Three California Writers:

To The Wenem Mame River
by Alfred C. Gillis

Edited by: Cindy Beck

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TO THE WENEM MAME RIVER

Once again my footsteps stray
Where the mountain waters play,
I hear again the river’s roar
That breaks upon its rocky shore.

Through silent canyons wild and deep,
Its raging waters plunge and sleep,
Above the ancient mountains rise,
And point their columns to the skies.

O, land where lilies bloom and fade,
The spotted lilies in the glade,
Here water ferns in beauty grow,
Green mosses in the melting snow.

Of all fair rivers I have known,
No fairer waters than thine own.
O, topy mame,^* we love thy name,
Famous waters Wenem Mame.^*

On thy banks what combat raged,
What duels, what brave acts were staged,
Here ancient tribes in battle stood
In yon fair glade by yonder wood.

Here Modoc¹ and the Wintoons fell,
Their spears lie broken in the dell,
Here arrow heads lie broken round
In scattered heaps upon the ground.

Here, too, the warlike Shastas² came
To test the Wintoons Warrior’s claim,
And looked with eager longing eyes,
Ye, fought to win their long sought prize.

Their strong yew bows were sinews strung
And loaded well their quivers hung,
And close within their long black hair,
A long bone knife lay hidden there.

Elk hide cloaks each warrior wore,
And fought and bled upon thy shore,
In mortal combat, fierce and fast,
Till crimson ran thy tide at last.

All is over now and done,
Peaceful now thy waters run,
Side by side the warriors sleep,
In thy canyon wild and deep.

Above eternal Shasta’s^* snow
Gazes o’er the scene below,
And west the Yolla Bulley’s^* keep
Virgil o’er thier slumber deep.

And Saun-chu-luli^* wild and high
Where the shawmn’s trail went by
Hears no more the wild war song
Floating on the breeze along.

Here Indian youth and maiden strayed
And nature’s children laughing played
And near you tall piney wood,
Once the War Chief’s village stood.

Where chants from a thousand throats
Rose unto Heaven in sweetest notes,
Here Norail-poot-as^* lived and died
And now lies sleeping by thy tide.

O, white man, take the land of ours,
Guard well its hills, streams and bowers,
Guard well the Mounds where Wintoons sleep,
Guard well these canyons wild and deep.

* - Original Notes:

The McCloud was known to all surrounding tribes and Topy Mame, meaning the valuable and coveted river.

Wenem Mame: Middle River. Wintoon’s name for the McCloud River.

(Mount Shasta) Sacred mountain of the Wintoons.

(Yolla Bulley) Snow mountain. A sacred mountain.

Black Rock Mountain, in Trinity County. A sacred mountain.

South Indian Summer. The last great Chief of the Wintoons.

1. The Modoc were Native North Americans who lived in SW Oregon and N California, particularly around Modoc Lake (also known as Lower Klamath Lake) and Tule Lake.

2. There were four original Shasta Indian tribes living in Northern California and Southern Oregon. The land of the Shastas ranged generally from Mount Shasta north to the Rogue River, and from Happy Camp and the middle of the Applegate Valley east to Mount McLoughlin.

Three California Writers:

To The Wenem Mame River by Alfred C. Gillis

Edited by: Cindy Beck

TO THE WENEM MAME RIVER

To The Wenem Mame River
by Alfred C. Gillis