e Cheyenne nation, are fond of dress,
and when arrayed in full costume one of them is a picture to look
upon; when thus gilded no man could be prouder. These Indians wear
their hair in a long cue a la Chinese style. They take great pleasure
in ornamenting this cue with innumerable pieces of silver, which are
made from half dollar pieces, and are beat out in the shape of small
shields. With their blue, or red blankets, long ribbons of different
colored flannel, fancy leggins and bead decorations, and finally (as
I once saw one) with a red cotton umbrella, they represent the very
Paris tip of Indian fashion. Their squaws do not possess as regular
and fine features as the men; but, this may be said to be true of most
of the wild tribes of savages in North America, for it requires an
enormous stretch of the imagination to call them handsome, while many
of the men are fine looking. Hard work spoils the beauty of the Indian
women. To admire an Indian woman one must seclude himself from the
society of other females; under such circumstances it may be that
a person might be inclined to change his opinion and think the race
lovely. The lazy brave considers it beneath his station to work;
therefore all camp labor and the packing, saddling and looking after
the ponies devolves upon the squaw. When there is a scanty supply of
horses, she is obliged to give her lord the preference in taking his
ease, and go herself on foot and carry her pappoose. In fact it is
lowering to the Indian's pride to do else than hunt and fight.
Owing to the scarcity of timber on the western prairies the Indians
transport their lodge poles from camp to camp. This is done by
attaching them to the sides of the pack animals while the free ends
drag on the ground, and in time of war this constitutes one of the
signs of the trail by which to follow when in pursuit of them.

The reason why the commanding officer of this party of recruits
inflicted the summary punishment referred to, is not known to the
writer; but, it surely does appear as if the person who ordered its
execution or perhaps courageously performed it himself, might have
reflected, that a savage, least of all men, allows a supposed injury
done to him or his tribe to pass by unrevenged, and also that it is a
matter of perfect indifference to him as to who the victim is, if he
only gets the chance to strike a blow on the same nation. This revenge
will quench his cruel thirst for blood quite as effect