The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1890-04-03
Devil's Lake in Alabanla.

DEVILS Lake, in Calhoun County, Ala,
seventy miles east of this city, is one of
the most remarkable natural curiosities to
be found in America. Like many other
interesting places in that region, there is
an Indian legend connected with il. To
many people besides the Indians it is q
lake of horror, no less than fifteen persons
having been drowned in its waters. The
lake is oval in shape, and covers about
four acres of ground. No vegetation Of
any kind grows on its banks, and nothing
lives in its waters. Even snakes and ter.
rapius ahun the waters of Devils Lake,
and fish placed in it die in few hours.
The water is impregnated with lime and
has a peculiar taste, which makes 1t un-
palatable to man or beast. Horses and
COWS will not drink from it, I'd matter
how thirsty they may be. Deep down
the surface of the lake may be seen
what appears to be The charred and
blackeaed trunks of large trees. They
stand upright In the water, but have
neither root nor branch, and never
rise to the surface or sink to the bottom.
The lake has no outlet, and the
volume of water in it is the same all the
time.
A strange fatality attaches to this lake.
Once it was the favorite resort of the
boys of the heighborhood for bathing and
swimming, but now they never go near it.
Fifteen boys have been drowned IN its
waters in twice as many years Once
large crowds of boys would gather
there on Sundays, but before they left
one of them would be drowned. Some of
the bodies we're recovered, but those who
were drowned any distance from the
banks sank to the bottom and Sere never
brought to the surface. Many heart.
broken mothers have come to the banks
of the lake and gazed for hours into the
water to see if they could not see the face
of their favorite son whose body lay at
the bottom. The place became theter
of parents, and boys were warned to keep
away from DEVILS Lake.
The depth Of the lake has never been
ascertained. Sounding to depth of 700
feet found no bottom, and the people in
the vicinity say the luke Is bottomless.
The Indian legend of the origin of the
lake is known to every resident Of the
locality, and they tell it to every stranger
who comes to see the natural curiosi-
ty.
The legend is that many, many years
ago, many moons before the white man
came to this country, two tribes of In.
dians lived near the spot where the lake
is. One was large and powerful tribe,
the other small tribe with but few war.
riors. The two tribes became involyed.in
a war, and after number of bloody bat.
ties the small tribe was almost extermi.
mated. Then the old men and chiefs of
the weak tribe sued for peace. The chiefs
of the strong tribe agreed to peace and
arranged for council to propose the
terms.
The chiefs and the old men of the
weak tribe met the chiefs of the other
tribe in pine forest at noon one day and
there was council. The terms of peace
were arranged and then the pipe Of peace
was filed. While the pipe was being
passed around signal was given, and the
chiefs of the strong tribe suddenly
sprang up with drawn tomahawks and
murdered every one of the chiefs of the
smaller tribe. Then the war was renewed
and carried on until the weak tribe was
exterminated. A few moons after the
massacre Of the chiefs fire broke out in
the pine forest at the spot where the
council had been held and where the
massacre OCCURRED. The fire burned in
this spot for eight moons, and then the
ground sank down out.of sight, the fire
disappeared, and in its stead appeared
the lake. The Indians gave the lake
name which means "Tne Lake of
DEATH"