The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-11-03
WORK OF INDIAN VRAILERS
FREIR SKILL IN FOLLOWING
NAN AND BEAST.


wsndsrTul Feat sg Pedro Esplnssa-Pursus
me Apaches ThrSuHh M and q tho
stuthwese-1IEOw CAeyennes Concealed
Thetr ~RstreNt-The Feat q some UtSs.
when a Grontiersman talks Of a trail. hS
may mean anything that indicates the
passage that way OF somebody or m
thing. But there 10 another sort OF a trail
that the Indians became expert in Ollow
ing. and some OF the feats OF the aborigines
OF the West have bordered on the miracu-
lous. An old Indian loft his people In
southwestern California and wandered
over the desert. after having become de-
mented through senility. This same In
dian, In his younger days. had 9 noted
for his ability 10 trace the slightest trail
left by man or beast. and his recovery and
return to the care OF frienda were due en-
tlrely to tho ability Of members Of HE tribe
20 follow the feeble trail on the dessert which
he 6ft as he started on his aimless wan
behring's.
u 10 difficult in che extreme to follow
the trail Of one who does not attempt 20
hide the fact that he has been travelling
across the country. writes Clarence Y.
Edwards In the San Francisco Chronicle.
and. this being true, Il may be understood
how much more difficult the task becomes
when the person followed has used every
endeavor and precaution TO efface all
marks that show his passage. Take such
q trail. and success depends entirely on the
ability OF the trsilert to follow for miles by
means Of discovering marks left by acci-
dental or inadvertent slips Of the foot.
An expert trailer can follow a trail where
q trained hound would fail to find a scent.
Sign means any evidence that something
has been where the object is seen. Ashes.
hncans, gun shells. pieces of paper or cloth
Ing. broken sticks. footprints, ANYTHING
indicating that man has been there is sign"
Broken bushes. overturned logs and stones,
muddy water. scratched bark or earth.
patches Of hair. footprints. all Indicate
the passage OF an animal and are Sign
Where these signs are continuous thev
make the trail, and where the trail is used
frequently and for = long time IL Is known
as an old trail. Where the signs are new
and recently made IL is a fresh trail. Az
the trail IL the continuation Of the sign. = or
rather a succession Of sign" IL follows that
trailing 10 the ability to find this succession
~ SIGNS In order TO follow the route taken
by the object being trailed. To become a
good trailer therefore 10 is necessary To
nave a keen eye. \ good knowledge Of the
country, a thorough acquaintance with the
NHQINe OI A0IfltAh anu Nne cnATADIer OF alUn
that each kind Of animal makes. III the
object trailed be white or red men a knowI-
sdve OF the habits Of these must also he
had.
In this branch Of field craft the White
man must always take second rlace to the
Indian. for In the red man there Ia the weight
OF generations Of trailers 10 make the art
one that Is almost second nature. am
sure that In many cases which nave come
uAder my observation the art OF trailing
AOy QFnOarnNa6 Tn nm lnQfipnf WhsNaa nanyo
become 90 exrert a. do Indians. but I have
nown Mexicans who have exceIled and
surpassed the Indians. / have heard Of
many expert white ~trailers, but in every
instance the experiences was good FOR a
white man but would have been conside cred
~ indifferent had the work been done by
an indian Even white men who have
been captured IA boys by Indians and
trained to manhoO have never been 40
good ss the indians themselves.
Probably the finest trailer ever known
was Pedro Espinosa, a Mexican, whose
powers bOrdered upon the mythical. A
story told by Gen. Dodge win illustrate
what an exrert trailer is able to accomplish
under conditions that eeom To preclude
possibility OF success.
was sent In pursuit Of "A party of muir
derlng COmanches, y said the General. ~who
had been pursued. scattered and the trail
abandoned by a party of Texas Rangers.
who found the task Of following the Indians
TOO difficult for them. Eight lays after the
Indians had been scattered and had taken
dInerent routes 70 some Prearranged meet
ing place put EspinOsa on thetrail. One
OF the horses ridden by the Comanches was
shod. the rest were barefoot, and EspinOsa
slowed the trail Of the shod horse. When
We were fairly into the rough and rocky
Guadalupe Mountains Espinosa stopped,
~dismounted AMI picked up from a crevioe in
the rocks the four shoes Of the horse. IT'S
owner had found out the fact that this
horse would leave an easily followed trail
n he put himself on an equality with
the rest OF the band by removing the shoes.
With a grim smile Espinosa handed them TO
me and said the Indian intended to hide his
tTsil:
For six days we jOurneyed over the
toughest mountains. turning and twisting
IN what was apparently the most objectless
manner. Not a man In my whole COM
mand was able to discover a single evidence
that any human being had gone thai way
ahead OF us. except at times when Espinosa
would call attention TO some faint mark
left by the Indian horses. On one or two
ocoasions l lost patience and demanded thai
he show me some evidence that we were
after the band OF Comanches, and he would
nlandly answer. POGO tempo "a little
whitley. Then in a short time he would
point TO a mark or a footprint or some
other unmistakable sign. We followed
tne devious windinRs OF this almost indis-
tlnguishable trail for nearly 100 miles.
and during the entire rid EspinOsa left his
saddle but three times to look closer at the
ground. He finally took us to where tho
Indians had reunited and we were able to
overtake them and punish them for their
raidinR.'
had an experience in the Apache CAM
paiRn which, / think. shows greater skill
than that told OF by the General. All In
dians are expert ~traiIers, the best In this
respect being the DelaWares, Comanches
and Apaches. The best trailer that ever
came under my observation was an Apache
Who was in the employ Of the Government
during the campaign OF Gen. Crook in Ari-
IONA.
During the campaign the beat soldiers
Of the Regular army were pitted against
the best lighters and hiders among all the
Indians. To assist them the troops had
In their employ a number OF Indian scouts !
and trailers who were famed for their ex-
perienoe- and for their knowledge OF the |
habits OF the Indians who we're out. These
trailers were also Apaches. but Of n different
tribe from those who were at war. The |