When the heat had passed, we harnessed our horses and moved on, following a trail that led upwards toward the mountains. While making our way slowly, Onesta and Nitana began chanting a religious song in unison. I rode closer and joined them in their song.
Then Onesta explained that it was customary to sing on entering a strange country, as a prayer to the Sun for a safe journey and for protection against the magical arts of its people. On this occasion, he said they were also praying for my success among the North Piegans.
Finally, we gained the summit of a massive ridge of the prairie, which overlooked the country of the North Piegans—a broad river valley with green meadows and groves of cottonwood trees. On the undulating hillsides herds of cattle and horses were feeding. And, as far as the eye could reach, the river rolled eastward from the base of the Rockies, gleaming in the sunlight like a ribbon of silver.
Nestled among the groves of green trees in the valley, I saw a number of white Indian tepees, with blue smoke rising from their tops. North lay the Porcupine Hills covered with forests of pine; west, the snow peaks of the mountains. Onesta said the hills were called “Porcupine,” because the bristling trees on their ridges look like the quills on a porcupine’s back.
THE COUNTRY OF THE NORTH PIEGANS
The Rocky Mountains in the distance
He pointed to some rocks on the prairie and said: “A big grizzly once lived in a cave there. Now many kinds of berries grow around it, from the seeds carried there by that bear.” [[187]]He showed me a mountain in the main range of the Rockies, with a great landslide on its eastern slope, and said:
“We call it ‘Lodge-Lining-Mountain,’ because it looks like the inside lining of a lodge. The river that rises there is named after Old Man; and in the mountains near its source is Old Man’s sliding place and the place where he gambled.” On our way down from the summit, we met some young men of the North Piegans, who were watching over their tribal herds of horses and cattle. One of them, the son of Crow Eagle, a famous chief, rode with us. He was hospitable and invited us to his camp. But Onesta told him we were going to visit Brings-Down-the-Sun, the medicine man. Before the young chief left us, he pointed out the camp we were seeking, among some big trees on the north side of the river.
Then we crossed a table-land, which rose gradually from the river, and descended into the valley. On the face of the hills and in little ravines were clusters of chokecherry bushes, bearing a fruit like a wild cherry, only larger and better flavored. I saw a coyote standing motionless in a ravine, but it was only for a moment; because of his protective coloring, I quickly lost sight of him.