Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far WestDrannan, William F.
History
Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains, Or, the Last Voice from the Plains: An Authentic Record of a Life Time of Hunting, Trapping, Scouting and Indian Fighting in the Far West
Drannan, William F.
Frontier and pioneer life -- West (U.S.); Indians of North America -- Wars
As soon as the train was corralled and the stock turned loose, we
appointed four men, who claimed to know something of butchering,
to cut up and distribute the meat among the people of the train.
Up to this time the darkey cook had not been seen since I came
over the hill in company with those Indians. A certain lady in the
train said she thought that when he saw the Indians coming he had
run off and hid in the sage brush, but after the fires were
started he crawled out of one of the wagons where he had been hid,
and claimed that he had been asleep all this time and did not know
anything about any "Injuns," but it was a difficult matter to make
the people in the train believe this yarn. I had the Indians build
their fire outside of the corral, and while they were preparing
their meat I went around and collected bread enough of different
ones in the train for them, also a bowl of molasses. After all had
their supper over I proposed to the Indians that we have a dance.
This dance is what they call a dance of peace, and is carried on
in a manner like this: They--or all that wish to participate in
the dance--form in a circle around the camp-fire, singing, or
rather humming, a certain tune. I went to the people of the train
and told them that the Indians and myself were going to have a
peace dance, and all that wished to see it could come to the camp-
fire and look on. I think every man, woman and child came out to
see the dance, which lasted about two hours. After the dance was
over one of the young Indians in the crowd came to me and said if
I would interpret for him he would be pleased to make a speech for
my friends, providing they were willing for him to do so. When he
told the other Indians he was going to make a speech they all sat
down in a circle around the camp-fire, seventeen in number, and
were perfectly silent. I told them that this young Indian wanted
to know if they would care to hear him make a speech. All were
anxious to hear him, which would be something new to them. I told
them that he would make the speech in his own language and I would
interpret it word for word as near as I knew how.
When I told him they would be pleased to hear from him he walked
up to me, laid his hand on my shoulder, and said:
"I have known this friend of mine a great many years. A long time
ago when he use to come to our village, we always killed a dog,
and after we would have a feast on dog meat, we always smoked the
pipe of peace, and all of the Arapahoes are his friends."
He continued this manner of speaking about fifteen minutes, to the
amusement of the entire train, and when he took his seat he wanted
some one else to speak, but no one would attempt to respond to
him, thus winding up the amusements for the evening.
In a conversation that evening with the Indians, they told me
their business out there, which was to keep the Sioux Indians off
of their hunting ground.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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