Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1899-02-24

OF the Happy Grounds Of Hunting,
Calmly gazed at Tessekata;
Silently he looked upon him;
But He never spoke unto him.
Only went upon His journey
Over every land and nation.
But He thought of r~essekata,
And Helifted up the waters
From the lalkes aud from the rivers,
From the marshes and the fenlands,
From the swamps aud tops of mountains
Where the snowsa are growing rivers;
So He gathered all together
In the cloud-skins that He carried
On His journey cross the heavens.
And ut night, when Tessekata
calmly slept is his great wigwam,
The Great Spirit, from the cloud-skins,
Poured the waters OH the tepee.
Till it seemed that Tessekata,
He, the greatest of all warriors,
Would be v%anquished in the struggle
With the waters of b Spirit!
And the Father. in His anger,
Flashed His y upon the tepee.
And He spoke with voice that Numbered,
Till the earth shook with the roaring.
"Tessekata, tender-hearted,
For the words that you have uttered
I shall make you weak and sickly.
Make your legs refuse to bear you;
Till you learn to follow ever
All the laws that I have given,
And return to me r%epentent."
Seven years did Tessekata
Drag himeelf among his people
Ere he yielded to the Spirit
And repented for his SHINING.
Then the Father, in His mercy,
Came to Tessekata sleeping,
And He showed to him a vision
OF a vale among the mountains,
Dark green mountains to the northward;
Where the waters, warm and crystal
Through the rocks uprose and bubbled-
And the soothing waters, magic,
Cured the ills of men and women.
Straightway then did Tessekata
Get together all his people;
All 1.-THE women and the children,
All the warriors and the old men.
All the wigwams and the horses:
And they started on their journey
To the Black Hills in the northland.
And the chieftain. Tessekata,
He who once had been the ficetest
OF the warriors of the nation,
Took his seat behind the horses,
In among the folded wigwams.
Many moons they Travelled westward.
Cross the p~rairies of Nebraska,
Fighting with the tribes and nations
hat they met upon their %jouyney.
And they crossed the sandy pra'ries
Where the wind was ever blowing
Filled with burning heat of fire,
Drying I'm the pools of water.
Then the Spirit led them northward
Till they reached the darkened mounta aims
Where the waters, warm and crystal,
Flow from out the earth's hot bowels.
In the waters, Tessekata
Bathed his crippled legs and body,
And he soon began to totter,
Then to walk, and then to running,
Till he could outrun the swiftest
Of the braves who had come with him.
And the tender Tessekata
Thanked the Spirit for Ills mercy:
And he called the beauteous valley,
| Where the waters still are flowing.
Minnekata, clear warm water,
Called it Vale of Minnekahta.
In the winters that came after
The Keneeshaws were greatest;
And they fought the Sioux and Cheyenne;
And they brought the wounded warriors
To the Vale of Minnekahta
Where they cured them in b waters.
Then b warrior. Tessekata,
Died and left his people lonely.
And the Cheyennes came upon them
And they fought them in the valley
Fought aud killed, then took the valley.
Then my people and the Cheyennes
Mixed and mingled with each other,
Till they grew as but one people.
After many snow had wandered
Down the hillsides to the river,
Came the Sioux to fight the Cheyennes:
And they fought upon The mountain
Tint looked down upon the valley.
For three suns the battle lasted;
But the C%heyenncs then were beaten.
And the Sioux came down b hillside,
From the top of Battle Mountain,
From the Vale of M~innekahta.
And they lived amid the valley
Till the pale.fnce came upon them,
Came and drove them to the prairies.
And the legend I AVE told you.
BE 1t false or be II truthful,
Is thestory of our nation,
Aud the oldest men have learned it
From traditions of their fathers
Who have gone upon their journey
To the Happy Grounds Of Hunting.
PHILLIP RUTHERFORD KEL1AR.
] In Minneapolis Times, January 2, 1899.