Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1925-01-08
i Indian i
Lodge Tales
| Ford c. Frick
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
THE LEGEND OF
CHEYENNE

TT so happened that among the
4 Chosen People there lived one man
and one woman who remained true
to the Manitou, and who were given
warning of the punishment that was
to come upon the evil spirits who
dwelt In the valley OF the holy noun
tain. And so this man and this
woman. warm In the Manltou's smile,
built canoe from the stalk Of the
maize, which In those days grew to
great size and thickness.
When the storms came and the
floods and the winds swept the earth.
they fioated for many days In this
canoe; and with them on other stalks
foated beasts and fowls. Finally.
when the floods subsidized and the
winds ceased and the rains no longer
fell, they fioated to the summit of the
mountains, and there their canoe
rested.
When they had rested. they ate
freely Of the wrinkled kernels of the
yellow maize and then they prayed
the Manitou for their dellverance from
the waters and the storm.
When the Manitou looked down
from heaven and saw this man and
this woman. and the beasts and the
fowls, he became sad, and his heart
was filed with pity for those who fed
the sea and reached the holy noun
tain. So he loosed the dragon thirst.
a monstrous beast, which plunged
into the tide of waters and drank and
drank until the earth was dry to walk
upon, and only the rivers and the
lakes were left as before the floods
came. And beyond the valley even
these were dried up and the land was
as a desert and the grass was brown
and dry and only the cactus and the
sage thrived.
When the Manltou saw the earth
rapidly drying up he became afraid
and babe the dragon cease, lest not
q drop of water be left. And then he
commanded the dragon to arise and
return to his cave In the dark recesses
of heaven.
But when the dragon tried to arise
In answer to the Manitou's command,
he was too full, and as he attempted
to get to his feet he fell forward on
his face, crushed and shapeless
mass. And he was unable to rise and
70 on, and so the greedy monster died
for the weight Of the water was too
great.
There be lies to this day with his
wrinkled sides and his horny back
exposed to the sun. and his stony face
looking southwark and to the east,
where comes the mist that savors OF
the sea. And as he lay there the sun
parched his skin until II wrinkled Into
great erevices and his horned back
became more rugged than ever. and
his horns. pointing toward the sky,
stand forever as a monument to Mani.
tou and his might.
There he is today, lying with his
face toward the sea and his tail
toward the peak that leads the way
to heaven. Just as he fell aId died at
the Manitou's command. When the
Chosen People returned again and
saw the wonder that the Manitou had
wrought. they called It Cheyenne, and
the mountain they called Cheyenne
mountain, for II was Of tremendous
size and resembled the rocks and the
earth.
Those who do not believe can go
an: rec, for there the dragon lies to
this day with his face toward the sea
and his tail toward the great peak,
and the two horns of his head stretch
ing clear above the body and into the
air, like the horns Of some evil spirit.