The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-04-26
ONATOGA,s sACRIFOE.

anu hON lNdl " oo III oohAAF
trembled at the mention of a great man
eating bird that had lived before the
time told of in the traditions known ol
their oldest chiefs.
This bird, which according to the In
dian legends, ate men, was known as
the Piassau.
bird was bluff on the Mississippi river,
a short distance above the site of the
present city of Alton, I'll. There il was
said to lie in wait, and to keep watch
over the broad open prairies. Whenever
some rash Indian ventured out alone to
hunt upon this fatal ground he became
the monsters prey. The legend says
that the bird, swooping down with the
fierce swiftness of hawk seized upon
It's victim and bore him to gloomy
cave wherein it made its hOTrid feasts.
The monster must have had an insati
able appetite or a prolonged existence,
for tradition declares that it depopulat-
ed whole villages. Then it was that the
wise men began TO see visions and to
prophesy the speedy extinction of the
tribe. Years of its ravages followed one
upon another, until at length, according
to the legend, was lost all reckoning OF
the time when first that strange, foul
creature came to scourge their sunny
plains. Years before had died the last
of the wise men whose fathers once had
hunted the mastOdon, or chased the os-
Trich-lIke diornis, where now the grand
sons followed the bison and the deer.
The aged men, whose youth was but a
dim memory, could say only that the
bird was as it had alwayssb been. None
like it had ever been beard of, save in
vague traditions carried from the far
Darien isthmus. There, the legends ran,
near DobAyba, a wild hurricane had
once brought bird fiend that plagued
their coast for many weary moon,
until wise man caught it in a snare.
But no snare could save the men OF
the Illinois tribe, the 'Illini'-they were
doomed! Nets, arrows, strategems plan
ned by the most cunning warriors, alike
had failed. Still the bird had proved
upon them.
There was one, Onatoga who began to
ponder.
Now Onatoga was the greatest leader
of the Him; one whose name was spoken
with awe even in the distant wigwams
north of the Great Lake.
Long had he grieved and wondered
over the will of the Great Spirit; that he
should look upon the men of the Wes-
tern pralrIes, not as warriors, but as
deer or bison, only fit to fill the NAV OF
80 pesLilent thing as this mOnstrous
bird Before the new moon began to
grow upon the face of the sky Onatoga's
resolve was taken. He would go to some
spot dee in the forest where by fasting
| aud hia frit t-pttIi hannpnn or
pure that the Great Master of Life would
hear him once again. be kind and turn
his face back, in light upon the lllini.
Stealing away rom his tribe in the
night, he plunged far into the trackless
forest. Then, blackening his face for a
whole moon he tasted. The moon waxed
full and then waned, but no vision came
TO assure him that the Great Spirit had
heard his prayers. Only one more night
remained. Wearied and sorrow-wOrn,
he closed his eyes. But through the
deep sleep that fell upon him, came tht
voice of the Great Spirit, And this is the
great message that came to Onatoga, al
he lay sleeping in body but, in his soul
awke:
Arise, Chief of the Illini ! Thou shall
save thy race. Choose thou 20 OF the
warriors. noble-hearted, stroug-armed
eagle eyed. Put in each warriors hanC
bow. Give to each an arrow dipped
in the venom of the snake. Seek thoC
the man whose heart loveth the Grea
Spirit. Let him not fear to look Tn,
Piassau in the face; but see that the war
riors, with ready bows, stand near tn,
shadow of the trees
Onatuga awoke; strong, though h,
had tasted month; happy, though b,
knew he was soon to die! Who but him
the Great Chief of the Illini, should dl,
} for his people-for was it not death t
look on the face of the Plassau?
Binding the mocassins firmly upon hi
: feet, he washed the marks of grief from
his face, and painted it with the bright
est yermillion, and blue. Thus, in tn
splendid colors of a triumphant warrior
: he returned bOmeward. All was silen
in the village when, in tho gray light o
early day, he entered his lodge. Sool
r the joyful news was known. From lodg
3 10 lodge it spread until the last wigwau
was reached. Onatoga's quest was sue
| cessful
, Then the warriors began to gather
Furtively, even in their gladness, the
3 sought his lodge, for the fear of tn
Plassau was over all. A solemn awe fe
} upon them as they gathered around tn
chief, who, it was whispered, had hear
the voice of the Great Spirit. Without
{ on high bluff, they knew that tn
4 6end bird crouched, waiting for tn
e morning light to reveal its prey. With
s in, in sorrowing silence, they heard hoy
/. the people could be saved; but the heart
4 IDf 10 All Rnnx
the sacrifice demanded-their braves
and their best!
Onatoga chose his 90 warriors and ap
pointed them their place, where tn
e rolling prairie was broken by the edge G
7 the forest. Then when the sun shot il
, first long shafts of light across the levt
grasses, the chief walked slowly fort
= and stood upon the prairie. The worl
IN the morning light was beautiful t
, Onatoga's eyes. The flowers beneath hi
feet seemed to smile, and poured fortI
e richest perfumes; the sun was gloriou
! in its golden breast plate to do hir
7 honor; while the lark and the mocking
e bird sang his praise in joyous songs.
He had not long to wait. Soon, afa
! off, the dreaded PIassau was seen NOV
= ing heavily through the clear morning
I air. Onatoga, drawing himself to tn
= full measure of his loft height, raise
s his death song. The dull flutter of tn
J huge wings came rushing over the sun
I lit fields, Onatoga never ceaslng hi
I chant, faced the Piassau fearlessly, !
| sudden fierce swoop downward! In tbs
:, very moment twenty poisoned arrows
8 loosed by twenty faithful hands, spe
j. true to their aim.
With a scream that the bluffs ser
rolling back in sharp and deafenin
echoes, the foul monster dropped deaC
The Great Spirit loved the man VIII
had been willing to sacrifice his life fC
his people. In the very instant whe
4 death seemed sure. he covered the heal
h of Onatoga with a shield; and he suffer
o ed not the wind to blow aside sing
arrow from its mark-the body Of ii
. fated PIassau.
@ Great were the rejoicings that follow
! ed, and rich were the feasts that wei
E held in honor of Onatoga. The Hill
n resolved that the story of the great d.
liverance and of the courageous love {
e Onatoga should not die, though the
themselves should pass away. Tt
0 cunning carvers of the tribe cut dee
t into the living rock of the bluff the Tel
II rlble form of the PIassau. And, in late
d years, when young children asked tn
meaning of this great figure, so unlik
} any of the birds that they knew upo
/ their rivers and their praIries, then tn
! fathers would tell them the story of II
Piassau, and how the Great Splrit ha
t found in, Onatoga, warrior who love
0 his fellowmen better than he loved b
own life John DImitry in st. Nichols
y for March,