Mom, he hit me! Dad, she’s breathing on me! Mom, he’s looking at me! Dad, he took my toy and won’t give it back! This is the sound of our four kids riding in the car with Mom and Dad for any length of time when they were young. One of our great challenges at the time was finding things to keep them occupied or entertained so that we didn’t have to play referee or go crazy the entire trip.
This was before the arrival of handheld electronic games, video screens for the car, smartphones, and the many new devices that keep children entertained today, so we had to get creative. We tried asking each child to pick a color and then count cars of that color that passed by. The child with the most cars counted when we reached our destination would be permitted to stay up a half hour past their bedtime that night. It worked for a while, but then we ended up settling disputes about cheating.
We sang songs, played math or spelling games, and anything else that we could think of to keep them occupied. One thing that they always seemed to enjoy was when we told them stories. Stories about when we were growing up or that were told to us when we were young. Some were true, but many were fiction.
My husband told one legend that I had not heard before but later discovered that it was a story told in many versions, with many characters by parents and grandparents everywhere for generations. Today, there are children’s books and series that have written about “The Legend of Falling Rock.” While my children and I cannot remember the exact details of my husband’s version of the legend, the story as I remember it, went something like the following story.
My Version of “The Legend of Falling Rock”
Chief Thunderbird was the leader of a small Indian tribe who lived in Pennsylvania hundreds of years ago. The chief had two sons, Little Eagle and Falling Rock. Both sons were strong and brave warriors and skilled hunters who protected and provided food for their tribe. The eldest son, Falling Rock, would soon marry Princess Falling Star the beautiful daughter of Chief Black Foot, the leader of a nearby community. Falling Rock and Falling Star were very much in love and looking forward to their wedding day.
Both communities were busy preparing for the big wedding celebration and feast. Chief Thunderbird sent out a hunting party including his two sons, Falling Rock and Little Eagle to get meat and fowl for the wedding feast. The hunting party traveled off in different directions in search of game. Falling Rock and Little Eagle were hunting together and had successfully found some small game and fowl, but continued to hunt for some bigger game that would feed both communities at the wedding feast and provide food for their tribe during the cold winter.
They spotted a huge Elk in the distance and knew that with the game and fowl that they had already obtained, it would be impossible to get all the game back to the tribe. Falling Rock sent Little Eagle back to the tribe with the meat and fowl that they had already captured, while he continued to track the Elk.
Little Eagle would then return with help to capture and transport the Elk back to their camp. But, when the hunting party returned they could not find Falling Rock anywhere. The searched near and far, but could not find him. They returned to camp to tell Chief Thunderbird that Falling Rock was missing.
Chief Thunderbird was overwhelmed and concerned for the safety of his son Falling Rock, so he sent out search parties the next day and every day after that. Chief Black Foot also sent out search parties every day to help comfort and give hope to Princess Falling Star who was distraught with grief for her beloved Falling Rock.
The legend tells us that Falling Rock is still out there tracking that Elk and that the spirits of Chief Thunderbird, Little Eagle, and Princess Falling Star continue to search for him. To honor the tradition, the story, and to comfort the spirits of the loved ones who still search for him, we all continue to watch for him. We put up signs to remind us to honor the spirits and tradition of looking for Falling Rock. So, when you see a sign that says, “Watch for Falling Rock,” look for him!
57 Ford Retractable Photo: Sufficool/Diecast.org
