The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, June, 1900Oregon Historical Society
History
The quarterly of the Oregon Historical Society, Vol. 1, No. 2, June, 1900
Oregon Historical Society
Oregon -- History -- Periodicals
inside the tree and cried. But he was compelled to remain there all
winter."
Some time along in the early spring the birds came at his request to
peck him out; but the first, the second, and many others that tried
only broke their bills and were unable to make even a small hole, until
this was done by a woodpecker; and through the opening Tallapus was
able to gaze abroad and see the blooming flowers and the green grass.
But still he could not go through the opening, and finally concluded
that the only way was to take himself to pieces and put himself out,
piece by piece. His eyes were the first parts that he thus placed
on the outside, but they were seized upon by a raven who carried
them away. Finally the various sections of his body were all out and
collected and put together properly, except that his eyes were gone
and he was blind. But he smelled the scent of flowers and felt around
until he found some of the flowers, which he placed in each eye. Then,
feeling his way along laboriously, and staring about as if seeing
everything, was at length directed by smelling smoke. Following this
odor, he was led to a lodge where there were some women. By these his
misfortune was ridiculed, and they engaged in laughter as he felt for
the door; but he answered, "I am only measuring your house." He was
moving around in the meantime and trying to find a place to sit down,
which only increased their merriment; but he answered, "I see; I see;
but I am only measuring the ground."
Then one of the women said, "Can you indeed see?"
Then he, staring off, replied, "Do you see that fire?"
"Where?" they asked.
"Far off," he answered, and described the distance as far away, beyond
the limit of their vision.
"No," they confessed, "that is too far for us."
Then he answered, "I can see what you do not." By which one of
the women was so impressed with the strength of his sight that
she immediately wished to swap eyes, and he promptly accepted the
proposition; as a result of which he could see even better than before,
while she became blind. He then transformed her, for her folly, into a
snail, which even to this day feels its way along the ground.
The following are some of the Tallapus stories, which Labonte
remembers, found in the Willamette Valley:
According to the Calapooyas, who occupied this valley from near
the Pudding River southward, Tallapus came originally from the
Rocky Mountain country and went down the Columbia River, and thence
southward along the coast and finally over the coast mountains into the
Willamette Valley; though his exact birthplace or origin is still a
matter of doubt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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