Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-01-03
Mi5trllanruus 3maina.
AN INDIAN DETECTIVE
A SIOUX SCOUT WHO WAS A GENIUS IN
GROUND READING.

This Human S1euth Exercised Ex-
traordinnry Skill In Trailing a Fu-
gitiye-He Had Instinct and q Pair
of Eyes Thut Were Unerring.
Arkichita, q typical Indian. was chief
scout at Fort SiSseton. Dakota, In 1882.
Although he knew English well, he
held the old Indian hatred of it's use,
and would never speak 1t except under
extraordinary circumstances. He stood
about five feet nine inches In height,
was slender. but wiry, and was about
"a years of age. Ordinarily he was
slow and sedate in his actions-very
dignifed; but when the necessity arose,
he could be as quick as a fash, and
had, like every Indian on the north
western plains. pair Of eyes that
could equal any tieldglass.
His services-for he had been EN-.
ployed as scout for some years-had
been very valuable to the government,
and, in recognition of this fact, the off,
Ger in command had secured authority
from the war department to promote
him to the rank Of sergeant; conse-
quently he went around in a neat uni
form with chevrons and stripes. very
much impressed with his own lmpor-
tance, which be considered second only
to that Of the commanding officer; and
be took care that every one else also
should respect his rank and dignity.
AS his native name Is the Sioux for
soldier" 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 cir
cles, and that, translated into English.
was the "grasswalker." or trailer"
from his absolutely marvellous ability
to find the trail Of anything that left
even the slightest trace Oh the ground
as it passed over It,
A desperate soldier named Brice
broke jail one night and was pursued
the following morning. The trail led to
the west for trife over mile; then it
turned nerth for quarter Of mile
and we followed until we came to
tree at the edge Of slough to the
northwest Of the fort. called the gar
den bar slough" Here Arkichita point
ed 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
bottom. but not generally miry. The
center of the slough is usually free
from grasses or weeds. but along the
edges. from 20 to 60 yards out, long
tule grass grows.
This particular slough was O mile
long and varied from an eighth to q
quarter of mile in width. and there
was a foot of water covering as much
soft mud. During the night the wind
had rolled the water up considerably.
1t seemed hardly possible to track any
thing through 1t. 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 n point near the fort not more than
$50 yards from brickyard, on which
was kiln that had been built during
the summer. The kiln was now ready
for firing.
Once | thought Arkichita was bafiled,
after all: he had come 10 dead stand
still near the tuIp. Then an inspiration
struck me: perhaps by circle | could
find the trail Happy thought! put it
into immediate execution and found
one. Rather elatrd at my success. l
called. Come quick: heap trail" He
came over. took one look; just the sug-
gestion of a smile played on his face
as he said. Cow"
did no more trailing. but under.
stood what was bothering him. The
post herd also had waded through here
since Brices 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 sudden
ly Arkichita started. straight as the
crow flies, for the edge Of the slough
near the brickkiln. Was he following
the trail?
On he went until he came to the