The Ghost of Snoqualmie Falls
Engineers and trainmen report sightings of a spectral Klickitat woman searching for her lost lover in the mists of the falls.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Tradition has it that when the Klickitat went west of the Cascades more frequently, two young braves fought a duel to the death on the brink of Snoqualmie Falls, and one was thrown into the churning pool below by his adversary. The cause of the combat was their rivalry for the affections of an Indian girl, May Bird, who bestowed her smiles so impartially that it was impossible to determine which was the most favored suitor. When she learned of the result of the duel, she realized that the object of her affection had met his death. She became very despondent, and when the tribe was about to depart, she jumped from the rock into the precipice, almost 200 feet below. Since that time, the Klickitat Indians have had a horror of the spot. Now, the engineers and trainmen have seen her black eyes peering out through the mist, and wild love melodies mingle with the clatter of the wheels as the train rushes by. Only a portion of the apparition is visible at favorable times, with a halo of light around her head. Those who have looked upon the spectacle firmly believe that May Bird is still disconsolately grasping for the lost body of her Klickitat lover in the boiling foam and dark waters of Snoqualmie pool.
“Those who have looked upon the spectacle firmly believe that May Bird, the Indian girl, is still disconsolately grasping for the lost body of her Klickitat lover in the boiling foam.”
Local folklore often attempts to reconcile the violent displacement of Indigenous people with the landscape they inhabited. Today, Snoqualmie Falls is a major tourist destination and sacred site for the Snoqualmie Tribe, who continue to advocate for the protection and recognition of their ancestral lands.
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