Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-08-03
Indian Legends.
Virginia City Territorial Enterprise.l

Virginia CITY Territorial Euterprse.1
About the time the new comet was at
ats brightest we took the occasion of a
call from Captain Sam, of the Piute
tribe, to ask him about the notions held
by his people in regard to such celestial
vlsltants. Sam said he would presently
bring to us an old man of his tribe, who
had the whole dome Of heaven by heart.
Ia some trepidation after so much cere-
mony and preparation, we finally VEN
tured to ask the venerable savant if he
knew anything about the comet recently
flaming In the northern skv. He did
he knew all about it. 1t was he said,
"a wounded star" Said he, at is
badly hurt, but it will get away. With
out further ceremony or preamble he
proceeded to give us the whole economy
of the celestial realms in nutshell, so
TO say. 1t was as follows:
''The sun rules the heavens He is
the big chief; the moon Is his wife and
the stars are his children. The sun he
at him children whenever he can them
catch. They are all the time afraid
when he is passing through the above.
When he, their father, the sun gets up
early in the morning you see all the stars
AlAo NIAlNtiChy ny Oib VI SlBHt-pO away
into the blue, and they do not make to
be seen again till ne, their father, is
about for going to bed. Down deep un-
der the ground-deep, deep-in a great
hole. Here he go into this hole, and he
crawl and he creep till he come to his
bed; 50 then sleeps there all the night.
This hole is so little and he, the sun.
is 80 big that he cannot turn around in
1t, so he must, when he has had all his
sleep, pass ON then through, and we see
him next morning come out in y east.
When he SO comes out he begins to hunt
up through the sky to catch and eat any
that he can eat of the stars, his children.
He, the sun, is not all seen; the shape of
him is like a snake or lizard. 1t is not
his head that we can see, but his belly,
stuffed with stars he has times and times
devoured. His wife, the moon, she goes
into the same hole rs her husband to
sleep her maps. She have always great
fear of him, the sun, that have her for
his wife, and when he come into the
hole to sleep she long not stay there if
he be cross. She, the moon, have great
love for her children, the stars, and is
happy to be travelling up where they are.
And they, her children. feel safe and
smile as she passes along. But she, the
mother, cannot help but that one must
80 every month. 1t is so ordered by
Pah-ah, the Great Spirit, that lives
above the place of all. Every month he
do swallow one his children Then the
mother moon feel sorrow. She must to
mourn. Her face she do paint it black,
for child is gone. : But the dark you will
see wear away from her face-little, lit
tie, little every Jay; after time we see
all the face bright of the mother moon.
But soon he, the sun, her husband,
swallow another child. and she put on
again her face the pitch and the black"
'But how about the comet?"
"Well, said the philosopher, Some
times you see the sun snap at one of the
stars, his children, and not get good,
fast hold--only tear one hole and hurt
it. 1t get Wild Of pain and go fly away
across the sky with great spout Of blood
from it. 1t then very 'fraid, and as it
fly keen always it head turn to
watch the sun, its father, anG never turn
away from him his face till far out of his
reach
Having thus disposed of the whole
business of the realms above, the sage
WIS luClAhCN ~ CtuAt OONu 10 UlUlUalle
matters, and suggested that much talk
made men hungry. He was not too
proud to accept four bits.
Sam, however, who had been listening
very attentively to the Astronomical doe
trines of the wise man of his tribe, and
who evidently wished to hear more,
went ON to say that when the white
men first came to the country and began
to dig great shafts, many OF his people
feared that they intended to dig down to
the subterranean passage way Of the
sun and moon. catch them both, carry
them away and leave the whole country
in darkness.
To this the old philosopher answered
that such thing was impossible. owing
to the great heat above ana about the
hole He said all the white men could
do was to get out some Of the rocks
above the underground road Of the orbs,
and which had absorbed their brightness
as they lay asleep in their beds below.
these rocks producing in the ease Of the
moon, the white metal (siverl and in
the case Of the sun the yellow metal
(gold).
Captain Sam now said that they were
ready to take their leave. and would be
glad to carry with them a sma3, piece Of
the white metal mentioned }y Tie Miss
man IF the tribe.