_From Copyright Photograph 1904 by E.S. Curtis_
As soon as the men had landed they began to work with zeal, for houses had
to be built, game caught, skins tanned, and land prepared for crops. They
suffered much from scarcity of food and clothing the first winter, but
managed to exist. The women, however, had bountiful crops, and all through
the late fall and winter could be heard revelling in great delight,
feasting daily and dancing much of the time to the music of songs sung by
the four old cripples. The following autumn found the men in much better
circumstances, for they had grown small crops; but the women were less
fortunate. Having none but themselves to work and provide for, they had
become negligent from the beginning, dissipating the contents of their
granaries and allowing their fields to grow fallow. By the end of the
second year clothing had become very scarce, and not knowing how to hunt,
they had no way to obtain more skins. The men, on the contrary, had grown
more prosperous; their well-tended farms yielded an ample supply of corn
for the winter, and the pelts of deer and antelope furnished a deal of
warm clothing and bedding. The third year found the men living in ease and
comfort, while the women had become reduced to absolute want, many having
fallen ill from self-neglect. They called across to the men, pleading to
be taken over and promising faithful allegiance, but the chief was
resolute and refused to forget how he had been wronged.
Then it was that the youngest of the eight ruling men, in a moment of
compassion, confessed his guilt, admitting in a plea to the head-chief for
clemency that he was in fact responsible for the attitude his wife had
taken. This served only to renew the old chief's anger; he stoutly refused
to listen to further appeals and expressed his regret that the first seeds
of wrong should have been thus sown. No longer able to keep up the fight,
with starvation staring them in the face, and being in nakedness, at the
end of the fourth year the women attempted to swim the river in parties,
but the attempts resulted only in death, for the swift current would have
been too much even for the strongest men to buffet. Seeing this
self-sacrifice and realizing that the race would be ultimately
exterminated if the women continued it much longer, appeals were made
daily to the head-chief to permit the rescue of the remainder. Four times
was he sought to grant such permission before he consented, then at dawn
of the fifth morning he gave directions to loose the rafts and ferry the
women over. A miserable remnant they were, unclad, wan, and wasted; but a
return to the old habits of life soon restored them to their former
selves, and peace, happiness, and prosperity reigned again.
The broad river that flowed from the east had its source in two very large
springs, a he-spring and a she-spring, in which lived two large Water
Monsters. These had a pair of youngsters who delighted in emerging from
the depths of the spring and swimming out across the meadows in the
shallow water where there was neither current nor river banks. Coyote
spied them one day, and being ever a meddler and trouble-maker--though
withal a fellow of polished mien--stole them, putting the two under the
folds of his jacket.
Now there was no sun, moon, or stars to give light; but in the east every
morning appeared White Dawn four fingers high. The midday was lighted by
Blue Dawn in the south, and late afternoon by Yellow Dawn from the west.
The north remained always dark. On the morning following Coyote's return
from his trip to the east, ostensibly to discover, if possible, the source
of the dawn, the head-chief noticed that it was not so broad as usual--only
three fingers high, with a dark streak beneath. A Wolf man was sent to
learn what was wrong. He hurried off, returning at nightfall with the
report that all was well in the east. The next morning White Dawn was much
narrower and the darkness beneath had increased. A Mountain Lion messenger
was despatched to seek the cause. He reported everything in normal
condition, but those in camp noticed deer in the distance travelling
westward at a rapid pace. The third morning the belt of darkness was wider
than White Dawn, which now gave an alarmingly dim light. The chief then
sent White Hawk to investigate the trouble, under orders of haste. His
report, like that of each of the other messengers, was that nothing
unusual appeared in the east. More deer, antelope, and other game animals,
however, were seen running westward in apparent fright.
[Illustration: Through the Canon - Navaho]