THE CHEM AW A
A M E R IC A N
7
W alla \\ alias were quick to chase the prize. Much io th eir asto n ish
m ent, how ever, the old m an 's boat would shoot forw ard at m arvelous
speed ju st as they were about to seize it and they were left far behind.
T h e coveted fish were therefore landed safely, w hereupon the young
Chinook took his g ran d p aren ts to the stream and washed from them the
filth th at had accum ulated on them d u rin g all these years of privation
and m isery.
And then a m iraculous th in g happened! T h e filth was at once tia n s-
form ed into tro u t, and this is th e origin of all th is kind of fish along th e
Colum bia.
T he W alla W alla brothers soon learned th a t there was a new C h i
nook cham pion in th e field, and dem anded a fresh test of suprem acy in
the same form as before—a w restling m atch. A lth o u g h th e y o u n g C h i
nook would be obliged to meet all five of his opponents, he had such
confidence in his superior stren g th that he readily accepted the challenge.
T he god Speelyei was again the um pire and again did he advice the
g ran d p aren ts of th e belligerents to throw ice and oil, respectively, on
th e w restling g ro u n d . But. rem em bering the cause of the fall of the
C hinooks at previous test of stren g th , Speelyei told the Chinook g ra n d
fath er not to throw the oil on the ground until the ice had been used up.
T h e result was th a t the lone gladiator defeated four of the W alla W alla
brothers, one after another, and they were duly decapitated by Speelyei,
as arranged. Amazed at the fall of his brothers, th e youngest W alla
W alla lost courage and surrendered w ith o u t struggle'.
A lthough Speelyei saved the young W alla W alla’s life, he took from
him the pow er to freeze people to death, only p erm ittin g him to blow
g ently.
T he god also curtailed the young C h in o o k ’s power, decreeing th a t he
should only blow the hardest at n ig h t and furtherm ore, that in order to
prepare the people for his com ing, the m ountain ridges m ust be blown
on first. So it came to pass th a t th e chinook w ind is alw ays the victor
over the bitter northeaster.
As a result of th e wisdom of the great coyote god, deliverance from
snow and ice is alw ays heralded by a black line upon th e horizon at the
place w here the Chinook first blows upon the m ountains.
T h is is an in terestin g legend, and O regon has aw aited p atien tly fu l
fillm ent by the sign th at the g entle chinook is on its way to rid it of its
recent burden of snow and ice.—T h e O regonian.