Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-08

and that vague and indefinite.
Nearly every tribe has some wild, weird
legend to account for the custom. but these
traditions vary widely to the cause.
That raising the hair of an enemy Is OF
great antiquity there is no doubt, for In
the Bible it is related how the soldiers tore
the skin from the heads OF their vanquished
foes.
With the North American savage there
appears to be some close utilization between
the departed and his hair. 1 have often
asked many blood egrimed warrior why
he should care for a dead mans hair. and
invariably number of reasons has been
assigned It Is an evidence to his people
that he has triumphed over his enemy. The
scalps are very prominent factors in the
incantations Of the medicine lodge,
feature of religious rites. The savage be-
lieves there is q wonderfully inherent power
IN the scalp of an enemy: all the excellent
qualities of the victim go with his hair the
moment it is wrenched from Shis head. II
the victim Is a renowned warrior, so much
greater is the anxiety to procure his scalp,
for the fortunate poSseSsor then inherits all
the bravery and prowess OF its original
owner.
1 never know of but one instance in all
my experience among the Indians covering
a period Of more than the third of CEN
fury, where white man, taken prisoner In
battle, escaped death 1t was a great many
years ago, the u ucdF ITkSlfu,- SLlii
living. a grand old nountaineer. but the
homeliest man on earth probably He was
red faced, wrinkled and peck marked, with
mouth as large and full of teeth as a
gorilla. and there was no more hair on his
head than there is on billiard ball.
He was captured in a prolonged fight 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 bad medicine and If
not the EVIL Spirit himself. closely re-
~ l. ,y-f &, a,
mates to furnish the prisoner with a pony,
loaded him with provisions provided him
with a rifle, and told him to go back to
lis people
For the reasons stated. the Indians Of
the great plains and Rocky mountains
would rather take one scalp of a famous
scout or army officer who had successfully
chastised them-for example, Custer, Sully,
Miles or Crook-than dozen scalps of or
binary white men.
About thirtyfive years ago I was camp
ing on the high divide" between the
arkansas and Beaver rivers with q party
CT government Indian scouts, members of
three friepcly tribes, Osages, Pawneos and
Kaws employed by Gen. Sheridan in his
winter campaign against the hostile Chey
ennes, arapahoes and kiowas. It was
terribly gusty day, characteristic of our
Llains region at certain times of the year.
As we huddled with closely wrapped blan-
kets around our littlo fire of buffalo chips
the dust and ashes would rise in miniature
whirlwinds and go dancing over the prairie
until they exhausted themselves.
1 asked venerable chief OF the Osages,
Little Beaver, nearly eighty years old, what
those fitful spirals Indicated. This / did
in order to draw from him his idea of the
forces of nature. He replied
They are the spirits of some southern
Indians, killed and scalped UP north, going
back to the lodges of their people"
I thought that If he had substituted the
word matter for spirit" as everywhere we
tread upon the dust of lost civilization,
he would probably have been nearer the
truth than in the statement OF one OF his
tribes superstitions.
Among the many myths of the North
American Indian, the disposition of tho
soul after It's separation from the body and
It's close connection with the scalp varies
according TO the religion Of the tribe. With
some. the journey to the happy hunting
grounds begins Immediately; with others
the spirit remains near the grave. Again,
If an Indian dies away from the lodges of
his people, the spirit returns at once to
where it hovers as II reluctant to leave.
Among the Upper Missouri river tribes 1t
Is believed that before the spirit finally de-
parts from those who have died from
| a great cliff overhanging the Missouri, and
carves upon the wall of rock u picture
showing the manner of death.
that the soul attaches itself to the scalp;
that the soul of person scalped does not
suffer from the wounds inflicted or the
body but that the converse Is the case
where the scalp is not torn off.
u
There are many instances on record
where men have been scalped and yet sur
vived the terrible ordeal but in every
case the scalper supposed his victim dead.
the latter taking good care that his foe
I r. ill., ,,.- 50 4la
posed fact.
In 1861 party of Indians took up rail-
on the Union Pacific railway, and laid OBJ
structons on the track After dark
freight train ran into the trap and was
| wrecked The engineer and fireman were
| instantly killed. The conductor and brakes
| men jumped off to find themselves beset by
a band Of yelling savages. They ran into
the darkness and all escaped except one.
who was pursued, shot and fell The In
dian who had fired dismounted from his
pony and straddling that unlucky mans
body scalped him, stripped him OF all
clothing but shirt and shoes, and rode
away.
Early In the morning another freight
| train was tagged by hideous looking OBJ
ject, which turned out to be the brake
man who had been shot through the body
| and scalpedI He had recovered his senses,
and knowing that the train was due. walk
| ed some distance down the track to save
| 1t from being wrecked. He as taken on
! board and the train moved up to the wreck,
| which, after plundering, the Indians had
| left just as It was thrown ever through
| their devilish act.
| While examining the wreck one Of the
! men found scalp. and taking 1t Into the
| caboose 1t was Immediately recognized by
| the scalped man as his own. It was placed
/ In water, and when the train arrived at
| Omaha an effort was made by the surgeons
| to make 1t grow again on the mans head.
| but without success l saw the unfortunate
| man some months afterward. He was per-
| fectIy recovered. but with horrid locking
| head. He stated that the bullet. although
| knocking him down. had not made him un-
| conscious, and the greatest trial during
| that awful night was the necessity OF
| shamming dead, he not daring even to
| groan while the Indian Was saving at his
| scalp with very dull knife.
| Tho other instance which has come I'M
| der my own observation is that of Robert
| McGes. In 1864 Niece. q slender stripping
| Of lad. came to Leavcnwcrth. Kan. seek
| Ing employment. That town was the bass
Of government supplies for all the frontier
military posts even as far away a. Arizona.
| A freight caravan was at that Tina loading