The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-05-09

Frontenac. His Is an almost feudal
existence. The cluster Of houses ex-
cept the summer cottages, are nearly
all occupied by retainers Of his. who
hew wood, draw the water and cut the
stone. but only as he bids. They cut
and trim and work, but always under
the direction of an eye that appreciates
the beauty Of the whole. Here and
there are charming glimpses cut
through the timber, lanes that are the
ideal lovers lanes, little openings that
come upon one like visions In a dream:
If love but adds its spell 1t Is the Ver1-
table enchanted land.
Upon Point no Point. whose elusive
outlines you are always approaching
and never reach If you row towards 1t
on the lake, there is a strangely shaped
| rock which long ago was revered as
| a medicine rock by the Indians, and
was called by them "Inyan Tespa-
Indian gateway-poised upon 1t there
| was a loose boulder, so we'll balanced
that touch would sway IL, YET $50 so
! firmly set that the storms OF ages dld
| not displace it. It was relic dear
to the heart Of the general; behold.
some vandals, with only the vandal
spirit of destruction in their veins,
displaced the loose boulder. Naturally
he was indignant at the marrlng OF SO
curious and interesting relic Even
the most watchful eye cannot preserve
things against the spirit that mas no
sense of beauty or of reference. :,
But, talking of Indian rocks, will call
to your mind hazy memories of the le-
gends clinging about Maiden rock,
which is just across the lake.
what is that story of the Indian
maiden and the rock?"
"Oh." the general will say, chuckling.
s'that is a Boston Indian story, or, II
you like a story of Boston Indians. 1t
is a very pretty and touching tale,
however, with a moral. At the foot
of Maiden rock there is a spring OF
unusually clear and fresh water. 1t
was a favorite place for the Indians to
camp, and it is still a point for pic
nickers and campers. AS the story
goes, a Dakotah maiden named We
nona camped at the foot of the rock
with her family, once upon time,
like they say in the other fairy tales.
WenOna was a very beautiful maiden.
Maidens who are heroines of romantic
tales are always beautiful, no matter
what their color may be.
''Of course, Wenona had lovers.
There was a rich old chief who had
polecate skins without number, and
ponies and whatever else in the way
Of personal possessions that made an
Indian desirable sutton in those days.
To be sure, he was old, but that did
not matter-in the eyes of Wenona's
parents. Wenona herself had given her
young love and heart to brave and
handsome warrior, named Chaska,
who, however, being young, had not
yet had time to accumulate polecat
skins, and SO on. He was therefore
not at all desirable in the eyes Of the
parents, as is often the case with poor
young lovers and prudent old folks.
The maiden's parents argued that love
is an illusion and that wealth, repre-
sented by polecats or any other COM
modify, is a substantial fact which it
a very foolish thing for a maid to
ignore. So these cruel parents forbade
their daughter to see the young brave
any more and insisted that she marry
the rich old chief with the pelts. They
thought that settled the question, but
a few evenings later there came float
ing down to them from the summit of
the Rock, nearly hundred feet higher
the death song of the heart-broken and
faithful Wenona When it was fin
ished the maid leaped out and fell a
bruised and broken corpse ON the
jagged rocks below almost at the feet
of her heartless parents"
"And what becomes Of poor Chaska ?"
'"That is not related, but probably an
Indian youth was as unromantic as q
white youth generally is and forgot his
love in due time and married some
other maid who did not have rich and
aged sutton and cruel parents. But
do not want to mar the pretty tale by
such a suggestion. AS a fitting finish
he should have taken his canoe and
gene over the Falls of Minnehaha-
Nov, if you will notice, we have in
this tender tale the same unhappy
1ax ,,;11, o1>S oaf; hi
sutton and the obdurate parents whom
our novelists, particularly of the fem
mime persuasion, have made familiar
to US all.
81 asked old James Wells, the Indian
trader, and others who were acquainted
with the Indian character and ways Of
thought about the tale, but they all
agreed that it was altogether unlike
the Indian and that they had never
heard anything like it connected with
the rock from the Indians themselves.
Moreover, Chaska and Wenona are
names signifying simply the oldest born
son and daughter, respectively, and oc-
CURED in every Dakotah family
mo, I will tell you who wrote it. It
was a Boston journalist who came up
the Mississippi with party of officers
on their way to Fort Smelling some
time in the forties. It has such a fine
moral that I hate to spoil it by telling
its origin, particularly in this prosa ic
age, when the material and modern
young woman is very often herself Of
the opinion that a rich husband is pref
cradle at any cost to poor one, and is
willing to marry, with her parents
blessing, if not with her own hearts
desires, any one who has the necessary
pelts, Or pelf-only difference of a let
ter you see."
But there are rocks Of less romantic
and more material nature at Fronte-
nae. Frontenac stone is being used in
the construction Of the famous Episco-
pal cathedral of st. John the Divine.
in New York city, for which bishop
| donated 100000.
Whatever may, in the course of time.
happen to his beloved F'rontenac, Cen
eral Garrard has set aside at least one
| spot which will be forever dedicated to
| beauty and art and goodness. On the
| site Of the old Fort Beauharnois, erect
| ed by Rene Boucher for the governor
| Of Canada in 1927, is at present the
! Ursuline academy for girls, called Villa
! Maria-House of Mary-the beautiful
place, which has been pronounced by
| tourists as the most picturesque site
| for an educational institution in the
/ country, is well called.
In the southwest corner Of the foun-
dalton the nuns will show you stone
| bearing the inscription:
Israel Garrard, nobis Benefacienti Gratu-
lantes, Soc. Yrs Felice.''
Here the general set aside large
tract Of land for the nuns, and they
in their turn have erected a beautiful
and picturesque building. Below the
bluff on one side CLEANS Wells creek,
through the overhanging tangle of
branches, beneath which the pupils OF
the villa boat and fish in the summer
and skate in the winter. Beyond put
ting out into the lake il Point AZ,