Show reminiscences OF COUNTY CONTINUE by JOSIAH F GIBBS GIBB S ARTICLE VIT the pow wow had been aali pain ant uintah conference continued A row of wagons 20 to 25 rods long with horses tied to the north fence proved tint thit the invitation to the pow wow had been accepted A circular da icing arena had been cleared of br ish dampened down trodden upon until nearly as hard as harthern ear thern ware at the west side a young Pa livant was methodically feeding dry bilows to a small fire as an aid tp the halt half moon beyond within the open spaces among the willows a half dozen camp tires fires were brightly burning around which were grous grou a of whiter whites ind and reds all jab bering in mixtures of english pah rant vant and uintah in roughly semi circular form with the open side toward the river and thickets of wll wil low in the rear a half dozen or more skin teepees with uin tab tah tribal emblems fluttering at the tops of the center poles a striking contrast with the make shift and humble i of the Pah Pali barring the presence of the pale faces it was a scene of aboriginal peace and contentment that during centuries on centuries was character of the valley the in evitable had arrived it was the last gathering of in valley one feature only portended trou brou ble evidently white bootleggers boot legers circulated among the indians of whom several of the younger men were staggeringly staggering ty drunk dave kimball called all dance quite a number of the settlers join ed the circle mary even more hi ld lanous than waon petting the sheep man came to where I 1 was standing by the campfire camp tire during weeks at a time mary had teen mrs gibbs only domestic doing the rougher work she was always tidy in appearance paying especial attention to her hands which wee were we e particularly shape ly and she had a comely face and beautiful hair she ate with the family and romped with the chil dren always as happy as a chatter ing chipmunk and equally as busy coming to me she elie said gibb you dance with me and caught my hand no I 1 said as I 1 stepped back mary you are too drunk never in all my life have I 1 witness ed a more acute expression of pitt tul ful humiliation from prom her child hood I 1 had known her as a slender graceful I 1 ahter skinned girl excel tio nally intelligent who rarely lived with her people when employment could be secured amongst the whites and she the mary a whom I 1 knew so well and favorably had been snub bed by a white man in the presence of her own race with shamed face and drooping shoW shoulders ders mary away 11 in stant regret triumphed over foolish pride and hurriedly I 1 said f 1 yes mary 1 I will dance with you the peace dance grows buoch the dance itself was a rather tame af affair fair joining hands we shuffled around the ring from left to right it was just another all join hands and circle around the hall after five minutes I 1 returned to the camp fire the dancers continued the mo no shuttle during a halt half hour or more when an incident incense quentian quent ial in itself but serious with latent trouble in the drunken condi condl tion of a number of young indians occurred A tipsy and egotistical young uin tah brave took ros possession session ot of the path between the young fireweed tire firek keep eeD er and paraded back and forth in front of a bevy of chite and red belles the monotonous staggering back and forth gg q the uintah inter f ered with the Ya JP ahvan livant s pastime of keeping the watch fires burning he waited for the uintah s return and at just the opportune moment thrust his foot between the s legs the gipsy one fell flat on the hard clay A prolonged titter from the girls and laughter from the adults greeted the discomfiture ol 01 the uintah who retarded the inc dent is accidental after much scrambling and grumbling the aln tab tah regained his feet walked to the bild end of the path and on his return received identical treatment regaining his teet feet he kicked the t on the shin the latter in scantly jumped to his feet and a rough and tight fight began the young Pah Pali resented the insult to their tribal courtesy while en pertaining the providing theta them fuel preparing the arena and keeping the central fires burning it but an instant before a halt half dozen fights were proceeding between members of the respective tribes apprehensive that a tribal mage was imminent parents has tily collected their children young men found their sweethearts and a general stampede was on with the aged and less supple doing their lev el best to escape the inferred danger of flying bullets and whizzing ar rows there was no time for se lection of special vehicles when the fathers had loaded their wives and children in they called PILE IN to the pushing crowd and with in less time than la Is required to de scribe it from the semi tragic and yet amusing scene dead ex farm bagans were pounding over the rut ty roads towards home As afterwards learned a bevy of girls swooped down on my brother bert and pleaded for a ride home thus my vehicle of escape was corn coin manderen man dered I 1 take role of peace pence maker evidently I 1 was alone with my old time and loyal friends the pah eighteen years then 1871 after the gunnison Gunn lson massacre nimrod narriett Nar lent rient career and others back in the mountains east of fillmore had saved father fathers s life and my own at the risk of their own lives from a larger number of black hawk hawks s marauding utes with in finitely less danger to myself I 1 could do no less than attempt the role of peace maher maker now leaving the scrap ping indians a hurried search tor for dave kimball and leading Pah Pali was made excitement was every where the were instinct ively separating into tribal quarters while the women were herding the children into the willows farther to the west to my astonishment and delight ran across siano sidney y black our bish aps ops op s youngest son very large for age unmindful of the storm engaged in a jumping with several youngsters of about his own age A hurried with dave kimball resulted in his accepting my proposal that as it was a row started beewen one Pa livant and only one uintah there was no reason that more should be drawn into it other than to see that fair play was given while the two who started the rumpus should scrap it out and then be compelled to shake hands all same dave s loud call tor for a gathering quickly brought the resentful red men together only a few of them knew the origin of the trouble and sport of the truly civilized plan was tempting and the plan of having the two tight fight it out to a re concilla tion was agreed upon A half moon afforded sufficient light tor for the weird scene the two indians scrap it out an opening about fifty feet in dl ameter among the willows was select ed for the ring the flipping of a coin decided that sidney black act as umpire tor for the Pah Pali and I 1 the peace maker to act for the the row had dwindled to a combat of angry vocabularies les that like a spark in a can of powder it might be touch ed oft off similarly explode the two indians were told they must scrap it out dave kimball ordered them to shake hands each bluntly de dined that act ind the uintah flung out the expletive me see him in hell first the battle was on sidney had the choice of positions so he took the south side with the larger part of the Pah at his back leaving me backed by a thicket of young bilows on east and west sides of me dave called to me whiteman or indian tight fight in dian than was the reply tor for the other kind was old stuff and we want ed to see a truly indian fracas dave took the pugnacious uintah b I 1 the arm and stood him in front of him and explained the method of aboriginal pugilism A like service was performed bior or the Pa livant cham chain plon pion and sidney black was also put wise as to his duties da ties are you ready I 1 dave called calle from n the sidelines then the respect tive umpires yelled GO with heads low fists tightly clenched by their sides the champions not unlike a pair of animated battering rams hurled themselves toward the center of the ring their heads were so low that they had to guess the de they missed and plunged on the spectators jeered while the shame faced Pa livant took his stand in front of me by the change of positions in the course of the tray fray turning he airily hissed me bump him next time good and plenty ilumin wild kama rains are you came from the sideline GO was simultaneous ly ordered like a shot they cata bulted forward into a head on coll ision and each champion went to the mat the indians must have learned thir th ir method of fight ing by watching the combats between mountain rams sidney and I 1 ran to where our respective champions were sprawling aiding them to their feet we sympathetically inquired are you hurta the grunt ed and signified tor for more battle next round each swung upper cuts and landed landel on each other others s faces the Pa livant was again in front of me evidently he was resentful because of my umpiring tor for the uintah but he was mindful of our friend ship not to take advantage of me without a timely hint although I 1 did not understand its import until too late just before the word go was yelled he slightly turned to me just a little and said now gibb you look out are you ready the signal was given on came the aln ta but the Pa livant tailed failed to respond I 1 punched him in the back and again called go I 1 but he didn dian t budge the uintah was coming like an an gry bull I 1 saw him glance up to get his bearings again I 1 punched the Pa livant before me the uintah ter came on the Pa livant dodged to one side and I 1 landed flat on my back in the ten feet dist distant antl the yelled their delight the Pah Pali hurried to where I 1 was kicking and squirming trying to get my feet then in the air on the ground and much more vainly trying to get breath for it was all knocked out of me gently they lifted me up and a dozen solicitous voices in quiren ed hurt gibb I 1 no N o gasped I 1 just wind gone that a all under the circumstances I 1 t have taken a hundred colars for my eri exit from the ring the peacemaker had received the kay 0 peace was ed all were happy and the incident closed amicably with no worse dam age As I 1 had not returned bert came after me and sidney and I 1 rode home A side angle on sidney block just a tribute to the memory ol 01 sidney black that he possessed great physical courage was beyond dispute one night his father sent him to the dam which had had a hole cut in it near the north where watch men had a large bon tire fire sidney went up on the south side of the riv er crossed the footbridge over the spilla ty and blinded by the bon fire fell off the east side of the dam further than a sensation of falling into the water and a swift swirling movement in total darkness sidney I 1 was never able to give an intelligent account of his journey down through the dam and under the head gate until the mad waters eased below the apron and he caught his hi breath by py the best of luck or providence as you will his lits life was protected in that mishap the motion of the rushing torrent forced him against the north bank and the backward swirl swept him toward the tire fire and a sloping bank the first the watch men knew of the presence of sidney was his emergence dripping wet in to the light of the sidney and my son J dana gibbs were fast friends when sidney move I 1 to marysvale Marys vale J dana soon followed in the attributes of pure unselfishness each was like the oth er at the first signal of distress whether of illness hunger death or personal injury their s were the first hands to administer aid and thy to the ther unfortunate each with my brother bert now alei sleeps ps in the marysvale Marys vale cemetery to be continued I 1 have a very pretty bowl with falling rain symbol worked on it made by a native full blood in dian than woman at san ildeponso Ilde oriso new mexico which came to me only this week those who are interested call in and se it it la Is very pretty some ie day weeks from now I 1 wil liong write of my visit to her town and the impressions I 1 got there this bowl was made by mrs gonzales san ildefonso new mex ico about seventeen miles or so from santa fe |