The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1921-10-06

hegiras into this land of abundant
game and fish and berries, much as
their children and grandchildren travel
to the wild region to the northwest of
Mount Adams today. The bucks
stalked deer, hunted the bear or fshed
the teeming streams, while the squaws
picked and dried the luscious fruits.
Nights were given to the reVelry of
dancing, the huge fires mirrored in the
crystal pools. Wolves howled in re-
sponse to the tom toms rythmic beat,
and the screech of bobcats and blood
curdling wall of the cougar were fre-
quent calls of the,wilderness. 1t was
on one of these occasions, when the
Yakimas, Warm Springs and Cello
tribes had sent their delegations in
vast numbers to the trysting place
that the Indians one day beheld a mys-
terious chase. A pack of wolves. hotly
pursuing white female elk, tore from
a forest vista. The elk, winded, too
to the water. She swan in circles for
a time, and finally sank. She was
seen no more. The medicine men ac-
cepted the sign as portent of evil.
The tepees were struck and the In
dians left in haste. From that ancient
day until this Lost Lake has been
taboo with redskins.
Only a few years ago, a young
Warm Springs buck, hearing of the
prodigality with which huckleberries
grew on Lost Lakes background of
burned over hills, declined to 90 with
the rest of his tribes annual delega-
tion to the Green Point hills to the
west of the valley. Instead he am
nounced his intention of breaking
again the old trail to Lost Lake. His
elders pleaded in vain, hut he and his
squaw were stubborn. The buck re-
turned to Hood River few days later,
the dead body of his squaw lifeless
over a pack pony. A lightning bolt
had splintered the tree under which
she had taken refuge in one of the dis
trict's unusual thunderstorms. The
spell of ancient days held, and Indians
travel no more to Lost Lake.
The early Indian legends and their
stories of the beauty of the hidden
lake aroused the interest of early day
explorers. In the sos party set out
from here one midsummer week to
behold for themselves a spot declared
so alluring. On the day they reached
the vicinity fog was overhanglng the
forests. For hours they beat about in
the brush. apparently getting no near
er the lost body of water. They were
on the point of turning back when the
fog suddenly lifted and the scenic
argonauts beheld almost at their feet
the placid. emerald triangle. Surviv-
ors of this party are Prof. l.. f. Hen
derson and j. Ii. Ferguson, of Hood
River, and DR.. T. l.. Eliot. pastor
emeritus of the First Unitarian church,
Of Portland.
Since that early date, up until this
year, the visitors to Lost Lake can be |
numbered in the scores. Every man
and woman, however, who has beheld
it from the summit of Mount Hood has
expressed desire to visit its shores.
Perhaps this is why the Mazamas have
made the lost wood one of their pro-
teges. For several years they have
made annual hikes to the lake. In
passing it may be said that the district
is ideal for hiking parties. This fall
the Forestry Service has completed a.
trail from Loaf hake&s-Wa ahtgm Lake,
reached by trails up Eagle and Her
man creeks from the Columbia River
Highway.
Lost Lakes appeal has not yet been
mentioned its background of the tow
ering peak of Mount Hood. On calm
days, with certain atmospheric condi'
tions obtaining, the mountain bulks in
are inspiring magnitude right above
the lake. With the surface unruilied
by crystal pools, the reflection appears
as perfect as the mountain itself.
Local civic organizations and citizens
are already planning celebration
next summer to commemorate the first
motoring season with Lost Lake acces-
sible to motor traffic.