The globe-independent. (Hagerstown, Md.) 1943-19??, 1948-09-09
HORSE AND
BUGGY DAYS
by
Ida 10 Martin

forward" Thus said a writer OF
early American History in telling
about the benefits" that the white
mans civilization brought to the
Indians who once roamed this fair
valley. An old chief of the Cher
okees. in speaking with a United
States officer, said that he doubted
the benefits to the Red People OF
what they had learned from the
Whites" He went on to say that
before his fathers became acquaint-
ed with the pale faces" their people
needed little, and that the Great
Spirit provided that, giving FOOD
and raiment through the forest;
the Red people never got drunk;
Red people never swore; Red people
would not cheat. He also said: THE
white people have taught us to get
drunk. to steal, to lie, to cheat, and
TO swear If the knowledge of these
vices is beneficial to the Red people,
then we are benefited by our &C
uuaintance with you"
One commenter on the White and
Indian situation said that the In
dams had a singular aptitude for
learning all the undesirable prac-
tees of their civilized neighbors and
an equally singular inaptitude for
learning anything that it was to
their advantage to learn. Part of the
fault for this lies with the civilized
art as indicated in the opening state
ment, for in this case, most OF the
wild Red people never had a chance
to see the good part of civilization.
The first whites that most of the
Indians met were traders who were
bent upon cheating the poor un-
learned savages, taking advantage
of their simplicity, and hunters and
trappers who had the vices OF
civilization without many of Its
virtues" 1t was from these people
that the Red man took his first
lesson, and by the time the settlers
arrived, the Red tribes had come
under the power of "fire-water" and
had learned to hate the whites. Thus
the early settlers found in the ma
tive Indian a deadly enemy.
One early writer gave personal
description of the Indians who lived
here in our own valley during the
time of the French and Indian War.
1.-THE men are tall, well made and
active, not strong, but very dexter
Gus with a rifle barrelled gun, and
their tomahawk, which they will
throw with great certainty at any
mark and at a great distance. The
women are not so tall as the men,
but we'll made, and have many
children, but had more before
spirits were introduced to them"
He went on to tell about the col
ors of paint used in this locality, red,
yellow, and black. Another pc
culiarity of this tribe was that the
men cut the outer edge of their
ears so that a part of the ear lobe
hung on by a narrow strip and a
small tuft of hair was left in the
middle of the head and adorned
with feathers. They wore watch
coats, sort of thick blanket thrown
around the body, and deer-skin
moccaSins.
This writer further described a
popularity in the way they carried
their infants. The baby was laid
on a board, and tied to it with wide
bandages or skins. At the bottom
of the board was piece on which
the infants feet rested, and at the
top was small board to shade the
child's face from the sun. This as
sembly was then slung onto the
back of the mother.
But few of the early settlers ever
got a chance to see this side of In
dian life. Many of them had seen
the Indian only in the dead of night,
in the light of their burning homes
emitting terrifying whoops while
they piled the tomahawk, scalplng
children and all they could get their
hands on. 1t is hard for us today to
imagine the terror that struck into
the soul of even brave man when
the sound of Indians came, but they
could not be seen or fought. One
writer said that the Indians most
emulated the qualities of the wild
animals after which they named
themselves ferocity of the wolf
the cunning of the fox, and the
venom of the rattlesnake.
AS a child, we used to like tc
crack walnuts. Each of us had oul
favorite stone that we used for this
and one of these stones was about
an inch and a half thick, about two
and half wide and about SIX inch,
es long. The ends were rounded
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