Newport daily independent., 1906-01-04
THE LAKE OF SACRIFICE.
Louisiana Body of Water About Which There Is an Indian
 Legend

Lake Ca-ta-Ou-la, the sacred lake of 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, ssyx the New Orleans States. It's waters have the transparency of crystal, and It's depth averages from 90 to 100 feet.
 The word Ca-ta-ou-ia means the lake of sacrifice. The following legend, As dramatic and tragical as ths Biblical narrative of the death of Jephthaha daughter, gives us ths origin of that name.
 The Tetimetchec Indians, being threatened with dire calamity. the ns. ture of which we know not, thsis prayermen consulted their oracles, and were informed that to propitiate ths great Manitou and to avert tfe cal&mi- ty fair maiden of the tribe was to be sacrificed to the cruel god and her soul drowned ih 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
 Dressed in all the fnery and pie turesqueness of apparel of an Indian ~{v ho 41 Ao JoJr whose waters she was to find watery grave, followed by the weeping maid ems and the stern warriors of the tribe.
 She glided in her light canoe on the 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 of the great Manitou, she offered him her youth and her life blood as a sacrifice to propitiate him and to 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 It's waters, to be seen no more.
 Supersititous persons assert that even to this day in times of great calamity and misfortune, when tho moon spans the sky and shines serene In the high heavens, streaking with silvery fringe the gentle ripplss of the lake, a shadowy form is seen gltd- ing on it's waters in light canoe, with hands extended heavenward, and they say that all at once, uttering a wild and unearthly shriek, the shadowy form plunges headlong into the waters and disappears, while the terror-striek- 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 propitiate the great Manitou with their offerings and sacrifices. Into it's crystalline waters they plunged themselves to get cleansed of their moral and physical impurities; into its sacred waters they dipped their amu- 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 pilgrimage felt Respondent and uu- happy, and his inability to follow the others in the saintly journey boded blm no good,
 If. while performing his immersion in the lake one should happen to drown, his memory was execrated, and his death was considered the judg- ment 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.