The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-12-24
THE HUNT FOR WIND MAKER
LEGEHD or A con FEARED BIZ THE
BLlCKFOOT INDIANS.

III
wife and the Attempt to slay the God
that Caused 1.-THE Dread OF Wind Maker
kip. Mont, Dec 1.-THE guides engaged
BY a couple Of city men passing the summer -
the ftockie1 were Old Man Weaver and Francois
Monroe two 0f the survivors Of the old frontier
dnya Weaver was about 90 years Of age, aud
his thin long hair az well as his beard white
As snow. yet he was every bit as active a. any one
In the party, and his keen blue eyes sighted thu
ME a. well as ever. Francois was about 0s Id
a. his partner. and also very quick aud sturdy
Q irelcrSs climber, a keen hunter HE father, an
old vOyageur Of the Hudson Bay Company ws9
Scotch Ffcncbman; his mother a daughter ot
tho Blnckfoot tribe His features and oorrlcSipn
wero those Of the Indian, but his mannrt was
combination Of that OF the three rnces from which
b. had sprung. Above all Francois was super
sitiou1 no believed In omens, In dreams, and
In tho philosophy shall say rcligion2-o OF his
mothers people. Weaver believed in nothing
which could not be verified. yet he never laughed
OF his partners views, however fnnciful.
Ono evening the little party made plans To stalk
. band Of mountain sheep that had been seen
on a nearby mountain at sunset There were
ten OF dozen Of them, feeding on the very crcs,
Of H. and their forms, sharply outlined against
the brilliant glow Of the western sky. revealed
the fac, that they were all large old rams carry
OF day there came q furious wind sweeping down
the canon such the city men had never he.
fore experienced. The lodge although sheltered
by dense growth Of pinas, bent and trcmbcd
before tho blasts. until II seemed II IL certainly
would be torn from the ground and carried out 10
tho plains OF course there could be no hunting
on tho mountains while II lasted, and no one
vsntured TO arise until long after the sun had
appeared above the horizon Francois was the
6-st to leave his bed, and as he whitfield some
shavines for q fire he remarked plaintivcy:
Tt must he that Wind Maker loves those sheep
up on tho mountain: he is making a great blow
cannot hunt them"
Wind Maker" asked one OF the city men.
"who is that What does he do
"Ah. cannot tell you now" Francois replied
One may not speak Of the gods In the daytime.
II he does he will 20 blind Wait until the sunset:
wait until night and then I will tell you all"
II was a long day the hunters put in. The
wind continued to blow so iercely that they did
not even venture out into the timber for fear Of
being crushed by a falling tree. Instead, they
kept to the lodge and invented useless little Jobs
10 pass away the time Among other things
they ate four meals with many lunchrons he.
tween. At last the sun disappeared behind the
mountains and darkness spread over the deep
umberei canon The wind gradually died
heard ripping over its stony bed The appointed
time ma II come when one could talk Of the ancient
ones without being stricken blind and having
lighted his pipe Francois began his story
After Old Man 1.-THE Blackfoot Creatorl had
mado the people. given them bows aud arrows
and taught them how to hunt and procure food.
how 10 make a FIRE and how To fashion clothing
from the skins of animals they killed he. left
them 70 &c, along the best they could Some
day he told theni I will return; some day when
you are in great trouble and need my help That
was long ago, soon after tho beginning of the
world but no one has seen him since although
the r,opls have had rrrnt troubles and needed
his help While Old Man was with them he did
not teach his children anything cSccp, how Ia
OBTAIN food and TO live comfortably He did
not sny what caused the lightning and tho thup
der what made the awful storms from the north
what caused the wind 10 blow: all this. and more
he left tic peopl. Ia 6nd f,,r thrns,ly.s
1T wa, summer and they were trnvN,iny ,h,u,
discovering mo country Tor IL was "a yet All new
10 them, all except the one spot at the foot II tn,
mountains where they had roamei about li,;c
Ai'ef 'ney were created 'i'en they had climbed
up on the tall butcs and looked far out on the
great brown plains, ~ far, 80 wide. that they
.o,,,d no, s.o ,,,,., ,,.. -. '.. 10 10y
, .ou.u Nv, ''o Nna' was oe!o'," "'tho"sh 'hey
down IN the ground end IN. world cnd.d VIZ,
- -. ~, ' . Wv 80 ''''eN, "h'h
ho' 'ooAe' "u' 'o"a'" 'ha' uia'hh' point they
would say: Some day We must travel out there
and SEQ that place: see wher. Tho world and, and
uh.t IN. slv i. made - ,h., =, ,','I .""I anu
Wha' Ho shy ~ hiane "' mat IL looks 81 blue
But the way seemed long, and they had no means
10 carry their lodges their heddi,,, aud -,
-, -. 1t -, -, H ""' '''"'
'"ep' upon 'hei oa'As anu 'h"t was arduous
work After many years they learned to pack
their dogs 10 make them draw travels lo,d.d
It'll mi, .h.,,o, o,d 49, -, "''' '''"ou
"'n ,"o" She,'e' anu 1904 ana then one day,
alter they Ind been talking about what the other
sds Of the plains might Look lik. IN. Oh -, "a.
",\y.u ,,h,. al, r., -, -, ' a'"'
-. ~ " "''s gu" ""nue' no" " Isl To-
MORO" We VIII ell start for that place and when
we get there We win know
&C, tn, mas, 4, =, 49,. .,.-,, It,
w 'u' '''7' s'a''cu' uc dogS carrying
anu dragging iheir property the women reading
and packing their children, the men w,ILi,-
on ahead with ,h.,, h,,rI s,,,,r, - e
, 49, o'"N ""uhs' "auS 70 meet
any DANGER "hich might TURK along their way.
When night came, they were very tired and won
Se,ed bnx much f,r,L.r ~. -, $3.50,
-, -. a., "'' "ou'" nave !"
uaVei 70 Icach thr edge Ia the morning, at day
t ,,gm' .ney c,nDed mn, ana when ihc sun arose
,neE saw INA. ne appeared luSi behind a hill far
y. "Tt VIC eas, 80 Iaf that " looked blue and dim
nhe,s, ,hcy saiai Is NE Piac.: further than