Page:Life among the Apaches.djvu/264

 finery. About eighty of their most noted warriors were mounted, and each was armed with a lance, from which streamed a small red pennon. Every member of this party was enveloped in a red blanket, given by the Government a short time previous, and they were formed in close column of twenty men front and four ranks deep. After going through a variety of manœuvres, they rode directly toward the fort, and halted a few yards in front of the commandant's residence. That officer, Major Whalen, requested me to inquire into their wishes, which I did, and was answered by Gian-nah-tah that they desired permission to visit the field of the late battle for the purpose of obtaining a Navajo scalp, in order to perform some religious rites imposed upon them by their prophet, who, by the by, was the same wily rascal that had attempted to lead them astray by his pretended vision of the black cloud. To this request Major Whalen bade me reply, that it was entirely impossible to accede; that they had behaved like brave men during the fight, and that they should not tarnish their gallant deeds by acts of intense barbarism. He further added, that their enemies, being defunct, were past all sensation, and that stripping them of their scalps was an act of atrocious cowardice, of which he had not believed his Apache friends susceptible. He had given them credit for gallantry; but if they persisted in their demand, he, and all of us, would be coerced into the conviction that they were not animated by true courage. He would, therefore, forbid them from visiting the battle ground for the purpose named.

This reply evoked the extreme anger of the prophet, who immediately informed the band that, unless the ceremony took place, they and their people would be visited with the vengeance of the Great Spirit. At this