all deny emphatically the statement that nature is ever interfered with
in the manner stated. These Indians call themselves "Selish," a name
apparently without reason or derivation. The Flathead Reservation was
formed about forty years ago. On three sides it is walled in by high
mountains, and it consists of about 2,240 square miles of territory. The
railway station, Arlee, is so named after the last war chief of the
Flatheads. Passengers are often amused by the gaudily decked Indians who
are seen at this station, which is quite near the reservation.

An interesting story attaches to the Jocko River and Reservation. It is
stated that an Irishman named Jacob Finley established a ranch on the
river early in the present century. The French Canadians who settled in
the neighborhood and intermarried with the Indians, called Finley by his
Christian name with a peculiar French pronunciation, which made it sound
very like much Jaco or Jocko--the latter name gradually becoming
generally adopted. It was quite natural to call the river and the valley
after the ranch owner, and the name finally became generally accepted as
correct. This man Finley left behind him a family of seventeen, and
before he had been dead many years his direct descendants numbered
within three or four of an even century.

The Indians called the stream the Nlka, an unpronounceable combination
of letters, resulting from a most interesting though variously described
event.

Mrs. Ronan, the well-known writer, tells an interesting story of how
names are given by Indians. Thus, her own daughter's name was Isabel,
but the Indians called her "Sunshine." In February, 1887, the little
girl was born. For some days prior to her birth the weather had been
gloomy in the extreme. Almost simultaneously with the child's birth the