BOL-KKE.] THE MAKING OK THE MEDICINE-MAN. 453 



an iutensc spirituality. Tlien he will begin to withdraw, at least tem 

 porarily, from the society of his fellows and devote himself to long ab 

 sences, especially by night, in the &quot;high places&quot; which were inter 

 dicted to the Israelites. Such sacred fanes, perched in dangerous and 

 hidden retreats, can be, or until lately could be, found in many parts 

 in our remote western territory. In my own experiences I have found 

 them not only in the country of the Apache, but two-thirds of the way 

 up the vertical face of the dizzy precipice of Taaiyalana, close to /ufii, 

 where there is a shrine much resorted to by the young men who seek to 

 divine the result of a contemplated enterprise by shooting arrows into 

 a long cleft in the smooth surface of the sandstone; I have seen them 

 in the Wolf Mountains, Montana; in the Big Horn range, Wyoming; on 

 the lofty sides of Cloud 1 eak, and elsewhere. Maj. \V. S. Stanton, 

 Corps of Engineers, U. 8. Army, ascended the Cloud Peak twice, and, 

 reaching the summit on the second attempt, he found that beyond the 

 position first attained and seeming then to be the limit of possible ascent, 

 some wandering Indian had climbed and made his medicine.&quot; 



While it is regarded as a surer mode of learning how to be a medicine 

 man to seek the tuition of some one who has already gained power and 

 influence as such, and pay him liberally in presents of all kinds for a 

 course of instruction lasting a year or longer, I could learn of nothing 

 to prohibit a man from assuming the role of a prophet or healer of the 

 sick, if so disposed, beyond the dread of punishment for failure to cure 

 or alleviate sickness or infirmity. Neither is there such a thing as 

 settled dogma among these medicine-men. Each follows the dictates 

 of his own inclinations, consulting such spirits and powers as are 

 most amenable to his supplications and charms; but no two seern 

 to rely upon identically the same influences. Even in the spirit dance, 

 which is possibly the most .solemn function in which the Apache, medi 

 cine-men can engage, the head-dresses and kilts adhered closely enough 

 to the one pattern, but the symbolism employed by each medicine-man 

 was entirely different from that adopted by his neighbors. 



Sclmltze, Perriii du Lac, Adair, and others allude to &quot;houses of mercy,&quot; 

 the &quot;right of asylum&quot; in certain lodges and buildings, or even whole 

 villages, to which if the pursued of the tribe or even an enemy could 

 obtain admission his life was secure. Frank Gruard and others who 

 have lived for years among the Sionx, the Cheyenne, and other tribes 

 of the plains have assured me that the same right of asylum obtains 

 among them for the fugitive who takes shelter in the medicine lodge or 

 the council lodge, and almost parallel notions prevail among the 

 Apache. I have heard that the first American who came into one of 

 their villages, tired and hungry, was not molested in the slightest de 

 gree. 



It is stated by Kelly 1 that all warriors who go through the sun dance 

 of the Sioux rank thereafter as medicine-men. This statement seems 



1 Narrative of Captivity. Cincinnati. 1871. p. 141. 



