Baraboo Republic in Baraboo, Wisconsin

Under the Lilacs and the Polish Frontier Folk Tale

A long excerpt blends a fragmentary lyric poem about summer scent with a first person reminiscence of Blockhouse Point near Lake Huron. The narrator recalls a harsh winter journey with two Ojibbeway brothers, Chingoos and Shegashie, the struggle to cross frozen lakes, encounters with Indians, a deadly clash with Mamiskogahshe, and the rescue that follows. It ends with the acquittal of Lowther and the death of Chingoos, leaving Shegashie faithful until his own later death.