NO. 7 SOHON's portraits of INDIANS — EWERS 43 



The written record appears to emphasize Pelchimo's prowess in 

 the traditional men's occupations of the Flathead. He was a courage- 

 ous fighter, a clever hunter, and a skilled trainer of horses. His 

 talents as a horse doctor must have given him considerable prestige 

 as a medicine man among the conservative members of his tribe. He 

 was not mentioned by the missionaries among the Flathead leaders 

 who remained staunchly loyal to their cause after the closure of 

 St. Mary's Mission in 1850. Nevertheless, Sohon's testimony as to 

 his good character is confirmed by the writings of Father De Smet 

 and Major Owen, 



Thunder, a Flathead Leadeji (Plate 15, Left) 



Til-til-la or Thunder 



Said to be one of the bravest of the Flathead Indians. 



Father Palladino considered "Phidel Teltella, or Thunder," one of 

 the notable men of the Flathead tribe. (Palladino, 1894, p. 63.) As 

 "Thunder" he signed both the Flathead and Blackfoot Treaties in 

 1855, but he took no speaking part in the proceedings. 



When disease in epidemic proportions raged in the Flathead camp 

 in the summer of 1856, "Fidelis Teltilla" asked Father Menetrey to 

 see his son who was dangerously ill. In the next year he accompanied 

 Victor to St. Ignatius Mission to fulfill his religious duties. (Chit- 

 tenden and Richardson, 1905, vol. 4, pp. 1239- 1240.) Doubtless, the 

 name "Fidelis" was given him by the missionaries in reference to 

 iiis steadfastness in the Qiristian faith. 



The modern Flathead say that Thunder died in the Bitterroot Valley 

 before 1891. 



Pacha, a Flathead Leader (Plate 15, Right) 



Pacha 



One of the chief men of the Flatheads — He is quite an old man. 

 (Indian Name) Quill-Quill-che-koil-pent. 



\'^ery little is known about this man. He was one of the principal 

 men of the Flathead who met Governor Stevens at Fort Owen in 

 the fall of 1853, on Stevens* first visit to the tribe. (Report of Ex- 

 plorations, etc., i860, vol. 12, pt. 2, p. 125.) He may have been the 

 Indian who signed the Flathead Treaty under the name of "Pah-soh." 

 Doubtless he died within a few years after the treaty. 



He was not remembered by any of the elderly Flathead questioned 

 by the writer in 1947. They translated his Indian name, "Red Plume." 



