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Show ? Wiero Indian Legend I Tragic Tale of the Famous "He-He" Stone in the '.North- 1 eastern Part of the State of Washington. I ' . - :. . - 1 i Inherently the Indian is - a stoical I oay-dreamer. I Laborious efforts have been made to i penetrate the reserve with which the 1 involved inner life of this strange I hild of the forest, mountain and plain i js guarded; hut, to a larpe extent, it . lies like a vast dark continent behind ' j n dimly visible shore. He dwells be- hind impenetrable, persistent eonserva- i tism, and within the shadowy rim of a s liisht that yields no ray to tell of his j origin. (l In one sense the red man is a true I papran swathed in seemingly dense If clouds of superstition, but rich in fanci- I Jul legend. I Though taciturn and 'wrapped in I Mok-ism, yet his is an imagination ac- , live and fruitful. His fancy is exuber- ) ant and peoples this world . with . all manner of romantic spirits and gro- Ksque and tragical pictures. So much I j'.rr the Indian's nature. Mountains, I rivers, forests, lakes and valleys all have thr-ir fanciful legends. North- astern Washington is full of them. ; The famous stbry of the "'He-He t 1 f-ione" is one of the most prominent of I those many queer traditions.' J The main highway leading past the little hamlet of Cheesaw passes over one ' I I of the loftiest mountains of the Oka-f Oka-f I rojian range. Decades ago only a j f j ugged, sinuous trail led up the moun- j I Iain's declivities, across the crest and f clown on the western slopes, i I But with civilization and settlement ; ame improvements. In course of time J ihe serpentine trail yielded to a good; i , ason road. This highway ha-s been A y traveled for many years. , Directly on the crest of the peak is lo- cated the famous "He-He stone." This I snone is an actual, palpable object, but j I the romantic, fanciful and tragical story connected with it is shadowy P and legendary', j And what of the "He-He stone"? At i first it might be considered a huge, j rude, sarcophayus an actual - stone coffin. It is solidly imbedded in the ! iarih and rises above the urfce to j the height of an ordinary table. So I far as can be determined from a su- j perficial examination, the stone is per- 5 fectly solid and will weigh mr.ny tons, i I The top is rough but nearly horizontal. ! 1 This oddly and suggestively shaped i ttone lies very near the highway. J From time immemorial this rough I sarcophagus has been an object . o 1 veneration among not only the Oka-; Oka-; :iogan Indians, but also of many ad-s ad-s jaeent1 tribes. II was likewise, the' Genii Gen-ii iral figure of the strange, tragical legend. ! The incidents of the story occurred ' a lng. long time ago more than a century. As the tradition has descended de-scended it involves the fate of three 1 persons, all Indians. These were a Vf girl and . two young braves rival I i lovers. I The girl was the daughter of a .once- noted chief. One of the lovers (and ! the favored one, too) was the son of a chief who was the leader of another 4 tribe. Hostility had long existed between be-tween these rival tribes. 3tany isan- f guinary battles had been fought with I Varying success. I The chief's daughter and the son of I the opposing chief were lovers, though I their ardent attachment was a secret I to all but themselves. Clandestine I meetings had been held And their mu-( 1 tual vows exchanged in the forest's depths beneath the cold stars and I moon. I An ambitious brave belonging to the I ame tribe as did the girl was also a I lover. He was young and full of ardor ! nd courage. In the many battles 1 "waged between the tribes he had I achieved prodigies of valor and won a I warrior's glory scars. He was rash enough to aspire to the I lieart and hand of his chieftain's J daughter. Yet she favored the suit of I I the bitter enemy of her tribe. Finally f the less favored lover discovered the .1 unhappy truth. He kept - the secret locked up in his bosom, though he I finally resolved on a deadly revenges. f He chanred the erirl with faithlessness i to her blooii and tribe and vowed 1 Vengeance on her enemy lover. She replied with bitter scorn and taunted the unhappy lover with cowardice. Smothering his rage, .he i patiently boded his time. Fate offered an opportunity sooner than he expected. The favorite trysting i place of the ardent lovers was on the lonely summit of Okanogan mountain, ; near the old travel-worn trail. This fact was also known to the rejected s brave. i One bright, moonlit night the lovers i held a meeting on the mountain. The tryst was interrupted by the sudden appearance of the despised lover. He I confronted the couple, armed to the teeth, and challenged his hated rival I to deadly combat. This challenge was instantly accept-J accept-J ed and the braves fell to fighting, i Though fierce, the conflict was of very I short duration. The favored lover, ; though seriously wounded, soon slew his antagonist. s - While the combat was being waged 'i the Great Spirit was angered and re- ! "solved to avenge the blood of the slain j I warrior. There were deafening peals of thun- 1 j dcr, lurid glare of lightning, the moun- j j tain violently trembled and the moon j was hidden behind a black c loud. I i When the wounded and victorious , j warrior turned around to look for his sweetheart in the dim. mystic light, she had suddenly vanished. All he ! saw was the huge, dark, coifin-shaped j rock which had apparently just risen from the earth. The legend declares that the Cireat Spirit in his anger had tricken the girl and transformed her J Into solid rock, giving the stone the form of a rough coffin. 5 Hrave though the young lover was, j yet his courage instantly forsook him s when he realized the fate of his love. Turning, he lied precipitately down the mountain, forgetting his wounds. It was days before he recovered. ' Then his heart was broken And his mind I sadlv wandered. I Meantime the body of the slain I brave was found by the members of , his tribe and buried with much grief I Slid weird ceremonial. The body was I laid -alongside the "He-He stone," for such the transformed body of the, un- I happy girl was called. Both the long- j hostile tribes soon became to know the truth, and a lasting treaty of peace Iwas established between them. It was never broken. The lost and mad lover would wan- I der every night to the top of Okanogan j mountain and, sitting, upon -the .mas- sive stone-shaped coffin, would silently weep. He was filled with re:r.erse for j his deed of blood and hopeless grief I for his departed "love. ' At length, the Great Spirit, touched i Vjih gentle P.ity, pent death to his re- ' lief. He was found dead one morning, ! lying across the cold, pitiless stone. Then the aged and sorrow-stricken chief the father, came with his war-1 war-1 riors and gentlv laid the body by the J side of the slain brave. There was great sorrow and fysting in the tribe. 1 Thus, according to the story, these three hapless lovers have peacefully t m. slumbered side by side on the lonely f summit of that mountain for unnum- f bered years.- The-form-f- trie -maiden I ip jj-jh preserved in imperishable stone; 1 the two warriors have crumbled back s to dust. - : Since the time when the memory of the "Boston man" runneth rot to the I contrary, the "He-He stone" has been I held in mysterious veneration by all I the. Indians. 1 For a long time. Hie spot was avoid- I cd... -'Nt, indiaif, h6wever courageous, ! would pass the cpueerly shaped stone, i especially after r.ight. Those who had ' the temerity to brave their fears declared de-clared that they beheld the two braves engaged in deadly struggle and heard the groans of the dying warrior. , Thus, for a long period the old wind-j wind-j ing trail was practically abandoned and in- peril of becoming overgrown 1 and obliterated. But the whites laughed at the red man's needless . fears, and began to use the trail, final-i final-i ly broadening it into a line roadway. ! Of late years the - Indian has meas-ureably meas-ureably triumphed over his fears, but not over his veneration for the spot. ' Faithfully the story has descended as generations have come and gone. The stone has become and still is a veritable shr'ine. No Indian, regardless regard-less of age, sex or condition, will pass the place with covered head or fail to deposit tfome. memento, some little trinket on or beside the grim stone. These articles are such as are held in high esteem, by the average Indian. They consist pf arrow' heads, spear point?, bows, arrows, all kinds of beads and beadwork, thimbles, pins, needles, pocket knives, tomahawks, pipes, to-I to-I bacco, rudely wrought metallic jewelry, ' wampum, curious shells, all kinds of gaudy gewgaws, etc. Even small pieces of money are sometimes left. Vandal hands, however, have generally appropriated appro-priated the coin, and of late the Indians In-dians do not tempt the cupidity of the passers by exposing money. . -. In the' course' of years a great: many ; of these memorial offerings have accumulated. ac-cumulated. Xear the "He-He stone" is planted ' a staff about twenty feet high. This i pole is made all the more conspicuous j by having a number of long streamers j i attached to it extending from the top down to within a few yards of the i ground. These streamer consist of very bright, brilliant-hued cloth. The j staff and its ornaments may be seen j for a long distance by those passing along the road, going or corning. Connected with this staff is a very pe- culiar custom which emphasizes the I effect of the legend. ' Exposure to the elements causes the streamers to fade and fray out and the pole to decay. Whenever a new staff is required or fresh streamers needed these materials are -always furnished by the oldest surviving Indian in the tribe, be it man "or woman. Contact and association with modern civilization have wrought marvelous . changes in the moral and mental condition con-dition of the red man, says J. Mayne Baltimore in. the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, but it has not eliminated his belief in the mystic traditions of. his race. He still remains, to a great degree, de-gree, a stoical dreamer and enthusiast of the halcyon period when J. Fenimore Cooper lived and wrote. |