The Ely miner., 1938-07-07
Me7,otad Of the
by Captain
G. Elliott Nightingale
Copyright, WNU
HOW TO WRECK Il
VILLAGE

Pot and Long Lodge tribes of Crees
had been given a splendid reserva-
ton with timber and game and fish
in abundance. There they had set
tied down peacefully.
And then one day, to the astonish-
ment of all concerned, Pie-a-Pot and
Long Lodge ordered their tribesmen
to pull stakes, for the two tribes
were going for a ramble across the
country without having any particu-
lar destination in view. The hand
full of white settlers became a bit
alarmed, but their alarm subsidized
when they observed the Pie-a-Pots
and Long Lodges were orderly.
In time the Pie-a-Pots and Long
Lodges came across a large party
of white men digging up the ground
and also laying thin strips of iron
or steel across the fiat prairie.
"What is all this?" inquired the
majestic Pie-a-Pot. "Oh just
building a railroad" replied one of
the workmen. The Crees moved
on into the west and when they were
about a mile or so past the end of
steel the two chiefs ordered the
tribes to pitch camp.
Slowly but surely the end of steel
crept closer and closer toward the
Cree encampment and it was later
discovered that the camp was situ-
ated on the right of way of the rail-
road. AS the end of steel moved
closer and closer, engineers and
foremen parleyed with Pie-a-Pot
and Long Lodge, entreating them
to move either to the right or left,
off the right of way, so that the
work could go on without unneces-
sary delays. The chiefs stood firm,
and in time refused to parley fur
ther with the engineers in charge.
Then, one fine morning Pie-a-Pot
and Long Lodge were visited by two
relocated horsemen, a sergeant
and constable of the Northwest
Mounted Police. The argument was
soon going again, and matters
reached such a stage that the SER
geant informed them that they had
better move or he would do the mov-
ing for them. Pie-a-Pot let out a
ninety horsepower howl, and soon
the sergeant and constable were
surrounded by hundreds of bowling,
painted Crees out for blood and
scalps and the complete destruction
of the white invaders. During a
lull in the melee, the sergeant took
out his watch and told Pie-a-Pot
that he would give him exactly Is
minutes to move off that railroad
right-of-way. Instantly there was
another demonstration of anger and
turbulence, and the two Men of the
Mounted sat their saddles as best
they could in the milling mob. AS
the last tick of the fifteenth min
ute passed into eternity, the SER
geant of the Northwest Mounted Po-
lice dismounted right into the midst
of that bloodthirsty mob. He forced
his way through it and walked right
over to Pie-a-Pot's teepee and
kicked the keypole down. While
squaws and children howled and
screamed under the collapsed tepee,
the sergeant walked to the next
tepee and kicked the keypole of
that one down. From one to the
other that lone sergeant strode,
kicking keypoles down until every
tepee was fiat. Young bucks and
so-called "braves" followed close on
his heels, pushing against him, max
ing faces at him, cursing him, and
doing all they could to annoy or
frighten him, but the sergeant just
kept right on going until all tepees
were fiat, and in spite of their prox-
unity, not one Cree had dared to
strike a blow at the courageous SER
geant. With everything fattened,
the sergeant mounted his horse and
gave his last order.
Outright hustle abaht a bit
On the move shove orr
abaht your blurry business, wotever
it is," all of which was his cock
ney way of saying "Git goin'." !"
Meanwhile, Pie-a-Pot and Long
Lodge were so angry they were
stumped for words. Never had they
seen such audacity. One lone man,
wearing a red coat, had literally
wrecked their village. 1t is highly
probable, moreover, that Pie-a-Pot
and Long Lodge realized that if the
other men of the Mounted were any
thing like this sergeant, perhaps the
Pie-a-Pots and Long Lodges had
better not get into any more argu-
ments with them. These red coats
were bad medicine. At any rate, as
the chieftains saw the hopelessness
OF further resistance, they muttered
few words to nearby tribesmen,
and within two hours the Pie-a-Pots
and Long Lodges were heading for
their reservation. En- route Plea
| Pot CHANGED to remember that If
he didn't behave himself the Great
White Mother would stop sending
supplies Of food and flour and cloth
ing and that little bit of treaty mon
ey now and then. "Oh well, what a
day it's been, anyway" he might