The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-04-29
ScaIping Enemies
Ancient Practice

81 -sSs@s4srs-sss-sts'e-s"c's-c y -
S. All indian tribes with which am
3 acquainted scalp their enemies Kliieo
in battle. OF the origin of scalp taxing
g Isut little is known, and that vague
and indefinite Nearly every tribe mas
some wild. weird legend to account for
q the custom, but these traditions vary
q widely as to the cause. That raising
s. the hair of an enemy is Of great an
s tiouity there is no doubt, for in the
8 BibIe it is related how the soldiers tore
q the skin from the heads of their van
s auished foes.
8 with the North American savage
ffsere appears to be some close afflll-
Nation between the departed and ms
#hair | have often asked many blood
z bsgrimed warrior why he should care
& for a dead mans hair, says Capt
& Henry Inrnan in the Kansas City Star,
and Invariably a number of reasons
mas been as Igned. 1t is an evidence TO
This people that he has triumphed over
Ibis enemy. The scalps are very prom
Il inent factors in the lamentations OF
8tbe ..Medicine Lodge q feature of re-
1Iigious rites. The savage believes
4 there is a wonderfully inherent power
the scalp of an enemy; all the eX-
@celient qualities of the victim go with
4ais hair the moment it is wrenched
from his head. If the victim is a re-
snowned warrior, so much greater is the
Eanxiety to procure his scalp. for the
Fortunate possessor then inherits all
1.-THE bravery and powers of it's original
Fowner.
never knew of but one instance in
{an my experience among the Indians,
Espyering period of more than the
third of a century, where white man.
taken prisoner in battle, escaped death.
1t was a great many years ago; the
party, a dear friend still living.
Grand old mountaineer but the home
|1iest man on earth. probably He was
red faced, wrinkled and pockmarked,
with mouth as large and full of teeth
Eas gorilla. and there was no more
hair on his head than there is on a
|bzlliard ball.
3 He was captured in prolonged
tight and taken to the village of the
tribe where the principal chief resided.
That dignitary gave one Disguised
look at the prisoner and said that he
was bad Medicine" and if not the
-Evil Spirit himself. closely related
to it, The chief ordered his subordi- !
nate to furnish the prisoner with a |
pony. loaded him with provisions. pro- t
vided him with a rifle and told him to |,
go back to his people.
For the reasons stated the Indian of /
the great plains and Rocky Mountains
would rather take one scalp of a fam
Gus scout or army officer who has sue /
cessfully chastised them-for example
Custer. Sully, Miles or Crook-than a !
dozen scalps of ordinary white men.
& There are many instances on record
where men have been scalped and yet !
survived the terrible ordeal. but in
every case the scalper supposed his
victim dead. the later taking good care
that his foeman should not be disa-
bused of the supposed fact.
In 1867 party of Indians took up
rail on the Union Pacific Railway and
aid distractions on the track. After
lark a freight train ran into the trap
md was wrecked The engineer and
brennan were instantly killed The
and brakemen jumped off TO
ing savages. They ran into the dark
hess and all escaped except one, who j
vas pursued. shot and fell. The In
Eian who had fired dismounted from his
1ony, and straddling that unlucky
mans body, scalped him, stripped
liTn of all clothing but shirt and shoes
md rode away. I
Early in the morning another freight s
rain was tagged by hideous looking I
'bJect, which turned out to be the {
brakeman who had been shot through {
he body and scalped, He had recover s
d his sense, and knowing that the E
rain was due, walked some distance r
own the track to save it from being
He was taken on board and {
he train moved up to the wreck, t
which after plundering it, the Indians |
EFT, just as it was thrown over through /
heir deyilish act II
I saw the unfortunate man some &
aonths afterward. He was perfectly '
covered, but with a horrible looking c
cad He stated that the bullet al
hough knocking him down had not h
sade him unconscious, and the great d
st trial during that awful night was e
7e necessity of shamming dead, he I
OF daring even to groan While the t
adian was saving at his scalp with t