Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-09-07

An Indians Hate.
He Tried to Vent 1t on the whites,
butIt Recoiled on Himsslf.
By George II. Wesley.
By George Il. Wesley.

a.
S By George II. Wesley. !
s'MN;ssasssss,s,s assssss&@
Jed Wilson and 1 were neither of us
much over 20 when, in the reckless spirit
of adventure, we Joined company of
threescore hardy fellows who We're on
the point of starting off up the Umpqua
river.
After many days of the most difficult
travel we came at length in sight of an
Indian village, and, approaching this vii
lage to within a quarter Of a mile, we
pitched our permanent camp.
/ We had not been there many minutes
before our redskin neighbors became
aware of our presence, and Immediately
they swarmed down upon us, displaying
the most hostile intentions. The sight of
our weapons cowed them, and they saw it
would be best to leave us alone.I
1 The chief of the tribe was one Wah-
kama, n tall. muscular Indian of per-
hpps 49,. AS the days went by Wah-kia-
M became quite a frequent visitor. His
favorite lounging place was the log cabin
in which Jed and l did the cooking.
One morning Jed discovered Wah. kia-
M in the actAof jabbing long, sharp
pointed piece of iron he invariably car
ried in his belt into the soup kettle, hop
ing, no doubt, to fish out a nice hot chunk
of beef. This was more than my COM
panion could stand. i5sa.
| Knocking the iron out OF the redskins
hand with a quick blow, Jed grabbed the
fellow by the scruff and the slack and
rushed him out of the cabin, quitting him
with push that sent him SPRAYING up
on the ground.
After that Wah-kia-na came to the
cookhouse no moro, and in month or so
the incident had dropped completely from
our minds. But not from the Indians
In his heart he nurtured vengeance.
One day we learned that there emptied
into the Cmpqua a certain stream, the
exploration of which promised consider
able sport This tributary was known as
Smiths river, after an unfortunate trap
per who had been killed by the Indians
many years before.
When we had arranged our plans, we
made them known to Waffle Linn, a
sturdy old backwoodsman who had tax
en- quite fancy to us youngsters and
had more than once proved himself true
friend. l3
Don't ye go, boys" said Waffle.
why not" asked jed. I'VE can man
age the canoe all right
\ "'Tain't that"
what is it, then? Are you afraid Of
the Indians cutting us Off"
"Waal. yes; that's about It," replied
4 Waite.
just as we were pushing off along came
Waffle.
so yer bound ID 50, boys?" he said
half renroachfully. WAL, good luck to
We. But look hyar, want We to promise
me something. Guess it'll take We three
days to get up,ito. Smiths, thar bein a
freshet in the river, but day ought to
fetch We back slick as grease. Now, give
me yer word, boys. to be back hyar by
five days Ut the latest-that is, if We kin"
We promised the old fellow and dipped
our paddles, impatient to be off {
Good, lads, and now look hyar. If so
be as YOU meet trouble and hey to quit
/ the canoe and tramp home make tracks
down the right bank of the river-the
right bank, do YOU hear?"
Nothing particular happened until the
afternoon of the third day. We were
| ripping along very quietly when suddenly
Jed reached over the side Of the canoe
and ished something out. of the water.
1t proved to be small, closely woven
Indian basket
That's bad, jed" exclaimed. Sure
as guns TIERS redskins ahead of u.s.
Wed have met the beggars il they
had come down stream; so they must
have gone up" said /. Whats to be
done, Jed?'
Done! Go ahead and trust in Provi.
| dence," replied Jed. .They may be
| friendly or they may not. Anyhow, we've
got our rifles"
Whats that yonder?" cried Jed, point
ing to hill little distance ahead. It's
| sloping side was dotted with what look
ed to be huts We rested on our paddles
and gazed upon the scene with silent
anxiety.
We found the cause Of our wonder to
be an old Indian burying ground. The
hutlike risings were Simply hiilocks of
earth, each of which marked the resting
| place of a warrior.
Padding n mile or two farther along,
we camped for the night. -
As soon as it was light enough we
started to mount to the TOP. of what we
meant to be our long teboggan slide back
to Umpqua. 1t was the Worst rapid we
had yet encountered. AFTER trying it sew
eral ways without success we had to re-
| sort to the towing line
We, dragged our little craft up through
the boiling current yard by yard. 1t may
have been within a dozen feet of us when
crack! the stout hide line suddenly snap.
ped, and away went the canoe with all
our stores and Jed's rifle, dashing madly
down the falls.
What fools to worry" cried Jed
when. we can get all the canoes we
| want.'
"Where?"
"Down in the burial ground, of course.
It's only mile or SO. Come along"
| Fortunately we were on the same side
of the river, and an hours hard strug-
| cling through the dense woods brought us
to the cemetery. We found that most of
The canoes We're in very bad condition,
but finally came across one that seemed
seawortliy. Our good fortune mended our
spirits, and as we sped onward we laugh
ed and joked and broke into rollicking
songs.
We had made mile or so when shoot
ing round a sharp elbow Of the river, we
were thunderstruck to find ourselves