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Fishing Information
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Legend says that at the beginning of the 19th century, a tribe of the Chickasaw was ruled by a mighty
Chief. His heart was heavy, for his son had been born with a deformed
foot. As the boy grew and developed normally, his walk was different
from all the other Indians. He walked and ran with a rolling, so his
people called him Kalopin, meaning Reelfoot. When
the old chief died, Reelfoot became Chief. He, too, was sad and lonely,
for none of the Indian maidens had stirred in him thoughts of
love. His father had often told him of the mighty tribes dwelling to the
south, and of the wondrous beauty of their maidens. So, restless in
spirit, when the robins arrived from the north, he wandered south in
search of a princess. After
many days of travel, he reached the land of the great Choctaw Chief,
Copiah. Reelfoot then beheld his dream princess, more beautiful than he
had ever dared imagine, sitting close by the side of the Chief, her
father. After they had eaten and smoked the peace pipe, Reelfoot asked
for the old chief’s daughter in marriage. Old Copiah was filled with
wrath because he did not wish his daughter to marry a deformed chief and
told Reelfoot that his daughter could only be given in wedlock to a
Choctaw chieftain. The
old chief called on the Great Spirit who spoke to Reelfoot and said that
an Indian must not steal his wife from any neighboring tribe, for such
was tribal law. If he disobeyed and carried off the princess he, the
Great Spirit, would cause the earth to rock and the waters to swallow up
his village and bury his people in a watery grave. Reelfoot was
frightened at this threat of dire punishment and sorrowfully returned
home. By
the end of the next summer, he decided to ignore the wrath of the great
Spirit and to steal the forbidden maiden. He stole the maiden, Laughing
Eyes, and returned home to the great rejoicing
of his people. Laughing Eyes was greatly frightened for she had heard what
the Great Spirit had said to Reelfoot and begged that he send her back
to her father. Reelfoot was so much in love that he was willing to defy
everything. In
the midst of the celebration and the marriage rites, the earth began to
roll in rhythm with kettledrums and tom-toms. The Indians tried to flee
to the hills, but the rocking earth made them reel and stagger. Chief
Reelfoot and his bride reeled also and the Great Spirit stomped his foot
in anger. The Father of Waters heard the stomp, and, backing on his course, rushed
over Reelfoot’s country. Where the Great Spirit stomped the earth the Mississippi formed a beautiful lake, at the bottom of which lay Chief Reelfoot, his bride, and his people. Such is the Indian legend of Reelfoot Lake.
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