The Embattled Apache Wells (Part 1)

[Deatu]

Long before written word was forgotten, generations before written word was scripted, for millennia spoken word and stories were passed from generation to generation in the Tahoe Basin. From the lips of each elder came grand stories of great tribes from many lands who used this basin as a means of trade, travel, and mysticism. For thousands of years the Washo people used the area as a center for trade during the summers, while heading east over the mountains to hunt in the fall. While many various smaller tribes branched from the Washo, they all considered the Basin as their ancestral gathering grounds.

On the eastern shores of the lake, civilization was booming. The entire grounds are still revered and considered sacred. To the north and south of the land, two pristine drop-and-pool rivers skirted the perimeter, creating a naturally defensive position. And to the east, steep mountainsides provided a narrow access point to the village. The six hot springs that discharge into the six waterfalls have now retracted, though remnants of such therapeutic hot springs still feed the waterfalls that skirt the area to the north and south. Merchant trade began to centralize around the area. With the lake waterfront on the west perimeter of the village, a wharf system was developed to accommodate longboats, canoes and kayaks from water merchants. With great wealth, came great envy.

After nearly six thousand years of prosperity, a larger tribe much farther to the south, was under assault. Their Creator was angry with them. Years of drought and disease ruined their hunting grounds and farm fields. Ravaged by the years of hardship, the Apache were forced to move northward to pursue a new beginning on more fruitful ground. The leaders knew of the Washo tribe from other travelers whom they traded their textiles and dried food with. They heard of great stories of opportunity, stories that they were willing to wage war over to assume control of. It was not uncommon for the Apache to take what is needed to survive. Some considered them savage, though from their perspective they were fierce and efficient. No one could argue with that.

It took the Apache an entire spring to displace their families, crops, and animals; an entire summer to travel up the valleys and in the shadow of the great mountains to get to the Washo in the Tahoe Basin; and an entire three weeks to decimate the Washo. The Apache were swift and efficient. They systematically raided each outlying village until the last week, when all Apache were directed to decend on the last of the great merchant village. Even outnumbered three to one, the Apache were confident that this great city would fall quickly. As the warriors on horseback surrounded the perimeter, in a great moment of leadership, the Warrior Chief WyldHorse of the Apache held back their advance. He alone, mounted on his horse and went to the Chief of the Washo, and said, "Your people are free to leave, but never to return to these grounds." The Washo Chief nodded in acknowledgement, turned his horse to look back at his wife, children and ancestors to reflect on the decision. Realizing the continuance of his people far outweighed the importance of the land they stood on, he returned his gaze at the Warrior Chief and returned, "So it shall be." The Washo dislocated from their ancestral homeland that solemn week and with only their basic necessities, settled at the foothills of the Great Mountains, where their great-great ancestors hunted, and once again, called home.

The Apache brought to the Basin farming and textiles, something the region only traded for. For generations they lived in and around the surrounding areas. Relishing in their isolated success, the Apache lived quite some time in the comfort of their great migration. It wasn't until black-cloaked, pale skinned and balding men with white collars brought in disease and a contradiction to their beliefs, their very foundation of their culture.