The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-12-09
BOWS AND ARROWS
Prevalence in Early Wichita
and Their Disappearance.
ONE WQNDERF I'll SHOT
With a Bow in the Hands OF
an Indian.
ONE WONDERFUL SHOT

and arrows q 6 llnfailingly as he had MS
rorv The Indians in those days,
visited Wichita in tribes, and the saIe
of bows and arrows was one OF their
businesses here. An Indian bow was
fascinating thing. II was shaved
smooth with a piece Of glass, was gro
tesouelv painted usually in green ana
yellow. or red The string was US
uallv gut The Indian arrows were
always finer and more coveted than
the smooth. finely pointed article
bought at stores The feathers were
LONGER and Enthusiastically Jagged
and the triangular head of steel or
sbarpened iron looked to the boy more
fer0cious.
Wichita boys in those days oIleh
sized one another up by the size or the
bow carried. If it was weak bow,
the boy was regarded as weak boy
and was usually left behind in hunting
expeditions These expeditions were
dismal failures. for no white boy was
ever known to kill rabbit with an
arrow. If a boy was strong enough
to string a mans size bow, he reached
the acme Of bliss
Occasionally of a Sunday afternoon.
down in front of Bill Grieffenstein's on
Water street. visiting Indian boys
would shoot at coins for the coins and
rarely failed to get the nickle or the
smaller dime.
The bow and arrow, however, are
gone They are never seen here, and
among the Indians only the little boys
today use them, and then as toys.
Yet the Indian bow was a wonderful
weapon. and its range and force is be
yond the belief Of eastern people who
now for the most part make up the
population Of Wichita. J. r. Mead Of
this city once saw Santana. chief Of
the Commanches. shoot an arrow
through a buffalo with such force that
the arrow stuck in the ground on the
other side
Major w z. Doyle who was with
the regular army in this neighborhood
IN an early day. and who now lives at
Steyensburg Virginia, writing recently
to q friend in Wichita in regard to
wonderful fight of an arrow shot by
an Indian tells this highly interesting
story and it is probably the record Of
the longest fight ever made by an ar
row. He writes:
"The Indians of Mexico and the
United States east Of the mississippi
did not have as effective bows as the
Indians Of the plains They had to use
ash hickory and such wood. while the
Indians of the west had the bOis de
arc Chow wood )Or Usage orange, the
most drastic of all wood. All used
strings made out of the sinews of the
buffalo or deer
"While 7 said the bow would carry
200 yards or more. there were many
instances where it could he made to
carry much greater distances Tn the
beginning Of March. 1869 after the
cheyenne and Arapaboe war. General
Sheridan had with him at the Medicine
Bluffs I. r.. the Seventh Us. cavalry.
the Nineteenth Kansas cavalry four
companies Of the Tenth cavalry. three
companies of the Sixth and Third U.
S. Infantry. and the Witchtas cad
does and other friendly Indian allies.
numbering probably 2506 all told. The
lately hostile Indians were all en-
c7mned near by-COmanches Kiowas
Cheyennes. Arapahoes. and Com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS to the number Of
perhaps 5000 altcgether-men women
and children The passion of the plains
Indians for horse racing soon asserted
itself ana a challenge was given.
which was uiczly accepted by Matt
BERRY. n sporting captain Of the Sew
meth cavalry. Matt was an Irishman
and soldier from thu ground M
and had won his promotions from the
ranks by gaUa0try during the war Of
the rebellion. Tie was Ted-he3ded and
bad stubhy side Whiskers. and he
looked as if bristling fer a fight all
the time One dav at Fort Riley. q
new Irish recruit just Joined. observ-
Ing The captain for the first time said
20 the OLD soldier beside him Jim
N.Y. who's Dc hull-tarrier lookin fell
'ar comm down DE- parade bayant9'
S., the nickname huIl-tarrier' came
30 he applied tn the Jolly sporting and
lighting captain.
"The pre1miu7ries fer q race he
tween Captain Berry and the Cam
inches was soon arranged. the dis
tance to be run being four arrow
afrhts the Indians not understanding
about surements Rerrv's horse
was wen known Kansas horse of
those DAYS. aud was excellent for six
hundred yards. while Asa-har-beets
horse was fine animal If Spanish
blood. and better for 8 mile than
shorter distance. So while Berry de-
sired the race to be three arrow
flights tho indians wanted six arrow
ficl-s but they compromised on four
BERRY estimating an errow flight at
600 wards and thinking that the race
would not he over soc yards. A beau