The Cherokee
я
Had a Legend
About Mitchell
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Cll \IMIS LAVU.AK
How the Animals Escaped
Asheville, June 1848
Wc devnied two hours to a series
of fantastic dances, and when wc be¬
came tired of this portion of the frolic,
we spent an hour or so in singing
songs, and wound up the evening by
telling stories. Of the hundred and one
that were related, only two were at
all connected with the Black Moun¬
tain, but as these were Indian legends,
and gathered from different sources,
by the gentlemen present, I will pre¬
serve them in this letter for the edifi¬
cation of those interested in such mat¬
ters. On the north side of Black
Mountain there was once a cave,
where all the animals in the world
were closely confined; and before that
time they had never been known to
roam over the mountains as they do
now. All these animals were in the
keeping of an old Cherokee chief.
This man, who had a mischievous son,
often came home with a fine bear or
deer, but would never tell his son or
any oilier person where he found so
much valuable game. The son did noi
like this, and on one occasion when his
father went out after food he hid him¬
self among the trees, and watched his
movements. He saw the old man go
to the cave, already mentioned, and,
as he puslied away a big stone, out
ran a fine buck, which he killed with
an arrow, and then rolled back the
stone. When the old man was gone
home with his deer the boy went to the
cave, and thought that he would try
his luck in killing game, lie rolled
away the stone, when out jumped a
wolf, which so frightened him that he
forgot to replace the stone, and. be¬
fore he knew what he was about, all
the animals made their escape, and
were fleeing down the mountain in
every possible direction. They made
a dreadful noise for a while, but fin¬
ally came together in pairs, and so
have continued to multiply down to
the present time. When the father
found out what the foolishness «if his
son had accomplished, he became very
unhappy, and in less than a week he
disappeared, and was never heard of
again. The boy also became very un¬
happy. and spent many days in try¬
ing to find his father, but it was all in
vain. As a last resort he tried an old
Indian experiment which consisted
in shooting arrows, to find out in
which direction the old man had gone.
The boy fired an arrow towards the
north, but it returned and fell at his
feet, and lie knew that his father had
not travelled m that direction. He al¬
so lired one towards the cast and the
south and the west, but they all came
back in the same manner. He then
thought that lie would fire one direct¬
ly above his head, and it so happened
that this arrow never returned, and so
the boy knew that his father had gone
to the spirit land. The Great Spirit
was angry with the Cherokee nation,
and to punish it for the offence of the
foolish boy he tore away the cave
from live side of the Black Mountain,
and left only a large cliff in its place,
which is now a conspicuous feature,
and he then declared that the time
would come when another race of
men should possess the mountains
Ihc o«o» ntYf' •chirncd.
и
he lot» Sil tolKi*
hod joioed Ihc G>fol Spirit*.
where the Cherokee* had flourished
for many generations.
Another legend was as follows:
Once, in the olden times, when the
animals of the earth had the power
of speech, a red deer and a terrapin
met on the Black Mountain. The
deer ridiculed ihc terrapin, boasted
of his own fketnc«. and proposed that
the twain should run a race. The creep¬
ing animal assented to the proposi¬
tion. The race was to extend from the
Black Mountain to the summit of the
third pinnacle extending to the east¬
ward. The day was then lixed. and
the animals separated. During the in¬
tervening time Ihc cunning terrapin se¬
cured the services of three of its fel¬
lows resembling itself in appearance,
and having given them particular
directions, stationed them upon the
several peaks over which the race was
to take place. The appointed day ar¬
rived. and the dccr. as well as the
first mentioned terrapin, were faith¬
fully on the ground. All things being
ready, the word was given, and away
started the deer at a break-neck speed.
Just as be reached the summit of the
first hill he heard the shout of a terra¬
pin. and as he supposed it to be his
antagonist, he was greatly perplexed,
but continued on his course. On
reaching the top of the second hill,
he heard another shout of defiance,
and was more astonished than ever,
but onward still did he continue. Just
before reaching the summit of the
third hill, the deer heard what he sup¬
posed to be the same shout, and he
gave up the race in despair. On return¬
ing to the starting place, he found his
antagonist in a calm and collected
mood, and. when he demanded an ex¬
planation. the terrapin solved the mys¬
tery. and then begged the dccr to
remember that mind could sometimes
accomplish what was often beyond
the reach of the swiftest legs.
With regard to the manner in which
our party spent the night at the foot
of Black Mountain. I can only say that
wc slept upon the floor, and that our
saddles were our only pillows. The
morning of the next day wc devoted
to an unsuccessful hunt after a bear,
and a portion of us having thrown the
□
THE STATE. MAY 21. 1955
