Sage-Brush Bill [pp. 455-459]

456 SAGE-BR
chains, fire-arms, ammunition, food, and
water, came under his untiring personal
supervision. Yet, with all this, his si lence was so great, his reticence so pro voking, that I spitefully dubbed him
"William the Silent," and told him so,
finding, to our mutual amusement, that
I had unwittingly given him part of his
right name-as he informed me, with a
quiet laugh, that in Nevada folks used
to call him "Sage-brush Bill." Now,
whether he had imagined that I was
punning on his old name, that silent
meant wise, and wise meant sage, I did
not stop to discover, but asked him,
"What was the reason they gave you
that name?" determined not to let the
fire die out, now that I had shcceeded in
producing a spark. "Well," said he,
"there were two reasons; first, I had a
shanty all alone in the sage-brush plains,
where I raised stock, and did a little
mining for some years; and then I was
the only doctor that fellows, twenty
miles off from me, could get when they
had the mountain fever, and the only
medicine I had was sage-brush, from
which I used to make hot and strong
tea, and then made them drink it by the
pint, until the sweat ran off by the quart,
and I suppose the fever come out through
the skin, for they generally got well."
From some remarks that Bill made
that day, I became satisfied that I was
fast rising in his estimation, and I also
became aware of a little fact, not flattering to my self-esteem, that Bill had been
quietly taking my measure, and that
much of his reticence arose from his
having been for some time undecided as
to whether I was of sufficient "quality"
to become communicative with. I can
not say his opinions were all orthodox,
but his honesty and shrewdness made
them very acceptable as conversation.
Naturally enough, we first spoke about
Indians, and, very much to my surprise,
there was a remarkable absence of the
usual indiscriminate abuse of that peo
'USH BILL.
[Nov.
ple, and the wholesale condemnation of
every thing, men and measures, that
have become mingled with their affairs.
Not that Bill was one likely to travel
with an empty gun, or a gun not at hand
when wanted, or be slow in its use in
defense of himself and others; but he
held stoutly to the theory, that they, be ing the original owners of the soil, had
a right to some consideration and com pensation from our race.
"We have come here," said hlie, "by
the thousands; we have taken their best
land, their best water, their finest tim ber, driven off by our mines and works
their venison and all other wild animals
on which they live, and they ought to be
paid for this by being partially fed at
every military post in the country, or
else at once classed as coyotes and wildcats, whom it is right to exterminate.
It is not an Indian's nature to think as
we think, or work ag we work, and no
amount of training can ever make him a
man of our kind, because his traditions
and his training all scorn the results
which we have attained, and the means
by which we attained them. As for military posts, I would have more of them:
one in every district where Indians are
plentiful, and encourage them to live
around, and be as lazy as they choose;
better that than they should be made
hostile by hunger, and kill travelers to
obtain their horses and mules for food.
Count up the loss to the nation from the
interruptions they so effectually give to
commerce, and balance it against an issue of flour and beef to the various
tribes, and see where the gain would be.
And I think it will pay, in the long run,
to put a reservation as near as you can
to the place they have been used to live
in; it makes them more contented, for
they have feelings about birth-places
and graves the same as we have.
"I don't know about employing volunteers, unless you adopt the exterminating plan; for they would bE likely