The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, November 1, 1928, Page 20

2 = : = s z TI | IAHR HA Tv HE passing centuries can turn the soberest history into a fanciful legend, and the authentic account of the de- struction of a le can dwindle into a romantic tale that is passed from mouth to mouth as fireside entertainment. But once in a whil swinging pick of an inquisitive archaeologist can break through the shell of silent years and reveal truth beneath. an old myth. That, apparently, has happened in Arizona, where the trdian legend of the beautiful princess Quina has, for years, been one of those stories that people tell one another as a sample ‘of the~ bizarre imaginings of the desert tribesmen. The opening of a long-forgotten Indian mound on the outskirts of the city of Phoenix indicates a the story of Quina may have been: sober fact. The legend of this lost princess: has been handed down, generation after generation. among the Pima and Piaricops tribes. Its roots stretch back so far that it is lost in antiquity. Here it is: ONG years ago the great Apaches, most warlike and feared of all Indian tribes, con- trolled the flat summit of a mesa: high in the tumbled rocks of the Grand Canyon region. The mesa ends abruptly at the rim of the canyon; along the edge, for more than -half:.a:mule;-is.a sheer drop of a thousand teet down’ a -perpen- dicular stone cliff. The face. of this cliff can be seen for’miles and’ miles about: the lowlands —towering, polished bronze, like the titanic war shield of a mighty chieftain. 5 , Once, ages ago. there came a time of famine. Food was scarce in the Apache country, and; for ‘a season, the bulk of the tribe migrated in search supplies, leaving the tableland in the posses- sion of a hundred warriors anda group of squaws. Among this group was the girl Quina, heloved daughter of the Apache chief, who lett her to tule over the stay-at-homes in his absence. Ip the lowlands nearby lived the Maricopa tribesmen. They hated and-feared the Apaches, who had tai their villages, carried of theit daughters and killed their warriors in times past: ind when a Mai scout brought home the. news that the Acs village was: nearly : de- serted, the Maricopas organized a great expedi- 2 Alas, poor Quinal . . . Archaeologist Mitalsky, with brush and trowel, uncovers the bones of the double grave which has revived interest in the legend of Apache Leap. _ ‘remorseful, ‘she swallowed two of the deadly HOAEQ EU OMA ACAC ALAM AGAENUTAOTT AUT AaNAAeANNE UA ATTsAAtIns friends and kinsmen return in shame over our capture?” So, with one mad rush, the Apaches aban- * doned their stronghold, and ran straight to the rim of the canyon wall, Not a moment did they hesitate; screaming defiance in one last, long war cry, they, shook their lances at their pursuers and went thuodesing off into the abyss, to die on the rocks a thousand feet below. All but Quina made the death leap. A young . Maricopa brave, foremost among the pursuers, overtook her: and captured her just as she was about to fling herself over the precipice to join her_ tribesmen ‘in violent and honorable death. ‘Thea the Maricopas returned to their warm valley of the river, far to the southward; and Quina learned to love her captor. The Maricopas esteemed her -because of her bravery and beauty, and when she married the young brave the tribe gave itself to days of wild and noisome celebra- tion of the extraordinary. event. Quina bore her husband a child. But always she brooded over the destruction of her people. And one day she noticed that her little daughter ‘was growing up to resemble.the Maricopa pepole * rather than the Apaches. -So she took a war club and killed her. husband, ina fit of fury. Then, maya beans, and died at his side. ‘The ‘Maricopas honored them, as was their custom, with a burial on the floor of their great house—buried them in embrace, like the lovers ae at is the legend, and for years it has been accepted as a romantic myth, and nothing more. UT a. few weeks ago a Phoenix realtor named Dwight B. Heard bought a plot of ground on the edge of the city and pre- pared to subdivide it into building lots. On the Property was an ancient, time-worn mound; Mr. Heard was interested enough in it to call in an archaeologist to ezamine it. The archaeologist, Frank Mitalsky, dug in. He found pottery, implements; beads and similar relics of a vanished race. Then he opened a grave. In the grave were the skeletons of a young. man anda young woman. Her body lay across his. Beside them tay. the bones of a young gitl. : Beautiful te was found in-the grave; some of it:of the ricopa. design, and some of it ». strangely ‘like that which - the “Apac! ~tniles.to: the northward, used to mike This was ° ‘no. ondinary finding-considering the bitter enmity ofthe tribes...’ hes, many eet Fo eave ot Quina, her murdered hus- - Perhaps. e archaeologist” says the rui are. at least 500 years old, probably older. The Sa ih th el, in eel ome . 5 nts and bail ing houses; ‘much o| their masonry is The restored Casa Grande . . ceologists once looked. ATLL LT Proving the Old [n¢ ~The Latest Mound Explored in Arizona ‘Tends to Support the Famous Myth About an Ancient ‘Tribe of A\paches Who Hurled Themselves to Death In the Grand Canyon and So Escaped Capture By Their Enemies + as arch- believe it Rios’ ofthe prebiarie shad gt Ciudad, ear the heart of Phoenix: ° Here Quina may‘ have ‘lived. This skeleton of a. nine-year-old girl, found near La Ciudad . . . gives added evidence to the truth of the legend. . . ; Was this Quina’s daughter? Apaches ran straight to the rim_of the canyon. . . . All but Quina made the death leap, and she was captured just as she was about to fling herself over the precipice. at over No one ‘knows. oe onlay who has ex- by cinaces“Actonting to in theot the a ye oF | Se: