The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-10-01
Sal Pig
tile Enemy
HOW THE INDIANS GLoRiE0 in THIS
FIENDtsH PRACTICE.

The Grear<r the brewers Of the vic
tin, she More Df, seaIi, vHs Priced
Men VINO surpIved TsaI- Terrible
ordeaI-Ths Cave o. I;obert 11eGes.
OF the origin OF scalp tas.Ing but lit
tie IS known, ana that vague and In
definite. Nearly every tribe las sune
wild. weird ieyeEd to account for the
custom. but these traditions vary vice
~ aS 70 the cause. That raising Lie
hair II ;m Enemy IS OF great antiquity
there IS no doubt. Tor il ;ise Dibie 1t IS
related how the soldiers tore the skin
from tile Leads Of their vanquished
foes.
With the North American savage
there appears to be some close atiili-
alton between the departed and his
hair. / have often asked many blood
begrimed warrior why lie should care
for dead mans hair, ana Invariably u
number of reasons have been assigned.
It is an evidence to his people that lie
has triumphed over his enemy. The
scalps are very prominent factors in
the incantations OF the medicine
lodge, feature OF religious rites. The
savage believes there - a wonderfully
inherent power In the scalp OF an en-
envy. Ali the excellent qualities Of the
victim go with his hair the moment it
Is wrenched from Ills head. II the VIC
tirI IS renowned warrior so much
greater is the anxiety to procure his
scalp, for the fortunate pOssessor then
lnherits all the bravery and proves of
Its original owner
never knew OF but one Instance in
all my experiences among the Indians
covering perio6 IF more than third
IF a century where white man taken
prisoner in battle escaped death. 1t
was n great many ears ago; the party,
u dear friend, is still living, = grand old
mountaincer. but tie homelicst man on
earth probably lie was red faced,
gvriuIIed and poc5marl-cd. with
mouth rs large and full OF teeth as
gorilla. and there was no more hair on
his lead tlnu there is On Il billiard ball
He was captured IN - prolonged
eight and taken to the village of the
tribe. where the principal chicf resided.
That digultary gave one disguised
look at the prisoner and said that
ne ysus had Medicine" and, il not
the evil spirit himself. closely re-
lated 10 It. The chief ordered his
subordinates to furnish the prisoner
with pony. loaded with provisions,
provided him with 4 rife 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 IA
nous scout or army officer who had
successfully chastised them-for ex-
ample, Custer, SulIy, Miles or Crook
than dozen scalps of ordinary white
men.
There are many instances on record
where men have been scalped and yet
survived the terrible ordeal. butin every
case the scnlper supposed his victim
dead, the latter taking good care that
his foeman should not be disabused
OF the supposed fact
In 1867 party of Indians took up
q rail on the Union Pacific railroad and
laid distractions on the track After
dark a freight train ran into the trap
an6 was wrecked. The engine driver
and firemeu were instantly killed. The
conductor and brakeman jumped or,
to find themselves beset by band
Of yelling savaEes. The engineer es-
capped In the darkness. but the luck
less brakeman was shot and fell. The
indian who had fred dismounted from
his pony, scaIped him. stripped him
OF his clothing and rode away.
EaAEl9 III tut LAlpl INNS aAAAN'AAN+ . N'A-N
rain was tagged by Il hideous looking
object, which turned ont to be the
who had been shot through
the body and scalped. He had re
covered his senses. and. knowing that
the train was due. walked some dis
lance down the track to save 1t from
being wrecked. He was taken on
board, and the train moved up to the
wreck, which. after PlunderinE 1t, the
Indians left Just as 1t was thrown over
through their devIlish act.
I saw tho unfortunate man some
months afterward. He was perfectly
recovered, but with Il horrible looking
head. he stated that the bullet, al
though knocking him down. had not |
made him unconscious, and the |
greatest trial during the awful night |
was the necessity of shamming dead, |
he not daring to even groau while the |
Indian was sawinG Mt his scalp with |
. very dull knife
The other Instance which has come |
under my own observation Is that of
Robert MCGEE. In 1864 McGee, |
slender stripping CT lad. came to |
Leaveuworth, Kan, seeking employ
menf. That town was the base of gov
supplies for all the frontier
military posts, even rs far away as
Arizona. A freight caravan was mt
that time loading for Fort Union, n.
NJ. The wagons and whole outfit were
owned by contractor named III. G.
Barrett, but he would not take the
chances of the long and perilous trip
of more than 700 miles through the |
indian infested plains unless the
leased the train outright |
Or gave him an lndemnIfyinE bond or
,ssIrance against loss. The bond was