The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1865-04-27
An INDIAN TRADITION.

A considerable portion of our early lite
was passed on the shores Of the Upper
Mississippi river, about one hundred
miles above St. Louis. Il was in tho
primitive tlnes of that country-for We
are now considerably apast the "dsyv Of
our youth"-oonsequsntly St. Louis wss
our nearest and only trading post. The
being the oass, We, the settlers, bed fts.
quent occasion to make voyages between
tho two points-that is, between our set.
Element at the village Of Hamburg, row
in Calhoun county, and St. Louis.
I remember, when = mere boy, Of 30
companying my father on one Of these
voyages, which was made with . rsft
load Of barrel slaves for the Sc. Louis
market Near the then little village oi
Alton, Illinois, W were forced to tic NJ
for bsd weather, and I recollect we made
our camp in kind Of osvsrs which may
now be seen in tho high cliffs just abovs
Alton.
White we wero waiting for the weather
to change, two canoe loads of Indians
passed down close to our side of the
river; an occurrence 80 COMMON that We
paid no attention to them until they had
reached point some two hundred yards
below as, when they attracted my atteu.
ton ~ all suddenly rising to their feet
and idischarging their rifles simultanc-
ously At the face of the cliff. My father,
who was near at the time, in reply to my
evinced astonishment, told me they we're
shooting the Pirasan, and if l desired,
he would give me sight Of it.
Reaching the place where the Indians
had fred at the cliff, my father pointed
upward and there upon the smooth rock
beneath an over sheltertng ledge beheld
the picture Of some frightful looking
monster, done in red paint, and having
the appearance of being very ancient
piece Of Indian workmanship. Time and
tens Of thousands Of rifle balls and con.
sideraby defaccd it, yet its outlines we're
clearly traceable The monster was rep
resented in two views-one as flying,
and the other as lying upon its back with
its feet turned upward, as if dead. Its
general shape was somewhat like that
Of the vampire bat; and the painting
made its size about equal to the size Of
an ordinary horse. From it's mouth pro-
truded immense tusks--in short it was,
taking it all in all, truly frightful rep.
resentatiou, we'll calculated to make Z
deep impression upon my youthful
nerves.
"This," said my father, "is the Pirs.
san these are tho Pirssan Bluffs, and
that narrow shoot We ran yesterday was
the Pirasan Shoot-eaoh taking its name
from what you see before you, and the
Indian tradition connected therewith.
Come, let us sit down upon the rocks
here and l will tell you the story -
have heard it from the Indians many q
time. -.
"very, very long ago there lived with.
in cavern high up among these cliffs, 4
monstrous flying beast known to the In.
dian tribes Of tho Mississippi Valley, -
the Pirssan. It fed upon men, and was
90 formidable that all the skill Of the an
cient people brought to bear With view
of its destruction, availed them nothing.
Il continued its ravagss year after year,
sailing like an eagle through the upper
air, and rlouncing down upon its helpless
victims1u whole tribes disappeared
to feed ! hungry NAV. Il spread ter
ror through al tho nations to such de-
gree thst 40 one would, finally, vssturs
forth from his hiding place to provide fol
the necessaries Of life,. and conssq1sstly.
until famine bads fair to msst i hall
| way in the total destruction Of the hu.
man race. -Ia-a,
"At length ; mighty chief By ths
name Of Wahoo, bethought himself q
fastlDel and prayer. For two whole
md ee fed on bitter roots, and prayed
to Feat Spirit to deliver them from
hif h; and at last the Great Spirit