and the Blackfeet, and have devoted much time and effort to the work of
accumulating from their old men and best warriors the facts bearing on the
history, customs, and oral literature of the tribe, which are presented in
this volume.

In 1889 my book on the Pawnees was published, and seemed to arouse so much
interest in Indian life, from the Indian's standpoint, that I wrote to
Mr. Schultz, urging him, as I had often done before, to put his
observations in shape for publication, and offered to edit his work, and to
see it through the press. Mr. Schultz was unwilling to undertake this task,
and begged me to use all the material which I had gathered, and whatever he
could supply, in the preparation of a book about the Blackfeet.

A portion of the material contained in these pages was originally made
public by Mr. Schultz, and he was thus the discoverer of the literature of
the Blackfeet. My own investigations have made me familiar with all the
stories here recorded, from original sources, but some of them he first
published in the columns of the _Forest and Stream_. For this work he is
entitled to great credit, for it is most unusual to find any one living the
rough life beyond the frontier, and mingling in daily intercourse with
Indians, who has the intelligence to study their traditions, history, and
customs, and the industry to reduce his observations to writing.

Besides the invaluable assistance given me by Mr. Schultz, I acknowledge
with gratitude the kindly aid of Miss Cora M. Ross, one of the school
teachers at the Blackfoot agency, who has furnished me with a version of
the story of the origin of the Medicine Lodge; and of Mrs. Thomas Dawson,
who gave me help on the story of the Lost Children. William Jackson, an
educated half-breed, who did good service from 1874 to 1879, scouting under
Generals Custer and Miles, and William Russell, half-breed, at one time