Legend of Standing Rock

One of my favorite stories in Doc Schilling's Tales of Yellow Creek (1947) was about Standing Rock, named Stigwanish by the Indians. This huge boulder sits in Yellow Creek, located about 2 miles east of the Mooretown Civil War Monument. Standing Rock Farm has been owned by the Christian Family for over 100 years and has always been a focal point of the Yellow Creek Valley.

The story, in Indian lore, goes that the Great Father was displeased, made the earth rumble, and sent the large boulder to the ground. We are sure that this mammoth boulder, because of its location among many other spots in the valley, was an important meeting place for the Indians. The Ohio lands in our area were mostly used, in the recent past, as hunting grounds. We know the permanent Indian settlements in the far past were here because they left several mounds in the area. These mounds were documented in Doc Schilling's books and are the only source of any permanent settlements or villages that could be found.

Where Doc Schilling got the inspiration for writing The Legend of Standing Rock, no one is sure. There are many variations of this story written over the years because there was always contention among the Natives over hunting grounds in North America. Doc’s story tells of an impending battle between the Algonquin and Cherokee tribes over hunting grounds in the Yellow Creek Valley. The Medicine Men and Chiefs agreed to meet at Stigwanish and come up with an agreement to prevent further bloodshed. They agreed to have a battle that would finally determine who had the hunting rights to the valley. Each tribe agreed to choose a representative tree and bring only the number of warriors representing the number of leaves on their chosen tree.

The Algonquins chose the Hickory for their tree and brought only the number of leaves that could be counted on that tree. Several hundred warriors met at the rock, ready for the impending battle.

The Cherokee, from their native southlands, chose the Green Hemlock and filled the valley in such huge numbers, as in locust groves or passenger pigeons. The Cherokee carried in their warbags a bald eagle with its legs and wings bound by rawhide. The Algonquins puzzled over this—were they to be sacrificed to the Great Spirit? A Cherokee prophet mounted Standing Rock and ordered all to be quiet and listen. He told his great warriors to loosen the ties on the bald eagle, pour a gourd of hemlock seed from their chosen tree on its back, and let it fly over the valley so this mighty tree may stand over the hills forever. This explains why this beautiful valley is so clothed in Hemlock trees. The prophet then implored the Great Spirit to blight the nut-bearing Hickory tree that the Algonquins had chosen, so it would only produce wormy seeds.

An Algonquin prophet rose to the rock to speak and implored the warriors to have a feast before the battle. He suggested that the Cherokee go to the hills and hunt many deer and turkeys, while the Algonquins would do the cooking. While the Cherokee rested from their hunt, the Algonquins cooked the meat, adding many savory herbs. They suggested the Cherokee eat first, as was the custom before a battle. The Cherokee glutted themselves and then lay down to sleep. The Algonquin Medicine Man walked among them, shaking his rattle, and determined them to be in a sleep never to wake. The meat had been poisoned by the dusky cooks. The Medicine Man then implored the Great Spirit to protect all the nut trees in the valley from blight for as long as the great Standing Rock stood sentinel over the Yellow Creek Valley. He then told his Algonquin warriors, bearing the Hickory leaves, to throw the Cherokee into the creek so that they may float to the homeland of the great Hemlock, never to return again.

The depiction of Standing Rock featured here is by local artist Dave Barnhouse, whose studio is in Richmond, Ohio. Dave and his wife, Marie, have given us permission to use this painting on our website and in our soon-to-be-published Follow The Yellow Crick Road. The story of how we became acquainted with the Barnhouse family and Dave’s paintings is, in part, due to Doc Schilling's books and Standing Rock.

Dave called us on New Year's Day, right after our reprint of Doc’s books Tales and Stories of Yellow Creek came out for Christmas in 2009. Our family was here for New Year's, and the kids were cooking and, as usual, being very noisy, so I went back to the office to talk to him. He introduced himself and explained to me that he had painted Standing Rock, with some Indians having a meeting around the rock. He said he had an idea for the painting from Tales of Yellow Creek. He asked if we could trade one of our new books for a Giclée print of his Standing Rock painting. A Giclée is a reprint of a painting on canvas instead of paper. Of course, my kids said someone was playing a joke on me, so I did not follow up with Dave. When I later delivered books to Fort Steuben in Steubenville, Ohio, Judy Bratten told me I should contact Dave, so she called him, and he asked me to stop by on the way home. We traded the Giclée for the book and began a good working relationship with Dave and Marie.

We took the Standing Rock Giclée with us when we promoted the book and told the story of Standing Rock. We not only sold books, but we also sold several Giclées of Standing Rock. This began a friendship with Dave and Marie, and I learned a lot from Dave about promoting events and our books. When Dave is working on an idea for a new painting, sometimes he will call and ask our family to hitch up the big workhorses or a wagon full of the kids being pulled by one of our tractors. We firmly believe that Dave has done more to preserve our local history, in his many paintings, than anyone we can think of. I don’t think there is a farm, city, little village, or historical spot that he has not painted. Standing Rock is one of the many paintings he has done that will always immortalize our local history. Dave’s original painting of Standing Rock is owned by Herman and Catherine Howell from Pine Grove Ridge in Northern Jefferson County.

Article by,
Virginia Glenn