The Indians in the west tell this story:
A squaw left her two boys to care for her papoose while she worked. She was hidden in the wickiup, or tent, and did not see what the boys were doing until the papoose began to cry.
The squaw found them all down by the river. They could not stir, for their feet were stuck fast in the wet clay of the river bank. She got her three children back to the wickiup. They laughed at their footprints in the clay, for they had left deep holes everywhere.
The band of Indians left their camp before the sun was over their heads. The squaw, with her papoose and her boys, was soon far away from the river bank; but during the hot summer, which was soon upon them, the same band returned to the river they had left.
Indian Woman making Clay Dishes
From a Photograph
The two little Indian boys went down to the clay bank where they had stuck fast. No rain had fallen [[90]]since they had been there, and they found their footprints in the clay. These had dried until the mud was like stone.
The squaw came and looked at the holes. She took some clay in her hands and wet it in the river, then she shaped it like the hollow stone she used for cooking. She dried the clay in the sun, and it was soon hard.
An old chief saw the clay dishes and told the other squaws to make them, but the clay dishes would not hold water and broke very easily.