WACONDA, OR GREAT SPIRIT SPRING

MANY MOONS AGO, SO RUNS AN INDIAN LEGEND, WACONDA, A BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS, FELL IN LOVE WITH A BRAVE OF ANOTHER TRIBE. PREVENTED FROM MARRIAGE BY A BLOOD FEUD, THIS WARRIOR EMBROILED THE TRIBES IN BATTLE. DURING THE FIGHT AN ARROW STRUCK HIM AS HE STOOD ON THE BRINK OF A SPRING AND HE FELL MORTALLY WOUNDED INTO THE WATERS. WACONDA, GRIEF-STRICKEN, PLUNGED AFTER HIM. BELIEVING HER SOUL STILL LIVED IN THE DEPTHS, THE TRIBES FOR COUNTLESS AGES CARRIED THEIR SICK TO DRINK THE HEALING WATERS. HERE THEY CELEBRATED THEIR VICTORIES AND MOURNED THEIR LOSSES, NEVER NEGLECTING TO THROW INTO THE SPRING SOME TOKEN FOR THE GREAT SPIRIT. WACONDA SPRING, ¾ MILE SOUTH OF THIS MARKER, IS A MINERAL POOL ABOUT FIFTY FEET IN DIAMETER, SET IN A CURIOUS LIMESTONE BASIN.