The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes / The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1

by Hubert Howe Bancroft

[699] The Apache 'quivers are usually made of deer-skin, with the hair turned inside or outside, and sometimes of the skin of the wild-cat, with the tail appended.' Henry, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 210. 'Quiver of sheep-skin.' Palmer, in Harper's Mag., vol. xvii., p. 461. 'Quiver of fresh-cut reeds.' Fremont and Emory's Notes of Trav., p. 39. 'Un carcax ó bolsa de piel de leopardo en lo general.' Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 373; Whipple, Ewbank, and Turner's Rept., p. 31, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii.; Tempsky's Mitla, p. 80.

[700] 'The spear is eight or ten feet in length, including the point, which is about eighteen inches long, and also made of iron.' Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 293. Should the Apaches possess any useless firearms, 'generalmente vienen á darles nuevo uso, haciendo de ellas lanzas, cuchillos, lengüetas de flechas.' Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 372. 'La lanza la usan muy larga.' García Conde, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. v., p. 315. 'Lance of fifteen feet in length.' Pike's Explor. Trav., p. 338; Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 276; Holley's Texas, p. 153; Cutts' Conq. of Cal., p. 242; Revista Científica, tom. i., p. 162; Parker's Notes on Tex., p. 195; Pattie's Pers. Nar., p. 298.

[701] The Comanche 'shield was round ... made of wicker-work, covered first with deer skins and then a tough piece of raw buffalo-hide drawn over, ... ornamented with a human scalp, a grizzly bear's claw and a mule's tail ... for the arm were pieces of cotton cloth twisted into a rope.' Parker's Notes on Tex., p. 195. 'En el brazo izquierdo llevaba el chimal, que es un escudo ovalado, cubierto todo de plumas, espejos, chaquiras y adornos de paño encarnado.' Revista Científica, tom. i., p. 162. Their shield 'is generally painted a bright yellow.' Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 268. 'Shield of circular form, covered with two thicknesses of hard, undressed buffalo hide, ... stuffed with hair ... a rifle-ball will not penetrate it unless it strikes perpendicular to the surface.' Marcy's Army Life, pp. 24-5; Möllhausen, Flüchtling, tom. iv., p. 31; Tempsky's Mitla, p. 80. A 'Navajo shield ... with an image of a demon painted on one side ... border of red cloth, ... trimmed with feathers.' Palmer, in Harper's Mag., vol. xvii., p. 454; Linati, Costumes, plate xxii.; Shepard's Land of the Aztecs, p. 182; Edward's Hist. Tex., p. 104.

[702] 'Wherever their observations can be made from neighboring heights with a chance of successful ambush, the Apache never shows himself.' Cremony's Apaches, pp. 79, 189. 'Attacking only when their numbers, and a well-laid ambush, promise a certainty of success.' Smart, in Smithsonian Rept., 1867, p. 419. 'Colocan de antemano una emboscada.' Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, p. 375; Parker, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1869, pp. 221-3, 256; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 4; Emory's Reconnoissance, p. 47; Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, p. 107; Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 276; Soc. Géog., Bulletin, série v., No. 96, p. 186; Davis, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1868, p. 161.

[703] 'Salen ... generalmente divididos en pequeñas partidas para ocultar mejor sus rastros.... Es imponderable la velocidad con que huyen despues que han ejecutado un crecido robo ... las montañas que encumbran, los desiertos sin agua que atraviesan.' García Conde, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. v., p. 316. 'They steal upon their enemies under the cover of night.' Emory's Rept. U. S. and Mex. Boundary Survey, vol. i., p. 107; Murr, Nachrichten, p. 303; Lachapelle, Raousset-Boulbon, p. 83; Apostólicos Afanes, p. 434; Cordero, in Orozco y Berra, Geografía, pp. 375-6; Browne's Apache Country, p. 279; Figuier's Hum. Race, p. 480; Hassel, Mex. Guat., p. 276.

[704] 'La practica, que observan para avisarse los unos à los otros ... es levantar humaredas.' Villa-Señor y Sanchez, Theatro, tom. ii., p. 394. 'Smokes are of various kinds, each one significant of a particular object.' Cremony's Apaches, pp. 183-4. 'In token of retreate sounded on a certaine small trumpet ... made fires, and were answered againe afarre off ... to giue their fellowes vnderstanding, how wee marched and where we arriued.' Coronado, in Hakluyt's Voy., tom. iii., p. 376; Möllhausen, Flüchtling, tom. ii., p. 157; Smart, in Smithsonian Rept., 1867, p. 419.

[705] 'La suma crueldad con que tratan á los vencidos atenaccandolos vivos y comiendose los pedazos de la carne que la arrancan.' Doc. Hist. N. Vizcaya, MS., p. 4. 'Their savage and blood-thirsty natures experience a real pleasure in tormenting their victim.' Cremony's Apaches, p. 266. 'Hang their victims by the heels to a tree and put a slow fire under their head.' Browne's Apache Country, pp. 201, 93, 96. Among the Navajos, 'Captives taken in their forays are usually treated kindly.' Letherman, in Smithsonian Rept., 1855, p. 295. 'Ils scalpent avec la corde de leur arc, en la tournant rapidement autour de la tête de leur victime.' Lachapelle, Raousset-Boulbon, p. 82; Murr, Nachrichten, p. 303; Stratton's Capt. Oatman Girls, pp. 114-118, 138, 149, 218; Farnham's Trav., p. 32; Graves, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1854, p. 180; Labadi, in Ind. Aff. Rept., 1862, p. 247; Malte-Brun, Précis de la Géog., tom. vi., p. 453; Scenes in the Rocky Mts., p. 180; Stone, in Hist. Mag., vol. v., p. 167; Henry, in Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. v., p. 212; Doc. Hist. Mex., serie iv., tom. iii., p. 10; Pattie's Pers. Nar., p. 118.

[706] Cremony's Apaches, p. 216; Whipple, in Pac. R. R. Rept., vol. iii., p. 114.

[707] 'Obran en la guerra con mas táctica que los apaches.' García Conde, in Soc. Mex. Geog., Boletin, tom. v., p. 318. 'A young man is never considered worthy to occupy a seat in council until he has encountered an enemy in battle.' Marcy's Army Life, p. 34; Domenech's Deserts, vol. ii., p. 22; Domenech, Jour., pp. 140-1; Foote's Texas, vol. i., p. 298; Kennedy's Texas, vol. i., p. 346; Maillard's Hist. Tex., p. 243.

[708] 'When a chieftain desires to organize a war-party, he ... rides around through the camp singing the war-song.' Marcy's Army Life, p. 53. 'When a chief wishes to go to war ... the preliminaries are discussed at a war-dance.' Schoolcraft's Arch., vol. ii., p. 132; Armin, Das Heutige Mexiko, p. 280; Gregg's Com. Prairies, vol. ii., p. 315.