Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1908-03-24
To be Continued.
INDIAN BOW AND ARROW.

INDIAN BOW AND ARROW.
Materials From Which They Were
Made-The Culver.
The bows of the North American
Indians were made Of wood, bone or
horn. Sometimes the DOW was made of
single piece of wood, sometimes, of
several pieces; perhaps 1t was of wood
alone, or it might be backed by sinew
or by the skin of some animal. The
material for the weapon was gather
ed, says Forest and Stream, whenever
1t was possible, and a man might have
in his lodge a number of sticks each of
which he intended ultimately to fash
ion into a bow, or if he did not live
long enough for this the bow wood
would descend to his heirs. AS the
most important implement of hunter
OF warrior the bow was highly valued.
Bows of bone were made sometimes
of sections of the rib Of large animals,
spliced and glued together and were
usually backed by sinew. Those Of the
antler Of the elk were sometimes in a
single piece, and at other times In sec
tions, bevelled at the ends and neatly
glued and spliced. Bows. Of horn were
often made of several pieces similarly
glued and spliced, but the horns of the
mountain sheep were sometimes cut
into long, and slender rods which were
laid together, glued and backed by
sinew
Another type of sheep horn bow
was in a single piece, the horn being
cut in a spiral from base Of horn to
point, this spiral being steamed or
boiled and then Strengthened and caus-
ed to dry straight Bows such as these
were unusual. but they were also very
powerful, and never wore out. On the
other hand, 1t Is said that bows made
of bone or of antler were more for
show than for use They were good to
look at and for time were effective
but after a few years became dry and
brittle
Next to the bow. and In fact so
much a part of it that 1t cannot be
separated from 1t, is the arrow, COM
pleX implement the development of
which we may imagine to have been
very slow, and which no doubt was
we'll advanced toward its present form
before the bow was thought Of. We
may fancy the arrow to be the out
growth of a simple stabbing instru-
ment. which developed into a dart to
be thrown, similar to certain toys still
in use among the children Of our
plains Indians.
The arrow consisted of three essen
tial parts, the head, the shaft and the
feathers Sometimes the shaft was
compound, consisting Of more than
one piece Of wood. The primitive head
was very various. The feathering IS
comparatively a modern invention, so
much so that today traditions exist as
to it's development and the various
steps toward the improved feathering
OF modern times are given. Even with
In the last forty or fifty years the chill
dren among our wilder tribes have
employed very primitive forms of ar
rows, using In their hunting Of little
birds arrows without heads and having
merely sharpened, fire hardened
point, arrows without feathers and a
gain arrows feathered after and earlier
method. of which, as practiced by a
dults. we know only by tradition.
The bowstring was usually made Of
twisted sinew, sometimes put on the
bow green and allowed to dry there.
In the southwest. however, the string
was sometimes made OF. vegetable A.
bre. In other sections it might be made
of strips Of rawhide or intestines of
animals.
The bow and It's arrows were almost
always carried on the back in cases
made of the skins Of animals. The bow
case was a long and narrow bag, just
wide enough to admit the unstrung
bow. Immediately beneath that and
parallel to 1t. both cases usually being
attached to a stiff rod Of wood nearly
as long as the quiver, was the shorter.
wider bag for the arrows. 1t was slight
ly longer than the arrow, and when
arrows were to be drawn from ii they
were grasped about the feathers, so as
to prevent this important part Of the
dart from being ruffied.
Among the plains tribes in old times
the best quivers and bow cases were
made from the skin of the otter, but
the hide of the panther was also high
ly valued for this purpose. and bow
cases and quivers were frequently
made from the hide of the buffalo
calf In later times the skins of cattle
were used for the same purpose, and
the pack train of the seventh cavalry
have an old bow case and culver
made from the skin of a mule, one of
killed at the time of the Custer fight
Tho country. in world