Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1906-10-03
SCALPING THE ENEMY
HOW The INDIANS GLoRlEo M THIS
FieNoiSH PRACTICE.

tim the More His scalp va. PrIEed.
Hen Who Survived T;.is Terrible
OrdeaI-The Case OF Robert Niece.
OF the origin OF scalp taking but lit
Tie Is known, and that vague and in
definite. Nearly every tribe has some
Wild. weird legend to account for the
custom. but these traditions vary wide
~ as 10 the cause That raising the
hair of an enemy Is OF great antiquity
there Is no doubt. for i'm the Bible It Is
related how the soldiers tore the skin
from the heads OF their vanqulsl,ed
foes.
With the North American savage
there appears 10 be some close afiili-
alton between the departed and his
hair l have often asked many a blood
begrimed warrior why he should care
Tor Il dead mans hair. and Invariably q
number Of reasons have been assigned.
II is an evidence to his people that he
has triumphed over his enemy. The
scalpS are very prominent factors in
the nominations OF the medicine
lodge, Il feature OF religious rites. The
savage believes there il a wonderfully
Inherent power I'm the scalp OF an en-
envy. All the excellent qualities of the
victim 20 with his hair the moment II
is wrenched from his head. II the vic
tim Is renowned warrior SO much
greater is the anxiety TO procure his
scalp. for the fortunate po.sessor then
inherits all the bravery AMI prowess Of
Us original owner
never knew OF but one instance in
s't ms experience among the Indians
covering period OF more than third
o. a century where a white man taken
prisoner In battle escaped death. II
was greet many years ago: the party.
de r friei..l. Is still living. a grand old
wontainccr. hut the hOmelicst man on
earth probably. lie was red faced.
wrinkled am pockmarkcd with n
mouth ms large and fuu OF teeth rs n
gorilla. and there was no more hai. on
LiS bead than there is on billiard bah
lie was captured I'm Il prolonged
fight and taken go the village Of the
tribe. where the principal chief resided
Shat dignitary gave one Disguised
look ut the prisoner ANA said that
Le Was bad medicine" ANA. IT not
the evil spirit himself. closely re.
lated 10 IT, The Chief ordered hi;
suhordinates 20 furnish the prisoner
with a pony. loaocl with provisions.
provided him with rifle and told him
to 20 back 10 his people.
For the reasons stated the Indian OF
the great plains and Rocky mountains
would rather take one scalp OF Il IA
nous scout or army officer who had
successfully cna~tiscd jhcm-for cs-
ample. Custer. Sully. Miles or Crook
than dozen scalps Of ordinary white
men
There arc many Instances ON record
where mon have been scalpad and vet
survived the terrible ordeal. butiu every
caSe the scalper supposed his victim
dead. the latter taking good care that
his focmau should not be diSahuscd
OF the supposed fact
In 1867 a party OF Indians took UP
rail ON the Union Pacific railroad ana
laid instructions on the track. After
dark freight train ran into the trap
and was wrecked. The engine driver
and iircmcn we've instantly killed. The
conductor and brakeman jumped OF.
10 find themselves bcSct 10y a band
Of Yelling savages The engineer es-
capped In the darkness. hut the luck
less brakeman was shot and fell. The
Indian who had fired diSmounted from
his pony. Scalpcd him. stripped him
OF his clothing and rode away.
Early i'm the morning another freight
~ 4 D.
object. which turned ont To be the
brakeman, who had been shot through
the body and scalped lie had re-
covered his senses. and. knowing that
the train was due walked some dis
lance down the track 10 save IL from
being wrecked. lie was taken on
board. and the train moved up TO the
wreck. which, after plundering ii. the
Indians left just rs il was thrown over
through their deviliSh act.
| saw the unfortunate man SOME
months aftcrward. He WAS perfectly
recovered. hut with 4 horrible looking
head. lie 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 groan while the
Indian was saving ut his scalp with
n very dun knife
The other instance which has come
under my own observation is that Of
Robert MCGEE. In 1864 Niece. 4
slender STRIPPING of lad. came To
LeavcnwOrth. Kan. seeking employ
ment. That town was the base of gov
eTnment supplies for an the frontier
military posts. even as far away rs
Arizona 4 freight caravan was at
that time loading for Fort Union. y.
NJ. The wagons and whole outfit were
owned Ivy contractor named H. {.
Barrett. hut he would not take Tile
chances OF the long ANA peril0uS trip
OF more than 200 miles through the
Indian infested plains unless the
government leased the train outright
or gave him an inlr.lnifymg bond or
assurance against loss. Inc bond was
given and Barrett proceeded To hire
teamSterS-a hard task on account of
the danger attending the journey.
Young McGee was among the number
engaged. ana the caravan started on
July l. 1864.
1t took the old Santa Fe trail. strik-
ing the Arkansas river ut the great
bend of that stream near its con
fiuence with the Walnut. The region
was very rough and called the dark
and bloody ground" for some of the
worst Indian maSSacrcS in the history
Of the plains were perpcuated there
Some insignificant Skirmishes with the
Indians had taken DIace but nothino