90 BUFFALO LAND. 



tance apart, and their inhabitants frequently ex- 

 change visits. The few whom we had seen consisted 

 of Osages, Kaws, Pottawatomies, and Sioux, all 

 equally dirty, but the last affecting clothes more than 

 the others, and eschewing paint. . The members of 

 this tribe, generally speaking, have good farms and 

 are worth a handsome average per head. At the 

 time of our visit they were expecting a half million 

 dollars or so from Washington, and were soon to be- 

 come American citizens. One privilege of this cit- 

 izenship struck us as very peculiar. By the State 

 law, as long as an Indian is simply an Indian, he 

 can buy no whisky, and is thus cruelly debarred 

 from the privilege of getting drunk, but once a voter, 

 he can luxuriate in corn-juice and the calaboose, as 

 well as his white brother. What a travesty upon 

 American civilization and politics ! 



Muggs was prejudiced against the Osages, having 

 been induced by one of them to invest in a bow and 

 arrows, "for the Hinglish Museum, you know." On 

 pulling for a trial shot, one end of the bow went 

 further than the arrow, and the cord, warranted to 

 be buffalo sinew, proved to be an oiled string. 



Sachem declared that he had found Muggs return- 

 ing the wreck to the Indian with the following speech: 

 " 0-sage, little was your wisdom to court thus the 

 wrath of a Briton. Take with the two pieces this 

 piece of my mind. That your noble form may be re- 

 moved soon to the 'appy 'unting ground, where bow 

 trades are not allowed, is the prayer of your patron, 

 Muggs." 



Mr. Colon asked Tenacious Gripe to explain the 



