The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-05-05
For The Mirror.
SAKATAH.,,
BY BOB. N. ROUND.


sweetly come the thoughts of childhood
And the scenes Of boyhood's home,
And the freshness of its spring time
While O'er earth sadly roam;
And l see its wealth of sunshine
Where no winters thoughts invade.
Where no shadows rise to darken
Fields and meadows while played.
Near the little lake reposing
And rejecting Heavens blue
Formed by Cannon rivers waters
Flowing in and passing through.
The red man gave the name cherish,
''Sakatah," to this little lake
] am told, because its waters
Heavens mirror seemed to make.
Grand old hills whose wakened echoes
Answer to the looms wild cry
Or the sad and plaintive calling
OF the swan in flying by;
Springs of clear. cold water gushing,
Where the mint and rushes grow,
Out of rocks from secret sources
You and 1 will never know.
Years ago, before the pale face
TrOd the earth along its shores,
When the Indian built his wigwam,
Splashed its waters with his oars,
Here the beaver not foreseeing-
Yet benefactor's plan
Made road for us to travel
When he built his wondrous dam
Not alone this public highway,
Good for use till time is Ger,
Aiding also natures contract
When she built Sakatah's shore.
On the bridge which spans the narrows,
Standing where the lake divides,
Can be seen the little island
Pebble-beached along its sides.
Shells are shining, natures rObing
Clothes the trees with brightest green,
When the little birds are aising
In sweet song this natures queen;
BY it grows the white pond lily,
Emblem Of goodwill and cheer.
Plucked BY gallant youths and maidens
When there boats are sailing here.
On western hillside sloping.
Meath great elms that shade the spot,
Famed and cooled by gentle breezes
Moving sweet forget-me-nots.
Stands the red mans cemetery
Unadorned by human hands;
Here no pillar carved in marble
Bronze or slab in beauty stands.
There's no gravel walks outlining
Lots by stakes or graves by stones,
But meath natures grasses waving
Rests the Indian warriors bones.
When the sun is near its setting
And its beauty you'd survey,
You can see little village
Nestled mid the hills of gray;
Sheltered from the blasts of winter
By these walls of Gods own hand
Cool and shady rest the dwellers
In this little fairy land.
And on still midsummer's evenings,
When the moon throws radiant light
Der the silvered ripping water,
Sweet music gladdens night.
Or from its still and silent bosom
Sounds of laughter and sweet song,
Splashing oars of loves young dreamers
Happy as they glide along.
How the waves in tiny circulets
Tell of light and merry hearts
Careless as the winds of summer
To our lives q Joy impart.
Gentle wavelets murmur softly
On the sands along the shore
Caught and echoed by the breezes,
Waited to my childhood's door.
Words are useless and cannot tell you,
My pen fails to make it plain.
Pictures drawn by skillful artists
Never. never can attain
But a shadow of the beauty
Which around Sakatah lies,
Blessed and built by the Creator
Under Minnesota's skies.
So ask you to remember,
When in sleep you sometimes dream
OF place that favors Heaven.
That on earth it may be seen.
oh. how often through my window
Came these sounds so soft and low
Signing waves and night birds singing
Seemed Heaven on earth to know;
And the sweet sounds gently lulled me
Till my eyes in sleep we're closed
And my thoughts in childhood's slumber
Went to dreamlands bright repose.
Would that were yet in dreaming
OF these summers long ago.
And my soul as pure and guileless
AS mothers love and Heavens snow.
But the season waned, and winter
Came with rude and icy hand,
Froze its waters. hushed its gladness,
Whirled the snow DER lake and land;
Killed and shrouded all the flowers,
Robbed the birds that sang in glee
OF their green and shady bowers,
Spoiled their homes and made them Tee
Far away to lands of summer
Lest they meet the cruel fate
Of all nature left behind them
Where this monster breathed his hate.
= The east shore of Lake Sakatah is parts
rmed by a beaver dam. upon which the wal
ad runs. crossing its outlet. the narrows. at