Whenever a war party, consisting of either Pima, Papago, or Maricopa
Indians, returned from an expedition into the Apache country, their
success was announced from the first and most distant elevation
visible from their settlements. The number of scalps secured was
shown by a corresponding number of columns of smoke, arranged in a
horizontal line, side by side, so as to be distinguishable by the
observers. When the returning party was unsuccessful, no such signals
were made. (_Pima and Papago_ I.) Fig. 339. A similar custom appears
to have existed among the Ponkas, although the custom has apparently
been discontinued by them, as shown in the following proper name:
Cu-de ga-xe, Smoke maker: He who made a smoke by burning grass
returning from war.
_SMOKE SIGNALS OF THE APACHES._
The following information was obtained by Dr. W.J. HOFFMAN from the
Apache chiefs named on page 407, under the title of TINNEAN, (_Apache_
I):
The materials used in making smoke of sufficient density and color
consist of pine or cedar boughs, leaves and grass, which can nearly
always be obtained in the regions occupied by the Apaches of Northern
New Mexico. These Indians state that they employ but three kinds of
signals, each of which consists of columns of smoke, numbering from
one to three or more.