
would select his victims, and begin the
cultural cry of: Eat, eat; Injun 'un-
CRY: eat, eat!'
''On these occasions I used to be
frightened almost out of my small wits.
1 could not swallow mouthful, and
they got not only my dinner, but my
dinner pail also, which they always re-
ceived with a grunt of satisfaction.
"About half the pupils were like me
in this respect, and half of the other
half would divide equally with the vo-
rac1ous redskins, and the other quarter
would not give them a,single bite.
81 think that the Indians liked best
those that divided with them, and had
almost as much contempt for the cow
ards who gave up everything as they
had hatred for those who gave them
nothing.
among the latter class were two
girls, one 12, the other 16, Mary Ham
mond and Lizzie Bradbury, who seemed
to have no more fear of the Indians,
than they had of each other, and would
frequently tantalize them by showing
large slices of bread or cake, of which
the savages were very fond.
'tSuch behavior terrified me beyond
description, for I knew by intuition,
as well as by what had read and heard,
how merciless those red men were to
those who offended them.
sour parents did not know what was
best to do. some counseling one course
Of conduct and some another. But at
last the teacher decided that the only
way to put an end TO these Indian din
ner raids was for US to bring nothing
with US to eat for awhile, and be dis
missed earlier.
ST was old enough to know that a
stop must be put to their work, for
every week the number of wOuld-be
dipers-out increased, and our parents
would before long have the whole tribe
on their hands. But I was distressed
beyond measure by this arrangement.
It seemed to me it would be much wiser
to dismiss School entirely than try
such an experiment
"But the teacher was firm, and the
hungry regime was inaugurated. The
first time the Indians came after this
they simply grunted their disapproval
and departed peaceably. The next time
their grunts were more pronounced.
and they held a protracted powwow
outside the schoolhouse. The teacher
"a young woman who had been sent
to Minnesota for her health-had the
courage of a lioness. Those best ac-
quainted with the Indian character had
advised her to take no notice of these
undesired visitors, and no one would
ever have supposed from her manner
that the savages made the slightest i'm
preston upon her fears, to say nothing
of her inner consciousness of contempt
and disgust.