The Bozeman courier., 1927-06-10
Mysterious Indian Signs Visible
on the Berchla1ds that Border
Sun RiUer Valley IN Cascade Co.

are glaring testimonials to the shiftless-
less of the owners.
Alighting, I asked. els this the place?"
Eyes. Do you not see this circle OF
stones, and this?" was the reply.
Unconvinced, looked about me. There
were plenty of stones old, no doubt, and
lichen covered, but it required vivid
imagination, I thought, to shape them
in circles.
mo, I do not see any," was my dis
couraging reply. had been brought all
that distance over a wretched road to find
the remains of an Indian village which
had never existed. Such was my mental
comment.
why. look here!" exclaimed Edith in
aStoniShment at my lack OF perception,
if not downright stupidity, as she fol-
lowed the outline of a large circle. These
stones were around the outside OF te-
pee, and here, near the center, must have
been a fire. I dug beneath one the first
Here is another circle" she pointed out,
"and another and another. Now do you
see them?"
Reluctantly I admitted that I did, and
knowing how to look for them, counted
half dozen close at hand. Max was
wandering a quarter Of a mile towards
the west, while we, unable to face the
cutting wind, turned our backs on 1T,
and walked in the opposite direction,
but we did not leave behind us those re-
minders of by-gone days. They were
everywhere we went, bearing mute teSti-
mony to the fact that at some time in
the remote past here was assembled a
large body Of Indians, possibly to hold a
medicine lodge, or for some other re-
ligious purpose.
1t did not seem credible that they
would have remained there for great
length of time, with no water near al
hand; and yet those circles gave a sug-
| gestion of a permanent village, as Indt-
ans interpreted permanency.
! There is not the shadow OF doubt
that about fifteen miles northwest o1
Great Falls, once stood great Ind1aI
encampment, overlooking the beautiful
/ Sun River valley-or Medicine river" as
| it was known to Lewis and Clark, anc
the surrounding country towards every
point of the compass. Was 1T for tht:
reason the site was chosen? Certainly
no enemy could approach undetected {
camp so situated. Was it the dwelling
place of war; or hunting party? Ther
again, why was the river below calleC
the Medicine riverP have never hearC
this explained. AS I stated before, th'
Indians may have collected here for som'
religious rite. Duncan Macdonald des
ignated a hill near his home in the Flat
head valley, as the spot where man.
tribes once met in conference. Perhap
a great council of several tribes was hell
on the bench above the Medicine river
|
here, it is interesting to surmiSe wha
tribe it might have been. The countr
in the neighborhood of Great Falls
said to nave belonged to the Gros Ventre
of the prairie, those sworn enemies o
the whites from the day that two Of thei
tribe were slain by Capt. Lewis and on
of his party.
1t is known that the Sun River vale
was the favorite winter abode Of the Pie
gans. Perhaps the camp was theirs-bu
why should it be where it was exposed
the merciless strength of blizzards?
This was a fine buffalo range, visite
by the Flatheads when they could man
age to elude the Blackfeet in passin
; through Hellgate canyon or the late
route they traversed. Was this a villag
7 of Flatheads? It is no likely, for If on
hunting trip into an enemy's domain
their stay would not be prolonged. TT
{ same may be said of the Crows only wit
S the explanation that the latter can
north either to fight, or to steal horse
S On a more extended examination
e the site Of this vanished encampmen
4 these questions may be answered author
n tatively. 1t is surprising that the gener
= public has been so long unaware OF the
numberless circles, relics Of rapidly val
ishing race.