390 INDIANS. 



victims are at his hand, must, to obtain the proper recog- 

 nition of his act, at once give up all thought of further 

 killing, make his coup, and take the scalp. It can be 

 readily seen that this custom is entirely to the advantage 

 of the fugitives, and accounts in some measure for so few 

 Indians being killed in their fights. 



After the return of a successful party, when scalps 

 have been taken, a ceremony is performed by the 

 warriors who took them, no other person being permitted 

 to be present. I have been a spectator at a distance, 

 but all to be seen was a number of Indians squatted on 

 their haunches in a circle. During the ceremony the 

 scalps are trimmed, cleared of any fleshy matter, and the 

 skin partially cured by some process. Each scalp is then 

 stretched by thongs inside of a small hoop of wood, and 

 the hair combed and greased. Each warrior then 

 attaches his scalp or scalps in their hoops to a peeled 

 willow wand, some eight or ten feet long. All march 

 gravely back to camp, each bearing his wand and scalps 

 in his hand. The wands are planted in a circle in the 

 centre of the camp. This ceremony is called ' counting 

 the coupsj and is preparatory to the ' scalp dance.' 



A great deal of unnecessary sympathy has been 

 wasted by the philanthropic world on the killing of 

 squaws in battle by whites. In some instances, as the 

 ' Sand Creek massacre,' most horrible and barbarous 

 murders of women and children have been committed, 

 worthy the Indians themselves ; but, as a rule, no woman 

 is hurt except by accident, or when fighting like a man. In 

 the surprise and attack of a camp, when all is excitement, 

 and bullets are flying in pursuit of every flying enemy, 

 that women and children should be killed and wounded 

 is to be expected. In such cases the younger squaws are 

 very prompt to make their sex known, holding up their 

 hands and yelling ' squaw,' ' squaw ;' and, even in the 

 excitement and thirst for blood engendered by battle, I 

 have never known or heard of a woman being killed 



