Soon after this interview I met a distinguished educator who had lately returned from the Columbia River, who told me the legend of the old chief who died of grief in the grave of his son, somewhat in the manner described in this volume. The legend had those incidental qualities that haunt a susceptible imagination, and it was told to me in such a dramatic way that I could not put it out of my mind.
A few weeks after hearing this haunting legend I went over the Rocky Mountains by the Canadian Pacific Railway, and visited the Columbia River and the scenes associated with the Indian story. I met in Washington, Yesler, Denney, and Hon. Elwood Evans, the historian; visited the daughter of Seattle, the chief, "Old Angeline"; and gathered original stories in regard to the pioneers of the Puget Sound country from many sources. In this atmosphere the legend grew upon me, and the outgrowth of it is this volume, which, amid a busy life of editorial and other work, has forced itself upon my experience.
H.B.
28 WORCESTER STREET, BOSTON, July 4, 1890.
CONTENTS.
| CHAPTER | |
| [I.] | GRETCHEN'S VIOLIN |
| [II.] | THE CHIEF OF THE CASCADES |
| [III.] | "BOSTON TILICUM" |
| [IV.] | MRS. WOODS'S TAME BEAR, LITTLE "ROLL OVER" |
| [V.] | THE NEST OF THE FISHING EAGLE |
| [VI.] | THE MOUNTAIN LION |
| [VII.] | THE "SMOKE-TALK" |
| [VIII.] | THE BLACK EAGLE'S NEST OF THE FALLS OF THE MISSOURI |
| [IX.] | GRETCHEN'S VISIT TO THE OLD CHIEF OF THE CASCADES |
| [X.] | MRS. WOODS MEETS LITTLE "ROLL OVER" AGAIN |
| [XI.] | MARLOWE MANN'S NEW ROBINSON CRUSOE |
| [XII.] | OLD JOE MEEK AND MR. SPAULDING |
| [XIII.] | A WARNING |
| [XIV.] | THE POTLATCH |
| [XV.] | THE TRAUMEREI AGAIN |
| [XVI.] | A SILENT TRIBE |
| [XVII.] | A DESOLATE HOME AND A DESOLATE PEOPLE |
| [XVIII.] | THE LIFTED CLOUD--THE INDIANS COME TO THE SCHOOLMASTER |
HISTORICAL NOTES.
| [I.] | Vancouver |
| [II.] | The Oregon Trail |
| [III.] | Governor Stevens |
| [IV.] | Seattle the Chief |
| [V.] | Whitman's Ride for Oregon |
| [VI.] | Mount Saint Helens |