The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1885-03-14
SQUAW'S ROCK.
The Tragic Events from Which It
Took It's Name.

AVN 4OO 4tCt111Ss
Those who are acquainted with the
upper portion of the Russian River
Valley can not have failed to remark a
peculiarly precipitous bluff, some five
hundred feet in height, which over
hangs the western bank of the stream
a: point about ten miles north of
Cloverdale and six of seven from Hop
land or Sanel. Those who have ridden
in the stage from Cloverdale to Ukiah
at the present day over the new toll
road running along the eastern bank
of the river, gain clear view of this
precipitous bluff while passing over
that portion of the road known as the
Blue Slide-a geological freak which
lies just opposite to Squaw's Rock, and
has acquired its reputation from the
glacier-like movement of the blue clay
composing that portion of the river
ward slope, necessitating continued re-
pairs of the roadway, and constituting
the acutcst thorn in the side of the
stage drivers who ply between Glover
dale and Eel River. Either the driver
or some fellow passenger, if you hap
pen to be travelling on the stage, will
probably volunteer to give you the ira
ditional particulars of how the Squaw' s
Rock acquired its name. These par
ticulars, however, are usually extremely
meagre, and all that seems to be GER
tainly known about the matter is that,
some forty years ago-before the dis
coyery of gold, in fact, and when
white settlers were few and far be-
tween-an Indian maiden was beloved
by white youth, the affection being
mutual, but distasteful to the maiden S
tribe, who put every obstacle in the
way of a union; that the maiden was
eventually compelled to marry sutton
chosen for her by the tribe, and that,
in fit of despair, she threw herself,
like another Sappho, from the top of
the precipice which bears her name,
and was dashed to pieces on the bowl
ders of the rivers bed. This poetic
legend might still have remained
shrouded in historic vagueness had not
chance thrown me in the, way of OBJ
tanning further particulars from an au-
thentic source, which invested the story
with a tragic and dramatic force which
was not limited at in its original form.
Some years ago, while living in the
neighbOrhood of ClOverdale, | made
the acquaintance of an Indian of more
than ordinary intelligence, whose nat
ural reticence was thawed by some SER
vices which | was enabled to do him,
and whose confidence won far enough
to succeed in making him unfold in a
disjointed manner the real history of
the occurrences from which Squaw's
Rock took its name, and which | now
reproduce for the benefit of my readers,
weaving the story into a more con-
nected form than was given me by old
Santiago.
1t was some time in the twenties that
John Willard, the captain of trader,
who brought the commodities of civil
lied life into Monterey, and there bar
tered them for hides, got tired of his
seafaring life, as many more have done
before and after him in California,
married himself to a senorita with
broad acres and fat kline, and settled
down into steady-going rancher in
the valley Of the Russian River A son
was born to tke pair, stalwart youth,
whose robust, out-of-door vaquero life
made him both strong and handsome.
1t was universally conceded that Frank
Willard, at the age of twenty, was as
fine specimen of youth as could be
found north of the bay, or, for that
matter, south of it either. His free
and generous disposition made him as
great a favorite with the male portion
of the community as his good locks did
with the female. OF course, at that
susceptible age it was only natural that
he should pay particular attention to
the latter, and as compatriots of his
own station were not numerous in
those thinly settled regions, perhaps it.
was but natural that he should cast
his eyes upon such females as there
were. The paternal hacienda of the
Wizards lay in the neighborhood of
the Healdsburg of the present day;
and to the north in the vicinity of Sanel
and Ukiah there dwelt at that time a
strong tribe of Indians, remarkable for
fine physique and in all respects con-
siderably above the average of Califor-
Man aborigines. During one of his
equestrian wanderings young Frank
Willard came upon one of the ranch
erias of this tribe, at that time situated
upon the western bank of the Russian
River, and within few hundred yards
of the precipiee now known as Squaw's
Rock. 1t was there that he encoun-
tered Bonita, daughter of Big Bull, one
of the sub-chiefs of the tribe, a maiden