The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-03-04
HONEST lNJuN.

x, lltsa ~ "A {, v * :
lest llSJuHl.s
How nc Chseis nsss were rsusist
10 eat,tiss Is eS sessions B
Among the earle Il coniers 10 the
Hate liee country illl3 csteFn ennes:s
See, was III Barile blae ksm Ii III
who becatneS "a friend of The GiiickasaSS
sInllansSRnd Too ten mended their guns
without Charge Barnes was al poor
man, but obtaining on credit d donkey!
named Moses, which was valued ut a,
.considcrab Ole sum, he Imported the ani.i
NAL and stabbed It at the sniithy, says
the Youths Companion. i | was the
! first In that region One morning he
found the! door open and Moses gone
he followed a trail to the bank OF tho;
river and lostflt The stream was In
flood, and he believed his valuable AMI
NAL was drowned. Unless he found.
some way to raise the. money to pay.
for 1t he was a ruined man. D; Y
Two months later q trading scowi
came down the Hatchee from Bolivar,
and on the roof, spread out In the sun,
was the hide Of Moses, 4unmistakablo
in Its soft and handsome sgrays. Barnes
related his story to the, trader and re-.
ceiyed the skin, which had been
bought at Bolivar from a trader there.
As no white man would have shot a
donkey Barnes concluded TINT the In;
dams, who had never seen one, but
who We're then hunting on the Hat.
chez, We're the offenders. KS i9l
To trap them he tried n little strata
gem. He organized a shooting contest
and offered as a prize ..tllc hnndsomcst
skin ever. taken on the Hntchee, the
pelt Of a beautiful animal, -
Il A Chickasaw7 brave was the winner
of the contest and claimed the prize,
Barnes brought forward tho skin Of
Moses and spread 1t on the ground.
There is your prize he said, sz5 #
"AIc shoot UNI! Nc shoot umlp cried
the winner, running to the. skin and
pointing to n bullet hole. Then be told
how he had been wandering down tho
river bank and had seen this strange
wild animal, like nothing he had ever
seen before, breaking through tho
cane. He Ind shot itdnd sold the
hide mt Bolivar. He was delighted to
get itsback. "a 4;
This WINS what Barnes had hoped
for. Standing, he addressed the Chick,
asaws. Il & 4. S7s
my brothers, lie said, "yon know
me. l am n poor man, but am; Il
friend to the Chickasnw. I mend his
gun for him and deal fairly by him.
This animal was my white mans pony.
Thought 1t far away and brought it
here. It cost me much wampum, tile
price of many Indian ponies. To lose
1t will lose me all. 1t escaped me and
went to tho woods, and there n Chick:
asaw killed It. 5 5.Si,s. n i;
when Iam5in Chlckasaws country, /
obey Chiekasaw law. When Chleka.
saw is in white mans country, 5llc
Should obey white mans law. Wife
mans law Is that whoever Kills my
pony must pay me for 1t. What Will
Chickasaw do y, s D Il
The Indians had listened 'attontlvely
when lie had finished, they went {tt
their ponies, tethered near by. tTht
whites watched them meanwhile wifi
Intense interest. The Indians unitetlis
cred their ponies mud brought them llp
Take um,"" they said. .1nllan liavt
only ponies. Give um air.
How manyi "$askcd Barnes. Vi
You say how many.p; 4 $s
. Barnes appointed nm appraiser, ,wllt
elected a number OF poliies equaiGir
value to the donkey. These lilo blacl;
Imlth sold to his neighbors. , u
The Indians gave upS their hunt AM
went back TO their villages, poorcr,bu
satisfied. 81 They had maintained, 4 foI
their tribe at least, some CHIN 10 TIL
title. Honest }Injun.' Z