Falling Rock

This is the story of Falling Rock.

Many hundreds of years ago, an old, old Native American chief lived in the valleys somewhere in America. This chief had the most beautiful daughter named White Doe. Every man in the tribe wanted to wed the daughter of the Chief, but could never muster up the courage to do it.

By chance, two of the men in the tribe mustered up the courage to ask the chief for permission to marry White Doe at the same time. One was named Winding River, and the other was named Falling Rock. They were of equal skill level and physical strength, so the Chief could not pick one to marry his daughter. He had a clever idea. He said to the two men, "Whichever of you goes out into the wilderness and brings me a white doe first can marry my daughter, White Doe."

This task was extremely difficult because the deer that had to be found was female and albino, which is the rarest kind of deer. Both men would not back down from the challenge, though. Winding River went off to the plains to find a white doe. Falling Rock went up into the mountains to look for a white doe.

A few months later, Winding River returned empty-handed and out of luck. Falling Rock had not been back for two years, and the tribe was getting worried. The chief decided to find Falling Rock and marry his daughter to him because of his bravery and persistence in finding a real life white doe. So he sent out search parties in the mountains to look for him.

All of the searches turned up empty. Falling Rock was never found. Legend has it that Falling Rock is still being searched for in the mountains today. That is why many road and trail signs say "Watch Out for Falling Rock." Next time you are in the mountains, be sure that if you see Falling Rock, you will show him the signs and remind him that there are people still looking for him back at his tribe, and that his bride awaits.