Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 June 1892 — INDIAN CAVALRYMEN. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

INDIAN CAVALRYMEN.

HOW THE NEW IDEA IS WORKING IN THE WEST. lYom Savages to Soldiers—Tl»e Aljorlgrlnes Take Kindly to Hoots and Saddles —Some Interesting Facts About the Troop of Red Warriors. A Snccesslul .Experiment. In the year 1890, writes Charles D. Rhodes, in the Chicago Inter Ocean, two troops in each of the ten regiments of cavalry were skeletonized —that is, the enlisted men of these troops were distributed among the other ten troops of the same regiment, and officers were assigned to these so-called paper troops,” who were not present for duty 1 with their regiments. This was done to bring the remaining troops up to its maximum strength of officers and men. After the close of the Sioux campaign as 1890-91, the War Department directed that one of the skeletonized troops in each regiment be again materialized and recruited by enlistments from among the Indians, and it was in compliance with this order that the enlistment. of Troop L, Sixth Cavalry—the first regular Indian troop or company organized —was begun among the ltiule Sioux by Lieut. E. E. Dravo, at the Rosebud Agency, South Dakota, in April, 1891; In order to expedite the enlistment as well as to come to a thorough understanding with the Indians of just what inducements would be offered by tho Government, and what duties would in return be required of Indian soldiers, the first week at the agency was devoti d by the officers’ recruiting party to a series of “talks'’ with all the braves, young and old, who were interested in the enlistment, and the week’s deliberations were brought to a fitting close by a grand council, participated in by a vory large number of Indians. To the Brules, the greatest obstacle to enlistment was, naturally enough, the fact that the latter would probably at some time take ihem far away from their friends and relatives, and this point was prominently brought out by the old men a.t the council. They wished a condition introduced that upon enlistment the Indians should serve on or near, their, reservation. But as has since been shown, this condition would have proven a great bar to

progress, and the objection was met by j arguments proving the great benefits ] gained by contact of the young men with the civilization of the East; that, so long as the Indians remained on their reservation, aloof from the white people, so long would they make little improvement; whereas the boys who had returned from the schools at Hampton, Carlisle, and elsewhere could tell of the wonderful prosperity of the East. .The force of these arguments was further enhanced by the verbal testimony of those chiefs who had visited Washington. Finally and quite suddenly the sentiment in regard to leaving the vicinity of the reservation seemed to completely change, and with counter-direct-ness the young'men were counseled by their chiefs to enlist and, if possible, to go all over the Great Father’s country, learning all they could for their own and their people’s good. Another objection raised at the council was the desire of the chiefs to have their own favorite young men appointed non-commissioned officers immediately, with a view to their becoming commissioned officers later on. It was with great difficulty that this point was settled, until the Carlisle men explained to the ch efs how impossible it was for Indians to become officers Until their standard of education was raised. On April 6, two days after the council, the enlistment was begun, and on this and the two days succeeding fortytwo Brule braves were examined physically by tho surgeon, and ihirty-lwo of these accepted and enlisted. By April 20 the troop was enlisted to fifty-two men, and the twd remaining vacancies were afterward filled Without trouble, competition even running high. It is interesting to here note the fact that the troop was enlisted from the most warlike And daring, perhaps, of all Indian tribes, r aitd from among the very Sioux wh retime. months before had bolted into the Bad Lands, and had given the Government so much trouble and

anxiety during the disagreeable winter campaign. ■ p Added to this, twenty-three of the enlistments were made from the camps of Sky Bull and Big Turkey, considered the most conservative and non-progres-aive camps on the reservation. These points are interesting in view of tfae remarkable progress since mjifte by . Among the chiefs wbotwere pqjpticulariy favorable toward the enlistment were Turning Bear, who was chief of the dog soldiers 4 the Brules in the hostile camp In the Bad Lands, and whose *

brother, Homed Horse, fs a member of the troop! High Bear, who was another hostile chief, and whose eon, Sammy High Rear, now wears the chevrons of a sergeant; and old Chief -Two Strikes, whose name was at one time,in every soldier’s mouth, has a bright and efficient Bon in the troop, who also proudly wears a sergeant’s chevrons. Of the fifty-five men enlisted, five are half-breeds, three are one-fourth white, and forty-seven are full-blooded Brules. And among those who have been fortunate enough to attend industrial school, the trades represented are: Blacksmiths, three; bakers, two; painters, iwo; carpenters, one; shoemakers, one; tailors, one; barbers, one. After enlistment at thA? agency, the Indians were like a lot or schoolboys, anxious to get to their new post, Fort Niobrara, Neb., and don their brand new uniforms. And when at last the wagons came to take them to the post they could not contain themselves, but spent most of the night singing. He who

would have us believe in the eternal moroseness and taciturnity of the Indian should have heard the jokes, laughter and singing which heralded the advent of these wild young savages into our army. Arriving at the post, trouble was at first anticipated in getting them to have their long, straight hair clipped, but none whatever was experienced, the men submitting to the ordeal willingly, and, in fact, in all things seemel only 100 anxious to become as much like the white soldiers as possible. They were taught English words, preferably the names of common objects around them, and by the Ist of July forty men could sign their names to the June muster-rolls, twenty-ono of whom were unable to do so on the May rolls. Drills were begun at once, commencing with the setting-up exercises and the school-of-the-soldier dismounted, and their progress was surprisingly rapid—tho execution of the marchings and the manual-of-arms being especially well done. This improvement was the more encouraging as all but eleven members of the troop knew nothing of English except a few disr onnected words. In learning the drill it was necessary for them to memorize the different English commands—the tactical movement with its command of execution, being first explained by an interpreter. Allctmmands were and have been given jn English and very little repetition has been necessary for tho Indians to grasp them.

Immediately upon arriving at tho post Ihe troop started its own mess and the men were taught the dotails of civilized acoking, so that at the present time there are in the troop a number of excellent cooks. From the’first the greatest cleanliness was insisted on, and the traditional slovenliness of the Indian seemed to have been left with his relatives on the reservation. Upon the arrival of charts, slates, and primary school books a daily recitation of an hour and a half was begun, and tho improvement in reading and writing was most encouraging. The instruction was further supplemented by an object lesson class, whose members were taught the names of their arms, equipments, and articles of clothing, the greatest interest being displayed, more especially with n spect to all things relating to the military service. In the fall of 1891, about six months after enlistment, the troop, mounted,

took a tour through the reservation for ! the double purpose of stimulating pride and ambition and of showing the other Indians how much improvement had been made. The trip' was a pronounced success. ! Both mounted and dismounted drills | took place in the presence of the chiefs and head men, and tho troop was as j much on its mettle to excel as any crank ! State organization drilling for a prize | trophy. Up to the present time improvement has been steadily satisfactory, although, naturally enough, not as remarkable latterly as that which was made at tho i outset. There is a troop blacksmith, George Bull, who cares for the horses most effi- ; ciently. The troop farrier, White Bank, Was formerly a doctor of wide cc-lebrity among his people and understands the virtues of ail the roots and herbs in this part of the country. His care for the horses of the troop is assiduous, and he j well deserves the testimonial as to his trustworthiness which he received from Gen. Crook in 1876. “The troop tailor” is a young Apache 1 from San Carlos, Arizona, who enlisted for the troop from Carlisle. He has already paid $75 for his sewing machine, j and has deposited SSO of savings With the paymaster, obtained entirely through his pay and earnings. He does sttch excellent work that he now has orders from all troops in the post. The troop barber has little to do ex- j cept with cutting hair. The Indians never shAve and when hair does appear on their, faces they pull it out by the roots with a small pair of tweezers. Charley Bunning Horse, the saddler, is a.fine worker in leather and his Carlisle training Tias been further improved by lessons from the regimental saddler sergeant. 'r’ l ’’ ■ . . The troop has had much to learn of j things which come naturally to white

Boldlert—Cooking, caring for horses, and even how to wear their olothlng. In fact, It has been especially difficult to teach them to be saving of their uniforms. Not that they do not take the greatest pride in their personal appearance. Their natural vanity preoludes that. But when they become possessed of a neat-fitting blouse or pair of shapely trousers, they can seldom resist wearing the same until threadbaro, and if permitted they would speedily make way with not only their clothing allowance but also their monthly pay for clothes alone In connection with clothing It is surprising to note the complete transformation the exteriors of some of these men undergo at the dances, of whioh they have been allowed to have several sinco their enlistment. With the removal of uniforms, and the addition of hideous paint, beads, ornaments of porcupine quills, and metallic bracelets, together with a conspicuous absence of clothing, they seem very unlike the tractable sol-

diers that they were. But the gratification of their pleasure in dancing, wild and savage as it appears to lookers on, does not seem to do harm, and no retrogade movement in discipline has been apparent. There are in the troop a number of excellent dancers, White Horse, a tall, fine-looking young brave, having the reputation of being the very best on the reservation The proximity of the Indians to their reservation has been to tho troop officers a bete noir from the very beginning. All kinds of ingenious excuses are bethought of to obtain a pass to go on the reservation. Sickness of family, burning of houses, ailings of horses and cattle, domestic infelicities, all these reasons are cited and re-cited. While the

truth prevails in these excuses, exaggeration must always be looked for. Indian braves who have been reported dead by members of the troop have had a way of coming to life again, without any apparent embarrassment to the originators •of tho canard, they explaining it simply by, “ Walking Fly was dead a little while, but all right now. ” One honest fellow who was very anxious to obtain a pass, in order, as I well knew, to carry a flag to his relatives, told me after all other resources hud failed, that he had heard that his father was dying. Upon crossexamination I found that the paternal one hud a severe attack of rheumatism

in the right foot. Upon organizing the troop several white non-commissioneii officers were detailed for duty with it to assist in its instruction, but at present these have been reduced to two—one acting as first sergeant and the other as troop clerk. All other duties are performed by the Indian non-commissioned officers in a ! creditable manner. There is a common feeling among our army officers throughout the West to disapprove of the enlistment of Indians as soldiers. No one seems ta question the benefits accruing to the Indians by j the discipline and contact with civilized J Speech, manner, and costumes. But by many it is not believed to be the function of our small but efficient army to i act as public educators, aud it must be confessed the molding of the Indian soldier requires an education in many things not directly pertaining to the military profession; and these critics j believe that our army has enough to do | to take care of its own efficiency without undertaking the civilizing of the Inj dian. Probably similar views were ex- ! pressed upon the organization of the 1 negro regiments. Be this as it may, the i scheme is not without prededent in the military establishments of India,France, i Ilussia and other foreign countries. Probably our army would feel better satisfied, and greater good would result, , were an Indian regiment of cavalry and of infantry organized, without decreas- | ing our present strength of .white and jj colored troops. The natural pastime of the Indian has for ages been war and the chase, and !by combining the allurements,of a milij tary life with the use of English words and manners, a compromise upon what I is to the Indian monotonous and irksome school-room instruction, much of that j obstinate conservatism which has been so great an obstacle to Indian ciriliza- ! tion may be broken down and elimiI nated.

A “FRIENDLY.”

SCOUT AND TROOPER.

THE INDIAN TROOP IN THE SADDLE.

COMMUNING WITH THE CANTEEN

AN OLD-TIME INDIAN VILLAGE.