6
THE
CHEM AW A
AM ERICAN
other ways repairing the dam age w ro u g h t by th eir com petitors. T h e
w ar between the two w inds became so violent and revengeful th a t,
finally to settle the question of suprem acy, the W alla W alla brothers
sent to th e Chinook brothers a challenge to a w restling m atch, forfeit
ure of their lives being the penalty imposed on th e losers.
Speelyei, the great coyote god, was designated as um pire and also to
inflict the penalty of decapitation on the defeated group. T h e wily
god, however, told th e g ran d parents of the Chinook b rothers th a t th eir
grandsons would be prevented from falling by covering the w restling
ground w ith oil; and he also advised the g ran d p aren ts of th e W alla
W allas to throw ice on the site of th e battle. T h e day of the great
w restling m atch arrived and all the Chinook brothers were throw n and
killed because the W alla W alla g ran d p aren ts threw ice o.i the ground
after the C hinooks had poured on th e oil.
W hile the result of the g ig an tic m atch made the cold n o rth easter
m aster of the situation, its suprem acy was to be short-lived. T he widow
of the eldest C hinook brother had an in fan t boy, and she b ro u g h t him
up w ith one object in view, to avenge the death of his father and uncles.
At an early age the boy was kept continually p u llin g up trees to d e
velop his m uscles, and a few years of this strenuous practice enabled
him to uproot the largest firs and toss them around like tw igs. By the
tim e he reached early m anhood his stren g th became so prodigious th a t
his m other decided th at his great aim in life should now become an
accom plished fact. As a prelim inary dem onstration of his fitness for
the task , the young Chinook journeyed up the Colum bia, uprooting
enorm ous trees and casting them aside like p lay th in g s. And th en he
rested for a n ig h t and a day by the Setas Creek in the valley of the
Y akim a, and even now the place w here he lay may be seen on the
m ountainside.
A fter resting, the you n g C hinook tu rn ed back to the Columbia and
sought the h u t of his g ran d p aren ts, finding them in a condition of great
misery and distress. H e was m uch angered to learn th at the W alla W alla
brothers were the cause of their troubles. It seems th at the vanquishers
of his father and uncles had been tak in g full advantage of th eir su p rem
acy du rin g the past few years and had imposed on th e old folks in a
m ost heartless m anner.
T he g ran d fath er was in the habit of going out on the Colum bia in a
small boat to fish for sturgeon and w hen he had a good haul, th e W alla
W alla wind brothers would set on him and rob him of the results of his
labors.
A fter hiding him self in the bottom of his g ra n d fa th e r’ s boat to watch
for th e W alla W alla w ind, th e young Chinook told the old man to row
out in the stream and fish as usual. A good catch was secured, and the