“I’d prefer a helicopter, equipped with a supercharger that could lift it over the ranges,” Hall answered. “Maybe, if Number Two comes in, we can buy a whirlybird, along with a portable drill rig truck.”
“A portable rig sure would come in handy for drilling test wells,” Ralph agreed. “Maybe we could make it come true by putting an offering on that Navajo wishing pile.” He nodded toward a mound of small brightly colored stones that stood where an Indian trail crossed the highway.
“Nuh uh,” the oilman said sharply. “And don’t you ever try that stunt, boys. The Navajos don’t want white men thinning out their luck by putting things on their wishing piles. By the same token, never take any object from the piles that you will see scattered through the reservation. If you’re caught doing that, you’ll be in for real trouble.”
“Yep. The braves will get mad as wet hens,” Salmon said, chuckling.
“Ralph,” said Quiz, “why do you poke fun at the Navajos?”
“Well, pardner, did you ever hear a UCLA man say anything good about the Stanford football team?”
“Oh, but that’s different. It’s just school rivalry,” Sandy objected as he crossed his long legs the other way in an effort to keep his knees from banging against the dash.
“Well, you might say that the Navajos and Utes have been traditional rivals since the beginning of time. Nothing very serious, you understand. We’ve raided each other’s cattle, and taken a few scalps now and then, when a Navajo stepped on a Ute’s shadow, or vice versa. The Navajos are Athapascans, you see. They’re related to the Apaches, and think they’re the lords of creation. But Utes are Shoshoneans. We belong to one of the biggest Indian ‘families’ in North America. The state of Utah is named in our honor and there are Shoshones living as far north as Alaska. Maybe you’ve heard of Sacagawea, the Shoshone ‘Bird Woman,’ who guided the Lewis and Clark Expedition all the way to the Pacific Coast.
“The Hopis are our brothers, and the Piutes are our poor relations. The Piutes did eat fried caterpillars and roots in the old days, I guess, but that was only because they lived out in the western Utah desert where there wasn’t much else to eat. We southern Utes lived mostly on buffalo meat. We were great hunters. Our braves would creep right into the middle of a herd of buffalo and kill as many as they wanted with their long knives, without causing the animals to take fright and stampede.”
“How could they do that?” Sandy asked.