A COMANCHE LIAR. 



CAPT. C. J. CRANE, U. S. A. 



From January 2, 1881, to June 3, 1888, I 

 served most of the time at Fort Sill, in the 

 country of the Kiowas and Comanches. 

 Among other duties, I had charge of 10 

 Indian scouts — 5 Kiowas and the same 

 number of Comanches. I was assisted in 

 managing them by the interpreter, Horace 

 P. Jones. The best scout and the greatest 

 liar among them was Comanche George, a 

 man about 45 years old. During my stay at 

 Sill there were usually 2 troops of cavalry 

 there, and my scouts acted as their scouts 

 and guides. 



In 1886 1st Lieut. George A. Dodd, 3d 

 Cavalry, commanded his troop on a scout 

 along the Washita river, North of Sill, and 

 Comanche George was with him. George 

 was a hard rider, and, like most Indians, 

 neglected his horse. On this trip he had 

 only one pony, and his hard riding and neg- 

 lect so reduced the strength of the animal 

 that, in a fit of rage at not being able to get 

 better work out of him, George shot the 

 poor thing. Jones promptly told me about 

 it. 



George, on his return to the post, lost no 

 time in making his appearance at the Ad- 

 jutant's office, to give a good excuse for his 



brutality, in order to escape punishment. 

 This is his story, though not quite in his 

 language. 



" I was up Washita river with Lieutenant 

 Dodd's white soldiers. One night I was 

 sleeping and saw my father and mother 

 (both dead many years). They were mighty 

 hungry and poor; nothing to eat, no 

 clothes, no pony, no blanket, nothing. 

 They begged me to be a good son and send 

 them a pony to ride. I told them I had 

 only one horse and had to ride him on a 

 long scout; but they said I could get others 

 and they couldn't. They looked so poor 

 and begged so hard, I promised to kill my 

 pony next day and send him to them. I 

 shot my good horse and gave him to my 

 poor old father and mother." 



George's story was told with all the ear- 

 nestness that usually accompanies a lie. He 

 knew I was aware of the Comanche custom 

 of destroying property and killing domestic 

 animals over a warrior's grave, in the su- 

 perstitious belief that these things and ani- 

 mals go with him for his use in the here- 

 after. I credited the Comanche tribe with 

 possibly another superstition, and George 

 was not punished. 



AMATEfR I'HOTO BY W. C. MOTTERAM. 



PUTTING THE SHOT. 



A MAMMOTH PAIR OF ANTLERS. 



From a photo kindly loaned by Albert Friedrich, San 

 Antonio, Tex. 



279 



