Conservative.
THE GHOST DANCE.
AHI10H I.ODQK.
Between the dark , uneven lines
Of trees in the low rnvino
The rising moon has sent its rays ,
Till now no longer intervene
The veiling boughs ; above , it shines
And greets the distant grove of pines.
And hero nnd far away the land ,
Awaiting the bright moon's quest ,
Rolls out its plains. The searching light
Illumines scenes of strange unrest.
The chill November wind makes moan ,
The vanished years sigh through its tono.
For all sweet , faded summers gone
Have left , in their dying , strains
That o'er and o'er ring out tonight ,
Re-echoing in sad refrains ,
And fair Nebraska's prairies lie
A trysting place where spirits cry.
Out yonder is the silvered field
Where once , in the by-gone days ,
With flash of tomahawks swung high ,
The red man sought in savage ways
To celebrate a treaty signed ,
With war dance on the land resigned.
The noiseless shadows lurk below
The trees , as their branches sway ,
Like litho , dark forms of Otoo braves
In groups of stealthy foes at bay ,
Just whore the old field's margins creep
To now-grown woodland's shading deep.
And long white spaces , moonlit , lie
Like ghosts of the slain in strife ,
Wan heroes from the silent band
That trod this prairie soil in life.
Like cry and wail of savage love ,
The wind moans plaintively above.
It sings , and sweeps in mournful dirge
Through depths of the curved ravine ,
And calls from hilltops where the pines
Approach the sky with sombre green ,
Till echo answers echo heard
Like some sad , mocking voice of bird.
With quickened rustle como the leaves
To rise when the wind pipes high.
From roadside ways and gathered drifts
Like spectres through the air they fly ,
Or ghostly steps their fllttings trace.
Each leaf is like a withered face
Which , seared by age , has come again
To look at the hunting ground ,
Where shone the camp fire's ruddy glow
And welcome was in wigwams found ,
When Otoes dwelt long years ago
Beside the dull Missouri's flow.
Spellbound , the rolling prairie shines.
By notes of the wind harps led
The red man's spectre joins in dance
With ghosts of all the summers dead ,
While , calmly , o'er the weird unrest ,
The moon moves slowly toward the West.
MAUY FRENCH MOUTON.
QUIVER A , THE EVIDENCES OF ITS
LOCATION.
In a paper published in THE CONSER
VATIVE not long since , we arrived by
logical steps at the conclusion that
Qaivera must have been more than
Ooronado saw , or it conld never have
attained the fame which it had. We
cited the fact that it was fonnd on all
early Spanish maps ; also on the Father
Marqnette ( French ) map. You will
also note that the wandering tribes
found by Goronado at least forty-two
days' march south of the villages he
discovered and called Qaivera , knew
well the location of so vast an empire.
Here Goronado first began to suspect the
"Turk" of treachery ; here Ysopete
threw himself on the ground aud de
clared that the Turk was leading them
astray ; here the natives told him
Qnivera was to the north.
Now use just as much common sense
as you do in other affairs of life read
these accounts ( conflicting , as they are
in minor points ) with as much discrimi
nating judgment as you do the ordinary
newspapers of today , then tell me yon
think these villages of people explored
by Goronado had enough insi nia to be
known by these other tribes forty-two
days' march away ! We arrived at the
logical conclusion that Goronado told
the truth about these people in his way ,
and probably for diplomatic reasons
made his account as mild as possible.
He probably understood "this to be the
end of Quivera , " partly because his
beautiful , young wife was impatiently
awaiting his return to Mexico and his
followers , not finding gold , were ready
to acquiesce in his report , and partly
because he was thoroughly disgusted
with the insignificant proportions of his
discovery. So after twenty-five days
spent in a fruitless attempt to discover
some such empire as current reports led
him to believe could be fonnd , he re
turned to his army and thence to the
west coast of Mexico. He never did
anything worthy of note afterward ,
although he lived to a ripe old age and
became very wealthy.
The University Rock.
Now let us come back to this central
plain and do a little digging ; let us not
jump at conclusions after exploring a
few village sites , but let us search care
fully over the whole broad area of the
great Central Plain. On the campus of
the State University is'a large igneous
rook , three feet in diameter , which the
"class of ' 92" placed there. The whole
surface of this rock is covered with
characters which must have some sig
nificance. There is a human foot-print
chiseled half an inch deep in this hard
rock ; it does not require a vivid imagi
nation to see it it is as plain as your
foot-print in the new-fallen snow , ex
cept , possibly , the toes are spread more
than yours , for so long hidden "in the
prison cells of pride , " but nearly the
size of the foot-print of an average sized
man. Around this , over all the rest of
the surface of the rock are characters
interwoven and separate. Taking the
form of the Bunio characters as a guide
one mar easily trace many similar ones
on the rook , but as yet no systematical
study has been made of them. There is
another similar rock in Cedar county ,
Nebraska , of which there is a record ,
but which I have never seen. This rock
is between section 25 and section 36 , Tp.
80 , N. , R. 1 , E. This rock was dis
covered by Prof. Samuel Aughey of the
department of Natural Science , State
University of Nebraska , in the year
1869. It has a child's foot print , a half
moon , a grape vine , and many other
characters not deciphered.
In Otoe county , four miles north of
Burr , I am told there is another carved
rock. I have heard rumors of several
others but cannot locate them now as I
made no notes. Some day these rocks
will tell the history of the people who
carved them.
Nebraska Caves.
Now let us briefly review the eaves in
Nebraska , noted by Mr. Greeley and
also by others ; within the confines of
the city of Lincoln is one , just north of
the penitentiary. A number of years
ago , before the city of Lincoln was even
a village , a band of Indians camped
near this cave ; they built a fire at the
mouth and carried on a ceremony of
dancing and other antics , while a num
ber went , from time to time , into the
cave. This continued all night and
when daylight came the firebrands were
scattered , they mounted their ponies
and rode away. Once , while the peni
tentiary was building , a band of Indians
camped near the same place , but the
cave wad then used as a cellar for a
brewery and the mouth was closed , so
they did not get to use it. This is the
last account we have of their return.
Greeley says there were five such
caves in the state of Nebraska , four of
which he saw , but the fifth , which was
on an island in the PJatte river , was the
finest and largest cave of all. He only
knew of this by tradition , as it was lost
even in his day. [ I have not Greeley's
work before me and must depend on
memory for this part , but I think the
above location is correct. ] One on an
island in the Loup river has since been
lost while the one near Golumbus is
well-known today. The last one is near
Fullerton , in Nance county ; it had been
lost for many years , but old settlers
informed me that they remembered it in
an early day. I searched for it while
exploring in that vicinity but failed to
find it. Since then Mr. Will A. Brown
of Fullerton writes me that he has re
discovered it very near the great amphi
theater which I found north of Fuller-
ton.
ton.As
As you stand on the semi-circular
"stage" in the valley , facing this great
natural amphitheater , which towers
with its balconies one hundred and sixty
feet above yon , yon will face what may
be called the arena ; it contains , prob
ably , half an acre enclosed on the creek
side by a semi-circular stage , that ia
three or four hundred feet long , six to
eight feet wide on top ; it is in the form
of a orescent. An opening into the
are .a is found in the middle of this
stage about twenty feet wile. Stand
at this opening , face the arena , and you
will see the location of this cave , half
way up the great bluff which forms the
balcony of the amphitheater. It is to