b'stop this, so they came to the mountain to pray for a vision that might show them an end to this misery. And so I say to you, if one day you should journey into the realm of the Great Thunder Spirit, do not be This mountain, the four-colored, four-directionalsurprised to feel that I am watching you. Do not forget lightning from within or what the white men call thewhat I have said to you. Superstitions, was one of the last strongholds of our people. The mountain which enriched our spiritualPlease do not enter our Sacred Grounds with greed and lives became the savior of our last remaining warriors.malice in your heart. Do not destroy what has taken The mountain opened itself up for the last survivors ofnature many lifetimes to create, but go with an open the true Apache. mind and let the beauty revealed to you open your spirit to fly alongside the eagle and the hawk. But be In the past, the white man journeyed within theseforewarned, this mountain can be deadlymountains to take from her the blood of her veins. These men returned to their own people crazed orAfter the warrior had finished speaking, he returned to died unknown deaths within her unforgiving walls.his pony and remounted. Spinning around toward the The blood of the mountain is known to them as gold,mountain, he drew his staff above his head and with a but to us it was something that was not to be takenloud cry, vanished into the night.unless given freely by the Thunder Spirit. Those the mountain herself did not stop, our warriors did.In the eerie moments that followed, everyone just There was a white man who came from the westlooked at each other, frozen in disbelief by what they who was looked upon by the Great Spirit and to himhad just seen or what they thought they had just was revealed the secret of the mountain. Many ofseen. No one spoke. I took a moment to gather my us believed that his mind had been touched whenthoughts. There was no story, legend or any manner he entered into the passage of eternity to again walkof an anecdote I might have had to relate, that could out when few had ever. And, in his hand, he held theremotely compare to what we had all just experienced. blood of the mountain given to him freely. It was fromNative American symbol for change. For one of the few times in my life, I was speechless. that time on that this man walked freely within theBut then he Spirit Warrior had said it allthere was mountain. He was only a spirit that would return fromto the ways the white man, they disappeared into thenothing more left to say. As the fire dwindled down to time to time. Even though we knew of his presence,Great Thunder Spirits mountain. It is believed to thisglowing coals and trickles of blue smoke, we gathered we did not speak of him and went on with our lives asday they dwell within the shadows of her great peaksup our belongings to leave. Not one word was said though he was not there. It is believed that this manand canyonsliving the life they believed sacred. as everyone simply got in their vehicles and left. I was known as the Dutchman. remained for a while just looking up at the mountain It is not my place to tell you whether or not they stillwith the moon peeking out from behind Siphons The last days of the war with the white man, ourexist, for they have committed themselves to be oneDraw. It occurred to me that there have been so warriors returned to this mountain with their womenwith the mountain. Now we are just one more of themany people who have heard many stories about this and children, knowing that the path of our peoplesmany secrets she holds. As the eagle soars high abovemountain over the years, but few have actually heard fate had been forewarned and that the words of the oldjagged peaks, one may still hear the chants of thethe mountain tell the story herselfuntil this night. I man had been true. Knowing that they could not yieldpeople as they echo from within.put the fire out and went home Susan Abare928-713-7472SAbare@AwardRealty.com CUSTOM HOMESSECOND HOMES PREMIUM HORSE PROPERTIES INVESTMENT & COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES HOME LOTS AMAZING NIGHT SKY NATURE WALKS ACREAGE HORSING AROUNDCongressGROUP THERAPY OUTDOOR FUNis a lifestyle.ArizonaRealCountry.com November 2019 11'