718 THE GHOST-DANCE RELIGION [eth.ahh.14 



or had his hair cut. The influenceof the Catholic ceremonial is plainly- 

 visible in hi* own ritual performance. In his early manhood he distin- 

 guished himself as a warrior, and had already come to be regarded as 

 a prominent man when he first began to preach his peculiar theology 

 about the year IS50. There can be no question that the rapid spread of 

 his doctrines among the tribes of the Columbia materially facilitated 

 their confederation in the Yakima war of 1855-56. It is said that he 

 aspired to be the leader in this war, and that, to attain this end, he 

 invited all the neighboring bands to attend a council at his village of 

 P na, but tailed to accomplish his object. 



Shortly after the close of the war, probably about 1860, the incident 

 occurred which wrought an entire change in his life, stamping him as 

 an oracle and prophet beyond peradventure, and giving to his reli- 

 gions system the force of authority which it has ever since retained. 

 He had already established a reputation as a medicine-man, and was 

 believed to be, "making medicine" against the life of Moses, the noted 

 chief of a tribe farther up the river, who was greatly in dread of his 

 occult powers, and forced a quarrel in order to rid himself forever of 

 his rival. A fight resulted, and Smohalla was nearly killed. It is said 

 that he was left on the ground as dead, but revived sufficiently to crawl 

 away and get into a boat on the bank of the < Jolumbia near by. Bleed- 

 ing and disabled, he was carried down at the mercy of the current until 

 he was finally rescued from his perilous position by some white men, 

 far below. His recovers' was slow. When it was completed, unwilling 

 to return in disgrace to his own country and probably still dreading 

 the anger of Moses, he determined to become a wanderer. 



Then began one of the most remarkable series of journeyings ever 

 undertaken by an uncivilized Indian. Going down the Columbia to 

 Portland and the coast, he turned south, and, stopping on the way at 

 various points in Oregon and California, continued beyond San Diego 

 into Mexico. Then, turning again, he came back through Arizona, 

 Utah, and Nevada to his former home on the Columbia, where he an- 

 nounced that he had been dead and in the spirit, world and had now 

 returned by divine command to guide his people. As he was thought 

 to have been killed in the encounter with .Moses, and as he had disap- 

 peared so completely until now, his awe-stricken hearers readily believed 

 that they were actually in the presence of one who had been taken 

 bodily into the spirit world, whence he was now scut back as a teacher. 



On the occasion of MacMurray's visit, says that authority, " Smo- 

 halla asked me many geographic questions, and I spread out a railroad 

 ma]), marking the situation of Priest rapids, Portland, and Vancouver 

 barracks, and lie traced with a straw down the coast line to below San 

 Diego. He asked where- San Bernardino was, and paused longoverthis. 

 He recognized the ocean or ' salt chuck,' with many other geographic 

 features and localities, but lie would neither admit nor deny having 

 been at Salt Lake City, although he admitted having been in Utah, 



