Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existingCatlin, George
History
Illustrations of the manners, customs, & condition of the North American Indians, Vol. 2 (of 2): With letters and notes, written during eight years of travel and adventure among the wildest and most remarkable tribes now existing
Catlin, George
Indians of North America
Ish-a-ro-yeh (he who carries a wolf, +plate+ 170); and Is-sa-wah-tam-ah
(the wolf tied with hair, +plate+ 171); are also chiefs of some
standing in the tribe, and evidently men of great influence, as they
were put forward by the head chiefs, for their likenesses to be painted
in turn, after their own. The first of the two seemed to be the leader
of the war-party which we met, and of which I have spoken; and in
escorting us to their village, this man took the lead and piloted us
the whole way, in consequence of which Colonel Dodge presented him a
very fine gun.
His-oo-san-ches (the Spaniard, +plate+ 172), a gallant little fellow,
is represented to us as one of the leading warriors of the tribe; and
no doubt is one of the most extraordinary men at present living in
these regions. He is half Spanish, and being a half-breed, for whom
they generally have the most contemptuous feelings, he has been all
his life thrown into the front of battle and danger; at which posts
he has signalized himself, and commanded the highest admiration and
respect of the tribe, for his daring and adventurous career. This is
the man of whom I have before spoken, who dashed out so boldly from
the war-party, and came to us with the white flag raised on the point
of his lance, and of whom I have made a sketch in +plate+ 157. I have
here represented him as he stood for me, with his shield on his arm,
with his quiver slung, and his lance of fourteen feet in length in his
right hand. This extraordinary little man, whose figure was light,
seemed to be all bone and muscle, and exhibited immense power, by the
curve of the bones in his legs and his arms. We had many exhibitions of
his extraordinary strength, as well as agility; and of his gentlemanly
politeness and friendship, we had as frequent evidences. As an instance
of this, I will recite an occurrence which took place but a few days
since, when we were moving our encampment to a more desirable ground
on another side of their village. We had a deep and powerful stream to
ford, when we had several men who were sick, and obliged to be carried
on litters. My friend “Joe” and I came up in the rear of the regiment,
where the litters with the sick were passing, and we found this little
fellow up to his chin in the muddy water, wading and carrying one
end of each litter on his head, as they were in turn, passed over.
After they had all passed, this gallant little fellow beckoned to
me to dismount, and take a seat on his shoulders, which I declined;
preferring to stick to my horse’s back, which I did, as he took it by
the bridle and conducted it through the shallowest ford. When I was
across, I took from my belt a handsome knife and presented it to him,
which seemed to please him very much.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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