Place of Deavels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Place of Deavels (Devils)

In the Journals of Lewis and Clark 1804- 1806

Clark wrote about the day before they reached the mouth of the Vermillion, which they called the White Stone River.

On August 24, 1804

Cap Lewis & my Self walk out & got Verry wet, a Cloudey rainey night,—In my absence the Boat Passed a Small (2) River Called by the Indians White Stone River. this river is about 30 yards wide and runs thro a Plain & Prarie in its whole Course In a northerley direction from the mouth of this Creek in an imence Plain a high Hill is Situated, and appears of a Conic form and by the different nations of Indians in this quarter is Suppose to be the residence of Deavels. that they are in human form with remarkable large heads and about 18 Inches high, that they are Very watchfull, and are arm'd with Sharp arrows with which they Can Kill at a great distance; they are Said to Kill all persons who are So hardy as to attempt to approach the hill; they State that tradition informs them that many Indians have Suffered by those little people and among others three Mahar men fell a Sacrefise to their murceyless fury not many years Since—So much do the Maha, Souis, Ottoes and other neighbouring nations believe this fable that no Consideration is Suffecient to induce them to apporach the hill

The Omaha, the Sioux, and the Otoes believe that the mound was occupied by spirits that killed any human who came near.

Interesting description of these Deavels (Devils)

Place of Deavels

Human form Large heads

18 inches high

watchful and armed with sharp arrows

Legends

Legends are stories from our past that are circulated and believed by many even though there isn't any real life proof of truth. As you can see legends play an important part in the discovery of truth.

Some of the Native American Indians of the northwest speak of encounters with 'The Little People'. The Little People are part of the legends and myth of the Arapaho and Shoshoni, quite a few other tribes. There appears to be different types of these beings, some being more intelligent beings and those that are more violent in nature.

The Arapaho's apparently, were aware of such little people. This is what was briefly said about them.

1. According to tradition the beings were 3ft tall

2. Incredibly strong and feared because they had a taste for human flesh

3. Cannibalistic devils that perished in a great forest fire.

Here's an interesting story about Cannibal Dwarves. 

Legendary Native American Figures: Cannibal Dwarves

Although benign races of small magical creatures exist in many Native American tribes, the Little People of the Arapahos and neighboring tribes-- also known as Cannibal Dwarves or Enemy Dwarves-- are dangerous man-eaters and particular enemies of the Arapaho tribe. Their Arapaho name, Hecesiiteihii, literally means "little people." ("Teihiihan" comes from the Arapaho word for "strong"-- Arapaho dwarves are said to have superhuman strength.) In some texts they are referred to as "Nimerigar" instead, which is a name borrowed from the neighboring Shoshone tribe (who had similar legends about ferocious little people.) Descriptions of the cannibal dwarves vary somewhat from community to community, but they are usually said to be the size of children, dark-skinned, and extremely aggressive. Some storytellers say that they had the power to turn themselves invisible, while others say they were hard to spot simply because they moved with incredible speed. Some suggest that the dwarves' warlike temperament comes because they must be killed in battle to reach the dwarf afterworld. Others believe that they were gluttons who habitually killed more than they could eat just because they could. According to most versions of the story, the race of cannibal dwarves was destroyed in an ancient war with the Arapahos and other allied Native American tribes.

http://www.native-languages.org/cannibal-dwarves.htm

 

 

 

 

Puk-wud-jies. Translation of the name means little wild people of the forest

1. 2 Ft tall

 

2. white skin, brown hair and dressed in clothing made from grasses and tree bark

3. lived in caves along the riverbanks

More folklore according to Flathead tradition.

1. 3 Ft dwarves

2. considered peaceful

3.  If approached, people would fall into a swoon and awake upside down in a tree or missing some   of their clothing.

 

Stick Indians of Nez Perce, according to tradition.

1. Strange sounds, sometimes hoot like owls or howl like a coyote

2. very strong

3. kidnap people and sheep, calves

4. no tracks found

5. able to render themselves invisible and if you do see them you will endure a painful swelling of the face.

Supposedly, near Mount Adams some people were huckleberrying and decided to lock the baby in the car to keep it safe. No one else was in the car. While they were picking berries they heard the baby cry, when they reached the car the baby was gone. They heard it cry out again from another direction and that is where they found it.

I would also like to point out that in the Missing 411 Eastern United States book by David Paulides, there is a case of a missing 5 year boy, 25 miles south of Mount Adams, Washington. More of the case can be read on pg. 16-17 of that book. This young boy was later found after some lengthy searches, he was over 5 miles from the point he was last seen and he was missing one shoe and apparently in phenomenal shape for being out in the rugged wilderness for 2 full days.

If you look at some of the information provided you will begin to see that these strange occurrences are not new to North America. What really peaks my interest is that with all the people going missing in our national parks maybe, just maybe we are not looking in the right places or seeing all that is to be seen. Quite possibly these legends and oral traditions are part of the key to finding some of the answers.

I must admit there are some striking similarities to the disappearances that have occurred in our National Parks. I'm in no way saying that these are the answers to the missing persons cases, there may be a combination of phenomena happening that we haven't looked at yet.

skull, bone fragments, teeth found
• the taste for human flesh
  
  
  people found are in a semi-conscious or unconscious state lying face down with limbs extended.
  clothing removed or missing
• fall into a swoon upside down in a tree and missing some of their clothing
  
  
  victims are found near creeks rivers and streams...
• caves along the riverbanks
  
  
  
  
  Berry pickers vanishing, children found near berry bushes
• Huckleberrying

 

The Woman of Stone

In one of the niches or recesses formed by a precipice in the cavern of Kickapoo Creek, which is a tributary of the Wisconsin, there is a gigantic mass of stone presenting the appearance of a human figure. It is so sheltered by the overhanging rocks and by the sides of the recess in which it stands as to assume a dark and gloomy character. Of the figure the following legend is related:—

Once upon a time there lived a woman who was called Shenanska, or the White Buffalo Robe. She was an inhabitant of the prairie, a dweller in the cabins which stand upon the verge of the hills. She was the pride of her people, not only for her beauty, which was very great, but for her goodness. The breath of the summer wind was not milder than the temper of Shenanska, the face of the sun was not fairer than her countenance.

At length the tribe was surprised in its encampment on the banks of the Kickapoo by a numerous band of the fierce Mengwe. Many of them fell fighting bravely, the greater part of the women and children were made prisoners, and the others fled to [Pg 145] the wilds for safety. It was the fortune of Shenanska to escape from death or captivity. When the alarm of the war-whoop reached her ear as she was sleeping in her lodge with her husband, she had rushed forth with him and gone with the braves to meet their assailants. When she saw half of the men of her nation lying dead around, then she fled. She had been wounded in the battle, but she still succeeded in effecting her escape to the hills. Weakened by loss of blood, she had not strength enough left to hunt for a supply of food, and she was near perishing with hunger.

While she lay beneath the shade of a tree there came to her a being not of this world.

“Shenanska,” said he, in a gentle voice, “thou art wounded and hungry, shall I heal thee and feed thee? Wilt thou return to the lands of thy tribe and live to be old, a widow and alone, or go now to the land of departed spirits and join the shade of thy husband? The choice is thine. If thou wilt live, crippled, and bowed down by wounds and disease, thou mayest. If it would please thee better to rejoin thy friends in the country beyond the Great River, say so.”

Shenanska replied that she wished to die. The spirit took her, and placed her in one of the recesses of the cavern, overshadowed by hanging rocks. He then spoke some words in a low voice, and, breathing on her, she became stone. Determined that a woman so good and beautiful should not be forgotten by the world, he made her into a statue, to which he [Pg 146] gave the power of killing suddenly any one who irreverently approached it. For a long time the statue relentlessly exercised this power. Many an unconscious Indian, venturing too near to it, fell dead without any perceptible wound. At length, tired of the havoc the statue made, the guardian spirit took away the power he had given to it. At this day the statue may be approached with safety, but the Indians hold it in fear, not intruding rashly upon it, and when in its presence treating it with great respect.

WW Gibbons 1890