Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1890-09-11
OKEFINOKEE'S SWAMP.
Legends That Have Clustered About
Georgia's Morass.
Haunt for Refuye,s-Rscsnt Explorations
Of tas swamp-Its Islands and Its Rivers
AMyst,rious Resion-What Is to be Done
with II

The famous Oketinokce swamp. in
Southern Georgia which has recently
been acquired through the authorize
ton of IN act OF the legislature. by
Philadelphia capitalists. is thirty-tive
miles long by twenty miles wide, and
consists OF impenetrable jungles, faith
omless boys. treacherous mars hes,
shallow lakes and small. low islands. 1t
has remained unknown and unex plored
to the present day. lnnumberablc
legends have clustered about it. A
hundred years ago the Indians are said
to have pointed it ont as the hiding
place of remnant of the ancient
Iamascs, who fled thither before the
invading and conquering Creeks.
Many years later the Seminoles sought
safety there in their retreat before the
advancing whites, making it their last
stronghold in the state. z During the
civil war its Businesses were the nest
ing places OF swamp angels" or de-
serters, who preferred its damp and
secure solitude to the roar of battle.
To-day it Is the refuge Of panthers,
! wolves, bears, deer and wild cattle, not
to speak of alligators. moccasins and
other reptiles.
The earliest writer to speak Of this
great morass was William Bartram.
the son of John Bartram. just nine
ty-nine years ago he published q
volume descriptive of his travels in
the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida,
devoting particular attention to the
fora of these regions. This quaint and
interesting old book refers to the
Oketinokee as vast ''drowned
swamp" called by the Indians
Ouaquaphenogau. and gives lege nd
relating to it current among the
natives.
Besides the story that the swamp
had once been the refuge of the scat
tered remnant of the ancient Yamases,
still another is mentioned in Bartram' S
Travels" to the effect that the Creeks
believed the Oketinokees remote in-
terror to be one of the most blissful
spots Of the whole earth. inhabited by
a peculiar race of Indians. whose
women were incomparably beautiful.
This place, they claim, had once
been seen by hunters from their tribe.
who, lost in the interminable Dogs and
jungles. would have per ished had not
; a company of beautiful W omen sudden
ly appeared and rescued them. Tn ese
mysterious creatures, called by the
; Creek hunters daughters OF the sun. y
provided oranges, dates and corn
cakes for the sufferers, then urged
them to return with all speed to theil
! own country, because their husband:
were mighty warriors, fierce and crue
y 70 strangers. The Creek adventurer.
also reported that they had got {
! glimpse of the settlements OF these
} people, situated on an elevated island,
t but all their efforts to approach were
fruitless. Involved in constant laby
rinths, they struggled forward only t.
} see the beautiful spot disappearing
t reappearing, and US it were, flying
from before them. On hearing these
reports, the young warriors OF the
Creek nation burned with the desir,
to penetrate to so charming region
, but they never yet had succeeded in 81
r doing.
; 1t is only within recent years tina
this land Of Qndian) poetry and en-
| oh o,,%r ho, -, a.;
recesses to the eye OF the myth-dis
, persing Caucasian and SO resolves
q itself into commonplace swamp
: remarkable only for its immense siz
r and the extreme difficulty of traversin.
= IL. Instead of the blissful, elevate,
land OF the Creek legend the Okefino
kee is now known to contain only SOM
half dozen small islands. none OF then
, of any considerable elevation abov
the surrounding level.
An island near the eastern eXtremit
shows unmistakable evidence OF NOR
.. or less ancient Indian occupation ir
the way OF mounds. flint arrowhead
j, and the like. 1t is called the Littl
, Cowhouse in contradistinctiOn to tn
- Big Cowhouse. near the norther
h boundary of the swamp, the two TAX
ing their ungainly names from the fac
that cattle-thieves employed them a
v base OF operations before the war.
In his travels" Bartram speaks G
-. tho Oke6nokee as ''mother c
- rivers" and there are, indeed, tw
;, considerable rivers which take thei
rise within it's borders. One Of thei
is the st. Mary's, which flows cas-
ward into the Atlantic; the other is tn
\. famous Suwanee, which flows in
! sOuthwesterly direction to the Guilt.