INDIAN MYTHS OF THE NORTHWEST.

1916;] Indian Myths of the Northwest. 376

INDIAN MYTHS OF THE NORTHWEST.BY WILLIAM D. LYMAN.

Since the publication of the book on the ColumbiaRiver by the writer, so many inquiries have come inasking for the original sources of Indian Myths thatI am offering this attempt to answer in part theseinquiries.

To all persons of broad sympathies and of a rangeof thought beyond the narrow round of their personalbusiness, the folk lore and fairy tales and religiousmyths and ceremonies of our native Indians mustbring a sentiment of pathos and romantic interest.Generally, our dominant race has had little patiencewith the so-called inferior races, and has brushed themout of the way with ruthless disregard of either his-tory, poetry, or justice. Fortunately there havealways been some among the conquerors who havehad humanity and sympathy enough to turn asidefrom the general rush of "civilized men" in theirscramble for land, minerals, timber, and other naturalresources, and to try to draw from the submergedaborigines their conceptions of the unseen powersand their own origin and destiny, as well as the expla-nation of the nature and sources of the material uni-verse.

Like all primitive men the Oregon Indians have anextensive mythology. With childlike interest in thestars and moon and sun and fire and water and forests,as well as plants and animal life and their own natures,they have sought out and passed on a wealth of legendand fancy which in its best features is worthy of aplace with the exquisite creations of Norse and

376 American Antiquarian Society. [Oct.,

Hellenic fancy, even with much of the crude andgrotesque.

Yet it is not easy to secure these legends just as theIndians teU them. In the first place, few of the earlyexplorers knew how or cared to draw out the ideas ofthe first uncontaminated Indians. The early settlersgeneraUy had a stupid intolerance in dealing withIndians that made them shut right up Uke clams andwithhold their stock of ideas. Later the missionariesgeneraUy inclined to give them the impression thattheir "heathen" legends and ideas were obstacles totheir "salvation," and should be extirpated fromtheir minds. StiU further the few that did really getupon a sympathetic footing with them and draw outsome of their myths, were Ukely to get them in frag-ments and piece them out with Bible stories or othercivilized conceptions, and thus the native stories havebecome adulterated.

It is difficult to get the Indians to talk freely, evenwith those whom they like and trust. EducatedIndians seem to be ashamed of their native lore, andwiU generally avoid talking about it with Whites ataU unless under exceptional conditions. Ghristian-ized Indians seem to consider the repetition of theirold myths a relapse into heathenism, and hence wiUparry efforts to draw them out. In general, evenwhen civiUzed, Indians are proud, reserved, suspicious,and on their guard. And with the primal Indians,few can make much headway. The investigatormust start in indirectly, not manifesting any eager-ness, and simply suggest as if by accident some pe-culiar appearance or incident in sky or trees or water,and let the Indian move on in his own way to emptyhis own mind, never suspecting any effort by hislistener to gather up and teU again his story. Andeven under the most favoring conditions, one maythink he is getting along famously, when suddenlythe Indian wiU pause, glance furtively at the listener.

1915.] Indian Myths of the Northwest. 377

give a moody chuckle, relapse into a stony and apa-thetic silence,—that is the end of the tale.

Our stories have been derived mainly from thereports of those who have lived much among theIndians, and who have been able to embrace the rareoccasions when, without self-consciousness or evenmuch thought of outsiders, the Natives could speakout freely. There is usually no very close way ofjudging of the accuracy of observation or correctnessof report of these investigators, except as their state-ments are corroborated by others.^ These storiessometimes confiict, different tribes having quite differ-ent versions of certain stories. Then again theIndians have a peculiar habit of "continued stories,"by which at the tepee fire one will take up some wellknown tale and add to it and so make a new story ofit, or at least a new conclusion. As with the minstrelsand minnesingers of feudal Europe, at the tournaments,the best fellow is the one who tells the most thrillingtale.

One confusing condition that often arises withIndian names and stories is that some Indians use aword generically and others use the same wordspecifically. For instance, the native name forMount Adams, commonly given as "Pahtou," andMt. Rainier or Tacoma, better spelled "Takhoma"as sounded by the Indians, really mean any highmountain. A Wasco Indian once told me that histribe called Mt. Hood, "Pahtou," meaning the "bigmountain," but that the Indians on the other side ofthe Columbia River applied the same name to Adams.A very intelligent Puyallup Indian told me that thename of the "Great White Mountain" was "Tak-homa," with accent and prolonged sound on thesecond syllable, but that any snow peak was thesame, with the second syllable not so prolonged,according to height or distance of the peak. Mt. St.Helens was also "Takhoma," but with the "ho"not so prolonged. But among some other Indians


we find Mt. St. Helens known as " Lawailaclough, "and with some Mt. Hood is known as "Yetsl."Still other names are "Loowit" for St. Helens and"Wiyeast" for Hood. Adams seems to be known tosome as " Klickitat. " "Kulshan" for Baker, mean-ing the "Great White Watcher," is one of the mostattractive of Indian names and should be preserved.There is "Shuksan," or "The place of the StormWind," the only one of the Northwestern peaks whichhas preserved its Indian name. In reference to"Takhoma" a Puyallup woman told me once thatamong her people the name meant the "Breast thatFeeds," or "The Breast of the Milk White Waters,"referring to the glaciers or the white streams that issuefrom them. On the other hand, Winthrop, in"Canoe and Saddle," states that the Indians appliedthe name "Takhoma" to any high snow peak. Mr.Edwin Eells of Tacoma tells me that he derived fromRev. Father Hylebos of the same city, the statementthat the name "Takhoma" was compounded of"Tah" and "Koma," and that among certain Indiansthe word "Koma" meant any snow peak, while"Tah" is a superlative. Hence "Takhoma" meanssimply the great peak.

We find something of. the same inconsistencies inregard to the Indian names of rivers. Our mapsabound with supposed Indian names of Rivers andyet an educated Nez Perce Indian named Luke,living at Kamiah, Idaho, told me that the Indians,at least of that region, had no ñames of rivers, butonly of localities. He said that " Kooskooskie, "which Lewis and Clark understood to be the name ofwhat we now call the Clearwater, was in reality arepetition of "Koos," their word for water, and theymeant merely to say that it was a strong water. Onthe other hand we find many students of Indian lan-guages who have understood that there were namesfor the large rivers, even for the Columbia. In thebeautiful little book by B. H. Barrows, published and


distributed by the Union Pacific Railroad Company,we find the name "Shocatilicum" or "FriendlyWater" given as the Chinook name for the Columbia.It is interesting to notice that this same word for"friendly water" appears in Vol. ii, of the Lewis andClark Journal, but with different spelling, in oneplace being " Shocatilcum " and in another place," Chockalilum. " Reverend Father Blanchet is au-thority for the statement in Historical Magazine,11, 335, that the Chinook Indians used the name"Yakaitl Wimakl" for the Lower Columbia, and aYakima Indian called William Charley, gives "Chew-anna" as still another Indian name for the Columbia.

We have many supposed Indian names for God, as"Nekahni," or "Sahalie," but Miss Kate McBeth,long a missionary among the Nez Perces, tells methat those Indians had no native name for the deity.Of these Indian myths many deal with the chief God,as "Nekahni," "Sahalie," "Dokidatl," "Snoqualm,"or "Skomalt," while others have to do with the lessergrade of the supernatural beings, as the Coyote god,variously named "Tallapus," "Speelyi," or "Sinch-aleep." Others may treat of " Skallalatoots " (Fai-ries), "Toomuck" (Devils), or the various forms of"Tomanowas" (magic). A large number of thesemyths describe the supposed origin of strange fea-tures of the natural world, rocks, lakes, whirlpools,winds and waterfalls. Some describe the "animalpeople," "Watetash," as the Klickitats call them.Some of the best are fire-myths., And now in regard to the chief original sources

and the most reliable investigators of these myths.This survey is necessarily incomplete. The endeavoris to name the students and writers of myths as faras possible. I have failed to secure reports from some,both whites and Indians, from whom I had hoped toobtain valuable matter. The hope is that this articlewill lead to other contributions and that it may be-


come a nucleus for the gathering of such material asto render this subject less fragmentary than now.

First in the natural order of the investigators andrecords of Indian myths come the early explorers andwriters of old Oregon. Most of these give us littleon the special subject of myths, though they givemuch on the habits, customs, occupations, and imple-ments of the natives. The earliest explorer in Oregon,so far as I know, to give any native legend is GabrielFranchere, who came to Astoria with the Astor FurCompany in 1811. In his narrative, upon whichIrving's "Astoria" is largely based, we find a fine storyof the creation of men by Etalapass, and their sub-sequent improvement by Ecannum. Franchere saysthat this legend was related to him by EUewa, one ofthe sons of Concomly, the one-eyed Chinook chief,who figures conspicuously in Franchere's narrative.Of valuable books of the same period of Franchere,are Ross Cox's "Adventures," and Alexander Ross's"Adventures on the Columbia," both of which con-tain valuable references to the customs and super-stitious ideas of the natives, though not much in theway of myths. Ross gives an interesting myth of theOakinackens (" Okanogans, " as we now say) aboutthe origin of the Indians or Skyloo on the white man'sisland, Samahtumawhoolah. The Indians were thenvery white and ruled by a female spirit, or GreatMother, named "Skomalt, " but their island got looseand drifted on the ocean for many suns, and as aresult they became darkened to their present hue.Ross gives also an account of the belief of the Oak-inackens in a good spirit, one of whose names is"Skyappe, " and a bad spirit, one of whose names was"Chacha." The chief deity of those Indians seemsto have been the great mother of life, "Skomalt,"whose name also has the addition of "Squisses. "Ross says that those Indians change their namesconstantly and doubtless their deities did the same.


Of valuable books a few years later than those justnamed, one especially deserving of mention is Dr.Samuel Parker's "Exploring Tour to Oregon," theresult of observations made in 1835 and 1836. This,however, contains little in the way of mythology.Gaptain Gharles Wilkes, the American explorer ofthe early forties, gives a very interesting account ofa Palouse myth of a beaver which was cut up to makethe tribes. This is evidently another version of theKlickitat story of the great beaver, "Wishpoosh, "of Lake Gleelum. One of the most important of theearly histories of Oregon is Dunn's, the materials forwhich were gathered in the decade of the forties.With other valuable matter it contains accounts ofthe religious conceptions of the Indians, and here wefind the legend of the Thunder Bird of the Tinneh, anorthern tribe. In this same general period, thougha little later, we find the most brilliant of all writersdealing with early Oregon; that is, the gifted scholar,poet and soldier, Theodore Winthrop. His book,"Ganoe and Saddle," has no rival for literary excel-lence and graphic power of all the books which havedealt with the Northwest. The book was first pub-Ushed in 1862, and republished fiftji^ years later inbeautiful form by John H. WiUiams of Tacoma."Ganoe and Saddle" commemorates a journey fromPuget Sound across the mountains and through theYakima and Klickitat countries in 1854. It containsseveral fine Indian stories, notably that of the Miserof Mt. Tacoma, and that of the Devil of the Dalles.Winthrop does not state from whom directly hesecured the second of these myths, but no doubt fromthe Indians themselves, although the peculiar richimagination and picturesque language of Winthropare in evidence throughout the narration. The taleof the Miser of Mt. Tacoma is attributed by Winthropto Hamitchou, an Indian of the Squallygamish tribe.

At about the same time as Winthrop, occurred thevisit and investigations of James G. Swan, whose


book, "The Northwest Coast," was published in1857. In this is found the creation myth of theOgress of Saddle Mountain, relating the issuing forthof Indians from eggs cast down the mountain side bythe Ogress. Many years ago Rev. Myron Eells toldthe writer a variation of that story, which has ap-peared in sundry forms and publications, being thestory of Toulux the South Wind, Quootshoi, the witch,and Skamson, the Thunder Bird. In addition to thelegend of the Thunder Bird, Swan gives many itemsof peculiar interest. Among these we find his ideathat certain customs of the Indians ally them with theTen Lost Tribes of Israel. His final impression seems tobe, however, that they are autochthonous in America.He refers to the observation of Gen. George Gibbs ofthe similarity of Klickitat myths to those in Long-fellow's "Hiawatha." He also refers to the beeswaxship of the Nahalem. In connection with the thoughtof Indian resemblance to the Ten Lost Tribes, it isworth noticing that this has come from variousdirections. Miss Kate McBeth has expressed thesame in connection with the Nez Perces. It was alsoa favorite idea with B. B. Bishop, one of the earliestbuilders of steamboats on the Columbia, who lived,many years at Pendleton. He told the writer thatthe Indians at the Cascades had a spring festival withthe first run of salmon. They would boil whole thefirst large salmon caught, and have a ceremony inwhich the whole tribe would pass in procession aroundthe fish, each taking a bit. They exercised the utmostcare to leave the skeleton intact, so that at the endit had been picked clean but with not a bone broken.Mr. Bishop thought that this was a survival of theJewish idea of the Paschal Lamb.

Among the great collectors of all kinds of historicaldata in what might be called the middle period ofNorthwest history and not exactly belonging to anyone of the specific groups is H. H. Bancroft. In his"Native Races" are found many myths, with refer-


enees given, but these mainly deal with Mexican,Central American, and Californian Indians. Herefers to Holmburg's ethnological studies in Germanas containing valuable matter in regard to our North-western Indians. Harmon's Journal, with its refer-ence to the TacuUies of British Columbia and theirlegend of the Musk Rat, is also named. In the sameconnection, we find reference to Yehl the Raven, anespecial favorite of the Indians of British Columbiaand the upper part of Puget Sound.

From what may be termed the first group of nar-rators of native tales, we may turn to those that maybe called the scientific ethnologists. I am indebtedto Dr. Franz Boas, himself the foremost of the group,for the list of these professional students of the sub-ject. ' These men took up the matter in a more scien-tific and methodical way than the travellers andpioneers and have presented the results of their workin form that appeals to the scholar, the work of trainedinvestigators, seeking the facts and giving them asexactly as possible, not affected by the distortionsand exaggerations common to unscientific observers.They were all connected with the Smithsonian Insti-tute, and their work was mainly under the Govern-ment. The bibliography, as given me by Dr. Boas,is as follows:EDWARD SAPIR, Wishram Texts (publications of the American Ethno-

logical Society, Vol. II).LEO J . FRACHTENBBBO, COOS Texts (Columbia University contributions

to Anthropology, Vol. I).LEO J . FRACHTENBERG, Lower Umpqua Texts (Ibid., Vol. IV).JAMES TEIT, Traditions of the Thompson Indians (Memoirs of the

American Folk Lore Society, Vol. V. This is not Wasliington, butpractically identical with material from the interior of Washington).

JAMES TEIT, Mythology of the Thompson Indians (Jesup North PacificExpedition Publications, Vol. VIII).

JAMES TEIT, The Shuswap (Ibid. Vol. II).FRANZ BOAS, Indianische Sagen von der Nord-Pacifischen Küste Ameri-

kas.FRANZ BOAS, Mythology of the Indians of Washington, and Oregon

(Globus, Vol. LXIII, pp. 154-157, 172-175, 190-193).


H. J. SPINDEN, Myths of the Nez Perce (Journal of American Folk Lore,Vol. XXI).

LOUISA MCDBBMOTT, Myths of the Flathead Indians (Ibid. Vol. XIV).FRANZ BOAS, Sagen der Kootenay (Berlin Society for Anthropology,

Ethnology, etc.. Vol. XXIII, pp. 161-172).LIVINGSTON FARRAND, Traditions of the Quinault Indians (Publications

of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition, Vol. II).FBANZ BOAS, Chinook Text (Bureau of Ethnology, Gov't Printing OfiBce,

1894).FHANZ BOAS, Cathlamet Texts (Ibid).JAMES TBIT, Traditions of the Lilloost Indians (Journal of American

Folk Lore, Vol. XXV).JEREMIAH CTJRTIN, Myths of the Modocs (Little, Brown & Co.).

To these may be added, as of special value, thestudies of Prof. Albert S. Gatschet among the Modocs,found under the title, "Oregonian Folk-Lore, " in theJournal of American Folk-Lore, Vol. IV, 1891, Hough-ton, Mifflin & Co. The other volumes of the Journalof American Folk-Lore from 1888 to 1913 containvaluable matter.

Dr. Boas found a treasury of information in an oldIndian named Charlie Cultee at Bay Center in WillapaHarbor, Washington, and from that source derivedthe material for the most scientific and uncoloredstudy of Indian lore yet given to the public. Theseappear in the Chinook Texts of Dr. Boas. In thisis a fine story of the first ship seen by the Clatsops.This is found also in H. S. Lyman's History of Oregon.In Professor Gatschett's book are found some of thefinest fire myths and fish myths of the Northwest.

Following the groups of the explorers and the pro-fessional ethnologists, may come the larger body ofmiscellaneous collectors and writers, who, throughlocal papers and magazines and published books, aswell as personal narration, have rescued many quaintand curious gems of Indian mythology from oblivionand through various channels have imparted them

. to the slowly accumulating stock.Those no longer living may properly appear first.

I am mentioning here only those whom I know directlyto have been students of the subject and to have de-


rived matter directly from the Indians and given itin some available form to the world. Of course therewere many others who spun Indian "yarns," in theway of transient entertainment, some of whom I knewas a boy in Old Oregon. Well do I remember listen-ing with bated breath to Jo Meek or J. S. Grifíin orDr. Geiger or Father Eells tell tales of the wars andadventures of the old times, but I do not recall any .regular myths from these men. No doubt, too, manyreaders of this article will be able to refer to investi-gators whom I do not mention but who deserve aplace in such a list.

Of comparatively recent students no longer living,Silas Smith of Astoria was one of the best. Hisfather was Solomon Smith of the Wyeth Expedition,while his mother was Celiast, daughter of the Clatsopchief Cobaiway. Through his Indian mother Mr.Smith obtained much interesting matter, much ofwhich was preserved by H. S. Lyman in his history ofOregon, and in articles in the Oregonian, HistoricalQuarterly, and other publications. H. S. Lyman wasalso an original investigator, deriving his data mainlyfrom Silas Smith and from a group of Indians whoformerly lived at the mouth of the Nekanicum.These stories appear in his history of Oregon and in agroup contained in the "Tallapus Stories" publishedin the Oregonian. Another intelligent and patientinvestigator was Rev. Myron Eells who lived formany years on Hood's Canal. Many years ago Iheard from him legends from the Indians which hederived directly from the natives, such as the ThunderBird, the Flood around Mt. Tacoma (which hethought colored by the story of Noah in the Bible),and others. In the book by Mr. Eells entitled "TenYears Missionary Work in Skokomish" he gives avaluable description of the Tomanowas. In variousnumbers of the American Antiquarian, Mr. Eellshas valuable articles as follows:—"The Religion ofthe Twana Indians," July, 1879; "Dokidatl, or the


God of the Puget Sound Indians," November, 1884;"The Indians of Puget Sound, " May, 1888 and March1890.

^ Prominent among the scholars and lecturers of1 Oregon is the great name of Thomas Condon, for along time in the state university, and the earlieststudent in a large way of the geology of the North-west. He was interested in Indian myths as in almosteverything that had to do with man and nature.The legend of the Bridge of the Gods, particularlyappealed to him. I heard him tell that story almostas long ago as I can remember, though apparentlyothers had discovered it earlier. One of the notablestudents of both the geology and anthropology ofthe Northwest was George Gibbs, who came to Ore-gon as a government geologist in 1853. In his reporton the Pacific Railroad in House of RepresentativesDocuments of 1853-4, he gives the first publishedversion, so far as I can discover, of the Bridge of theGods. He tells the story thus: "The Indians tella characteristic tale of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helensto the effect that they were man and wife; that theyfinally quarreled and threw fire at one another, andthat St. Helens was victor; since when Mt. Hoodhas been afraid, while St. Helens, having a stoutheart, still burned. In some versions this story isconnected with the slide which formed the Gascadesof the Golumbia. " Mr. Gibbs also gives someYakima legends.

One of the most distinguished of all the literarypioneers of Old Oregon was Samuel A. .Glark. Inhis "Pioneer Days in Oregon" are several interestinglegends well told. In this we find the legend of theNahalem, with Ona and Sandy and all their tribula-tions. • We find here told also the story of the Bridgeof the Gods, in which Hood and Adams are repre-sented as the contending forces, having been origi-nally the abutments of the Bridge of the Gods. Butthe most noted contribution of Mr. Glark to this


legend was his poem called "The Legend of theMountains," referring to the fabled Bridge, whichappeared in Harper's Magazine of February, 1874.This represents Mt. St. Helens as a goddess for whomHood and Adams contended, hurling huge stones ateach other and finally breaking down the bridge.The story of the Bridge became the most noted of allnative myths, being related to practically every trav-eller that made the steamboat trip down the Colum-bia. It was used by Frederick H. Balch, a giftedyoung man who died at an early age, but who gavesuch promise of literary ability, that we well maybelieve that with maturity he would have been one ofthe foremost writers of the Pacific Coast. His vividand dramatic story, "The Bridge of the Gods," isgenerally recognized as the best story yet written inthe Northwest. Of another version of the bridgemyth we shall have occasion to speak later in con-nection with the original work of Fred A. Saylor, oneof the leading students of this subject. Before leav-ing those who have passed on we will mention JoaquinMiller, in whose book, "My Life among the Modocs"is found the legend of Mt. Shasta.

Let us now turn to those discoverers and writersof Indian myths who are still living. The majorityof these are from the nature of the case adaptors andtranscribers, rather than original students. Butsome among them are entitled to the place of genuineinvestigators. Among these a foremost place mustbe accorded to Fred A. Saylor of Portland. He wasfor several years editor of the Oregon Native Son, andfor it he wrote a number of stories which he deriveddirectly from the Indians. A student of these storiesfrom boyhood he has accumulated the largest collec-tion of matter both published and unpublished of anyone in the Northwest. This collection is preservedby him in fourteen large scrap books, and constitutesa treasury of valuable data which it is to be hopedmay soon appear in a published form for the delight


and profit of many readers. Aside from the legendspublished in the Native Son, legends written by Mr.Saylor may be found in the Oregonian, OregonJournal, Pacific Monthly, and Western Lady, as wellas in the publication appearing at the time of theLewis and Clark Fair entitled "Portland—1905,What to see and How to see it. " Among the legendsof which Mr. Saylor is entitled to be regarded as thediscoverer, are these: The Legend of Tahoma;Why the Indian fears Golden Hair, or the Origin ofCastle Rock; Speelyi, or the Origin of LataurelleFalls and the Pillars of Hercules; Thorns on Rose-bushes; The Noah of the Indians; The Strange Storyof a Double Shadow; The Legend of Snake RiverValley; A Wappatoo Account of the Flood; The LastSignal Fire of the Multnomah; The Legend of theWillamette; The Love of an Indian Maid; Enumpth-la; Coyote's Tomb; Multnomah. The last namedhas been presented by students on the campus of theState University and also at the Agricultural Collegeof Oregon. To Mr. Saylor also must be attributedthe preservation and original version of the splendidstory of the Tomanowas Bridge and the three moun-tains, Wiyeast (Hood), Klickitat (Adams), Lowitt(St. Helens). This is a variant of the Bridge of theGods, really a finer story, and was derived by Mr.Saylor from a Klickitat Indian, Wyanoshot by name,known as McKay by the Whites in early timesthroughout Yamhill and Washington Counties. Thisversion was abundantly verified by Mr. Saylor byrepeated inquiries among other Indians. To mynotion this is the finest of all Indian legends, and isthe source of the story as narrated in my "ColumbiaRiver." This version of Mr. Saylor appeared firstin the Oregon Native Son for January, 1900. Withit are given also the various other versions with theirrespective authors, making this number of the NativeSon one of peculiar value.


I am indebted to Mr. Saylor for some valuable dataon writers of whom-I did not have exact knowledge.Among these may be named the following: Legendsof the Nisqualie Indians, by James Wickersham;Legend of Crater Lake, by Mark B. Kerr, in the Ore-gon Native Son of July, 1899; Myths of the Chehalis,by Robert J. Jackson; Myths of the Makahs, by JamesT. Markistan, the last two of these writers beingnative Indians of the tribes of which they write;Legends of Elephant Rock, by R. A. Watson, in theOregonian of August, 1904; Legend of Coulee's Pillar,which as published is fiction, but the genuine accountof which is preserved by Mr. Saylor in an unpublishedform; Legend of Chintimini (Mary's Peak) in bothprose and poetry by J. B. Horner in the Oregon NativeSon of June, 1900; Legend of Mt. Hood in verse byCol. F. V. Drake partly published in the OregonNative Son of June, 1909; Legend of Dead IndianLake, by J. T. Forest in the Northwest Journal ofthe early nineties; Legend of Kaniskee, by J. N.Hibbs; The Loves of the Mountains, by Mrs. De EttaCogswell; The Monarch of the Mountains, by C. W.Pefley; Battle of the Titans, by Ruf us C. Rorapacker;Legend of Canawitz, by H. D. Chapman, in theOregon Native Son, 1900; The Death Song of Itsayaya(Coyote), by C. E. S. Wood. It may be added inconnection with the legend of Mr. Wood that he isthe author of several Nez Perce Legends which wereprinted by his son for personal distribution and havenot reached the general public. To Mr. Fred Lock-ley of the Pacific Monthly and Oregon Journal, wellknown throughout the Northwest as an entertainingand valuable writer, should be attributed the story ofWhistling Quail in the Pacific Monthly of May, 1899.

Of investigators known more directly and inti-mately by the author none seems more worthy ofextended and favorable mention than Dr. G. B.Kuykendall of Pomeroy, Washington. He was fora number of years the physician for the Yakima


Reservation at Fort Simcoe. He began his work ofcollecting in 1875, deriving his knowledge directlyfrom the Indians. He tells me that his authoritieswere almost entirely old Indians, for from such onlycould he secure narrations of unadulterated charac-ter. His first published writings were in the WestShore of Portland in 1887. His most mature contri-bution, which may indeed be considered the best yetgiven to the public, is found in Vol. II of the " Historyof the Pacific Northwest," published by the NorthPacific History Co. of Portland in 1889. This is anadmirable piece of work, and students of the sub-ject will find here a treasure of Native lore. Thefollowing is the list of stories given by Dr. Kuykendallin this volume: Wishpoosh the Beaver God and theOrigin of the Tribes; Speelyi fights Enumtla; Speelyioutwits the Beaver Women'; Rock Myths; Legend ofthe Tick; Mountain Lake Myths; The Origin of Fire;Water Nymphs; Wawa the Mosquito God; Origin ofthe Loon; Castiltah, the Crayfish; Wakapoosh, theRattle Snake; The Tumwater Luminous Stone God;The Wooden Firemen of the Cascades; Contest be-tween the Chinooks and Cold Wind Brothers; Speel-yi's Ascent to Heaven; Coyote and Eagle attempt tobring the Dead back from Spirit Land; The Isle of theDead. Dr. Kuykendall gives also an account of thedances, laws, medicine, marriage, spiritualism, namingof children, mourning customs and burial ceremoniesof the Indians, and tells their idea of the soul and of afuture state.

Another original investigator and the author of themost unique and picturesque book devoted exclu-sively to Indian myths of which I know is W. S. Phil-lips of Seattle, well known by his nom de plume of"El Comancho." The book by Mr. Phillips is "To-tem Tales." In a recent letter Mr. Phillips tells methat he gathered the matter for "Totem Tales" fromthe Puget Sound Indians and from Haida Indianswho had come south. This work was mainly done


about twenty-five years ago. He verified much ofhis matter by comparing with Judge Swan, and bythe stories acquired by Dr. Shaw, who was at one timeIndian Agent at Port Madison, and whose wife wasone of the daughters of old Ghief Sealth (Seattle).He derived matter for comparison also from Rev.Myron Eells. The chief Indian authority of Mr.PhiUips was old Ghisiahka (Indian John to theWhites), and it was a big tree on the shore of LakeUnion that suggested the idea of the "Talking Pine"which the author wove so picturesquely into thenarrative. A year ago Mr. PhiUips published hisGhinook Book, the most extensive study of the jargonlanguage yet made. He has also just got out a mostattractive book entitled "Indian Tales for LittleFolk."

Another present day investigator, whose work isespeciaUy worthy of mention is Rev. J. Neilson Barryof Baker, Oregon, an enthusiastic and intelUgentstudent of every phase of the history of the North-west. In Ghap. I l l of Vol. I of Gaston's "Genten-nial History of Oregon, " Mr. Barry gives a valuablecontribution to Indian legends.

Yet another original student is Miss Kate McBethof Lapwai, Idaho, who with her sister lived for yearsamong the Nez Perces performing a most bénéficientmissionary work for them. In her book, "The NezPerces since Lewis and Glark," may be found theKamiah myth, and a few others derived directly fromthose Indians. I learned from Mr. John J. Guyer,school inspector at the Kamiah Indian Agency, thatan Indian named James Stuart of Kooskia, Idaho, isan authority on Nez Perce lore, but I have not beenable to derive matter directly from him. Mentionmay weU be made here also of a Nez Perce Indiannamed Luke, living at Kamiah, who has a very intelli-gent knowledge of aU kinds of Indian matters. MissMcBeth teUs me that the Nez Perces do not like todiscuss generaUy their "heathen" stories and customs.


In connection with the Nez Perces it may be statedthat Yellow Wolf of Nespilem Washington is anauthority on the Myth of the Kamiah Monster.

Still another enthusiastic student of Indian Leg-ends is LucuUus V. McWhorter of North Yakima.He is an adopted member of the Yakima tribe, andhas been of incalculable benefit to the Indians ininstructing them as to their rights, in presenting theircause to the Government, and in making known theirneeds as well as some of their wrongs to the generalpublic through voice and pen. He has made aspecialty in recent years of organizing the Indiansand taking them to "Round Ups" and "FrontierDays." A recent pamphlet by him on the treatmentof the Yakimas in connection with their water rightsis an "eye opener" on some phases of Indian serviceand Indian problems. Mr. McWhorter has gathereda large amount of matter from the Indians, in whicliis material for three books: Traditions of . theYakimas; Hero Stories of the Yakimas; Nez PerceWarriors in the War of 1877. Among the proteges ofMr. McWhorter from whom he tells me much ofinterest could be derived, are Chief Yellow Wolf ofthe Joseph band of Nez Perces, and Humishumaor Morning Dove, an Okanogan woman of unusualbeauty and intelligence and well instructed in theEnglish language. It may be stated that MorningDove will soon publish an Indian romance, entitled"Cogeawea."

There are a number of valuable magazine articlesof whose authors I have no extended knowledge.Among these is one by James Deans in the Marchand September numbers of the American Antiquarianunder the title, "The Raven in the Mythology ofNorthwest America. "

Any reference to any phase of Oregon would beincomplete without mention of John Minto, one ofthe most honored of pioneers, one of the noblest ofmen, and one of the best examples of those ambitious.


industrious, and high minded State builders who gavethe Northwest its loftiest ideals. Mr. Minto was astudent of the Indians and discovered and gave tothe world various Clatsop and Nehalem legends.Hon. E. L. Smith of Hood River, well known as anofficial and legislator of both Oregon and Washington,and a man of such character that all who ever knewhim have the highest honor for him in every relationof life, has made a life long study of the natives andhas a great collection of myths both in mind and onpaper. He is one of the most sympathetic, tolerant,and appreciative of investigators, one whom theIndians of the mid-Columbia trust implicity. Hehas written little for publication in comparison withwhat he knows, and it is to be hoped that his storesof material may be brought within reach before long.One of the prominent pioneers of Yakima, Hon. A. J.Splawn, now Mayor of that city, has in preparation avolume on the early days of the Yakima Valley, inwhich, as I understand, he will include matter uponthe Indians and their myths. This book will beawaited with interest. Worthy of mention as a gen-eral student of the geography^ and language of theIndians is Mr. John Gill of Portland. While he hasnot made a specialty of myths, he has studied theha,bits and language with special attention, and hisdictionary of the Chinook jargon is one of the mostvaluable collections of the kind.

It is proper to mention here several people whom Iknow to be well versed in native lore, yet who havenot, so far as I know, given their knowledge of legendsor myths to the public in book or magazine form.The most conspicuous, indeed, of this group is nolonger living. This was Dr. William C. McKay, agrandson of the McKay of the Astor Fur Co. who losthis life on the Tonquin. The mother of Dr. McKaywas a Chinook "princess." He was a man of greatability and acquired a fine education. He lived foryears in Pendleton, Oregon, where he died a number


of years ago. In the possession of his children andgrandchildren there is undoubtedly valuable materialand if it could be reduced to written form it wouldfurnish matter of great interest. Among living stu-dents of Indians from whom much matter of interestcould no doubt be secured, may be named ThomasBeall of Lewiston, Louis McMorris of Walla Walla,W. P. Winans of Walla Walla, Mrs. Lulu DonnellCrandell of the Dalles, Major R. D. Gwydir of Spo-kane, Mr. Claire Hunt of Colville, Wash., Mrs. ElizaSpalding Warren of Walla Walla, Wash., C. H.Walkerof Albany, Oregon, Edwin Eells of Tacoma, Rev. FatherHylebos of Tacoma, Ezra Meeker of Seattle, GeorgeH. Himes of Portland, and Mrs. Nancy 0. Jacobs ofPortland. Of course this list could be indefinitelyextended. Certain Indians, in addition to othersmentioned earlier in this article, may be properlynamed here who could give material for interestingnarrations. Among these are Henry Sicade andWilliam Wilton, living on the Puyallup Reservationnear Tacoma, Nugent Kautz and Augustus Kautzand Jerry Meeker of Tacoma, Samuel McCaw ofYakima, Wash., and Charlie Pitt of the WarmSprings Agency in Oregon.

In conclusion it is fitting that mention be made ofa considerable number of authors who while they donot claim to be original investigators, have incor-porated into other writings or have gathered up fromthe investigators and presented in attractive form theresults of the studies of the original students. Con-spicuous among these present day authors we findMr. John H. Williams of Tacoma, whose superbbooks, "The Mountain that was God," and "TheGuardians of the Columbia," rank at the head of allbooks of the Northwest for beauty of illustration anddescription. In these Mr. Williams has artisticallyinterwoven some of the original native tales. Hisreprint of Winthrop's "Canoe and Saddle," deservesrenewed mention here. Those who have been de-


lighted with his earlier books will be pleased to knowthat he will soon publish a companion volume onPuget Sound. Properly mentioned here is the bookby Miss Katherine Judson of Seattle, "Myths andLegends of the Pacific Northwest," which may beregarded as the best arranged short collection of thisspecific topic yet given.

I am aware that this summary is necessarily incom-plete. ' One of my hopes in offering it to the publicis that it may lead to added contributions. As wecontemplate the beauty and grandeur of our dear OldOregon and the pathos, heroism, and nobility of itshistory, and as we see the pitiful remnant of the Indi-ans, we cannot fail to be touched with the quaint,the pathetic, and the suggestive myths and legendsthat are passing with them into the twilight. In ourproud days of possession and of progress we do wellto pause and drop the tear of sympathy and place thechaplet of commemoration upon the resting place ofthe former lords of the land, and to recognize theircontributions to the common stock of human thought.

INDIAN MYTHS OF THE NORTHWEST.

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