126 TRUE STORIES OF THE HEAVENLY BEINGS. 
33. THE LAST OF THE WHITE BUFFALO. 
(See Abstracts.) 
[Told by Thief, Kitkehahki. This apparently is only a fragment of the more 
extended story which the informant learned from his Chaui wife. Among the 
Chaui it is known that there formerly existed a ceremony, the altar of which con- 
sisted of four white buffalo skins.] 
34, THE WIFE WHO RETURNED FROM SPIRIT LAND.” 
Many years ago, when the people were in Nebraska, there was a young 
man who was well off and who had become a warrior when a mere boy. 
This young man was always away from his village on the war-path and 
he never cared to be with women. Every time he came to the village he 
would climb up on the mud-lodges and would look over the village and 
watch the girls who went to the spring for water. One time he saw a 
girl that he liked, and after that time he went down to the spring every 
day and tried to get a chance to talk to her. He met the girl near the 
spring several times, and he found out that she was the girl he wanted 
to marry, but he knew that he could not marry her until he had captured 
a certain number of ponies, and so he made up his mind that he would go 
on the war-path again and would try to capture some ponies. 
He heard of a great warrior who was going on the war-path. The 
warrior invited several young mento come to his lodge, and he told them 
to get a dry buffalo hide for a drum and some drumsticks, for they were 
to sing coyote warrior songs. While these men were singing the young 
man in the village heard the singing and he knew at once that the war- 
rior was going to lead a war party. The young man went to the lodge 
with his bow and arrows and moccasins, and joined the party. This 
war party went out and started towards the southern country to hunt 
the Comanche, for these people had many ponies. 
The girl missed the young man, but she did not know that he had 
gone upon the war-path. She looked for him every day, and when she 
did not see him she was sad. She kept thinking of this young man until 
finally she became sick. Just as the people were getting ready to go on 
a buffalo hunt the girl died. The people took her up on a high mound 
close to the graveyard and there they dug a hole about two feet deep 
and then they set up two forks, one on the east side and one on the west 
side. They placed a pole across it and then put poles against this pole. 
Then they took the girl up there and placed her upon the platform, with 
1Told by White-Horse, Pitahauirat. The tale not only illustrates, in a fairly 
complete manner, the belief of the Pitahauirat in the future land, but shows, like 
other tales already noted, the dire results of disobedience to the supernatural powers. 
