The rapidity with which this operation is completed is really wonderful. An experienced hunter is able to chase, capture, and break a wild horse within an hour, and to do his work so effectually that almost before its companions are out of sight the hitherto wild animal is being ridden as if it had been born in servitude.
The native hunter, cruel master though he generally is, takes special care not to damp the spirit of his horse, and prides himself on the bounds and curvets which the creature makes when it receives its master upon its back.
There is only one drawback to this mode of hunting. It is impossible to capture with the lasso the best and swiftest specimens. These animals always take command of the herd, and place themselves at its head. They seem to assume the responsibility as well as the position of leaders, and, as soon as they fear danger, dart off at full speed, knowing that the herd will follow them. Consequently, they are often half a mile or more in advance of their followers, so that the hunter has no chance of overtaking them on a horse impeded by the weight of a rider.
A rather strange method of horse taking has been invented since the introduction of fire-arms. This is technically named “creasing,” and is done in the following manner. Taking his rifle with him, the hunter creeps as near the herd as he can, and watches until he fixes on a horse that he thinks will suit him. Waiting till the animal is standing with its side toward him, he aims carefully at the top of the neck, and fires. If the aim be correct, the bullet just grazes the neck, and the horse falls as if dead, stunned for the moment by the shock. It recovers within a very short time; but before it has regained its feet the hunter is able to come up to the prostrate animal, place his hands over its eyes, breathe into its nostrils, and thus to subdue it.
This is a very effectual mode of horse catching; but it is not in favor with those who want horses for their own riding, because it always breaks the spirit of the animal, and deprives it of that fire and animation which the native warrior prizes so highly. Indeed, so careful is the Camanchee of his steed, that he will not mount his favorite war horse except in actual warfare, or in the hunt. When he is summoned by his chief, he attends muster, mounted on a second horse, or hack, and leading his war horse by the bridle.
The wild horses of North America are a small and neat-limbed, though powerful, breed of animal. Mr. Catlin says that their value has been much overrated, as even those which belong to the Camanchees, and are thought to be equal to the best Arab horses, are on the average worth some twenty pounds each. The chiefs have generally one or two horses of very superior quality; but as far as the average goes, the Camanchee horse is not worth more than the above mentioned sum.
The horses that are generally brought into the market are those that are obtained by “creasing.” Experienced purchasers, however, do not care much about such animals. Creasing is, moreover, liable to two disadvantages. The hunter is equally in danger of missing his mark altogether, in which case the whole herd dashes off, and gives no more chances to the hunter; or of striking too low, in which case the horse is killed on the spot.
In accordance with their usual custom, some of the tribes perform a sacred dance as a means of bringing the bison within their reach. The most characteristic of these performances is the Buffalo Dance as practised by the Mandans.
Sometimes it happens that the supplies of fresh meat fail. During the greater part of the year the bisons are scattered with tolerable evenness throughout the land, so that the hunters are able to find a sufficiency of game within a few miles of their village, to supply them with food. Indeed, large herds of bisons can often be seen from the village itself, their black masses being conspicuous against the verdure of the ground over which they range.
At certain seasons of the year, however, the animals are sure to withdraw themselves further and further from the villages, so that the hunters, in order to procure meat, are obliged to venture so far from their own ground that they are in danger of meeting with war parties of an inimical tribe. At last the hunters report to the council of chiefs and medicine men that they can no longer find game. A solemn conclave is at once held, and if, after a few days of patient waiting, during which every adult throughout the community is reduced to a state of semi-starvation, no bisons are found, the buffalo dance is ordered. This remarkable dance is a sort of homage to the Great Spirit, acknowledging that He can send the animals to them, and praying that He will do so; and, as we shall presently see, it is a remedy that never fails.