Princes Winona from a Dakota Sioux dressed for her role in “Lovers Leap” for Pawnee Bills Wild West Show.
The legend of Winona may be an example of how family lore and historic legends become intertwined. As a child, I remember my mother telling us we were related to an “Indian Princes”. Unfortunately, due to her sad demise, the Winona of legend could not be Spencer Chamberlain’s mother. Also, I have found no record from our family history that refers to our relative as an Indian Princes. Spencer’s mother was born about 1755, and I was unable to find any real connection between her and the legends. Nevertheless, they may be interesting to someone.
Our information about Spencer Chamberlain’s mother comes from a document written in the 1920s by Spencer’s grandson Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips. “John…married an Indian girl by the name of Winona”1 Also, it is found in Glover, Vermont’s Westlook Cemetery on page 46 which notes that Spencer Chamberlain was the “Son of John E. and Winona.” This record was compiled by Dick Brown in 2002, “based on information from various family members, Phillips family Bibles, and vital records, etc., unpublished.”2
There are several variations of the Legend about an Indian maiden named Winona. These are found in New Hampshire, Wisconsin/Minnesota and Alabama. The stories have been somewhat commercialized, and are always considered an event from local history.
The Wisconsin/Minnesota Legend
On September 17, 1805, Zebulon Pike recorded the earliest known version of the story in his diary of his exploration of the upper Mississippi River:
“I was shown a point of rocks from which a Sioux maiden cast herself, and was dashed into a thousand pieces on the rocks below. She had been informed that her friends intended matching her to a man she despised; having been refused the man she had chosen, she ascended the hill, singing her death-song; and before they could overtake her and obviate her purpose she took the lover’s leap! Thus ended her troubles with her life.”3
Maiden Rock, Wisconsin
Stephen H. Long, who made a voyage to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1817, gave the story of Winona in more detail. Long’s Sioux guide Wazikute was likely the original source of the Winona legend, and it seems probable that he had also told the story to Pike. When Long was on his second expedition in 1823 he again saw Wazikute at Red Wing’s village, and again the Indian related his stories. William H. Keating, a member of this expedition, states that Wazikute was a witness of Winona’s death when he was very young, but that he was very old in 1823.3
Another version of the Minnesota/Wisconsin legend comes from the logging settlement of Maiden Rock, Wisconsin. This village is located on the other side of the river from towns of Winona and Red Wing, Minnesota. In 1856, the owner of the grist and shingle mills named the village Maiden Rock after a bluff four miles downstream. The Indian legend of the bluff, apparently has some basis in historical fact. It concerns a young Dakota Indian woman named Winona. She leaped to her death from the top of the prominent bluff rather than marry the brave her father, Chief Red Wing, had chosen for her.4
The New Hampshire Legend
Abenaki Woman
There is a Lake Winona located in central New Hampshire which was named after the legend. This location was once home to the Abenaki Indians. In the legend of Lake Winona, a young Native American princess* named Winona spent many evenings on a nearby ledge overlooking the lake. She would watch the moon rise high into the evening sky. One night a warrior from the nearby Waukewan tribe took her prisoner. After months in captivity, she escaped and ran across the frozen lake, drowning when the ice broke beneath her.5
*Note: “Indian princess” is likely an English embellishment of the legend.
The Alabama Legend
In the legend in northeastern Alabama, she has a different name. The story, however, is about the same. A beautiful Cherokee Princess* Noccalula was deeply in love with a brave from her own tribe. Her father, a powerful Cherokee chief, promised her to a Creek Indian chief. The chief could offer a higher bounty for her hand. Her father banished her lover from the tribe. On the day of the wedding, arrayed in ceremonial attire, she obediently attended the marriage feast. In the midst of the celebration, Noccalula quietly slipped away through the forests to a nearby waterfall. Rather than face a loveless marriage, she jumped from a nearby precipice and ended her life.6
Links:
Winona is from the Algonquin language defined as “A beautiful Place in the forest.” In my research I found reason to believe that Spencer Chamberlain’s mother Winona may have been from the Penobscot Indians in central Maine, and which is also a tribe of the Algonquin: Chapter 14- Spencer Chamberlain’s Indian mother Winona.
Spencer’s mother Winona may have been located in the 1790 and 1800 U. S. censuses, see Chapter 15- The Unusual Household of Increase Chamberlain, Jr.
Read the Chamberlain Story from the beginning, Chapter 1- Francis Chamberlain Arrives in the New World. Or, chose any single chapter from the Table of Contents
© Copyright Dennis D. Chamberlain, The Chamberlain Story, 2017. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of the written content of this site without express and written permission from the author and owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that credit is given to Dennis D. Chamberlain and direction to www.thechamberlainstory.com.
References:
1- Alonzo Chamberlain Phillips, Spencer Chamberlain’s Ancestors, unpublished Chamberlain family document written in 1927 or possibly a few years earlier.
2- Glover, Vermont Westlook Cemetery, Gravestone Inscriptions & Other Genealogical Data, Glover Historical Society, Glover, VT 05839, 2nd Edition, 2002, p.240 #15
3- The Winona Legend, http://collections.mnhs.org/MNHistoryMagazine/articles/13/v13i04p367-376.pdf
4- Maiden Rock, Wisconsin, http://www.maidenrock.org/history.php
5- Lake Winona, New Hampshire, USA, http://www.lakelubbers.com/lake-winona-1863/
6- John Craton, The Princess Noccalula, http://www.craton.net/music/noccalula/
For starters I do not claim to be an expert on the topic but there are a few interesting things I’d like to point out.
In Pike county Pennsylvania, which was named after Zebulon Pike, as a series of waterfalls called “Winona Falls”
Of further interesting note, this is in the heart of the Delaware Water gap and there’s an eerily similar sounding rendition written by a Luke Broadhead in 1870 but with the cast being from that area.
Dare I say one plagiarized the story? At a glance, this would be Broadhead.
But if one were to give it further thought, the story would make more sense to have originated from the Pennsylvania area due to having an earlier European settlement.
The lovers leap to which the story refers to, immediately evoked mental images of Mt. Tammany , which aligns with the story presented by Luke Broadhead.
That area was known for its many mines and in fact, leading up to MT. TAMMANY, it’s Old Mine Rd. One of the oldest roads in the country.
Anyway, I have no clue as to what’s the real story and what’s not but I just thought I’d share some of the parallels.
There was also a Sisseton Dakota woman named Winona who was the daughter of Chief Red Iron. If you Google her, you will find a photo of her standing in Fort Snelling, (MN) heavily pregnant. I just wanted to help you find another Winona to research.
There was also a Dakota woman named Winona who was the daughter of Chief Wapasha. (Wabasha, MN is named after him.) There seems to be some confusion as to if this was the Winona that jumped off the bluff in Maiden Rock, WI or if this is an entirely different Winona. The towns of Winona, MN, Red Wing, MN and Wabasha, MN are all along the same stretch of the Mississippi. Each town claims the same Winona story as Maiden Rock, WI (which is right across the river from them.) So did Chief Red Wing and Chief Wapasha BOTH have a daughter named Winona? If so, which one is really the famed maiden who jumped off the ledge?
I grew up in Maiden Rock, WI, so I have heard all different versions. Interesting stuff.
Hi Stephanie, Thank you for the information. I wrote a post on the legend of Winona because we believe my fourth great-grandmother, was named Winona. Apparently, some aspects of the legend got attached to her in the early twentieth century. At that time, there was no internet available to sort things out. I am quite surprised that my short post on the Legend of Winona is one of my most popular post. It ranks about number 6 of all my posts. Dennis Chamberlain