Treasury of American Indian Tales

by Theodore Whitson Ressler

There was no sleep for the young Red Cloud that evening, as he thought of his coming trip into the big forest. Finally the early light of dawn peeked through the door of the wigwam and before most of the village was even astir, Red Cloud was up from his bed and had gathered his precious weapons and his blanket for the trip.

He bade good-bye to his mother, Morning Star, and his father, Great Cloud, and started for the forest.

It was a beautiful morning. The bright sun shone down through the leaves of the great green trees of the forest and the spring flowers were all in gay bloom, dressed in their finest colors of reds, blues, yellows, purples, and oranges. As he trotted along the trail Red Cloud could hear overhead the many different calls and songs of the forest birds. Occasionally there was a rustle along the side of the trail or a rabbit would scamper across the path of Red Cloud.

Once through the branch of a low-hanging birch tree, Red Cloud saw the magnificent body of a full-grown buck with six points. Oh, how he regretted that he was not upon a hunting trip, for wouldn’t that buck have made a beautiful trophy to bring back to the village?

The buck, too, seemed to be aware of the reason for Red Cloud’s journey, for though the boy moved carefully he did stir the leaves as he walked and though the buck turned his majestic head he did not move from his spot in the glen of the forest.

Red Cloud smiled to himself, recalling words of his father, “Sometimes the wild animals seem to sense the reason for your journey and fear not the approach of a warrior who is not on a hunt.” At the time Red Cloud had not thought much about the statement but here beside the trail it had been proved to him by the actions of the majestic buck.

Soon Red Cloud felt that he had journeyed deep enough into the forest along the well-known trails, so he turned from the path to go into the forest where no trail was known to him. It was not easy going, for he had to cut small brush from his path. Occasionally he would take a small piece of bark from the side of a tree to mark the direction he had taken in order to find his way back to the main trail.

Soon he came to a stream and stooped to drink of the cool refreshing water. As he stood up once again he gazed up through the opening in the trees and noticed that evening was fast approaching and soon it would be dark. So he moved on more rapidly and he noticed that his direction was taking him up the side of a small ridge. Finally, tired and realizing that darkness would soon be upon him, Red Cloud decided to stop and make his camp. He found that where he had chosen to stop, there was a small formation of rocks which provided a natural shelter from the cool evening breezes.

Within the shelter of these rocks he built himself a small fire and then, wrapping his blanket around him, settled down to sleep through the comforting night, hoping as all boys do that the dream would come to him on this, his first night and that he could return to the warmth and shelter of his friendly wigwam and his family on the following day. But also Red Cloud was prepared to spend many days, if the need arose and many nights, for he had been taught endurance by his father.

The night passed quickly, and suddenly Red Cloud opened his eyes to the rays of the sun and a new day. Climbing from under the folds of his blanket he realized that he was quite thirsty and hungry. Water he could seek and drink, but he realized that until he had the dream he was to partake of no food regardless of how long he must wait. Unless, of course, he desired to return to the village and report that the spirits had not spoken to him in a dream and then as was the custom of his tribe he would be considered a poor unfortunate person with little hope of success in life. So Red Cloud put the thoughts of food from his mind and started in search of water.