The National tribune., 1907-03-28
THE PAWNEES.
tContinued from page u


AMI 200 officers and men have on ar
avkei3Ge been constantly employed ir
1nsisn warfare since that time. Ir
these actions 1,400 whites were killed
ana 1900 indians.
AL, of these affairs have cost Uncle
Saan.a pretty penny in cash. To deter
mis,e exactly the total of military ex-
pesdkure which would be charged to
1nfiah wars during the Nations exist
ente. is, of course, impossible, but a
fails, conservative estimate would make
this sum more than a billion dollars.
Thu Government has also spent during
this time about SEQ, 900 in govern
ingssand supporting these charges of the
Nation, and is at present diSbursing
abofit $1,000, 900 annually for this pur-
poss. 1t would appear that it has cost
aboSt four times as much to fight the
REQ Man as to pension him off.
The Pawnees, when at their best,
wera big, fine looking race of people,
rather high minded, of artistic temper
: amfslt, and until the 80 years of war
SPOKEN of were allies of the white peo-
pie. SThe Pawnees were once considered
the finest arrow makers among ali the
Indian tribes, and arrow making is an
art. No two tribes of Indians made
their arrows alike, and when a man
was found dead on the plains, the ar
rows lying about told the story of what
tribe was responsible. The Indians are
now armed with the very finest repeat
ing rifles, thanks to the United States
Government, which has always seen to
1t that its wards have been rather
better armed than its soldiers
Indians have been called "cowardly."
because they never fight in the open.
But it is impossible that this can be
true. The Indian does not think self
exposure brave, as a rule, but foolish.
1f II, &c
Fiction of the greatest injury and the
securing of the largest spoil at the
minimum of cost Even the Regular
arm of the service is learning this, and
United States troops no longer stani
up In the open to be shot at. but TAX"
advantage of every protection to 60
their destructive work. 1t is said that
these tactics have come about by OBJ
servation of the manner in which IN
dams fight and their remarkably small
losses in battle.
The Pawnees have some odd ide"S
about obligations which it would not
be bad idea for white people to adn~t.
Perhaps the most curious Illustration
of Indian idiosyncracies is found in
the proceedings of Pawnee hero
who, feeling poor" that is miserable
and down-hearted, resolved to sacrifice
his life by deliberately putting himself
in the hands of hostile tribe. With
one faithful friend he made his way
into a Comanche village and calmly en-
tered the lodge of a chief. The sensa-
ton caused by this invasion was quite
dramatic. The Comanche recovered
from his surprise, and sent out for his
neighbors and they come trooping and
hold a council. No one was prepared
TO advise as to the disposal of the Pow
nees, who meanwhile sat silent and
watchful. The situation is finally re-
lieved by a bit of strategy on the part
of the owner of the lodge, who caused
GOOD and drink to be slyly passed to the
oawnees from under the edge of the
ent, and when they had eaten and
drunk called attention to the fact that
they had partaken Of his hospitality,
and now ne could not injnre them. The
Dawnee theology is peculiar. They be-
iieve in a Supreme Being, and they
pray to Him for help continually. At
the same time they think that He has
deputed various animals-beayers, bad
gers, bears, snakes, wolves, birds-tO
exercise many Of His occult powers, and
these animals occupy in their mythol-
ogy the position of a sort of benefi,ent
.sorceress, who can IL need be restore
The dead to life, cure diseases, bestow
good luck, and in other ways benefit
UGH as gain their favor There are
sour specific places where assemblies OF
the animals are supposed to be held,
and where those who require to enlist
their services must repair, and very
surprising things are done in these as
semblies. The Pawnees believe in an
other life, and in ghosts. They even
hold that a dead person can be restored
30 life under certain conditions, tho in
these cases there is always a liability
co vanish on the part Of the "revenant."
The Pawnees were great trailers and
scouts, and always good soldiers. One
member of that tribe, and because of
the Chieftainship Of his father, the
great Kit-ka-hook, a sub-chief himself,
was one of Roosevelt's Rough Riders,
and acquitted himself with hcnors.
William Pollock was his name, and he
was an artist of rare ability, and ex-
Quisite temperament, some of his pic
fures of Indians being of rare merit.
He was equally facile with the pen,
pencil, crayon or brush. He came to
Haskell Indian Institute, at Lawrence.
Kan, when small boy, accompanied
by his father, Kit-ka-hook, in full blan-
ket regimentals, two feathers, tiger
claw necklace, and all the other weird
paraphernalia of the full blooded Paw
nee, and became musician, an artist,
an athlete. He was a bugler when with
the Rough Riders but he only lived a.
few brief months after his return from
the war. Consumption claimed him,
The Pawnees We're once splendid
"trailers." and in the day of their glory
that was a necessary calling. The In
dian hunts first for a sign. then another
and another until he starts the trail
To become a good trailer ii is necessary
to have keen eyes, a good knowledge
of the country and a thorough knowl-
edge of the animals or men you are
trailing.
/ remember a graphic tale told me by
an Army officer of some trailing done
for him by his Pawnee scouts back in
the late COS. A report came in that a
band of Indian raiders had made their
way down the valley, almost under the
very noses of the troops and had rob-
bed several ranches, killing the settlers.
In order to move successfully against
the Indians in that country Il was nee
essary TO march at night on account
of the warning sent ahead by the signal
fires. A troop of cavalry and COM
pany of infantry We're sent out after
the raiders as soon as night fell. All
that day Indian scouts had been scat
tered over the valley searching for
trails, and when the command was
ready to start the scouts were ready
to follow a trail which was believed to
lead to the rancheria or village of the
Indians.
The trail was carefully followed over
the stony ground and thru the under
brush, the scouts actually feeling their
way with their hands. They seemed
to experience no difficulty in tracing the