Buffalo Land: Authentic Account of the Discoveries, Adventures, and Mishaps of a Scientific and Sporting Party in the Wild WestWebb, W. E. (William Edward)
History
Buffalo Land: Authentic Account of the Discoveries, Adventures, and Mishaps of a Scientific and Sporting Party in the Wild West
Webb, W. E. (William Edward)
Hunting -- West (U.S.); Paleontology -- Kansas; West (U.S.) -- Description and travel
Sachem declared that he had found Muggs returning the wreck to the
Indian with the following speech: "O-sage, little was your wisdom to
court thus the wrath of a Briton. Take with the two pieces this piece of
my mind. That your noble form may be removed soon to the 'appy 'unting
ground, where bow trades are not allowed, is the prayer of your patron,
Muggs."
[Illustration: _BUREAU OF ILLUSTRATION. BUFFALO. N. Y._
UNNATURALIZED.]
[Illustration: _BUREAU OF ILLUSTRATION. BUFFALO. N. Y._
NATURALIZED.]
Mr. Colon asked Tenacious Gripe to explain the condition of the
Native Americans in Kansas. The orator kindly consented and thereupon
discoursed as follows:
"The Indians of Kansas are divided into the wild and the tame. Both
alike cover their nakedness with bright handkerchiefs, old shirts,
military coats, and many-hued ribbons. The principal difference in point
of dress is in the method of procuring it. Among those tribes which are
at peace with the government, the white man robs the Indian; among the
wild tribes the conditions are reversed--the Indian robs the white man.
In the one case the contractors and agents carry off their half million
dollars or thereabouts; in the other the savage bears away a quantity of
old clothes and fresh scalps. As he finds it difficult to procure
sufficient of the white man's justice to satisfy the cravings of his
nature, he feeds it with what he can and whenever he can of revenge.
Wise men tell us, gentlemen, that revenge is sweet and justice a dry
morsel. All Indians beg when they get an opportunity. The tame ones, if
they find it fruitless, divert themselves by selling worthless pieces of
wood with strings attached, as bows. The wild ones, in a like
predicament, relieve their tedium by whacking away at our ribs with bows
that amount to something. The principles actuating both classes are
alike. It is simply the application which causes difficulty--in the one
case an appeal with bow and arrows to our pockets, in the other to our
bodies.
"All our wars with these people, gentlemen, are a result of their
political economy. They believe that the Great Spirit provided buffalo
and other game for his red children. When the white man drives these
away, they understand that he takes their place as a means of
sustenance, and as they have lived upon the one, so they intend to do
upon the other. If the buffalo attempts to evade his duty in the
premises, they kill him and take his meat; if the white man, they kill
him and take his hair."
Sachem produced a roll of dirty brown paper and said that he had studied
the Indian question and found two sides to it. One he could give us in a
nutshell, believing that the meat of the nut had often excited the
spirit of war.
Where waters sung above the sand,
And torrent forced its way,
Stretched out, disgusted with the land,
A bearded miner lay,
Prepared to strike, with willing hand,
Whatever lead would pay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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