t once announced by the
medicine man, and without loss of time the squaws are busily engaged
in preparing the corpse for the grave. This does not take long;
whatever articles of clothing may have been on the body at the time
of death are not removed. The dead man's limbs are straightened out,
his weapons of war laid by his side, and his robes and blankets
wrapped securely and snugly around him, and now everything is ready
for burial. It is the custom to secure if possible, for the purpose
of wrapping up the corpse, the robes and blankets in which the
Indian died. At the same time that the body is being fitted for
internment, the squaws having immediate care of it, together with
all the other squaws in the neighborhood, keep up a continued chant
or dirge, the dismal cadence of which may, when the congregation of
women is large, be heard for quite a long distance. The death song
is not a mere inarticulate howl of distress; it embraces expressions
eulogistic in character, but whether or not any particular formula
of words is adopted on such occasion is a question which I am
unable, with the materials at my disposal, to determine with any
degree of certainty.

The next duty falling to the lot of the squaws is that of placing
the dead man on a horse and conducting the remains to the spot
chosen for burial. This is in the cleft of a rock, and, so far as
can be ascertained, it has always been customary among the Utes to
select sepulchers of this character. From descriptions given by Mr.
Harris, who has several times been fortunate enough to discover
remains, it would appear that no superstitious ideas are held by
this tribe with respect to the position in which the body is placed,
the space accommodation of the sepulcher probably regulating this
matter; and from the same source I learn that it is not usual to
find the remains of more than one Indian deposited in one grave.
After the body has been received into the cleft, it is well covered
with pieces of rock, to protect it against the ravages of wild
animals. The chant ceases, the squaws disperse, and the burial
ceremonies are at an end. The men during all this time have not been
idle, though they have in no way participated in the preparation of
the body, have not joined the squaws in chanting praises to the
memory of the dead, and have not even as mere spectators attended
the funeral, yet they have h