The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1919-07-10

officer who stood beside him. Shades
of Prince Bismarck! Everything else
had the kaiser taken into considera.
tion when he sprinted into the late un.
pleasantness, but he had failed to
teach his soldiers or officers Choctaw.
AS scout, the Indian has sur
passed all rivals, even the French
black troops, even the British Indians
being considered his interiors in the
art of night raids, of patrols, of feel
ing the way forward without in the
slightest losing sense of direction. II
was in work of this kind that the
American Indian was used to the great
est advantage, and there is now a
recommendation in the mill advising
that special units be formed of Indian
scouts to be utilized as auxiliaries in
connection with platoons and platoon
sections.
Questionnaires were sent to all diyi-
sions asking whether the Indian could
stand up under nervous strain, whether
/ he was natural leader, what were
the nature of his associations with
white men, what fitness he had for
any particular fighting arm. and what
! his qualities were for scouting A
symposium of replies showed that he
stood up well under mental strain:
/ that though he was not a natural
| leader. he associated we'll with white
/ soldiers; that they regarded him, on
the whole, as a good man; that he
! had showed q special aptitude for au-
tomatoes, and that his capacity for
/ scouting was boundless.
! Above all, he had the sense of di-
+ erection developed to an unbelievable
extent. The Indians always assert
| that they are never at loss when
it comes to orientating themselves,
and ascribe this faculty TO their ha-
bitual observation of wind, sun, moon,
stars, landmarks, memory of country
! traverseu, and the knowledge of wood
craft Tested with white soldiers, in
which every man was blindfolded in
an open woods. the Indians were the
only scouts who were able to reach
previously indicated detectives 100
! feet ahead. They accomplished this
! by careful crawling by feeling out the
ground. and by memory pictures Of
the intervening terrain. These tests
were made repeatedly in the 36th Divi-
sion, which has a great many Indians
| in it.
In addition, the redmen were found
to be uncomplaining, good runners
some members of the Navajo, Zuni
and Hopi tribes were wont TO run 4
small matter of ten miles twice daily
to and from their garden work in the
southwest patient and reserved. They
are good shots, stoical under fire. and
use signals readily.
Aside from this, it was found that
they are fond of the excitement pa
troll work holds, since it puts them
upon their initiative and their mettle,
and allows them the close companion
ship of their own kind.
Instances of Indian heroism in the
war are many. Private Akoohna, Chi
huahua Indian of the 60th Infantry,
was sent out with a sergeant and sew
en- privates one night to destroy with
incendisrv bombs a German operations
screen consisting of pine boughs
stretched over three wires, 100 yards
! long and four feet high, which extend
ed just in frcnt of the enemy trenches.
AS the detail approached the screen
| it was observed and fired on, the SER
geant dropping dead, and several pri-
Yates topping over, wounded. Akooh-
ma took command, and was later cap
tured. Left under guard of single
boche, the Indian whipped a concealed
Colt from his blouse, shot the German
through the head, and made his way
back to his own lines.
There was an Indian officer of the
167th infantry who fought with great
bravery in the Baccarat sector. He
went out on patrols II nights in sue
cession and was finally killed.
Another Indian, Private Ben Row.
| land, of the 18TH infantry, one OF 80
CneyenneS sent 10 NdTllSle lTOIll MOn-
tana ten years ago. was in the platoon
which captured four German girl ma
chine gunners, and is living witness
of the fact that women were used en-
the Western front by the boches-a
fact that has been hotly debated in
many dugout, family parlor and
elite clubroom. These girls. who were
later released, were surrounded as
they were on their way back for more
ammunition. The machine gun they
were carrying was confscated, and
they were told Tin very bad Germany |
that machine guns are terrible things |
for little girls to play with.
Rowland was on frequent outpost
duty in the Lorraine sector, and was
one of those required to make nightly
reports of patrol work for seven days |
at stretch, being allowed a II day
rest period at the end of each week
He continued this work for 110 days.
There are so American Indian tribes