Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1880-05-07
A TALE or A. WITCH.

age width Is perhapsd dozen yards, while
its waters are very dark and extremely
sulphurous. In it fish cannot live, while
a frog or snake thrown into the stream,
instantly turns over and floats away,
dead. It rises somewhere about Halle
ton, and about six miles from its source
enters deep mountain gap, which it fol-
lows to its furthest extremity, and soon
after mins les its black current with the
llmpid waters OF the Nescopeck Greek,
which . little further on joins the wide
Susquehanna. The mountain gap trav-
ersed by this stream, is one of the most
dismal places to be found IN the country.
only a narrow stretch of sky is visible
from below, and this is almost always
filled with haze which the sunbeams
scarcely ever penetrate. When the sky
happens to be clear it Is not sunrise in
the gap till Ten O'Clock, while at two the
sun goes down. Immense gray boulders
abound. The ground is covered with
ashes and trunks of fallen pines, charred
and blackened by mount-ln fires, which
yearly sweep over the place, lie decaying,
sometimes one across the other. Enor-
nous snakes crawl over the rocks and
battle in the Shiny pools. The only trees
are stunted pines which grow out from
between the rocks.
In addition to the gloom and desola-
ton intesting the place, it has, according
to the people thereabout, been sadly
troubled with witches. One of the sto-
ries handed down from a generation long
In their graves runs thus: Much less than
100 years ago Black Creek was beauti-
full transparent stream. The skies above
it we're as clear as other skies. Green
moss thickly covered the ground and
rocks, and birds sang among the branch
es of the trees. The gap about this time
was the favorate resort of hunters, and
one individual, owning large tract of
mountain land including the gap, had
erected cabin in it for the accommoda-
ton of himself and friends during the
hunting season. 1t happened one day
that the owner of the cabin got into a
quarrel with stranger over a wounded
deer, each claiming that he had fired the
lucky shot. During the. quarrel the
stranger struck blow, and received in
return one that leveled him to the earth.
Being seriously hurt, he was carried into
the cabin and word sent to his friends,
who resided at some distance. In a short
time his sister arrived, black eyed girl,
with long, raven hair. On the same day
he died, and the girl cursed the young
man that dealt the fatal blow in a man
ner that made terrible impression on
all present.
In short time the waters OF the creek
became black and sulphurous, the sky
grew dim and hazy, while the gap became
the abode of serpents and place of DESC
lation. The black-eyed girl was after
wards frequently seen-sometimes walk
ing through the gap at midnight, envel-
oped in long black cloak; at other
times in the midst of tempest, on the
topmost bough of the loft1est tree, sway
ing to and fro, with her long black hair
streaming in the wind. So the good peo-
pie of the long ago came to regard this
place as bewitched by the vindictive, sis
ter, and no one cared to be found In the
dismal place at night. But an impor-
tant road connecting the Tomhlcken and
Nescopeck Valleys, led right through the
bewitched gap, and it was consequently
not always possible to avoid it. The road
was always beaten hard and in the best
order. Yet farmers in passing over it on
their return from market, with four horses
attached to an empty wagon, would
often come suddenly to standstill. The
farmer then would crack his whip, the
horses would throw themselves into the
harness and scratch the ground for foot
hold, but the wagon would stand as if
riveted to the earth beneath some invisi-
BILE weight. The farmer would then
know that "the witches were riding his
wagon" and simply wait until they got
of, when the team would travel on as
easily as before.
About ten years ago mining COM
pany began operations four miles up the
gap, but there was no euccess predicted
for it in such place. And little lat.
er Simon Kase ran his new railroad right
through the gap. About this time Hen
ny C1oll, who owned valuable farm out
in the Nescopeck Valley, sold his prop
erty for large sum, and, fearing Meth
er Simon ,Kase nor the witches, decided
to build large hotel right in the noun.
tain gap. His friends expostulated with
bin, reminding him that he could not
succeed there. He went to work, how
ever and in short rime had the new
hotel under roof. The new coal mines
attracted q great deal OF travel, and be-
tore long Croll was doing fourishing
business. He had ten sons and he built
house for each of them near his own.
Other relatives followed SO that the place
soon became to be called "Crolltown.'
At the end Of two years the town con-
tanned fifty houses, and had beside the
hotel a store, lime kiln, post Office and a
school house. Soon after this Croll be-
gan to show some strange eccentricities.
He became very quarrelsome, and with
out any apparent reason would for
bid his best customers the house.
| A large NORTON of the nnnul afinn