The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its CommerceLyman, William Denison
History
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce
Lyman, William Denison
Columbia River; Columbia River -- Description and travel; Columbia River -- History
The Yakima account of the Chinook wind was to the effect that it was
caused by five brothers who lived on the Columbia River, not far from the
present town of Columbus. Now there is at rare intervals in this country a
cold north-east wind, which the Indians on the lower Columbia call the
Walla Walla wind because it comes from the north-east. The cold wind was
caused by another set of brothers. Both these sets of brothers had
grandparents who lived near what is now Umatilla. The two groups of
brothers were continually fighting each other, sweeping one way or the
other over the country, alternately freezing or thawing it, blowing down
trees and causing the dust to fly in clouds, and rendering the country
generally very uncomfortable. Finally, the Walla Walla brothers sent a
challenge to the Chinook brothers to undertake a wrestling match, the
condition being that those who were defeated should forfeit their lives.
It was agreed that Speelyei should act as umpire and should inflict the
penalty by decapitating the losers. Speelyei secretly advised the
grandparents of the Chinook brothers to throw oil on the wrestling ground
so that their sons might not fall. In like manner he secretly advised the
grandparents of the Walla Walla brothers to throw ice on the ground.
Between the ice and the oil it was so slippery that it would be hard for
any one to keep upright, but inasmuch as the Walla Walla grandfather got
ice on the ground last, the Chinook brothers were all thrown and killed.
The eldest Chinook had an infant baby at home, whose mother brought him up
with one sole purpose in view, and that was that he must avenge the death
of his father and uncles. By continual practice in pulling up trees he
became prodigiously strong, insomuch that he could pull up the largest fir
trees and throw them about like weeds. The young man finally reached such
a degree of strength that he felt that the time had come for him to
perform his great mission. Therefore he went up the Columbia, pulling up
trees and tossing them around in different places, and finally passed over
into the valley of the Yakima, where he lay down to rest by the creek
called the Setas. There he rested for a day and a night, and the marks of
his couch are still plainly visible on the mountain side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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