The Savannah morning news., 1903-12-27
BY HENRY T. WHIPPLE,
Copyright 1908, by T. C. Mcclure.

scarp' my friend answered. He was
tellln me they had two bucks killed an
one wounded. Says he enjoyed the
Jamboree, an hoped 1 did
But l couldn't see that sheep rails
ing and janborees of that sort went
well together.
Indians don't fight white men for
any particular grudge they bear them.
In fact they would rather fight other
Indians, because they feel that the
white mans soul isn't in it for the
love of the sport. They know that we
only fight when we have to, and they
consider that a degrading spirit. An
old Sioux chief once said to me:
why white man no yell when he
hight? Because him no enjoy himself
like we. Him fight for business. Bad
I Injun heap holler because feel good
so when they can find some other
tribe to scrap with they leave white
| men alone. 1 had that illustrated to
me two years ago.
Il was down in New Mexico then,
near an Apache reservation. Five of
us We're camping on a dry creek bed,
when we heard a whoop across the
plain, and about fifty painted and
feathered Indians came galloping down
on us. We thought it was all up with
us, and made a scramble for the big
came to an abrupt halt, and rolled in
their saddles with laughter.
What matter" their chief shouted
to us. Heap scare?
Then they came down and frater-
nized with us. Some of them had
scalps at their belts that were still
wet with blood. Then they told us
they had just had a glorious day.
They were returning from a raid on
a iubh
had taken seven scalps, only losing
three of their own party. They felt
so good they built fire and made us
eat supper with them, but they couldn't
get over laughing at the scare they
had given us.
"Of all whites the Indian loves best
to fight cowboys. He admires them,
because they seem to enter into the
spirit of it. They have a supreme con-
tempt for soldiers, because the mil
itary have orders never to shoot I'M
less driven to it. heard an Indian ex-
press an opinion once on this point.
Cowboy all right. he said. Him
understand fight. Jnjun like fight cow
boy. Heap shoot then. Plenty fight
with gun
How about the solders? I asked
'Ugh-soldier no good. He no
understand fight. Indian no use gun
on hin1-use club
But if you want to see Indian
| fighting, go to McKee,. In nine cases
( out of ten where the Mexican troops
clash with the red men the soldiers
get the worst of it. Every spring the
Yaquis rise and tear around the
country just for good time, licking
all the soldiers they come across.
Then, when the government sends an
army corps up into the Yaqui country
| - - ~ tow
warriors. They've all gone back to
their farms to chuckle over the joke.
Down in some of the southern
! provinces of Mexico, especially in
Yucatan there are tribes who live
on territory never yet crossed by
white men. The Mexicans find it
! the best policy to leave them alone.
| Any member of those tribes who so
much as speaks to Mexican is ply
sicaly multilated and ostracised.
Some years ago a party of Mexi-
can engineers were building a road
near the territory of one of these
tribes. Two Indians. impelled by
| curiosity, came down to look on. The
commandant of the engineers, anxious
| to conciliate them. invited them into
! his tent and later sent them back
| loaded with presents.
Next day the Mexicans saw a band
of mounted Indians approach, but
| they turned back just short of a few
! hundred yards. They had left two
| of their number behind.
''The two Indians came into the
Mexican campfire two visitors of the
day before. Their ears had been cut
off. With them they carried the pres
ents they had received. They had
been sent back by the tribesmen as
a punishment for speaking to white
men, with the promise of a SLOW
death by torture if they returned.
'"The Mexicans tried to invade this
country once, but were severely beaten.
The government has since decided
that it doesn't pay"