Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 April 1889 — INDIAN HORSEMANSHIP. [ARTICLE]

INDIAN HORSEMANSHIP.

B*markable KqnaatriM Pafurmaaeaa of an Arapahoe Band. i < Giron * hone, a man animated by tha ' 'reckless daring likely to come of a wild, ! free life, and the Centaur of ancient fable may be fairly realised. A correspondent, haring visited an Arapahoe camp, gives the following account of an Indian drill, ordered for Ids amusement: Fifty fine-looking young men, mounted upon ponies, drew up before the tents. At a signal from the chief they began' their ' , evolutions, with a loud yell. In a moment they disappeared over a ! neighboring hill. Then theiu suddenly rose a mighty trampling of horses’ feet, and ; they swept past again, so compact that I i only saw a ball made of horses and men. Splitting in two, one body swept to the I right and another to' the left, and again they disappeared. Presently they charged , each other, in solid lines, and while the spectator waited breathlessly for the shock ' of collision, the files skilfully opened to the ! right and left, and the lines passed through the intervals without thouching. Now came the moment for displaying in- I dividual horsemanship. Some of the riders 1 approached, each lying so close to his pouy’a back that nothing but the horse could be seen. Some hung to the horse by one foot . and one hand, so that their bodies was completely protected by those of the ponies. The young warriors also threw objects . upon the ground, and picked them up at full gallop, and drew bows and shot arrows from beneath the horse’s necks. Some of the men exchanged horses while riding. Again; a man would fall from his horse, as ifflwounded, and two others, riding up beside him, would take him by an arm and a leg. swin’g him their horses, and carry him off. The exhibition lasted nearly two hours, and at its close, men and horses were completely exhausted. All that evening the human performers lay in their lodges, while she Indian women brought them food, ; bathed their limbs and combed their hair. To the Ladles of Jasper and Adjoining Counties. Mrs. E. P. Honan, with the assistance of Miss Ella Buchanan, will make a display of millinery, At the millinery establishment of Hemphill <fc Honan, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week. You are cordially invited to call and see the new styles. Yours, anxious to please, Hemphill <fc Hoxan.