The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its CommerceLyman, William Denison
History
The Columbia River: Its History, Its Myths, Its Scenery, Its Commerce
Lyman, William Denison
Columbia River; Columbia River -- Description and travel; Columbia River -- History
Weister. With them went a young lady, Lilian White, who, though she did
not reach the summit, went higher than any of her sex have gone. Later Mr.
Whitney, manager of the great McGowan Cannery, went up and placed the
Stars and Stripes upon the top.
[Illustration: The Lyman Glacier and Glacier Lake in North Star Park Near
Lake Chelan. Photo. by W. D. Lyman.]
We said that no earlier human steps had trodden that beetling height and
that Miss White had gone higher than any of her sex. But if we accept the
romantic Indian tale of Wehatpolitan, our statement needs correction. For
this story is to the following effect. Wehatpolitan was the beautiful
child of the principal chieftain in these parts. She loved and was loved
by a young chief of a neighbouring tribe. But when she was sought by her
lover in marriage, the stern father denied the request and killed the
messenger. But the lovers were secretly married and met clandestinely at
various times. In course of time the father, thinking the infatuation of
the forbidden lovers to be at an end, gave Wehatpolitan to a chief whom he
had favoured. The latter kept constant watch of the girl, and one night he
saw her stealing steathily away, and tracking her he found the secret of
her midnight wanderings. As soon as the new lover had imparted to the
father these tidings, the latter with deep duplicity sent word to the
other chieftain that if he would come to the lodge, all would be forgiven
and he and Wehatpolitan would be duly wed. Rejoicing at the happy outcome
to all their troubles, the faithful lover hastened to his own, but no
sooner had he arrived than he was seized upon and slain by the revengeful
parent. Not long after this the heartbroken girl gave birth to a child,
but her father at once decreed that the child must share its father's
fate. Hearing this pitiless word, Wehatpolitan caught up her child and
disappeared. All that day they searched in vain, and on the next day, the
Indians heard wailings from the top of Castle Rock, from which they soon
discovered that the poor girl with her child had gone to that apparently
inaccessible height. The old chief, repenting of his harsh course, called
aloud to his daughter to come down and he would forgive her. But fearing
new treachery she paid no heed, and the wailings continued. Overcome with
grief the remorseful chief offered all kinds of rewards for any one who
would climb the rock and save Wehatpolitan and her child. But though many
tried, none could succeed. On the third day the wailings ceased. Then the
half-crazed father himself essayed to climb. He seemed to succeed, for at
least he disappeared among the crevices of the rock high up toward the
summit. But he never returned. The Indians thought that he reached the top
and that finding the lifeless bodies of his daughter and her child he had
probably given up all hope of getting down and had lain down and died with
them. But even yet heart-breaking wailings come down from time to time,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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