WHEN THE TREE FLOWERED _An Authentic Tale of the Old Sioux World_ _By_ JOHN G. NEIHARDT [Illustration] THE MACMILLAN COMPANY _New York--1951_ _Copyright, 1951, by John G. Neihardt_ All rights reserved--no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in magazine or newspaper. _First Printing_ Printed in the United States of America _Contents_ CHAPTER PAGE I “_I Used to Be Her Horse_” 1 II _When the Hundred Died_ 7 III _The New Medicine Power_ 12 IV _Wandering to Mourn_ 19 V _Was the Great Voice Angry?_ 26 VI _Chased by a Cow_ 33 VII _Going on Vision Quest_ 42 VIII “_Hold Fast; There Is More!_” 49 IX _The Old Bull’s Last Fight_ 55 X _The Boys Who Had Sister Trouble_ 62 XI _Helping a Brother-Friend_ 73 XII _The Mysterious Mother-Power_ 84 XIII _Four Against the Crows_ 91 XIV “_Am I Greater Than the People?_” 104 XV _The Sun Dance_ 113 XVI _Thanking the Food_ 130 XVII _The Woman Four Times Widowed_ 138 XVIII _Falling Star, the Savior_ 152 XIX _The Labors of the Holy One_ 168 XX _The Battle in the Blizzard_ 182 XXI _The Cleansing of a Kills-Home_ 193 XXII _Why the Island Hill Was Sacred_ 202 XXIII _Fighting the Gray Fox_ 209 XXIV “_It Was a Great Victory_” 216 XXV _The Woman Who Died Twice_ 222 XXVI _The Moon of Black Cherries_ 229 XXVII _The Dark Hills of Water_ 233 XXVIII _In the Village Called Pars_ 238 XXIX _The Girl’s Road_ 243 WHEN THE TREE FLOWERED I “_I Used to Be Her Horse_” A one-room log cabin, with an indolently smoking chimney, squatted in sullen destitution a hundred yards away. Before the door a ramshackle wagon stood waiting for nothing with its load of snow. Down yonder in the brushy draw an all-but-roofless shed stared listlessly upon the dull February sky. With a man-denying look, the empty reservation landscape round about lay hushed and bluing in the cold.