My Name Is Cougar

Mike Hayden, writer and an avid outdoorsman, spent four weeks in the wilderness of the Bitterroot Mountains in Idaho, searching for a 209 year old Nez Perce Indian reported to be living there. When approached, the Indian, along with an Appaloosa horse and a mountain lion, would disappear. Hayden, a Native American historian, was there to glean historical information from the man. After one week the Indian materialized, along with his horse and a tawny mountain lion He said, " My name is Cougar." While spending time together the duo discovered they were Kindred Spirits and held lengthy discussions about the dilemmas in paleface society. Over the years, the author spent time on Indian reservations in Canada, Dakotas and the Pacifi c Northwest. He lived for a month on the Nez Perce reservation in Idaho where he powwowed with Elders and fished for steelhead salmon on the Clearwater River at the precise shoals where Lewis & Clark first encountered the Nez Perce in 1805.