Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1911-08-04

bash river.
Long after, when they had help
ed to nearly exterminate the Nest
chegamis at Starved Rock, they Wis
tied the scenes of their ancient de-
feat, and there on the rocks were the
petroglyphs of the monsters"
Such prominent explorers and wri-
tiers as Marquette. Hennepin, ST
Cosme, Douay. Joutel. A. D. Jones,
and Parkman, have testified to the
traditions and to the pictures of the
sandstone cliff, but perhaps the one
which will be longest remembered is
the Illini legend of Chief Waw-to-go,
the hero of the poem.
The same high Mississippi bluffs
furnished the romantic tragedy. Mr..
Riehl has done more than historians
to make the rock known as Lovers
Leap" famous in Illinois. His Leg
end of Lovers Leap" tells of an Ind
ian maiden who was wooed by
young brave from an alien tribe. The
happy couple were discovered at
their trysting place by her vengeful
chieftain-father, who, in trying to kill
the intruder, pierced the heart of his
daughter. with an arrow instead. The
young warrior seized her body and
jumped. Their mangled bodies were
found on the rocks below. The place
was ever held sacred.
Somewhat similar is the story of
Dark Eyes, which descended from
the wigwams of the Sank or Sac In
dams which stood along the Missis-
sippi or Rock river in what is now
Rock Island county. Mrs. Julia Mills
Dunn recalls the legend:
Wandering about the prairies of
northern Illinois IN a binding snow
storm a young Sioux brave came to
the Indian village of Saukenuk. AL
though the two tribes were enemies,
the Indian customs prevented the
Sac chiefs from refusing hospitality
under such conditions as this. AS
their guest, he was safe. An old
chief took him into his wigwam and
as he was warmed and fed he met the
old chiefs daughter, Dark Eyes.
While the storm kept him prisoner
the young couple fell in love. He
would return the following summer,
he promised, and she should go with
him as his bride to the western vii
lagos of the Sioux and be welcomed
in the lodges of his kindred At the
whistle of the oriole she was to join
him at the meeting place and they
would fee to happiness.
Dark Eyes, at work in the taSsel-
ing corn the next June with her
mother, heard the whistle of the
oriole and at the signal went to the
wigwam and securing her blanket
Joined her waiting lover.
Her two brothers had heard the
signal, witnessed the reunion and be-
gan pursuit of the fleet footed Dark
Eyes and her Sioux lover. Hard
pressed, the fleeing couple took re-
fuge in a cave under the now famous
Black Hawks tower A furious rain
storm was coming up, bolt of light
ming rent the cliff and the faithful
lovers were buried beneath the ruins.
Since then the whistle of the oriole
nights and Dark Eyes and her lover
come forth and wander about the ia
miliar plares.
Another legend recalled by Mrs.
Dunn is of wandering French vio-
linist who came to Saukenuk. He
entertained the people of the Indian
village who had gathered at the top
of Black Hawks tower with the mus
| ic of the violin. His back was turn
ed toward the brow of the cliff, and
becoming enthusiastic with his own
music, he stepped backward over the
edge and was dashed to death below.
With the annual recurrence of the
time of the tragedy. the Indians said
| that the soft strains of A violin could
be heard floating on the summer air.
One spot on the island which was
the site of old Fort Armstrong and
is now occupied by the mammoth
United States arsenal. was sacred to
the Indians At the lower end Of the
island, where the rock which forms
the bed of the island. and from
which it receives its name, rises in
an almost perpendicular wall, many
feet in height. was a cave. In this
cave the Indians believed lived q
good spirit - the guardian of the
tribe-and 1t was always approached
with hushed tread and sUbdued voic-
es. Like the seers of modern times,
many of them had seen spirits and
this one was in the form of a swan,
only ten times larger and pure
white, as orthodox spirits are suppos-
ed to be-
Each rugged rock on the shores
Of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers