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Show SOUTHERN UTAH NEWS - Thursday, March 3, 1SS3 - Page Five The Storm Testament ... g Get more horses. Were not going back there! 1 exclaimed, pointing in the general direction of the Indian village. I show you how we get horses. Ike knelt down and began to sketch his plan in the sand. This time the plan made sense. I was sure it would work. We began making preparations to return to the Indian village. 1 1 g PAINTING 1 1 1 d eight-hors- 1 Valley Hig,h Dedication Set For March 8 down their legs. When he was finished, he just looked at me a minute, still no words. Then he took the lead ropes out of my hand and led the horses away towards the pasture. That was all. Neuwafe had accepted my dowry. I had permission to take Red Leaf as my wife, but somehow it didnt seem natural, or complete. It was too matter-of-fac- t, too much like buying a horse, or a piece of meat. I half expected Red Leaf to come out of the tepee. Surely she had been observing the transaction between me and Neuwafe. Still she didnt come. I began walking towards the river, trying to sort this thing out in my mind. There was something missing, something in the Ute culture I didn't understand. 1 knew that if I pushed my way into the tepee and took Red Leaf as my woman, neither Neuwafe nor anyone else in the tribe would object. But that wasnt enough, she had to choose me, too. Instead, she stayed in the tepee. Maybe she didnt like the idea of being bought and sold with horses. Then it occurred to me that I hadn't purchased a woman, but merely the permission to marry from her guardian or brother. What was I supposed to do now? Any Ute would have known what to do in the culture they grew up with. But for me, a white man from a different world, it was hard to understand the things the Utes took for granted. 1 wished the Utes had a marriage ceremony similar to that practiced by white men. That would have been easy- -a preacher saying a bunch of words from the Bible, each partner saying I do", and the exchange of rings. That I could understand. The Utes didn't have a marriage ceremony. Still, there had to The Dedication program for the new Valley High School has been set for Tuesday, March 8, announced Superintendent Doyle Swallow. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the new high school. Senator Ivan Matheson has been invited to be the guest speaker at the program. Musical numbers will be performed by the Valley High Band. Other speakers will be representatives from the architects and contractors along with school board members. The public is cordially invited to attend the program and the Open House immediately following the dedication program. 0. A. Meetings RCS RICKU PORMlI HOWk'A4lV ci mAn FREE ESTIMATES mills Get on the Wedding ns 644-511- 6 I too N UM County Building Mon. 7:30 Kane Co. Courthouse - No. Door Gift List -- uni? For your Fuller Brush and McNess needs: Please call . . . GREGG K. PATRICK Box 543 470 N. Cedar Fredonia, AZ. 86022 9 or call at home liemblb Feed Painting References After tying the horses to the tree, the young brave entered his tepee. I supposed at the time he had gone to get some members of his family to help skin and butcher the quarters. Perhaps he wanted to sharpen his knife on the family sharpening stone. I couldn't understand when he didn't come out of the tepee. kept an eye on his tepee for several hours, and still he didnt come out. was surprised that other members of the tribe didnt gather around the fresh meal, still loaded on the horses. The morning sun grew warmer and warmer, threatening to sour the fresh meat if it wasnt soon taken care of. It seemed was the only one in the camp that was aware of the meat. The two horses were incessantly pawing the ground in their impatience to be relieved of the heavy loads. It must have been almost noon when the young woman who had been courted by the brave untied the horses and led them to the front of her tepee. Her mother and sister helped her unload the quarters, skin them and cut up the meat. They shared some of the meal with us and other families. I didnt see the young brave again until he joined his sweetheart and her family for supper that evening. He stayed the night, bringing his belongings the next day as he moved in with his new bride and her family. Now, two years later, he had accumulated a respectable pile of buffalo hides, nearly enough to make a tepee of his own to share with his wife and baby girl. On one occasion the previous fall. Brown Wolf had tied up a horse carrying a freshly-killedoe near Red Leafs tepee in the hope she would dress it out and cook him a delicious meal. Had she done so. Im sure e Neuwafe would have accepted Brown W olfs dowry. Instead, Red Leaf refused to go near the deer. The next morning the deer was gone. No one knew for sure what happened to it, but it was rumored that Brown Wolf, in a frustrated rage, had thrown it in the river. All of a sudden it was clear to me what I must do. After explaining to Ike why had to go hunting for a few days, and asking him to wait around until I returned, I arrow my gathered up my weapons--boknife, and headed towards the foothills of the big mountain, later called Timpanogos. GftOOMINO NIIDI HOftSC TRAILERS Two coats of paint on all work. 643-508- VTM) 5 644-213- d YACK SADDLES QUALITY WORK AT REASONABLE PRICES - tepees, I remembered a courting custom among the Utes that had always appeared kind of dumb to me, and more than a little unnecessary. I recalled my first spring with the Utes, two years earlier, when fresh meat was scarce. I remembered a elk into camp. The young brave bringing a freshly-killetwo front quarters were on one horse, the two back quarters on another horse. He tied the horses, without unloading them, to a tree near the tepee of a young woman he had been flirting with. I remember watching closely, wondering if he would give us some of the fresh meat. We had eaten nothing but jerky for weeks. The whole camp was hungry for fresh meat. Neuwafe emerged from the tepee- -a stern, but pleased look on his face. A buffalo robe was wrapped around his shoulders. Without a word, he began a careful inspection of the horses, picking up feet, inspecting teeth, running his hand along their backs and necks and up and - SLEDS - HOUR FEEDS be more than the exchange of horses, but I couldnt put my finger on what was wrong. While walking across the meadow away from the cepted. As soon as it was too dark to be seen from the tepees we crawled down from the cliffs into the meadow as we had done the night before. Each of us caught a horse and led it quietly over to the sandy beach at (he bottom of the meadow. Ike took both of the lead ropes and walked into the water, trying to get the horses to follow. When they pulled back, I slapped their rears with a long willow branch. Reluctantly they followed Ike into the river. As soon as they were swimming, Ike removed the ropes. After giving them several good, hard slaps on the backs with the wet ropes to keep them swimming towards the middle of the stream, Ike headed back to shore. By the time the horses tried to turn back, it was g too late. The current had carried them into the chute of no return. Our plan was a very simple one. Any horse we could get into the chute would be carried to our canyon where we had escaped the river the night before. No horse with any sense would continue swimming past the little valley with the sandy beach. All would want to join the other horses already grazing in the lush meadow Our challenge was to get as many horses as possible into the river before the moon came up, without the Indians knowing what we were doing. At all costs we had to avoid spooking the horses or making any noise that would attract the attention of the Indians. We were fortunate to have a beach at the bottom of the meadow. The task would have been infinitely more difficult if we had had to force the horses to jump from wild-eye- d L It was early on a frosty morning in late April, 1841, when Ike and I stampeded our newly acquired horse herd through the Ute village. A few minutes later, I was standing in front of Neuwafes tepee, holding the lead ropes to 13 horses. I hadn't yet seen Red Leaf, but 1 didn't expect to see her until the dowry had been ac- At dusk, Ike and I were high in the rocks, where we had an excellent view. The Indian village looked peaceful enough, no different from the day before. The dogs and children were playing as usual. Apparently the Indians were no longer alarmed by our attempted raid on their horses. They probably figured the raging river had carried us to watery graves. All the Indians seemed to be near the camp. None were out in the meadow with the grazing horses. We could see the grassy bank from which our horses had leaped into the river the night before. We could see the sandy beach at the bottom of the meadow where the cliffs met the river, the same place where the stampeding horse herd had come to a halt the night before. 1 D& Chapter 36 Chapter 35 y Exterior Soon our teeth were chattering from going in and out of the icy water, but we continued to work, enthusiastic about the success we were having. By the time the moot peeked over the mouniain. we had pulled or driven 31 animals into the river. Catching (wo more, and moun ting them, we followed the horses into the raging chute. When we reached the valley where the wet horse were grazing quietly in the meadow, we heaped twigs 01 the uncovered coals of our old fire and soon were warm ing ourselves in front of a blazing fire. I couldn't help but wonder what the Indians woult do when they discovered that some of their horses wen missing. They would probably circle the meadow look ing for tracks to indicate where the horses had gottei out. The first time around they would probably pass u the beach where we had driven them into the rive because that was the usual drinking place where track from drinking horses would be expected. Since the; would find no other tracks leaving the meadow, even tually they would have to conclude that the horses ha disappeared down the river. They would follow possibly in the river, but more likely along the cliffs unti they discovered our little valley where the horses ha emerged from the river. If we were lucky, they wouldn discover the little valley until late the next day. At any rate, we didn't intend to wait around an longer than necessary. As soon as our steaming clothe were hot enough to take away the shivering and toot chattering, we rounded up the horses and began drivin them out of the canyon. We pushed over dead trees t several narrow places in the trail in an effort to make as difficult as possible for the Indians to follow us. Still, ! had to have horses. I was opposed to trading slave children for horses, and 1 had never even seen a wild horse, let alone caught one. Stealing still seemed the best way to go. But how? It was clear those Indians didnt intend to make it easy for us. Maybe we could go back to the meadow and watch until the Indians tried to move the horses, then make a move. Still it seemed like a risky undertaking, doomed to failure. It was a restless night for me, thinking of Red Leaf and trying to figure out a better way to get horses. On the other side of the fire, Ike seemed to be sleeping peacefully. At first light we explored the little valley, on foot. We discovered a game trail and followed it to the top of the plateau. I was annoyed with Ikes cheerfulness. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying our little adventure. On our way back to camp, at a place where the trail passed between two large boulders, Ike pushed over a dead tree to block the trail. What did you do that for? I asked. Well have to move it when we bring the horses out of here." Dont want horses to get away while we gone." Gone? Where are we going? n Interior a bank, but leading them into the gradually deepening water at the beach wasnt nearly so hard. One thing on our side was that most of the animals were accustomed to crossing streams. River crossings were common in the everyday life of the nomadic wanderers, especially those who had horses. A horse that had been with a wandering Indian tribe for any length of time had crossed numerous streams and rivers. Most Indians had little patience for a horse that resisted plunging into raging rivers or leaping over difficult rock formations or fallen trees. The most common means of persuasion was a small pine tree with the branches removed about an inch from the trunk. After sharpening the branch ends, the Indian would begin to whip the reluctant horse on the rear until it plunged forward. Apparently most of the horses in the meadow were accustomed to this kind of treatment, and offered little resistance to our efforts to get them into the river. posing a sandy beach and wooded valley on the west bank. A few minutes later, with blue lips and chattering teeth, Ike and I led our horses onto the beach. After running up and down the beach a few times to get warm, we gathered materials for a bow drill to make a fire. I removed some of the fringe from my buckskin shirt to fashion the bow string. Soon my soaked buckskins were steaming from the warmth of the Fire. Ike and I were chewing on the last of my wet jerky while the two horses were grazing nearby. Ike was in good spirits, pleased that we had succeeded in stealing two horses, a gain of one since we had had to leave my old horse behind. As far as 1 was concerned, we had failed. I knew Neuwafe wouldnt take less than ten horses for Red Leaf. I had to have at least that many. I realized how stupid I was to think I could just ride up to an Indian camp and run off with all the horses 1 wanted. Indians were used to people trying to steal their horses and werent about to make horse stealing easy. I had learned that lesson the hard way. began to veer off to one side. There was no way Ike and 1 could keep them all together. 1 realized we would be leaving some of the horses behind, enough to enable a large group of Indians to pursue us. But there was no turning back now. We had to drive as many as possible through the barrier of tepees and shouting Indians. The Indians knew exactly what to do. They were standing behind the line of campfires waving buffalo robes, which fanned the fires back to life, the new lignt reflecting wildly on the waving robes. The entire herd began to veer towards the river. Ike and I did our best to turn them back towards the tepees, Liberty Press, 1982 but there was no turning back. The horses were determined not to run through the flaming line of flapping robes. Ike and 1 followed the herd, not wanting to attempt a .A Saga of Dan Storm. break through the line of Indians without the herd as a buffer. Upon reaching the river, the stampeding horses Synopsis: Neuwafe went back to the Vte headed back down the meadow, having turned their village leaving Dan to visit with Ike at the backs on the line of blanket-wavinIndians. Ike and 1 Gcsuite camp for a few days. Ike had become continued with the main herd, figuring that when we a powerful figure among the Gosuites. Dan reached the bottom of the meadow we would dismount aked Ike to go back to the Utes and was and scamper into the rocks. There was no question but what the Indians would be coming after us. surprised when Ike wasn't interested. Ike I was wondering if they would wait until morning to knew where Dan could get some horses to take look for us when I became aware of hoofbeats apback to offer for Red Leaf. They followed the proaching from the rear, further out in the meadow. horses trail for several days. Strays had been breaking away from the herd, but it Finally, they didnt seem natural to have some of them trying to catch found the Indians ' base camp where hundreds up with us again. I looked around. of horses were being held. Then Dan and Ike in the moonlight 1 had no trouble recognizing the came up with a simple plan so bold and rideis on the approaching horses. Apparently some of daring they figured it would work. the Indians had mounted the tethered animals near the tepees an J were coming after us. Five or six, it appeared. They were further out in the meadow in an attempt to prevent us from escaping into the cliffs. 1 yelled at Ike to Chapter 34 get his attention, then pointed at the approaching Indians. I urged my horse to run faster. The Indians continued to narrow the gap. Just as it was getting dark the next evening, Ike and I Upon seeing the Indians, Ike urged his horse forward in the narrow gap of meadow between the racing herd slipped down from the rocks into the lower end of the meadow. When we were sure we couldnt be seen from and the river. He waved for me to follow him. My inthe Indian camp, we walked quietly among the horses clination was to stay away from the river to avoid being until we found two we could catch and mount. It didnt trapped in the corner where the river and cliffs came take long; most of the horses seemed fairly tame, not together at the bottom ol the meadow. frisky at all, still tired and hungry from the long winter. When I hesitated, Ike motioned again for me to Our plan was to wait until the moon came up, then follow him. He seemed to know exactly what he was dotry to stampede the entire herd past the tepees and sleeping, and wa$ insistent that I follow. I urged my horse ining Indians. Hopefully the tethered horses near the to the gap between the herd and the river, not understantepees would break their tether ropes and join us, leaving ding why, but trusting in Ike's judgment. the Indians no way to follow. We were almost to the end of the meadow when Ike Ike and I both felt uneasy about the plan. It appointed to a spot just ahead of us where the main current peared too simple, too easy. Perhaps the horses would of the river pushed close against the shore undercutting refuse to go past the tepees. Maybe Ike and I would be the grassy bank. It wasn't until Ike held his nose with easy targets for alert archers. If we didnt get all of the two fingers to indicate he was going swimming that I animals, how would we outdistance the Indians who realized that he intended to ride his horse over the bank mounted the strays and came after us? into the raging current. Quickly I glanced over my shoulder at the pursuing Indians who were now even Neither of us had any alternative suggestions, with us, on the other side of the thundering herd. however, so we decided to plunge boldly ahead and hope As much as I dreaded the thought of going into the for the best. If we became separated, we agreed to meet river, I realized it was too late to consider any other back at the Gosiute camp. alternatives. There were none, other than getting caught In the darkness we began to round up the and killed by the Indians. With a sudden jerk, I pulled animals at the lower end of the meadow so we would be bank. The horse's my horse's head towards the ready to begin the stampede as soon as the moon came first reaction was to stop, but it was too late. It lunged forward into space, just as Ike and his horse hit the up. Ike and waited until the moon was full above the water ahead and to the right. eastern hills. Some of the Indians were standing about The plunge unseated me, but I managed to grab the the fires, but most had retired into the tepees for the horses tail before it swam out of reach. The water was felt very uneasy, a sickening feeling in my icy cold. I looked for Ike and spotted him directly night. stomach. ahead, lying flat over the back of his horse, guiding it downstream into the main current. My horse was One thing that bothered me was the tameness of the horses. In order for our plan to work, the horses had to following. As we were swept past the bottom of the meadow stampede. Tame horses were harder to get going. Apwhere the horse herd had ground to a halt at the water's parently they had been driven and handled so much in recent weeks that the usual spunk and spirit one would edge, I could see the mounted Indians trying to push through the milling horses in a vain effort to get into expect in a herd of Indian ponies just wasnt there. The only concern to them was getting the new green grass position to shoot arrows at us before Ike and 1 disappeared out of sight into the raging canyon. sprouting out of the soft soil. I wished I had my Hawken rifle, so I could fire a few shots to get them running. We were swept into the blackness of the canyon Suddenly the quiet of the night was shattered by a before the Indians had a chance to shoot a single arrow. loud, piercing scream. It was Ike, shouting at the horses. The river narrowed between the cliffs and ran faster and I joined with a scream of my own, digging my heels into faster. We piloted our horses the best we could to avoid herd towards horses ribs. The horse my began galloping the occasional boulders that fought viciously against the the line of tepees, picking up more and more grazing animals as they gained momentum. It was far from the racing current. The towering cliffs on each side made escape impossible. stampede we had hoped for, but still the Occasionally the moon came into view as the river horses were running, and in the intended direction. I wound its way among the cliffs. We looked ahead the began to feel that we might be successful after all. And, best we could for any kind of a break in the rock walls as tar as I could see, there were no stragglers. All the that could offer a possible escape route. ,, horses were joining thp.running herd. So far, so good. Suddenly the river grew quiet, but it didnt seem to Looking ahead to the Indian carrtp, in the light of the 'Slow down. Ahead we could hear what sounded like disdying fires I could see Indians scrambling out tant thunder. It wasnt thunder in that it didn't stop, but tepees, blankets and ropes in their hands as they began gradually grew louder and louder. It was the sound of forming a line across the end of the meadow. Ike and water crashing on rocks, possibly a waterfall, but white continued our yelling and screaming, urging the horses uncontrollable force that would beat water for sure--a- n to run faster. us and our horses into pemmican. The first sign of failure was when a small group of As we were swept around a bend, the river suddenly horses, anticipating the line of blanket-wavinIndians, widened, shallow and quiet before the worst rapids, ex SUN BOOKSTORE St. Christophers Catholic S2.00 PER PERSON $4.00 PER COUPLE - --rr- -- ipt-1 Church 200 So. and Main St. - Kanab, Ut. 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