The present mild and humane chief of the nation, Latelesha, or Knife Chief, had long regarded this sacrifice as an unnecessary and cruel exhibition of power, exercised upon unfortunate and defenceless individuals, whom they were bound to protect; and he vainly endeavoured to abolish it by philanthropic admonitions. An Ietan woman, who was brought captive into the village, was doomed to the Great Star by the warrior, whose property she had become by the fate of war. She underwent the usual preparations, and, on the appointed day, was led to the cross, amidst a {82} great concourse of people, as eager, perhaps, as their civilized fellow men, to witness the horrors of an execution. The victim was bound to the cross with thongs of skin, and the usual ceremonies being performed, her dread of a more terrible death was about to be terminated by the tomahawk and the arrow. At this critical juncture, Petalesharoo (son of the Knife Chief) stepped forward into the area, and in a hurried but firm manner, declared that it was his father's wish to abolish this sacrifice; that for himself, he had presented himself before them, for the purpose of laying down his life upon the spot, or of releasing the victim. He then cut the cords which bound her to the cross, carried her swiftly through the crowd to a horse, which he presented to her, and having mounted another himself, he conveyed her beyond the reach of immediate pursuit; when, after having supplied her with food, and admonishing her to make the best of her way to her own nation, which was at a distance of at least four hundred miles, he was constrained to return to his village. The emancipated Ietan had, however, the good fortune, on her journey of the subsequent day, to meet with a war party of her own people, by whom she was conveyed to her family in safety.[47] [47] Petalesharoo visited Washington in 1821-22, and the ladies of the city presented him with a medal for the humanity and bravery he had displayed in rescuing the Ietan girl. The incident was also made the theme of a rhymed effusion in the New York _Commercial Advertiser_, entitled "The Pawnee Brave." This accompanied by a portrait of Petalesharoo is to be found in McKenney, _Indian Tribes_, i, p. 143.—ED. This daring deed would, almost to a certainty, have terminated in an unsuccessful attempt, under the arm of any other warrior; and Petalesharoo was, no doubt, indebted for this successful and noble achievement to the distinguished renown which his feats of chivalry had already gained for him, and which commanded the high respect of all his rival warriors. Notwithstanding the signal success of this enterprise, another display of the firmness and determination of the young warrior was required to abolish this sacrifice, it is to be hoped for ever. The succeeding spring, a warrior, who had captured a fine Spanish boy, vowed to sacrifice him to the Great {83} Star, and accordingly placed him under the care of the magi, for that purpose.