Milford chronicle., 1889-05-17
A LEGEND OF wALLEMs RIDGE.
The Indian Maiden and Her Lover-Tbe
Chattanooga of Long Ago.

Tho Indian Maiden and Her LOver-The
Chattanooga of Long Ago.
The legendary lore, once the leading topic
Of conversation in and around Chattanooga
is fast becoming forgotten in the absorbing
themes of money and money making. The
historic ground. sacred to the thousands who
laid down their lives willing sacrifice, Is
being sold to real estate Spectators at a Ger
tain price per foot, while but few of the old
landmarks remain to connect Chattanooga OF
1863 with the Chattanooga of today. Further
back in the history of the city it was straS
Cling Indian village nestled at the foot Of
Lookout mountain, while four miles distant
Ross Landing was established on the Ten
uessee river. The Chattanooga Of the olden
time is now st. Elmo, made famous by the
pen of Augusta Evans, while the Chatta
nooca of today is on the site once occupied by
Ross Landing. Tradition says that the word
means ohawk's nestn in the Indian tongue
being derived from "chatta," hawk, and
.'nooga." nest. Some Of the older citizens
can Still remember the time when they
hunted rabbits in the thickly populated por'
lions of the city, and but few miles away It
requires no vivid imagination to picture the
Indians as they made this their rendezvous
About twelve miles from the city is Wal
1 lens Ridge, a wild, weird, romantic range
in which deep georges, immense rocks anu
small caves abound. Even yet an occasional
/ bear or deer is seen among these almost i'm
passable cliffs and many years ago it afforded
| a retreat for all kinds Of game. This rendered
| it peculiarly attractive to the Indians ana
they made it a general hunting ground, while
the Cherokee nation would frequently hold
/ its councils here. At the village of Chatta-
] tho iu1nlnu1pUtS OF
husbandrv and war. Even yet great quaint
ties of stone hatchets, arrow heads and pot
terry can be found on Williams island and
near the foot Of Lookout mountain. One OF
the noted chiefs of the Cherokee nation was
John Ross, from whom one of the presidents
of the Cherokee tribe in the Indian territory
was descended. An old half breed Indian by
this well known name was found on sand
mountain by the writer, and from him was
CLEANED the following interesting legend,
given as nearly as possible in his own Ian
guage;
am an old man now, and viii soon 60 TO
the land Of the setting sun, where my fathers
have long since been gathered. IT'S over
seventy years since, as a boy, l left my home
on Wallen's ridge and with my tribe
sought for other hunting grounds Our tribe
is scattered as the leaves by the winds Of
the autumn, and those who yet remain are
crowned with the frosts Of the winter. The
white man did not drive us from the pleas
ant wigwams on Sunset Rock nor the villages
by the beautiful river l know not who they
were, but they were sent by the Great Spirit.
We wandered along the banks of the river
or climbed among the rocks Of the mountain
and knew no other thought than happiness
until a white man came among us. Arinook,
the medicine man, had a daughter. She was
as fair as the rays of the sun and as pure as
the dew on the. mountain flower. She was
sought by the braves of the tribe, and they
would lay their trophies at her feet, and still
young and innocent as the deer she would
bound among the rocks and none could fol
low her She would push her canoe down
the river and laugh the rapids into silence
her song would ring out among the hills and
the rocks would answer back in melody. She
was the good spirit of the tribe, and none
could ever die if she ministered to them.
A white man came. He was strong and
brave and none could throw the tomahawl
or pull the bow as well as he. None knew
whence he came, but as the shadows Of the
DAYS passed by he still was there and he wOr
. the right at our sports to join the tribe HI
was then our brother, and as such we had K
receive him. The dark clouds seemed t
gather Over the maiden and she would sit b.
the little streams and play with the pebbles
No more could her laugh or her song b
heard, and we feared that she would die
} Our white brother alone could cheer her an'
) at his footstep she was glad He told her o
his far away home and her heart was full o
joy, but her father the medicine man. an