The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1907-01-31
DAYS OF SCALP KNIFE PAST
Only Few Indians Left and They're
Not Barbarous
EAS1ERnER SECURED PHOTOGRAPH
DISAPPEARANCE OF THE SCALP.
Frs is ATTRIBUTABLE TO
SMALLPOX AND BOOZE.
EAsTERhER SECURED PHOTOGRAPH


Dodge, Kansas, what was then only
the body of a white man lying on the
prarie with his scalp gone, to tell the
story of another of hundreds of unre-
corded tragedies. The presence On
that particular occasion of an eastern
| photographer in pursuit of subjects
for illustrating the actual life of an
actual Indian resulted in a record in
this case which, while it rs permanent
as far as it goes is at the same time
characteristic in what it leaves unr =
corded
1t is g negative labeled "scalped
hunter with the place and date of
the scalping. 1t did not seem at the
lime that a scalped hunter was in
himself an object of sufficient interest
TO have his name attached. The incl
dent itself, too trivial because of the
commences of the occurrence of
similar incidents to excite more than
passing comment, became historical
only because of the presence of a
camera when the discovery was made
So with the lieutenant of cavalry and
his scout still keeping their places
making the discovery the photOgra-
pher has transmitted to posterity one
of the few authentic records of al
, actual scalp;"g.
no
camera, no doubt but thescalped
hunter is just as they found him
with his scalp gone and his pockets
turned inside out. This comes very
nearly to telling all there is to tell
but in spite of the fact that the kneel-
ing cavalry man kept on his knees
! for the convenience of the camera a
print which was made recently from
j that old negative shows a prOtruSiOn
of his under jaw and drawing down
of his lips which had nothing to do
with the cameras convenience. 1t is
undoubtedly an expression of the eau
casion objection to the Scalp6ng habit,
which goes far to account for the dis
continuance of it.
In thesame collection of negatives
to which this of the scalped hunter
of Fort Dodge belongs are others.
made from life, of more or less cele-
brated Indians of that period, addict
ed to the scalping habit The Apache,
PAGER" and the Comanche. 'Esa-
tonyett' elsa ton-yett). have the
typical scalping face. Kicking Bird
and Lone Wolf, Kiowas of the same
generation, are of type intermediate
between the professional scalp-hunting
Indian of the pioneer period of the west
and the Indians who are now photogra-
phed for art models, illustrating the
nobility of savagery. Whether the
great change is due to modern process
es of "retouching' the negatives or to
an actual improvement of the average
Indian during the present geheratiOn
the difference between the faces of
PAGER and Esatonyeet in the prints
from untouched negatives taken from
/ life during the last generation and the
faces of the artistic redman who rs
now photographed for the windows
| of the art stores is seemingly too
great to be accountd for by even half
a dozen generations of progress. But
whether or not the elevation suggested
by the improvement in the art of pilot
ography is in the Indian or the finisher
of the photograph the scalping habit
has passed irrevocably into history in
the United States. Scalping may per-
hans occur sporadically from time to
time. but the hunting of scalps as one
of the principal objects Of life has
ceased forever
| The disappearance Of the Indian,
except from reservations where he is
| a pensioner on the government. its
attributable chiefly to smallpox and
whiskey, which have probably Destroy
ed hundreds, if not thousands, for
every one killed by white men with
! steel and lead. Still, the irreconcilable
difference in viewing the scalping habit
hetween the Indian himself and the
| white man has done more than any
thing else, to Danish them from al
most the whole face of the continent
north of the Rio Grande.
The whites, at least until they be-
came "Indianized," resented the scalp
ing of the deal as an injury much
greater than that of actually killing the
| person scalped. 1t seemed to the whit
intellect unnecessary and hence afro
cious. while to the Indian, on the other
hand. the chief use of killing an enemy
seemed to be that of scalping him. Tne
scalp was the only convincing evidence
not only of individual prowess out
of the prowess of the tribe. The scalps
brought home after the return OF the
war were counted for the purpose OF
deciding how successful the tribe had
been in its wars just as reports OF the
enemy's losses are telegraphed home
from military headquarters by the
civilized for the same reason.
The taking of scalps thus became