The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1904-04-27
stHONESI | NiJ.UN.,' 1

iONEST iiyJtjf ~ ..''ss::S3sS
HOW the CIlicIsnan.vsyyere Taught
tie Slen ming OF the
Among the earliest Corners. to tie
&Hatchee country, in western 81 ennes=
see, was a Mr.. Barnes, ablacksnith,
who became friend: of the ChickasaW.
Indians and often mended their guns
without charge. Barnes was poor
man. but obtaining on credit a donkey
named Moses, which was valued at a
cousid cradle sum, he imported the ami
NAL and stabbed it at the smithy, says
the Youths Companion. 1t was the
first in that region. One morning he
found the door open and Moses gone.
He followed trail to the bank OF the
river and lost It, The stream was in
flood, and he believed bis valuable ami
NAL was drowned. Unless he found
some way to raise the money to pay
for it he was a ruined man.
Two months later trading scow
came down the Hatchee from Bolivar,
and on TIE roof, spread out in the sun,
was the hide Of Moses, un1nistaka Bile
in its soft and handsome grays- Barnes
related his story to the trader and re-
ceived the skin, which had been
bought at Bolivar from trader there.
AS no white man would have shot
donkey Barnes concluded that the In
dams, who had never seen one, but
who were then hunting on the Hat
chez. were the offenders
To trap them he tried little strata
gem. He organized shooting contest
and offered as prize 1.-The handsomest
skin ever taken on the Hatchee, the
pelt Of beautiful animal
A Chickasaw brave was the winner
of the contest and claimed the prize.
Barnes brought forward the skin OF
Moses and spread it on the ground.
There is your prize" he said.
ME shoot um. Me shoot uni" cried
the winner, running to the skin and
pointing to a bullet hole. Then he told
how he had been wandering down the
river bank and had seen this strange
wild animal, like nothing he had ever
seen before. breaking through the
cane He had shot it and sold the
hide at Bolivar. He was delighted to
get it back.
This was what Barnes had hoped
for. Standing, he addressed the Chick
asaws.
MY brothers." he said you know
me. l am poor man, but l am II
friend to the Chickasaw. I mend his
gun for him and deal fairly by him
This animal was my white mans pony
I bought it far away and brought 1t
here 1t cost me much wampuua, the
price Of many indian ponies To lose
it will lose me OIL It escaped me and
went to the woods, and there Chick
asaw killed it. +5.5lls., ~
when am in Chickasaw, country,
obey Chicknsaw law. When Chtcka-
saw is in white mans country, he
should obey white. mans law. White
mans law is that whoever kills my
pony must pay me for it, What will
Ch1ckasaw dc? o.
The Indians had listened attentively-
When he had finished, they went to
their ponies, tethered near by. The
whites watched them meanwhile with
intense interest The Indians unteth-
cred their ponies and brought them up.
'"Take um," they said. Indian have
only ponies Give u1n all"
"How many?" asked Barnes.
You say how many
Barnes appointed an appraiser, who
selected number Of ponies equal in
value to the donkey. These the black
smith sold to his neighbors
The Indians gave up their hunt and
went back to their villages, poorer, but
satisfied. They bad maintained, for
their tribe at least, some claim to the
title, Honest InJun.'