The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-10-01

mails which, apprehenAive OF no danger,
came to the lake to drink; it was also fed
with large quantities of fish brought by
the hawks whom it commanded, caught
and carried from the creek below to sati-
ate its delicate taste.
Large numbers Of these fsh-hawks
were constantly employed in this duty, and
their weird shrieks and exulting outcries
contributed in a great degree towards re-
pelling the superstitious Indians from max
ing any very close Investigations of the
lake, while the surrounding mountains
were given up entirelysto the control and
uses of this enormous animal. This lat
ter is described by the medicine man of
the tribe whose crude dra wings assist in
giving a faint idea Of the form of the
monster, as having been over 200 feet in
length. with the head and neck of a ser
pent the pectoral fins of a very large fish,
the legs and body of an immense ella
monster, terminating in double tail,
jointed and flexible like that of scor-
pion, but having affixed at the two ends
very large and sharp-pointed arrow-heads.
1.-The head of this monster was fiat like
that of the rattlesnake, but the jaws were
not so heavy, and n sharp-pointcd crown
projected above the intersection of the
neck. like the horned toad of Arizona. In
addition to the two eyes of the snake,
large eye was in the middle of the fore
head, and added ferocity to the appearance
of the serpent Its head was about IA feet
long and 10 feet wide, while the neck, the
forepart of which was covered with long
red Thrown hair, was fully 80 feet in length.
The tails We're at least 30 feet long, and
independent of each other. churning the
waters into foam when the animal was ex-
cited. The lower part of the neck, the en-
tire body, legs and tails, were covered with
heavy scales, an impcnetrahle armor.
THE Apachcs deny having been exclu-
lsively mountain tribe at that remote pc
Rod. and deny that they occupied their
whole time in hunting aud fighting; but
claim that they occupied all the valleys of
Southern Arizona and titled the soil. The
products of the field were exchanged for
the game brought to them by the highland
men, and all were as one family, living IN
harmony. Quan-i-wah-le. ruling Chief Of
the Apaches, had his camp on the banks
of Salt River, a short distance above its
junction with the CHA. According to the
tradition he was very fond of fish, and. be
ing ingenious had dam constructed to
prevent their ascending the river further.
and to better enable the squaws to capture
them.
without warming previous rains q
tremendous flood came down the Salt
River, sweeping away the Indian tepees
for many miles on either side of that
lstream. drowning thousands of people. as
well as the greater portion of the live
stock they possessed. and utterly destroy
ing their irrigating canals. The flood
passed away as suddenly as it had come
and while the people wondered much. and
mOurned deeply their losses of kindred and
property, they could not account for the
mysterious freshet. and set about repair
ing the damage as best they could. While
these repairs were going forward sQuaw
who had been down the river fishing came
back and told the ADacheS that she had
seen the Mountain Lake monster: that it
had devoured one horse before her eyes
and had attacked another one before she
was out of sight. The woman was imme-
diately taken in charge for being a witch
The council decided that she was indeed
bewitched, and having become a sorceress
was the guilty cause of all the suffering
that had befallen the tribe. She was or
dcred to be tortured and burned that night
| The entire tribe was made happy by the
opportunity offered to appease the wrath
of the Great Spirit; but dusty and per-
spring runner came from the camp of
Yah-k-ni-ye. n sub-Chief. located with his
people in the Pinto Mountains. distant 10
or II miles from the Natural Bridge, the
nearest point to it Mt which the .Apaches
ventured to live. He told them that three
days before the Indians there felt the
earth shake and heard mighty roaring
in the direction Of Mountain Lake; that
after waiting two days warriors were sent
to ascertain the cause of the disturbance
The messengers found that a mighty hole
had been wrought in the barrier of solid
rock; that the water had vanished, and
the monster had disappeared. The news
caused general CONSERVATION. and the
pleasure Of torturing a fellow-being to
death was postponed. Three squaws told
that while searching for wood with which
to burn the witch. they had seen two of
thxt,,
the great serpent. Through fear Of being
themselves burned as witches, they would
have said nothing. had not the runner
arrived. The council then decided to send
a band. of warriors to determine whether
or not the monster was indeed in the
neighborhOod: but the search proved un-
necessary. That night stampede of
horses and the unearthly cries of those in
pain, mingled with the horrifying, angry
snorts Of the monster, left no doubt, and
the Apaches fled to the mountains.
when place of safety was reached a
meeting of the bChiefs was held, and it
being found that old Quan-i-wah-le had
endangered the entire race by his glut-
tonons desire to capture and eat all the
fish in Salt River, depriving the great Wa
ter Serpent of his share. and causing him
to break forth from his mountain prison
in anger and revenge, it was ordered that
he be deposed. Yah-k-nigel, being sup
posed to be in the good graces of the Mon
ster. from the proximity he had long occu-
pied to him, was selected to succeed the
fallen chieftain. and he Immediately or
dered that no Apache tribe should there
after reside in the valleys of the Arizona.
under penalty Of a war of determination
Obedience to this order is the reason, the
medicine men allege, why the Apache In
dams never afterwards made their homes
anywhere else than in the mountains. al
though, as the legend runs, the water SER
pent lived in the Salt River Valley but
one year longer, when finding it too warm
and the water too shallow, he went down
the Colorado River and into the Gulf of
California.
BE it here also recorded that under no
circumstances or conditions can the Apache
Indians be induced to catch, handle or
taste fish in any form whatever, while it
is highly relished as food by all the other
tribes Of Arizona
Ito be continued)
A Farmers Trust.