The Ely miner., 1930-08-22

H If you haven't, then it's
unique, and you might well
IS capitalize upon that fact and,
- - in advertising to tourists the
a. attractions of your region,
assure them that "this is the
Ia only place in the United
States which does not. have
among its scenic beauties a
single Lovers Leap"
Just how many of these places there
are is unknown. But start anywhere
in the East and drive West and you'll
find plenty of them. There's one be-
tween Little Falls and Danube, n. Y,
a rocky hill overlooking the Erie canal
and the Mohawk river. Visit Starved
Rock park between Ottawa and La
Sale, H., and you will be shown a
rocky projection from which an IL
lini warrior and his sweetheart leaped
TO death in the river, rather than de-
liver themselves into the hands of
their enemies" Visit independence,
Iowa, and they will tell you that Ce-
dar rock, near Quasqueton, is also
SdllSu LONSIS Leap tiC
dian lovers, Wapsie and Pinicon, from
whom the Wapsipinicon got its name,
are supposed to have plunged to their
deaths in the swirling waters of the
river" And out in Oakdale, Calf,
they will sell you post card picture
Oakdale and Knights Ferry where
mythical Indian maiden committed sui
eide by leaping into the river"
While nearly every township or
county can boast of at least one Low
ers' Leap, Mackinac island in northern
Michigan has the distinction of having
two places where loves young dream
found tragic ending. The guide books
will tell you of Lovers Leap-This
lone pinnacle rises to a height Of 145
feet above the waters of Lake Michi-
gan about mile west of the main part
of the city. The legend which gives it
its name is that in the long ago the
beautiful Lotah, an Indian maiden of
the Oibway tribe and only daughter of
a famous chief named Wawanosh,
watched from this height the depart
ure of her lover, named Geniwegwon,
with war expedition across the wa
ter; and to the rock she came day
after day to await his coming. At
last, the party returning without him,
brought word of his death and the
distracted maiden not caring for life
any longer leaped from this cliff: the
lifeless body was found by her father
at the foot of the precipice the eve
ming after"
Then there is Robertson's Folly.
where "'Tis told that a young and
beautiful Indian girl was wooed and
won by this dashing young Lieutenant
Robertson, but the poor maiden soon
learned that he was to depart for the
East at an early date to marry a white
girl He granted her a last farewell
meeting at this their trysting place.
and in a desperate struggle she sue
ceeded in precipitating him and her
self over the cliff"
But if you want the story of Low
ers' Leap with a wealth of detail, go
to Linn Creek, Mo-, where there has
been handed down from pioneer days
this tale of Lovers Ieap above the
clear waters of the Niangua river be-
fore it flows into the murky Usage
river:
"a century ago the mighty Usage
and Shawnee tribes dwelt along these
streams. They were fighting enemies,
and bones of big-framed giants, war
clubs of stone, rusted arrow-heads of
crudely fashioned metal and other
signs of struggle have been found for
years by plowboys as they turned over
the rich alluvial soil along the river
bottoms.
"Grey Eagle was then a medicine
man of the Shawnees; his daughter
was Laughing Water. A young war
rior of the Usage tribe came up the
racing waters of the Niangua in his
canoe on a pleasant day. and stopped
before the birch bark tepee of Grey
Eagle. The head of the young war
ror Haunted his eagle feathers d deer
skin shirt and leggings. and buckskin
moccasins encasnd the form Of this