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Smoke Signals Generally
They [the Indians] had abandoned
the coast, along which bale-fires
were left burning and sending up
their columns of smoke to advise the
distant bands of the arrival of
their old enemy. (Schoolcraft's
History, &c., vol. iii, p. 35,
giving a condensed account of De
Soto's expedition.)
"Their systems of telegraphs are
very peculiar, and though they might
seem impracticable at first, yet so
thoroughly are they understood by
the savages that it is availed of
frequently to immense advantage. The
most remarkable is by raising
smokes, by which many important
facts are communicated to a
considerable distance and made
intelligible by the manner, size,
number, or repetition of the smokes,
which are commonly raised by firing
spots of dry grass." (Josiah Gregg's
Commerce of the Prairies. New
York, 1844, vol. ii, p. 286.)
The highest elevations of land are
selected as stations from which
signals with smoke are made. These
can be seen at a distance of from
twenty to fifty miles. By varying
the number of columns of smoke
different meanings are conveyed. The
most simple as well as the most
varied mode, and resembling the
telegraphic alphabet, is arranged by
building a small fire, which is not
allowed to blaze; then by placing an
armful of partially green grass or
weeds over the fire, as if to
smother it, a dense white smoke is
created, which ordinarily will
ascend in a continuous vertical
column for hundreds of feet. Having
established a current of smoke, the
Indian simply takes his blanket and
by spreading it over the small pile
of weeds or grass from which the
smoke takes its source, and properly
controlling the edges and corners of
the blanket, he confines the smoke,
and is in this way able to retain it
for several moments. By rapidly
displacing the blanket, the operator
is enabled to cause a dense volume
of smoke to rise, the length or
shortness of which, as well as the
number and frequency of the columns,
he can regulate perfectly, simply by
a proper use of the blanket.
(Custer's My life on the Plains,
loc. cit., p. 187.)
They gathered an armful of dried
grass and weeds, which were placed
and carried upon the highest point
of the peak, where, everything being
in readiness, the match was applied
close to the ground; but the blaze
was no sooner well lighted and about
to envelop the entire amount of
grass collected than it was
smothered with the unlighted
portion. A slender column of gray
smoke then began to ascend in a
perpendicular column. This was not
enough, as it might be taken for the
smoke rising from a simple
camp-fire. The smoldering grass was
then covered with a blanket, the
corners of which were held so
closely to the ground as to almost
completely confine and cut off the
column of smoke. Waiting a few
moments, until the smoke was
beginning to escape from beneath,
the blanket was suddenly thrown
aside, when a beautiful
balloon-shaped column puffed up ward
like the white cloud of smoke which
attends the discharge of a
field-piece. Again casting the
blanket on the pile of grass, the
column was interrupted as before,
and again in due time released, so
that a succession of elongated,
egg-shaped puffs of smoke kept
ascending toward the sky in the most
regular manner. This bead-like
column of smoke, considering the
height from which it began to
ascend, was visible from points on
the level plain fifty miles distant.
(Ib., p. 217.)
The following extracts are made from
Fremont's First and Second
Expeditions, 1842-3-4, Ex. Doc.,
28th Cong. 2d Session, Senate,
Washington, 1845:
"Columns of smoke rose over the
country at scattered
intervals—signals by which the
Indians here, as elsewhere,
communicate to each other that
enemies are in the country," p. 220.
This was January 18, 1844, in the
vicinity of Pyramid Lake, and
perhaps the signalists were Pai-Utes.
"While we were speaking, a smoke
rose suddenly from the cottonwood
grove below, which plainly told us
what had befallen him [Tabeau]; it
was raised to inform the surrounding
Indians that a blow had been struck,
and to tell them to be on their
guard," p. 268, 269. This was on May
5, 1844, near the Rio Virgen, Utah,
and was narrated of "Diggers,"
probably Chemehuevas.
Arrival of a Party at an
Appointed Place, When All is Safe.
This is made by sending upward one
column of smoke from, a fire
partially smothered by green grass.
This is only used by previous
agreement, and if seen by friends of
the party, the signal is answered in
the same manner. But should either
party discover the presence of
enemies, no signal would be made,
but the fact would be communicated
by a runner. (Dakota I.)
Success of a War Party.
Whenever a war party, consisting of
either Pima, Papago, or Maricopa
Indians, returned from an expedition
into the Apache country, their
success was announced from the first
and most distant elevation visible
from their settlements. The number
of scalps secured was shown by a
corresponding number of columns of
smoke, arranged in a horizontal
line, side by side, so as to be
distinguishable by the observers.
When the returning party was
unsuccessful, no such signals were
made. (Pima and Papago I.)
Fig. 339. A similar custom appears
to have existed among the Ponkas,
although the custom has apparently
been discontinued by them, as shown
in the following proper name: Cú-de
gá-xe, Smoke maker: He who made a
smoke by burning grass returning
from war.
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Signal of successful war-party
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