NEW YORK, THURSDAY, AUGUST 13,1874. 



i -'. 



A DOG'S DAY. 



BY ASSA C. STABBUCK. 



I>VB)sru»kBdtttro igh ' tUei itj l * 

 Without my leather uiiiz/.ie; 

 I've lapped up water as I run. 



From trough and' hydrant nozzle; 

 Mj legs are tired, my bark is weak. 



And yet I meant to do ir. 

 In spite of city ordinance 

 That said my hide should rue. It. 



, pea at hoeis ol passers by 

 And caught their look of loathing; 

 Xwasfnn to see their horror, when 



I „nly tore their. clothing, 

 One child was look;:.. 



1 -i pppetl, and in he darted; 

 You should have seen the thnfrl f.n' bUttil 

 Tnatlitllc villain started! 



The men came rushing I'rom the. house 



Willi rnslygnna and sabres. 

 TUe women bore the little child 



In. blankets to We neighbors, 

 They chased me lOn» with diro intent, 



But all theii in isU 

 Went off within me pan, an'! left 

 mine ashes. 



No'l 



Al ltu 



a all. 



idled a 



1 1 



et a 



And whiskers al! unshaven 

 Betokened care and poverty) 



And yet he stooped in pity, 

 And stroked the Hair where chins; the mud 

 And jeers or all the idly. 



He shaved with me his crust of bread, 

 lie. shared with me his 5OW0W , 

 ., ime has tie Beneath tii i 



on , ■. not ^"iv: 

 He ma\ Hot rosl Us aclrtne head 



■-. \" ■ . "i -. 1 Li this dusty city; 

 Suspicion, eyes his threadbare coat 

 ■..,.: ii,- the door of pity. 



1 can but wag my eratitude, 



And whine my fond affection: 

 [Kft no shadow from his hx cl 



Xor share uis seaiv dejection; 

 But yet 1 mean to steal away 



And follow, on the morrow ; 

 I'll guard his steps from lurking ill, 



Nor seem I., see his sorrow, 

 Bo&uster, X. Y 



Jpi* gomnnche ^ndidns. 



[The facts in this communication are due to Horace P. 

 Jones, the military interpreter at Fort Sill, Indian Terri- 

 tory who hjis liyed with and neaT the Oomanches Cor the 

 , ; Ut: et- Year::,. itiare is no living man who has a more 

 thorough knowledge of their language, habits, traditions, 

 and, customs, He is a man of intelligence, character, and 

 integrity, and the facts stated can be llMrarjghly relied 

 upon]. " 



THE word Comanche for many years conveyed to the 

 mind scenes of terror and bloodshed. Even at the 

 present day a Comanche raid in Texas is much to be 

 dreaded. Nomads by nature, the efforts to confine them 

 to a reservation have only been partially successful, and 

 some of the chiefs, with their followers, are frequently in 

 open defiance of the Government. 



Well known as the word is., but, little actually is known 

 of them by the public, and Strange and exaggerated notions 

 exist in regard to them and their numbers. For instance, 

 it. is generally supposed an Indian is always a slolid, dig- 

 nified creature, never coming' down to the level of fun and 

 frolic. Let me disappoint sufh high expectations By stat- 

 ing at once that a Comanche is nearly as vivacious as a 

 Frenchman, aud as full of fun as an Irishman. They al- 

 ways see the ludicrous side of a subject, and are mostly on 

 the broad grin when talking to you. They tease their 

 scp.iaws, get jokes off on each other, aud, on the whole, 

 are very generous and free llearted to one another. This 



view will hardly suit the high-flown notion of a Comanche, 

 but truth compels it to be written. Ill all talks and coun- 

 cils he is, nevertheless, very dignified and formal. 



Lippincott's Encyclopedia says "A Comanche differs 

 from other Indians in his intense dislike of spirituous 

 liquors." Perhaps he did long ages ago. Jones says "the au- 

 thor must, have seen them before my day." All 1 know is, 

 that almost all Comanches will get as "drunk as a lord" if 

 they can get the whiskey. 



Before, however, explaining any of the traits' or habits 

 of the individual, let us say something of them in general. 

 In the first place, the name "Comanche" is a word un- 

 known to their language— to them it possesses no original 

 meaning, and is only accepted and used by them after 

 many years of application by the whites. Their tradition 

 of the. word is, that it was first applied to them as "Co- 

 manch" by the Mexicans. What the origin of it may have 

 been I do not know. The name by which they call them- 

 selves is "j\c«/«," meaning people, or, as used by them, 

 more properly speaking, it means "our people." or the 

 "true people," though in saying our people they would say 

 "te-witche neurn," the "te-witche" standing for "our," and 

 meaning "our people certain." Perhaps some of your read- 

 ers can give information in regard to the word Comanch. 



The Comanches of to-day have more or less Mexican 

 blood in their veins, aud quite a number of pure Mexicans, 

 captured when children, are counted as Comanches, though 

 these latter occupy an inferior position among them, act- 

 ing usually as servants; yet it is not impossible for them 

 to arise to the dignity of a warrior, or even that of chief. 

 The whole number of Comanches is a little oyer three 

 thousand — not fifteen or twenty thousand, as is generally 

 supposed — aud are divided into seven bands, as follows. 

 I give also the name of the head chief, or the oldest: — 

 Sand- Chbf. 



Xoconees, or Wanderers Ter-her-hfl.- quip, or Horse-Back. 



Yampe-ri-coos, or Root Eaters Boo-e-wa-'oo-yah.or Iron Mountain. 



Co™ h-cho-ti-rhkas, ,,r Culialo Eat- 



eis Muhway, or Hand-shaking. 



Pcna tcthkas. or Honey Eaters I'l'osa-weeth, or White -handled 



, Knife. 

 tjuu-ba-das, or Workers in antelope 



skins raracoom, or He Bear. 



Titchah-Kenns, or .Sewers |T«ber-nau-i-ka.or His name is Sun. 



Tenem-er-ands. or Li yer Eaters. ... Fe-ha-tethka. or "Something big 

 lliedtoeat," 



Another band, now in fact extinct, were called "Poll o- 

 neums." Here you observe the word "neum." 



The names of two of the above bands have become 

 changed by usage. Properly, the "Yampericoos" are 

 ''Yampe-tethkas," or eaters of "yampe" root, and the " Qua- 

 hadas" should be "Quahada-litchahkos," the "titchah" 

 beiug sewers, and the whole word meaning "sewers, or 

 workers in antelope skins." You will notice the same 

 "titchah," as used in "Tichahkenas," or "sewers." 



The others chiefs whom I suppose I had better mention, 

 for fear they may feel slighted, are as follows: — Titchah- 

 kenas, Quirty-Quip, or Chewing Elk; Yampericoos, Cheev- 

 era, Ilowcah, Liltle Crow, Pena-tethkas, Essa-habet, or 

 Milky Way, and Assa-toy-et. This comprises all of the 

 head chiefs. 



The name Assa-toy-et is incapable of English translation 

 in a few words. The best idea I can give you of it is that 

 an Indian would call a s/wddi/ blanket Assa-toy-et. It means 

 poor, shabby, and was given him as expressive of his poor 

 and pitiable condition on his return from a long and un- 

 successful raid. The name is correct in its application no 

 longer, though he still retains it, for he is a well dressed, 

 well fed old buck, and fortunately one of the most peace- 

 ably disposed. He is looked upon as the most reliable of 

 all the chiefs. 



The sign of the Comanche is the snake, the hand being 

 made tr. imitate the snake's motion. This is the same sign 

 as that of the Shoshones, or Snake Indians, whom the 

 Comanches claim as their fathers. I do not know whether 

 the Shoshones acknowledge them as lost children or not. 

 The Shoshone language, however, is said to be similar in 

 many respects. The Comanche language is spoken more 

 or less by nil the tribes on the southern plains. It is in 

 fad the Court language, all councils with Kiowas and Plain 

 Indians being held in Comanche. It is harsh and guttural 



and, while the use of words may easily be. acquired, to 

 converse fluently is an art but few have attained. 



Texas has been their home as far back as they can recol- 

 lect, or have tradition. Some of the older living chief's 

 speak of having seen Sugar; cane and monkeys, showing 

 that in their younger days raids were made as far as lower 

 Mexico, and west through Sonora to the Pacific Ocean, 

 for they speak of having seen "where the sun goes down 

 iu the big water." There is nothing improbable in this, 

 for even now they make trips into Mexico, remaining away 

 months at a time. 



As is well known, they are the Arabs of our Plains, more 

 at home on horseback than on foot, and owning large herds 

 of horses. Their principal wealth is ponies. "When chas- 

 ing buffalo, or racing, they tide bareback, casting off all 

 clothing except the breech clout; but at all other times they 

 ride a saddle, with short stirrup, crowding the knees well 

 up on the horse's withers. The saddles used are mostly of 

 American make, though the old home made one is used by 

 squaws frequently, and also for packing. It is similar to 

 a Grimsley pack saddle— straight, flat sides, high pommel and 

 cantel, and looks most terribly uncomfortable. It is made 

 of wood, and covered with thinly dressed raw hide. 



The natural dress of a Comanche consists of moccasius, 

 leggings, and buffalo robe. The robe or blanket is tied 

 around the waist and held up over the shoulders by the 

 arms, or allowed to fall over the hips or legs at will. The 

 moccasins are made of buckskin, with buffalo skin sole. 

 The leggings are made of buckskin, old blanket flannel, or 

 stroudirg, fitting tight to the leg, and fastened at the upper 

 thigh with strings. A wide flap runs down the outside of 

 the legging about an inch wide at the top, frequently a foot 

 wide at the bottom, and fringed along the edge. This is 

 not simply for ornament, but has a peculiar value as a pro- 

 tection from rattlesnakes, a very large species of which 

 are plentiful in the Comanche country. In walking or rid- 

 ing through high grass a snake in strikiug at the leg — the 

 part most exposed — is almost certain to strike this flap. 

 No head dress is worn, but. a lock of hair, braided or bouud 

 with red flannel or fur, and adorned with beads and feath- 

 ers, is called the scalp lock; in addition the breech clout is 

 always worn. These few articles compose the bucks' or- 

 dinary outfit, though in these degenerate days most of them 

 wear cotton shirts, some waistcoats, and some even have a 

 • dress coat, and are capped with a felt hat most gorgeously 

 decorated with feathers, ribbons, and military insignia. 

 The dress of squaws is similar to that of the bucks, the 

 legging and moccasin, however, is made iu one piece, like 

 a long stocking, ornamented on the. side with silver and 

 beads, aud is made without the snake flap. In addition 

 Uiey wear a sacque shirt, made of dark calico, and iu place 

 of the robe worn by the bucks, many of them wear hand- 

 some bright colored shawls, tied in the same manner. No 

 portion of the body is left exposed, for, be it remembered, 

 that the Comanche maiden is very coy and modest; but 

 more of this when I come to their moral condition. The 

 faces of all bucks, squaws, and papooses are painted; the 

 squaws and children usually one color, red, sometimes yel- 

 low; but the buckets painted red, green, or yellow, some- 

 times all these colors, and frequently is additionally deco- 

 rated with blue or black stripes across his forehead, cheeks, 

 and chin, or in curves from the corners of the eyes, mouth, 

 or nostrils; indeed, the painting of a buck's face is like a 

 kaleidoscope, forever changing. The colors were origin- 

 ally obtained from berries, vegetable juices, and various 

 colored earths, but are now usually purchased of the trad- 

 ers. Chinese Vermillion, bluestoue, copperas, indigo, and 

 ochre are bought by them iu large quantities for that pur- 

 pose. 



The buck at all times has his ears ornamented with brass 

 rings, bits of brass chain, or large beads. Those who can 

 afford it wear a chaplet or brass plate, made of long slen- 

 der white pipe, called hair pipe, strung like beads lour or 

 five in a row, and of twenty or twenty five rows, forming 

 quite an attractive ornament. This pipe is supposed to be 

 I made of clam shells, At all events, the making of it is a 



