The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1909-07-16
OLOF r. LARSON, OF SQUIRREL,
IDAHO, A BOOSTER
Continued from Page A.


were nothing, they would be taken,
CAPTURED by other tribes.
When / heard thrilling stories Of
my people and your people, said:
Let me be warrior SO that can
stand for my people And my grand
father said, You 60 train yourself
before you do that I was willing.
And oftimes as they said to me, You
go out tonight, you take these things
and there on the mountains wait for
the spirit of animal Which they be-
lieved was the life giving power. That
ID why they have the Medicine Man,
and they believe In spirits. And !
have heard that among your people
there are some you call Spiritualists,
and it Is so Of my people. They be-
lieved In spirits Of animals, and In
other spirits.
II have gone through ali these
things that were necessary for q
young man to know, went through
these when was little boy. And I
had to do something to show that
have been out. And / show you to-
night marks that bear In my flesh.
Every night after was sent out and
as returned back from my hunt all
night, or part of the night, looking
and searching for the power that
some spirit might give me, / must
show for IT, And this Is the way,
simply by burning the branches Of a
tree, and wetting my flesh, and let
ting 1t burn and getting the charcoal
and putting It on my wrists, and let
ting 1t burn there until 1t burned
down to my flesh, that is to prove that
| have been out. And can show you
tonight those marks on both sides of
my wrists. Perhaps some can not see,
Right there is the mark (indicating)
that shows that have been out, in
order that some day I might become
a warrior or a chief, that ! might
stand as a leader for my people.
1 And they said, My boy you can't
do that without great training. And
/ was willing to be trained. was
willing to be plunged into the river
| the Columbia river. In cold winter
times, every morning the trainer
would take me down, often times with
4 "a long switch in his hands, and |
must go in there. And often times
would say, 1T is cold and he would
say, You go In there, and he would
hit me on the back. And would
rather plunge into that Icy cold water
than to have that switch on my back,
and would go into the water. This
was my training.
As ! lived with your people, and
was moved from one part of my coun-
try into the reservation And the
Indians, as you know, they have Civ
len them fire-water, and they drank
with the Indians. They were right
in calling 1t fire-water, because 1t
poisons the brains of your people the
same right here in Blackfoot
They gave me this fire-water, and
| have tasted your cursed drink, aid
/ 4 got drunk Of 1t, and that Is what
made me worse than | was, savage
life that lived. would take any
mans life when | was under the iii
/ fluence of your cursed drink. then
became savagely wild, lived wild
! life. | have stolen many things In
order that might get a drink. But
know better now, | learned from
those people who are calling them
selves Christians, and who are citi-
zens Of this country. | thank God
that there are some Christians sent
among them.
| II want to say how was captured
was not captured by the army, nr
by policemen. ! was not captured
by any force of human beings. |
heard something. want tc tell it. J
told him who captured ME that !
would ever tell IT., again and agaiu.
He told me to go on and tell it, He