The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-04-21


part OF the tribes. Never a year passes
| that the men of one tribe or another do
not try TO incite their brothers to put
the war paint, believing sincerely enough
that the time has come when they can sue
cessfully take to the warpath. The aver
| age Indian, who has never been out of
Western State, does not understand that
| the white men predominant in this coun-
| try. After tour with the show from
Buffalo to San Antonio. however, they re-
| turn to their tribes and point to the leaves
| OF the trees and TO the blades of grass on
the prairie to illustrate the number of the
| palefaces. Shoulders are shrugged and
heads shaken, as if to say of the warpath.
| mo use"
IL is for this reason more than any other
that the Department of the Interior from
| the secretary in the Cabinet and the In
dian commissioners down to the last agent
or post trader has sanctioned the presence
| of red men among the Rough Riders, en-
! couraging our course as desirable and edu-
cational.
With each Indian an individual contract
| is made. He engages to remain with us
so many weeks for so much, while we agree
to feed and shelter him during that time.
care for him if sick and send his body to
his people if he dies. The tour over. 1
always make each Indian a present Of a
| suit of white mans clothes. Reaching
home they masquerade in these in much
| the same spirit as we would don the kits
| of highlander. But the masquerade is
| sometimes the beginning Of a better In
| dian, for 1 have known of cases where
the clothes stuck, and in white mans
| garb the Indian acquires some of the white
| mans ambition.
| UNWINDING RUSSIAN RED TAPE
| Hardest of all to secure are the Cossacks.
/ Pulling an elephants tooth is simple work
compared to the diplomatic dentistry neces-
| sary in pulling Cossack out of the jaw
| of Russia. Nine years ago ] got my first
| batch of Cossacks through the aid of Gen.
| John c. New, of indianapolis. then United
| States consul at London. He succeeded in
unwinding the miles of red tape in which
| the process was swathed With the excep-
| ton of Prince Lucca-prince in this in
| stance meaning one of thousands of head
| men or chiefs of bands-all the Cossacks
| are new each year. Even Lucca, caught
in the meshes of the red tape, was one sea-
| son unable to join us. He had slapped a
| Russians face or something like that and
| the slapped gentleman prevented Lucca
| from getting his passports. And unless
| you have a passport out of Russia you
| can't get in again. When the show was
| over last year Lucca as usual took his Co.'S
| sacks back to Batoum, distant several days
| from Odessa, and in the spring brought a
new lot of the Cars Rough Riders to
| Odessa, where our agent inspected and
| selected the seasons contingent
In Germany fresh men were picked from
| the reserves. In England, too until last
| year. we drew from the reserves; but the
| war in South Africa took the entire re-
| served army. and we had TO hunt the whole
| realm for the right sort of discharged
| dragons. Until three years ago our United
| States boys with the yellow and the red
| stripes furloughed men from the
| Sixth Cavalry and the Fifth Artillery.
| Since then we have had discharged men
| from the same regiments
| On morning toward the end of March I
| went to the Observation-Disclosures Park, in
| Brooklyn. There they were-all the de-
| tachments which for nearly three months
| we had been putting together man by man.
| Consider what a Heterogeneous assemblage
| they were. some fifteen or sixteen different
| groups including Sioux, Beduoins and
! American cowboys; vaqueros from Mexico.
| Roosevelt Rough Riders, Cossacks and
| Beers; British, German, Canadian and
| United States troopers; scouts. ropers
| sharpshooters, broncho- busters and artil-
| lerymen.
| What next? In a circus, each performer
| or group of performers has a turn. How
| many minutes?'' asks the manager. "All
| right, take ring number so and So The
| performers rehearse when and where
| they choose, and the manager can sit in his
| office and the show. Not so the Rough
| Riders. This is congress. There must be
| concerted action. No individual rider need
| rehearse daring feats of Workmanship
| Deeds a-horseback are second nature to
| him. But to get groups of men Of various
nations to do their daring deeds together
this needs rehearsing. Moreover. these men
| are not actors. They are soldiers or plains
men, green as the grass in spring and fresh
| from their natural pastures. This material
| must be made into a show.
| Even the horses had to be broken in. OF
the three hundred animals in the congress
act, over one hundred were rangers"
| They were fresh from my ranch. and had
never known barn, stall or saddle. They
had to be made ''bridle wise"
| THE SHOWMAN'S NIGHTMARE.
| pass over the nightmare of those first
| days of flashing that assemblage into a
| show and come to the last day at Ambrose
Park. 1t Saturday On Tuesday
were to open at Madison-square Garden.
Some uniforms were not ready. Tailors
| had struck. What now? Early in the
morning news comes of the arrival of
| steamer with equipments for the foreign
attachments. Thirteen hundred dollars
/ d1tvo Here-rushi
A sergeant of the Sixth Cavalry passes
| by with his hand bandaged.
Broke bone yesterday" says he.
How"
Breaking a horse-caught my hand in
| the bride and the beast dragged me-"
"Seen the DOCTOR
3 mo; got some pasteboard and set it my
| SELF
Men swarm around the arena awaiting
| the order ITO horse" We have been
| hearsing unmounted 1t is cold. The In
| dams pull their blue blankets about them.
| The white men wear all sorts Of unkempt
civilian clothing SwellS in ne Canadian