Grizzly Killer: The Medicine Wheel

by Lane R Warenski

  22 Leaving for Rendezvous

  Zach was awakened by movement next to him, he opened his eyes to the smiling face of Shining Star as she picked up Star and brought her to her breast. He reached out and gently rubbed the short brown hair on Star’s tiny head, then stood up and started to dress. Sun Flower rolled over and kissed the baby on the top of her head and smiled at Shining Star as she stood, naked as the newborn baby herself. Instead of putting on her dress she just picked it up and stepped out of the teepee.

  Zach was right behind her and he just watched her walk down to the creek. He smiled enjoying the view. He was still amazed she had no inhibitions about walking through camp naked as she went to the stream to bath. The water was ice cold and Zach watched with a smile as the goose bumps covered her body.

  He blew life back into the coals from last night’s fire and had it started and built up when she walked back. She now had her dress on but was still shivering from the cold water. As she stood there enjoying the warmth from the fire. Two Feathers and Badger walked up to them. They had camped just a short distance from Zach’s lodge.

  Just as they approached, Shining Star stepped out of the lodge. She had Star tucked into her cradle board and Badger went right over and took the baby from her. Zach marveled at the love her uncle showed toward these little babies. Zach figured Badger was in his early forties and was a tough and extremely fierce warrior. He was short of stature but wide across the shoulders and he was extremely powerfully built. He was scared from many battles and as tough a looking man as he had ever seen.

  Zach had seen him in two battles over the last couple of years, against both Arapahos and Blackfeet. A more fierce and cunning warrior he didn’t believe existed. Watching him now as he sat down by the fire holding this baby girl, Zach could see the tenderness and love he felt for his people. Badger saw Zach watching him and said in almost a whisper, “This is what our life is all about. To raise and protect our little ones so our people will live on forever.”

  They were all there around the main camp fire. Two Feathers and the six Ute warriors as well as Buffalo Heart, Red Hawk, and Bear Heart. White Feather, Raven Wing, and Sun Flower were making biscuit with what little flour they had left.

  The Ute’s and Shoshone couldn’t really talk to each other, although their languages are similar there are still enough differences to make communication hard. However, the sign language was a universal language most all of the tribes used. There were differences in that as well but they could all make each other understand.

  Raven Wing and Sun Flower could speak both languages and that amazed Bear Heart, their father, they would switch between Shoshone and Ute with an ease that made one think they grew up speaking both tongues. And then they would speak to Grizzly Killer in the white man’s tongue, he remembered it was called English. He knew they could also speak in the tongue of the white men from the land far to the north, what they call French as well and he marveled at how his daughters could do this. When people spoke in these strange tongues it sounded like sounds some strange animals might make to him. He didn’t understand how his daughters were able to understand these strange sounds.

  Zach was happy being here surrounded by family and friends, he watched as Badger stood and walked over to Shining Star and handed her the baby back. Then, with a sadness in his voice that hadn’t been there before, he said, “Your mother would have loved to meet her grandchildren.” Morning Star looked up and saw the sadness in his eyes.

  Running Wolf heard the exchange and walked right over and asked, “What is it Uncle, what has happened?”

  Badger looked at Running Wolf then down at his sister and said, “We have brought sad news, last winter was a long and very cold one on the other side of the mountains. The village of your mother on the White River was visited by an evil sickness. Many died, your mother and her husband, Spotted Dog, where taken from us.”

  Zach knelt down and put his arm around Shining Star as Raven Wing walked over and stood by Running Wolf. Sun Flower picked up Star from Shining Star and walked over and quietly told her parents and the boys what had happened.

  Badger could see the deep sadness in their faces and he hated to continue. He started to go on but as he seen the tears running down the Face of Shining Star he stopped. She looked up at him and said, “Go on Uncle.”

  So he continued, “Our village also suffered a great loss, Stands Tall left us during the cold moon.” At that both Shining Star and Running Wolf looked at Two Feathers. He was tall, like his father Stands Tall had been, and as he stood there trying to be strong, he felt the sadness of the loss of a parent with them.

  Badger continued, telling them that their Chief had known he would not make it through another winter. He had called a council during the moon of winter coming for the village to pick another Chief. Badger told them that the council had chosen wisely and that Two Feathers was now chief like his father was before him.

  Running Wolf looked at Two Feathers and said, “They could not have chosen a better man.”

  Shining Star wiped the tears from her face, stood and walked over to him and told him, “I am with the same mind as my brother, you have our support.”

  Sun Flower was standing with her parents telling them all that was being said. Bear Heart then walked over to the group and spoke. He asked Grizzly Killer to translate for him, then went on. He told them he had grown up in a time when our peoples were enemies. That he had fought Ute warriors on many occasions. He said he had never met the tall Ute but had heard of him many times and he was sorry for their loss. He continued telling them all that Two Feathers was an honorable man and true friend. He and his warriors had helped save the Shoshone from the Blackfoot attack last year at Sweet Lake. He and all of the Shoshone people have great respect for their new Chief and would honor him as one of their own.

  The news of hearing their mother had died was a shock to both Running Wolf and Shining Star. Neither one of them had seen their mother in over three years. After their father had been killed in a battle with the Arapaho their mother had finally taken another man. Spotted Dog was from the White River Utes and she had gone there with him. They had heard from her a couple of times by messenger and knew she was happy and cared for. Now she was gone from them forever. Even though these babies, Gray Wolf and Morning Star, would never meet their grandparents they would know of them through stories. That was the Indian way, to pass their history down through stories for they had no written words.

  They believed strongly in another life after death and they felt their mother and Spotted Dog would make the journey to the land beyond the stars to be with their ancestors and be happy all over again.

  The camp was a somber place through and after the morning meal, but life couldn’t stop and they had to finish the preparations for their journey to Rendezvous. Running Wolf told Two Feathers and Badger that they would leave in just a couple more days and asked if they would like to join them. Two Feathers told him that many from their village were going to the big white man’s gathering and taking many furs to trade for iron knives and pots and the bright colored cloth. Two Feathers continued telling him that he thought the rest of the village would be on the Bear River now traveling north to Sweet Lake and they would be happy to travel with them.

  Life in camp was now busy and the mood changed quickly. Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart took two of the younger Ute warriors out hunting, with this many mouths to feed it would take nearly a whole deer or sheep each day.

  Running Deer and Standing Bear were not much older than Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart. The language was still a barrier between them but as the day started out they made due with sign language. As they rode upstream to the high ridges where the mountain sheep grazed. They started teaching each other the names of many things in each-others language. Red Hawk would point to a rock and say it in Shoshone and the Ute boys would repeat it several times then they would say the word in Ute and the Shoshone would repeat it several times. They were making a game of it and
played it anytime they were not stocking game.

  They saw a herd of about 15 sheep, ewes and lambs, grazing on a high bald knoll and stopped to figure out a plan. Standing Bear looked at Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart with their rifles and made them understand that he and Running Deer would drive the sheep to the two of them to make the kill.

  It took nearly an hour for all of them to get into position, then Standing Bear signaled to Running Deer and the two of them started. The plan was working beautifully with the sheep running right between Red Hawk and Buffalo Heart. Just as Buffalo Heart was getting ready to shoot, a blue jay started squawking in a pine that was right behind him. Then the noisy bird flew over his head squawking even louder flying right at the running sheep. They veered off and the whole herd ran right to Red Hawk.

  Buffalo Heart saw the puff of smoke from Red Hawk’s rifle before he heard the report and he found that strange. Why had he seen Red Hawk shoot before he heard it? He shook off that thought and watched as the sheep just kept running. Although Red Hawk was reloading just as fast as he could the sheep were well past him and out of sight into the trees before he was ready to shoot again. He was disappointed, he had let them all down. The Utes had put their trust in him and Buffalo Heart and he had missed letting them down.

  He just sat there waiting for the others to get to him. Running Deer was closest and as he got near to Red Hawk he stopped and jumped off his horse and studied the ground. With a big smile on his face he waved at Red Hawk to come to him. When Red Hawk approached Running Deer pointed at the ground and the fresh blood was plain to see. Red Hawk smiled, so relieved he hadn’t let everyone down.

  Just a couple of minutes later, when Standing Bear and Buffalo Heart got to them they followed the blood trail. Once they were inside the tree line they went only a hundred more yards when they came upon the yearling ewe lying dead in the trail. With smiles and still teaching each other the words in their own languages. They gutted the sheep then cut it in half, putting half on Red Hawk’s horse and the other half on Buffalo Heart’s.

  They were several miles above camp and as they followed the trail back they continued with the language game. By the time they got back Red Hawk was excited to show Grizzly Killer and Running Wolf how many Ute words he had learned.

  The next two days passed quickly with so much to do. The four young men became good friends and were always together. By the time the morning came for them to leave they were talking back and forth to one another using a language almost of their own. It was made up of both Ute and Shoshone words. Zach had a hard time following along but the boys seemed to understand one another just fine.

  As they brought down the teepees the next morning Zach looked at all the activity and thought it was just about like moving a whole village. There were ten men, four women, a dog, a wolf pup and sixteen pack horses. Two of the pack horses were pulling travois’ loaded with their lodges.

  Jimbo took off in the lead scouting the way as he always did with Luna trying her best to keep up with him. Although she was growing mighty fast her young legs couldn’t keep up the pace that Jimbo set as he cast back in forth a quarter mile in front of them looking for any trouble they might come across. It wasn’t long before she was back just walking along-side Running Wolf on his chestnut.

  With so many pack horses and the travois’ they weren’t making very good time. The weather was holding and they had plenty of time so they just enjoyed the country around them as they headed northwest toward the Bear River.

  They camped that first night down in a draw. They were out of the higher hills and onto the more sage covered rolling hills now. There was a very small stream in this shallow draw and Zach thought it would probably be dry be the time they came back from Rendezvous.

  The sunset this night was spectacular, clouds were forming on the western horizon and the bright red orange and yellow they turned as the sun went down had all of them watching. After they had eaten and Shining Star had fed their baby, Badger came and asked if he could take her for a little while. While he was sitting by the fire talking to Star, Zach, Shining Star and Sun Flower walked up on top of the small hill that was just east of the draw. They sat there together and watched as the light slowly faded from the western sky. They watched the evening star get brighter as more and more of the light faded. The big dipper was just becoming visible when they heard Star start to cry. Shining Star stood and as Sun Flower and Zach started to get up she told them to stay and enjoy the evening. Sun Flower smiled and leaned into Zach as they watched Shining Star walk back to camp.

  The more the light faded away from the western horizon the more stars lit the sky. Soon the pale light of the milky-way was all that was surrounding them for the moon had not yet showed its yellow brightness above the eastern ridge.

  Sun Flower looked up into Zach eyes and wondered what her life would have been like if she had not met her husband. Zach had never been aware of his two wives talking about him before. Even though Sun Flower and Shining Star had spoken many times about how their paths had crossed with Grizzly Killers, they both thought that everything in their lives had happened to bring them all together. Sun Flower felt deep inside herself that she was meant to be with this man.

  She stood facing him and untied the lacings at the shoulders of her doe skin dress and let it fall to the ground. Zach was watching every move she made in the dim light of the stars. The faint star light highlighting every curve of her beautiful body. He reached out for her and she stepped into his waiting arms.

  They made love and after watched the bright yellow moon rise over the far eastern ridge. Coyotes were singing their high pitched chorus to the north and west of them and as they stood to walk back, a wolf started his mournful howl way off to the south. They walked back to camp in the yellow light of the nearly full moon and crawled under their sleeping robes next to Shining Star and the baby.

  Shining Star pushed her body tight up against him and as he put his arm around her she slid up and put her lips on his. She kissed him a long and passionate kiss and he could feel the need she had for him in the way her body was moving. She pulled her face back to where she could look him in the eyes and smiled. She then looked to his other side and smiled at Sun Flower, Zach caught just a glimpse of the smile his two women shared, he had often felt he was being manipulated by these two beautiful women and he just hugged them both and thought once again, like he had many times before, that he had to be the luckiest man in the mountains.

  23 Blackfoot Devils

  Ely didn’t move- he just sat there in his saddle waiting for Grub and Benny to catch up. He didn’t want to believe what he was looking at, the sight made him sick. The men from the village were there staked to the ground. When Benny rode up alongside Ely and saw what he was staring at, he got sick all over again. There were Flat Head warriors staked to the ground. They had been mutilated beyond any recognition. Some had been sliced open and their guts just partially pulled out. Most of their feet had fires built on them and were burned to where the white bones were showing through the charred flesh. They all had their manhood cut off and all had been scalped. Many of their eyes were burned out and a couple of them had their heads caved in.

  Grub climbed out of the saddle and studied the ground closely. He walked all around the area as Benny tried to recover from the shock of what was before them. Ely handed him his water pouch and simply said, “Here boy, wash the bile outa yer mouth.”

  Benny was white as the clouds that spotted the bright blue sky. He couldn’t talk, he just took and pouch and washed out his mouth.

  Grub walked back to them and Ely asked, “How many ya figure?”

  Grub looked up at him and said, “More ’an fifty, cain’t tell fer sure, but more ‘an fifty of ‘em Blackfoot devils.”

  “Do ya figure it’s that same bunch that’s been doggin’ us?” Ely asked.

  Grub just shook his head then said, “More ‘an likely, but no way to tell fer sure.”

  Ely nodded saying, “We bes
t haul are hides out a here just as quick as we kin ride.”

  Grub nodded and asked Benny, “Ya gonna be okay, Benny?” He looked up, shook his head no and mounted up.

  Ely led out and none of them spoke for the next couple of hours. They were several miles downstream from the site of the massacre when Benny broke the silence and asked, “Is Blackfeet really people? How could they do that to other people, especially their own kind?”

  Neither of the older trappers said anything for a few minutes, then Grub told him, “They is people alright ‘cause no other critters on earth would do that to one another.”

  Benny shuddered as he thought back to that gruesome scene then said, “I sure hope we don’t run in to ‘em again.”

  Ely turned back to him and said, “You and me too, boy, you and me too.”

  They pushed hard throughout the day, stopping only long enough to let the horses drink and rest for a few minutes. Ely figured they had covered close to twenty-five miles when he started looking for a place to spend the night. They hadn’t crossed any more sign of Indians throughout the day, but not wanting to take any chances he was looking for a secluded place to camp.

  They had stayed on this same stream all day, knowing it was going to dump into the Snake. Now the valley had opened up into nothing more than a wide depression with the stream meandering through it like a drunken snake. Twisting and turning almost back into itself. The willows were thick and tall and Ely figured ducking into these willows would be as good of cover as they would find. At the next small opening he rode on into them hoping to find a space just big enough for their bed rolls and a small fire.

  As he brushed against the willow branches riding in, a cloud of mosquitos rose up around his head. He started slapping at his cheeks and spitting them out of his mouth. They were in his eyes and ears. He didn’t have room to turn his horse around in the tight willows and the horse was not liking the cloud of mosquitos either. Ely was trying to get him to back out of the willows, but with the mosquitos in the horse’s eyes and ears along with Ely pulling back on the reins, the normally well-mannered gelding went berserk. He reared up squealed and started to buck. Ely was holding on for dear life. The thick willows were everywhere with the gelding jumping right through them. The more of the willows he jumped and kicked through the thicker the cloud of mosquitos got.