The record-union., 1894-08-18

"a Legend of the Colfax Tribe of Digger
Indians, recorded by Prot. l. u. Buggs.l
My authorities for this legend are the
partially enlightened sons and daughters
OF Digger Indians who have been taught
to read and write and speak the English
language in the public schools of Cali
fornia.
THE LEGEND.
| Far toward the setting sun, across ths
great ocean below yonder ancient mount
aims in the west, where two great Islands
| evergreen with luxuriant tropical yer'
dure lie close TO the mainland of another
world, there, on the coast OF the main
| land (Corea?), twenty generations ago
lived Captain Aurgh, the paternal an
cestor OF all the Digger Indians.
| Now Captain Aurgh had thirteen ma
| halies' and great many children un-
able to support themselves. He had tc
| hustle, therefore. in order 10 provide fol
them all, but he was tall, stalwart sailor
with coarse, straight, black mustacheS
| three feet long. and, in bis own vessel
did dourishing business trading be.
| tween the busy marts along the coast OF
| that populous country.
| One DAY Captain Aurgh's trading craft
/ was caught by merciiess gale from the
north and driven southwark upon the
briny pillows OF a greedy sea, until Cap
tain Aurgh, his two grown-up sons and
one wife, who constituted the vessels en-
! tire crew, found themselves bowling
merrily over the Tuscarora deep in q
| broad, swift-howing oceanic river (the
Japan Currently. The voyage, Which il
now accomplished in seventeen days by
steamer, required sixty-four with them,
| but they had plenty of water and pro-
visions aboard, and finally landed on The
! beach OF a beautifully wooded island
! Vancouver p near the coast OF America.
| Thence they removed to the adjacent
mainland, where they abode for many
years and multiplied.
The only mishap that occurred to maj
the pleasure OF this memorable passage
was attributed to two large doghsh
| which, seeing Captain Aurgh's long
black mustache strailing in the. water a;
he one day bent over the side of his yes
| sci to peer into the sea, swan up to
| swallowed and SWAN off with both of the
august Captains labial gonfallons, TO the
| boundless discontinue and everlasting
disgrace of him and all his descendants
| the majority of whom worked their way
eastward over the New w orld, founding
| great tribes and considerations wherever
| they went.
But the cold and hardship which ole
Captain Aurgh had to endure in the rigor
GUS climate of the North at length afflicted
the muscles and joints of his lower ex
tremities with lingering malady similar
to. if not identical with. rheumatism
among the whites.
He, therefore. determined to emigratt
southwark in quest of warmer anc
moro salubrious climate. With q few
followers he arrived in the Sacramento
Valley and established his headquarters
in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada
mountains west Of Lake Tahoe. IL
summer his people fshed and hunted
in the neighborhood OF Tahoe anC
Donner Lakes. They also made
frequent expeditions into the valley
after grasshoppers, fish, game. anc
such like, in the spring and early sum
mer. But in winter they froZe to ths
hills, for terror OF the vast floods of water
which sometimes obscured the highes
treetops in The valley below.
Meantime. old Captain Aurgh's rheu'
matism was steadily augmenting. He
could obtain no relief from the eXcru'
ciating pain that be periodically suffered
except by burying his legs for hours il
ease began to rack his neck and arms
! Then he ordered a hole to be dug, and
after getting into it feet first had enough
earth thrown in around his body to come
| level with his chin. In this condition hC
passed two days and nights.
On the morning OF the third day al
complained of peculiar sensation in tht
| tips of his toes and the backs Of his heels
| Considerable digging revealed the start
ling fact that Captain Aurgh had been
| taking root. His toes were twice as long
and tender as before, while large tap.
root was already sprouting from either
heal. Exposure TO the air, however, soOI
threw the old man into agonies of pain
and he requested to be returned to hi!
hole.
Captain Aurgh was therefore replanted
and covered up according to his wishes.
at this critical conjuneture all of hi,
people, except two squAws, went off on a
two weeks hunting expedition. WheI
they returned they found that the twC
squaws had been deyoured by grizzlies
and that large evergreen bush, having
gnarled and crooked branches, covered
| with smooth, blood-red bark, was grow
ing out of the skull of Captain Aurgh
IN few days the bush became small
tree, and blooming shed from thousand
punches of tiny white fagons the mos
exquisite perfume that ever intoxicated
the sense of human smell. Later on, fol
every bunch OF flowers, bunch o
scarlet edible berries appeared.
Such is the legend the Diggers tell o
the origin of the manzanita tree, when
they gather the scarlet berries.
Notaries Public.