Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-28

eyes, dream and you will be an Indian ver-
table" said my new acquaintance.
Comfortably stretching out, I little cared
for the rain storm or the return of Yellow
Hair. learned from my companion, whose
name was Stonewan Jackson, that his
father soon after the civil war had come
from Tennessee to the state Of Washington.
and, like many Of our pioneers, married an
Indian girl. Ny friend. then. was an edu-
Gated halfbreed.
You have tried ON, then, both the wild
life and the civilized. Which do you like
the better2' asked.
Would Choose the Wild.
why, certainly prefer the civilized life,
but can you not see how those who have
been reared close to natures heart would
choose the wild7 1t must have been some
satisfaction to my mothers people to roam
at will over this vast country and have no
barbed wire fences in their way and no
signs stuck about, Keep of the grass
Their tribal warfare was only daring sport.
And wait until you the big parade! You
will say that 1t equals a pageant of kings.
AT any rate when the Indians were called
upon by the whites to give up the larger
part of their country-they fought"
THAT was in the war Of 1852"
Yes: In what Is known as the Yakima
war; because it was led by Ka-mi-a kin,
head chief of the Yakima Indians
Your mothers people2"
YES"
''Well. what was the cause of that war?
1 know that you can discuss it fairly, as
you have in you the bloods of the two
races"
There were many causes. In the first
place, must say for the Indian that until
he was badly abused he was always very
good to the white man. Read the journals
of early explorers and you will find that all
OF the tribes in this country, with the ex-
ception Of the Wishrams, were kind to tho
a inaa
dividing with them their scanty stores of
food. The Indians were conf1ding, and
traders among the pioneers took advantage
of them, exchanging worthless trinkets for
valuable furs. The missionaries tried to
teach them that their inherited religion was
false. Settlers poured in and occupied their
lands. They stood everything but being
driven from their pastures and hunting
grounds. This was the eliminating cause
Of the war.
A Fierce War.
"And it was a fierce war, too. All tribes
from the Pacific to the Rockies acted in
concert They made their first and last
great attempt to GUST the Bostons. Boston,
man, you know is what the Indian calls
the white man, because the first expedition
OF whites to this country was from Boston.
The Boston man then was gradually driv-
ing the Indians from their lands. The
various tribes made simultaneous attacks
I.
But how could they do this? They
couldn't use telegraphic instruments" said T.
"Oh, yes they could-literally, telegraph
meaning, write far The Indians have al
ways had method Of signaling which is
almost quick as telegraphing. They do
this by building fires that send up columns
of smoke. For example. fire left to burn
two minutes, then put out and started
again after two minutes. is to the Indian
what the clicking Of the key is to the tele-
graph operator. When Custer was killed
Indians told Mrs. Custer of it the next day
after 1t happened. She was at Fort Lincoln
over three hundred miles from where her
husband was massacred."
Are the Indians then always on the
lookout for signals?" / asked.
"Oh, yes, continually when they appre-
bend war. They send runners from tribe
to tribe Of those allied and establish sig
nal code: they appoint signal stations.
These are along the trails. The Indians
you know, away before the times Of the
whites, had trail clear from the mouth of
the Columbia to the Mississippi. They are
always built high up on ridges; the Indians,
fearing SURPRISE never travel in a valley"
But didn't the whites sometimes inter-
pref these signals?"
Eyes. sometimes But they were unable
to help themselves much. and they could
not answer back. My father has told me
that during this very war Of which we
speak band Of whites coming west were