The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-27


California are famous gamblers, but the
Temeculas are the, most reckless plung-
ers among any. redskins in the West. The
Sabobas, Temescals, and Pachangos are
| also proficient gamblers. Every Decent
!. berst these little remnants Of former great
|, tribes meet fori a season of gambling.
Last year the four tribes camped at Sa-
boba and had a week of gambling. The
PachangoS and eTemeScalS We're winners
! then. From that time the Tenleculas
have been waiting for the opportunity
to win back their losings of last Deem
Der, and more, too
The Mission Indians seem to be born
for gambling. No white gamblers will
risk their all So conplacently as the red
people do, and mo professional white
plunger ever staid so persistently at gam
ing. All busks and squaws gamble The
Indian agents and the whites who have
lived among the redskins to teach them
habits of sobriety and industry have
almost abandoned hope of retaining 10
and his family from gambling ways.
They can curtail the drink habit, but
| the love of games of chance, never.
There have, been many times-as just at
present among the Pachangos-When a
tribe has parted with everything by
which it may live and provide some sort
of livelihood to the winners of a long
gambling game. But for the help of
charitable people and the Indian agents
the losers at the gambling game would
be almost starved. The one gambling
game of the Indians of the Pacific coast
is known as sing-gamble. It is a simple
game of guessing, but a red man will
wager all his household possessions, even
to his clothing, on the game. y59 45t5 go
THE HEGIRA TO TEMECULA.
Early in November the four tribes t',at
join in the gambling fiesta began p,epa-
ratfons for the meeting on tie sun baked
mesa in the serni-tropie region of Te-
mecula canyon The indians ga thered up
their blankets, firearms, household uten-
sis, ponies, horses and fancy feathers
and went afoot, in wagons and on horse
back over the mountains and through
the canyons to Temecula. When Lo goes
| to gamble he takes every one and every
| thing in his home circle The Indians
| camp out and they stay there until some
| tribe is compelled to cease because is has
| lost literally its all.
A smoky bonfire of twigs and dried
| Sod was made at one side of the rude
structure and would have driven any
! white men to the open air with its
| fumes; but it seemed to make no DIFF
| ference to the Indians. The tribes camp
| ed in the open all about the gambling
|
! squads of players, the members of one
| tribe always being opponents of the
members of any other tribe. Every In
dian had his blanket and many bucks
slept over at one side of the WfcEiup
and the furious roise of the gaming never
seemed to disturb their SUMMERS. The
most earnest gaming. opened early each
evening, when lighted candles were stuck
lin the ground round about the wickfup.
and every person in the assemb ed tribes
was present to join in the excitement Of
! the gambling. even if not to participate
! in the game.
BET RECKLESsLY.
An hour after SHUTDOWN, when the active
! game of sing-gamble begins in the wickI-
/ up, two wrinklcd, very dark-visaged and
hobbling old bucks with as profound GER
emory as the Indians know, enter with
| the LAYOUT" consisting of wooden chips
about the shares and twice the SIZE Of a
silver dollar, and 100 tally sticks, al
wrapped in gayly decorated straw mats
Two bags Of thin bark shavfngs com
! plete the outfit. Straw mats are spread
before the fire. and two men from each
side seat themselves, facing each other
and are ready for business. The tribal
! adherents of the rival players arrange
7 themselves in their rear and watch the
game with intense interest, and bet
+ reckiessiy. A paleface cannot imagine
| the excitement that they suppress as
/ their black eyes follow the game.
One of the. players takes ten chips, ore
| of them distinguished from the others by
{ a white ring, and divides them into two
equal piles and carefully mixes them
/ with the bark shavings. He then grabs
/ one pile shavings and all, in each hand,
! and moves his hands in a circle rapidly
] from right to left While one of the OPP
/ posite side guesses in which hand he
holds the white-ringed chip, or queen. f"
! as it is called. If the guess is right one
| of the tally sticks is taken from the
players pile and given to the guesser,
! but if wrong the guesser's pile suffers.
/ The guessing is done with deep study,
| after the most earnest possible watch
! iHg-of the passes of the chips AMI the
i shavings from enc hand to another.
Each side starts With sixty sticks. and
] when one side has won them al the
game comes to an end The Indians
| trennhle with excitement, and the squaws
| chatter excitedly among themselves con-
corning the conduct of the gaming oper-
atoms and thee respective winnings and
] losings Bets are constantly being made,
| rot on The separate plays, But on the
outcome of the game, and all are settled
+ at the same time. These BITS consist CT
money. blankets, horses, guns, cows,
| harness and. everything the bettors pos