-AND- 3N, PATRIOTIC' OEMS, University of California Berkeley THE INDIAN QUESTION. YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. AND OCCASIONAL POEMS. By THOMAS NELSON HASKELL. DENVER, COI,O.: COLLIER & CLEAVELAND. 1889. COPYRIGHT, 1889, BY THOS. N. HASKELL. EtECTROTYPED BY FRANK REISTLE. DEDICATION. To the welfare of our colored races, and the enter- tainment of fair-minded people who desire the useful- ness and honor of our country, the elevation and im- mortality of our Indian brethren, and the happiness and progess of American home life, this volume is cordially and respectfully dedicated by the author. PREFACE. This book is chiefly for American youth ; but as men and women are matured boys and girls, it offers entertainment and instruction to persons of every age, race and sex, and if it shall afford them useful pleasure, it will of course be read, analyzed and passed along. It is, however, unambitious and only like itself. Its practical object is to impress upon our rising public some of the real deserts and difficulties of "The Indian Question in the United States," and incidentally treat of our relations to other races also. It was hastily written ten years ago, in a time of great popular excitement and personal sorrow over the sufferings and death of some of my near and dear friends, by savage treachery and cruelty. The work was undertaken as a diversion from grief and from too great tension of mind upon other mere solid writings then in hand. It is offered to the public now, in preference to other finished works, because it is lighter reading, and perhaps suited only to a temporary service. I need not say it is published with unaffected doubt and diffidence. By the bloody tragedies of 1879, m Colorado, the ethics of our treatment of the Indian tribes was forced anew upon the attention of the civil world, and I commenced writing very rapidly upon the subject, in so discursive a manner as, intentionally, to go lightly over the whole ground, from sea to sea and from beginning to end, and by specific and supposed examples to suggest and illustrate nearly every phase of savage, civil and philanthropic life blending and 7 viii. PREFACE. contrasting character and conduct in the most enter- taiuing and instructive ways possible in such a diver- sified and yet limited work. The book is on the plan of my "Last L/one Indian," published in Ohio years ago to please my students and a few antiquarians, in the "Western Reserve." It claims no peculiar merit of any sort, and is written in the simplest style of verse, because it is more suited to the subject and end sought, and would be the better diversion in that way ; also, poetic license and restraint seemed necessary to the proper blending of rude and cruel barbarism and Christian civilization and culture, such as must be done in the evolution of a true Indian romance now. I trust the leading characters will be found life-like and fit to live. Some disgusting features must of course appear in all true pictures of savage people. A little quiet burlesque will now and then be found upon similar follies of civil life, without referr- ing the reader directly to them. Being myself a firm believer in the "Bible as the Book of Christ" and in Bible reading as the essential basis of safety to our Republic, I have endeavored to create the best Biblical Christian hero that I could from an aboriginal barbarian, and to give him all the personal excellences which converted and pious savages have so far evinced. There is, however, about him enough of the fanciful and romantic to let the readers' imagi- nations revel and run at large as freely as they will. I give him the name of Konkaput, because by this a favorite Indian student who recited to me in college was known though I have never heard from him since he " went west to find his dusky mate." I have called the heroine Shawsheen, both because that is the Indian name of a river on whose banks I courted my wife, and it is also easily converted into " God- bless-Susan," whom I shall amply describe, and of PREFACE. ix. whom humanity will forever feel proud. The repre- sentative of the negro race, Zinziba, is typical of many a fugitive in those dark and distressing pro- slavery days. The course of our country toward all the colored races is enough set forth to meet the essential issues in each case, and the book evolves the Indians' real and fancied rights and wrongs as fully as my imagination could, in so rapid and itinerant strides. In further explanation of the Romance and its Key, let me here reprint a letter from Milwaukee, published in the "Chicago Tribune," October, 1879 : TRUTH STRANGER THAN FICTION. Major Whitely, of Racine, formerly Indian agent to the Utes, is here in Milwaukee now, and has taken a deep interest in all that has lately transpired in connection with those savages. He says : " The Utes average better than most other western tribes, and are more susceptible to Christian civilization. They have the same relative grades of intelligence as white people, and always two political parties one for peace and obeying treaties, and the other in favor of turbulence and plunder." In the three years of Major Whiteley's agency, he never discovered dissatis- faction or unkind feelings on their part toward him or the Gov- ernment. This he attributes to the fact that he had restored to them their favorite young squaw, King Ouray's sister, who sub- sequently saved the lives of the Meeker women. While on his way to the Hot Springs, in Middle Park, the Major was overtaken by a messenger from Governor Evans, who told him of the rescue of the Ute squaw from the Cheyennes and the Arapahoes by the United States soldiers at Fort Collins, Colo- rado. Those savages had captured this young woman in some recent raid against the Utes, and while encamped near the mouth of Cache le Poudre river, had determined to burn her at the stake. The United States Commander at Fort Collins, hearing of this, took a detachment of troops and, by alternate threats and promises, obtained her release, after she had been bound and the fire lighted. This squaw was forwarded to Major Whiteley, and sent by him, under care of interpreter U. M. Curtis, to the borders of Utah, where she was received with demonstrations of great joy by her people. The Major gave this Indian girl the name of Susan (or Shaw- sheen), meaning either a rose, or a shining river, a name which x. PREFACE. she has greatly honored and by which she is still distinguished. A remarkable coincidence in this case is that the Meekers were founders of the " Greeley Colony," which is on the spot where Susan was saved from death by white men. We need no further preface than this now, except to record my gratitude to my artists, and to Messrs. Hooper, of the D. & R. G. R. R., and Wood & Tarn- men, of "The Great Divide," and others, who have aided in the illustration, printing and publishing of this hastily prepared book. Inevitable mistakes will be found, (such as canonizing the Canaanite, page 109, and inverting a fossil, page 116), but not more than occur in the best regulated book or household. I ought also to say, perhaps, that, while the work was written chiefly for the young, I have, when writing it, thought also of all sorts of readers even of anony- mous critics, of whom, however, authors think little, except as of gratuitous advertisers. I suppose no one will so severely review this book as could its own author, and yet I venture to send it forth on its mis- sion, hoping, with all its faults, it may be well received by both the press and people of Colorado and in some other parts of our beloved country. At best, It's a mere skirmisher on our frontier, And put forth now as a rough pioneer ; Like some Saint John, simply to lead the way For deeper "Ethics " at an early day, When I, to old and young, will make appeal To love our Country, and its ills to heal ! T. N. HASKELI,. DENVER, COLORADO, A. D. 1889. SCENES I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI. XII. XIII. XIV. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. XX. XXI. XXII. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI. XXVII. XXVIII. XXIX. XXX. XXXI. XXXII. XXXIII. XXXIV. XXXV. XXXVI. XXXVII. XXXVIII. XXXIX. Contents of Konkaput. PAGE Birth Place and Parentage .......... i Queen Piesse and Her Pappoose ........ 6 Her Pappoose's Ruling Passion ......... 8 He Would a Hunter Be ............. 10 The Challenge to the Chase ........... 14 The Forest Fire ................. 16 Portraits of the Parks .............. 18 Pastimes in South Park . ............ 22 Kills an Elk and Is Crowned King ........ 27 Fatal Strife and Future State ......... 31 Pelters and Their Plans ............. 35 Young Hunters Leaving Home ......... 39 Shawsheen's Lonely Musings .......... 42 Horse Race and Bad Results .......... -48 Ute-Apache War ................ 53 Course of Fur Caravan ............. 58 By Rivers' Course, An Elk in Use ........ 61 Sad Effects of Silly Feasts ........... 64 Legation to Salt Lake ............. 68 Received Back and Give Report ....... 72 They Had Killed Another Ute ......... 75 Four Spanking Deer in Spans ......... 78 To Glen Eyrie Gone .............. 84 Apostrophe to Old Stone King ......... 86 The Maid in White and Battle Scenes ..... 89 Plan of Search for Poor Shawsheen ....... 94 His Search Alone and a Squaw's Song ..... 96 Cheered by "Chance" and Pergamance .... 100 Seeks the Sioux A Council Fire ....... 103 Their Sun-Dance and Sacrifice ......... 108 His Escape With Antelope : Opeeche's Help . . 112 From Mountain Gate to Ocean Coast ...... 114 riis Long Soliloquy onSuicide ........ 121 The Wrecked Tars Repeat Their Tales ... 128 Slave Zinziba Says What Is True ........ 130 What Men Saw in the Slave Mart ........ 133 The Slave Tells of Sundered Ties ....... 137 From the Capitol to a Cave in Oregon ..... 140 The Sailors Hail a Ship Ahoy .......... 144 xii. SCENES XL- XLI. XI.II. XLIII. XI.IV. XLV. XLVI. XLVII. XI, VIII. XLIX. I/. LI. LII. Lin. LIV. LV. LVI. LVII. I, VIII. LIX. LX. LXI. LXII. LXIII. LXIV. LXV. LXVI. LXVII. LXVIII. LXIX. LXX. LXXI. LXXII. LXXIII. LXXIV. LXXV. LXXVI. LXX VII. LXXVIII. LXXIX. LXXX. CONTENTS. The Sick Master His Slave's Guest . . Their Disclosure to Each Other .... From Hermitage to College Halls . . . How He Quotes God's Great Questions Search Again for Fair Shawsheen . . From Ocean Coast to the Ute Camp . The King Revealed to His Ute Friend His Message Hence to Mercer Eagle's Nest and On Pike's Peak . . . Fremont Pass and Holy Cross .... Arrow's Tent and Lightning's Stroke . King Konkaput's Appeal He's Killed Two Indian Funerals Now Mercer's Entry on the Scene Letters by Borgia and Zinziba .... The Penciled Notes of Konkaput . . . Colonel Shaw and His Witnesses . . . Arrow's Penitence and Power .... Tutor Mercer and His Mission . PAGE . 147 155 159 . 162 . 166 . 172 174 . 177 . 179 . 184 . 187 . 197 . 198 . 201 20 3 . 205 . 207 . 209 TIHIIE Breaking the Secret 215 Massacre of White Men 216 Josephine Meeker to Frank Dresser 218 Dresser's Fight Alone With Death 220 Farewell to Father Meeker 221 The Soldiers Besieged .' 223 Their Supplication and Song 224 Martial Mourning over Murdered Men 226 The Painful Suspense 227 "Josie" Meeker's Fearless Motto 229 Carle Adams Comes 230 Ute Council on Rio Grande 231 Susan's Appeal for Her Pale Sisters 238 The Captives' Flight 242 In Memoriam Miss Meeker's Death 244 Chief Arrow Ouray, too, Dies 246 "God Bless Susan," First Set in Song 247 It's Said "Old Pseudo Colorow's Dead !". ... 249 A Barbarous Race May Rise in Beauty .... 250 An Ode to Pauline Indian Paragon 251 Ah-Sam in the Arctic Scene 253 Ute Jack's Final Issue 256 Illustrations. NO. PAGE 1. Bust of Konkaput Title Page 2. Author's Portrait 3. Twin Lakes Frontispiece 4. Piesse 5 5. Deer 8 6. Indian Horseman 14 7. Buffalo Hunt 15 8. Minehaha Falls . . 26 9. Shawsheen 28 10. Buffalo Head 4i 11. Racing Indian Boys In Burlesque 49 12. Canon Walls ... 54 13. King Colorado I 57 14. Diana on Her Stag . . . . 61 15. Indian Spy 7i 16. Alone at Sea in Sight of Land 77 17. The Young King's Elk ... 78 18. A Flock of Deer 79 19. Four Spanking Deer in Spans 81 20. Bald Eagles Tamed 83 21. The Old Stone King and Queen S7 22. Rainbow Fall and the Chief in Grief 89 23. The Woman of Seven Water Falls 9i 24. Twin Lakes After the War and Fire 95 25. Council-Fire About Konkaput 1 06 26. Opeeche Good and Fair 113 27. A Wild Horse "4 28. A Wild Scene With Webster's Head H5 29. A Fossil Found .... 116 30. Konkaput's Cave . . . . .... 119 31. The King Contemplating Suicide .... 1 20 32. Indians Inviting Whites to Come .... 124 33. Slave Boy Zinziba With Cotton Basket .... 137 34. A Cliff Dwelling .... 146 35. Konkaput at College . . .... 157 36. Gateway Toward Pike's Peak .... 175 37. Bald Eagle and Her Young .... 176 xiv. ILLUSTRATIONS. NO. PAGE 38. Mount Holy Cross in Misty Halo 180 39. The Clear Crest of Mount Holy Cross 183 40. King Arrow's Tent 185 41. King Konkaput's Last Appeal 189 42. Five Wild Apache Youths 192 43. The Same Four Months in School 193 44. A Bust of Zinziba 201 45. Borgia 202 46. Colonel Shaw 204 47. Tutor Mercer 209 48. Chalk Cut of Four Pawnees .... 211 49. Likeness of Father Meeker 213 50. A Deep Canon 225 51. Miss Josephine Meeker 229 52. Scene on the Rio Grande 234 53. Susan Pleading for Her White Sisters 238 54. Mrs. Meeker 241 55. Flight by Stage aud Rail 242 56. Likeness of Ouray 246 57. The Cross at Lena Delta 253 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTKS. ^2 ljsegei|-cL of ^wirj Ijsal^es. SCENES I. THE BIRTH-PLACE, PAPPOOSE AND BRAVE PAPA. ft was the year of shooting stars, * A date still memorable, indeed, When heaven seemed turned to hosts of Mars. And meteors fell in martial speed As fiery orbs upon the earth, Seen both by savage and by sage That brought King Konkaput to birth, And prefaced many a printed page. The place was suited to the time; Upon the summits of the globe, Where mountain echoes meet and chime,. And every climate wears its robe. Saguachef and Park, with snowy chains, Support it widely east and west, In valleys where rich verdu-e reigns And soft winds rock the woods to rest. Near, tall Mount Lincoln's tempest speaks Borean breaths of cool command, While Yale and Harvard, southern peaks, Responsive stand, in tones more bland; Then Elbert rises nearer north, And Peak La Plata in the south, To telephone both back and forth Great Manitou'sJ own word of mouth. * The most remarkable phenomenon of shooting stars ever seen and recorded by man was Nov. 13, 1833. f Pronounced Sa-wach. j Manitou, Great Spirit. YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. Between Twin Lakes, here bosomed high, * A wigwam opening to the east, To see the sun ascend the sky And usher in his natal feast, Was the first home our hero had ; Where infancy with fondling care Arose in stature to a lad, Well wrapt in robes of fox and bear. His papa here, a high-born chief, Both straight and bright and strong and brave, Forebodes with fear the firm belief His son will sometime be a slave ; Some superstitious dream of his Had filled w 7 ith dread his future years, Laid bonds on Indian liberties, And forced fond hopes to yield to fears. King Colorado was his name ; Tradition traced far back his line ; His family was one of fame Who shared in lives that live and shine ; And yet his name rose from red clay, t Whence all the Indians have come down, And the red race must pass away If his one son should lose his crown. The sons take not the names of sires, But of the rocks, the bear, the crow As one deserves or else desires ; As Ac-I-Apo-Co-Ego Was called Red Snake, while King Red Eyes Was A-Ca-Wa, and King Rain-Bow Was Sa-Wa- Wicket, sage and wise, And old Ne-Va-Va was White Snow. * 9,442 feet above the sea. f Colorado is derived from the color of the sand and clay along the river of that name, and signifies red earth. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. The melody in many a name, That his Ute race used oft repeat, Seemed echoing forth some ancient fame Of King or Sachem's power complete; And whilom voices everywhere Seemed sounding like a soughing sea, And filling all the while the air With annals of old ancestry. The notes, which Nature near him whiled, Moved constantly King Colorow's mind: Whether she frowned or wept or smiled, His soul seemed wistful as the wind; And every name of man, or brute, Or plant, or tree, or peak, or brook, Was yet a missile to the Ute Which nature runed like some rhyme-book. Thus Unca-pa-gre, the Hot Spring, Put name to Uncompahgre parks, And lured his legends there to sing, With music like the meadow lark's, And Tomit, mountain, che for stream, Made music like the mountain brooks, When bright Tomichi's bounding beam Danced like red damsels down the rocks, Till Co-che-topa (valley river) Stole down its way o'er the dark stones, And, like quilled arrows from a quiver, Sent touching whispers in its tones; And Una wippas of the west, Like Alequipas of the lakes, Yet on the vellow rocks there rest, And glide along like glistening snakes, Then flow away like thin snow flakes. * * Those who have seen mountain cascades pass from a ser- pentine stream into a frost-like mist can see nothing incredible in this description. YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. And over all there ever hung One legend, that would always live, Of tragic deeds told old and young, And which the guiding Utes still give ; For Colorado's great-grandsire Lost his own life in Upper Lake, In such a way Utes so admire, They hence of him their hero make: A hostile tribe, they say, came near Where this high sachem held his tent, In care twin daughters, kind and dear, While he with braves a hunting went ; And in his absence came the foes And captive took the two young Queens, And led them so the legend goes To Upper Lake's most lovely scenes. The noble King, brave Kaput named, Returning, traced in wrath their trail, And with fierce ire was so inflamed He would at once their camp assail. With bow and lance he beat the knaves, And drove them down into the lake, But with them sank to watery graves, Nor left a soul report to make ! And so, these lakes have ever since Been like two large and beauteous tears O'er those two virgins, to evince How Nature yet mourns their lost years. The legend adds : " Hence Upper Lake Amazed and awed the Indian mind, And moved King Colorow to make His campfire near in hope to find Those maidens speaking to his mind ; The King of Spirits speaking kind, The world of spirits in the wind !" A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 5 King Colorado (called Colorow) Named Konkaput* his new born son, Because the boy was bound to grow A most mysterious, mighty one, Who would be wise and wander far; Whose powers, oppressed, should win by peace, More trophies than triumphant war A sure success that ne'er shall cease. He took the prince with solemn pride To see his chiefs subordinate; And as they set out, side by side, Informed his squaw some unique fate Would yet befall him, like his name; * That the Great Spirit often spake Of future most mysterious fame To rise from life along this lake. So by his wigwam we may see A pappoose case, of perfect kind, Stand facing long the storied lea; And to the lee-ward of the wind A hammock, too's, hung near with skill, And filled with down in otter-fur, So soft a pappoose there keeps still So still his eyes alone can stir While soft winds rock him as they will. Konkaput, the close locked casket. YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES II. THE QUEEN PIESSE PROUD OF PAPPOOSE. Those comforts were for Koukaput, Our hero into history born ; His eyes, when not in slumber shut, Oft sparkled there like dew at morn, And moved his Indian mother's smile As she'd catch up her constant cares, And with good cheer her child beguile Nor could she rest in rocking chairs! This mothers' pious name, Piesse, Was quite appropriate for the Queen; Her dutious soul, with tenderness, Wore nature's mold, with nothing mean: She bore herself with benign air, With all the royal will required; Her features, too, were fit and fair Of all the Utes, were most admired. Her father fancied her foretold As mother of a mighty chief, Who should become a sachem bold, And send his race unknown relief. She, too, seemed sharing prophesy, And from a child was cherishing The hope her son, a sovereign high, Would save the Utes from perishing. "She saw he was a proper child;" Foresaw his future full of fame, And set to music soft and wild Bach hopeful mention of his name. Her song seemed" sung by birds and bees; 'Twas varied, yet a buzzing sound, And, like the breeze among the trees, She rhymed at ease its endless round, With pious love and peace profound. A LEGEND OF TWIN Hear Piesse sing : "In his swing, Konkaput is King." Konkaput, my pappoose kingly, Little hearts-ease, lay thee here, While beneath the boughs I swing thee In the skin of speckled deer. Like the pouch of young opossums, Sleeping sweetly as they swing, Lullaby 'mid birds and blossoms, While I sing : Konkaput is King ! Lo ! ye mocking birds, attention ! Hear the words of hope I sing, And then make repeated mention : "In his swing, Konkaput is King !" Let the branch with robin red-breast, Let the lark on lofty wing, And the oriole near her thread nest, Swing and sing : Konkaput is King f. Let magnolias like the mandrakes, That in air their odors fling, And tall forests o'er the fern-brakes Wave and sing : Konkaput is King ! Hear the pine trees and the pumas, And the prey on which they spring, And the distant Montezumas, All proclaim : Koukaput is King ! Hear all white men and all red men, Everywhere and everything, Join all live men and all dead men To declare : Konkaput is King ! Manitou ! Great Spirit, grant me Blessings more than man can bring !.. May no princess e'er supplant me ; Make my Konkaput a King ! Areouski,| make him King ! ! "In his swing, Konkaput is King !" f The Indian God of Wars, like Ares, Mars. YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES III. THE PAPPOOSE AND HIS RULING PASSION. The scenes around that simple tent Were beautiful, sublime and grand ! For every way the wanderers went Doth Nature stand on either hand, With mountain cliffs or meadow lawn, Or crystal lake, or snowy peaks ; And every day from early dawn Some special voice, all viewless, speaks, And wakes the ear to wondering awe ; Here Konkaput, in time and place, First woke to consciousness, and saw The beauty found in Nature's face. The first he recollects of sight Was Indian horsemen hunting deer Until the herd, in hurrying fright, Came closely by and halted near. When gazing thus at these gazelles, A fawn fell lifeless at his feet ; And hence at once his bosom swells With passion like scenes to repeat. As Nimrod and as Hagar's son, His flesh and bones burned with the flame Of such excitement to see run, And stop, and fall the staggering game ! 'A mighty hunter " he must be ; With bow and arrows urge the chase, Where deer and panthers roam and flee Before the chargers of his race ; The bison, beaver and the bear He'll hunt, and fell them at his feet, Their skins to dress, their furs to wear, Their flesh to "jerk" or broil, and eat. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. Here, too, his mother used to make The suckling fawns to savory meat, And with her pappoose oft partake Of fish and fowl, once fair and fleet ; So, brought him closer to the breast Of Nature, to drink in her breath, And on her heaving bosom rest, And draw in life from love and death. The filial feeling thence awoke, While Konkaput first crept and stood Around the small camp-fire's smoke, And gave him hope of highest good, In trophies of that truant life, Where sires roam wild through wooded scenes, To fetch home game to hut and wife, And feast thereon like Kings and Queens. No wonder, then, if he run wild, Nor wish for wisdom in his ways, To change the impulse of the child And the direction of his days ; He's born and bred an Ishmael, An Indian is his being's end An angel Indian ? Who can tell ? If the All-father will befriend ! Even savage nature has a heart That beats responsive to the right, When the far future feels its start In sense of unseen sovereign sight Of some One over all supreme. Though aims of living are its end, When the bright heavens above us beam, Lives need not end where now they tend So Konkaput Heaven calls her friend ! 10 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES IV. HE PANTS FOR A PARD HUNTER'S FAME. We saw the sire and the home-scene, And paused to hear the proud Piesse Sing what a mother's instincts mean, In tones of princely tenderness, Along the legendary lakes, Where our young hero had his birth, And where his passion still partakes Of pulsate Nature Heaven and Earth. The highland lad here, loving, lives; He sees his likeness in the lakes, Where every cloud its color gives And mountain peak its pattern makes; He sings and jumps sometimes for joy To see a water nymph so near, So near his build, a half-nude boy, Formed, like himself, without a fear! He casts in pebbles from the shore To see the circling waves expand, As coming life feels long before The impulse that pours o'er the land. He plows his feather plumed canoe Across the water's ruffled face, And tries most artful tricks and true, Obeying instincts of his race. He triumphed, too, in all he tried, Till muskrats, mephits,* minks and mice, Hares, foxes, birds and fishes died, By means of his unmatched device. And each achievement of this kind Did fuel add to fond desire, To capture even the human mind, And make men dread him, or admire! * Mephitis Americana, the "Chicago" or skunk which the Indians admire and catch without awaking its offensive odor. See also fitchit or the European polecat, whence the fitch-furs. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. Like him who once in Hebron slept, And dreamed of bending sheaves and stars,, As Morpheus o'er his members crept ; So he dreams oft of hunts and wars, While wildwood sirens, waiting, sing Of laurels wreathed, all round the land, 'For Konkaput, the coming King, Born both to counsel and command !" By day he drifts, by night he dreams, His mind glides on like morning's glow ;. Before him some bright future seems It seems so bright it's surely so ! His father, Colorado, tells Him, too, the tales of other times, Until his young heart heaves and swells, And beats almost like belfry chimes. One day at eve, by the tent door, He stood attuned to storied deeds, Such as were told him times before, When lo, Colorow came from the reeds And rushed to view, as Indians run, And gladly down the slopes did glide With squirrels for his squaw and son, And wearing a young lion's hide ! This startling garb seemed still st> good, Hung both before him and behind^ That Konkaput quite captive stood To mighty motives in his mind, And praised his site's so- proud success,. Whose costume so became a King, In princely words we here express, That all may catch their echoing, And join the very trees to sing. 12 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. The Son's fond Song to his faithful Sire, Till echo sets the scene afire Piesse's soul did it inspire : ^'O trusted father, fond and true, Choicest of Utes, their chosen Chief ; The noblest man earth ever knew, Whose boldness is beyond belief, Thy son doth sing, thy deeds as King, Till in thy praise these mountains ring, And o'er the Lakes are echoing. I hail thee, Chief of all the Utes! Whose feathered arrow never fails To bring at will the wildest brutes, And tassels well our tent with tails ! Thy son will sing, thy ways as King, Till in thy praise the mountains ring And hills to hills are echoing. Hail ! wildest hero of the wood ! Hail ! gladdest hunter of the glen; Whose bow doth find back-loads of food, Whose mind outwits wild beasts and men ! Thy son still sings, thy race of Kings ; With sounding praise the welkin rings, And all around are echoings ! Hail ! hail ! all hail ! my high-born sire ! Praise, louder than the lion's pride, These fearless scenes have set on fire With song, to march the mountain side, And always sing, their warrior King, Till even the rocks around me ring, And with my words, on wandering wing, Shall age on age come echoing ! Hio ! Hio ! Echo ! Echo ! Hio! Echo! Hio '.Echo !" A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. IS Thus Konkaput felt kindling fires ; The cravings for the furrier's craft, The peltry dealer's pent desires, Till loud with chuckling cheer he laughed, And paced along his parent's path, First on the left, and then the right, Till he sees all his fond sire hath, Then says in praise : "O pretty sight !" He takes the squirrel's tasseled tails, And waves them round in every way ; Their fur, like fancy, never fails To gratify red, black and gray With its variety and warmth of view What princes everywhere must prize And specially it's always new In this young Utes admiring eyes ! He put the skins of the two pards Then round his person, and with pride Marched down the mesa many yards Much like the ass in lion's hide And frightened beasts and birds away ; Then turned around upon his heel, And prancing back, both proud and gay,. Thus to his parent made appeal : "When next you go for such nice game, O take your Konkaput along ! I pant for a pard hunter's fame, And feel brim-full of fire and song ! Again, hio ! a hunting go ! And when you go, take me along ! O yes, hio ! a hunting go : I'll string anew my stoutest bow, And stride a hunter, hale and strong ! Echo ! Hio ! Echo ! Hio ! 14 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES V. WILD HORSEMEN CHALLENGE TO THE CHASE AWAY. Just here the game given to the squaw, The weary Chief wiping his face A score of huntsmen hither draw, To challenge for the yearly chase. They 're warriors real, with weapons rude, With plumage plucked wild in some place Of nature's noblest solitude, And groomed on steeds with startling grace. As they came round the sandy coast, Advancing fast in Indian file, The Lake reflected the fleet host, And looked like an inverted isle. These cavaliers had hither come, With bows and spears both sharp and strong, To hail their Chief, to cheer his home, And sing to him their hunter song : (O hear them call to hunting all !) Come ! To the prairies let us go, And hunt the herded buffalo : A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 15 Come, come ! to the plains where the rivers flow, Where bisons range and the grasses grow ; The full moon shines, the skies are clear, We"ll kill wild bulls all unawares, And gather robes for many a year, And take ourselves true, honest shares. O, come! to the prairies we will go And hunt the wolf and the buffalo. Come, come ! Come, come ! now let us go For the buffalo, on the plains below ; While moons are bright the livelong night, We'll dress like bison, wolf or bear ; We'll seem their friends, even in their fright, And kill our Sheik a kingly share. O, come, to the prairies let us go For coyote, wolf and buffalo ! Come, come ! O, come ! Come, come ! Now, come, To the plains afar, to the plains below. Our squaws we'll charge with all good cheer Pappooses all to keep with care, While we gather goods for many a year, And give our Sheik the lion's share. O, come, to the plains, afar, below, For the antelope and buffalo ! Come, come ! to the prairies we will go ! Hoop, hoop, hallo ! Hoop, hoop, hallo ! A hunting to the prairies go ! 16 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KINti OK UTES. SCENES VI. nil- :\iorNT\iN KORKST MKI.TS TO KIKK. The squaw, Piesse, those squirrels dressed Meantime, and cooks them on the coals;. While her rude chief, stretched out for rest Upon a pile of skins and poles, Reports his day's adventures all How he had found a lion's* lair Beneath torn rocks, both rough and tall, And saw two young ones sleeping there ; That then with flint he struck a flame That set the bushes in a blaze ; For if the old dam hither came He could her instincts thus amaze, And then her young cubs catch and kill And bear their beauteous hides as prey. Here stops the tale all start to fill Their mouths with squirrel, black and grey r In a most rudimental way. At just this moment rose the moon As red as scarlet on the height, The air grew hot, as if high noon, And crystal peaks wore crimson light ; The woods all blossomed into blood, The evening melted into ire, The loftiest tree tops lurid stood, The forest roared with wind and fire! The wild fowl flew before the wind, The frantic eagles screamed with fright, The foxes hied new holes to find The flames exposing all their flight The young coyotes came out in pairs, And many bruins, moved by fears, Came forth and sat, as if at prayers, And wiped their face from smoke and tears. * The puma or panther is sometimes called the North Ameri- can lion. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 17 The wolves and lions howling stood, And eyed the glow with angry glare ; Bewildered elk leaped from the wood, Then snuffed the air in mad despair ; While Indian ponies pawed and neighed, As if bound to a burning stall ; Even their fierce riders are afraid The scene is consternation all ! Still Colorado, cool, commands To seek tepees tormented so, And bring together all their bands, To parks below, in haste to go. Two tethered bronchos then are brought, For both the Chief and squaw to ride, And Konkaput, as quick as thought, Is also mounted at their side ; And off they ride all hands astride Pell-mell, up, down the mountain side. (Nota Bene!)* [ The wanton wild man of the wood, Whose instincts never understood The use of timber or of trees, Would sooner smelt the woods to smoke, Than use his strength in one wise stroke To save the trees to serve and please. Indeed, an Indian Chu-f one day, Fired all a farmer's fields of hay Because his wagons frightened game ; And several times the seedling grain, That lay like gold plate o'er the plain, lias caught the same clandestine flame.] * 'Twould add to Twin Lakes a double charm to have the primeval forests b;u-k attain, \\ hidi have been destroyed by such Indian fires, though the woods there were never such, perhaps, is the imagination here lias made 18 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES VII. THE PORTRAITS OF THE PARKS. King Colorado called his own Olympian Heights, and all between, In which some seven parks are known, Broad, beautiful in breadth and scene. These North and Middle, South and Bast Ivike chains of lakes, lie stretched along Where ancient oceans foamed their yeast, And white-plumed sea-gulls piped their song. Here, down from Rocky Mountain heights Roll rivulets and rivers grand, Till old sea-beds are changed to sights Of life and beauty on the land. These valleys all, diversified With light and shadow, shape and life, Are Colorado's Kingly pride, And every rood worth regal strife. First, Park Bgeria peaceful lies Tvvin sister to North Park, it seems And weds together earth and skies, And with untiring wonders teems. Here Tombeuarrow towers high, And stands still pointing to the stars ; While old Tymponus, sleeping nigh, Looks like a lion lined with scars. And where he lies a lazy sphynx Are hooting owls and haunting elves, And many an Indian maiden minx, Whose echoes answer to themselves. Here Yampa River has its source, Where bears and beavers both retreat ; And the Gore Range rears grand its course, With flowery summers at its feet. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 19 Then North Platteau next names the Platte, Where augiles rise like rabbits' ears, And antelopes, both large and fat, Fly back and forth on wings of fears ; There, wind and weather work together To carve grand forms with grotesque grace Birds of a feather there flock together, And facts and fancies fill the place. Three kingdoms are in contact here To bring to view abounding wealth, And yearn for some forthcoming year To start them out as if by stealth. For mines there hid in mountain's side, And grass and' meat grown at their feet Shall prove North Park's exhaustless pride, In each of which the parks compete. In Middle Park Grand River springs From where the sweet Still Water flows ; The loon sits on the lake and sings, \Vhile summits watch, enrobed in snows ; And heated sulphurets lie hid, Whence healing fountains from below Rise up to bless when man shall bid And all their healing virtues show. Three thousand miles of mingling view Outspread before the spirit's eye, At every step with something new Makes this vast meadow lifted high Eight thousand feet above the sea A world of wealth and wonders wild Appear, and beam with what will be When he is old who's now a child. 20 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. Next east of this, sweet E>tes Park, As peaceful as a pious toul, When lighted by some heavenly spark That doth from dazzling fixed stars roll, Is beautiful beyond compare, With winter heights and wooded haunts, And intervales intensely fair, And rocks and rivers plumed with plants. One Park of. Monuments appears The work and wear of viewless air That pulsates past like yearning years, And leaves its lasting footsteps there ; And one, San Luis lofty one So warm and wide, so watered well ; Its Blanc Sierras ki?s the sun, And the Lite Kings theie love to dwell. Another, nearer the Twin Lakes, A land of hope for earth and Heaven, A broad and deep impression makes If once its outline be well given. Fair Mount Rosalia rises there In all her grandeur's graceful mien ; And snow-white altars in the air That call to prayer, contour the scene. The wide spread surface set within More than two thousand landscape miles- Hath wondrous hues, the heart to win, Like to a thousand tinted isles Embosomed half in a blue haze, Which look like homes in holy lands, With here and there sweet song of praise To welcome back earth's homesick bands. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 21 This park, nine thousand feet above The surface of the far-off sea, Holds in its landscapes scenes of love, Rare and romantic as may be. Salt Basin, this South Park is called Bayou Salada (del Castile) With all its sides so amply walled, Wild men well there may welcome feel. There squads of Indians and their squaws, With Konkaput, their Chief's own son, Without restraint by leagues or laws, Are free as melted snow to run; And as the heated forest drives The molten tide from mountain tops, They flee the fire, as for their lives, To the open parks, where its power stops.. So the hot hurry to this place, And flurry in each frightened camp, Exchanged the "challenge for the chase" Into, the muffled tramp! tramp! tramp! Where the half-mounted motley herd Are hurled adown the hazy glen, Through smoke that smothers many a bird, And would have mastered other men. But, "no great loss without small gain," And "ill the wind that blows no good! " Hence, while fire flakes fall down like rain, And leave black stubs where forests stood. The game too goes to park or plain, And thither does good Colro go. We'll see his tent soon tied again, Where mountain streams meandering flow, And mountain zephers mingled blow. 22 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES VIII. SOCIAL PASTIMES IX SOUTH PARK. Right soon we see extemporized An Indian village in South Park: In chasing bison, the most prized, They are unable to embark, For fortune in misfortune reigns; The fires have spoiled their outfits so They're ill prepared, on open plains, To hunt the herded buffalo. But still, the mountain elk and sheep, And bleating droves of black-tail deer, Crowd to the parks to graze and sleep, And make this a grand hunting year. Their venison all Indians prize. And daintier tastes do not demur, Nor do the braves bear meat despise; And bears and foxes both have fur. So wigwams soon there, full and warm, Will wait for winter in advance; The park will prove a well-stocked farm, Misfortune change to fairer chance; And it's surprising once to see How soon rude people set to rights, And feel at home, happy and free, For day's delights and sleep o' nights. With merry thought the men make thongs For snares; set traps and pits and pens For wild fowl, wolves and bears; while songs Are gliding up the sylvan glens Where squaws and maidens meet and greet, And skin and dress the skunk* and deer, Their rare old romances repeat, And each the other chafe and cheer. * This pretty (though offensive) creature's spotted skin was .greatly prized by Utes for caps, small cushions and the like. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. They never practice wit for praise ; Yet sometimes join in serious jest, And dote on other scenes and days And blandly wish each other blessed. Though not loquacious, coarse and loud, Their wildest stories wear the stamp Of quiet humor, quaint and proud, Which calls much cheer into their camp. King Colorado keeps his lodge Beside a rolling river's song, Where speckled trout both sport and dodge, And breezes lure swift birds along. Here children come and play and romp And rest above the river's bank, While Konkaput with kingly pomp Repeats the story of his rank. Conscious of power to command, He here retails the tales of old, And tells his hopes that near at hand Good times will come of peace untold ; He utters dreams from ether drawn, Where the Great Spirit grants him views, Which show a day shall shortly dawn That white men call God's spell, good news. His language is so full of love, Yet laden with so much of law, He seems inspired from above ; And children, charmed, around him draw, Till all seem loving the lone boy That lived and loitered by the lakes, And as they join to share his joy, Himself their niaster soon he makes ! 24 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTS. Among the boys, plumed for his play, And full of promise and of praise, Is one called Arrow (King Array), Who will win laurels many ways. And Arrow's sister, by his side, The fair Shawsheen, here first we find Her kingly brother's queenly pride And made like him in look and mind. These three become so much attached, And mingle arts with so much ease, The trio are so truly matched, Their pleasures each beholder please. As ardent friends they often met For sports in a secluded spot, With feelings they could ne'er forget, And give us scenes not soon forgot. To suit such choice and charming scenes- King Konkaput they call him king, Though he was yet scarce in his teens Used to his guests rich offerings bring ; While they, responsive to this rare Provision, came and all compete, Till, as if stowed by squirrel's* care, Bach niche is filled with nuts and meat. This spot secluded, which we speak, Is worthy of a willing space ; 'Twas by a limpid, laughing creek That trembling held each truant face Which o'er it bent with beaming eyes, And watched therein the passing waves That shook, or seemed to shake, the skies, And guide the stars to silent graves. * The American squirrel gathers excessive winter supplies and stows them away rti their hollow tree homes with astound- ing skill and care. A IvEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 25 Its water was both warm and cold, From a hot spring and highland snow, And gaily sang o'er sands of gold Which were laid bare in beds below ; And, Minne-ha-ha-like, its voice Seemed always singing in their ears A merry laugh, which said : "Rejoice !" And dew-like, cheers, even with its tears. This branching creek, or babbling brook, Was but a narrow space above The royal lodge ; yet none could look Into that "little lower of love" But by a walk of willow trees, Which swayed at ease, as nests are swung Of oriole, touched by the breeze That rocks to rest her twittering young. Quite near this nook another brook A sighing branch of the same tree, As rivers and their tributes look Made melancholy melody. 'Twas just above the intervale, Where weeping willows used to wave,. And sad winds swept with solemn wail, As if beside some new-built grave. Indeed, a Chief had fallen there From chos'n ill-fortune in the chase ;. He here pursued too near a bear, Which halted for a little space, Then on pursuer turned with power, To fold the brave in firm embrace, And there did half his flesh devour : Hence "Weeping- Water" is this place. Here unseen echoes sing, "Cuckoo," Like tones along Lake Titikaka, Till Weeping Waters Minne-Bo-ho Meet Laughing Waters Minne-Ha-ha ; 26 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. Then Singing Daughters of the Sun Come down and close in dance the day With modest Maidens of the Moon, Just bending round her borrowed ray. There twilight glides in twain-lit glances As slowly come kind hours for sleep, And Indian damsels mingle dances, Where weeded sorrows sat to weep ; There on the mead in moonlight hours Young chiefs and squaws exchange their loves, With bunches of wild fruits and flowers, "And bill and coo, like courting doves." Though these are quite forgotten now, They named these spots Nevava Spring ; The bend below was the "Rain-Bow," Both worthy of remembering ; For native parks had ne'er a place More pleasing to the passer by, Nor running waters ever trace An iris sweeter to the eye, Or purl a purer symphony. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. '27 SCENES IX. KONKAPUT KILLS AN ELK, AND IS CROWNED KING BY ARROW'S SISTER, QUEEN SHAWSHEEN. In that stand-point one still may see Bayou Salada, the South Park, In all its vast diversity Of form and outline, and remark The Salty Basin where the deer All like to graze and lick the ground, And drink their fill without a fear Of either death or danger round. About this deer-lick, at noonday, The antlered stags all stand at ease, And wait, as if the willing prey Of ambushed Indians on their knees, With arrows aimed and bows all bent; And often, too, from neighboring trees, Full rounds of such artillery sent, Pierce just the hearts the archers please. The sight is grand, when boys half grown Young chiefs thence dauntless chase the deer Among the cliffs, till all alone, With antlers lifted high and clear, Some tall buck stops upon his throne, Confronts his foe, yet stamps with fear, Falls to the ground without a groan, And makes the mountains ring with cheer. 'Twas thus one day that Konkaput, With bow of oak and arrows, led The chase for elk above the hut Of Arrow's sire, who saw the red Blood in full bloom upon the bluff, And sent his young squaw to inquire If for his elk he'd help enough, Or her assistance he'd desire. 28 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF It was the custom, in such case, For squaws to come upon the scene And help bear trophies of the chase Down to be dressed upon the green; While they extol the virtues all Of the young brave, whose black locks wave, And o'er him fall like funeral pall, As he stands stern, demure and grave. So, Konkaput in silence stood, Where the large elk expiring lay, When Shawsheen came, with weapons good, To help him bear his beast away. But ere she spoke she broke the spell That bound him to the bleeding spot, For long ere this he loved her well Who thus had hied to share his lot. Her form and face are more than fair, Her forehead bears a feathered band Which she has bound with her black hair, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 29 With loving heart and well learned hand, A wampum wreath, apportioned well With beads, and quills from a red wing She tossed this las-o, and it fell On Konkaput, and crowned him King. Then several mighty, supple men Find the iresh game and fetch his frame, Still warm and glaring, down the glen, Singing the name now wreathed with fame ; While from the heights, with frantic joys, Come winding down upon their way, The shouts of bou iding Indian boys, Whom the bi ave elk had kept at bay. The giant moose all join to dress, In honor of the proud young prince ; The pale red flesh all round confess "The best they 've seen, before or since." The horns stretch out from hand to hand . Of So-Bo-Tah or Chief Big Track And like a towering oak tree stand When poised on Pa- Ant Tall Man's back. And as he prances round with pride, And pushes Pe-Ah Black Tail Deer Who goes all fours, with horns and hide, The welkin rings again with cheer. Then, with instinctive zest and zeal, They all awake to antics wild, Just as their fancies chance to feel From the old Chief to youngest child. Then Su-Pi-Ah, old Lodge-Pole's son, Points out to Arrow, or Array, Chief Chu-A-Wich, who starts to run (His name means Long Tail Deer, they say) An arrow flies, that, by mistake, Hits Sob-Au-Ich-I Wounded Breast- Then all around an arrow break, And sing this closing song with zest : YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE) KING OF UT1JS. Hear them sing, As o'er the scene their voices ring : Shawsheen is Queen ! Konkaput King t Konkaput King ! "This is the Chief who brought to grief The wildest warrior of the wood ; He shall employ foes to destroy Great will and skill to do us good ! This is the boy Piesse's joy His kingly father's fame and crown, Whose youthful days deserve the praise Of all the realm for his renown ! He shall be King, let all Utes sing, When King Colorow is called away ; And we shall see His Majesty Is more majestic every day ! As hours advance, make honored dance In royal round of Indian ring, Till echoes bring back what we sing : 'Brave Konkaput shall be our King !' I>et all the mountains, forests, fountains, And happy parks, pour forth his praise, Until he reigns o'er hills and plains And Utes be given all gala days ! Ivet lass and lover unite to cover His brow with the brilliant crown That Shawshen hath given, as a sign from heaven, With care to be handed down !" "Let Shawsheen bring and crown him King !" As far and near their voices ring ; Praise Queen and King Hear them sir.g. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 31 SCENES X. THE FATAL STRIFE AND THE FUTURE STATE: IGNOBLE KNIGHTHOOD. The honor paid young Koukaput For overtaking, capturing Wild beasts, was due his prowess but Confessedly as coming King; While sport, in such wild, simple ways, Suggests the gist of savage life, And deeper wells of want displays, Some social strain more full of strife. Hence, oft a father with a young Fair daughter, dictates for a case, That, of all youths with bows well strung, He shall have her who in the chase First kills an elk or black-tailed stag; And when the game falls to the ground. The damsel goes to help him drag It home, and all huzza around. But once Quean t, a bear-like * youth, So squarely won a suitor's squaw, That half the tribe averred the truth, And sealed her his in social law; Whereat Saw- Wick, the suitor's Sheik, In envy slew the valiant knight; Then Sur-Ap (Red Pole) swore to wreak Dire vengeance as the dead man's right. As Queant's friend this youth soon drives, By challenge, Saw- Wick to the charge, Of single combat, whence two lives Are lost. Upon a plateau large They meet, with many seconds near, To watch the maddened warrior's mien, And by their presence cheer Their several favorite through the scene. * Queant means bear. 432 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. The combatants there wait command ; They stand as still as storied Tell, With bow and arrow both in hand, And aimed each at the other well. Then forth both feathered missiles fly, And pass each other in midway, So swift, they seem threads in the sky, Or trembling sunbeams at noonday. And so exact the archers aim, Bach at the other's vital part, That both arrows barbed f-ame, And found a lodgment in the heart. * Then the two warriors, wounded, dead, Fell down in silence at the feet Of frantic friends, who, fury-led, Now mingle conflict most complete. Here, at this juncture of joined hate, When angry flocks of arrows fly, King Konkaput comes up in state; With hand and voice uplifted high, He shames their strife. He shouts "Hold! Stop! Your course is causeless and unkind!" With these stern words their weapons drop, Moved by his manly strength of mind. Soon altogether mingle grief Above the fallen youths, and brave; But more admire the mighty Chief, Who from worse sorrows so could save. Then wide processions wend their way To the wild spot where willows wave, .And lay their dead with loud dismay Together in one silent grave. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 33 Then old Ne-Va-Vah The White Snow- So venerably soft his voice Looks pale around and speaketh low : " I/et all just Indians here rejoice ! The passage under ground they go, Though secret, is not thence severe, For our life's river's future flow Is like the spring time of the year. And As Tomichi's cheerless tomb, In dreary winters' ward-robe dressed, Has waiting summers in their bloom When distant plains shall be refreshed ; So shall this bed of sleeping dead Bring forth in brighter form our braves, To wander woods, nor weary tread For want of game, and into graves ! Then Saw-Wah-Wichet The Rain Bow- Reveals what beauty ever reigns, Where all good Indians glad will go To hunt and play o'er hills and plains. Thus warriors told their weeping squaws That soon their sorrows would subside, And Pa-Ja-Cha-Put Eagle's Claws- Gave out that he would go their guide, To guard them hence to hunting ground, Where scenes beneath the setting sun With all earth's beauty will abound, And life in recreant leisure run ; Where the glad moon lights glistening dew, In glory heights and glens arrayed, And hunters panting deer pursue Bach hunter, as his deer, a shade ! Then Pa-A-Wich or Water-Boy Says, sitting down by sorrowing ones : ' I'll join you in that world of joy Beneath the smiles of setting suns, 5 34 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. And Nic-Ah-Gwat the Chief Green Leaf- Enumerates the noble game He'll find and fetch them as their chief, For there the dead desire his name. Soon Shaw-Wa-Nah Blue Flower says : " There violets forever bloom, And every sorrow vanishes Beyond the confines of the tomb ; " And Cach-E-To-Pah-a Black Stone- Like dark -robed clergy loud declares, That "The Great Spirit's gracious throne Still promises to hear their prayers ! " To mourning mothers words most kind By Tah-Ah-Pitch or a Sweet Vine Are borne by soft and breathing wind From good old Ah-Umph Graceful Pine Tah-Be-Wa-Che-Ka The Sun Rise- Asks of Ah-Kan-Ash A Bright Cloud And Sha-Wa-Nah, with shout replies : "With due surprise the dead shall rise As night and winter shed their shroud." A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 35 SCE'NEvS XI. THE UTE PELTERS PLAN THEIR OUTFIT. Now Kah-Ni-Ah-Che Taken Down A humble, good, high-minded guide, Who helped Kit Carson* to renown, And sat and slept at Fremont's side, "A friendly Ute" and useful friend, Saw Konkaput's kind, princely air, Urged his young impulse to expand With precepts which his way prepare, And taught him truths about the earth Which he had learned from white men's lips ; And of their ways, and wealth, and worth, Immense machines and merchant ships ; And told him of Tecumseh's time, Of Logan and King Philip's day ; Of princely races in their prime, Now pressing West to pass away ; Now perishing by slow decay ! And as they tilked together thus Of old tradition's trying days, Till tidal waves, now wafting us, Seemed moving up in much amaze, With Indian warriors, driven West, Or driven down among the dead, The sad discourse so much impressed The lad, his life was by it led. But they had other thoughts, beside, And shared in confidence complete, And "the good Ute and useful guide" Fondly to guard the youthful feet, Was also hunter of high tone, Who scarce mistook the worth of skins, Yet never took, except his own, And hated selfish hunter's sins. * Kit Carson, Bill Bent, Jim Baker and Carle Antobeas were all famous scouts employed by the general government. 36 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF U An ardent lover of his race And hostile to unholy war, This Kah-Ni-Ah-Che named the chase Which Konkaput kept wishing for ; That, with a few white and true men, They leave South Park and safely stray Where the Ute braves had seldom been, And stay six moons or more away. But Konkaput, most filial yet, Revere's his father, King Colorow, And wisely would his wishes get, Before agreeing first to go. Hence, Kah-Ni-Ah-Che with him went And placed before his sire their plan, When he, unasked, gave his assent, And said : " Well done, both son and man I 'm proud to praise what you propose, And yet admit presentiment : Before we meet shall many woes Despoil the Utes, or be all spent ! Still, come what may and come what must, If we 're not all laid waste and slain, I truly bid you try, and trust, And hope to greet you both again." Prince Konkaput loved Piesse, too, More than was common then with Kings ; His troth was, too, to Shawsheen true, And thought her love above all things ; So to this princess' tender pride He gave his crown, which she had set, And bade her : " This memento hide Till we shall meet ; do not forget !" He then sat down by the dear squaw, Who gave him breath, and broke to her The brightest future he foresaw, And asked what course she would prefer. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 37 She heard with tears his high intent, Yet felt a pride in all his praise, And calmly gave her kind consent To spend alone her Spartan days ; Then bravely clasped him to her breast, And touched his heart with her own tears, Which from her bleeding love were blessed To both his youth and better years. Eight other Utes, with early zeal, Proposed to try the trapper's trade, And to their parents made appeal, Got their assent and earnest aid. The plan is toward some pleasant place, To bear their way where beasts abound, And then attract all the Ute race Into that grander hunting ground. But to complete the careful plan They must perfect a full outfit; 'Twere scarely more a tour to scan Around the earth and order it. Yet Kah-Ni-Ah-Che's a choice hand At culling needed things with care; - And ere they start we see him stand, With arms akimbo, and declare, With satisfaction, half in rhyme: "We're bound to find beavers and bears, And have a brave and tip-top time, With comforts more than all the cares! " He invoiced all their rations well; Some venison and such dried fruit As squaws had picked and kept to sell, And sundry other things to suit; Comanche pots of perfect kind, A well-sewed pouch of purest salt, * And strings and straps to loose and bind Their bundles where they bed or halt ; 38 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTKS A flint that flashes easy fire, Some punk put up in soft, dry bark, And dainty bags, big with desire To hold as much as Noah's ark, Yet small enough to swing at ease Upon a weary hunter's back, To put therein whate'r he please, That they may live with little lack. THEIR FIRST FIRE ARMS. He also got one old-time gun, With lock and ram-rod looking right, And bought the means, bullets to run, All which was then a wondrous sight, And seen with superstitious awe With staring eyes and well-stopped ears, The crowds around him cringing draw, As he for fun excites their fears. The noise, ignited with a spark; The powder horn and bullet mole; His power to hit a well-put mark, And pile the balls in their first hole; The whole machine amazed so much The Utes around, each coveted A gun for fun, a gift just such A dangerous thing, that so well did. They heard it roar, then ran and hid, Nor disobeyed what he should bid. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 39 SCENES XII. THE YOUNG HUNTERS LEAVING HOME. When all were done with that one gun, Surveying every separate part, They eyed the whole outfit as one With ardent love of useful art. 'Twas a new scene beneath the sun, An era in the Utes' ideas Which showed how much is shortly done When all unite to plan and please. See ten wild ponies all well packed With nameless needfuls and nick-nacks, So nicely laid they nothing lacked, With bows and lances on their backs. The ten proud boys turned to depart All consciously increased in worth, While old and young^to see them start, Stand round in mingled stare and mirth. For the young King, Shawsheen, his Queen, Has brought his steed, well bred' and stout, And seems the proudest in the scene Though but a sigh as they set out ! While Colorow poses near Piesse, With yearning pride o'er their young prince In buoyant words their heir to bless Sad hearts ! They've never seen him since ! 'Twas a delightful sunny day To link the summer and September, When these wild pelters went their way With parting words they will remember, From mate and sire, old men and squaws, And on they drive till cold December, The beaver to his bed-room draws And bears digest each digit member,* * It is on old notion that bears "suck their claws," one by one, in winter. 40 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF Three trappers led, both true and bold, Who speak the Ute, French, English, well ; Nor need be told the bears' stronghold, Or where minks, otters, beavers dwell ; For oft they've strolled 'rnong mountain streams And killed wild beasts just for their skins, Which warmest grow as fall's gray beams Contract and winter's cold begins. But mark the make-up of those men A Celt, a Saxon, and a Gaul, Over Ute boys, as brave a ten As ever answered a roll-call ! Could we their diary declare, Their deeds of daring every day, The facts and fancies of their fare, What all and several do and say No book in print could so present The wonders of a wandering life, On one bold purpose purely bent Of thirteen strangers without strife ! If Franco Scoto Anglican, And their ten Utes get out of tune, One scarcely dares attempt to scan What jars may fall from fall to June. The very trappers' triple views A papist, prelate, presbyter Though all irreverent language use, Make all, indeed, to each defer. If in their greed they're wanting grace They'll grow to learn how great their loss, As brothers of one blood-bought race, And so come to one common cross ! These clever men Scott, Petit, Clark As wise men coming from the East To seek the Prince of the South Park, A LEGRND OF TWIN LAKES. 41 Were made fast friends first at a feast With the Ute Chiefs of cheery soul, Where Ka-Ni-Ah-Che told the tale Of Konkaput's proud self-control Of which they all would so avail As best to serve their several firms, For which they now unite their cause And start on stipulated terms, That serve instead of statute laws. If they prefer at any time To cease to act as three in one, Or either party commit crime, That day their partnership is done. So very well they weave their views And start off for "the Yellowstone"- While we await, meanwhile, the news, And seek Shawsheen, left sad and lone. 42 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE) KING OF UTRS. SCENES XIII. SHAWSHEEN'S MUSINGS, THE SHY MAIDEN. As the wild pelters passed away Shawsheen, as shy as shadows are, Did every dark and sunny day Feel how and where they hunt and fare ; Till woods and waters, parks and peaks Had a new nature to her now, And their Kind Spirit, echoing, speaks Her virgin breast's betrothal vow. For Konkaput should surely come To take his bride, and by her side, With furs and feathers, fit their home Where she'd preside in princely pride. Paul and Virginia's impulse pure Did, in no sense nor part, surpass The sacred bond, that bound secure To her loved Chief this cherished lass. The first week the pelters journeyed She went oft to Colorado To Piesse's heaving bosom As if seeking for her lover, And seemed loth to leave their wigwam-, Till one day she saw her brother Tying fast a half-grown wolf-pup With a braided bark of mosse-wood ; It was wild and gray and pretty Arrow gave it it to his sister. This diverted her now daily From her lonliness and sorrow. In a little while it loved her And was safely soon untethered, And henceforth it seldom left her [ Till it fell a prey to pumas, Which it fought for her protection A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. When she went in search of berries, And they crouched to spring upon her.] This young wolf she surnamed Lopa, (As if lupa in old Latin Had been taught her by some Remus, Who had been by it protected ) And it daily played about her, And at night shared half her bear-skins Slept and watched all night beside her, And by day went with her hunting For the berries and the ripe nuts, For the rabbits and the gophers ; And one time it caught a squirrel, Which was yet so young and tender, That the maiden took and nursed it, Till the little ski-o-ura As the old Greeks named the creature, From the screen of its tail's shadow Used to leap upon her shoulder, Hide itself in her black tresses, Till young Lopa looked on laughing For the wolf sometimes seems laughing And the trio were so happy That the Spirit of the Mountains Joined them also, just delighted ! But the wolf, as we have stated, Fought and fell before the lions, And Ski-o-ura, the young squirrel, Was snatched up by a small eagle ; Then Shawsheen became so lonesome, That the mountains put on shadows, As she tried to look beyond them, Where her lover and the pelters Were far northward daily pressing, And they echoed to her longing As she blended sighs with singing. 44 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTE)S. The soul of music and of sadness Bchoed from the nearest hillsides, Every evening, every morning. Thus she thought upon the absent, Thus she sang about her lover, Of his otters' skins and beavers', Of his feathers plucked from eagles, From the bluejay and the jackdaw, From the orioles and pheasants. Oft she sang to Colorado Of the legends he had taught her, Like the runes of ancient Finland, In the rythm of Hiawatha, From the shell in shade of Harvard, Where the prince of poets sauntered, Sang she often to her kindred Till the tribe her song repeated How the Senoblaze of heaven Looked once upon wide spread waters And there brooded till the ocean's Waves were parted for the islands, And the hills and mountains new born Fish and sea shells still upon them All arose to bless the waters, As the parents of the dry land, With the woods and flowers their daughters; How the sun had brought forth children From the red earth, dried to Indians, All ill-treated tribes of red men, Bven the Ute tribe, her own nation, With its rising King, her lover, Whom she wished to see inlensely, In recesses of the mountains ; There to dress and cook his venison, There to be his willing servant. Then sometimes she roamed in silence, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 45 When she heard the voice of thunder Peal on peal, speak to the mountains, And the mountains to each other ; Saw the lightning shoot its arrows At the towering rocks and cedars ; Then she hushed her heart in silence, Listening to the voice of nature, Listening to the Lord, its author- Listening unto God Almighty ! Then, when thunder's voice was silent, This poor, yet impassioned, pagan, In her guileless hearted girlhood, Spoke out to the unseen Spirit : ' O, I beg thee, do not kill me ; Let me know what is thy pleasure, For I greatly fear and tremble Lest by mayhap I offend thee Who canst smite the rocks asunder ! Who canst split pine trees to splinters ! Senoblaze, do love and bless me, For I long to see and love thee ! " So her faith and fear would mingle As she sang her sacred solo, Sang of love that gilds the morning, Decks the night in robes of spangles, Clothes the birds and flowers with beauty, That gives meat unto the hungry To the panting heart wild honey ! Once she sang in a sweet dale Such as was the Temple-Vale : "I have longing, holy longing, Which no human tongue can tell, It doth deep within me dwell, Where love's thrilling hopes are thronging. I have fancies, happy fancies Of my fair one far away ; 46 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. He seems near me night and day, Till with fancies memory dances ; So the varying year advances. I remember, I remember When he left and left his crown How our future seemed to frown ! Though our love was true and tender. I remember how he, seated Near me, told his troth and love, As if borne me from above, And my praise he much repeated. Can such faith be e'er defeated ? I behold him, now behold him, Hunting bison, beavers, bears, Snaring "wise owls" unawares, And I see soft furs enfold him ; And hereafter, our hereafter, Hope's hereafter hastens near, When he'll meet and greet me here,' And my love leaps into laughter, Aye, so may we meet hereafter?" So she sang in solos often, In her soul, and sometimes louder, In the ears of neighboring mountains : "O, thou unseen One and Mighty, Who canst kill me with thy lightning, Do not harm my distant lover ! Bring him back to me in safety, L/aden with his furs and feathers, With his weapons and his war-paints To defend his own Ute nation In our darkest, thickest dangers : Unda hola How I love him ! I eschew all other lovers." As thus she sang full many a song, They seemed so like a living soul, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 47 They leapt in loving sounds along Where breezes blow and rivers roll ; And since she kept no carrier dove, Nor courier, post-man, pen or wire To interchange their thoughts of love, We must her muse the more admire. So, too, ere she's heard the story Of God's love to be a Savior, Or the scenes of Sinai's glory, She has sought the heavenly favor And become a benefactress To her suffering Indian neighbors Even to some unkind and thankless ; Aye, her love was full of labors. And she was so kind to captives, Some, indeed, who had pale faces ; She was a new Pocohontas In the wigwams of Powhatau, And her love soon won both sexes She seemed noble, above nature, With the love of God enamored. Thus she lived, and loved, and trembled,. Heeding the draped forms of nature, And its sweet and awful voices Voices of the lightning's thunder, Voices of the snow-capped mountains, Voices of the vales and hill-sides ; * Voices of the woods and waters, Voices of the leaves and zephyrs ; Voices of her hopes and heart-aches, Voices of her fears and fancies ; Voices of the birds of omen, Voices of the Unseen Spirit All the while her chief was absent Absent with the white fur-traders, Who knew not what she was doing. 48 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES XIV. AN INDIAN HORSE RACE IN SOUTH PARK, AND ITS RESULTANT HATRED. When youths are given to games of chance, They crowd the ways to waste and crime : The Utes to chance from skill advance . They hit the target every time ; Then wager for the highest prize. They find horse-racing full of fun, And sometimes win their wished supplies By their rough steeds that fastest run. The day the furriers started, ten Young, fierce Apaches came to camp ; They were the wildest of wild men, Off on a truant, loafing tramp. Bach had a horse plucked from the plains And proved by practice proud in speed, Yet used to neither yoke nor reins, But ridden to sorry sights indeed ! These guileful youths were made the guests Of the whole camp, a thing of course, And feted to incessant feasts, Revealing the whole tribe's resource. Their jaded horse-flesh, too, were fed In verdant fields, and in full view ; The sight of which one evening led To bantering what such beasts could do ! The Chief Apache, Chance by name, Proposed next day to test their power : So to the game galled racers came, All worn and winded by the hour ; Of jaded "scare-crows " just a score ! The Utes bet horses, blankets, skins, While the Apaches promised more If the Ute "round-up* " really wins. * Round-up, a legal term for gathering and comparing live stock. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 49 Ten Utes, on broncos old and brown, Which have borne burdens long and far, Up[the mountain sides and down, And won at first in filching war, Seem even racers in trray With ten Apaches ponied well On "skin and bones" a sad display; And which shall win no one can tell ! See twice ten ponies set in pairs, With riders plumed, on the plateau ! Bach Ute a wig of skunk's skin wears ; All bear their lances or a bow. First five of each go and come back A two-mile stretch, or thereabout And at the end of the round track They shoot a target, with a shout. When these are tallied, then ten more Ride for the target in their turn, And shout and shoot, just as before ; Then all come near results to learn. The judge is White Lock, Soc-We-Ock, Whose head still has his mother's mark, Who, enceinte, saw a single lock Of white haired scalp, with others dark. This young White Lock is a wise youth Whom all the Utes regard as just, And so well tried in fact for truth That in his word they all will trust. The leading riders of the Utes Are Pah-No-Ar, that is, Broad Brow, 50 YOUNG KONKA.PUT, THE KING OF UTES. Qu-E-Ah-Tah, Bear, chief of brutes, And Ugly Boy, Sub-I-To-Ou. Both five Ute boys are brave, but small, Wiry, wily and well trained ; Each five Apaches, too, are tall, Tough, bony fellows, and full brained. When the first, all hear White Lock call, They each exclaim his racer's name ; Then, pegasoi, these ponies all Fly o'er the fields like winged flame. So much of turf is tossed up there, Their beasts are as if winged bulls Engaged in pawing earth and air ; And each contestant harder pulls, As he draws back his twanging bow To hit the target in the eye, And pierce it with his arrow's blow As if a living* deer must die. The first half hold out all the way ; For even the laggards can not tell But that their friends shall win the day, When all, indeed, seem doing well. But the excitement's highest pitch Is when the last set first set out ; For soon it is decided which Shall win the race beyond a doubt. The shrewd Apaches had held back Their thorough racers for this round, And soon as these dash on the track The Utes are distanced at a bound. Now one bold boy, Buzzard by name, Saw-Wah-Wick is the Indian word Swore he'd sweep down and scoop the game With Saviath swoop of a big bird. * The targ-et was a stuffed deer-skin. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 51 These fellows of the baser sort Then seized the Apache's ponies first, As if to have some special sport. The wild old Utes, then, worst to worst, Affirmed the affair was all unfair, And so unfair 'twas fairly won By their Ute boys who had good care That only honest racers run. And so, before White Ivock adjudged, Or the good racers reached the goal, Big Bird and Swoop, who both begrudged The prizes, swooped and scooped the whole. The Apaches, skunked,* lost furs and skins, And horses, blankets, feathers, all For might o'er right first really wins, Where power concludes wrong right to call. And what could half a score of boys, Untutored braves, though tough as bears, Accomplish when a tribe employs Their wdles against them and their shares. 'Tis like a Godless gambling den, In Leadvllle, Denver, or New York, Decoying in defenseless men From rural walks when out of work. All games of chance not given their chance Are lawless mockery, more or less; Yet he that knows this in advance, Deserves small sooth in his distress, When he is robbed of rustic gains, And made to march off in disgrace: The robbers shall of course reap pains, Yet foiled ones well may hide their face. * A forcible western expression won from the Indians, and indicates an unfair conquest. 62 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. King Colorado cursed the crew That would degrade Ute honor so; And yet, what else could the King do But give the Apaches peace to go. So empty, angry, wholly stripped, The strangers start with stinging wrath, And go like whining mastiffs whipped, With pent up growls along their path. With deep chagrin they come at length To the Apaches' far-off plain, Where the full tribe in fearful strength Receive them with wrathful disdain. They'd have them "stay in Jericho" Until their beards were better grown, Rather than come cowed, ruined so, With nothing caught, nor kept their own; But their alternatives were, choice To fight (most rash), or further roam, Or join their friends, who should rejoice To see and have them safe at home. It was far safer to succumb, And wiser, than to wrongly win, To don their insults as if dumb, And learn some wisdom from such sin. Meantime Ute boys and older braves Divide their spoil with vain debate, Till fights have filled a few mores graves, And heaped their lodges full of hate. Nor is this finale all the end: Such winning waked a wicked war, Which did from tribe to tribe extend, Both lasting long and reaching far ; Results of which we're waiting for. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. . 5S SCENES XV. THE UTE-APACHE WAR, WITH BATTLES WON BY BOTH. The fierce Apaches forthwith felt That they must have due honor done, Or the Ute bend of peace must melt, And booty be by battles won. They formed at once peace with old foes, And urged straightway a union strong, With Sioux, Cheyennes, Arapahoes, T' avenge so rank and vile a wrong. The Cheyennes, Sioux, Arapahoes, With their first fire-arms in their hands, The Crows, Comanches, Navajos, With brave and well-trained warrior bands, In willing faith welcome the facts, And find, in councils near and far, A wish to scourge such wicked acts With crushing power of common war. The Utes, like Ammou's sons of old, See that their sin smells rank atd sore, And hasten to their high stronghold Till the Apache war be o'er. Their mountain fastnesses afford Protection more than men can prize, Against a predatory horde Who from the plains might plan to rise. For all the Utes know every inch Of every height and every pass; Their nerves and flesh, too, never flinch Before armed men, few or in mass. Hence, if the Indians on the plains Attempt to storm the mountains wild, They must expect for all their pains, That countless warriors will be killed. The best of armies, even, fight Against the Utes with fearful odds, For every sound and every sight 54 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. Seem gathering round like savage gods; And whether skies are white and clear, Or thund'ring full of threat'ning rains, The heights and depths have dead'ning fear, For pluckiest ranks reared on the plains. A canon thirty miles in length, With walls a thousand feet in air, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 55 Can flank the mightiest martial strength And fill the foe with fell despair. To stand on high and hurl down stones Like gliding hail storms down the glen, Would get in turn but dying groans From the best armed and bravest men. In proof, the Apaches soon proceed To hunt the Utes in their stronghold, Their hosts advance with alert heed, And carry guns in cohorts bold. Their combined legions laboring come Among the foothills, cliffs and peaks, To find a dark and fatal doom, That in one brightening moment breaks. They come to Canon of Cheyenne Perhaps mistaken for Ute Pass And mass in camp uncounted men, With booths and beds of brush and grass; And scarce have sent thence hurrying scouts, To search the wished-for seat of war, And find more ready facile routes, Ere hails the foe they're hunting for. For, as they know not their new arms, But handle powder heedlessly, A loud explosion so alarms The whole encampment that they flee Up beetling heights, where they behold An ambushed army of Ute braves, Who burst down on them, dread and bold, And send them groaning to their graves. Now, on receiving this sad news, The old vSioux chiefs, who seldom yield, And fierce Apaches, firm as Sioux, (Sous), In fuller forces seek the field; But, chastened by such losses, choose More cautious paths to posts concealed, 56 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF By means of many magic clews, Until the Utes are all revealed. In the Arkansas' deep ravine, Without suspicion of assault, Their several campmeuts are soon seen, Basking beneath heaven's bended vault. The scalps of the late waylaid ranks, Slain in the Canon of Cheyenne, Are promenading in odd pranks Upon the heads of hardened men, While their rough squaws sit squatting 'round, Rejoiced with the revolting scene: Then suddenly, like thunder sound, From the rough rim of the ravine, A hundred guns give the alarm; But Colorado, calm and clear, Cries: "Warriors, Arm ! " and like a charm Their faith in him casts out all fear. Swift up the heights, lances in hand, They rush in several serried ranks, And, hand to hand, the hosts both stand, And smite down braves on bloody banks Banks that for ages stainless stood, But henceforth bear in yearly bloom Red blossoms, stained with red men's blood, To tell their common, cruel doom. King Colorado here was killed ! Reduced to tribute was his tribe; Till wasted Utes with want are filled; Their squaws too squalid to describe. Shawsheen was captured by a chief Of the Cheyennes or shameless Sioux; While sad Piesse soon dies of grief, With none to bear her son the news, Or to her fate give faintest clews. KING COLORADO I. -58 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES XVT, THE FARE AND COURSE OF THE FUR CARAVAN. As we have seen, two belial sous Waked the fierce war, like forest fire; From plains to peaks the passion runs, With the war demon's worst desire; But meanwhile in both parks and woods, And following rivers near and far, In gay pursuit of peltry goods, Young KonkapuL heard not of war. His course has been one constant quest Of footprints by some fur-clad beast; And, always hoping for the best, Of news from home he's not the least. An instance this of fancy's bliss; For day and night he dreamed and thought Of the dear faces he did miss, And fancy brought the joys he sought. First northward went his caravan To sources of the Yellowstone; For it was in the tradeis' plan To touch at stations, one by one, Where other trappers' peltry trade Had quasi depots, to acquaint Them with their course, for mutual aid, If there should come hostile complaint. At length they halt to try their hands And map their hunting for three moons, Where Fremont's Peak a frost tower stands, And furs abound from fat raccoons To finest ermine, sable, fitch; And central stations stand secure, Made strong as fortresses, from which Provisions they in stress procure. Here scenery of Siberian stamp, And stretching off like Russian steppes, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 59 Surrounds the crude fur-trader's camp A perfect paradise for traps ! The beauty charmed the entire band ; And specially the Utes aspired To try their will and skill of hand In hunting now the game desired. The morning after they here came Young Konkaput captured a moose (Perhaps an elk, the proper name). He held this moose in a strong noose, And, well disguised in a bear's skin, Worried him out of his own will ; Then, as himself, made haste to win His faith, and fed him to the fill ! In one half moon, much to his praise, The boy made him obey his mind, Till in a sledge a type of sleighs They flew away like winged wind ; Then homeward came with hosts of game, Killed by his simple shaft and bow ; Which added fame to the Ute name, As if they all were gifted so. But it seemed best to break their band ; One-half to help the French suite here, The rest, in Konkaput's command, To seek some point not very near. The first five are Kah-Ni-A-Che And the four privates he prefers ; These are employed by French Petit * To seek for game and so:t its furs, And note with care whate'er occurs. The parting of the Utes was when They felt heartsick for some home news, * Pronounced Petee, and its rhyming mate may have its accents either on the first and third or second and fourth sylla- bles, as the Utes used both pronunciations. 60 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. And, though " Indians are tearless men," Their words- were deep and warm adieus ; For they were from their friends afar, Like wanderers in foreign lands, And hostile tribes might hasten war And sweep off both the parting bands. Kah-Ni-Ah-Che and Konkaput, I/ike Saul and Jesse's loving heirs, Were constitutionally cut To share each other in full shares ; Indeed, each deemed as dear as life His friend, and could have for him died,. Either upon a field of strife Or lingering by the sufferer's- side. The parting of these two appears, Therefore, tempered to the time, And in the light of later years It was both simple and sublime ; But Konkaput bore every case With a presentiment of yore, That, most of them would see his face Upon such earthly scenes no more. He said : " I go, but ye remain ; What shall befall us none can know ; Some may be sick and some be slain, But be good, do good, as we go, Is my new motto for us now, And may our days be ordered so That Time shall bring upon his brow The gladdening beams of beauty's glow ; Such as my Queen herself might show. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 61 SCENES XVII. FROM YELLOWSTONE ALONG THE GREEN. Scott, Clark and their five cross the range To Lyon's Lake (as lately called), Where scenery, picturesque and strange, Has still "Three Tetons" well installed; Where, from this Rocky Mountain height, Flows "Green "-bank river toward the Grand, In which merge both the Bear and White, Where snow and bruin's symbols stand. This verdant river, vaguely known, The trappers fancy full of furs ; And with a guide, a good Shoshone, And Kon kaput, they follow her, As she flows southwest to the sea, Through garden soils and golden sand, Till Colorado sets her free On California's far-off strand. But first, for this long enterprise, They barter with the Snake-Bannocks To sell them suitable supplies, Which they concealed among the rocks ; Then they start slowly down the stream, With safety and such full success, 62 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF U-TES. That Konkaput's tamed, captured team Is wealth in the wild wilderness. For the tough bronchos they had brought Up to the post on Yellowstone, Marauding Indian men had caught ; And since then they'd secured none ; But this mild, conquered moose became As rare and deft as a reindeer ; Kind A-Ca-Wa (Pink Eyes), his name, And staid as " Alden's snow white steer."* Indeed he proved useful and nice ; He drew his sledge o'er drifting snow, And waded streams or trod their ice With speed to suit, or fast or slow ; And Konkaput, to him most kind, Could ride elk-back and lead the band, And to his antlers tell his mind By gentlest touches of his hand. So Konkaput, in this campaign, Made himself wiser every way ; His power to please and good will gain Seemed growing also day by day. His little arts, at the Twin Lakes, Had taught him how to tempt wild beasts, Till live snow birds he charmed like snakes, And fed wild foxes at his feasts. His bow was good as any gun, Without a noise its arrows went, So that wild game would seldom run Till his full quiver was well spent. And then his skill to skin and dress The finest beasts for fur or meat (Which he derived from dear Piesse) Made him a trapper boy complete. * See Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish.' A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 63 He had, too, prompt, endurant power, With all this aptitude of skill, . Which saved employers many an hour Of wasteful dalliaace of will, And though they're seeking long some point For winter quarters on their way, He is so supple, limb and joint, His journeys are as jaunts and play. White River Forks, afar, they reach- Not far from scenes of future fame Of sp cial force as tar as speech Makes known this same Wnite River's name. For there barbaric deeds of blood, Clandestinest of any clime, Stand hardest to be understood For cold ingratitude and crime ! The scenery 'round is simply grand Of cliffs, ravines, and diverse wood, And intervales of varied land That were by irrigation good : 'Tis here they build their winter hut Of standing rocks, stockade of poles, And pine boughs, cut by Konkaput, Who his quartette of Utes controls. Their bed and board are of the best ! Soft sprigs of spruce on dry sand spread, Then moss on this is made to rest ; And handsome furs from foot to head. Their food is choice fruit from the chase ; And the Ute boys as one believe This region shall yet see their race Far better fortune here receive. [Ah ! coming Time's coincidence Concludes the drama, in their case,. 64 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. For at the public's sad expense They plunged to ruin in this place.] There the pleased hive of hunters play Their winter's work, like busy bees, And draw fresh jo}S from every day Like blithest bees in blossomed trees: They go, they come, just as they please, On wings of ease with naught to tease. SCENES XVIII. SOME SAD EFFECTS OF SILLY FEASTS. "*Tis sometimes said : <( The savages Are wasting by the white man's wars," As if there were no ravages By savage lusts that leave the scars Of suffering, death, sorrow and sin ; By trouble brought on betwixt tribes ; By wasting foes, without, within ; By doctor's bills no one prescribes. Alas ! and true ! whole tribes are dead ; By their own blame so blotted out, Their names are only known and read In rivers, towns, lakes, tour or route. The social evil, civilized, And then let loose in savage life, Has ranker ruin realized Strange to say than savage strife ! And the poor care that parents keep Over their young slays every year The slender part ; so puts to sleep Vast numbers that ne'er 'waken here. Then heedless youths their health assault, And strew the ground with early graves, While gluttony their glaring fault Brings down to death distinguished braves. A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 65 A common crime, this want of care, That often loses useful lives, But which, siuce practiced everywhere, An undue sanction thence derives. Hence, soon, near trappers' hut we see Tah-Nach, a Ute, "set sail below," That is, into eternity ; But his own folly fells the blow A case we shall make haste to show. The facts were these : A honey bee, One sunny day, fell on the snow : He took it up, simply to see Which way the weak insect would go, Then followed, as it feebly went, Until he found still other bees, All settling 'neath the same intent To reach the nearest forest trees. And there, on searching, he soon found, By bees still buzzing in the air, And others groaning on the ground, Their comb stowed high wdth studied care. He then climbed up the unclad son Of centuries, and clasped a limb, Which seemed a most substantial one ; But it at once deserted him; Then followed heavy where he fell, And brained him, broken by the fall; With no one near, his fate to tell, Or answer to a seeker's call. For days they missed him from their den; While a fresh snow concealed his course; Two weeks they watched and waited, when They also traced bees to their source. There Kon kaput, with keen surprise, Saw Tah-Nach's body, badly torn 9 66 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE} KING OF UT^S. A sight so saddening to his eyes, It made his lot for days forlorn ; For the far-off eternity Seemed nearer now than e'er had been, And he craved some kind ministry That could bring comfort to him then. As he returned unto his "hive," To moaning pine shrubs tied his moose, And threw it tufts on which to thrive, Then came into the warm caboose, He sighed witfi deep, sad tenderness For the gay-hearted fellow gone ; For Colorado and Piesse, And for Shawsheen till shadowy dawn The dawn that brings the burial day Of his dear friend whom he found dead, In lonely wastes and far away, Where kindred tears can ne'er be shed ! It was a wild, most wintry morn, As Konkaput, in his kind sledge, Led forth the hunters, all forlorn, To find the lad, on Fir Tree Ledge. And sad indeed the final scene, On this severe and solemn day, With naught their wounded hearts to screen From winter's unsheathed sword and sway. The trappers, though, are kind and true : Clark has a prayer-book, kept with care, And Scott the Sacred Scriptures too, While God is with men everywhere. Behold them ; see that burial scene ! There six wild hunters with sad hands Bear to the grave, green trees between, The stiffened body : by it stands Bach one last tenderly to look Upon the poor boy buried there, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 67 With funeral rites read from "The Book of Christ" and "Common Prayer." When even Christian culture comes, In a fierce snow storm's blinding face, With tears unto and from the tombs, Cold seems and comfortless the case ; Nor would we blame both beasts and men, As hard of heart, who hasten home, When their sad errand has so been Done tenderly to dead and tomb. And when wild blasts of winter blow, As if to split their splintry throats And Wapita * flies o'er the snow, Toward the warm shelters and wild oats, As swift as eagles sweep the air, Or Borealis darts his beams, The fast return is far less rare And less irreverent than it seems. Nor is that grave unlike all graves Of other countries, other kin ; Though over Tah-Nach the pine waves To mark the consequence of sin Of rashness, without reason, where A common prudence would have kept His life an object of love's care, And health and honey harvests reapt. Ah ! keenly felt poor Konkaput, While bending o'er that snow-bound grave, And hurrying homeward to his hut, Where wintery winds white pine boughs wave :. Alas ! How lone to die alone ! To see life leaving o'er the lea ; To lie down dead in lands unknown, Where kindred eyes can never see Where pines make plaintive melody ! " * The Indian common name for elk. 8 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. SCENES XIX. THE LEGATION TO SALT LAKE. Often the Indians end their days By aping like low whites to act ; For, brought into our brighter ways, Our virtues less than vice attract,* Embittering every high behest, Binding to lusts like evil beasts, To die accursed, rather than blessed, Before the sweetest, best of feasts. Now, once more roam to trappers' home. There Sap-En- Ah-Wah,f Fat Boy's got Killed Tah-Nach's honey in the comb ; And strained in his Comanche pot, The sweet, rare nectar rises, till It overflows in floods of gold, Whence Pursy Boy his paunch doth fill All his big belly full can hold. And such a colic as came on ! No Indian doctor e'er did cure : 'Tis sad, indeed, to look upon ! But Guero Light Haired Galen sure Success divine is in his drugs, Gives him a potion, bids him lie Between a pair of panther rugs But lays him down, alas, to die ! To save his patient from his pain He poured his strongest opiate Upon the heavy honey strain, And found quite soon, but quite too late, * Brig. Gen. Wright's report to a cominittee of Congress says : "The Indian tribes are rapidly decreasing by wars among themselves, encroachments by the whites and the readiness with which they adopt the vices of the whites rather than their virtues." f Sap-En-Ah-Wah means big belly or pursy boy, and was a genuine name among the Utes, with the whole idea that it sug- gests. A IvEGKND OF TWIN LAKES. The good boy ne'er will wake again ! The sure physician sealed his fate : Sheer ignorance the Ute has slain ; And he is buried by his mate. Then Konkaput, to his surprise, Is urged " Make haste, harness your moose,. Go to Salt Lake to get supplies. And seek a doctor of some use ! " Most gravely Trapper Scott agrees To share with him the uushown way; And tracing streams, trails, blistered trees, They drive their way without delay. They reach at length the royal lake Of the young brigand, Brigham Young ; Then very full invoices take Till even the moose with bells is strung. Pack-mules they purchase : Pangentwa, Or Little Fish, as Light Hair's aid, Goes a learned doctor from Utah To practice for their peltry trade. This Minnow is a Mormon Ute ; Doctor and bishop, both betimes, Whose sage-like tones and looks to suit, And crude ideas of Christ and crimes, With proofs profuse of promised fruit, Makes Scott with quaint surmise inquire If Utah is derived from Ute, Why Mormon might not be his sire ! The trio now return their tramp, Steering their course in complete style Of mutual couriers toward their camp Which Clark and Guero moved meanwhile To Trapper's Lake, near Plateau Peak, Where game both good and tame abound, And peaks to lakes incessant speak A happy Indian hunting ground ! 70 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. When Scott, Pangentwa, Koukaput, Approached at last their trapping post, And hailed the (then deserted) hut. But failed to find therein " mine host," A sense of desolation, death, And fear, fell on them all fatigued, And way-worn and half out of breath, For it had been indeed besieged. They soon beheld the place bereft Of all things ; but they saw a stone Inscribed, declaring when Clark left, And where, and why they'd gone ; And how the way hither to heed, With cautions suited to their case A note most kind to men in need, Whose true import we herewith trace. It said : " Friend Scott, we are not safe ! A strange and scarey straggling scout Has wandered daily like a waif Of wind, about to find us out, Or, if we leave, to learn our route ! He Is a wild man of the wood, That wanders here, then wanders there ; That feeds on nothing for his food, And seems almost as thin as air I beg you heed : of him beware ! We start now (in a noble storm To hide from him our hurried tracks), For Trapper's Fort, fixed nice and warm, With bulky burdens on our backs, And bear in hand both gun and ax. If he should not to others show That we've departed, for one day, They will not know the way we go ; But we will beckon you the way, A LEGEND OF TWIN LAKES. 71 By sticks stuck standing in the snow, By which our way you'll know, then join us too." Scott scarcely read aloud these lines, When ' ' the strange scout ' ' came straggling by, And to the White man's face confines The fiercest aspect of his eye, Then at his breast he draws the bead Of his gun barrel given with bread By Government and Scott indeed Drops to the earth instantly dead ! Then Konkaput's friend Pangentwa, Returns the fire with fatal aim ; And two dead men on drays, they draw Toward the fort that Clark did name : Remembering what Scott had read, And eager to secure safe rest, Their lonely way, by signs well led, They with fast progress firmly pressed. 72 YOUNG KONKAPUT, THE KING OF UTES. XX. THE RECEPTION AND REPORT. 'Twas in a starless night of storm, And at a late and lonely hour, They waked the fort, and found a warm Abode, as if a summer bower Of evergreen: grass and wild rye Were given their patient, meek pack-mules, All stowed between walls built so high There solitude in silence rules. The inmates, a few weary men, Had all been tramping from their traps, And were absorbed in slumbers, when, These new arrivals made their raps Upon the gate ; but Guero gave Them entre with attentive heeds ; As a bright Ute, both young and brave, Provided for their pressing needs And spread them beds on springs of reeds. The morning dawned most calm and bright Upon the " Fort at Trappers's ^ake ; " When Konkaput, with sad delight, To the few inmates thus did break The several acts and earnest scenes Through which poor Scott and he had passed, And what their mission really means ; Their fears and labors, first and last. He says :