Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic MarvelsBuel, James W. (James William)
History
Glimpses of America: A Pictorial and Descriptive History of Our Country's Scenic Marvels
Buel, James W. (James William)
United States -- Pictorial works
WINTER CAMP AND BURIAL HOUSE OF OJIBWAY INDIANS.—The Ojibways are a
remnant of the great Indian tribes of the Northwest, who live
chiefly by fishing and hunting. One of their peculiarities is the
sacredness with which they regard their dead, and the care they take
to preserve the bodies of friends and relatives from violation. They
are content to house themselves, even through the severest winters,
in the flimsiest structures, but their dead they carefully wrap in
blankets and deposit in small oblong houses so perfectly built as to
exclude rain, snow and cold, except such as may enter by a little
square door in the end. These miniature mortuary houses are placed
close to the abodes of the living, where they may receive loving
care and attention. The origin of this really commendable custom is
not known, but it is like a similar one in vogue among the Indians
of Alaska, which has been described elsewhere in these pages.
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[Illustration: OCONOMONOC FALLS, WISCONSIN.]
At a place where the river broadens, and the left shore spreads into a
long level covered with willows, while the right bank continues its
precipitous career, there is a wide extension-table projecting from the
wall which is called “Visor Ledge, of Stand Rock.” This jutting point is
admirably designed for a jumping-off place, and it is a matter for
surprise that it was not christened Lover’s Leap, like all other similar
ledges and shelves that I have seen. Beyond this the river again
narrows, and singular efflorescences of stone, like a garden of
flowering curios, wrap our attention with questioning surprise. “The
Hawk’s Bill” is certain to catch our notice, and equally sure to excite
our wonder that it was not called the “Toothless Old Man,” for it does
seem that he might make a nut-cracker of his nose and chin. “Black
Hawk’s Leap” must be accepted as a poor substitute for the “Lover’s
Jump,” but as the latter has no place on Wisconsin River the former name
has been applied to a section of pictured wall that is excavated at the
base, and in which the gurgle of water is accentuated by echo into
ominous noises. This natural excavation is called Black Hawk’s Cave, and
is said to have been the place of retreat of a vanquished party of
Indians, who were murderously pursued by a large number of their
enemies, but memory fails to recall the particulars. A little further
beyond is another grotto of still more remarkable formation, called
“Cave of the Dark Waters,” and rightly it is named, for the entrance is
by a small portal into a commodious chamber whose first most noticeable
characteristic is its darkness. The water is deep throughout, and
continually suggests the advantages of the cave as a place in which to
commit crime, or to kiss your girl while passing through a dark tunnel.
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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