Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-02-03
AN INDIAN LEGEND.

If you have ever spent winters night
| lost and alone in the forest wilds, you can
| appreciate my despair when found myself
weary, bewildered and storm bound in the
| great woods of Canada.
What night The wind cut as if filed
with millions of fine needles, flying points
| foremost, and now began crustng so as to
make walking more laborious
| | cast about me for some spot which
would afford shelter from the bowling TEN
| pest but only the sturdy trees, studded in
/ the great white blanket, could be seen. !
/ was weary and chilled TO the bone, but
dared not stop. Hour after hour slowly
/ passed, and no halt had been made. My
watch told me that half of the night had
passed, but could | survive the other half
/ That was the question
At the very moment when was discuss
| ing the possibility Of enduring the cold un-
| til dawn, a strange object loomed up before
mo. 1t was a wigwam made of poles, and
/ closely covered with bark.
A single wigwam, buried it proved, in
/ the heart Of the great Canada woods a
cloud Of smoke almost white as the snow
issued from the top. Never was mortal
more gratiied. Going close to the fur
closed doorway | cried out
Hello there"
There was no response and | cried out
again The skin moved, and the muzze Of
a rifle appeared
"A white hunter lost in the woods, l
said getting out Of the range Of the gun
White hunter come in.
4 moment later | was out of the biting
frost, out of danger.
| found the only occupant of the forest
lodge to he a very aged Indian His face
was wrinkled, his form bent, and the light
covering Of hair upon his head as white as
the crystals that danced in the winter wind
outside
The old man spoke English very clearly
and seemed glad had come
He revived the fire, wrapped blanket
of wolf skin about my shoulders, and at
once set about preparing some warm drink
and food. After thawing out and partak
ing of the red hermit's food, we sat cross
legged like Turks and smoked our pipes
The Indian was inclined to be reticent at
first. but when he learned that | was from
the Upper Mississippi he became interested
You have been up and down the great
river - he interrogated.
Many times, l returned.
you have seen the great bluff on the
sunrise side Of Lake Pepin, then Z"
Maiden rock =
Yes"
Time and again. 1t is a famous rock
| Every boat that passes up or down the river
| contains people who gaze upon the great
bluff and think of Winona, who killed her
self for love by leaping from its crest to the
stony base below. All the pilots tell the
story over and over again of the tragic end
Of the pretty Indian girl"
The old man shook his head slowly.
Il have heard the story he said,
thoughtfully,n but none of the pale faces
have it right
How do you know Z?
Il was there at the time, and do know"
Then is the tradition not true =
"The brave girl did leap from the high
rock"
you must be very old"
Better than 100 summers, he answer
ed rubbing his thin hand across his deeply
furrowed brow. 81 was a young brave
then, only a boy, but have forgotten moth
ing,
"You say the whites do not have the
story of the girl correctly preserved, so
will you tell it to me, that | may know the
truth of the Lovers Leap y
Yes" the old Indian said, and laid aside
his pipe.
chief, and as bright and lovely as the fairest
flower of the prairie Many of the Dakota
braves loved the pretty little squaw, and so
] tllu one ldle-ldtt lIhutI tdlitu Dttos WIN
had a trading post two rifle shots below the
bluff The trader offered the chief much
money and beads for Winona, and the
chief said the squaw should go to the tepee
of Seco and 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
20 in peace with the Chippewa she would 60
to her death.
Just at that time the Dakotas and Chip
pewas 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 he went down the Pepin
Lake in "A canoe covered with tree top
and by the shadows of the night
"Wiuona answered Little Coon's call
when he called out like the little duck.
cone 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 20 to the
tepee Of the pale face to be his squaw. She
moaned pitifully, and said she would throw
herself to death from the high bluff before
she would go to the trader.
Little Coon asked her to flee with him,
but she said no, for then both herself and
lover would be trailed to certain death, for
the Dakota warriors hated the Chippewa
braves.
They talked long and laid plan to de-
ceve 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 She sat and gazed
at the stars for long time. Seco talked to
her like the cooling of 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 him 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 called out like the
wildcat, and the Dakota chief and braves,
who were camped up there, heard him.
They ran quick,
"Winona heard them, and went to the
vNry 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.
s ''They looked down into the blackness,
i but could see nothing four trees deep, but
r. the splash of water was heard and they
knew Wnona was no more They went
y with quick feet TO the Pepin Lake, but the
e moving water had carried the dead squaw
- away forever, they said, and they turned
sadly back to their lodges"
r And they never found the body of the
l. girl ~ / asked.
The white haired old warrior shook his
e head.
! They did not find the body because it
n was NOT left beneath the high hill, and it
o never went down into the lake"
y THE lover carried it away, | suggested
a new thought entering my head, instantly
e 1T went away with Little Coon, but he