The Tahquitch Maiden: A Tale of the San Jacintos

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Tahquitch Maiden: a Tale of the San Jacintos, by Phebe Estelle Spalding
TAHQUITCH ROCK “From behind my stony fortress I look upon the deeds of men.”
“THE TRIBE OF MY PEOPLE I HAVE SEEN DIE, AND THEIR NAME HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN. BUT I LIVE ON & SHALL EVER LIVE, BLESSED WITH ENDURING YOUTH AND HAPPINESS.”
BY PHEBE ESTELLE SPALDING
ILLUSTRATED
PAUL ELDER & COMPANY PUBLISHERS : SAN FRANCISCO
TO MY COMRADES IN CLASS & FIELD Copyright, 1911 by Paul Elder and Company San Francisco
Tahquitch Mountain is one of the peaks of the celebrated San Jacinto range. Its contour is peculiar, and on its summit is a huge rock known as Tahquitch Rock. The Indians aver that this rock covers the doorway of the deep cave in which Tahquitch (Devil) dwells. Thither, in misty legend, was borne centuries ago an Indian maiden of a tribe now unknown; and to her unwilling company were added later, other beautiful maidens whom Tahquitch from time to time captured from neighboring tribes.
A curious rumbling of the mountain occurs in certain of the summer months; and the Indians believe that this phenomenon is caused by the violent anger of Tahquitch when his quest for a new bride is unsuccessful, or by the restlessness of his cave-imprisoned victims.
This legend, especially in recent years, has undergone numerous changes of form and interpretation, until it is become one of the most interesting and significant of the many blended fancies of the red man and the white, which go to make up the unique poetic lore of California.

IT WAS a perfect August day in the San Jacinto Mountains. The morning dew still lay upon the grass, but the early mists which hover as benedictions over the heated lower plains, were unneeded in the cooler air of our highland camp; and the soft blue of the summer sky suggested only rest and comfort.