Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-04-20
TO BE CONTINUED.
INDIAN CUNNING.
The BIsckfeet Indians Story Of the
Great White Horse.

Great White Horse.
All Indians who use horses are yer,
fond of horse racing and not only race
their own horses against one another.
but they race their own against those
of other tribes-and used to do this
even in the wild era of the buffalo and
Of constant warfare. Even at that
time friendly tribes and bands Joined
In the two grand buffalo hunts Of each
year, and after the hunting was over.
pitted the fastest horses of the various
bands one against the other. At one
time, not so very long ago, the Black
feet had the very fastest horse that
any one knew Of; the fastest horse OF
which any one could tell, or which any
one had seen. He was a source or
wealth to the tribe, for Indians are
very fond of betting, and this animal
always won everything that was bet
against him. You can imagine how
proud the Blackfeet were Of this Great
ure. You can also imagine how en-
vious were the Stoneys, the Crows, the
Sioux the Creeks, and all Of the other
Indians of the plains.
Stealing Is considered fair between
tribes, and II 1t can be successfully
done those savage people think 1t very
honorable, even glorious. The Black
feet, therefore, kept the wonderful race
horse In tent at night. They did not
dare leave him out with their other
horses. They bought a string Of bells
at the Hudson Bay company's nearest
fort, put the bells around the horses
neck, tied him to q tepee pole inside
the tent with him. This was the
rule every night, and on no night did
the men forget to close the door or
the tepee and "cinch" 1t tight with
thongs of buckskin Whoever could
steal that big white beauty Of horse
had to be very clever thief, they
thought: but, in truth, they never
dreamed that he could be stolen.
The smartest thief among the Grow
Indians told his chief and the head
men that he was going to try to get
that horse away from the Blackfeet
One evening he crawled through the
grass to the tall bluff along the Bow
river (north of our Idaho, I think, was
the locality), where the Blackfeet had
their camp. He saw the noble horse
led into a certain tent, and he saw the
four watchers go In and close the door.
Night fell and he crept down the
slanting bluff into the camp. The only
thing he had to fear was the barking
of some dog. If q dog saw or heard
him and barked, that would set all the
other dogs barking and he would be
obliged to run for his life. Stealthily.
as only an Indian can move on his
softly moccasined feet, this arch-thief
Of the thieving Crow nation crept into
the Blackfoot camp. He had to step
over several sleeping dogs, and he did
not awaken one. He came to the tent
of the white horse. He looked 1t all
over. He went to another tepee and
took a travois from It's side and carried
1t and set it up against the horses
tent.
A travois Is the wheelless wagon the
Indians use I'm the summer. 1t Is made
of two long poles with the upper ends
near together; the lower ends spread
apart and drag upon the ground. You
see by this description that If a travels
is stood on end, it can be made to serve
as a sort of ladder. Thus the arch
thief Of the Crows used the one he put
up against the horse tent. On it he
from there he got a view of the inte-
rior, looking down between the tent
poles that formed the sides Of the CHM
ney-pole. He saw the horse dimly, and
even more dimly he saw the four men
beside the horse all asleep. He climb
ed upon the tent-poles; he poised his
body very nicely in the chimney open
ing; he dropped fairly and squarely
upon the wtite horses back!
The instant he felt himself on the
back of the beast, his knife, which was
in his hand, swept through the cord
that tethered the horse. His heels
shot in against the horses sides, the
bells rang out sharp and clear, and
the horse snorted with surprise. But
the pressure of the thief's heels urged
the animal forward, and as he took one
step the man reached out and slit a
cash straight up and down through the
fastened door, which was only buck
skin. The four Indians leaped to their
feet, but the horse and his captor were
now out in the open ground and like
the wind shot away from the camp.
The watchers ran and yelled. the dogs
barked. the whole tribe rushed out Of
the tents, and every man sprang to
horse! But what was the use? There
was no horse that could catch the ami
NAL. and 50 they all turned sadly home
again after a mad ride of a mile or
two. The thief rode in triumph home
TO the tents of the Crows, and from
that day his tribe owned the great
white horse and his fame and their
riches increased.-From Julian Ralph's
"Stories Told by Indians" In st. Mich
olas.