Buchanan County bulletin and guardian. (Independence, Iowa) 1866-1869, 1867-11-01
From the Little Corporal.
LEGEND OF THE DEVILS LAKE.


Prairie in-Chien and Milwaukee rail-
way. aud fourteen miles from Portage,
on the river Wisconsin. there flourish
cs very pretty village, all embowcr
cd among. trees, and named with a
rnusical name; : Baraboo" The word
isn't lniian-lt is French; for. in the
I first place, it was Blribeau, from the
Frenchmao who tir-t explored that re-
gion; but ottentimes words split their
skins. ike caterpiIlars, and assume
more natural and easy accents FOR the
tongue 70 speak, as the butterfly is
more easy Of movement than the cat
erpiilar. So this word Baraboo arose
from the ashes Of Baribcau.
/ Going from Mazomanie, in summer
time. yot, have nine miles of sand,
-snee-deep f; nine miles Of perfectly
level and beautiful prairie road, Prai-
RE du Sac; a struggle up the steep
bluff. and fire miles Of slow descent,
which brings you to the fertile heart
Of very rich farming country and
this ia Baraboo. Here nestle those
quiet little homes which the tall ma
pies love 70 arch with wealth of green
in summer, and with flaming fingers
in autumn. Here are those charming
plateaus--tab,es, which dame Nature
spread. with straw berries, and says
to you, little boy and girl, " come
and eat Of my dinner" Here are
rictles--from the bag OF meal which
grows in the ground, called the pota-
TO. to the tasseled grain, which makes
the bags cf meal that come from the
mill.
But are YOU wondering what Bara-
boo has to do with Devils Lake ?
II! tel you. Everything. We must
always cross the threshold before we
enter room, and to Devils Lake
there are but two doors, Of which
Baraboo is one; for by no other
means is 1t possible to reach the lake.
unless one risks a break neck plunge
down perpendicular rocks. a hundred
feet high. Between Daraboo and
Devils Lake, the drive is three miles,
through the shadiest Of ravines. And
all along BY the roadside there spark
les the prettiest pebblcd stream, and
which ssems TO be forever wo,ing
the branches abovei., to bend nearer
and listen to its singing. When you
first see Devils Lake il is a surprise
to you; for | am sure you never saw
or heard OF such a lake before.
Think Of basin Of stone. with sides
nearly hundred feet high, rough.
angular with all possible angles, so
that Geometry might be studied there
very well; the bare points of rocks
covered with gray lichen, and sprin-
kled with pine :rees here aud there,
growing in almost impossible places.
Now, away down in the bottom of
this basiL of stone. Devils Lake
peacefully sleeps; sleeps and dreams
and smiles back at the sky a dark,
sweet smile, the perfect expression of
perfect repose. The distance across
the lake isn't more than mile in any
direction. II has neither outlet nor
inlet. But there's mournful legend
told of this water. which, perhaps,
gives it greater interest than even its
wild SELF. In very early times, be-
fore white settlers came to till the
land. there was camped for a while
on its shores rowing Indian band.
The dusky chief of the tribe had a
lovely, bright-eyed daughter named
Kc she-ah-ben-o qua, which in our
language m. ans the Early Dawn.
She is described rs having been beau
tiiul rs dawn. with slender form Of
swaying grace. aud dark, sweet eyes.
full of love. It was in the .qneen-
month of summer. splendid June"
when the Indian band lit their camp
fires in the woods. just back from the
one grassy slope of Devils Lake.
And by stIaage charce, hunter.
who had s.rayed here from vine
wreathed France, stroiled. weary aud
woe-begene. longing for sight of some
human face. He d!seovereI the lake,
and vel! pleased with SO sweet pie
turc, wandered down by its shore.
Blu, ke- -she-ah-ben -o-qaa had preced-
ed him to that Wild nook, for she
loved the sky. and its twin sister in
the water. So when Pierie's eyes
caught sight of her, they we're mag
netized and spell-bound BY her won
dertul beauty. Ba. the shy Indian
girl was startled ty the unusual pres
ence OF white hunter, and vanished
among the trees Ike q scared bird.
She was not averse to the strangers
face, and for a long time she ponder
ed the mystery IN her heart; but a,
night she found the pale-faced hunter
in her fathers tent, smoking the pipe
OF peace. A blush OF recognition
and a downward glance of the swee.
eyes, Ke-she- ah-ben-o-qua gave, in
return for Pierie's admiring look.
From this their acquaintance grew,
and ripened into love.
For months the French hunter
camped with the Indian braves, chas.
ing the deer with them, hunting with
them the bear, joining in a,l their
sports. His skill in their savage arts
and pastilnes WAS higher than any OF
their warriors could reach; therefore
he was booked upon with envy by
some. and with love by many. And
so the blue-eyed summer went BY and
the golden-robed autumn came.
When the corn was ripe and rast-
led on its stalks, and the moon hang
full in the sky. Pieiis went to the
chiettain to ask Of hisl his daughter;
and Windago, young hrave. who
had jealousy watched pieric, aud
loved Kc-shs- aL-ben-o-qua from a.ar
of, went also. The old chief gave a
strange repl.. Actuated by pride
only, he took them TO the eide OF Dcv.
IFS Lake, and pointed to the opposite
shore. to pine tree high up in the
topmost crags. He had seen an eagle
seek her nest there. He sail to the
rivals,
"The chosen suitor shall be he
who can first bring to me, from yoa-
der tree. All unfledged eaglet."
Windago and Pierre were in their
canoes and across the lake in trice
they were pretty nearly even in seal
ing the nearly impossible rocks to the
base of tho tree; but here Pierre
gained on Windago aud climbed t..c
tree first; lie went up, up; and, O
victory. clasped the ssglet in h;s