Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1905-09-28
WHERE WEATHER is MADE.
Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, and
HOW IL Cot LII

Here is where you get your wealth
err" says the conductor, as the train
pulls into Medicine Hat, province Of
tivcs take the visitors from the States
around the corner and point to box
eight by four feet on the side of the
hill where weather for the States Is
bred" Medicine Hat gets a COnspiC-
uOus place on the weather map issued
by the United States bureau, says the
Indianapolis News The name figures
in most OF the cold weather reports.
but, as matter Of fact, the town is
not Il weather breeder. Ii possesses
an extremely mild climate in winter
H. comparison with some Of these
northwest territory towns. and does
not deserve all the advertisement it
receives through Uncle Sans valua-
bic bureau. 1t may be remarked incl
Centally that it gets hot here i'll sum
mcr To-day 1t was eighty in the
shade ana all that was lacking To-
make Il summer day of the Central
West was humidity, Il commodity
with which thy are not acquainted
up here.
The traveller who drops off here is
inclined to ask of the first native he
meets: Where did YOU get that hat:"
He learns that there are many the
cries concerning the origin of the
towns name They grow out Of In
dian legends. The country in the vi
Cinity of the town WAS once the cen
ter of the land Of the Crccs. and one
and distant past the daughter of the
head chief Of the tribe fell into the
deep. swift-floWiEG Saskatchewan riy-
CT Il few miles above the site of the
town
An expert swimmer herself, she
WAS able to keep her head above
water for Il long time. but on ac-
count OF the high bluffs which skirt
the river. She was carried rapidly
down stream by the current and was
fast becoming exhausted, when Il
young and athletic member of the
tribe, beholding from the top Of
bluff the girls prcdicament. jumped
unhesitatingly into the stream and
soon succeeded in carrying her to- the
shore, much to the JOY of all the tribe,
and especially of her father.
The reScue occurred at point
where the railroad now crosses the
river. and it was there that the old
chief. according to the legend. con-
ferrcd his own hat on the young ath-
lete. With the Indians in those days
the hat was an insignia of clieftain-
ship. and so thereafter the brave
young Indian was the leader of the
tribe, and as such was known as ''the
chief Of the Medicine Hat The lc-
gend is defective in that it does not
record the marriage of the young chief
to the girl, but the white people Of
the section have done their best to
perpetulte the Indians memory by
naming the town for him.
Another legend is that when, at
one time, The Crccs were at war with
the Hipgaus and the BIackfeet, and
the enemy was supposed to be prepar-
ing for an attac., on them. Il young
Gree brave fell asleep on the banks
of the river. ana in Il vision saw the
hat Of Il member Of the enemy's forces
floating down the stream. This was
Interpreted as a supernatural warning
that the Picgans and Blackfeet were
creeping UP on the CTees. Thus fore
warned the Crees were prepared for
the onslaught, ana as result were
victorious. Thereafter the spot at
which the young man slept was
known as Medicine Hat.