entle at home as
they were terrific in battle. Chief Joseph would never harm a white
woman or child, and more than once helped non-combatants to a place of
safety.

In oratory and unstudied eloquence the American Indian has at times
equalled even the lofty flights of the Greeks and Romans. The noted Red
jacket, perhaps the greatest orator and philosopher of primitive
America, was declared by the late Governor Clinton of New York to be the
equal of Demosthenes. President Jefferson called the best-known speech
of Logan, the Mingo chief, the "height of human utterance."

Now let us consider some of his definite contributions to the birth and
nurture of the United States. We have borrowed his emblem, the American
eagle, which matches well his bold and aspiring spirit. It is impossible
to forget that his country and its freely offered hospitality are the
very foundation of our national existence, but his services as a scout
and soldier have scarcely been valued at their true worth.

THE INDIAN SOLDIER AND SCOUT

The name of Washington is immortal; but who remembers that he was safely
guided by a nameless red man through the pathless wilderness to Fort
Duquesne? Washington made a successful advance upon the British army at
Trenton, on Christmas Eve; but Delaware Indians had reported to him
their situation, and made it possible for the great general to hit his
enemy hard at an opportune moment. It is a fact that Washington's
ability was shown by his confidence in the word of the Indians and in
their safe guidance.

In the French and Indian wars there is abundant evidence that both
armies depended largely upon the natives, and that when they failed to
take the advice of their savage allies they generally met with disaster.
This advice was valuable, not only because the Indians knew the country,
but because their strategy was of a high order. The reader may have seen
at Fort George the statue of Sir William Johnson and King Hendrix, the
Mohawk chief. The latter holds in his hand a bundle of sticks. Tradition
says that the chief was arguing against the division of their forces to
meet the approaching French army, saying: "If we are to fight, we are
too few: if we are to die, we are too many!"

As an Indian, and having often heard my people discuss strategic
details, I am almost sure that the chief anticipated the tactics of the
enemy; and the pathetic sequel is that he was selected to lead a portion
of the English forces