Produced by David Widger                           MYTHS AND LEGENDS                                   OF                              OUR OWN LAND                                   By                           Charles M Skinner                                Vol 6                   THE CENTRAL STATES AND GREAT LAKESCONTENTSAn Averted PerilThe Obstinacy of Saint ClairThe Hundredth SkullThe Crime of Black SwampThe House AccursedMarquettes ManEaterMichel de Coucys TroublesWallens RidgeThe Sky Walker of HuronThe Coffin of SnakesMackinackLake Superior Water GodsThe Witch of Pictured RocksThe Origin of White FishThe Spirit of CloudyThe Sun Fire at Sault Sainte MarieThe Snake God of Belle IsleWereWolves of DetroitThe Escape of Francois NavarreThe Old LodgerThe Nain RougeTwo RevengesHiawathaThe Indian MessiahThe Vision of RescueDevils LakeThe Keusca ElopementPipestoneThe Virgins FeastFalls of St AnthonyFlying Shadow and Track MakerSaved by a LightningStrokeThe Killing of Cloudy SkyProvidence HoleThe Scare CureTwelfth Night at CahokiaThe Spell of Creve Coeur LakeHow the Crime was RevealedBanshee of the Bad LandsStanding RockThe Salt WitchTHE CENRAL STATES AND THE GREAT LAKESAN AVERTED PERILIn 1786 a little building stood at North Bend Ohio near the junction ofthe Miami and Ohio Rivers from which building the stars and stripes wereflying It was one of a series of blockhouses built for the protecting ofcleared land while the settlers were coming in yet it was a tradingstation rather than a fort for the attitude of government toward the redmen was pacific The French of the Mississippi Valley were notreconciled however to the extension of power by a Saxon people and theEnglish in Canada were equally jealous of the prosperity of thoseprovinces they had so lately lost Both French and English had emissariesamong the Shawnees when it had become known that the United Statesintended to negotiate a treaty with themIt was the mild weather that comes for a time in October whenCantantowit blesses the land from his home in the southwest with richcolors plaintive perfumes of decay soft airs and tender lights a timefor peace but the garrison at the fort realized that the situation wasprecarious The Shawnees had camped about them and the air was filledwith the neighing of their ponies and the barking of their dogs To letthem into the fort was to invite massacre to keep them out after theyhad been summoned was to declare warColonel George Rogers Clarke of Virginia who was in command scoffed atthe fears of his men and would not give ear to their appeals for anadjournment of the meeting or a change of the place of it At theappointed hour the doors were opened and the Indians came in The pipe ofpeace was smoked in the usual form but the red men were sullen andinsolent and seemed to be seeking a cause of quarrel Clarke explainedthat the whites desired only peace and he asked the wise men to speakfor their tribe A stalwart chief arose glanced contemptuously at theofficer and his little guard and striding to the table where Clarke wasseated threw upon it two girdles of wampumthe peacebelt and thewarbelt We offer you these belts he said You know what they meanTake which you likeIt was a deliberate insult and defiance Both sides knew it and many ofthe men held their breath Clarke carelessly picked up the warbelt onthe point of his cane and flung it among the assembled chiefs Every manin the room sprang to his feet and clutched his weapon Then with asternness that was almost ferocious Clarke pointed to the door with animperative action and cried Dogs you may goThe Indians were foiled in their ill intent by his selfpossession andseeming confidence which made them believe that he had forces in thevicinity that they were not prepared to meet They had already had abitter experience of his strength and craft and in the fear that a traphad been set for them they fled tumultuously The treaty was ratifiedsoon afterTHE OBSTINACY OF SAINT CLAIRWhen the new First Regiment of United States Infantry paused at MariettaOhio on its way to garrison Vincennes its officers made a gay littlecourt there for a time The young Major Hamtramckcontemptuously calledby the Indians the frog on horseback because of his roundshouldersfound especial pleasure in the society of Marianne Navarrewho was a guest at the house of General Arthur St Clair but the oldgeneral viewed this predilection with disfavor because he had hoped thathis own daughter would make a match with the major But Louisa longed forthe freedom of the woods She was a horsewoman and a hunter and she hada sentimental fondness for IndiansWhen Joseph Brandt Thayendanegea camped with his dreaded band near thetown it was she whowithout her fathers knowledge and in the disguiseof an Indian girltook the message that had been entrusted to a soldierasking the tribe to send delegates to a peace council at the fort Louisaand Brandt had met in Philadelphia some years before when both werestudents in that city and he was rejoiced to meet her again for he hadmade no secret of his liking for her and in view