21 April 2016

Remember.

Curtis, Crow War Party, 1908


"Yes," he smiled. "I shall always remember my first war-party.  I was asked to go by the man who was to carry the pipe, and I felt so proud I could scarcely keep the secret to myself.  I thought the day very long, and was relieved when at night we rode silently out of the village with our faces toward the east.  We wore only light shirts and leggings made from the skins of bighorns, and carried nothing except our bows and shields.  War-bonnets and bright colors were hidden away, because they can be seen easily, and no war-party wishes to be seen.  Bonnets were never used by warriors until all chance of surprise was gone.  Then they were brought out, if there was time.  Our bonnets were in rawhide cases and might not be used at all.  

We rode all night without seeing our Wolves.  Yet I know, of course, they were out ahead of us somewhere.  I kept looking at every knoll top until we hid away for the day.  Then they came in, looking exactly like wolves.

Colonel Richard Irving Dodge, Our Wild Indians: Thirty-Three Years Personal Experience

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