Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-01-29


hour would bring a summons to tho
feast, the very thoughts of which stung
him to desperation.
AS the shadows of night settled down
upon the unhappy village, he secretly
took down his bow and culver of arrows
and crept out of his lodge unnoticed by
the weeping women.
He stole stealthily beyond the circle Of
lodges to d clump of trees that com
manded view of the grave of his child
Carefully concealing himself here, he
prepared to watch the night out, and de-
fend the little grave against the depreda-
tions Of man or "Manitou.
1t is impossible for white man to
realize the amount of courage which this
act required. Even under ordinary cir
cumstances it would have been very
remarkable display of courage, for the
superstitious fear of the mysterious
was so strong in the Indian character
that the brave who would have endured,
with stoiciSm, the most terrible fortunes
at the hand of an enemy, lived in abject
terror of "medicine charms" and Mani
tOus," or devils.
But this supersttiOus fear, in this
case. had become Il frenzy, and mental
terrOrs that beset the bercaVed brave, as
he counted the slow hours Of his solitary
vigil, are beyond the grasp of civilized
imagination
The ceaseless lash of the waters of the
bay, as they broke upon the sandy beach
that girts the western point of the
island, together with the occasional boot
of an owl and the yelpS of the dogs in
the distant village, were the only sounds
that broke upon tho keen ears Of the
watching warrior until shortly before
the midnight hour. Then a Slight rus5-
ling among the bushes, in the direction
of the village, and the huge form of a
black bear was dimly discernable III the
pale moonlight.
To the sentinel father it could be none
other than a medicine man transformed
into the form Of a bear, according to
the accepted tradition.
OF what use was it to shoot his arrows
at this supernatural being. which was
invulnerable to the shafts of death, and
which could destroy him by any of q
thousand mysterious charms?
Nevertheless, the desperate father
drew his bow and sent an arrow into the
bear just as it began to dig the earth
from the child's grave.
In terror at his very audacity and de-
tanCe Of the medicine ManitouS, the old
man fled to his lodge.
There was no medicine feast that
night.
IN the morning a party of braves
visited the chId's grave and found
stretched upon it the cold and bloody
body of one of the most deyiliSh medicine
men, wrapped in a bearskin and pierced
by the old mans arrow.
This news threw the village into a
fresh frenzy of excitement, which
reached it's height when the report and
belief became common that the woods
and shore of the island constantly re-
sounded with the walls and lamenta
lions of the "Che-bi-ug," or the "sOulS of
the Victims"
The terror-Sticken Ojibways preferred
to brave the War-cry Of their enemies
on the mainland than to remain on their
island refuge, and hear the imaginary
wailings Of their murdered kindred.
So the entire village eXtinguiShed its
lodge fires, and fled in their canoes to
the nGighboring shores.
For at least 40 years, not an Indian
venturCd to tarry over night upon the
haunted island, and Michel Cadotte and
his fellow FrcEchmen, who established
their trading post on the island in 1892,
were considered by the Indians as fool
hardy in the extreme. 1t was many
years after the Cadotte's arrival before
the OjibWays could be induced to erect
their lodges and light their night-fres
upon the site Of their ancient capital
village.
That portion Of the island where once
these frightful scenes of cannibalism
were enacted is occupied by the solitary
cabin Of a hospitable Ohm
Grant--whose hermit life is seldom dis
turbed sage by the chance visit of a
ST ay tourist in the summer season. AL
though thoroughly familiar with the
history and legends Of the island, he per
sistS in bidding lonely defiance to the
nightly cries Of the Chi-bi-ug- souls
of the victims! FORREST CRIssEY.