430 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June 19, 1890. 



"NESSMUK"-NOT GONE. 



\ ROUND the old woods-haunter's home 



Save on one mound of fresh piled mold, 

 The grass is green as ere of old 

 When soft the breath of May had come. 



In meshed brown shadows of the woods 

 Are blooming now the flowers he loved. 

 As bright as when among them moved 



The feet of one, whose happiest moods 



Were found when close to nature's heart 

 In forests old, whose shadowed streams 

 Are rarely touched by noontide beams, 



Far from the world of man, apart. 



As blithely now as when he heard, 

 The hang-bird carols on the elm, 

 The bobolink rollicks o'er his realm, 

 And woods with thrushes' notes are stirred. 



Calm nature gives no sign of loss, 

 Though it would seem that she must mourn 

 When lover such as he the bourne 



Of this world's life has passed across. 



She feels no loss— his better part 

 Lives still with her, in sweet commune, 

 With all her voices in attune, 

 And taken to her inmost heart. 

 May 24, 1890. awahsoose. 



A WAR PARTY. 



CLOSE under the shadow of a great mountain, by a 

 little stream, the camp was pitched. On either 

 hand the unbroken prairie stretched away a long dis- 

 tance; and far to the eastward, in a vast expanse of 

 plains and level ground, could be seen the three 

 Sweetgrass Buttes. It was a warm summer day and the 

 children were running about among the lodges and play- 

 ing in the water of the little brook. Groups of men 

 were seated in tbe shade cast by the lodges, smoking and 

 talking, and everywhere the women were busy tanning 

 buffalo cowskins for new lodges. Near the outskirts of 

 the camp was a small hut or shelter, hemispherical in 

 shape, and thickly covered with cowskins. Two or three 

 women were standing near it, and close by a fire was 

 smouldering. It was a sweat-lodge, and in it were a 

 number of men taking a medicine sweat. If you had 

 drawn near you could have heard the hiss of steam as 

 the medicine man sprinkled water on the red hot rocks; 

 and you could also nave heard him praying to the Sun 

 and other gods for the success and safety of the party. 



"Hear now, oh Sun," he said. "Listen all above persons. We 

 have built a sweat-lodge as you directed. It is round; inside the 

 ground is flat; above us the lodge arches from all directions; thus 

 do we represent the world, your own, as you long ago directed; 

 and as you further— in the loDg ago— said shonld be done, we now 

 purify our bodies for we ask you something. Let us live! Let us 

 survive the perils! 



"Even as you sink behind the mountain tops, your children here 

 gathered will depart for war. They will seek to be revenged on 

 our enemies. They will fight our enemies who live in the south. 

 Now hear our prayer. They will leave their relations and friends 

 to make war with our enemies. Pity then these relatives, that 

 they may bear the sorrow of their leaving us. Pity them, that 

 they sit not with covered heads in their lodges mourning. Let 

 them go about and say, our young men have gone to make war, 

 and they will soon return with scalps and many horses. 



"Hi-yu, oh Sun, look down upon us. Let there be high-growing 

 sage brush to conceal our warriors from the enemy. Teach them 

 to travel like the coyote through tall grass and bushes, and in the 

 low places that they he not discovered by the enemy. Now wa 

 have built a sweat-lodge, as you directed, and here we give you 

 presents— even parts of our body— as a sacrifice. Pity us. Let us 

 live. Let us survive." 



While the old medicine man was repeating this prayer, 

 the warriors sliced bits of flesh from their bodies as an 

 offering to the Sun. At last the pipe was out and the 

 stones cold, and the women having removed some of the 

 coverings of the lodge the men filed out dripping with 

 perspiration and jumped into the stream to cool off. 



The sun had set, and while the western horizon was 

 still aglow with his last rays, the war party silently filed 

 out of the village and headed for the south. Silently, 

 and with bowed heads they turned their backs on all 

 they loved. And as silent and sorrowful their fathers, 

 mothers and wives sat in their lodges with covered heads, 

 for all were thinking of the dangers of the far-off trail 

 and praying for life and success. 



From the distant hills came the long mournful howl of 

 the wolf and the quavering yelp of the coyote. Dark- 

 ness settled over the earth, and above the stars twinkled 

 brightly. The great wolf road 1 was white with starlight. 

 All through the night the little band moved on in 

 single file, without word or jest; and in their lead was 

 the greatest warrior of their tribe, a brave, yet cautious 

 man, powerful of frame, keen-eyed and proud, proud of 

 his skill and name, for among many tribes White Wolf 

 was known and feared. Even the animals in some mys- 

 terious way must have learned of his skill with the bow, 

 for from afar the buffalo took fright and thundered 

 away through the darkness; the antelope looked not twice, 

 but hurried away with mighty bounds, and from the 

 reedy lakes the ducks arose with startled quacks and flew 

 off through the night. 



At last from the horizon Epi-su'-ahts* arose, and hung 

 in the eastern sky like a ball of fire. Then after a while 

 came the light, and at length the sun arose, and it was 

 day once more. Near by were some thickly timbered 

 buttes, and there in the densest cover the party sought 

 shelter for the day. A large bull elk stood feeding among 

 the brush; too late he saw them approach. Twang! went 

 a bow, and a feathered shaft was buried in his heart. 

 Two men were now chosen to ascend the hill and keep a 

 sharp lookout for enemies, and the rest cut up the elk and 

 retired into the thick timber. By a little spring they 

 built a fire and cooked some meat, and having finished 

 eating they rolled up in their robes and went to sleep. 

 At noon the leader awoke and sent two men to relieve 

 those who were watching, and again laid down. As the 

 sun approached the mountain tops, one by one the little 

 party arose and washed in the cold spring. Then they 

 cooked more of the elk, and, as darkness settled over the 

 land, they put on their war sacks and pouches of penimi- 

 can, slung their quivers and shields, and once more struck 

 out over the broad prairie. 



'Tne milky way. 



"Kaxly riser— the morning star. 



Now at daylight of the third day they came to the Big 

 River (Missouri) where Pile of Rocks River (Sun River) 

 empties into, and they had no fresh meat. True, each 

 one carried a little pouch of berry pemmican and depouille, 

 but that was kept for a time when perhaps they dare not 

 build a fire, or when they might be surrounded by the 

 enemy. Close by the river a large bull was feeding, and 

 he looked fat. Then said White Wolf: ' 'A fat cow would 

 be better, but now the sun has already risen, and perhaps 

 even now seme enemy is watching us; let us hurry, then, 

 and kill this bull. And he crept near and shot an arrow 

 into him; but the bull never raised his head, he kept on 

 walking slowly toward the river, stopping now and then 

 to eat a bunch of grass. And all were much astonished.. 

 Again White Wolf shot an arrow into him , and then 

 they all shot him, but still he paid no attention to them. 

 Now he reached the shore and waded slowly out deeper 

 and deeper, and finally sunk out of sight. "Su-ye' stum-ik! 

 Su-ye sfum4JcP n theyall cried; " we could not kill Mm ; he 

 is one of the fearful kind," and they were afraid. And 

 some said it was a bad sign and wanted to return home, 

 but White Wolf would not let them. "True," he said, 

 ' 'it is not good for man to see these strange and fearful 

 animals. But what we have seen is done — it cannot be 

 helped. Let us now place the watch on two hills, and we 

 will build a sweat lodge. We will purify our bodies and 

 sacrifice to the Sun," and they did as he said. And after 

 they had made the lodge and given the sacrifice, White 

 Wolf called the watchers down, and they went down the 

 river below the place of high falling water, and they 

 shot a blacktail deer and cooked and eat until all were 

 satisfied. Then they dragged down to the river's edge 

 logs which had been left dry by the high waters, and 

 they lashed them together with their lariats; on top of 

 of them they piled sticks, and last on top of all they 

 placed their clothes, their water sacks, pouches and 

 weapons, and pushing the raft into the water each one 

 grasped the logs with one hand and swam with the other, 

 and swimming thus, they crossed over to the other side. 

 It was now long past the middle of the day and all were 

 very tired, so White Wolf said: "We will rest here until 

 another night, and I will watch till dark," and he went 

 up on the bluffs alone to watch, and the rest went into 

 the thick willows and slept. 



Now on the seventh day they came to the Yellow River 

 (Judith), and they found a broad trail where many people 

 and horses and travois had lately passed going east, and 

 then they were glad, for they knew that they were near 

 the enemy. Crossing the Yellow River they crossed over 

 a little point of land and came to the Warm Spring River, 

 and here they rested for the day, two of them going on 

 to a high butte to watch. 



Soon one of the watchers came back and awakened 

 them, saying, "Uneasy the animals, a band of buffalo 

 run toward the south, and also many antelope, running 

 swiftly as if much scared." Then all arose and cautiously 

 ascended the hill, and they looked carefully in all direc- 

 tions. The day was uneasy, the buffalo were running 

 one way and another, ravens and eagles flew about 

 screaming and croaking, a band of wolves came sneak- 

 ing into the river bottom, and last they saw many per- 

 sons on horseback riding swiftly east. "Ah," said* they, 

 "there they are; a war party perhaps, or may be return- 

 ing hunters." 



"Their lodges may not be far off," said White Wolf. 

 "To-night we may arrive there; let us sleep again," and 

 while some watched the others rested until the sun had 

 gone out of sight beyond the mountains. Then they ate 

 a little of their pemmican and took the trail to the east, 

 traveling fast. Near daylight they came almost to It- 

 fell-on-them Creek 4 (Armells). 



"On this creek," said White Wolf, "I am sure they are 

 camped. It is now too late for us to do anything to- 

 night, so let us turn up to the mountain and build a war 

 lodge 8 , for we are now in the midst of danger. So they 

 went high up on the side of the mountain in the thick 

 timber, and by a little spring they built the lodge. First 

 they put up the poles — many of them and close together — 

 and over these they placed balsam and spruce boughs in 

 thick layers, so a fire could be built inside and yet no 

 light be seen from the outside; and while they were mak- 

 ing it White Wolf went out and killed a deer. Then 

 inside they built a little fire of dry quaking asp, and 

 cooked pieces of the deer, and after they had eaten White 

 Wolf went up the mountain to a ledge of rocks to watch 

 while the others slept. 



Far below him in the valley he could see the lodges of 

 the enemy. Two hundred and ten he counted, and he 

 saw great herds of horses feeding on the hills close by 

 them. And he looked carefully at the hills, the coulees 

 and ridges, to know which way would be best to approach 

 the camp. "Listen, oh Sun!" he prayed; "make me of 

 good sense. Let my eyes be keen and my arm strong. 

 Let me take many scalps of those men; let me drive 

 away many of their horses." 



At sundown they ate a little of the deer and then they 

 opened their war sacks and put on their war head- 

 dresses of eagle feathers, and their war shirts of fine 

 buckskin, painted with strange animals and decorated 

 with fine fur, and they painted their faces. Then White 

 Wolf filled a pipe, and they smoked to the Sun and 

 prayed, and each one gave a present to tbe Sun, and 

 when it was dark they went down tbe mountain and 

 traveled toward the lower ridges near the camp. Yery 

 slowly and cautiously they crept along, keeping in the 

 coulees and low ground. They were now near the camp. 

 The firelight showed dim and red through the lodge skins, 

 and from the smoke holes streams of sparks arose in the 

 still night air. Dogs barked, horses whinneyed, there 

 was a loud confused hum of sounds, people talking, sing- 

 ing, children shouting and laughing, drums beating, the 

 mourning of some for the dead, the loud shouted call to 

 a feast — all this they heard as they neared the camp. 

 And now, close to them they could see the shadowy 

 outlines of some horses and hear them eating. Then 

 they took their lariats and caught each one a horse, and 

 these they led, slowly and silently driving the others 

 ahead of them away from camp; and when they had got 

 some distance away they stopped, and leaving the four 

 youngest warriors to guard the horses and keep them 

 from straying away, the others went back. Cautiously 



^Su-ye' stum-ik; under water bull. Supposed to live in the water 

 and to belong to the under-water people. 



4 So named because once a number of women were digging natu- 

 ral paint in a cut bank, when the earth gave way above, and many 

 of them were buried beneath it. Many of them being killed the 

 name of the creek in Blackfootis Et-tsls'-ki-ots-op," "' 



6 In Blackfoot ap-im'-ctp— sit inside place. 



they approached the outskirting lodges. In one were 

 seated many persons, for they could see their shadows on 

 the new lodge skins. It was perhaps the lodge of a chief, 

 and there were feasting warriors and principal men. The 

 war party came close to the lodge, most of them stood on 

 each side of the doorway and a few stood round and be- 

 hind it. Then raising his hand to his lips White Wolf 

 sounded the war cry of his tribe. Shrill and loud it 

 echoed through the still night air and was heard by all 

 the people. It made the mother's heart beat, as she 

 grasped her little child in her arms. Young and old 

 were filled with terror. The warriors grasped their 

 weapons and rushed forth into the darkness. 



Now from that Chief's lodge the feasters poured out 

 the doorway, but as fast as they came White Wolf and 

 his warriors shot them down and scalped them, and the 

 rush for the doorway was so sudden that those behind 

 could not get out, so they cut slits in the back of the 

 lodge that they might get out unperceived, but even there 

 the enemy struck them down, and tbe air was filled with 

 war cries, and groans, and snouts for help. Then came 

 warriors, hurrying from all parts of the camp, and White 

 Wolf cried out, "Enough, run," and they ran swiftly and 

 disappeared in the darkness, and the Crow warriors fol- 

 lowed them but a little way, for they could not see them 

 in the dark, and all know it is foolish to chase a person in 

 the dark, for he can stoop in the grass or hide behind a 

 bush without being seen, and so can shoot down the 

 pursuer when he comes along. So the Crows returned to 

 their camp and from afar the Piegans heard the great 

 mourning, wives and children, fathers and mothers cry- 

 ing for their dead; and the warriors shouted war songs 

 and prepared to follow the enemy when day should 

 come. 



Now White Wolf and his warriors came to the horses, 

 and mounting, they rode swiftly away, driving the many 

 loose horses before them, and when theyhad gone some way 

 they fired the prairie to hide their trail. All through the 

 night they rode, stopping now and then to change horses, 

 and when the sun rose they stopped by a little creek to 

 rest and eat. All through the day they rode, traveling 

 east, and when the sun was getting low they came to the 

 Big River, near the place the Bear River (Musselshell) 

 joins it, and they crossed to the other side. No, not all 

 of them crossed; there in the deep, dark water live the 

 Su-ye -tup-pl (under water people),. and they took the 

 chief. White Wolf was riding a large strong horse, and 

 when in the middle of the river they both sank slowly 

 out of sight. They reappeared, and the horse made some 

 powerful lunges to escape, but again they sank beneath 

 the water and were seen no more. 



"White Wolf has sunk" the others cried. "The Su-ye'- 

 iup-pl have seized him," they cried, and they sat down 

 and mourned for him. Then after a time they went along 

 the shore, thinking, perhaps, to find his body, and when 

 night came they turned out their horses and built a little 

 fire in the timber and rested. But their hearts were sad; 

 they could not eat; they sat around the fires in silence 

 and mourned. By and by, far off they heard a horse 

 whinny; again and again, nearer and nearer, and then 

 they heard the tramp of his feet. Nearer and nearer and 

 then there was a voice saying, "Are you there, my 

 brothers?" Then what a shout went up. What a glad 

 cry was there in the night, and they rushed forth to em- 

 brace their friend and leader, who had returned to them. 



"Strange, strange have been my adventures," said 

 White Wolf. "You saw me siuk under the water and. 

 you thought I was dead. So did I. I felt my horse sink 

 beneath me, and I tried to rise, but something held me 

 down. My ears rung. The water strangled me, and then 

 I found myself in a great lodge, and in it were sitting two 

 old people — a man and his wife. They were very small 

 and their hair was thick and long. Then I knew the Su- 

 ye' -tup-pi had caught me. Said that old man ; 'Sit down 

 my son, and let us eat,' and his wife placed before me 

 a piece of turtle and some small lizards. But I could not 

 eat them; you know they are fearful things that we may 

 not touch nor eat, and I was afraid. 'You do not eat, my 

 son,' said the old man. Why not?' 



" 'Pity me,' I said, 'I am of the prairie people and such 

 as this we greatly fear. We may not touch such food. ' 



" 'Ah,' he said, 'I forgot; our food is not the food of the 

 land people, yet one thing we have you like,' and he 

 placed before me four strawberries. 



" 'How queer,' I thought, 'only four berries, and I 

 could eat many handfuls.' But I ate one and looked 

 around. The lo'dge was new and made of strange mate- 

 rial. There were parfleches of fi3h skin, their robes were 

 of otter, bowls theyhad of turtle shell, and many strange 

 things I saw in the lodge. Then I took another berry, 

 but instead of three, there were four remaining; and 

 although I ate many, always f our remained , and when I 

 had finished the Old Man took the four and put them 

 away. 



"Then said the Old Man to me, 'From what direction 

 comes my son?' And I told him all, of our going to war, 

 and I showed him the scalps. 



" 'Give me one,' he said; and I gave it, and my shield, 

 that I also gave him. Then said he, 'My son, you have 

 given me presents. You shall live. You shall return to- 

 your people; but after this, you and all your tribe must 

 not cross the rivers until you have given us presents. 

 When you reach the shores throw into the water some- 

 thing for us, and you shall cross safely over. But if you 

 do not this, we will take a person and you will see him 

 no more. And now I have said. Shut your eyes and I 

 will lead you to the shore.' 



"Then I did as he said, and he took my hand and led 

 me out and up through the water. Soon I felt the water 

 part. I breathed again. I opened my eyes and I stood 

 upon the shore. Close by fed my horse. There was still 

 a little light. I found your trail and followed on." 



In the camp of their people the absent warriors were 

 not forgotten. Often the Bear Man unrolled the sacred 

 pipe and prayed for their safe return. Often he stood 

 outside his lodge and shouted out their names. And 

 every day, as evening came he mounted a horse and rode 

 slowly through the camp shaking a medicine rattle, sing- 

 ing a war song and shouting out their names. Thus were 

 the absent ever in the minds of the people. 



One day far out on the prairie were seen a band of 

 swiftly-moving objects, at times half hid by the clouds 

 of rising dust. Nearer they oame. Hark! Listen to the 

 war song! See! It is our absent warriors; they return 

 with many horses! And all the people went out to meet 

 them, singing loudly the war song with glad hearts, and, 



