The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1886-08-26

the chief much money and beads for Wi
mona, and the chief said the squaw should
go to the teepee of Seco aud be his.
Winona hated the trader, and loved
a young Chippewa brave named Little
Coon, and she said in her heart if she
could not 60 in peace with the Chippewa
she would 60 to her death.
"Just at that time the Dakotas and
Chipnewas went to war and it was no
longer safe for Little Coon to visit the
home of Winona. He could not stay
away from the pretty squaw, so be went
down the Pepin lake in a canoe covered
with tree top and by the shadows OF
the night.
"Winona answered Little Coon's call
when he cried out like the little duck.
One night she told her lover that the
chief had sold her to the Prairie Chicken.
or Seco, the trader, and that her father
had said on the next night she must 90
to the teepee of the pale face to be his
squaw. She moaned pitifnlly, and said
she would throw herself TO death from
the high bluff before she would 90 to the
trader.
Little Coon asked her to fee with
him, but she said no, for then both
herself and lover would be trailed to GER
tain death, for the Dakota warriors hated
the Chippewa braves.
They talked long and laid plan to
deceive the chief and her people.
Little Coon hid himself near the bluff
all the next day. When night came the
chief took Winona to the traders post
and left her there. The squaw was sad,
but said not a word to Seco. Seco talked
to her like the cooling of a dove, but his
words touched not her heart.
"Then she arose and ran towards the
high hill. The trader was afraid he would
lose her, for she had told that she would
rather die than be his squaw, and he ran
after her, but it was like the turtle after
the gazelle.
"Winona went with quick feet to the
top of the bluff, and Seco cried out like
the wildcat, and the Dakota chief and
braves, who were camped up there, heard
him.
"They ran quick.
"Winona saw them, and went to the
very brink chanting the death song. She
bowed herself to the earth, wrapped her
blanket about her breast, and with a wild
cry sprang out into the dark air of the
night.
"The braves drew near the place where
the young squaw had stood, and they
heard the sound of heavy fall.
"They looked down into the blackness,
but could see nothing four trees deep, but
a splash of water was heard, and they
knew Winona was no more They went
with quick feet to the Pepin lake, but
the moving water had carried the dead
squaw away forever, they said, and they
turned sadly back to their lodges
And they never found the body of
the girl 2" asked.
The white-haired old warrior shook his
head.
"Tbey did not find the body because it
was not left beneath the high hill, and it
never went down into the .kko.''
"The lover carried it away" | sug-
gested, new thought entering my head
instantly.
1t went away with Little Coon, but
he did not carry it. Winona was not
killed."
The idea was absurd.
A human being could not descend, un-
der full power of gravitation, hundreds
of feet, and amid broken rocks, without
causing instant death. The red hermit
devined my thoughts, and he said:
81 have told you that the lovers
planned to deceive the Dakotas, and they
did.
Wlnona secreted long, rawhide rope
under shawl and dropped it where her
lover was secreted without stopping to
speak, as had been planned.
When darkness came Little Coon
went to the top of the bluff and making
a moose on one end of the long rope, he
laid the circle at the edge of the rock,
put the thong around the projecting point
of stone, and lowered the end to the earth
coming of Winona.
when he heard the death song from
the young squaw's lips, he grasped the
rope firmly.
"Winona wound her shawl about her
breast and then put the moose around her
body under her arms, and was ready for
the leap.
GA wild cry rang out and Little Coon,
who was very stout young brave, held
tightly and let the little squaw down.
CAT the same time he pushed with his
foot G. large, round stone from its resting
place, and it went splashing into the wa
ters of Lake Pepin. As soon as Winona
touched the earth she and her Chippewa
lover ran to the water where the canoe of
Little Coon was lying, and they padded
away. The long rope was taken with
them. They swept quickly up the smooth
surface Of the pretty Pepin. and when the
light came they were hidden in thicket
where Little Coon had left some food.
"When the sun went down again they
hurried away from the big river to the
east, and when light came they hid again.
"After long journey they came to
another river, and when this was crossed
they were in Canada. Here they lived
with new names, and became friends of
the whites, and no one knew the truth.
The Dakotas knew that Winona was
dead, and the Chippewas thought Little
Coon killed at the hands of the enemies.
have heard the story many times"
"And did they ever return to the Mis-
sissippi 2" asked.
"No, they never went back to their
people, and their people never knew they
lived" :.
"Where did Winona dwell ?"
"The pretty squaw and Little Coon
lived eighty years together in this grand
forest. They led the free life of the red
man, and but little time ago Winona