Rensselaer Republican, Volume 23, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 May 1891 — THE SCOUT OF THE PAST. [ARTICLE]

THE SCOUT OF THE PAST.

The Railroad and the Telegraph H&ve Taken His Occupation. Chicago Herald. • I The scout of the frotier is like the typical cowboy—a mythical personage in these days of steam and electricity. The recent Indian war was conducted without him, and the travellers on the prairies do not need his services. Trailing is as much an art as is painting or sculpture, and almost as few become proficient in it as in the handling of brush or chisel It requires constant practice and much knowledge of nature to learn it thoroughly. It seems to ; be more natural for an Indian or a Mexican to be a tracer of men or beasts than an A merit-an. They aequireby intuition what the white man learns from a lifetime of study. Occasionally upon the plains an American is found who is an expert, but for the most part the boasted leaders of civilization are far behind the natural-born scouts. It is impossible to realize nowadays the importance of a scout of former times. No party dared cross the plains alone without a professional trailer to lead it, and no marauding band of Indians or whites could be overtaken unless they were tracked across the boundless wastes of sod. A traveller across the plains of New Mexico relates to the writer that one day while liding with a guide he stopped and pointed to a clear and well defined bear’s track in the sand. The guide looked at it attentively a moment, then, without dismounting,deelared: “You are mistaken; it is not a bear’s track.” • Tf lsn’t it?” said the American. “Then I never saw one.” Quickly alighting, the American pointed out the heel and toes of the track as clear and well defined as if made a few minutes before. “Well,” said the guide, “if it does look like a bear’s track, still it isn't one. The marks you imagine to be the heels and toes are made by those spires of grass, which, bent by the wind, scoop out the sand in the manner you see. “You ought to have seen that yourself,” hewenton, “butyoudidn’t stop to think. You Americans never do. Americans travel with their eyes shut and their mouth open. An Indian or Mexican will travel all day without speaking a word to any one unless absolutely necessary, but nothing escapes his observation, while an American will talk continuously and see nothing but the general features of the country through which he travels.” The guide was probably right, for few Americans become adepts at trailing either men or animals across the plains of the West. It is impossible to learn the art from books, though there are a few

general rules which can be observed, for instance, every scout knows that to overtake a party which has perhaps run off some stock provisions must be taken to last several days; that the start must be made slowly and the course followed persistently and at a moderate pace, giving the horses the nights to rest in and start at daylight in the mornings. Then, when the pursuers come near the pursued, it is the scout’s business to tell the number and condition of the enemy and how many hours have elapsed since they passed the spot on which you are standing, for it may become necessary for you to remain concealed until you decide upon the manner of attack, for if the party be made up of Indians they will scatter before you can capture them. Again, any scout can tell whether the trail be that of a war party or not, because no Indians take their families with them on the war path; hence no lodge poles drag behind the ponies. If there is no trace of these it is safe to consider that a war party is on the rampage. It is generally easy to distinguish the track of an Indian’s pony from that of a white man’s horse, as the former will make a smaller impression and will show no imprint of a shoe.

One of the difficult things to determine is the age of the trail, and to do it correctly requires much practice. If the track is very frsh it will show moisture where the earth is turned up, which after a few hours becomes dry. Should rain have fallen the edges will be less clear and will be washed down somewhat. The expert American scout can tell by a glance what tribe of Indians has made a given trail, its age, and every particulai’ about it as truthfully as though he has himself seen the cavalcade pass. A party following an Apache trail during the Indian difficulties of 1883 suddenly came to a ledge of bare rock. The officers of the troops examined it carefully, but could see nothing to indicate where the tribe had gone. But the scout led them for two miles across it as unerringly as though the trail had been made in heavy grass. When asked what told him the way he called attention to a fine moss which covered the rock and that by close scrutiny gave evidence of having been pressed by the foot, an indication so slight that it would have been unnoticed by ninety-nine out of a hundred, yet his keen eye detected every footprint us easily as could be wished. i In the grass a trail can be seen for a long time, as the blades will be bent in (he direction followed by the -party, and even after it has recovered its natural position an expert trailer will detect a slight difference in the color of the gras* that has been

| stepped on and that growing around ; So the appearance of the track; will also show him the gait at whicl s the party was traveling,, and he thu; knows how to regulate his pacq it order to overtake it. It is rare to find a white persor. who can retrace his steps for any great distance in the open country, but it is simply impossible todose ar Indian. No matter how circuitous the route by which you have reached a certain place, the Indian will fine his way back to place of starting by the most direct route, and with out hesitating for a moment as tc which course to pursue. If you ask him how he does it he may possibly shrug his shoulders and reply, “Quien sabe?” or “Who knows?” though the chances are he will not reply at all.” No matter how affable and entertaining he may b« • in camp, he will talk little while on< the move. But trailing is not all the scout’s knowledge. Besides having an intimate acquaintance with the country, he also knows how to hail any passing bands of Indians or other tribes. The tribe signs are as numerous as the tribal divisions themselves. The approach of an Indian party is stopped by holding up the right hand. Passing it back and forward before the face means “Who are you?” as plain as words can say it. Then comes the answer. The Comanche makes a motion like the course of a snake. Comanche meaning snake. The Arapahoes (smellers) take the nose between the thumb and fore finger. The Cheyennes (meaning cut arm) draw the hand across the arm as if to saw it off. The Pawnees (wolves) put their two hands to their foreheads with their fingers pointing ahead, like a wolf s ears pricked up at an unexpected sound, while the Sioux (or cut throats) draw their hands across their throats. All these things are in the mind ol the scout, and are as familiar to him as the rising of the sun. In addition, he knows something of astronomical lore so far as it tells of the directions indicated by the stars. He is as infallible as a barometer in predicting weather changes, and his acquaintance with wild beasts would be a bo-. nanza to a naturalist. One of the oldest scouts in thq country died a few months ago at an advanced age. His name was Silas Lambert, and his first experience was a thrilling one in connection with Fort Meigs and Gen. William Henry Harrison. A heavy force ol Indians and British under Proelot and Tecumseh were attacking the fort, when Lambert was sent out to reconnoitre the opposing forces. He reached a place where he could catch sight of the camp, but suddenly he was aware of beinsr discovered. The Indians who were with the British soldiers had seen his approach, and he found himself face t a face with 200 redskins and several soldiers. A half-dozen rifles were levelled at him and escape seemed but knowing he would be shot as a spy if taken Lambert turned and fired. None of the shots fired at him hit their mark, and eight Indians, dropping their guns, started after him with only tomahawks and knives as weapons. Lambert was a fleet runner, and the redskins in pursuit were soon separated by their various degrees of speed. Noticing that the fleetest was far in advance the scout suddenly turned and killed him with his knife, having first pretended to fall from exhaustion and waited for the Indian’s approach. By the time this manoeuvre was excuted the others were close at hand, and Lambert again took to his heels. The race kept up until nightfall, when in the darkness Lambert was able to dodge his pursuers and so escape back to the fort with his information.

During the Mexican war and in several campaigns on the frontier Lambert served the government well, and his expertness in trailing made him much sought after. In spite of his hazardous life he never received a severe wound, and died at the age of niriety-three. In addition to flhe prairie signs the old-time scouts were also expert in deciphering the marks on trees or saplings in the frontier forests. These were as plain to the scout as the broadest highway, and the signals of the Indians were known as well as are the indications of the weather service the modern student. The exodus to California in 1849- 52 was an opportunity for fame money for the scouts. They v ere in the most demand at that time oi in their history. To lead a train bl emigrants across the trackless prairies was no slight task, and the man who could detect a wagon’s track after the expiration of several months was by no means to be despised. It is related that many wagon trains en route to the Rockies were led astray by a wheelbarrow track which was made by some prospectors, who, with their horses gone, took a barrow to carry .their mining tools across the country to their camp. The wagon teams, seeing this track in the soft sod, thought it a trail,and after a mile or two brought up on the banks of a stream where the prospectors had boarded a flatboat and departed. Angry, they would retrace their steps, only to make the trail more plain for the next compas e scout was a prominent feature of the novels of J. Fenimore Cooper; he shone in the frontier tales of a score of years ago; he was found here and there in the Southwest in the last decade, but now his glory is departed. Telegrams can be sent over nearly all his trails and the distance coursed by a Pullman car.