The traveler gives this account: “The Indian had secured at Fort Snelling, near St. Paul, a bit of broken looking-glass, and there he sat on deck, painting his face and neck. A daub of the brightest red paint went down the line marking the parting of his hair. [[32]]
“He worried and worked as much over the daubs on his cheeks as some very civilized girls would over a naughty curl. First, a daub of yellow with red at the edge; then red on the yellow, and yellow on the red, until his eye was satisfied.
“In the tuft of hair on his crown he stuck an eagle feather; the mirror showed it was not in a becoming place. Out it came and was poised at a different angle. Still, it was not just the style he wanted, and out it came again. At last it stood straight up, and the dandy finished his toilet.
“Such a self-satisfied air did he put on when paint, feather, and blanket had been arranged to his liking! Perhaps some daughter of the Dakotas was the cause of all this patient study of the art of dressing; but I cannot dream of Hiawatha ever belittling himself to take so long a time with feathers and paint.”
It seemed strange to the traveler for the Indian to take so much pains with the colors of paint and the place where he put them upon his face, but it is now known that each color has its meaning with them. The Indians paint their faces very differently when they are going on the warpath. The warriors of each nation have their own fashion of painting their faces and bodies.
The war chiefs have a very noble look when they come out with their feather war bonnets reaching from [[33]]the crowns of their heads down to their feet. Their bearing is dignified; their faces are earnest and solemn; and each one treads the earth as a king.
Indian women are sometimes very handsome when young; but the quantity of colored earth they use as paint does not hide half the dirt upon their faces. They wear blankets and buckskin skirts, and make a pretty picture if the wigwam is in the background. Many of the babies have a decidedly Japanese look and are attractive little creatures, as babies are apt to be.
The Indian squaw is a good helpmate to her husband. His work is to hunt; her work is at home in the teepee, where he can find rest and food after his hunting. An Indian brave will not do his squaw’s work, and his squaw does not wish her brave to be different from other men.
The Indian pony seems like a part of the family. He is not petted nor fed like the Arabian horse, but is just as necessary to his master’s happiness. Indian ponies know what little food and what no food mean. The rank prairie grass is usually easy for them to get, but sometimes it is burned off. The pony must search for his own food in summer or winter.
The Indian pony or cayuse sometimes carries a load under which a donkey could hardly move; but he takes his own gait, and keeps it too. He is suited by [[34]]inherited years of hard work to his master and his home. The Indian pony is thought to be descended from the horses brought to America by the Spanish explorers.