TRIBAL GOVERNMENT DOG-SOLDIERS. 267 



while a camp of half a dozen white men would have 

 driven them all away in a day. Only designated parties 

 or individuals are permitted to shoot at herds, or even at 

 solitary buffalo ; and an Indian not so designated will take 

 as much precaution to avoid a herd as, under other cir- 

 cumstances, he would take to approach it. The boy 

 parties spoken of heretofore are never permitted in any 

 way to molest herds within one, two, or more days' 

 march from the main camp. 



Punishment is not often resorted to, but, when decided 

 upon, is prompt and severe. Crimes against the body 

 politic, or violations of the orders of the chief, are 

 punished severely ; sometimes by death, at other times by 

 beating and destruction of property. In these cases the 

 chief acts ; but he must have at least the tacit consent of 

 the council, and the active assistance of the 'dog-soldiers.' 

 Nearly all crimes against individuals are compounded by 

 the payment of damages, the amount of which is assessed 

 generally by the chief, assisted in important cases by two 

 or more prominent men. A violation of the ' dog- 

 soldiers' ' rules is at once met by a sound beating. 



I cannot say exactly how the powers and duties of 

 these three governmental forms blend and concur, or 

 where they become antagonistic, and I have never met 

 an Indian or white man who could satisfactorily explain 

 them. The result, however, is fairly good, and seems well 

 suited to the character, necessities, and peculiarities of 

 the life of the plains Indian. 



When Texas was annexed to the United States the 

 Comanches, by far the most powerful Texan tribe of 

 Indians, were governed by San-ta-na, a chief distinguished 

 above all others by his eloquence and wisdom in council, 

 and his daring, skill, and success in the field. His word 

 was law, and such his popularity with his tribe that sub- 

 chiefs and warriors vied with each other in anticipating 

 his wishes. When the United States troops were sent to 

 occupy and defend Texas it was found that scarcely a 



