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 Another Random Document on
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CHAPTER XXVII. THE INDIAN’S RELIGION;
HIS CHARACTER; PHILANTHROPIC
ORGANIZATIONS

Since 1850, the Indian’s belief in the hereafter has undergone a

very marked change. It is extremely difficult to find individuals,
among most of our tribes, who can give us any clear conception of
the Indian’s religious belief. The Navaho preserve much of their
original religion, for the reason that these Indians have been remote
from contact with the Whites. As has been stated in this book, the
greater part of the 28,000 Navaho do not speak English and
continue in the faith of their fathers. There are also scattered tribes
or bands of other Indians who keep up, to a greater or less degree,
their religious belief, have confidence in their shamans, and resort to
the white men’s ministers and doctors only under compulsion. But
while this is true, the vast bulk of our Indians today have adopted the
God of our Bible, and recognize his opposite, the evil spirit. If one
takes the pains to read a number of the reports of competent
ethnologists who have studied the religious activities of various
tribes recently, one is impressed with the complications presented.
In fact, it is no reflection on these able and competent workers and
observers to state that it is extremely difficult (if not impossible) to
cover the Indian’s religious belief in one blanket paragraph or
statement. Beliefs vary among different tribes, and we must go far
back of the year 1850 would we find primitive American religion,
practiced in its purity. We cannot now affirm that the religious life of
all tribes is the same; that the deities and spirits are alike.
Generally throughout the United States the tradition of the
Thunder Bird obtains, and it typifies the supernatural. In the desert
areas, water is more precious than soil, or any other necessity. It is
therefore quite natural that the Earth Mother and Water Spirit enter
very largely into the religion of that region. Some of the older Sioux,
even in recent times, believed in spirits, or ghosts, and any Sioux
man or woman having heard the calling of the ghosts at night,
prepared himself (or herself) to join his ancestors in the spirit world.
Major McLaughlin presents one or two instances in his book[51]
where Indians have actually given up, taken to their beds and died,
firm in the belief that the ghosts were calling.
Doctor Eastman in his remarkable book, “The Soul of the
Indian,” defines that indefinite thing, the belief in the supernatural,
in a beautiful and striking manner.
The whole subject of religion among Indian tribes comprehends
mythology, shamanism, totemism, and the taboo. There is so great
variance among the different linguistic stocks as to belief in the
supernatural, religious rites and incantations, that one must study
extensively did one desire to obtain any clear conception of ancient
Indian religion. In fact, the subject is so beset by uncertainties that
we may well omit a consideration of it from this volume. Pure Indian
religion—generally speaking—does not exist in the transition period
of today.
We may defer to scientific workers the conflicting beliefs among
Indians of the present. The labors of the missionaries, both Catholic
and Protestant, have instilled into the minds of the Indians the
teaching of our Scriptures. Missionary labors, having continued for
more than two centuries, (and three centuries in some parts of the
country) have had their effect, and as I stated above, the Indian
today believes as do ourselves. As I pointed out in referring to Miss
Densmore’s excellent study of Ojibwa music (page 20) all the
investigators invariably seek out the older Indians and glean from
them such fragments as remain of the Indians’ former faith. We
never hear of ethnologists talking to educated Indians, and recording
their opinions.
Among the Navaho, the taboo is more strongly pronounced
than, possibly, among other tribes. The totem and the phratry
doubtless had their origin in certain religious beliefs. But these are
not observed today, to any appreciable extent outside of the Navaho
and the scattered bands referred to. We must consider, in studying
the Indian of the transition period, not the exceptions, but that which
predominates. This has been my aim. Many of the lesser important
customs and taboo (bordering upon the religious side of the Indians’
nature) obtain. As an illustration, the taboo against the mother-in-
law is still in effect in many places. Also, certain rites are performed
when a death occurs. Such are clearly survivals of more primitive
beliefs.
In a general review of the Indians’ religion it must be admitted
that while our missionaries and teachers have converted thousands
of Indians and these are today faithful members of churches and
missions, it is doubtful if the bulk of our 330,000 red brothers has
been improved spiritually by contact with the white people. I have
presented sufficient number of specific instances in this book to
prove that where they meet one missionary, priest or teacher, they
come in contact with a dozen white persons ranking spiritually and
morally far below American standards.
Along with the Indian’s religion, he possessed a high sense of
honor, or responsibility, and integrity. Judge Thomas, long a
resident of Oklahoma, informed me of cases wherein Indians under
sentence of death, were permitted by the authorities to visit distant
villages for a few days. There are a number of such instances on
record. The Indians invariably returned and were executed according
to law. This occurred many years ago. If any modern Indian, or white
man under sentence of death, was released by the authorities, it is
doubtful if he would consider himself bound to keep his word.
Because the Indian was cruel to his enemies, it does not
necessarily follow that he was bad. Among every band there were bad
and wild young men who could not be restrained. This has been
admitted in the testimony of Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, and many
other prominent Indians. Red Cloud, from the Indian point of view,
considered it no more cruel to kill his enemies than for us to compel
people to work as slaves. He heard we made women and children
labor from daylight to dark. This, as well as our long hours for mill-
hands and laborers, he considered cruelty. He indicated this in a
conversation with me many years ago. One of the prominent
Southwestern Indians, when asked by Colonel Dodge, “Why are you
Indians so cruel?” cited many things of common occurrence among
white people which were considered perfectly proper by them, but
which the Indians would not tolerate. It all depends on one’s point of
view. In condemning Indians for cruelties, we must remember that
the patriarchs of the Old Testament, in the name of religion,
destroyed more innocent persons in a few of their wars than have the
Indians in all of their wars.
I do not agree with the widespread belief that through our
general education of Indians, we have raised their moral and
religious tone. We have improved some thousands, but the greater
number of Indians, observing from the treatment accorded them that
we do not practice what we preach, have less realization of their
responsibilities and exhibit less integrity than formerly. A letter
addressed to the average Indian trader who has done business with
Indians more than twenty years, will bring a reply to the effect that
their business obligations were more faithfully kept in the past than
at present.
As to missionary endeavor among the Indians during the past
sixty years, I find that there are upwards of fifty Protestant
denominations who maintain mission stations in various parts of the
Indian country. These include every denomination, but those most
prominent are the Presbyterians, Baptists, Friends,
Congregationalists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Moravians,
Lutherans. In addition there are the Home Missionary Associations
(interdenominational) and the National Indian Association. It is
impracticable to present details of their work. The National Indian
Association is one of the strongest of these bodies, and was organized
thirty-five years ago. It has fifty-two stations scattered throughout
the West, and some idea of its good work may be had by the
illustration presented of the Good Samaritan hospital maintained at
Indian Wells, Arizona. (page 275).
The educational and humanitarian work of the Association has
been the helping to right political wrongs; gathering of Indian
children into schools; stimulating and preparing capable Indians for
wise leadership among their people; loans of money to Indians to
enable them to build homes or to carry on business. The Association
has done a large and influential educational work, and through its
Home Building and Loan Department has enabled Indians to build
homes which have become civilizing centers of family life. It has also
made loans to Indians for the purchase of implements of labor or for
stock needed to begin some useful and paying industry. By such
methods the Association seeks to put the Indian in a position to earn
his own living and to become self-supporting and self-reliant. It has
maintained library, temperance, hospital, and other departments;
trained Indian young women as nurses, and assisted Indian young
men and women to obtain training as physicians and teachers, some
of whom have long been working to help their own people. The
Cambridge (Mass.) branch of this organization is especially active
and has contributed generously. The work of the missions
maintained by the Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Baptists,
Methodists, etc., comprehends general religious education and
charitable work among the Indians.
Rev. Thomas C. Moffett, Chairman of the committee on Indian
work of the “home missions council”, has just published an
interesting book entitled, “The American Indian on the New Trail.”
This presents an excellent review of missionary labors among
Indians, including much of a statistical character. The review is
broad, and covers the entire United States.
The Bureau of Catholic Missions, Washington, has in charge the
many missions maintained by the Catholics. I have visited a number
of these in various parts of the West, along with the Protestant
missions, and find most of them well equipped and doing splendid
work.
The California Indian Association has concerned itself more
with the securing of homes for dispossessed Indians. In Chapter
XXXI, dealing with California conditions, the secretary, Mr. C. E.
Kelsey, has commented on the work of the association.
The Indian Rights Association is the most famous of all the
benevolent organizations. Organized in 1882, its work has grown and
expanded until at the present time its activities cover most of the
reservations of the United States. It has frequently been in sharp
conflict with the Indian Office, but at the present time the relations
between Commissioner Sells and his able assistants and this and
other organizations, are most friendly and helpful. The pamphlet,
covering the activities of the organization, the number of steals of
land it has prevented, the reforms instituted, dishonest employees
forced out of the Service and all other recommendations, covers
some hundred or more instances and places.
Its corresponding secretary, Mr. Mathew K. Sniffen, returned
from Alaska in September of this year, after having spent three
months investigating the most deplorable condition of the Alaska
Indians.
 The Indian Industries League of Boston was organized in 1901
and has done much to encourage arts and industries among certain
Indian tribes. It does not attempt to do missionary work, although it
has educated a number of Indians. In recent years the League has
held fairs and disposed of large quantities of blankets, baskets, bead
work, etc., thus aiding many old Indian women in New Mexico,
California, Washington and elsewhere.
I have always been a believer in the work of these organizations,
and I have no criticism, but rather a suggestion to offer. The
missionary and other organizations had a great opportunity for good
during the Messiah craze, and with one accord they let it pass. At the
Lake Mohonk Conference this year, a minister from South Dakota
spoke of the evil effects of the Messiah craze. In Chapters IX-XI I
have described it. There were no evil effects until the troops and
Sitting Bull dominated. Had the missionaries seized upon the
religious mania when it began, they might have turned it to good
account. It was, at first, a purely religious ceremony of high and
noble type.
Among the Indians of Oklahoma there is great religious activity.
Last year I met many native preachers, and heard of numerous
meetings at various campgrounds. I was surprised at the extent of
these, and the number of Indians attending such gatherings. The
meetings may be a trifle sentimental, but the intentions of the
worshippers are excellent. Here is presented a great field for
missionary labors, and if the good people would take full advantage
of it, a lasting impression and the furtherance of religious activity
would ensue.
The modern missionary spirit among most of the workers in the
field has changed in recent years. There is more medical activity,
more endeavor to stimulate interest in fairs, school exhibitions, etc.
Thus the Indians are brought nearer the real life and spirit of the
missions, than in the older days where on stated intervals they were
assembled for worship. Aside from mere biblical instruction little
was done for them. This was all right and proper, but the Indian
needed more.
The most potent influence in shaping public opinion, with
reference to Indian affairs the past thirty years, has been the annual
Conference of Friends of the Indian and Other Dependent Peoples
held each year at Lake Mohonk. This was begun in 1882 by
Honorable Albert K. Smiley. Since Mr. Smiley’s death, the
conferences are continued by Honorable Daniel Smiley.
At these conferences are assembled men and women from the
United States, Europe and Canada interested in Indian affairs, the
Philippines, etc. The conference consists of addresses by persons
familiar with Indian topics, which are followed by general discussion.
For two or three years the conference seemed to its friends to be
somewhat dominated by the Indian Office, but a few years ago it
became again a real open parliament. Conflicting views are often
expressed, and both the dark and the bright sides of our Indian
picture are presented. The conference last year was devoted almost
exclusively to a discussion of Oklahoma affairs.
An annual report is published and circulated throughout the
world. The meetings have been productive of a great deal of good.
Those who attend are invited as the personal guests of Mr. and Mrs.
Smiley and enjoy the privileges of their magnificent estate in the
heart of the Catskills, while attending the conference.
The Society of American Indians was organized at Ohio State
University in 1911. It came into being in response to a feeling on the
part of the educated Indians of the country that the “Indian problem”
could best be solved through an awakening of the race itself, through
its leaders, in cooperation with white friends.
The organization of the society is due to the efforts of Prof. F. A.
McKenzie of Ohio State University. The founders of the Society were
such men and women as Dr. Charles A. Eastman (Sioux), Dr. Carlos
Montezuma (Apache), Rev. Sherman Coolidge (Arapaho), Laura
Cornelius (Oneida), Henry Standing Bear (Sioux), Charles E.
Dagenett (Peoria), Rosa B. LaFlesche (Chippewa), Arthur C. Parker
(Seneca), Thomas L. Sloan (Omaha), Emma D. Goulette
(Potawatomie), Marie L. Baldwin (Chippewa), Henry Roe-Cloud
(Winnebago), and Hiram Chase (Omaha).
The high stand taken by the Society and its elimination of all
selfish motives led to an unqualified endorsement of its objects by
the most earnest friends of the Indian in this country and in Europe.
The Society though only four years old has a membership of
about 1500. Hundreds of the most progressive Indians in the country
are members and almost all trades and professions are represented.
More than 500 citizens of the white race, including both men and
women, are associate members of the Society. Most of them have for
years demonstrated their earnest and unselfish interest in the
welfare of the Indian and have now united their interests with the
Indian.
The Society is not connected with any other organization. It is
governed entirely by its own membership and has no connection
with the Indian Bureau or the Government. Indians and their friends
of every shade of opinion are members.
The Society of American Indians seeks to bring about better
conditions so that the Indian may develop normally as an American
people in America. The Society has asserted that it believes that the
full response to the duties of life is more important than constant
demands for rights; for with the performance of duties, rights will
come as a matter of course. The Society thus seeks to urge the Indian
to avail himself of every opportunity to learn the ways of “civilized”
life, in order that he may become able to compete and cooperate
successfully with other men. The members believe Indian progress
depends upon awakening the abilities of every individual Indian to
the realization of personal responsibility, for self, for race and for
country, and the duty of responding to the call to activity. When the
nation remedies the laws now hindering Indian progress, work,
thrift, education and clean morals will then secure for the Indian all
the rights that may be given a man and a citizen.
The Society is not an organization devoted to complaining. Its
aim is to suggest and bring about better conditions wherein the old
evils cannot exist. The Society does not seek to continually fight over
local matters; it does seek to abolish the cause of the misery and the
disability of the race. It strikes at the root of evil, yet it does not
ignore the individual case of injustice. Nearly one hundred
applications each month come from Indians asking legal
information.
The annual platform adopted by the Denver Conference and
reaffirmed at the Wisconsin University Conference in 1914 demands:
First, the passage of the Carter Code Bill, by which a commission will
draft a codified law, recommend new legislation and the abolition of
laws no longer operative; and the establishment of the definite status
of every tribe, band or group of Indians in the United States. The
Indian cannot progress until he knows his legal status and how he
may advance from a lower to a higher civic status; Second, the
Society demands the passage of the amended Stephens Bill, through
which the Indians may place their claims directly in the Court of
Claims without specific permission of Congress in each instance.
Indian progress will be retarded as long as real or fancied claims
against the Government are unsettled; Third, the Society asks that
the tribal funds be apportioned to each individual’s personal
account, so that each Indian may know exactly what the nation holds
in trust for him. Individual effort and progress will come with an
awakened interest in personal resources and personal property, as
opposed to bulk holdings; Fourth, better educational advantages and
better sanitary protection are demanded. An ignorant and a sick race
cannot be an efficient, useful race. Wisdom, health and thrift will
bring to the red man the greater rights he craves.
The Society publishes a Quarterly Journal of unique interest. It
contains contributions from the pens of Indians who have the true
welfare of the race at heart, and from friends of the red man who
have a constructive message. All shades of thought are given. The
discussion is open, free and earnest. The editorial board consists of
five Indians who are university graduates. The editor-general is
connected officially with the University of the State of New York. The
Quarterly Journal is a high-grade publication, and is an epoch-
making departure in the history of the race.
There are three general classes of membership, Active,
Associate, and Junior. Active members are persons of Indian blood;
Associates are persons not Indians; Juniors are persons less than
twenty-one years of age.
Each year a national conference is held at some convenient
point, and in connection with some great university. Four successful
conferences have been held. Each has been of great importance to
the Indian race and has assisted materially in bringing the Indian
problem to a point where it is nearer solution.
The old-time, non-English-speaking Indian was reverent
towards the “unknown” or mystery. He did not blaspheme. “Why do
the white men ask the Great Spirit to curse them so often?” This was
uttered by a pagan, White Head, a Cheyenne chief, in the presence of
Col. Carrington at Fort Phil Kearney in 1866.
There were a vast number of good traits in the old Indian and we
must not overlook them. Mr. Wright (page 314) has referred to theft.
They stole from other tribes—that was proper—but not from each
other. Frankness was a trait everywhere apparent, and Indians spoke
their minds freely. Deceit was for the enemy—deceit as to trail,
purpose, trade and so forth. Among themselves (in the tribe) there
was no such thing as trickery. Exaggerations were indulged in by
story-tellers, of course. But such deceit as white people practice upon
each other was unknown in the olden days.
All the writers, past and present, agree that the bulk of our
Indians were governed by certain moral codes. There never was a
real degenerate among Indians, until white people came among
them. In all our efforts to uplift the Indian during the present crucial
transition period, we should encourage those good qualities (even
though they be tinged with superstition). We should build upon the
natural foundation of Indian character. If we utterly destroy the past,
we cannot save the Indian.
I am no idealist. I am quite aware that there are good Indians
and bad Indians, as there are good white people and bad white
people; but I contend that if there is a general breaking down of the
Indian character—which may or may not be true—it is due to us and
not to the Indian.
As to his sense of honor, and his morality, Leupp presents the
following:—
“Has the Indian a basic sense of moral responsibility sufficiently
robust to be capable of high religious development? Let me tell you a
true story. A number of years ago a group of twenty Indians who had
been in controversy with the authorities in Washington entered into
a solemn pact not to accept certain money which the Government
was preparing to distribute among their tribe in three or four
successive payments, because they believed that that would be a
surrender of the principle for which they had been contending. Later
the questions at issue were cleared up by a judicial decision which
left the Indians’ protest not a leg to stand on. Nineteen of the twenty,
including a candidate for the chiefship who had led the party into
their attempt at resistance, bowed to the inevitable, took the money
offered them at the next payment, and applied for the instalments
then in arrears. The twentieth man, whose English name was Bill,
stood out alone in his refusal to touch anything, but refused to tell
why. Soon afterward I visited the reservation on business, and he
sought me privately and opened his heart. He was poor, and his
family were actually in need of some things the money would buy; so
I tried to make him feel more comfortable by assuring him that the
withdrawal of the others from their mutual agreement left him free
to do as he wished.
“‘No,’ he declared; adding, in a phraseology which I shall not try
to imitate, ‘we are all bound by a vow. I swore that I would not take
my share of that money, and I must not. The others may change if
they choose, but they cannot release me from my oath.’
“‘That is honorable, certainly,’ I answered; ‘but if you feel so
strongly about it, why did you come to me for advice?’
“‘There is something you can tell me, and I am afraid to trust the
others. I vowed for myself and not for my family, though they have
not drawn their shares either. Now, can they get their money even if I
don’t touch mine?’
“I said that I could get it for them.
“‘What becomes of my money if I don’t take it?’
“‘It will accumulate in the Treasury, and be paid to your heirs
after your death.’
“‘You have made my heart glad,’ exclaimed Bill, laying his hand
affectionately on my shoulder while his face beamed with
satisfaction. ‘That is the way I would have it. I felt right in standing
out, but I did not want my wife and children to suffer if I were
wrong.’
“A cynic might find the moral of this story to be that only one
Indian in twenty is high-minded enough to hold his ground against
such temptation. But it would be fairer to temper that judgment with
the inquiry, how the proportions would have arranged themselves in
a like number of any other race?”[52]
Two years ago, when the Board of United States Indian
Commissioners met in Washington, the representatives of practically
all the missionary organizations appeared and a full and frank
discussion ensued. It is no exaggeration to state that all of these
persons representing varied interests (and twenty years ago these
very people might have been considered rivals) left with a resolve to
carry on their work with due regard for the rights of others. It is quite
clear that if the Catholics have a successful mission on Reservation A,
and the Presbyterians on Reservation B, that the good work should
continue, and those in charge of mission A should not seek to
establish a post on Reservation B, unless it is perfectly clear that
Mission B is unable to care for more than a portion of the Indians.
That where different denominations are located on the larger
reservations, they should all work in harmony, looking toward the
great purpose for which such worthy organizations exist.
It is true that the Indians in former years did not understand our
religion, and that confusion existed in the minds of the untutored
aborigines in the past for the very reason that representatives of
different sects worked at cross-purposes. This is said in no disrespect
whatsoever, it is merely a statement of facts. Mr. Leupp presents an
illuminating illustration on this subject.
“Indians are always greatly puzzled by the differences between
the sects, and the appearance of hostility so often assumed by one
toward another. It has little effect to assure them that all the sects are
but parts of one religious body, worshipping the same deity.
Doctrinal subtleties are of course beyond the reach of the ordinary
Indian’s mind, but in matters of discipline he discovers what seem to
him serious incongruities. An old chief once expressed to me his
deep concern because a missionary had warned his children that they
would be punished after death if they broke the Sabbath with their
accustomed games, yet he had seen with his own eyes a missionary
playing tennis on Sunday. Another raised in my presence, with a sly
suggestion of satire in his tone, the question of marriage. One
missionary, he told us—referring to a visit from a Mormon apostle
several years before—had four wives, and said it was good in the
sight of the white man’s God; the missionary who preached at the
agency school had only one wife, and said that that was all right, but
it would be wicked for him to marry any more; but the priest who
came once in a while to bless the children had no wife at all, and said
that the white man’s God would be displeased with him if he took
even one.”[53]
The powerful missionary organizations, comprising as they do,
hundreds of earnest workers, will accomplish much more for “Indian
uplift” if they devote their energies to “pagan Whites” as well as to
the pagan Indians. The worst people I have met had white, and not
red skins. These men swarm about all Indian communities. Enough
evidence against their character has been brought before the
benevolent organizations and Washington, to convince the most
skeptical. Suppose the Indians of a certain region were found to be
swindling each other, importing whiskey, gambling, stealing and
committing all sorts of crimes. Immediately half a dozen
organizations would raise funds and send their best workers to “lead
the pagans from darkness into light.” It has been clearly shown that
the worst elements of our white race are responsible for the
deplorable condition of thousands of Indians. Yet, I fail to observe
any concerted effort to check this evil at its source. No one seems to
realize that the “pagan White” is vastly more in need of reformation
than his red brother. We have tried to save the Indian—meanwhile
permitting whiskey and graft, immorality and greed, to continue
virtually unchecked. We tell him to be upright, yet we surround him
by examples of civilization, the antithesis of that which we preach.
No wonder the Indian loses faith in us and our culture. Some wealthy
man or woman will do the Indian a great and good service by
liberally endowing a score of missions to labor among the “pagan
Whites”, living near (or in) Indian communities.

NAVAHO WOMAN WEAVING A BLANKET

From “Indian Blankets and their Makers,” by G. W.

James.
 CHAPTER XXVIII. IRRIGATION PROJECTS

The Indians of the Southwest in both ancient and modern times

built dams, dug irrigation canals and watered certain tracts more or
less extensive in area. The subject of agriculture as conducted in arid
regions by the Indians is an exceedingly interesting one and has been
treated briefly by Doctor Hodge in the Handbook of American
Indians. Many of the modern canals in Arizona, New Mexico and
California follow the old ditches dug by the Cliff Dwellers, Pueblos
and other tribes. Excepting the Apaches and Comanches, probably
all southwestern Indians understood and made use of irrigation in
the raising of crops.
Some of the military and scientific expeditions to the Southwest
in early times found the Pima, Maricopa, Papago, Pueblo and other
Indians in possession of large, cultivated fields. With the influx of
white settlers in the later ’70’s and early ’80’s, not only was much of
this land appropriated by the Whites, but the water was diverted,
thus causing the Indians great privations. I have referred elsewhere
in this book to the case of the Pimas, and that of the Maricopas,
Yumas and Pueblos, and it has been commented upon in a score of
reports. Briefly summed up, we have well-nigh destroyed (or rather
appropriated) the entire irrigation zone formerly controlled by the
Indians. Their fields and ditches have passed to us.
A movement has been inaugurated to save what little remains.
In this humane work the Indian Rights Association and the Board of
Indian Commissioners, as well as the Indian Office, have all played
prominent parts. When Hon. F. H. Abbott became acting
Commissioner he made a study of this subject, and later, as Secretary
of the Board of Indian Commissioners, he prepared an exhaustive
paper entitled, “Briefs on Indian Irrigation and Indian Forests.” This
was presented to the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, February
9th, 1914. It covers the entire irrigation problem, and I insert most of
it herewith.
“The proposed amendment relating to Indian irrigation, you will
observe, is sweeping in character. Its main and central purpose is to
stop the gratuitous use of tribal and Government funds in the
construction and maintenance of irrigation projects, to charge the
costs thereof against the lands benefited or against the pro rata
shares in the tribal funds, when distributed, of the individual Indians
whose lands are benefited, and to give the Indians a voice in the
expenditure of their own funds for irrigation purposes and make
them share the responsibility of maintaining and operating the
completed projects. If this amendment is enacted into law nearly
$400,000 carried each year in the Indian appropriation acts as
gratuity items will become reimbursable. The facts relating to
existing irrigation law and practice and arguments in support of the
proposed amendment are fully elaborated in the brief submitted
herewith, to which I invite your careful attention.
“The proposed amendment relating to the care, protection, and
sale of Indian timber is also supported by a carefully prepared
statement, herewith submitted. This amendment, if enacted into law,
will save the Government in the neighborhood of $75,000 a year. * *
**
“The difficulties of the complex problems relating to the
education and civilization of the Indians of this country and to the
handling of their vast property resources are increasing in direct
ratio with the increase in the value of that property and the
individualization thereof.
“The eyes cannot be closed to the constantly increasing
administrative burdens of the Indian Bureau. This increase can not
be explained away on the ground of alleged bad administration; it is
due, in large part, to the carrying out of laws enacted by Congress for
the breaking up of the vast tribal estates of the Indians and to the
establishment of the policy of individualization in connection
therewith. Before the volume of the business of the Indian Bureau
will begin to grow less, it will become very much greater; and the
value of Indian property over which the Indian Bureau is required by
law to exercise supervision, now estimated at nearly one billion
dollars, will undoubtedly be very much greater before it begins to
grow less.
 “How is the Government going to meet this growing problem?
Will Congress increase appropriations to meet the increased
demands imposed by law and changing economic conditions upon
the Indian Bureau? Is there any other way out?
“Those who answer by saying, ‘Give the Indians immediate
citizenship and full control of their property and thus keep down the
appropriations for Indian administration,’ offer a correct solution
only for that class of Indians who are sufficiently educated and
advanced in civilization to accept the full responsibility for handling
their property. Accepting this solution for that class of Indians—and
it is undoubtedly the correct solution for this class—it still remains
true that the increasing value of the lands and minerals and forests
on Indian reservations which are still closed to settlement, and of the
property of individual Indians who are still unprepared to protect it,
and the future individual allotment of lands to nearly 50 per cent of
the Indians of the country, will make the administration of Indian
Affairs for some years to come one of increasing difficulty and
expense. * * * *
“The reclamation of arid lands on Indian reservations by
irrigation, to provide better homes for Indian families, and to bring
to them the benefits of civilized society through the agricultural
development of their lands, is one of the most beneficent policies the
Government has ever inaugurated in dealing with their affairs. Too
much credit can not be given to Senators and Congressmen and
administrative officers of the Government who have had to do with
the enactment of laws and the securing of appropriations to carry out
this policy. The motives of legislators have been benevolent and
patriotic, and the work of the Government engineers and other
officials who have constructed the projects has been honest and
comparatively efficient and economical. However, a careful
examination of Indian irrigation laws and conditions prevailing in
connection with their administration reveals defects which need
remedy. It is no reflection upon the high motives of those responsible
for present law and present conditions that these defects exist. It was
a new legislative and administrative field. Irrigation laws were not
uniform in the several States. Conditions varied on different Indian
reservations. The legislation was necessarily experimental.
Nevertheless, the defects are serious, they should be faced frankly,
and the remedies needed should be applied promptly to preserve the
good in the existing order of things and eliminate the bad before
greater harm results.
“Lack of uniformity in Indian irrigation laws, lack of utilization
by Indians of their irrigated lands, lack of a voice on the part of the
Indians in the expenditure of their funds for the construction and
maintenance of their irrigation projects, and failure to individualize
the reclamation costs by charging them against the lands benefited
are the most serious fundamental defects of the present situation.
“Approximately nine million dollars have been expended for the
irrigation of Indian lands. About seven millions of this amount have
been charged to tribal funds and the balance expended from gratuity
appropriations made by Congress. About 600,000 acres of irrigable
Indian lands have been brought under ditch. Of this area less than
100,000 acres are being irrigated by Indians, while a large part of the
area thus irrigated is not farmed, but is used to produce hay crops.
And, notwithstanding the fact that either tribal or Government funds
have been used to irrigate these lands, on all except three
reservations, when patents in fee are issued to Indian allottees, and
in every case where their lands are sold under the supervision of the
Government, either the individual Indian who sells the land or the
purchaser thereof puts in his pocket the value of the water right for
which the tribe or the Government has paid; and not only are the
members of the tribe not consulted with respect to the expenditure of
their money, which ultimately passes in this manner either to the
individual allottee or to the white purchaser of his land, but the
individual whose land is benefited is given no opportunity to assume
any responsibility in connection therewith or to appreciate the value
of the benefit conferred, while the free-water right thus secured by
the individual Indian offers a constant inducement to him to part
with his land.
 NAVAHO HOME, NEW MEXICO

“Some striking illustrations of the lack of utilization of irrigable

Indian lands may be found on the following reservations: On the
Crow Reservation, where irrigation ditches have been completed for
more than ten years and where the total area under constructed
ditches is estimated at 68,756 acres, only 11,376 acres are irrigated by
Indians, and most of this is irrigated for hay crops; on the Flathead
Reservation the present irrigable area is estimated at 38,000 acres,
but only 1,088 acres are irrigated by Indians; on the Fort Belknap
Reservation, out of 22,000 acres under ditch, 7,670 acres are
irrigated by Indians; on Fort Hall Reservation Indians irrigate only
3,300 acres out of present irrigable area of 35,000 acres; on the
Wind River Reservation the Indians are irrigating approximately
5,000 acres out of a total irrigable area of 35,000 acres, and most of
this area is irrigated for hay crops; on the Uintah Reservation, out of
a total irrigable area of 87,880 acres the Indians are irrigating
approximately 6,000 acres; on the Yakima Reservation, where the
present irrigable area is 54,000 acres, the Indians are irrigating
5,350 acres; and at Yuma the Indians are irrigating approximately
200 acres out of an irrigable area of 4,000 acres. In the reservations
of the Southwest the showing of utilization of irrigable lands is very
much better.
“The lack of utilization noted in the foregoing paragraph is
serious enough from an industrial standpoint, but it is fraught with
peculiar dangers in the case of the reservations where the water
rights are subject to the operation of State law. On the Fort Hall
Reservation (Idaho) beneficial use must be made of the water for the
irrigable lands prior to the year 1916, in order to prevent the
appropriation of the water by other water users; on the Wind River
Reservation in Wyoming beneficial use must likewise be made before
1916; and on the Uintah Reservation (Utah) beneficial use must be
made before 1919. The total investment in the construction of
irrigation ditches and the purchase of water rights on these three
reservations amounts to approximately $2,000,000, and in the case
of the Wind River and Uintah Reservations the expenditure has been
made from Indian funds.
“Lack of proper utilization can not be charged to the indolence
of the Indian. The present system is doubtless responsible for an
undue lack of interest and indifference on his part. He has not been
consulted in advance of the expenditure; the cost of the construction
and the expense of maintenance on the basis of each acre irrigated
have not been explained and brought home to him; the money being
taken out of a tribal fund which has never become a part of his
individual possession, he has not understood his intimate individual
interest in its expenditure, nor has he realized the value, in dollars
and cents, of the benefit.
“In many cases irrigation on Indian reservations has been
provided for in response to a perfectly natural and normal demand of
white settlers, either for the opening to settlement of irrigable lands
on Indian reservations or for obtaining water from streams flowing
through Indian reservations for the irrigation of their lands on the
outside. As a result, the construction of irrigation projects on Indian
reservations has often preceded the proper preparation of the
Indians for such construction and often has preceded the
development of transportation facilities necessary to market the
products of the land irrigated, and in the case of the large
reservations in the Northwest irrigation has been brought to Indians
unskilled in the art of irrigation, strangers to the art of agriculture,
trained for generations to the exciting life of the chase, having no
knowledge of any of the pursuits of modern civilized life except a
somewhat general knowledge of the raising of cattle and horses.
Generally, however, this premature development of irrigation has
had sufficient justification in the necessity of such development to
preserve the rights of the Indians to the water.
 “One of the chief reasons for the failure of the Indians on the
reservations mentioned to utilize their irrigable lands has been the
failure to provide appropriations necessary to enable them to buy
teams and tools and other equipment, without which the utilization
of their lands is impossible. The main thought apparently has been to
build the ditches, and with rare exceptions no provision has been
made to use tribal funds for any other purpose than that of
reimbursing the Government for the cost of construction of the
project. At the same time the Indian has lacked the credit which is
available to the white settler living under similar conditions
necessary to help himself. Through the policy of reimbursable
appropriations established during the last few years Congress has
begun to prepare a remedy for these conditions. But on a majority of
the reservations mentioned above, Indians are still in a position
where they have to sit idly by and witness the expenditure of their
own funds in the construction and maintenance of irrigation ditches
which, under present conditions, they cannot use and in which
expenditures they have no voice—helpless, though they have more
than ample resources in their undeveloped lands to secure money
advances necessary to make productive use thereof.
“Another reason for the lack of adequate utilization of Indian
lands may be found in the failure to adjust the size of the allotment of
irrigable land to the conditions of soil and climate and the industrial
habits and needs of the Indians. While in the Southwest, on the
Colorado River and Yuma Reservations and several others,
allotments have been made in 10–acre tracts, and in some cases
smaller, suitable to the methods of intensive agriculture practiced in
that section of country, this policy has been lacking almost
universally in the reservations of the Northwest, where in most cases
allotment has been made under the general allotment act, which did
not take into consideration the question of possible irrigation. The
allotment of 80 acres to each man, woman, and child is found under
the irrigation projects on the Yakima, Uintah, Crow, Wind River,
Flathead, and Southern Ute (diminished) Reservations while on
Blackfeet and Fort Peck the size of the allotment is 40 acres, and on
Fort Hall 40 acres to each head of a family and 20 acres to each other
member of the tribe. Take the Uintah and Wind River Reservations,
for example, where beneficial use is required by State law in order to
protect the water rights. The average family of five members would
have 400 acres of irrigable land. The average white family in the
same section of the country can not utilize satisfactorily over 80, or
at the most 160, acres of the same land. How can an Indian family
unassisted, and especially without money or credit to buy tools and
equipment, be expected to reclaim 400 acres of land?

RINCON RESERVATION, MISSION INDIANS,

CALIFORNIA

Grandfather blind (trachoma). Both children infected.

“In striking contrast with the lack of agricultural development

on irrigated Indian reservations, under the present system, is the
marked development of agriculture during the last few years on a
number of reservations in the regions of normal rainfall where
Indians have had control of their own funds and the responsibility of
expending them in the improvement and development of their lands,
under the guidance of practical Indian Service farmers.
“The remedies needed will be suggested briefly, as follows:
“1. General legislation that will charge the individual land
benefited with the cost of construction and maintenance, payment to
be made out of the share in the tribal funds of the individual whose
land in benefited or from the proceeds of the sale of the land when it
passes from Indian ownership where the share of the individual in
the tribal fund is insufficient.
 “2. The general legislation suggested in the above paragraph
should provide that the tribe whose funds it is proposed to use for
the construction of irrigation projects shall be first consulted.
“3. The proposed general legislation should also provide for
charging of costs of maintenance and operation against the lands
under the project and should give the Indians whose lands are
benefited a voice in said maintenance and operation.
“4. In order not to overburden irrigated Indian lands by the
legislation suggested, especially since the Indians have not
heretofore been consulted, the costs of supervisory engineering and
of experimental construction and cost of investigations and
preliminary surveys should be excluded from the charges made
against the lands and paid from gratuity appropriations.
“5. Reimbursable appropriations from tribal funds should be
made immediately for all Indian reservations where the utilization of
irrigable lands has not kept pace with the construction of irrigation
projects through lack of funds in the hands of individual Indians to
make such utilization possible.
“6. Skilled irrigation farmers should be provided out of gratuity
appropriations to give advice and assistance to Indians having
irrigable lands.”
 CHAPTER XXIX. THE BUFFALO

The American bison, commonly called the buffalo, occupied an

extended area of the United States in ancient times. About 1850, the
range of the buffalo extended from the Red River valley, Manitoba, to
central Texas; through western and central Minnesota and as far
west as the arid plains of Colorado, and to near the headwaters of the
Missouri River in the Northwest. As settlers pushed west of the
Mississippi, the buffalo disappeared from eastern Nebraska,
Missouri and western Arkansas. The animal does not appear to have
ranged in eastern Arkansas or Louisiana, preferring the portion of
the country known as the Great Plains, and the entire Missouri River
valley. In the later sixties, when the Union Pacific Railroad was built
westward, hundreds of hunters were enabled to ship East
unnumbered thousands of robes and great quantities of meat. The
herds were further restricted, and by 1885, the buffalo almost
entirely disappeared.
Of the numbers of these animals, none of the authorities seem to
agree. Robert M. Wright of Dodge City, Kansas, one of the earliest
pioneers, recently published a book entitled “Dodge City, the Cowboy
Capital.” He gives the estimates prepared by men living at the time,
as to the number of buffalo. I present his remarks at some length as
indicative of the difference of opinion even among those familiar
with the Great Plains, of their numerical extent. It is safe to assume,
however, that there were between 25,000,000 and 50,000,000
buffalo in the West in the year 1850.
“I wish here to assert a few facts concerning game, and animal
life in general, in early days, in the vicinity of Fort Dodge and Dodge
City.[54] There were wonderful herds of buffalo, antelope, deer, elk,
and wild horses, big gray wolves and coyotes by the thousand,
hundreds of the latter frequently being seen in bands and often from
ten to fifty gray wolves in a bunch. There were also black and
cinnamon bears, wildcats and mountain lions, though these latter
were scarce and seldom seen so far from the mountains. General
Sheridan and Major Inman were occupying my office at Fort Dodge
one night, having just made a trip from Fort Supply, and called me in
to consult as to how many buffaloes there were between Dodge and
Supply. Taking a strip fifty miles east and fifty miles west, they had
first estimated it ten billion. General Sheridan said, ‘That won’t do.’
They figured it again, and made it one billion. Finally they reached
the conclusion that there must be one hundred million; but said, they
were afraid to give out these figures; nevertheless they believed
them. This vast herd moved slowly toward the north when spring
opened, and moved steadily back again from the north when the
grass began to grow short, and winter was setting in.
“Horace Greeley estimated the number of buffaloes at five
million. I agree with him, only I think there were nearly five times
that number. Mr. Greeley passed through herds of them twice. I lived
in the heart of the buffalo range for nearly fifteen years. I am told
that some recent writer, who has studied the buffalo closely, has
placed their number at ninety million, and I think that he is nearer
right than I. Brick Bond, a resident of Dodge, an old, experienced
hunter, a great shot, a man of considerable intelligence and
judgment, and a most reliable man as to truthfulness, says that he
killed 1500 buffaloes in seven days, and his highest killing was 250 in
one day; and he had to be on the lookout for hostile Indians all the
time. He had fifteen “skinners,” and he was only one of many
hunters.
“Charles Rath and I shipped over 200,000 buffalo hides the first
winter the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Dodge
City, and I think there were at least as many more shipped from
there, besides 200 cars of hind-quarters and two cars of buffalo
tongues.”
A Kansas newspaper (Dodge City Times, August 18th, 1877)
remarks:
“Dickinson County has a buffalo hunter by the name of Mr.
Warnock, who has killed as high as 658 in one winter.—Edwards
County Leader.
“Oh, dear, what a mighty hunter! Ford County has twenty men
who each have killed five times that many in one winter. The best on
record, however, is that of Tom Nickson, who killed 120 at one stand
in forty minutes, and who, from the 15th of September to the 20th of
October, killed 2,173 buffaloes.”
Colonel Richard I. Dodge, who spent thirty years on the Plains,
commenting in 1880 on the value of the buffalo to the Indian, says:
“It is almost impossible for a civilized being to realize the value
to the Plains Indians of the buffalo. It furnished him with home,
food, clothing, bedding, house equipment, almost everything.
Without it he is poor as poverty itself, and on the verge of starvation.
“Some years, as in 1871, the buffalo appeared to move northward
in one immense column, oftentimes from twenty to fifty miles in
width, and of unknown depth from front to rear. Other years the
northward journey was made in several parallel columns, moving at
the same rate and with their numerous flankers covering a width of a
hundred or more miles.
“During the three years 1872–73–74, at least five millions of
buffaloes were slaughtered for their hides.
“This slaughter was all in violation of law, and in contravention
of solemn treaties made with the Indians, but it was the duty of no
special person to put a stop to it. The Indian Bureau made a feeble
effort to keep the white hunters out of Indian Territory, but soon
gave it up, and these parties spread all over the country, slaughtering
the buffalo under the very noses of the Indians.
“Ten years ago the Plains Indians had an ample supply of food,
and could support life comfortably without the assistance of the
Government. Now everything is gone, and they are reduced to the
condition of paupers, without food, shelter, clothing, or any of those
necessaries of life which came from the buffalo; and without friends,
except the harpies, who, under the guise of friendship, feed upon
them.”
The first trains on the Union Pacific Railway were frequently
compelled to stop for one or two days until these immense herds had
crossed the tracks. The Missouri River has been known to be filled
with buffalo swimming across; a boat descending or ascending the
river was compelled to wait a day or two for the herds to pass.
Unnumbered thousands were drowned at the time of these crossings.
Prairie fires must have destroyed multitudes of these animals.
The American bison was very easily approached and killed, and
a careful reading of the accounts of buffalo-hunts indicates that there
was about as much real sport in the slaughter of these animals as in
killing domesticated cattle. In fact, the long-horned Texas steer such
as used to range the Southwest forty years ago, would probably
afford more sport to men engaged in a “running hunt,” than the
buffalo. The latter were heavy, ponderous animals and save when
stampeded, could be shot down from ambush. An “oldtimer”, long on
the Plains, told me that he frequently killed from fifty to seventy-five
buffalo from one stand. He would secret himself on a little bluff,
overlooking a ravine where the grass was exceptionally good, and
from this vantage-point, using a heavy Sharpes rifle, he shot down
one after another. He stated that the bulls would walk up to a fallen
animal, smell of the blood, paw the dirt, and perhaps bellow a little,
but until the animals got scent of him, they would not move away.
Professor William T. Hornaday in the United States National
Museum Reports for 1887 and 1889 has given an extended account
of the buffalo and its destruction. Catlin has presented us, in earlier
years, of a stirring account of a buffalo-hunt. Coming down to later
times, General Custer, Colonel William F. Cody and others have
pictured the excitement of the buffalo-chase. Colonel Cody, in fifteen
months, according to his own admission, slaughtered 4280.[55] He
thus obtained the name “Buffalo Bill.”

UNITED STATES CAVALRY ATTACKING BLACK

KETTLE’S VILLAGE ON THE WASHITA,
NOVEMBER 27, 1868

Black Kettle was killed in the fight. Reproduced from

Col. Dodge’s “Our Wild Indians”
 The senseless slaughter of this magnificent creature by
thousands of hunters, frontiersmen, Bills and Dicks, and others
between 1850 and 1880, soon brought about the near extinction of
the species. A few were saved by Messrs. Allard and Conrad of
Montana, the Canadian Government, our own Government, Colonel
W. A. Jones (Buffalo Jones) and others. The late Senator Corbin
secured a number of animals and shipped them to New Hampshire
where a tract of several thousand acres was set aside as a park. All of
these herds increased, and at the present time in the United States
and Canada there must be nearly, if not quite, 1500 head. Thus the
species is preserved. The Government had great difficulty in
preventing poachers in Yellowstone Park from slaughtering the
animals, and in the early nineties there were very few animals left
alive. Public opinion has been aroused to the necessity of preserving
this typically American animal, and it is now certain that the species
will not become extinct.
Buffalo Bill, not content with his records of “big killings”, took
numbers of bison East during the ’80’s. Of these, twenty fine
specimens died of pleuro-pneumonia while his show was at Madison
Square Garden, New York City, during the winter of 1886–’87. The
last survivors of this magnificent creature were hauled about the
country and exhibited before gaping crowds. At Newark, Ohio, in the
early ’80’s, when a boy I attended Buffalo Bill’s “Wild West Show”. I
shall ever remember my sensations when witnessing the “grand
buffalo hunt”. Three or four poor, old, scarred bison were driven into
the fair-ground enclosure by some whooping cow-punchers. Buffalo
Bill himself dashed up alongside the lumbering animals and from a
Winchester repeater discharged numerous “blanks” into the already
powder-burned sides of the helpless creatures. The crowd roared
with appreciation, and as the cow-punchers pursued, and rounded
up the hapless bison before the grandstand, Buffalo Bill reined in his
steed, and spurring the horse (so he would prance), bowed right and
left.
Professor Hornady’s report, together with other information,
indicates that enough buffalo were carted about the East to have
formed a very respectable herd—had they been permitted to remain
in some favored spot in the buffalo country.
The killing of the buffalo furnished employment for the type of
men who usually flock to any frontier. There was more or less
excitement in the chase, the animals were absolutely defenseless, the
hides and meat could be sold. But for the hostility of the Plains
tribes, the buffalo would long ago have disappeared. But when the
Sioux, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Omaha and others saw
that the Whites would destroy their means of sustenance, they
inaugurated a campaign of hostility throughout the Great Plains and
the Upper Missouri country, against the Whites.
Certain communities where a large number of fearless men were
assembled (such as Dodge City, Kansas,) became headquarters for
the hunters, but the ranging of hunting parties throughout the entire
West was restricted. This delayed the destruction of the buffalo. As I
have stated, the coming of the railroad, and the subsequent building
of other railroads, and steamboat navigation upon the Missouri,
brought about curtailment of Indian activities and the ultimate
destruction of the buffalo. I present a drawing from Wright’s book in
which are exhibited upwards of 40,000 buffalo hides stacked up in
the corral at Dodge City.[56] This was in 1876. So many hides were
shipped to the eastern market that the price fell to a dollar.
Unnumbered thousands were sold at $1.25. I entered a furrier’s store
in Boston last winter and saw three buffalo robes offered for sale.
The ordinary one was $75, another one was $100, and an extra fine
robe was priced at $150. A few live buffalo were recently sold and the
price was, I have been told, $1,000 each.
The hide-hunters killed the animal for the robe, as the name
implies, and left the carcass to rot. Sometimes men took neither the
hides nor the tongues, but killed for the mere pleasure of
slaughtering.
It is not at all difficult for us to reconstruct the “good old buffalo
days” among any of the tribes, from the Comanches of Texas to the
Sioux of Minnesota. Many of the Indian bands followed the buffalo
in its annual migration north or south, killing such of the animals as
were needed for use and permitting the greater number to escape.
There is no authentic account of early Indians slaughtering to satisfy
a craving for blood. Indians sometimes killed enemies for the sheer
love of slaughter, but the buffalo was not an enemy. Having obtained
sufficient meat or hides, they simply quit, for they had not become
“civilized”.
Let us imagine some village of the period between 1850 and
1865. There are numerous accounts of such, and we need read few of
them to form an accurate, though composite picture. The camp is
located in some favorite spot. Young men, out upon a scout, observe
the approach of a great herd, and, lashing their ponies, speed back
home with the welcome news. All is excitement in the village some
twenty miles to the east. Immediately the village crier gallops from
one end of the encampment to the other announcing that a buffalo
dance is to be held that night. Everybody prepares for the festive
occasion; the shamans make their medicine; the buffalo dance
paraphernalia is brought out, and until early morning hours the
dance continues.
Great merriment is caused when the better dancers try to outdo
each other. Much feasting follows—for are they not soon to possess
an abundance of meat? An old shaman appears; the dancers pause;
he informs them that his medicine is “good.” No enemies are near;
the dreadful white hunters are not at hand; every lodge will secure at
least three buffalo. Therefore, all must prepare and be ready to begin
the hunt at daybreak.
Shortly after sunrise a large portion of the Indians mounted on
their most reliable “buffalo horses” (which have been trained to
skillfully avoid the rushes of the bulls) pursue the herd. Each man
selects a well-proportioned beast, and with rifle, arrow or lance, he
brings him down.
Now, hunting buffalo with the lance, or bow and arrow, was
sport. The use of a rifle required no skill. With the lance, the hunter
must ride up close, thrust the lance in and swing his pony suddenly
to avoid the charge of any belligerent bull. The steel-pointed arrows
must be shot at close range, and when the beast was “on the jump”,
in order that the arrow penetrate between the ribs to a vital part.
Much of the arrow’s force was lost, if it struck a rib. Hence, great skill
on the hunter’s part was required. He must shoot or thrust at the
proper moment. This was true sport—just the opposite of still
hunting, the favorite pastime of the pot-and-hide hunters; far more
exciting than the work of such men as Buffalo Bill, who killed in
order to make “big records”. When Indians hunted, the women and
children and older men followed along in the wake of the advance
party, removed the hides and cut up the meat.
Or, if the herd is a small one, it is surrounded by a large number
of horsemen and forced to a common center. “Milling”, the old
frontiersmen used to call it. Indians ride furiously around the herd,
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