The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1924-05-01
CAVE JEWELLERS OF
ZORTMAN COUNTRY
MAY HAVE BEEN HOME OF VAN
ISHED RACE; SIGNWRITING
ON CAVERN WALLS.
Was the Headquarters of Blackfeet
When They Warred Against ASSN
niboines, according to One Indian
Legend.

Three Indian caves inhabited so
long ago that not even a legend
of their history remains among the
early white and Indian settlers, two
of them having sign writing on the
walls and with several rooms, have
been discovered near Zortman by
A. w. Armstrong, ranger in charge
of the Little Rockies district. Mr..
Armstrong gives an account of the
caves in The Bulletin, a magazine
issued by the northern district for
est service.
Much discussion has arisen as to
whether northern tribes of Indians
were in the habit of decorating the
caves and cliffs with sign writing
or whether this was the work of a
wandering southern tribe. Mr.. Arm
strong quotes an Assinniboine Indian
who Identifies the writing as the
work of the Blackfeet tribe, but re-
fuses to translate it because he says
it is ''bad medicine and the work
of the 'Great Spirit" MI. Armstrong
gives the account as follows:
Reached by Ladder
"Not to be outdone by the Dry
Wolf and Tenderfeet districts, the
Little Rockies announces the discov-
cry of Indian caves within its bound
aries. There are three of these caves
along the southern boundary, one of
them about three-quarters of a mile
west of Grouse gulch and two about
one-quarter of a mile east of that
point. The cliffs are almost perpen-
dicular and rise to a height of about
200 feet. Two of the caves are easy
to enter, the other having the en-
trance 80 feet from the base of the
cliff, must be reached by ropes Of a
ladder.
During the summer of 1920 while
surveying in that vicinity l noticed
the most westerly cave entrance and
thought it only a seam in the rock, as
it is rather long and narrow and
faces toward a spur of rock and away
from the south, but upon going up to
it I discovered an outer chamber in
which large fires had evidently been
burned. In digging in the ashes
many bones of buffalo and other ami
mails were found. This outer cham
Der is enclosed on three sides and af-
fords a very fine view of the sur
rounding country for many miles.
Find Inner Cave
"a rather narrow opening from
this chamber leads to the inner cave,
which is circular in form and about
80 feet in diameter. 1t is probably
100 feet high, however, and the floor
is six or eight feet lower than the
floor of the entrance. The remains
of a ladder were found here, evident
ly used at one time to reach the floor
of the inner cave.
con the walls and roof of the outer
chamber and on the walls of the
passageway between the two cham
bers are found many strange draw
ings and characters in some kind Of
red paint, some of which are very
plain and distinct"
One of the other caves was found
20 have signs painted in it while
The other had none. Neither the
white or Indian settlers had any rec
election of having heard of the ex-
stence of the caves. One Indian,
The Boy, a member of the Assinni-
)oine tribe, remembered hearing of j
egends handed down for generations {
# a war between his tribe and the |
3lackfeet for possession of the hunt /
ng grounds south of the Little Rock +
eS. f
Blackfeet Driven Out t
AS a result of the Indian war the i
'l~ackfeet, who had at one time claim t
ID the sole right to the hunting i
rounds there, were driven west into
he Big Rockies.
According to The Boy, a small band a
f Blackfeet Indians once lived in S
hese caves, where they could spy t
pom Assinniboine hunting parties. V
f the parties were not too large the n
'lackfeet swooped down upon them, S
orses and supplies. The fortress b
were finally stormed by the 0
ssinniboines and the Blackfeet, who p
5caped from the battle, fled west. 0
The Boy was reluctant to talk is
ere 'bad medicine and that bad ii
lex would follow him if he talked
20 much. The signs, he said, were
-ade not by the Indians but by the "
Great Spirit" and only the medicine Il
eu COulu TeaQ Iuem. L
Tribal Superstitions a.
When any undertaking was consid- e,
ed, he said, the medicine man re- 81
red from the tribe and hunted for So
'irit signs. When they were found G.
-ey were interpreted and the tribe
formed as to whether or not the
ldertaking would be successful. it
He identified the signs as Black sc
ct because the drawing of a turtle W
as used, a sign which he said was 81
used by the Assinniboines. Evil A
nee of a large Indian village on the la
eek beneath the ave were found
2 The Boy, who said it had been tn
e home of the Blackfeet because d1
relies of rock, used only by that ez
ibe, as a method of fastening the
ges of the teepee, were found. til
-o-- A.