Another spot familiar to doctors was a mysterious hole in the mountains near Blue Lake. The hole could be located by following a spiraling path of white quartz toward the center. According to the Washo tale, if a man dropped even as much as a hair into this hole it made a great roaring sound. Suzie Dick, a Washo woman, whose claim of being one hundred years' old is borne out by white residents, insists that as a fifteen-year-old girl she went to see this hole and was terrorized by a huge hand which reached up out of the darkness and tried to seize her.
Vaguely known to most Washo but familiar to doctors was a cave situated south and west of Gardnerville where ready-made grinding stones were to be found. These, depending on the informant, were made by old Indians or were put there by “nature” for the use of the Washo.
Noncurative Use Of Power (2567-2593)
Indian doctors often used their power in spectacular displays, apparently to impress patients. Often these displays were competitive.
In the words of one informant: “Them old doctors used to see who had the most power. They'd stick four or five sticks in the ground, each one farther away than the last one, and see how many they could knock down.” Then, disconcertingly, he added: “You can read about that in Kroeber. He tells about some other Indians who did that but I guess he didn't know the Washo did it too.” This informant considered Professor Kroeber as an authority second only to himself in matters pertaining to Indians.
Divining And Rainmaking (2553-2556, 2566)
There were no doctors with rainmaking power among the Washo. However, anyone, particularly a man deemed to be a leader, might encourage rain during the summer. The rite, which is still observed occasionally by individuals, consists of soaking a pine-nut cone in water and placing it on the ground in the pine-nut hills. Modern Washo look upon this more as a prayer, but in the past it may have been considered as a spell.
The ancient matriarch Suzie Dick steadfastly insists that less rain falls in the Carson Valley than in neighboring valleys because “nobody is talking to God anymore around here.” While she talked she pointed to the clouds hanging over Washo and Antelope valleys and to the cloudless sky overhead.