Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/322

THE KANSAS INiaABIS. 305 modious round buildings thatched with straw or reedsr which made comfortable dwellings. It is re- corded that the people of this part of Quivira did more farming (and that is not saying much) than any others we have met; tba^ is, they raised more patches of corn, pumpkins, beans and potatoes than the tribes farther west. Although the buffalo came near there, yet they were not numerous in that locality. In describing these people, you are given the lan- guage of the various authors as found in th** 9ldest books come-at-able: "The people here are large. i had several In- dians measured, and found thiey were ten palms in height (over 6 1-2 feet); the women are well propor- tioned, and their features are more like Moorish wo- men than Indians." Coronado, In a letter to the King of Spain, 1541, writes: "The Kanza Indians, with regard to the quali- ties which distinguish men from the brutes, are far from being deficient." Another writer says: "Tb bodily strength and courage they uijite a shrewdness and address super- ior to other savages, and in their wars or chases, they make a dexterous use of fire-arms, which gives them a decided advantage over their enemies." *" Father De Smet, 1840: "The Kansas spent a part of their time in hunting, a part in idleness, and a part in planting and cultivating small crops at home. They use ardent spirits less than any other tribes, yet they are degraded and improvident to some extent by this poison; some few of them have reformed; they are more ready to receive instruction