"Our camp was thrown into great excitement; and as the warriors advanced
to meet the enemy, I was almost overcome by the sight of your uncle
among them! It was of no use for me to call him back--I think I prayed
in that moment to the Great Mystery to bring my boy safely home.

"I shall never forget, as long as I live, the events of that day. Many
brave men were killed; among them two of your uncle's intimate friends.
But when the battle was over, my boy came back; only his face was
blackened in mourning for his friends, and he bore several wounds in his
body. I knew that he had proved himself a true warrior.

"This was the beginning of your uncle's career, He has surpassed your
father and your grandfather; yes, all his ancestors except Jingling
Thunder, in daring and skill."

Such was my grandmother's account of the maiden battle of her third
son, Mysterious Medicine. He achieved many other names; among them Big
Hunter, Long Rifle and White Footprint. He had a favorite Kentucky rifle
which he carried for many years. The stock was several times broken,
but he always made another. With this gun he excelled most of
his contemporaries in accuracy of aim. He used to call the weapon
Ishtahbopopa--a literal translation would be "Pops-the-eye."

My uncle, who was a father to me for ten years of my life, was almost a
giant in his proportions, very symmetrical and "straight as an arrow."
His face was not at all handsome. He had very quiet and reserved manners
and was a man of action rather than of unnecessary words. Behind the
veil of Indian reticence he had an inexhaustible fund of wit and humor;
but this part of his character only appeared before his family and very
intimate friends. Few men know nature more thoroughly than he. Nothing
irritated him more than to hear some natural fact misrepresented. I
have often thought that with education he might have made a Darwin or an
Agassiz.

He was always modest and unconscious of self in relating his adventures.
"I have often been forced to realize my danger," he used to say, "but
not in such a way as to overwhelm me. Only twice in my life have I been
really frightened, and for an instant lost my presence of mind.

"Once I was in full pursuit of a large buck deer that I had wounded.
It was winter, and there was a very heavy fall of fresh snow upon the
ground. All at once I came upon the body of the deer lying dead on the
snow. I began to make a hasty examination, but before I ha