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SKETCHBOOK |
![[Image: 24.jpg]](assets/24.jpg)
Page
22. Drawn with a particularly fine pencil are two young Plateau
men riding tandem, fleeing before a fusillade from a party of the enemy.
From the hoof prints, the couple may be the rear guard for a party that
has gone on ahead. Their mount, a bay with four stockings, is poised in
a modified flying gallop. Both riders wear light red jaw paint. The front
man, with a robe rolled before him, wears a set of necklaces, disc earrings,
green shirt, and leggings. He wears a cartridge belt and bandolier, and
clutches his gun. His foot is braced as if pressing a stirrup. His companion,
in polka-dot shirt and blanket leggings has been shot in the shoulder,
from which blood flows. His gun, first drawn in, has been erased; perhaps
he has lost it.
Behind them come at least six pursuers, riding full tilt. Three wear feather headdresses, that of the leading figure falling so as to suggest the war bonnet of the Central Plains. The single, erect feather and hair braids of the others strengthen such an attribution, suggesting to some modern Indians that they are Sioux. All are armed with guns, which four, leaning forward upon the necks of their steeds, discharge at the pair riding off ahead.
Next: The Riders
http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ec/exhibits/sketchbook/rearguard.html
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