hed my ears and my eyes when
he spoke (and he spoke like a warrior); I heard his war-cry, I saw the
Umbiquas running in the swamps, and crawling like black snakes under the
bushes. I spied thirty scalps on his belt, his leggings and mocassins
were sewn with the hair of the Wallah Wallahs[1].

[Footnote 1: Indians living on the Columbian river, two hundred miles
above Fort Vancouver, allied to the Nez Perces, and great supporters of
the Americans.]

"I should not speak; I am young yet and have no wisdom; my words are
few, I should not speak. But in my vision I heard a spirit, it came upon
the breeze, it entered within me.

"Nanawa is my father, the father to all, he loves us, we are his
children; he has brought with him a great warrior of the pale faces, who
was a mighty chief in his tribe; he has given us a young chief who is a
great hunter; in a few years he will be a great warrior, and lead our
young men in the war-path on the plains of the Wachinangoes[2], for
Owato Wanisha[3] is a Shoshone, though his skin is paler than the
flower of the magnolia.

[Footnote 2: Name given to the half-breeds by the Spaniards, but by
Indians comprehending the whole Mexican race.]

[Footnote 3: The "spirit of the young beaver;" a name given to me when I
was made a warrior.]

"Nanawa has also given to us two Makota Konayas[4], to teach wisdom to
our young men; their words are sweet, they speak to the heart; they know
everything and make men better. Nanawa is a great chief, very wise; what
he says is right, what he wishes must be done, for he is our father, and
he gave us strength to fight our enemies."

[Footnote 4: Two priests, literally two black gowns.]

"He is right; the Shoshones must have their lodges full of corn and
tobacco. The Shoshones must ever be what they are, what they were, a
great nation. But the chief of many winters hath said it; the hedge-hogs
and the foxes may dig the earth, but the eyes of the Shoshones are
always turned towards their enemies in the woods, or the buffaloes in
the plains."

"Yet the will of Nanawa must be done, but not by a Shoshone. We will
give him plenty of squaws and dogs; we will bring him slaves from the
Umbiquas, the Cayuses, and the Wallah Wallahs. They shall grow the corn
and the tobacco while we hunt; while we go to fetch more slaves, even in
the big mountains, or among the dogs of the south, the Wachinangoes. I
will send the vermilion[5] to my young warriors, they will paint th