42 The Mountaineer 
Legends of Speow. 
Speow was commonly considered the owl god, although he 
wes the grandson of Kiki, the bluejay. He had ears like a 
fox. His eves were on the end of horny knobs that stuck out 
like those of a lobster. His mouth was furnished with tusks 
like those of a cougar. He wore a coat made out of the skins 
of mountain goats, the buttons of which were live bluejays. 
Take him all in all Speow was about the most of a triumph 
of Indian imagination of any of the various deities. He pos- 
sessed wonderful magic powers. He could cut himself to pieces 
and then put himself together again. He could assume at will 
the form of any animal. Even if the animal were killed, as 
often happened, the life of Speow was in no manner affected, 
for he could come to life at will at any time. 
Speow went once in company with Kiki, the bluejay, to a 
place where a streak of light seemed to come from a hole in 
the sky. For it must be noted that the world at that time was 
in darkness. All the magical animals were therefore looking 
for light. In quest of light, therefore, Speow and the bluejay 
climbed through the hole in the sky and reached another coun- 
try, which seemed far more beautiful than the dark world from 
which they had come. Uncertain what kind of a reception he 
might meet in this new land, Speow turned himself into a 
beaver, and while wandering about in the swamp got caught 
in a trap, which had been set by the moon god, Snoqualm. 
Finding the beaver in the trap, Snoqualm killed it, skinned 
and hung it up in his tent. 
But this use of Speow’s assumed beaver body had no effect 
upon his life and he simply waited for developments. He soon 
saw Snoqualm coming back with the sun and the stars and 
with a box which contained the daylight. Speow now waited 
until Snoqualm had again gone out. Then, transforming 
himself again to his original shape, he seized the sun and the 
stars and the box of daylight from the place where Snoqualm 
had left them and in company with Kiki, who had remained 
with him in all his adventures, he made a rush for the hole 
in the sky. He passed through it so hastily that he dropped 
the stars, which in consequence became scattered in all direc- 
tions, but with the sun and the box he reached the earth in 
safety. Speow’s next step was to throw the sun high up in 
