392 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[October, 
YOUNG INDIANS ON THE MOV E. —Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist 
Pictures of old Indians and their ways are common 
enough, but we do not often learn much about the Indian 
boys and girls. Allowing for their different ways of liv¬ 
ing, young savages are much like civilized youngsters. 
In one thing, however, they differ from white children. 
We have seen little Indians of a great many tribes, and 
never knew one of them to cry. Even the pappooses— 
which you know are baby Indians, tied to a board or 
basket-work frame—have better manners than to cry. It 
may be that they have a little quiet cry when nobody is 
near, but of the hundreds we have seen, hungup in trees, 
on their mother’s backs, or set anywhere out of ttie way, 
we can not recollect that one of them cried. It is not 
about the babies that we wish to talk just now, but about 
those of your own age—Indian boys and girls. It may be 
that some of you in reading stories about the wild free 
life of the Indians, of their fast horses, and their buffalo 
hunts, have thought how grand it must be, and may be 
half wished you could lead such a life. The beauty of it 
is all in the stories ; in reality the life of the savage is a 
hard one, and he is really a very unpleasant person. 
Just think that these Indian boys and girls have no prop¬ 
er homes! They have tents, or wigwams, which they 
move from place to place, but these are very small, and 
the family huddles together in a very uncomfortable 
manner; all that belongs to them, their house included, 
can be packed on a few horses and the backs of women, 
and taken to another place. When game gets scarce, or 
there is no grass for their horses, they pack np and go 
where these things are more abundant; or if Ihey fear the 
approach of an enemy, for the tribes are often at war, 
they make a hurried removal, to get the women and chil¬ 
dren to some safe place. From one cause or another 
moving day comes very frequently with the Indians, and 
it is very fortunate that they have no cooking stoves or 
pianos, or many other things thilt we consider necessary 
for proper house-keeping. With us, moving day when it 
comes, is a great day for the boys and girls, who are 
as busy with their own matiers as the older people are 
with tlieir’s. The dolls’ dresses must be packed away, 
the dolls’furniture must go without scratching; the lit¬ 
tle tea-set must be packed so that it will not break—Oh 1 
how many things little Miss has to look after ; then the 
bird, and it may be kitty, and above all the dolls, these 
are to be trusted to no one else; these she must take her¬ 
self. There is the brother, he has so much to do that he 
can hardly find time to help his sister, for he finds himself 
very rich at moving time ; the balls, tops, marbles, and 
all the rest of the toys ; that windmill he has been 
making, and which has been almost finished so long ; the 
shells uncle Thomas brought from sea, and the minerals 
he collected himself: then the books and ever so many 
other things, and especially Nero, the dog, all these fall 
to the boy's share on moving day, and a very busy day it 
is with him. The Indian boys and girls have none of 
these things to look after; their principal pets are the 
puppies ; for in some tribes there seem to be more dogs 
than Indians. The above engraving represents a scene 
which Mr. Cary saw in the far west, which shows the 
part the young Indians take when the tribe is on one of 
its frequent moves. These youngsters have learned not 
to carry anything themselves that they can pack upon a 
beast of any kind; the old ones have no mercy upon 
their horses, but pack them with as large a load as will 
stay on, and then put a woman or two on top of all; in 
the same way the youngsters load up the dogs, and make 
them carry their pets, the puppies, and the crows. In¬ 
dian boys' are very fond of tame crows; they catch the 
birds when young, and make pets of them, just as some 
white boys do. We have told you before what mischiev¬ 
ous things tame crows are, but among the Indians they 
can steal but little, and the sly ways of the birds seem to 
amuse them. You will perhaps wonder why these 
young Indians do not travel in the road, but yon must 
remember that there are no roads in the unsettled terri¬ 
tories, and they are following the course of some river, 
along in what is called the “ bottom lands,” or that por¬ 
tion which is overflowed during freshets, and where there 
is a growth of willows and other tall, slender plants, 
which form a thicket not so very difficult to get through, 
and tall enough to hide a party even if on horseback. 
