Coyote was riding his horse along returning to his village, when off in the distance he saw a skinny man, dressed all in black with a big top hat, sitting on a rock. As he rode closer, he could see that it wasn't a man at all, but was really a well dressed skeleton. "Hello Coyote!" called the man "How are you doing today? You're looking pretty healthy today, I see." "Hello friend. What is your name?" Coyote asked. "My name is Small Pox. You know, I was just traveling along here looking for your village. Somehow I got side-tracked, and now I'm not sure which way to go. Could you be so kind as to point me in the right direction?"
"Oh! I have just come from my village," lied Coyote," and I was out going hunting." "Thank you Coyote," Small Pox said, rising from the rock. "I'll probably see you again, then." and with that he started off down the path. Coyote quickly rode home to his village. He gathered up all his people and they moved camp far from where he had talked to Small Pox, thus saving his people from him. Coyote Saves the People   Plains and Apache - retold by Susi Nagoda Bergquist This is an interesting story as it reflects the kindness of the "Victorian Church Ladies". Many church groups collected old clothing for the "unfortunate red man", most of these were donated by relatives of people who had died. Some of these deaths were from diseases such as smallpox, to which the Native Americans did not have any immunity.
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