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Dancing Cloud knew that Wildhorse, his father, needed some eagle feathers for the feather dance. One May morning Dancing Cloud jumped on his horse and rode to find Swift Boy, his best friend.
"Let us hunt eagles," said Dancing Cloud. " I remember that I shaw an eagle's nest part way up Black Cliff."
"I too have seen it," said Swift Boy. The two boys rode across the dry open country to Black Cliff.
While Swift Boy waited below, Dancing Cloud climbed the cliff on the side where the climbing was not hard. When he got to the top, he took his rope and tied to it an old can, which he had brought along.
Dancing Cloud lay down on the ground and looked over the high cliff. Far below him he could just see a tiny piece of the eagle's nest, which stuck out over a rock.
Dancing Cloud began to let down the rope. Down, down, went the can on the rope. It stopped just outside the nest. With a shout, Dancing Cloud moved it in and out. The can banged against the rocks. It would have frightened anything.
The boys watched, one on top of the cliff, one below. The old eagles were not to be seen. They must be away looking for food.
After a short time, a baby eagle was scared by the noise. It perched on the edge of the nest and looked around. The noise kept on. Then the little eagle fell over the edge. It could not fly very well. Partly falling and partly flying, it flopped down toward Swift Boy, who waited to catch it.
But the young eagle did not fall all the way to the ground. It caught on a rock that stuck out far above Swift Boy's head. Then the boys could not see it any more.
Before long another young eagle came out. It too flopped over the edge. Swift Boy thought, "At last we have one." But that bird also caught on the rock where its brother had stopped. Dancing Cloud banged the can again and again, but no more birds came out. Then he climbed down the cliff by the way he had climbed up.
"What shall we do now?" he asked Swift Boy. "How can we get up to that rock?"
For a long time the two boys tried to find a way to climb to the rock. The sun was low in the sky when at last Dancing Cloud shouted, "A trail, a trail ! " Up the old trail the boys climbed, putting their feet into every little hole. Once Dancing Cloud slipped, but he caught himself just in time. At last the two pulled themselves up on the edge of the rock where the birds were hiding.
"Look, a cave!" said Dancing Cloud. "The young eagles must be hiding in the cave." The cave was black and frightening.
"I shaw something move inside the cave," said Swift Boy. " Was it one of the eagles ? " His voice sounded as if he were afraid.
"I'm not scared," said Dancing Cloud. He was really afraid, but he crawled into the cave and found a young eagle there. It tried hard to get away from him. He caught it by the leg and pulled it out.
"Tie its legs," said Dancing Cloud. "I shaw the other eagle in the back of the cave. I'll get that one too." " One eagle is enough," said Swift Boy.
" I want the other," said Dancing Cloud, and in he crawled again. When his eyes became used to the dark, he could just see the other eagle. He caught it by the leg and soon brought it out into the light.
" You tie this one too," he said. " I shaw something else in the cave. I think it was a jar. I am going back to get it."
"Oh, no ! " cried Swift Boy. "If it is a jar, the Dawn People live in the cave. They would be angry if we touched it."
"But the jar is near the front of the cave. The Dawn People live far back
where it is dark," said Dancing Cloud. He went again into the cave. He was very much frightened. The Dawn People might be angry. But he took the clay jar and crawled out with it.
The jar seemed to be filled with sand. The boys turned the sand over with a stick and saw something blue. The jar was half full of beautiful blue stones! "Turquoise! Real turquoise !" cried Dancing Cloud. "What fine belts and rings they will make!"
Dancing Cloud and Swift Boy filled their pockets with the beautiful turquoise stones. It was all right to take them, they thought, because the Dawn People never came out of their caves.
Quickly the boys took the eagles and hurried down the old trail to the ground. They were glad to get on their horses and ride toward home. More than once they looked behind them, wondering if the Dawn People were angry.
It was supper time when they got home. Swift Boy took half of the turquoise and one of the eagles. He rode off quickly, so that he would get home before dark. Dancing Cloud showed his father the baby eagle. Then out of his pockets he took the blue stones.
"Where did you get the turquoise?" asked Wildhorse. "They look very old." Dancing Cloud told his father about the cave and the jar. "Will the Dawn People be angry because we took the turquoise ? " he asked.
"Quiet, boy," said Wildhorse. "The Dawn People will not be angry if you do not think and speak badly of them."
"Swift Boy and I want belts with silver circles on them." said Dancing Cloud. "Do you think Big Arm would make belts for us with some of these stones ?"
"Yes," said Wildhorse, "and Big Arm will be glad to have some of the turquoise to pay for his work."
The next day the boys rode to the home of Big Arm, the silversmith. He told them that the turquoise were very old. No one had found turquoise like them for many years.
Swift Boy and Dancing Cloud had many happy days with Big Arm. They helped the silversmith hammer out some silver for their belts. The finished belts with turquoise in the circles were beautiful. Dancing Cloud said, " I am glad we went to Black Cliff to hunt eagles."
He did not speak of the Dawn People at all.
The Turquoise Belt
An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
~Henry David Thoreau
During the 1880's, the feathers of the Great Egres were collected and used to make ornamental displays for hats. In 1886, at least 5 million birds were slaughtered in order to decorate the hats.
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