1 66 



THE MUSEUM. 



sleeping in that long and eternal rest. 

 The ascent of the mound is long and 

 tiresome and the highest point in 

 northwestern Nebraska. From the 

 top, on a clear day, one may see miles 

 of the beautiful surrounding country. 

 The original mound which contained 

 the remains of the great chief has 

 washed away. When he was buried 

 the body was placed in a sitting posit- 

 ion facing the river, at the request of 

 Blackbird, himself selecting this spot 

 as his last resting place, "For," as he 

 told his friends surrounding his death- 

 bed, "there I may be able to see my 

 white friends coming up or down the 

 river." His attachment for the white 

 man was as wonderful as it was 

 strange, being in those days the only 

 friend the pioneer had. 



In an early day here stood an im- 

 mense mound 30 feet high and i 5 feet 

 in diameter at the base. Here after 

 the funeral ceremonies had been com- 

 pleted an immense carnival took place, 

 wild and tumultuous singing, warriors 

 dressed in their war costumes, artist- 

 ically painted. The rich men of the 

 tribe gave to the poor both horses, 

 buffalo robes and many useful articles. 

 Then as the darkness came, also came 

 the mourners' low sad chant, the In- 

 dian death song of serras. All this 

 really occurred in iSoo on one of the 

 most beautiful table lands of Nebras- 

 ka's fair hills. As for the mound hard- 

 ly a vestige is left to mark the rest, 

 the grave of the great Indian Sachem. 

 A few bones lay bleached in the sun, 

 also a few teeth, both molar and ca- 

 nine, undoubtedly the last links of 

 some of his relatives. Wild oat grass 

 covers the hills, here and there are 

 some of nature's own fiower-gardens 

 and birtls of many varieties which 

 gladden Nebraskans' hearts with their 

 song and presence. Civilized man 

 and nature are strangers now and this 

 is the last chord between God and 

 man. Blackbird died in the year 1800 

 during a seige of smallpox which in- 

 fested his tribe. 



It is said the great chief learned the 



use of strychinne from the white man 

 and used it with barbarous results up- 

 on his willful subjects, annonncing to 

 his medicine men that such a warrior 

 would die upon a certain day. Then 

 treacherously did he seek to poison 

 the warrior's food. Thus he became 

 a holy horror in the sight of his sub- 

 jects. .His prophesies always came 

 true. So also he fell as many of his 

 subjects had fallen, by a dose of strych- 

 nine given by the hand of one 

 of his subjects, the secret of the hor- 

 rible practice being divulged by the 

 man who gave the deadly poison. 



So stands Blackbird Hill with many 

 legends connected with it and the 

 great Sachem Blackbird. 



"Buzzard." 



Capture of the Loon. 



For years it had been my desire to 

 secure a Great Northern Diver and its 

 nest and eggs for the purpose of mak- 

 ing a group illustrative of their nesting 

 habits and after discovering several 

 nests and finding difficulty in securing 

 one that could be removed without 

 destruction had very nearly given up 

 making any further attempt to find a 

 nest partly on land and partly on sea 

 with slide complete. 



It was about the first of 

 June when one of my friends 

 who was on the watch, sent me word 

 that he had made a find of just the 

 kind of a nest that I had been looking 

 for. So without much preparation I 

 at once secured a platform wagon and 

 a few tools such as spades, etc., and 

 made a start 28 miles overland. Up- 

 on my arrival I found that some 

 sportsmen had been hunting in the 

 vicinity of the nest and consequently 

 taken the eggs but left the Loon un- 

 molested. After this bit of news I 

 was more determined than before to 

 secure this identical bird, nest and eggs 

 and started to explore the vicinity 

 thoroughly so as to leave instructions 

 with my friends in case the Loon 

 should again visit the nest and lay. I 

 found the locality to be made up of 



