The Pensacola Journal

Meaning of Indian's Signs
How Red Men on the Trail Communicate With Each Other.

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

As time has passed and civilization has changed Indian conditions, I was under the impression that our red brothers had forgotten the use of signs in their travels, but as I was loitering about the hills in Siskiyou county a few weeks ago I came across a genuine Indian "sign," such as I had not seen for a dozen years or more. It was a simple little sign in appearance, but it was full of meaning to those who could read it. A long stick with one end stuck in the ground; the other leaning and pointing up the road. The stick was elevated at an angle of only about ten degrees from the ground and was supported on a stone. It told some Indian that his friend had been along there and had gone ahead in the direction pointed out by the stick. I marveled at it, but on investigation found that the Indians of California still use signs to convey intelligence to each other. I found that among the Cocopahs, Cahuillas, Pimas and Yumas the sign is as much in use as ever.

While traveling in San Bernardino county some months ago I came across a peculiar grouping of stones, and at once saw that some Indian had left a sign, so that all other Indians might know that water was to be found in a certain direction. The stones were lying in a complete circle and in the center was a long triangular stone, with the sharp point indicating a specific direction. The sign was plain to one versed in such things, and in order to see if the same sign was universal, for I had seen it elsewhere, I followed the direction pointed out by the long stone and found a little spring.

This arrangement of stones I had often seen in a dozen different places in the Middle West, and as a variant which was also found in California, I have seen a mound of stones, similar to a miner's monument, with a pointed stone resting on top, pointing toward water. In many parts of the country, especially in the desert parts of California and Arizona, the question of water supply for travelers is one that requires serious consideration, and I have known men to pass within a few hundred yards of water without knowing it, because they could not read Indian signs. The sign was in plain view, and was placed there because the Indians recognized the necessity of telling all who came along that they could find water. True, there was not a big board set up with "water" painted on it, but to the initiated it was equally plain. There is not a trail in all the Southwest that runs near a spring that does not have the sign openly displayed. I have even seen instances where the water was so far from the regular trail that special signs have been made to show where it is. I remember one instance among the Shoshones where there was a large monument of stones with an extra long flat stone on top pointing toward the spring. After going in this direction for some distance I came upon another similar monument, and before I got to the spring I found five distinct monuments showing the way.

Sometimes, however, these circles may not mean water at all, and then it is necessary to understand the intricacies of the Indian mind to understand just what he is driving at. I remember once when I was hunting on the Republican river I came across a circle of buffalo skulls which attracted my attention because of the peculiar arrangement. Sixteen skulls were set in a semi-circle, with their noses pointing down the river. In the center of the circle was a skull on which were painted thirty-six red lines. Near the skulls were two small sticks placed upright in the ground, and at the top of each stick were tied two bundles of hair. A Pawnee Indian was with me, and told me that thirty-six Pawnees had camped there. They had made a raid against a camp of Comanches containing sixteen tents or lodges, and had taken four scalps. They were now returning home down the river. To the ordinary observer this arrangement of skulls and sticks would have given no more impression than that some one had been amusing himself by playing with these buffalo skulls. To the Indian the arrangement was a complete story.