Friday the Arapaho Boy: A Story from History

By the Anglos' calendar it was the last week of May 1831 and the Arapahos were camped beside the Cimarron River in what is today southwestern Kansas. Young Warshinun strayed from the camp as he hunted for prairie dogs and became separated from his family and the tribe. This is the true story of Warshinun's adventures.

Nearly dead of thirst and hunger after hiding for a week from Kiowa raiders, the young Arapaho was discovered and cared for by Thomas Fitzpatrick, a Rocky Mountain trader. Fitzpatrick named the boy "Friday" for the day of the week he first found the young Indian, and took him to Santa Fe and Taos, Colorado and Wyoming in search of Friday's family. The trader finally took Friday to St. Louis, enrolled him in school, but continued looking for the boy's family as he traveled through Arapaho country.

Friday grew up to become an important Arapaho leader. (To this day, "Friday" is a prominent family name among the Arapaho.) He attended the famous council in Wyoming that led to the Fort Laramie treaty of 1851. Friday spent the last thirty years of his life trying to prevent war between his people and the Anglos, and died in 1881.

Ages 6-12; reading level grade 4.