Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 13, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 April 1884 — Astonished. [ARTICLE]

Astonished.

“Ugh! short gun—my father shoot me —hurt nobody. ” This was the way a young Indian expressed his contempt for the white man’s pistol, as he stood watching its owner cleaning it. Years ago when the Winnebagoes threatened to capture the Government property on the treaty ground, and go on the war-path, an officer of the War Department went among them to confer with Chief Four Legs and assist Gov. Cass in keeping the peace. The threatened insurrection was prevented by a mere quiet show of power—and the pistol, which the officer in a moment of leisure was cleaning, was one of the first incidents. The officer replied to the disdainful remark of the young Indian by saying to his interpreter, “Tell him if fie wants to knew what these ‘short guns’ can do, to just go across Fox River and stand there, and h« can have a hole made through him in a minute.” The Indian declined this polite proposal, but seeing by his manner that he still believed the “short'gun” could “hurt nobody,“ Col, McKenney felt that he must do something to prove its quality, or lose his prestige in the coming council. He directed his servant to stick up a bit of bark, at a fair distance, and then calling attention through the’interpreter to what he was going to do, took deliberate aim and Sited. The bark fell. The Indian ran and picked it up, but seeing no mark,laughed at the Colonel and his pistol. The bullet was no larger than a buck-shot, and the elastic filaments on the inner side of the bark had closed over the hole it had made. “Look on the other side,” said the Colonel. The Indian turned the bark over, and uttered an exclamation of surprise. He •poked a stick through the bullet-hole, and then he wanted to hoi-row the pistol to look at. His contempt had suddenly changed to profound respect. Seeing aD old Indian fumbling with his flint and steel and piece of punk, trying to make a fire to light his pipe, the Colonel told the interpreter to say he would save him the trouble. “Tell him I’ll bring down fire from the sun to light his pipe with.” 1 The old Indian looked at the officer and shook his head, with a grunt of incredulity. The Colonel went to him, and drawing a burning-glass from his pocket, held it concealed in his hand over the tobacco in the pipe. The focal rays soon did their work. “Smoke,” said the Colonel. The old Indian suftked through the Stem, and very soon the smoke filled his mouth. He puffed it out, and then stopped and looked first at the white man, then up at the sun, then down at his pipe, with an expression on his face of pefect awe and amazement. Apparently lie half suspected the White chief to be Manitou himself. The favorable impression was made complete when, a few days after, on the treaty-ground, and: just previous to holding the council, trial was made of a six-pounder field-piece on the shore of Lake Winnebago. An empty barrel was anchored at a distance of about a quarter of a mile, and several of the army gunners fired and missed it. But the heavy report of the cannon was sufficiently effective to. quiet the Indians, and they noticed little else till Col. MeKenney aimed and sighted the piece himself. He fired and shivered the bai'rel to atoms. After that it was an easy matter to make terms with the Winnebagoes, and the Colonel long continued to be known among them as the “Big Fire-maker.”