April 23, 1910 ] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
665 
THE MERAMEC RIVER. 
Canoeing. 
An Ozark Canoe Trip. 
“Come, shape your plans where the fire is bright.” 
—Tent Dwellers. 
O N a gravel bar, in the Meramec River, 
one of the Ozark’s beautiful streams, 
within an hour’s ride of Saint Louis, 
gathered, one summer night, four canoeists 
loyal, devoted subjects of the red gods. 
' This week-end camp had a two-fold purpose; 
to escape from the hot sultry city nights, and to 
arrange the details of their annual cruise. 1 o 
arrange the details of the canoe cruise while 
in camp with a setting of woods, stream and 
camp-fire was a happy thought. Before the 
cheerful soul-warming glow, vexatious prob¬ 
lems melted rapidly away. For several hours 
the four sat before the blaze, talking incessantly 
and earnestly. One by one, problems of equip¬ 
ment were disposed of, and, after a last caution 
to the two women members of the proposed 
expedition, to keep the weight of their personal 
duffle bags down, the Captain leaned back and 
said: “Well, that settles it. We have covered 
every point, and if we do not have a good time 
this year, it will not be because of lack of 
preparation. Before we turn in, Siwash, con¬ 
tinued he, turning to the six feet of sun-tanned 
manhood sitting on the sand, toasting his bare 
toes over the glowing coals, “tell us that story 
of the origin of the Meramec. I know the girls 
will be interested.” 
“I heard the story in the Osage country, 
down in the Territory. On my last trip I ran 
into a full-blood, an old fossil of an Indian, 
who told me he had lived in this very valley 
when a boy. He was called Walker by the hotel 
man, but later told me his real name was See- 
ga-yah, which evidently meant something to be 
proud of, judging from his manner of impart¬ 
ing the information. We were talking of 
Missouri, drifted on to hunting and fishing, to 
the Ozarks, and. finally, to the Meramec River, 
which he called Meeseeohseuhma. This is the 
story the old men of the nation had handed 
down. It really requires a Longfellow to do it 
justice, but as I am not a Longfellow, that is, 
in my literary ability, I’ll just tell the story of 
Ah-lu-weh as old See-ga-yah told it to me. 
“ ‘Long time agoi—she live there. Ah-lu-weh, 
she Osage. Her father great chief. Oh-se- 
uhma, he big brave, fine Osage. Oh-se-uhma 
love girl. Ah-lu-weh love him. Old chief find 
out. Don’t like Oh-se-uhma—tell him stay 
way. Oh-se-uhma steal girl. Run away in 
hills. Chief catch girl. Bring back to village. 
Oh-se-uhma stay in hills and pray Great Spirit. 
Long time he pray. Great Spirit say to Oh- 
se-uhma: “You good man. Long way off by 
Mississippi live your brother’s people. Take 
Ah-lu-weh to the people who are your brothers. 
You shall be great chief. Take bark from birch 
tree, wood of hickory tree—make canoe. Put 
canoe in cave. Go to village at night when all 
sleep and get Ah-lu-weh.” 
“ ‘Oh-se-uhma don’t want to build canoe—no 
water in valley. No river where can paddle 
canoe, except way off, and cry back to Great 
Spirit. Great Spirit say, “Go.” Oh-se-uhma 
make canoe from bark of birch tree, wood of 
hickory tree, pitch from pine tree and paddle 
from maple tree. In night-time Oh-se-uhma 
go to village, scratch on tepee of chief. Ah- 
lu-weh hear; come out. Big brave and girl 
then run fast over, hills to cave to meet Great 
Spirit. When come to top of hill over cave, 
hear great noise. Great noise like water. When 
come down to cave, sees great river coming from 
hole in ground by cave. Quick put canoe in 
water, get in, paddle, one day, two day, three 
days, no sleep, no, eat. 'I hen find big cave in 
valley Onondaga. Go in and hide. Oh-se- 
uhma go out and kill bear. One man of tribe 
only have horse fast so can catch-um. He— 
Ne-co-tah—also love Ah-lu-weh. Old chief 
like Ne-co-tah and say, catch-um Ah-lu-weh 
and can marry. Ne-co-tah find canoe in wil¬ 
lows. Go in cave. Ah-lu-weh sit by fire. Catch 
her girl. Oh-se-uhma come in with bear. Big 
fight. O-se-uhma call again to Great Spirit, 
and Great Spirit make him strong; he kill Ne- 
co-tah. Then leave bear and go quick to canoe 
and paddle one, two. three days down river 
and come to Mississippi, where is village of 
much Osage. Oh-se-uhma is made gieat chief. 
“That is the story,” said Siwash. “Our trip- 
will be on the trail of Ah-lu-weh.” 
“Well, isn’t that fine! I know I will dream 
of Indian maidens and brave lovers in distress 
this night.” This from the “Schoolma’m.” 
By this time the camp-fire was but a bed of 
burnt coals, and as all were drowsy, the Cap¬ 
tain’s wife proposed sleep, which motion 
carried. 
Just a week later, the same quartet was 
seated on a baggage truck on the station plat¬ 
form at Valley Park, eighteen miles out of Saint 
Louis, and the first point on the Meramec 
River touched by the railroad. At the Park 
was located the canoe club, where the four 
headquartered when not en-voyage. Further 
up the platform were two canoes; one sixteen 
and a half feet long, the other a seventeen-foot 
canvas-covered canoe. A small mountain of 
PLANNING THE CRUISE. 
