Treasury of American Indian TalesRessler, Theodore Whitson
General
Treasury of American Indian Tales
Ressler, Theodore Whitson
Indians of North America -- Folklore; Indians of North America -- Juvenile literature
“No, father, I must speak to him now.” With that, Singing Fire left his
tepee and soon was standing before the tepee of the Great Chief. He made
his presence known and was invited into the tepee.
The chief invited him to sit and then asked, “What brings you to my
tepee so late, young Singing Fire?”
“Tonight, O Great Chief, in a dream I was drawn to the painted hill
which stands guard over our village. Here I stood troubled in heart and
mind because of what has been reported to our tribe.” Then Singing Fire
proceeded to tell in complete detail of the dream he had had. When he
finished, he waited for the chief to speak.
“What importance do you attach to this dream you have had, young Singing
Fire?”
“I do not know, Great Chief, but I would like your permission to take
Many Painted Ponies and ride to this place I have seen in the dream. I
would like to see what can be found there and then I will return to my
village.”
The Indians placed a great deal of faith in dreams, and so the chief
gave his permission and early the next morning, Many Painted Ponies and
Singing Fire set out for the valley that Singing Fire had seen not only
in his dream, but many times on his hunting trips.
They traveled all day, and when the sun was setting in the west, they
found themselves but a short distance from the entrance to the valley.
They camped for the night, not lighting a fire, in case there should be
any unfriendly Indians in the vicinity.
As dawn drew near, the two young men crawled to the mountainous heights
overlooking the twisting valley. There they lay and watched the valley
below. For almost an hour they sat until finally about noontime a small
band of warriors could be seen riding into the valley. They rode
straight up the middle of the valley twisting and turning as the valley
turned but finally about midway up the valley they swung sharply to the
left and seemed to disappear into the very walls surrounding the valley.
“Come,” said Singing Fire, “we must investigate this strange
occurrence.”
It took them most of the afternoon to reach a vantage point overlooking
where the warriors had disappeared. Crawling carefully to the very edge,
the two young braves looked carefully over the edge. Below them lay a
fantastic sight. A tremendous Comanche encampment was being formed in a
small box canyon. The entrance to the box canyon was a mere crack in the
wall which was just about wide enough for one horse and rider to enter
at one time. Now Singing Fire could see why a rider going through the
valley would not see the opening for it was actually hidden from view by
a turn in the trail. If one were not looking for it, one would not find
it except by accident.
“This is why we have not seen the Comanches except for that one small
party. Under cover of night or early dawn they have been entering our
land in small parties, gathering here until their force is large enough
to make war upon our people.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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