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
"I was quite small but I do remember the beautiful scenery. We
could see antelope, deer, rabbits, sage hens and coyotes, etc.,
and in the camp we children had a general good time. All joined
at night in the plays. One night Mr. Jenkins' boys told me to ask
their father for his sheath knife to cut some sticks with. When
using it on the first stick, I cut my lefthand forefinger nail
and all off, except a small portion of the top of my finger, and
the scar is still visible.
"On another evening we children were having a nice time, when a
boy by the name of Stephen, who had been in the habit of hugging
around the children's shoulders and biting them, hugged me and
bit a piece almost out of my shoulder. This was the first time I
remember seeing my father's wrath rise on the plains, as he was a
very even-tempered man. He said to the offending boy, 'If you do
that again, I shall surely whip you.'
"A few days later we came to a stream that was deep but narrow.
Mr. Stephens, this boy's father, was leading a cow by a rope tied
around his waist and around the cow's head for the purpose of
teaching the rest of the cattle to swim. The current being very
swift, washed the cow down the stream, dragging the man. The
women and children were all crying at a great rate, when one of
the party went to Mrs. Stephens, saying, 'Mr. Stephens is
drowning.' 'Well,' she replied, 'there is plenty of more men
where he came from.' Mr. Stephens, his cow and all lodged safely
on a drift. They got him out safely, but he did not try to swim a
stream with a cow tied to his waist again.
"We could see the plains covered with buffalo as we traveled
along, just like the cattle of our plains are here.
"One day a band of buffalo came running toward us, and one jumped
between the wheel cattle and the wheels of the wagon, and we came
very near having a general stampede of the cattle; so when the
teamsters got their teams quieted down, the men, gathering their
guns, ran and killed three of the buffalo, and all of the company
were furnished with dried beef, which was fine for camping.
"We came to a place where there was a boiling spring that would
cook eggs, and a short distance from this was a cold, clear
spring, and a short distance from this was a heap of what looked
like ashes, and when we crossed it the cattle's' feet burned until
they bawled. Another great sight I remember of seeing was an oil
spring.
"Then we reached the Blue Mountains. Snow fell as we traveled
through them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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