Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1909-06-04

From the land of Louisiana,
Mhere the pines grow so majestic,
Where the mighty Mississippi
| hoileth onward to the ocean,
Many and fascinating are the legends
which cluster around the aboriginees-
the powerful Choctaws, the umdaunted
Chickasaws, the unconquerable Tensaws
and Natchez.
And then the mighty Mississippi, the
great river which for so many years was
unknown, unnoticed and unloved, except
by the red man, who in his pirogue,
glided swiftly down its water.
The Mississippi sings to us its soul
stirring songs of the past, and these
songs are echoed from the depths OF our
dense forests. What noble enterprises,
what. hairbreadth escapes, what cruel
wars, and stout hearts were sheltered
and watched by these brave old forest
guardians and the glorious Father of
Waters!
Where the river makes its bend, (form-
ing crescent), Bienville placed the cap
ital Of the Louisiana territory city of
historical foundation-gay, pleasure-lov-
ing New Orleans. New Orleans the mon
ey spender, rather than the money saver.
II she is arbitrary in her dislikes, high
tempered, luxurious, it does not matter,
for she is altogether charming.
Che foo hoe Io.. eto,.;a, a. al l..
every step We are reminded of the past
and dominated by feelings aroused in no
other city. Let us gather few simple
stories from her store house of legend
stories of the aboriginees, of the river,
of the forest, of New Orleans.
We find that the Natchez and other
Indians have left us traditions which
point to common origin. They too, had
story Of the food. They believed that
a deluge had destroyed mankind with
the exception of few people who had
taken refuge on high mountain, and
then re-peopled the earth.
Long before the Natchez had come to
the banks of the Mississippi, when they
were still brutal and ignorant, there APP
peared among them man and woman
who, they believed, had come yfrom the
sun. The man told the Indians that be-
cause he had seen that they were unable
to govern themselves, he had determined
to come and show them how to live. His
precepts were few and suited the people.
After the old men of the tribe, who
were deeply impressed, had held meet
ing, they decided to propose that this
man be their sovereign. Refusing at first,
after much persuasion he consented. He
prescribedlno sacrifices, no libations, no
offerings.
The only form of which he gave them
was the keeping of the sacred hire. After
his death his children became known a.
SUNS" ON account of their origin.
When the French became acquainted
with the Natchez they were in state of
decline, and they knew it. One day the
sacred fire was allowed to go out, and
when the guardians discovered it they
relighted the altar with the ordinary fire.
A short time after this the same thing
happened in another temple and on its
being discovered, they procured fire from
the other altar. But this was profane fire
and the nation was deprived of that rite
which had been given them by their first
sovereign. The guardians of the sacred
fire who had concealed the truth, now
confessed it, and to the Natchez it was
as their death knell
From that time on calamity after ca
lamity rained down upon them. Tradi- |
tion says that the guilty guardian was
locked up In mound situated near the |
present city of Natchez. He is doomed |
10 work there until he can make a fire
two sticks, which he continuously rubs |
together. Now and then smoke issues |
from the sticks and just as the sparks be- |
gin to fly, deluge of tears from the |
wretche's eyes browns out the fire. Thus |
the last OF the unfortunate race is doomed |
to ceaseless work and periodical fits OF |
hope and despair.
Passing southwark short distance |
from Natchez We reach the place where |
the waters OF the Red River unite with |
those OF the Mississippi, and immediate |
~ upon our imagination rises the picture
OF the midnight burial of fernando DE |
Soto.
He who had reveled in the halls of the
imperial lncas of Peru, and there had |
ainassed princely wealth, he, the flower |
OF knlghtly courts, had for three years
roamed like vagrant over an immense |
territory, peopled with savages: here at
the mouth Of the Red River he was fated |
to close his adventurous career. Ills
wealth was gone and two-thirds of his
were dead. A slow fever vast
ed his powerful frame, and he sinks on
the couch Of sickness, never to rise again.
The Spaniards cluster around him and
look with despair, first at their diving
and then at the omnibus hue
Df the bloody river now known as the
Red. But DeSoto was not the man To
nurmur. With smiling lips and serene
brow, he calls his companions, one by
,ne, asking their forgiveness for any
wrong done and named Alyarade hi
successor.
Sorrowfully, silently, and at midnight.
est they be discovered by the Indians.
he few heavy-hearted followers buried
nm In the depth of the great ri1er he
had discovered.
One hundred and thirty years after the
appearance of DeSoto on Louisiana soil.
We see another striking picture on it,
iiores-LaSalle with his band of forty