General Dodge, of the American Army, describes how he once had to
pursue a party of Red Indians who had been murdering some people.
The murderers had nearly a week's start, and had gone away on
horseback. Rut General Dodge got a splendid tracking-scout named
Espinosa to help him. The Indians were all riding unshod horses except
one, and after Espinosa had been tracking them for many miles he
suddenly got off his horse and pulled four horseshoes out of a hidden
crevice in the rocks. The Indian had evidently pulled them off so that
they should not leave a track.
For six days they pursued the band, and for a great part of the time
there was no sign visible to an ordinary eye, and after going for 150
miles they eventually overtook and captured the whole party. But it
was all entirely due to Espinosa's good tracking.
On another occasion some American troops were following up a number of
Indians, who had been raiding and murdering whites, and they had some
other Red Indian scouts to assist them in tracking.
In order to make a successful attack, they marched by night, and the
trackers found the way in the darkness by feeling the tracks of the
enemy with their hands, and they went at a fairly good pace for many
miles, merely touching the track with their fingers; but suddenly they
halted and reported that the track they had been following had been
crossed by a fresh track, and on the commanding officer going up, he
found the Indians still holding the track with their hands, so that
there should be no mistake.
A light was brought, and it was found that the new track was that of a
bear which had walked across the trail of the enemy! So the march
continued without further incident, and the enemy were surprised, and
caught in the early hours of the morning.
I myself led a column through an intricate part of the Matopo
Mountains in Rhodesia by night to attack the enemy's stronghold, which
I had reconnoitred the previous day. I found the way by feeling my own
tracks, sometimes with my hands and sometimes through the soles of my
shoes, which had worn very thin; and I never had any difficulty in
finding the line.
Tracking, or following up tracks, is called by different names in
different countries. Thus, in South Africa you would talk only of
"spooring," that is, following up the "spoor"; in India it would be
following the "pugs," or "pugging"; in America it is "trailing."
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