Ellsworth American., 1886-01-21
Miscellaneous.
For the Ellsworth American.
The Tragic Death Of Lejok.
TRADITIONS or IEsD MOUNTAIN.

TRADITIONS or GEAD MOUNTAIN.
Soon after the close Of the War of the
Revolution. in 1873. the Penob.eot Indian.
irequentl. brought lead to the settlement a,
flsw or'h, in small quantities. which at that
time was scarce. and was readily purchased
by the settlers. The Indians pretended the,
procured the lead from mountain. since
known as the Lead Mountain. The iniabi.
tanis were very anxious To find where the
lead was obtained. The Indians said The
mountain VAS guarded hy the spin, Of 4.
dead lnd'an chief. sho died on the noun
tam, and white people Wers no, permitted 10
take lead from the mountain MANY peo-
pc al that time were as supersiitious a. The
Indians. aud believed in omens and witch
craft. some Of the settler. made several
a'iemPisto go to the mountain to search for
lead but eeneral.! failed 10 reach here and
on thrir return told some yer, wonderful
stories Of ~ha; they saw and heard in the
vicinity Of the mountain.
LeJok and hi, companion belonged to
ano'her tribe, and all the, knew about tie
mountain was learned from the PenobScot
Indians Thee TWO Indians. with Two
white hunters. named JOY and Jeil.on.
lvho we're tormerl, tie companion, OF the
old hunter Reed, OF Reed, Pond memory. j
"ere eneamped on the bank of pond on
The bead waters q Union river. They
bad been very .ucoc-sful 10 hunting. and
hsd as man, fur skin> a. the, could vel!
bring TO the settlement; aud ucre waiting
Tor the ice TO leave The ise.r. SO the, could
return part Of tie va, in their canoes. From
Iheit camp IN dear weather. they had fall
view OF Lead Mountain towering 10 splendor
as one Of the everlasting bills. It was
about the 2o,h Of March. and excellent
travelling on snow-shoes Joy and Ieiok
made arrangements 10 visit the mountain.
miles from their camp The other Two
we're to remain and look after their traps
and sable lines. pack up their furs, aud be
re ad, 10 return 10 the settlement Our two
hunters left earl, IN the morning, followed
b, their two dogs. They carried with them
some hard bread, salt. and other small ar,i-
oies. 10y always carried with him com
pass Game was plentiful. and they de-
pended largely on their rifles for food. They
made bee line for the mountain, crossed
several small ponds aad arrived al the base
of the mountain IN the afternoon. Their
first care was to select place near a small
brook. and build small camp OF boughs.
having three sides closed, the south side
open. and their fire built IN the opening, the
ground Oh the inside being covered with
boughs lhey had killed deer on their
wav, and soon were through witt their sup
per wood was cut To Keep their fire burning
through The night they were very tired, and
la, down in their little hut and slept sound
ly until morning, when they cooked and ale
their breakfast. and then left for the moun-
tain. They had learned from Que of the
Penobscot Indians that there vas small
mountain on the south side, where they
believed the lead would be found. After
fJllowing aud examining different places
along the mountain till past noon, they
came 10 place where the ledge was almost
perpendicular and the snow of great depth.
where it had blown over the mountain. As
they were making their way along the dogs
commenced barking short distance from
them. When they got to the place they
saw large bear with his head and fore feet
partly through hole in the ice and crust,
near the cliffs. He was growing fercely
TO warn the dogs 10 keep at proper dis
lance ; as the hunters approached the dogs
rushed so near the bear they could not fire
without endangering the dogs. When Bruin
saw the hunters he drew back into his den
the dogs sptang side by side to follow him
but the passage was small they complete
" wedged each other 10 the hole, aud could
lot get in or out, the, making great pow
WOW. Fearing the bear might injure them,
having them as he did TO a Disadvantage
JOY handed ms rifle 10 he Indian aud took
hold Of the dogs legs to draw them back
at th. anne momen, the snow and ice giving
away for eight or ten feet around them, men
and dogs we're preeipIta'ed down ten oi
| fifteen feet, land in the words of Joy, whom
( have often heard tell the story,) landed il
den of wild animals. and all we're buried
in snow except Joy, who landed on the TOP
/ of the heap. For moment there was q
general scramble an old bear was the first
/ to dig out. Ii seemed to be long and con-
tinuous cavern, rooted over with ice and
snow, and only small part of the roof had
eaved in. She made her way along the
cave short distance. arose on her hind
legs, seemed to be much surprised, and
looked round to see what had happened; in
| the meantime the dogs and three more bears
l nou hooe tHeh appear e.ee. wv SHOS. sS"i
lings, and one about three years old. The
young bear and one of the dogs commenced
fighting; the other dog was looking after
the cubs /; the young bear was using the
dog up fast. Joy having lost his gun
loosened a small axe carried in bis belt and
attacked the bear. After receiving severa
blows from the axe. the bear left the dog
and fed TO the other part of the cave the
other dog had a fast grip on one Of the cub.
and he was squealing loudly. The old beal
seemed to take hint from Joy and sprane
at the dog, and with one blow of her paw
buried him in the snow, and with her family
disappeared in cavern which seemed to ex
tend along the base of the ledge great dis
| tance. Leiok was the last to dig out of tbs