Three Years on the Plains | Page 6

of joy she
seemed to pass from death to life.
"The white man has conquered!" said the chief; "hereafter let us be
friends. You have trusted the Indian; he will repay you with confidence
and kindness."
And he was true to his word. Judge W---- lived many years, laying
there the foundation of that flourishing community which has spread
over a wide extent of western New York.
The Far West, in my childhood, meant the "Genesee country," as far as
the falls of Niagara.

BIG THUNDER--A WINNEBAGO CHIEF.
The Winnebago Indians migrated from Belvidere, Illinois, on the
Kish-wau-kie River, to Minnesota, and thence to the Omaha reservation,
in Nebraska. At Belvidere, there is a mound on which Big Thunder
when he died was set up, his body supported by posts driven in the
ground. This was done at his dying request, and in accord with his
prophecy to his tribe: "That there was to be a great and terrible fight
between the white and red men. And when the red men were about to
be beaten in the battle, he would come to life again, and rising up with
a shout, would lead his people to victory!" His tribe would visit the spot
once a year, where his body was drying away, and leave tobacco as an
offering; and the white young men would surely go there soon after and
stow the plugs away in their capacious pockets. As the town became
settled, visitors would carry off the bones as mementos of the old chief.
After they were all gone, some wags would place the bones of some
dead sheep for relic-hunters to pick up and carry home as the bones of a
noble chief.
I have seen the stakes, which was all that remained of "Big Thunder"
after he was dried up and blown away.

INDIAN TRADITION--THE DELUGE.
The Oneidas have a tradition about the deluge, which is very singular.
According to their story, an unlimited expanse of water covered the
whole space now occupied by the world we live in.
At this time the whole human family dwelt in a country situated in the
upper regions of the air. Everything needed for comfort and pleasure
was found. The people did not know what death was, nor its attendant,
sickness or disease; and their minds were free from jealousy, hatred, or
revenge.
At length it happened that all of this was changed, and care and trouble
came to them.

A certain youth was seen to withdraw himself from the circle of social
amusements, and he wandered away alone in the groves, as his favorite
resort.
Care and sorrow marked his countenance, and his body, from long
abstinence from food, began to make him look to his friends like a
skeleton of a man. Anxious looks could not solve the mystery of his
grief; and by-and-by, weakened in body and soul, he yielded to his
companions, and promised to disclose the cause of his trouble, on
condition that they would dig up by the roots a certain pine-tree, lay
him in his blanket by the edge of the hole, and place his wife by his
side; at once all hands were ready. The fatal tree was taken up by the
roots; in doing which the earth was opened, and a passage made into
the abyss below. The blanket was spread by the hole; the youth lay
upon it the wife also (soon to be a mother) took her seat by his side.
The crowd, anxious to know the cause of such strange and unheard-of
conduct, pressed close around; when, all of a sudden, to their horror
and surprise, he seized upon the woman and threw her headlong into
the regions of darkness below! Then, rising from the ground, he told
the people that he had for some time suspected that his wife was untrue
to him, and so, having got rid of the cause of his trouble, he would soon
recover his health and spirits.
All those amphibious animals which now inhabit this world then
roamed through the watery waste to which this woman, in her fall, was
now hastening. The loon first discovered her coming, and called a
council in haste to prepare for her reception,--observing that the animal
which approached was a human being, and that earth was necessary for
its accommodation. The first thing to be thought of was, who should
support the burden?
The sea-bear first presented himself for a trial of his strength. At once
the other animals gathered round and jumped upon his back; while the
bear, unable to bear up such a weight, sank beneath the water, and was
by all the crowd judged unequal to support the weight of the earth.
Several others presented themselves, were tried, and found wanting.
But last of