Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1889-10-11


Capt. Kow, who was one of the
Oldest pilots on the river and deeply
versed in all of the river lore, took
the bit OF iewelry in his hand and be-
gan close examination. He was.
IN the main, one of the coolest men
ever knew and seldom showed the
slightest emotion under any circum.
stances. He had examined the brace.
let but moment or SO when heard
MN eNclaim, i'll what for him were
most unusual tones: Here, c. H.
THAT'S what he always called mel,
look and see if these scratches are
not letters. | looked and made out.
as you have, the word NOMAH. Yes.
yes, said the captain, that's what !
thought. The first part of the name
has been effaced by time, but the
name in full was Multnomah. When
L was boy remember she was the
most beautiful maiden among the
klickitats-and they were warriors
in those days
Why, captain said l, this is
quite romance tell me about it.
There isn't much to tell, except
that thirty years ago Harry Spra-
que and myself were just of age. and
the klickitats were a powerful tribe
OF Indians, and during the salmon
season they came in great numbers
to the Cascades to fish and gather
| berries. Harry and l were on the
steamboats, running to the Cascades,
and Multnomah was beautiful In
dian girl. l always thought that
she must have been n descendant OF
some adventurous fur trader, tor her
features were of Caucasian type, and
her complexion was not more duskv
than that of Spanish beauty
Harry fell in love with her and she
with him-those things often hap
pened in the early days, you know
and all would have been well but for
the Indian war which broke out
! about that time, and the tribe to
which Multnomah belonged left the
river to go on the warpath. A little
while before the tribe disappeared
Harry had taken one of Multnomah's
bracelets and scratched on it with his
knife her name. Shortly after this
the blockhouse at the cascades was
attacked, but the Indians were re-
pulsed, and that night we captured
a young Indian boy lurking around
the settlement who knew Harry and
contided to him that Multnomah
wished to meet him the next night
at the Lost lake. 1t must have been
very important business that would
have induced the Indian girl to visit
the dreaded lake; but we feared a
plot and tried to dissuade Harry
from gong. He went, and when he
returned, day later, it was only tC
die OF innumerable arrow wounds.
''Before he died he told me that he
had reached the lake just at dawn
He was at the point of stepping
from the underbrush when he caught
sight of Multnomah standing on q
log projecting over the water. Hei
long hair fell over her shoulders il
disorder and bright red blanket
clung in graceful folds about hel
slender figure. She was gazing in
tently on the lake. Harry was lust
about to speak her name when al
arrow whizzed through the all
straight to the heart OF the dusky
maiden. Backward she fell into the
lake and sank beneath the surface
At the same time Harry received q
mortal wound. He never told us
how he got back to the river and We
buried him in the woods he loved sc
well. The Indians always claimed
Multnomah was seized by an evi
spirit which lives in the lake in the
form of a monster fish and devoured
At any rate her body was never
found; but this was her bracelet
Strange that it should have been re
covered after SO many years
"And that" said the gentleman
as he reached for fresh cigar, sis why
| said there was remarkable story
connected with that bit of jewelrv.
Alta California.