INDIAN SCOUTS AND WARFARE ON THE PLAINS
THE great American prairies were the final gathering place of the Indians. What was left of the once powerful tribe, the Mohicans, and the Delawares, of the Creeks, Choctaws, and Cherokees, all found refuge here. At this period they dwelt in open hostility not only toward the white man, but among themselves. Wonderful and powerful alike in the chase and on the trail, their conquest was not an easy task.
INDIANS SIGNALING
With the American Indian war was the one end and aim of living. Tribesmen were brothers but rival tribesmen were natural enemies. So, from the earliest times this rivalry between tribes kept them in almost constant warfare, and the western tribes being the most primitive, their fighting was very savage.
The possession of the eagle’s feather denoted success on the war-path and was a prize every Indian hoped to obtain. From early childhood the Indian boy was instructed in the arts of war and the hunt. Before him was ever the vision of the eagle’s feather, and this symbol inspired him to noble deeds and great bravery. In his barbarous training he learned to keep two virtues, endurance and courage, constantly uppermost in his mind.
Tradition tells of an Indian boy who was taken captive. The boy knew that his trial would be severe, and summoned all his bravery to prove the nobility of his tribal blood.