Spread of English-Speaking Peoples 95 



study how the Delawares have changed in respect 

 to their martial prowess since the days when the 

 whites first came in contact with them. They were 

 then not accounted a formidable people, and were 

 not feared by any of their neighbors. By the time 

 the Revolution broke out they had become better 

 warriors, and during the twenty years' Indian war- 

 fare that ensued were as formidable as most of the 

 other redskins. But when moved west of the Mis- 

 sissippi, instead of their spirit being broken, they 

 became more warlike than ever, and throughout the 

 present century they have been the most renowned 

 fighters of all the Indian peoples, and, moreover, 

 they have been celebrated for their roving, adven- 

 turous nature. Their numbers have steadily dwin- 

 dled, owing to their incessant wars and to the dan- 

 gerous nature of their long roamings. 5 



It is impossible to make any but the roughest 

 guess at the numbers of these Northwestern Indians. 

 It seems probable that there were considerably over 

 fifty thousand of them in all; but no definite asser- 

 tion can be made even as to the different tribes. As 

 with the Southern Indians, old-time writers cer- 



5 See Parkman's "Oregon Trail." In 1884 I myself met 

 two Delawares hunting alone, just north of the Black Hills. 

 They were returning from a trip to the Rocky Mountains. 

 I could not but admire their strong, manly forms, and the 

 disdainful resolution with which they had hunted and trav- 

 elled for so many hundred miles, in defiance of the white 

 frontiersmen and of the wild native tribes as well. I think 

 they were in more danger from the latter than the former ; 

 but they seemed perfectly confident of their ability to hold 

 their own against both. 



