Newport daily independent., 1905-11-09
THE LAKE OF SACRIFICE.
Louisiana Body of Water About Which There Is an Indian
 Legend.

Lake Ca-ta-ou-la, the sacred lake o1 the Indians, lies ensconced, as it were in the deep solitude of the forest which skirts the. Attakapas prairie on the east side of the Teche at about nine miles from the town of St Mar tinville The beauty of it's scenery and it's picturesque landscapes have probably no equal in the state, says the New Orleans States It's waters have the transparency of crystal, and it's depth averages from 90 to 10C feet
 The word Ca-ta-ou-la means the lake of sacrifice. The following legend. as dramatic and tragical as the. Biblical narrative of the death of Jephthah 8 daughter. gives us the origin of that name.
 The Tetimetchec Indians. being threatened with dire calamity. the na- ture Of which we know not, their prayermen consuhed their oracles, and were informed that to propitiate the great Manitou and to avert the calami- " fair maiden of the tribe was to be sacrficed to the cruel god and her soul drowned in the placid waters of Lake Ca.ta-ou-la.
 The beautiful At-ta-la, the fair daughter of the chief, offered herself as a willing victim to propitiate the Great Spirit
 turesqueness of apparel of an Indian princess. she repaired to the lake in whose waters she was to find a Watery :5rave, followed by the weeping maid ems and the stern warriors of the tribe.
 waters of the lake until she had reached the middle of the stream, and with her eyes upraised and hands ex- tended toward the heavenly mansion oi the great Manitou, she offered him her youth and her life blood as a sacrifice to propitiate him and lo avert the calamity that threatened her people.
 With radiant smile she then turned toward the shore of the lake where knelt the weeping maidens. She waved her hand gently to them, bidding them an eternal adieu, and plunged into its waters. to be seen no more.
 Supersititous persons assert that even to this day in times of Srea, calamity and misfortune, when the moon spans the sky and shines serene ill the high heavens, streaking with e,i1v fri ho the lake, a shadowy form is seen gid .ng on it's waters in light canoe, with hands extended heavenward, and they say that all at once, uttering wild and unearthly shriek, the shadowy form plun9es headlong into the waters and disappears. while the terror-strick- en denizens of the forest answer the shrieks with howls and lugubrious boot ings.
 From that time Lake Ca-ta-ou-la be came the sacred lake of the Indians, and every year they repaired to this spot to proptiate the great Manitou with their offerings and sacrifices. Into is crystalline waters they plunged themselves to get cleansed of their moral and physical impurities; into IFS sacred waters they dipped their amn- lets and arrows to avert approaching calamities and to protect themselves against the devices of the evil spirit, He who could not make this yearly rilgrimage felt Respondent and un- happy. and his inability to follow the others in the saintly journey boded blm no good.
 If while performing his immersion ip the lake one should happen to drown his memory was execrated, and his death was considered the jude- nent of the great Manitou as an atone ment for the crimes committed by him.
 The lake is still called Ca-ta-ou-la. the lake of sacrifice, but the great Manitou. like his Indian worshipers, is now a thing of the past.