The Code of the Warrior

Only one activity rivaled buffalo hunting for the Plains Indians - war.  Warfare was not white man's war.  A few tribes like the Blackfoot and Crow were eternal enemies who slaughtered each other at every opportunity.  But on the whole, the Indian war was not for territory, perhaps for regional hunting rights at times, but the Indians did not have a concept of land ownership.  They fought over matters of honor or to acquire horses. 

Young men joined military societies by coveted invitations, but these were more like fraternity organizations.  During festivals they would wear their society's distinctive regalia, take part in processions and dance and sing their group's special songs.  They engaged in competitions, but in an actuality they didn't fight together.

To lead a group in war, a young man would declare himself a war leader and gather a band of braves for a swift attack on a rival group's ponies. 

Counting coup - from a French word for Blow, probably most misunderstood practice by a white
man.  It meant touching an enemy with one's hand or a short rod, called a coup stick.  One had to gallop into the midst of a heavily armed rival, make his touch, they gallop out again.  Sometimes it was just touching a wounded or dead warrior before the actual warrior responsible could reach him.

The coup brought far more glory to a brave than a fistful of enemy scalps.  Sometimes a richly plumed headdress was presented, each feather notched according to the circumstances of the coup.  It was a badge of courage worn proudly.

The society of the High Plains blossomed with the Spaniards gift of the horse, withered and died when confronted by superior technology and appetite for land brought by the white man.  It remained in the movies, books, and in our picture of the Indian life...

Next time - Europeans on the Plains
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Today in Pioneer History:  On May 2, 1874,  John B. Jones begins his adventurous career as a lawman with an appointment as a major in the Texas Rangers.  Four years later, Jones took on one of the most notorious outlaws on the Texas frontier, Sam Bass. For some months, Bass and his gang had been staging train robberies in Texas. Although most of the robberies failed to net much money because Bass and his partners were incompetent amateurs, the people of Texas demanded that Bass be stopped. The Texas government turned to Jones, ordering him to use his Rangers to run Bass down. Seizing on the drama of the chase, the press dubbed the affair the “Bass War.”

The Hollywood Indian

The Indians of the High Plains were the stuff movies were made of - novels were written about...the American Legend.  Fearless, feathered warriors mounted on swift ponies, warring and raiding for bounty and glory.  They stretched from today's Canada to the American Southwest, from the Missouri River to the Rockies.  They weren't native to the area however...

Proud Cheyenne had farmed along the upper Missouri.  Ojibwa, Cree, and Blackfoot had been hunters of the eastern woodlands.  The Sioux and Crow had been agriculturalists on the prairies.  The Shoshone and Comanche had hunted and foraged the barren land beyond the Rockies.

By the 1700s they had all arrived  on the Plains, either pushed from the East or choosing to abandon the former way of living for the way of life with the horse.  They quickly evolved into a hunting-raiding-warring society.

They came to share similar values, worship similar spirits with similar rites, obey similar codes of conduct.  The Great Plains Indians developed a common language quickly and adapted well to a completely new way of life.

Next time...more of the life of the Great Plains Indians
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On April 25, 1831, the play The Lion of the West opens in New York City. It was the first of many plays, books, and movies celebrating Davy Crockett.