The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1890-10-05
SHE WAS Y0UNG-sEE WAS FAIR.
But She Aroused the Love of
Medicine Man, and That's
Where the Tribal Troubles Be-
gan-He Put Poison in the
Chowder, and Now They Are
All in the Bright Hereafter.

previous lttltl. llGlc - uIlC VI
Z them, stripped of the Spanish
words and the untranslatable expressions Of
the Indian: I'm the days when the great
trees were not yet growing" begins the
story, "there lived in a beautiful valley a
clan who had light faces and who were very
strong They had horses and lands and
sheep and corn, but they were warlike and
fought with all the people around them until
they had killed off all but remnant of one
of the tribes. Then the strong tribe aban-
doned its houses and departed away to the
northward, and never were seen again in
the beautiful valley of the signing pines.
1.-The tribe which still survived AMI which
numbered now only few men, fewer than
could be counted on the fingers O. two hands,
and few women and a few children, left
their hunting country AMI went to the south
ward that they might he rs far from their
late eppres,ors as possible. They came TO
mountain that was white at the p ami they
said that as the breeze in tie valley was
warm AMI pleasant, and as they could hunt
in the valley at will, they would live there
and enjoy the summer air which was tenn
pered by the white-t0pped mountain.
$50 they took up their homes in caves and
lived there for many years. But the hunting
was not good, and the game was not plenty,
nor did they get any corn in the valley, So
they went to the south stu further, until
they came TO q canyon or barranca. so great
in extent ana SO terrible in its depth that
they could not cross 1t. In the sides OF this
place they built their houses, and as the
tribe had not increased materially with the
lapse of years they were again progressing
nicely.
THE TRIBAL VILLAIN.
There was in the tribe powerful medi-
cine man or a sorceTer, who was possessed
of the spirit of a demon. \ o one could tell
whether it was a good devil or a bad one
Hntil he died, for in those days the children
Of the forest believed in sorcery, and there
were but two kinds of demons-gOod ones
and bad ones.
The old chief, who was also n priest as
wei! as q medicine man, but not so powerful
a medicine man as the other, had a very
pretty daughter, She had eyes that were
winning and pretty, mouth as ripe as
cherry and q form that was the envy Of all
the village maidenS To this bTi Iht and
pretty object the affections Of the willy witch
Doctor were attracted, and he vowed he
would have her.
" But, as a matter of fact. the willy witch
doctor was a bad demon and not good one,
though he usually passed as the latter. he
IabOTed under a great difficulty IN his WOO
ing, too, for aside from the fact that he was
nearly century Old and not handsome, it
was stipulated in the laws in the tribe that
ore Of their members should not marry an
other. What was one member of the tribe
# not the property of the tribe ? Therefore,
how could one man saw, She IS mine alOneY
No, he must go to some other tribe for his
" wife and not come to the maidens OF his own
village. Then there was another straw in
. his way. BE was a vitch-dOctGr, and witch
doctors were forbidden to marry any one.
ARSENIC IN THE COFFEE.
% The Old demon thought it over while.
then went to his garnet and consulted the
oracle. The oracle told him that IN a certain
valley there were three trees, where lie
would find a strange herb, which he would
know by peculiar flower of deep purple
shade. He was told that this herb, made
into a brew and mixed with food of the
tribe, would kill all who were his enemies,
= but spare his friends.
at was good idea, and the old fellow
booked it, He departed from the village in
the canyon, went TO the valley Indicated by
the oracle and there found the herb he sought.
1t was OF So pleasant an odor and beauty tnat
be carried it home in great delight and forth
=. with made brew of it.
: But before dosing the whole crowd, he
thought he would throw out few feelerS
and SEE how the land lay. He didn't want
to kill the girl, for tnat would spoil all his
plans. He must be sure that she was on his
Side or his plan would not work at all, So he
- prepared to lay siege to ner heart.
1.-The maiden, fearing him greatly on ac-
; .
and, for fear Of offending him, did not OBJ
iect to his advances. He left that night for
his own home, highly pleased with every
thing on earth except the tribe of which he
was a member, and determined that upon
: the morrow he would cause great feast to
be called and then administer the fatal drug.
He did. The old chief and lis pretty
. daughter were there, and so were ali the
members of the tribe, now numbering up
ward Of a hundred. They all looked ask
OF In for how hall cd ba.
was a bad devil, and they were about right,
- it seems. They all partook of the poisoned
chOwder, and soon alter eating 1t one by
6ne they went to sleep. They have been
sleeping ever since.
!" But the old witch Doctor had OvershOt
his mark. He had banked on the young
maiden's love and lost. She didn't love him.
and SO when the drug came to her heart and
found that it was not the old mans it killed
her too, and the witch doctor was left alone
on the rocky ledge overlooking the chasm.
BALKED AGAIN.
A" Then the old man tore out his hair, for
he was mad. He had destroyed all his peo-
pie and his own children aud had also de-
stTOyed the object Of bis love. He thought
about the best thing he could do would De
to 60 down and jump off the cliff, and over
he went What little brains he had were
despatched about on the bottom Of the can
yon, and the coyotes gnawed his bones. Then
came darkness over the Cliff city, for in it all
were dead"
The half-breed who told me this story be-
Heved it. He paused while the coyotes were
gHawing the bones of the old sinner and
seemed buried in thought. l waited impa-
tiently for the remainder Of the story, but
lie seemed loath to tell it. Finally, how
ever after giving him fresh cigarette, he
continued:
:: That night when there was no moon and
only the stars were shining brightly IN the
heavens there came from over the valley of
the signing pines a white body, floating on
beautiful wings which seemed not to move
at all Ii came nearer ana nearer to the
village Of the dead and lowered over the
place where lay the bodies of the chief and
his pretty child and his family and all the
people. 1t was the form Of fawn no
larger than one of those little animals half
grown, bHtiit was of dazzling whiteness, ana
possessed great swiftness. Suddenly it how
cred directly over the body of the maiden,
and the corpse seemed to rise and follow it
into the air.. Away across the canyon it
flew, bearing with it the body of the beauti-
full maiden, disappearing at last over the
trees into the valley Of the pines. Then a
bright fire sprang up and the body of the
maiden was never seen again, nor even a
Yestige Of it,
TIE WHITE FAwN.
Son that same night every year and at
the same hour came the flying white fawn to
the valley of the dead Skeletons alone re-
NAMED there, but they we're removed one
by one, until after many, many years, The fly
ing white fawn came no more for there were
no more bones of the people lying in the
fatal spot. This was years and years ago,
for 1t was told to the old men who walked
with our grandfathers, by the grandfathers
OF their generation"
made up my mind the Indian had con-
cluded that the flying white fawn was Gre
mationist Of the old school. But why she
didn't make wholesale job of it, instead of
letting. some OF her poorer relations wait
around In. the open air so many years
could not understand.
No bodies have ever been found in the
clih-dwellers' houses. Although some frag-
ments Of charred bones have been found.
this fact might point to the theory of Gre
nation among these Indians, and il that
theory be accepted seriously, then the
legend OF the flying white fawn has some
weight and good deal of interest. The
Hualapai and Moiave Indians cremate
their dead, hence, why may not the cliff
jewellers have done so? II they did, who