58 The Book of Woodcraft 



Our soldiers, above all others, have been trained to hate 

 the Redmen, and yet the evidence of those that have lived 

 years with this primitive people is, to the same effect as that 

 of missionaries and travelers, namely, that the high-class 

 Indian was brave; he was obedient to authority. He was 

 kind, clean and reverent. He was provident, unsordid, 

 hospitable, dignified, courteous, truthful, and honest. He 

 was the soul of honor. He lived a Hfe of temperance and 

 physical culture that he might perfect his body, and so he 

 achieved a splendid physique. He was a wonderful hunter, 

 a master of woodcraft, and a model for outdoor Hfe in this 

 country. He was heroic and picturesque all the time. 

 He knew nothing of the forgiveness of sin, but he 

 remembered his Creator all the days of his Hfe, and 

 was in truth one of the finest t>^es of men the world has 

 ever known. 



We set out to discover the noble Redman. Have we 

 entirely failed? 



Surely, it is our duty, at least, to do justice to his memory, 

 and that justice shaU not fail of reward. For this lost and 

 dying type can help us in many ways that we need, even as 

 he did help us in the past. Have we forgotten that in 

 everything the white pioneer learned of woodcraft, the 

 Indian was the teacher? And when at length came on the 

 white man's fight for freedom, it was the training he got 

 from the Redman that gave him the victory. So again, to 

 fight a different enemy to-day, he can help us. And in our 

 search for the ideal outdoor life, we cannot do better than 

 take this Indian, with his reverence and his carefully cul- 

 tured physique, as a model for the making of men, and as a 

 pattern for our youth who would achieve high manhood, 

 in the Spartan sense, with the added graces of courtesy, 

 honor and truth. 



