The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-09-27

purpose OF receiving a consignment OF
supplies from Washington over the
Denver & RIO Grande railway. He was
in his mcet tallsieive mUod, and, for tine
time, relapzrsd from the tentative 81
lHnce &c his adopted race long enough
TO entertain a. small parity of rallrcad-
ers. With whom ne happened TO be ac-
QIlatEted. Navajo Bill is the only whsle
msn VINO has marItisd in the Navajo
race He married fer love. and is NOW
at home in mis- lodge. as happy and
cEeerfm as the nCGL sardCutc member
CT the tribe. The NavQjoeG have al
ways preserved the respect of other
tribes for tihe dual reason that khey
were a nation of fighters and also for
the fact That they have net allowed Eha
iGiJsrmiug4Erg of white blood to depre-
ciate the warlike sHafn of THAR faith
eTS. Bill is a white man of education.
WfCLsls History is concealed from the
general DublQc, and who finds with the
Nayatcegs that peace and cortsntm emit
that me was dgnt5d in the homes of civ
ilizatLjGn. In the present case Bill was
drawn ditto a chat upon his peculiar ex-
perieA'ces amcng Glse savage people with
whom ne had selected to make his fu-
tJTe. The tail, curly haired squaW man
was in am indulgenG mood followcng the
,
promised to give a, Statement of an
event thai but enc or two other white
W91trlfe men ever Witnessed.
You have heard OF the famous sand
painting of e[he Indians" he said, as
ne took fresh grip ON his tobacco and
prepared for a yarn of something be-
you'd ordinary interest Well, wGhsn [
Was down ON Che Hog Back a few days
ago, about ten days back. am Indian
inform me tinait L was invited TO aiJtend
this ceremony. had lorged to sac the
dance all my lEfe, but had NOT been
afforded am opportunity. The time had
come, and 1 was glad of THE chance.
you may be sure 1 took vflalt INDIAN
into my camp for the might, and then
busled myself making ready for the
etart the following morning. 1t was
Sunday nnOGufElg when we took our
Journey oR Ghcreaiback. At tina ap-
pcfaHed place we found 300 Navaic In
WaAdRg. | was pretty hungry. and ex-
pressed a desire for some food, but my
hosts told me THAT everything was
ready and pilLlt no delay could be tIoler-
atsd. ! was escorted to an unusually
large hogan (oircle). which was, ait the
least, % fest adIioss I'M amy direction
In the caRitar, occupying a space prob
ably 19X1S feet, was a sand painting
complete in every particular. 1t was SO
handsome i'm design and the blendEng
CT ci1ccrg was SO perfect that l could
scarcely credit my eyes. No one could
be convinced tinat these poor, iSnoIant
savages had done This fine piece of work
which was a masterpiece CT CUlOr DRAW
ing, unless they were the witnesses of
tLae execution AS there was no either
white man around the camp. I WIS
forced ito accept tine statement that the
Intladsnls we're The sole executors and de-,
.fgners. The Old medicine man nlCtloned
me to a. seat beside him, and this nigh
E1cnllC 7 was glad ito take. as ut gave
me Che best view CT the performance.
Then the priest began a cfagit THAT was
couched in low tones, gradually swell
ing ITO tEae Highest register. and then the
young braves joined the chorus. This
moGYoiteGHJus Wafl was kept up for some
slime. Then She ryllhm was disturbed
by the medicine man rising with
chant that was even more weird than
the foregoing, and then, lIanntng around
the circle, he placed a string of eagle
| feathers around aihe painting. Between
| these ne put small cups of medicine
water ALI this time the air was filled
with the durndest hoWQtug that ever
issued from the lungs of human beings
Now he walked in on the painting TAX
| iilg care not to destroy q lime OF the
! formation and made a few passes Wltl1
| both hands, after 1tAe forum of an incan-
| cation. This seemed to have an effect
en- the young men Sitting around, Tor
! after the first movement a big buck
! Ieaped to his feet, and, entering the
circle soua tied down at atle feet of the
medicine man. The latter then began
TO operate ON the candidate for hoaors.
! The buck was stark naked The brave
was treated to a, sort of a massage
| from head to foot, every inch of his
| body being srnoHhed by the l1and of the
! PRIEST Having finished this task, the
! medicine man turned to THE crowd, auE1
with a wave of his hand toward the
| setting SUN, wiped out the entire pic
| tJre aglI1 the ceremony as ait an end.
! During tShe performance L took out q
small note book and started to make
| a few notes but the eye of the medicine
man was On me, and. after short
lecture, dropped my note book with am
afaec1ty that was a circus to sac
after supper the entire night was
| spent in different gambling games.
| Coon can and monte are the principal
ones among those people, ard, OF
! course. are played with cards. The most
exciting game of the night I viii try To
| describe. They first chose sides, SO
many on each side, as though they were
going to play ball. One side odose me
| The two sides were seated oppc5its
| each other with the camp f1re between
Then the two captains stood UP, facing
One held a piece of blackened corn
musk and let it drop. The one at whose
feet lit fell had tine first go at the game
Following this each side dug little
trench sn the sand for the recep-
ton of four mcccasins, also filled
| with sand but nothing but
the tops appearing. This brings the
game TO a beginning where bets must
! BE- made. Money, blankets, brides,
belts. Iariats, beads and everything that
| you could buy or steal, were laid Gle
| by side, subject to the termination OF
| the game. When the spofls were all in
sight, the side that won the first crack
! ait the game held up q, lanlSet 50 that
| the opposite could net see, and, chant
ing all the time, buried in one CT the
n10ccasins a small white stone The
| blanket was then removed. and one OF
the opposing side WIS invited to come
| ever with a sl1ort club in his hand and
! End the stcna. The excitement was
nCt as intense as at a bah game, but
| the Indians seemed to like the deal
/ and my curiosity was equal to anything
that promised novelty. The big fellow
with q. club coclly took a seat beside
( the NC casins and began pounding the
SAND UTltn the tops were snC0shed over
and the level Of the sand was the same
| in the trench This Simply
knocked the sand off the mouth
CT the footwear. a deliberate pauze
J the spectators are led to believe tnat
Z deep thinking as to the location of the
r ~ IL he I,.,e