The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-14

~ AbAkACAAIAAA1s DoN VI Az
fiint-pointed arrows were first shot in
battle and in the chase before the white
man came and these rave lain upon
the prairie, or were imbedGed in the
carcasses of game. until the shafts
rotted. Now and then they appear on
the surface to be picked up by the curl
Gus.
1t was the above point on the Sun
river, the olden abbatoir of the Piegans
and Bloods. that two young men of
this city visited last week. Save for
the splintered bones of the slain buffalo.
but little emains 10 indicate its for
mer use. The wings of boulders have
gradually sunk into the soil of the
prairie and are hidden by the rank
grass. Only by the courtesy of ]. c.
Adams was the party enabled to find
the place easily. Wind and rain and
the melting SHOWS of winter have
crumbled the ledge of rock at the crest
and changed the precipice to a sloping
hillside. where coyotes burrow and
bring to light the indices of former
years. At the base of the cliff is still
a mound. silently indicating III enor-
nous slaughter of the past. Buffalo
bones, teeth, tufts of hair and bits of
hide. mixed with stiff clay, are piled
up. forming a stratum at least 10 feet
thick. and each year the spring freshets
wash from this mass hundreds of the
strange. sharp-edged arrow-points. To
gather these was the purpose of the
party, and though such groupings have
been made for 10 successive years, at
least some $50 were found, a part per-
feet in every respect and others broken
to bits. They were of every material
and every f%ashioning. Black OBJ
sidian, yellow and white, gray
and brown, red and blue
tiints. agates of every shade and
streaking, smoky topaz, quartz, white.
rose and smoky. any kind of a stone of
sufficient hardness was wrought into
these weapons, and as they vary in
material so are they different in form
and size. Some have the proportions
almost of the Venetian dagger. while
others are mere equilateral t~riangles
with notches for binding to the shaft;
some are carefully worked out, others
are hardly more than sharp plinters of
rock. Yet all served the same
Reversing conditions, paving over
the ancient slaughter heaps of Indians
as the modern red man paws over the
slaughter piles of the whites, is not
wholly a pleasure excursion on a hot
day, and though the relic-hunters felt
compensated by their finds, they are
not likely to soon forget the hot white
clay over which they crawled on hands
and knees, or the equally white-hot
sun which blistered their backs. The
spot, however. is interesting, and tn.
trip from this city is through the pleas
ATTEST and most prosperous communi-
ties of Northern Montana.
The Sun River valley was the great
est hunting ground for every tribe of
Indians in the northern part of the
state, and when rivals met in the chase
they were apt to turn their attention
from four-legged to two-legged game.
re - "a. I Al 81
ter house has been the scene of at least
one great BATTLE. that between the Pie
gans and the Crows, about 1858. or a
year later. Little Plume, an old chief
of the Piegans, tells the tale in strong
language. He says:
when I was a small boy and had
not yet gained a name for myself by
deeds of courage performed in battle,
l was a witness to n of the hardest
fought struggles ever waged in the
| Sun river valley" The chief of the
Piegans and a small band of followers
were encamped on the river near the
mountains, when early in the morning
a deputation of Crows came in. praying
that a council be made, saying thai
they were tired of war and would make
a treaty hat should ensur peace be-
tween the tribes for all time to come.
The Piegan chief readily consented to
| the council and told the deputies that
/ on the morrow everything NOulu De III
readiness to receive the Crow chief, as
the head men of his tribe were not so
far away that they could not be sum-
moned in that time. The deputies de-
parted and on the morrow returned
with their people. A great feast was
made. the council began, and 1t looked
as if an abiding treaty would be con-
summated between the two warning
nations. During the evening and the
night there was more feasting AMI
great dancing, these pastimes being in
dulged in for the greater harmony ana
also to await the CT ming of Shuon-a-
taps-e-guan, the chief medicine man OF
the Piegans. From time to time more
of the Crows came down from their
main camp and joined in the merry
making. But the medicine man was
still absent and the treaty could not be
finally concluded until his arrival.
Some of the Piegan squaws, moved
by the curiosity of their sex, in poking
over a bundle of moccasins belonging
To the Crows, discovered a fresh scaln.
II was tina of a Pl gan. Fearing to
precipitate a general massacre, they
sought an opportunity of telling their
chief privately. He went about the
camp on a scouting expedition and soon
found a Crow brave wearing abou his
neck the sun-glass used by Shoon-a-
taps-e-guan for lighting his pipe. This
was positive proof that he had been
slain by the treacherous Crows am
that they were only awaiting a signal
to fall upon the Piegans and put them
to death likewise. Then the chief again
assembled the council. He told them
that the treaty could never be made
until the consent of the medicine man
(Strong Man in English) had been OBJ
tanned. In the meantime the Crows
were the enemies of the Piegans and
had best get back to their camp and
prepare for war. The Crows took his
advice md hastily moved their camp
down the river to the Breaks and
there prepared to meet the Piegans, II
attacked. In the camp of the enemy
equal preparations were made. Run
ners were sent to other branches of the
tribe informing them of what had hap
pened and summoning them 10 the
fight. BY nightfall a thousand war
riors of the Piegans had assembled.
and some of the newcomers brought
the details of the death of the Strong