ke to the valley. The rock also marks the eastern end of a road of white
sand reported to cross the lake bottom. On the northwest end of the road
was located a bed of plants, probably wild parsnips, which doctors
gathered for medicine. The wild parsnip was poisonous but doctors ate it
to demonstrate their power. They also chewed it into a paste and spread it
on rattlesnake bites.

Another spot familiar to doctors was a mysterious hole in the mountains
near Blue Lake. The hole could be located by following a spiraling path of
white quartz toward the center. According to the Washo tale, if a man
dropped even as much as a hair into this hole it made a great roaring
sound. Suzie Dick, a Washo woman, whose claim of being one hundred years'
old is borne out by white residents, insists that as a fifteen-year-old
girl she went to see this hole and was terrorized by a huge hand which
reached up out of the darkness and tried to seize her.

Vaguely known to most Washo but familiar to doctors was a cave situated
south and west of Gardnerville where ready-made grinding stones were to be
found. These, depending on the informant, were made by old Indians or were
put there by "nature" for the use of the Washo.

Noncurative Use Of Power (2567-2593)

Indian doctors often used their power in spectacular displays, apparently
to impress patients. Often these displays were competitive.

In the words of one informant: "Them old doctors used to see who had the
most power. They'd stick four or five sticks in the ground, each one
farther away than the last one, and see how many they could knock down."
Then, disconcertingly, he added: "You can read about that in Kroeber. He
tells about some other Indians who did that but I guess he didn't know the
Washo did it too." This informant considered Professor Kroeber as an
authority second only to himself in matters pertaining to Indians.

Divining And Rainmaking (2553-2556, 2566)

There were no doctors with rainmaking power among the Washo. However,
anyone, particularly a man deemed to be a leader, might encourage rain
during the summer. The rite, which is still observed occasionally by
individuals, consists of soaking a pine-nut cone in water and placing it
on the ground in the pine-nut hills. Modern Washo look upon this more as a
prayer, but in the past it may have been considered as a spell.

The ancient matriarch Suzie Dick steadfastly insists that less rain falls
in the Carso