[47] The name owes its origin to the practice of this tribe scarring the left arm, crosswise, a custom which was kept up until a few years ago.
[48] It is a fact that the Comanches and Shoshones, though living a thousand miles apart, with hostile tribes between them, speak exactly the same language, and call themselves by the same general name. They have, however, lost all tradition of having once formed one nation.
[49] As in some instances the medicine-men, so called, are really the doctors of the tribe, and as “médecin” is French for doctor, the early French voyageurs gave this term to these mystery-men, by which they have been known ever since.
[50] The name of the Crows is not the correct appellation of the tribe. They have never yet acknowledged the name, though as such are officially recognized by the United States government. It was conferred upon them in the early days by the interpreters, either through ignorance of the language, or for the purpose of ridicule. The name which they themselves acknowledge, and they recognize no other, is in their language Ap-sah-ro-kee, which signifies the Sparrow Hawk people.
[51] Beckwourth was a mulatto born in Virginia in 1798. He was of medium height, of strong muscular power, quick of apprehension, very active, and one of the greatest warriors the Crow Nation has ever produced. Around his neck he wore a perforated bullet, with a large oblong bead on each side of it, secured by a thread of sinew. He wore this amulet during the whole time he was chief of the Crows. He was one of the few honest Indian traders of whom history gives any account.
[52] Disfigurement of the body and dismemberment of the fingers, as an observance of mourning, was common among all Indian tribes. Sometimes upon the death of a warrior in battle his horse was cut and slashed, “to make him feel sorry for the loss of his master.”
[53] During the sessions of the Peace Commission at Fort Laramie in 1866, Beckwourth was sent on a mission to consult with the chiefs of the Crows. He was taken sick in one of their villages and died there, probably from old age rather than disease.
[54] The Sioux bury their dead on platforms erected seven or eight feet above the ground.
[55] For the best and most authentic collection of Indian Folk-lore, see George Bird Grinnel's admirable volumes on the subject.
[56] Bancroft.