| The Indians had awesome battle skills. The separated
to make themselves smaller targets to hit, which made the united States Calvary,
have a hard time in battle against the Indians. Indians attack in all directions,
which made the Calvary spred out and only attack, every side with little power.
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| The weapons the Indians are using were overwhelming
to the Calvary. Their main weapon was the bow and arrow because they were
quite and had good accuracy. An average Indian was as accurate at twenty-five
yards as a marksman was at a hundred yards with a rifle. The warriors who
would use it crafted their own bows. The warrior would put in their best skills
into making their own bow and arrows. A warrior would cut down the limb and
mark the top because it was said, “If the bow was pointing the way it was
growing it would function better.” When you got your limb you would let it
air dry for four to five years to become completely dry and to be shaped.
If a warrior needed a bow quickly he would take the limb that has dried the
longest and shape it and dry it over a bed of coals. An old saying “A wooden
bow fully drawn is nine tenths broken.” This means that a wooden bow was
nine tenths broken when it is pilled to its max pull. For the bow to function
right it has to bend in a perfect arch from the handle to the tip. This has
to be so all the parts of the bow do their part. The decoration of the bow
is usually painted blue and yellow to represent the lighting bolt. They did
this to give it the power of the lighting.
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| The warriors used lances on horseback, which was a
little shot foe handling. The lance is a pole with an attached blade nine
to ten inches long. The handle was made of a hard wood sometimes rapped in
rawhide. Blades were made out of either flint or obsidian, and when the white
man moved west they took the iron off of the wagon wheel to cut and shape
into blades for knives, lances and others. |
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| Did you know that the Indians only defensive weapon
was the shield? Before the horses became easily available their shields were
big and covered the whole body. After you could get horses easily they made
their shields smaller so they could maneuver it with one hand. All their shields
were made of rawhide mostly from the hump of the buffalo. They used three
to four foot round pieces of rawhide. Then they would shrink it to eighteen
inches in diameter. The decorations were important because they said the
symbols gave that warrior power in battle.
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| Some of the main hand-to-hand combat weapons of the
Indians were the tomahawk and the knife. A tomahawk is a wood handle with
rawhide around it. They mostly used stone or iron for the head of the tomahawk.
Some chiefs hollowed out the handle and made a bowl and the back of the head
and made apiece pipe out of it. The knife was not only a weapon but it was
a tool, an eating utensil, and a cooking utensil all in one. They first had
a wood or bone handle with a stone blade. When the white man came they traded
and got steal blades to put on their knives. The sheath was what the Indians
used to carry their knives; it was rawhide with a wood inner layer. They decorated
their sheaths with all sorts of things. I will give you a few of the most
common. For the sheath they had beads, fringes, and hair. The tomahawk was
decorated with by branding, brass tacks, and rapped with copper and brass
wire. |
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| Did you know that the Indian used all different types
of war clubs? The three main types are the JawBone, Gunstock, and the Ball
Headed war clubs were what they used most. A jawbone war club is a wood shaft
that has a jaw bone from a buffalo or deer that has the teeth filed down so
it hurts more when it hits you. You can probably guess what the gunstock war
club looks like. It is a wood paddle that has blades coming out of the side.
They decorated it with brass tacks, paint, and appendages were the favorites.
A ball headed war club is what it sounds like it is a wood shaft with a round
stone on the end. The ball ranged in size from three to five inches around.
The war club was designed to disable the enemy not kill it. They mostly went
for the knees, upper arms and the legs because an enemy that can’t attack
can’t hurt you. |
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| The Indians were very advanced and they had guns but
not many. The Indians had guns better than the Calvary is some battles but
Custer and his men had more firepower. |
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| In this next segment I will tell you about the Calvary.
One of their primary weapons was the colt .45, the Springfield, the Winchester
models 1873 and 1876, and the short sward. The colt was a .45 caliber pistol
that had a 7.5-inch barrel. This pistol was a center fire cartridge, six-shooter.
The colt was what they relied on when they didn’t have time to get out their
rifles. |
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| The Springfield and the Springfield trapdoor were rifles
that the Calvary used the most. The model that they used was the 1873 0r
the 1876 model. It was only sighted to one hundred yards. “Custer was said
to be the best marksmen with his rifle,” by his men. |
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| Calvary men also carried a short sword, which was used
to signal a charge and for hand to hand combat. Their sword was around four
feet in length. |
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| Well this is my report and I hope you have enjoyed
reading it. I hope you have might have learned something so you shouldn’t
strain yourself anymore. So if you have noticed the Indians were better equipped
than the United States Calvary, but the Calvary won because f their fire power.
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| Brent Feldhausen Rossville Junior High 2002 Plains Indians Projects |
Bibliography |