INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 
93 
be G—d d—nd to H—11 if I know. 7 ’ Tracy—“where did you 
get him?” Jim — u 1 stole him from an Indian , by 6r— d.” I 
have no doubt his. declarations were true, for he claimed the 
credit (and I was informed he deserved it) of being the most ac¬ 
complished horse-thief in all ISTew Mexico. He informed Tracy 
that he was “dead broke” and hungry, and wished him to ask 
me for something to eat. I requested Prince to get him some 
breakfast, after which he was as rich as Croesus, and com¬ 
menced giving me his life. It was a most exciting romance, 
interspersed with thrilling adventures and “ hair-breadth 
’scapes.” I was convinced that his story, in the main, was true, 
not because he swore to it all, but because Tracy was acquainted 
with the most important facts. He was a mixture of the negro, 
Indian, and Anglo-Saxon blood, and born in New Mexico. His 
earliest training was in the art of horse and mule stealing, in 
which art he had become a connaisseur. He commenced by stealing 
one at a time, and soon became so proficient, that he could steal 
whole droves with perfect impunity. He declared that he furnished 
General Taylor’s army with most of their horses and mules, and 
that he could raise two thousand head, with twelve hours’ no¬ 
tice—sometimes stealing of the Indians, and at others of the 
Mexicans. Sometimes he would associate with the whites, and 
at others with the natives. He was for years, chief of the Crow 
Indians, and still has a wife and family with them. He led 
them in numerous battles against the neighboring tribes, alter¬ 
nately winning and losing. He was engaged in the Texan war, 
was at the battle of San Jacinto, and at most of the battles 
fought by General Taylor. He was never enrolled in the army, 
but always fought on his “own hook,” and ready to chase the 
party that was defeated. He took a middle ground, and was 
always just in time to join the victorious party. 
Indians in their wars have their own peculiar signs and marks 
by which warriors of the same tribe are informed of the locality 
of the enemy. These signs are made on the trees, rocks, earth, 
&c., &c. A detachment of a thousand warriors will start in the 
evening, and after arriving at a certain point, separate, to scour 
the country in different directions, and meet at a concerted 
point, when the moon is at a certain altitude. The party arriv¬ 
ing first, drops an arrow, with the point in the direction they 
