American fiction -- 20th century; American fiction -- California; Western stories
"And that was the beginning. Came a second white man, with short-haired
dogs, which he left behind him when he went. And with him went six of
our strongest dogs, for which, in trade, he had given Koo-So-Tee, my
mother's brother, a wonderful pistol that fired with great swiftness six
times. And Koo-So-Tee was very big, what of the pistol, and laughed at
our bows and arrows. 'Woman's things,' he called them, and went forth
against the bald-face grizzly, with the pistol in his hand. Now it be
known that it is not good to hunt the bald-face with a pistol, but how
were we to know? and how was Koo-So-Tee to know? So he went against the
bald-face, very brave, and fired the pistol with great swiftness six
times; and the bald-face but grunted and broke in his breast like it
were an egg and like honey from a bee's nest dripped the brains of
Koo-So-Tee upon the ground. He was a good hunter, and there was no one
to bring meat to his squaw and children. And we were bitter, and we said
'That which for the white men is well, is for us not well.' And this be
true. There be many white men and fat, but their ways have made us few
and lean.
"Came the third white man, with great wealth of all manner of wonderful
foods and things. And twenty of our strongest dogs he took from us in
trade. Also, what of presents and great promises, ten of our young
hunters did he take with him on a journey which fared no man knew where.
It is said they died in the snow of the Ice Mountains where man has
never been, or in the Hills of Silence which are beyond the edge of the
earth. Be that as it may, dogs and young hunters were seen never again
by the Whitefish people.
"And more white men came with the years, and ever, with pay and
presents, they led the young men away with them. And sometimes the young
men came back with strange tales of dangers and toils in the lands
beyond the Pellys, and sometimes they did not come back. And we said:
'If they be unafraid of life, these white men, it is because they have
many lives; but we be few by the Whitefish, and the young men shall go
away no more.' But the young men did go away; and the young women went
also; and we were very wroth.
"It be true, we ate flour, and salt pork, and drank tea which was a
great delight; only, when we could not get tea, it was very bad and we
became short of speech and quick of anger. So we grew to hunger for the
things the white men brought in trade. Trade! trade! all the time was it
trade! One winter we sold our meat for clocks that would not go, and
watches with broken guts, and files worn smooth, and pistols without
cartridges and worthless. And then came famine, and we were without
meat, and two-score died ere the break of spring.
"'Now are we grown weak,' we said; 'and the Pellys will fall upon us,
and our bounds be overthrown.' But as it fared with us, so had it fared
with the Pellys, and they were too weak to come against us.
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