Richmond High School - Shield Yearbook (Richmond, CA)

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RICHMOND RODEO sent a shower of whistling arrows at them, which fell with harmless splashes into the water. Among the Indians was one who had understood the white man, but he had not dared to speak. He was a captive, and like the squaws, had no voice in council. His name was Kee- wah, and his people lived far to the northward. He had grown up on the banks of a northern river. There one summer even- ing a white man wandered out of the gloomy forest, delirious with fever. Keewah took him into his tepee and nursed him back to health, learning his language in the meantime. When the white man regained his strength, Keewah guided him on his southward journey. After many days’ travel their evening camp was raided by a band of Indians who carried Keewah to the village where he was held captive, the white man, how- ever, escaping. And now Keewah sat alone in his hut, with no squaw to relieve his lonesomeness, while in the other huts the talkative squaws discussed the wonderful trinkets, the ship, and the flood, and outside in a solemn circle the old men sat around the struggling council fire and the medicine man wildly harangued them. The Great Spirit was angry, he told them. He had sent the flood. He steadfastly withheld the sign of fair weather. He had driven away the game. He had sent the Spirit Ship out of the mist with the palefaces to tempt them with evil gifts. They must not heed the gifts, nor welcome the palefaces to their tepees, for beyond the sea they dwelt in countless numbers. If the redmen should admit them surely the Great Spirit would no longer keep them out. The lake would tear down its barrier and open a gateway for them in from the sea. They had cap- tured this paleface. They must now sacrifice him over the council fire, to show the Great Spirit that they would keep the palefaces from their land with a steady hand. And even as the captive’s flesh shriveled in the fire and his blood dried wp, so 23

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RICHMOND RODEO The superstitious savages feared the wrath of the Great Spirit. Every night at sunset the medicine men climbed the neighbor- ing hill, hoping to see the sun sink in crimson fire. Then would he know the flood was over, but the sign was always withhe!d. This evening, however, it was not raining. There seemed more hope. To-night when the medicine man came hurrying into the village from the direction of the sea, all ceased work and went to meet him. They crowded around him while he talked ex- citedly, and pointed seaward; then the entire village trailed after him along the way he had come. When the ocean came into view, all stopped and stared in wonder. Out from the re- ceding mist loomed the spars of a great sailing vessel, like some spirit of the storm. She swung slowly around before the wind, where she had come to anchor, fearing to venture nearer land in the fog. As the Indians gazed, round-eyed, a small boat left the ship’s side and came rapidly through the surf to the shore. As the boat grounded, the Indians crowded up to the landing place. One of the three white men in it stepped ashore, and with much talk and many signs endavored to inform the curious Indians that his ship was in great need of provisions, and he had come to trade. He held up gleaming new weapons, and glittering trinkets. The Indians pressed closer. His talk meant less to them than the cackling of the waterfowl they hunted on the lake. Suddenly the old priest forced his way through the crowd. With the distorted face of a maniac, wildly waving his hands, he called on the warriors to sieze the paleface. An exclamation ran through the crowd. Several braves nearest the man fell upon him and bore him to the ground, tied him hand and foot, and carried him off to the village. The two men in the boat pushed off in mad haste and were some distance out before the Indians, excited over the captive, noticed them and 22

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RICHMOND RODEO would the waters of th e flood shrink and dry away, and at last would the sun set in fire, and all be fair weather. When the priest ceased speaking the chief addressed the council. The medicine man had spoken well. They must ap- pease the Great Spirit with the captive’s life. But was it wise council to disregard the beautiful weapons of the paleface? Why could they not beguile the others from the ship, obtain the treasures, and then burn the captive’s comrades also, and thus the more delight the Great Spirit? When the chief sat down a gutteral grunt of approval ran around the dying fire. The medicine man sprang to his feet. They must not be tempted by the evil gifts. They could not beguile the men from the ship. If they tried, utter destruction of the village was inevitable. As the medicine man finished, a sudden gust of wind extin- guished the fire and scattered the embers. All attempts of the squaws to rekindle it were vain, for the driftwood was soggy and refused to burn even after the precious oil poured on it had been consumed. At length the attempt was abandoned. The brewing storm threatened to break every moment. Pale lightning flickered over the lake, but as yet the thunder was too distant to be heard. The wind rushed dismally around the flimsy huts. Not a star shone in the blackness. But soon torches flared in the huts, and there was a babel of voices. Half-starved camp dogs prowled among the huts, snarling over each precious scrap of refuse. Keewah was roused from his reverie by the entrance of an Indian, and ordered to the hut where the captive lay. When he had joined the group of hunters around the captive, Kee- wah was bidden to repeat to him in the paleface tongue what they said. They would lead the captive to the shore. There he must call to the men in the ship, and when they had come ashore, tell them the chief had considered their proposition, and was now ready to trade them provisions. All this Keewah repeated to the captive, who listened in silence, with but slight 24