Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget SoundDenny, Emily Inez
History
Blazing the Way; Or, True Stories, Songs and Sketches of Puget Sound
Denny, Emily Inez
Indians of North America -- Northwestern States; Oregon Territory -- History; Washington (State) -- History
The shadow of danger always lurked about the undetermined boundary of
our play-grounds, wild animals and wild men might be not far beyond.
We feared the drunken white man more than the sober Indian, with much
greater reason. Even the drunken Indian never molested us, but usually
ran "amuck" among the inhabitants of the beach.
Neither superstitious nor timid we seldom experienced a panic.
The nearest Indian graveyard was on a hill at the foot of Spring Street,
Seattle. It sloped directly down to the beach; the bodies were placed in
shallow graves to the very brow and down over the face of the sandy
bluff. All this hill was dug down when the town advanced.
The children's' graves were especially pathetic, with their rude
shelters, to keep off the rain of the long winter months, and upright
poles bearing bits of bright colored cloth, tin pails and baskets.
Over these poor graves no costly monuments stood, only the winds sang
wild songs there, the sea-gulls flitted over, the fair, wild flowers
bloomed and the dark-eyed Indian mothers tarried sometimes, human as
others in their sorrow.
But the light-hearted Indian girls wandered past, hand in hand, singing
as they went, pausing to turn bright friendly eyes upon me as they
answered the white child's question, "Ka mika klatawa?" (Where are you
going?)
"O, kopa yawa" (O, over yonder), nodding toward the winding road that
stretched along the green bank before them. Without a care or sorrow,
living a healthy, free, untrammeled life, they looked the impersonation
of native contentment.
The social instinct of the pioneers found expression in various ways.
A merry party of pioneer young people, invited to spend the evening at a
neighbor's, were promised the luxury of a candy-pull. The first batch
was put on to boil and the assembled youngsters engaged in old fashioned
games to while away the time. Unfortunately for their hopes the molasses
burned and they were obliged to throw it away. There was a reserve in
the jug, however, and the precious remainder was set over the fire and
the games went on again. Determined to succeed, the hostess stirred,
while an equally anxious and careful guest held the light, a small
fish-oil lamp. The lamp had a leak and was set on a tin plate; in her
eagerness to light the bubbling saccharine substance and to watch the
stirring-down, she leaned over a little too far and over went the lamp
directly into the molasses.
What consternation fell upon them! The very thought of the fish-oil was
nauseating, and that was all the molasses. There was no candy-pulling,
there being no grocery just around the corner where a fresh supply might
be obtained, indeed molasses and syrup were very scarce articles,
brought from a great distance.
The guests departed, doubtless realizing that the "best laid plans ...
gang aft agley."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account