April 4 l»»6.j 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
271 
THE READING OF THE ROBE. 
Over the willow frame of the sweat lodge in the Forest 
and Stream Indian camp was spread a robe whose inner 
surface was covered with strange figures, specimens of 
Indian drawing. This was the life-history of Bear Chief 
pxpressed after the fashion of his people. Crude 
though the drawings were, they were plain to him 
and his people. He valued this war record as a 
white chief does the sweet praise of the artist and 
the printing press. So graphic, though rude, were 
some of the pictures upon the skin, that persons 
leaning over the railing could catch an occasional glimpse 
of their meaning. .Persons within the railing could catch 
more of it and could question about it. Bear Chief would 
point with pride to such and such a dx-awing, and utter 
words which none but the interpreter could understand. 
Yet the more he pointed, the more the interest in the 
story robe grew. At length it was thought well that Bear 
Chipf should tell aloud his history to some of the news- 
paper men who wished to learn about him, and a time 
was set for this event. The robe was spread down upon 
the floor near the lodge, and Bear Chief began to talk to 
a dozen or so representatives of the New York dailies. 
In a few moments the crowd pushed over the railings, 
and it was impossible to continue the reading of the robe. 
At the suggestion of Mr. Crane, therefore, the party took 
the robe up to the press rooms, and there, behind closed 
doors, to an audience of less than a score, occurred one 
of the most impressive scenes of the week. 
Bear Chief was in full Indian costume. Sis shirt and 
leggings were of fringed and beaded buckskin. The fur 
of the ermine hung in long streamers on his breast. His 
Bleeves and leggings were fringed with long, soft, black 
hair— too soft for the hair of horse— in short, hair from 
the scalps of his enemies, taken in the days of war. Bear 
C -iief stood at the edge of the robe, Pointing with an old 
buffalo bow which he held in his right hand, the inter- 
preter, Schultze, being near at his left. At no time was 
Bear Chief's face more dignified and lofty than at this 
moment, as he stood erect and looked on the circle of 
faces about him. The ways of the Indian are not as ours. 
To him this was an invitation to a council. These men 
about him were chiefs, who had asked to hear him 
speak. To these he was to tell of his record as a warrior. 
He was to recount his coups. To him the occasion was 
one of dignity 4 and importance to be met with delibera- 
tion. 
Bear Chief began his scory by pointing to a picture of 
three sleeping persons. "This was my first war trail," 
Baid he. "I wa=t then 17 years of age. I went to war. 
We killed these three persons (Assinaboines) at night, and 
I took a horse. 
"The next season," he continued, pointing to another 
drawing, "I went against the Sioux. This is I (putting 
his bow upon one figure). I had resolved to make a coup 
or die, but I had bad luck. The Sioux took me prisoner. 
I shot at one man, but missed him, and this man wanted 
to kill me, They took me to the tipi of Sitting Bull, and 
Sitting Bull it was who set ma free. He said, 'You go 
with a whole skin because I am fighting the whites (this 
was about 18'74 or 1875), and I want you to tell your people 
to join me in this fight.' 
"At another time," continued Bear Chief, in the inde- 
finite way of his kind, "I went again s 1 ; the Yanktonais 
Sioux. Uur party met the Sioux coming up to fight. 
There was one warrior who seemed to be their bravest 
man. I killed him, I was glad. 
"Another season I went against the Assinaboines again, 
and met them. One man was a coward. I went up to 
him and took his gun away from him and killed him with 
his own gun. 
"Another season I went against the Crees. I did not 
do very much (this perhaps in irony), but I managed to 
kill one man by shooting him through the head. 
"Another time a party which I was leading surprised 
a bivouac of Sioux who were not expecting attack. We 
killed six men and took thirty -seven horses. 
"Another season I went to war. I found a Cree village 
and here the people were afraid, so they had their horses 
tied near the lodge doors. I was leading away a hors9 
when a man came out. I shot and killed him as he came 
out of the lodge. 
"Another time I found another village where they 
had their horses tied. I took a good horse and was try- 
ing to ride away silently, but a chief heard me. He ran 
out and caught me by the hair and tried to pull me off 
the horse. I pulled my pistol out then and shot him in 
the heart. As I rode away I shouted, 'You Sioux are no 
good. We Blackfeet are always too much for you.' I 
did not think that man or his people would understand, 
but I shouted this out anyway. 
"Another season I went against the Crows. One man 
ran away and I followed him on horseback, and killed 
him with arrows as I rode. 
"Another time I went south, to the Gros Ventre coun- 
try, and we met a party of those people coming up to 
fight us. I followed one man, but he was a coward and 
would not fight, so I would not shoot him, I rode up 
and sprang on his horse behind him and killed him with 
my knife." 
By the time Bear Chief had advanced thus far in his nar- 
rative, over half an hour had elapsed. The daily reporters 
were getting uneasy, and one of them, thinking to hasten 
matters, abruptly asked how many men Bear Chief had 
killed in all. This man may be pardoned for a discour- 
tesy committed in ignorance, yet a greater discourtesy 
never was committed. Bear Chief was silent. On his 
impassive face was an expression that plainly meant he 
had been offended. The interpreter at length persuaded 
him to tell the number ofhiscoup3. Bear Chief said that 
he had killed in war twenty-one men. Then he refused to 
talk any more, though the story of the robe was not half 
told. The interpreter explained that an Indian chief 
when thus interrupted in council while telling his war 
record considers himself disgraced, as though discredit 
had been put upon him. The most profuse apologies 
were made, but it was too late. He would talk no more of 
his coups. At length he again Bpoke, and rarely has one 
seen orator show more dignity or impressiveness. 
"When the buffalo went away," said he, "I saw that 
we must change. The white men came, and I saw that 
my old road was wrong. I said I would not go again upon 
the war path. I resolved to follow the road of the white 
man. I have been following that road the best I could. 
I am not even with the white man yet in this road 
(placing one extended forefinger a little behind the other), 
hut I do the best I know how. I am glad now to be in the 
white man's country, and to see these chiefs. This is all 
I have to say." 
When the interpreter had delivered these words the 
impression was distinct. The rough and ready but kind- 
hearted boys of the prpss recognized the dignity of the 
man, though realizing the error of his conclusions in re- 
gard to themselves. They crowded about him in genuine 
admiration and regard, and offered explanations which 
it is hoped at last satisfied him that no disrespect was in- 
tended when be was interrupted. On the following days 
they did all their city editors would let them do. One 
paper (the Press) gave over half a page of drawings from 
Bear Chief's robe, and a story describing the s^me. From 
then on Bear Chief was fairly lionized in New York. 
During the latter days of the Exposition, after his con- 
straint wore off and after he found himself held a person- 
age of importance, he thawed out more and became dis- 
tinctly sociable and pleasant. He was a surprise to all 
who met him, His powers of observation are very keen, 
and he sees without apparent looking, and once having 
seen a thing never forgets it. On the street and at the 
table he was polite and made no errors. It was evidently 
bis intention not to offend anyone and to "follow the 
road of the white man." There are many white men less 
kindly, less sincere and less gentlemanly than this head 
man of the Piegan tribe. Our prominent men, our leading 
citizens— what is the record of their robe? What is the 
record of their successes, their sacrifices, their resolves, 
then- fulfillments of their resolves? 
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I have been very much interested in what has been 
written in the Forest and Stream from time to time on 
the question as to whether animals are possessed 
of intelligence. It would seem that there could be but 
little difference of opinion, yet there is considerable; but 
the opposition comes mainly from people prone to accept 
theological ideas, whether they conflict with fact or not. 
HEAD Off MOUNTAIN GOAT 
Stolen from the Sportsmen's Exposition. 
In the establishment of the Christian religion as it is now 
Understood care was taken to draw a line between intelli- 
gence and reasoning powers and instinct; for to concede 
intelligence to the lower order of animals was, it was 
held, to invest them with a degrpe of moral responsibility 
proportioned to their mental activities. This conception, 
however, was an offshoot of ignorance, for it implied a 
necessity on the part of man to explain mysteries which 
are of the Creator. 
Man is said to possess instinct as well as intelligence. 
The distinction is most finely drawn, like that of the 
closest synonym, and it applies almost as well to animals, 
birds and insects as to man. The mind contains three 
elementary constituents: emotion, or feeling; volition, or 
the will; and intelligence, or thought. When we enjoy 
pleasure or suffer pain, we are said to feel; when we act 
to procure the one or avoid the other, we put forth vol- 
untary energy; when we remember, compare, reason, our 
intelligence is exerted. Do not these definitions have a 
lower as well as higher order of application ? There has 
been a disposition to underrate the acquired aptitudes of 
the inferior animals, and to refer their capability of self- 
preservation purely to their natural or primitive endow- 
ments. But in point of fact men and animals alike possess 
both instinct and acquisitions; for, although in man the 
preponderance is greatly in favor of the acquired, he too 
must start from something primordial, the basis of the 
other. 
There has been and still is a tendency to underrate the 
acquired knowledge of animals, if not to ignore it alto- 
gether. It is made a matter of vulgar marvel that they 
should do by inborn power wha.t human beings require an 
education to perform, We even attribute to them some- 
thing like a superhuman inspiration, as when we speak of 
the bee as a geometer, of the swallow as a meteorologist, 
and of the beaver as an architect. 
To fcr^ce the line of intelligence f rom.the.elephant to the 
ant, from the eagle to the gnat — for it is herein conceded 
to them — becomes at once an interesting study, foreign, 
however, to the purpose of this articK We may go fur- 
ther, too, with our observations, into the vegetable king- 
dom, in pursuit of knowledge under the head of "instinct," 
or some other characterization, and ask how it is that the 
grapevine puts out its tendrils at the proper place for 
clinging to trellis; the ivy its dingers in the niches of the 
wall; why it is that the roots of the willow and other 
aqua-loving trees and vines invariably put their roots 
toward a running stream or stagnant pool when either is 
near; why many things in tree and shrub are seen which 
seem to be manifestations of some strange activity? But 
of course I make no such claim for vegetation; it would 
be absurd to do so. 
But I havo no more doubt that intelligence exists with 
animals and birds and fishes than that it exists in man. I 
am not yet quite ready to believe the doctrine that because 
they are possessed of intelligence they are consequently 
possessed of souls; still I confess that it is not for man to 
know what may hereafter be required in return for the 
endowment of that something, called by whatever name, 
which is chief among the wonders and mysteries of 
nature. 
A dissenter from these views must never have been 
afield, must never have patiently studied the subject aa 
presented to him, not in books, but in nature's own way. 
To know the habits and characteristics of animals and 
birds and fishes is to awaken the reasoning powers to the 
greatest activities, to set mere theory and philosophy aside 
when they conflict with unquestioned fact. There is a 
scipnce of religion, so too there is the science of nature, 
with this difference: while the former rests upon faith 
and investigation, the latter, especially in its relation to 
animals, is an open book. 
The doctrine of universal animal intelligence strengthens 
rather than weakens the basis upon which Christianity is 
founded, for it broadens our ideas of the infinite wisdom 
of the Creator. Since, as Buffon says, "neither ambition, 
interest nor desire of revenge can corrupt the dog," we 
see that the lower animals are in some respects man's 
superiors; that they possess such morality as man cannot 
claim, giving to them a cleanliness of life such as better 
accords with Divine commands than is always found in 
the higher order of intelligence. M. Blaze has said that 
"the dog most undoubtedly has all the qualities of a man 
possessed of good feeling, while man cannot be said to 
have the fine qualities of the dog." This, of course, is to 
be read in its broad sense, as what Sir Walter Scott said 
should also be: "He (the dog) has a nature noble and is in- 
capable of deceit. He has a share of man's intelligence, 
but no share of man's falsehood;" and as James G. Blaine 
said: "What is there that is more noble, generous or 
amiable in man which may not b« found in the dog also?" 
As of the doe - , so of almost any beast educated as the dog 
may be; but there are exceptions to the rule, as indicated 
by the qualified statement: What that is possessed of life 
as these that cannot be trained? 
Shall we not keep abreast with the sciences and the 
general advancement of thought, and hold fast to the idea 
that animals and birds and fishes and insects and creeping 
things are all endowed with intelligence? 
D wight H, Bruce. 
Syracuse, March, 1896. 
THE BLUEBIRD'S COMING. 
Newtonville, Mass., March 26, — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Thp bird flight has been in progress for a week 
or more and Laws Der>! we have bluebirds once more! 
Last year I did not see or hear a single, bluebird here or 
in any other part of the country. Last Sunday I thought 
I heard them in the orchard, but hardly dared believe it 
true. I was at much pains to verify my impression and 
finally caught sight of one bluebird and think I hpari 
others. Mr, Maynard, the well-known naturalist, tells me 
he also has seen them and again this morning I heard 
them in another part of the town. This is a great cause 
for joy to me. I had feared it would be many a year be- 
fore these dear friends of my childhood would again be 
abundant and I am not yet fully reassured by any means, 
but I fpel arreatly encouraged I hope the readers of 
Forest and Stream will report promptly in these columns 
all bluebird news. 
The next best news is of the liberation of capercailzie 
and black game in the woods of New Sweden, in Maine. 
I have received a very interesting and touching account 
of the welcome given to these birds by the Swedes of the 
colony and of their very great joy at the prospect of hav- 
ing in their new home these birds with which they have 
been so well acquaintpd at home. It is true that but a few 
pairs of the birds have been as yet 8?t free in the Maine 
woods, but I understand that an effort will be made to 
import more for the same purpose, and now that the 
proper method has been adopted and the ridiculous 
attempt to stock the State by raising birds in captivity 
has been abandoned, we may hope for success. I hope 
the people of New Sweden will be able to report from 
time to time on the result of thi3 last experiment. 
C. H. Ames. 
Ithaca, N. Y.— Notwithstanding the cold and wintry 
aspect of the weather the spring migrants are making 
their appearance. Ducks and gepse were moving north- 
ward in large numbers March 22. A pair of starlings 
were seen the 23d. Robins and song sparrows have been 
numerous for the paBt two weeks. An occasional red- 
winged blackbird is seen. That aristocratic looking little 
chap the bluebird has thus far failed to put in an appear- 
ance. He was a rarity last vear. Ruffed grouse wintered 
well, as did the quail supply, which consists of sevpral 
good-sized bevies located in various parts of the county. 
JM. Chill. 
A Stolen Goat's Head. 
Reference was made in these columns last week to the 
theft of a Rocky Mountain goat's head which was taken 
from the exhibit of T. W. Fraine, the Rochester taxider- 
mist, at the close of the Sportsmen's Exposition. This 
head was the property of Mr. J. J. Pierrepont, of Brook- 
lyn, who had loaned it for the Exposition. Mr. Pierre- 
pont has given us the following particulars, which in con- 
nection with the photograph shown herewith will make 
identification easy should the head be offered for sale: 
Length of head 14in., horns llin , ears 5in.; eyes 5in. 
apart; glands behind horns, oval and well marked. 
The accompanying illustration of the head will serve to 
identify it, 
