El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-09-02

! the peace of today and yet holding in
| dear memory the glOries and braveries
I Colorado indeed ran red. The words,
! ''Shan Kive," in the indian tongue men,
! good time" Thus the title of the fete
] appertains to modern peace, although its
! ground Of the mountains.
! Indian warfare was swift and cruel,
I but not nearly so deadly as at first one
! imagineS few hours a few weeks
! with possibly the exception of a few
| scattered arrow heads Pixies Peak is
| so accessible to travel that perhaps
| more people ascend II than any other
/ mountain in the world, where they look
| out on a vast area of mountains on
/ three sides and billOWing plains on the
/ fourth: Very few people realize that
! here they are looking upon the blood
! lest battle-ground in all history Of fight
! ing among the indians.
! There was good reason for it The
| range is midway between the warmer
! regions to the south and the colder re-
] giOns to the north From the noun
! tain slopes clear, cold water runs down
J and out upon the plains. Here the in
! dams themselves located the easiest
/ pass into the mountains that ever has
/ been found by anybody, still known as
the Ute trail Back in the mountains
I were valleys filled with luscious ma
| tural grasses and at some places salt
streams which wild herbiVorous crea-
! lures needed, gushed out of the hill
sides Wild horses ran in herds of
vast numbers on the plains. Great herds
Of buffalo, in their migrations between
summer and winter pastures, came past
here In the mountains themselves
were the little black bison, black and
white tail deer, elk antelope turkey
and all the carniverOus beasts that
prey upon them 1t was a hunters par
adise.
Utes Hold Mountains for Centuries.
For centuries the Utes held posses
sion OF all the mountains They are
of the ShOshOni branch and are short
of stature, athletic and muscular Out
on the plains are numerous tribes of
indians drawn or driven there from
various quarters of the land as the
white men pressed upon them The
Sioux were living in South Carolina
when first known to be cOnquerOrs-
Inc ArapahOe and Cheyenne probably
were descended from the Algonquin
tribes Of the great lakes country. Be
sides these there were the Ccmanches
closely allied to the Utes-the Kio-
was, the PaWnees and others
AT the base OF Pixies Peak is a lit
tie valley carrying a stream that the
old French voyagers, who came here to
trade skins with the indians, named
Fontain Qui BOuille or Boiling FoUn-
tain, because at its source were springs
which boiled forth charged with car
bonic acid gas and pleasantly saturated
with soda and other minerals These
springs were held sacred by all the in
dams both Of the mountains and plains
because Of their supposed medicinal
Qualities Around them they wove ira
dltions as they did about most natural
phenomena which they could not IN
oerstand- This was supposed to be
the spot where AfauitOu, the great spirit
of all indians, came forth upon earth
from the happy hunting grounds. The
gas puppies m the water were thought
to be his breathing.
Legend of the Sacred Spring.
Major RuxtOn, an eccentric English
army officer, who sought health bv
travelling in the Rocky mountains all
alone as far back as 1884, found the
springs filled with bead work and
tr1nkets. left by the indians as prOpitia-
tory offerings to Manitou. In his
memoirs IS found the legend that ac-
counted for the springs. A Comanche
and Ute, both Of the Shoshoni race,
met at the springs and drank together
The Ute had killed a deer and this
mad aroused the jealousy of the Co
manche. As the Ute STOPPED to drink
the Comanche Ieaped upon him and held
MS neao IN the stream until dead At
once the form Of Manitou, an aged man
with white beard, appeared out of the
stream of the fountain and with war
club Drained the murderer. Immedi-
arely the water of that spring (sulphur 1
Water) turned bitter and that his
children might not have to drink of /
this, the great spirit smOte the rocks /
some distance away and the sweet and I
healing waters came forth.
All this happened a long time ago. |
when the cotton woods along the big !
river (the Arkansas) were no larger /
than an arrow" and was the beginning |
of that feud between the indians of the /
mountains and those of the plains. /
which lasted for centuries. Each COW I
eted the region and every summer
IOughr Tor It The indians only went on /
the Warpath in summer when the ponies
were fat and could travel It is prob
able that every hill and hollow in the /
Pixies Peak region has had its bloody
IOr00rrRn he
neers who came in 1859 found the re-
mains of simple Qualifications in the
stone cliffs that overlook the plains,
which evidently had been used as look |
out stations by the Utes.
The pioneers Of the pixies Peak or
BUST days had nothing to fear from
the Utes, and their settlements were
saved from extinction through the civil /
war days when the government had to
forget about its frontier for the rea-
son that the Arapahoe and CHEYENNE |
TlDes reared to expose themselves too |
nucn IN attacking the settlers. know !
ing the Utes were not far avvay from !
-helr Whlte friends. Around these mem
orles and associations the citizens of
the Pixies Peak region have built up
an annual festival which thew call I
shan K1ve. AS a feature of the ceIe-
u dllon they bring back to the old home
oand or Utes from the southern Cal
-LoInla reservation and show them a
Sfeat deal of attention
In the summer of 1912 the real fea-
lure OF indian celebration was the
marking of the Ute trail with white
marble posts This trail was worn
through vast period of time by the
lnshod feet of ponies and the mecca
Sins OF indians A railroad and a wa
ION road, both seeking low grades, have
arSely obltterated it, but so deeply was
I worn that parts of it still remain. !
Inc Utes were much interested in the
ceremonies and their war chief Buck /
SKIN CHARLEY, made an address in which /
lie admitted that the white men had
made a much better use of the splendid |
lone.
staged in Garden of the Gods.
Inc 1913 Shan Kive is staged in the (
ocks OF the Garden of the Gods. The |
'Ioheers and the Utes will tomorrow
ON IN dedicating a monument. mark
nS the spot on which fell the first
yhlte man killed in the last indian
massacre in the region. The massacre
occurred Just 45 years ago on Septem- ,
'er s. 1886, on what is now Cascade
venue, fashionable residence street
Il colorado Springs. It was committed
y Arapahoe and Cheyenne indians
mo few days before had been driv-
o mo ,Fsffs- Nv ffa7 NV Q