Frederic Homer Balch
The Bridge of Gods
(Western Classic)
A Tragic Love Story Set in the Beautiful Indian Oregon in the midst of the Native American Fight for Survival
Published by
Books
- Advanced Digital Solutions & High-Quality eBook Formatting -
2017 OK Publishing
ISBN 978-80-272-2064-9
Table of Contents
Book I. The Apostle to the Indians
Chapter I. The New England Meeting
Chapter II. The Minister’s Home
Chapter III. A Darkened Fireside
Chapter IV. The Council of Ordination
Chapter V. Into Trackless Wilds
Book II. The Opening of the Drama
Chapter I. Shall the Great Council be Held?
Chapter II. The War-Chief and the Seer
Chapter IV. Sending Out the Runners
Book III. The Gathering of the Tribes
Chapter I. The Broken Peace-Pipe
Chapter II. On the Way to the Council
Chapter III. The Great Camp on the Island
Chapter V. Sentenced to the Wolf-Death
Chapter II. The White Woman in the Wood
Chapter III. Cecil and the War-Chief
Chapter IV. Archery and Gambling
Chapter V. A Dead Queen’s Jewels
Chapter VII. Orator Against Orator
Chapter IX. Questioning the Dead
Chapter I. The Hand of the Great Spirit
Chapter II. The Marriage and the Breaking Up
Chapter IV. Multnomah’s Death-Canoe
Chapter V. As was Writ in the Book of Fate
Preface
In attempting to present with romantic setting a truthful and realistic picture of the powerful and picturesque Indian tribes that inhabited the Oregon country two centuries ago, the author could not be indifferent to the many serious difficulties inseparable from such an enterprise. Of the literary success with which his work has been accomplished, he must of course leave others to judge; but he may without immodesty speak briefly of his preparation for his task, and of the foundation of some of the facts and legends which form the framework of his story. Indian life and character have long been a favorite study with him, and in these pages he has attempted to describe them, not from an ideal standpoint, but as he knew them in his own boyhood on the Upper Columbia. Many of the incidents related in the story have come under his personal observation; others have been told him by aged pioneers, or gleaned from old books of Northwestern travel. The every-day life of the Indians, their food, their dress, their methods of making their mats, of building their houses, of shaping their canoes, their gambling games, their religious beliefs, their legends, their subjects of conversation, the sports and pastimes of their children,—all these have been studied at first hand, and with the advantages of familiar and friendly intercourse with these people in their own homes. By constant questioning, many facts have been gained regarding their ancestry, and the fragments of history, tradition, and legend that have come down from them. Indian antiquities have been studied through every available source of information. All the antiquarian collections in Oregon and California have been consulted, old trading-posts visited, and old pioneers and early missionaries conversed with. Nothing has been discarded as trivial or insignificant that could aid in the slightest degree in affording an insight into Indian character and customs of a by-gone age.