402 BUFFALO LAND. 



do so. Instantly the spring commenced bubbling 

 wrathfully. So far, the Great Spirit had guided the 

 lovers; now, he frowned. An immense column of 

 salt water shot out of Waconda high into air, and its 

 brackish spray dashed furiously into the faces of 

 Wa-bog-aha and Hewgaw, and drove them back. 



The saltish torrent deluged the surrounding 

 plains — putting every thing into a pretty pickle, as 

 may well be imagined. The ground was so soaked 

 that the salt marshes of Western Kansas still remain 

 to tell of it, and, a portion of the flood draining off, 

 formed the famous "salt plains." Along the Arkan- 

 sas and in the Indian Territory, the incrustations are 

 yet found, covering thousands of acres. The Kansas 

 River, for hours, was as brackish as the ocean, its 

 strangely seasoned waters pouring into the Missouri, 

 and from thence into the Mississippi. It was this, 

 according to tradition, which caused such a violent 

 retching by the Father of Waters, in 1811. The 

 current flowed backward, and vessels were rocked 

 violently — phenomena then ascribed by the material- 

 istic white man to an earthquake. 



Too late the luckless pair saw their mistake, and 

 started for the summit of Waconda, just as the 

 angry father put in his very unwelcome appearance. 

 Had they avoided looking toward the spring, all, 

 perchance, might yet have been well. Without ex- 

 ception, tlie medicine men had written it in their 

 annals that no eye but their own must ever gaze 

 back at Waconda, after once passing it. Tradition 

 explains that this was to avoid semblance of regret 

 for gifts there offered the Great Spirit. Sachem, 



