Warshinun or FridayRegarding specific stories of the Native American life in the Cache la Poudre River Valley, Burris notes:
“Friday, an Arapaho, is the native individual most associated with the Cache la Poudre Valley. As a child, Friday was called Warshinun or Black Spot and was later known as Vash and sometimes Friday Fitzpatrick. In May 1831 an Euroamerican fur trapper supply train on the Cimarron Trail found a seemingly lost nine year-old boy. Thomas Fitzpatrick, then head of the Rocky Mountain fur Company, fostered the boy, naming him Friday for the day of the week on which he was found. Friday was educated in St. Louis, Missouri, becoming proficient in English. By 1843 he had returned to live with the Arapahos. In 1851 Friday participated in the Horse Creek council near Fort Laramie and was selected to go to Washington D.C. By 1858 Friday had become a minor chief; at times he had a band as large as 250 men and considered the Poudre and Big Thompson preferred hunting and camping areas.” According to Northern Arapaho Oral Tradition, Friday did not accept the title of ‘Chief’, when offered, as it signified leadership in war. Friday considered himself to be at peace with settlers. He is referred to as ‘Chief’ Friday by many Euroamericans today to recognize his leadership in seeking peace and good relations. Laflin notes that Northern Arapaho chiefs White Wolf and Friday, and their bands, gathered in the Cache la Poudre River Valley in the summers of 1863 and 1864, as tensions between Native Americans and Euroamericans were escalating. Laflin continues: “Chief Friday implored the U.S. government to set aside land for his people on the north bank of the Cache la Poudre, extending from Box Elder Creek to the South Platte River and reaching as far north as Crow Creek. U.S. Indian Agent, Simeon Whitely advised against this, as it would have required relocating sixteen non-Indian families living along the river in the proposed area. As the government negotiated with the Indians, homesteaders were busy excavating ditches, buildings shelters, planting crops, and transforming the land.” Burris notes that it did not seem to factor into Whiteley’s rejection of Friday’s request, that the squatters were illegally occupying the area. Burris, concludes: “By 1869, Friday had joined the rest of the Northern Arapahos under Medicine Man in Wyoming, giving up hope for a reservation on the Poudre. In January 1870, Washakie, the Shoshone Chief on the Wind River Reservation, allowed the Arapahos temporary accommodation. By 1878, a permanent place was made for the Northern Arapaho at Wind River. Friday died on the Wind River Reservation in 1881.” |