Piestewas Mountain

Who was the woman who walked with the western explorer,

Fixed their shoes,

Cooked their meat,

Doctored their wounds,

Tended the fires,

Warmed his bed.

Who was the woman who loved the explorer,

The soldier,

The trapper,

The gold miner,

The cowboy.

She gave up

Her name,

Her tribe,

To followed her man,

To carry his child.

Is that why “Squaw Mountain” is not named?

Because we did not honor her as the woman she was,

Did not honor devotion not under the conventions of marriage,

To be abandoned,

Left alone,

To give herself to the next world,

And fly with the eagles from the pinnacle top.

We can’t remember her name now.

Let’s not forget her children’s name.

Give that mountain the name of the child.

Let that name be remembered for all time.

Her Indian name,

Piestewas.

She is with the fallen.

End

Note:  My family history does not record her name.

George T. Everette Jr.

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