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Show The following is a Paiute legend as told to Alva Matheson by the Piede tribe near Cedar City, Utah, on February 24, 1968. THE NAMING OF PAH- HAW- WAN LAKE " I have often wondered where the name of Parowan came from. I have asked many people, and received many answers . The most accepted one: seems to refer to something to do with a valley of sage brush, or the sage brush valley with a lake in the bottom of it. One historian explaining about it said it should be pronounced with a very short ' a' as in Pa- ro- wan. Others, Pah- ro- wan. I still did not know what it meant or where it came from. One day, I asked an Indian friend if he knew what it meant. He said, ' Oh, sure. It means bad, trickery, treacherous, looks good but it's bad.' Medicine was referred to in many ways for the functioning of things not understood. Thus, not understanding the brine in otherwise good water it was sometimes called bad medicine water. I asked him why the bad medicine in connection with the lake. He said, ' That's old story before my time, but I heard it from old fellers.' I aiked him to tell me about it. ' Well,' he said, ' a long time ago " ah- Ha- Wan Lake ( Little Salt Lake) had a nice big spring of good fresh water on the north bank pouring its clear, cool water into the salty brine. The Indians would camp there and often would bathe in the lake. ( Where the spring was the water was quite deep and made an excellent place to swim. I myself have seen this spring. I can also remember when the water was three or four feet deep over the full extent of the lake.) |
