Sunday, May 1 1938, Section A, Page 8 Ringing Rock of Legendary Mystic Power to Indians Lies on Lake Hodges Island Summoned Wind, Aided Tribesmen, Story Goes By Edward M. Skagen In the midst of a pile of grayish stone on a small island in Lake Hodges is the sacred ringing rock that once helped the San Pasqual Indians destroy a band of raiding Yuma warriors. Except for a few old settlers and an occasional historian, it lies almost forgotten in this lonely spot. Upon the face of the rock are many hammer marks made by the curious, who are fascinated by the anvil-like tones of the "spirit medicine" that used to summon the east wind and start foot races and other festivals of the Indians of San Pasqual. According to the legend concerning the rock, a young Indian called Husamucho left his tribe and wandered into the sunrise. After crossing the great desert he visited the Yuma Indians and fell in love with a girl of that tribe. VALLEY IS FERTILE He married the Yuma girl and brought her back to the fertile valley where his people lived. Soon her brother, Calamee, visited them and he was impressed with the richness of the land, for the valley was wide, and deep, and beautiful. Corn, melons and onions grew in great quantities and the people where very happy. Then Calamee left the tribe. Later he came back again. Then he left and Pontho, the chief, became suspicious and watched him. One night, when the people were in their homes, Katong, a rich man of the tribe, ran to Pontho seeking help because he had been wounded by a band of Yuma warriors who had kidnapped two of his daughters. Hastily Pontho summoned the tribesmen and started in pursuit of the raiders. With growing anger they chased the invaders across the valley and up the slopes of Wee-la-mee, the mountain near Del Dios now called Black Mountain. The Yuma warriors sought refuge on the high rocks and standing on the mountain top with their long black hair reaching to their shoulders they shot arrows down upon Pontho's men. SUMMONS TRIBESMEN But Pontho was a wise old chief and he called his men together and stationed them about the mountain on every side. Then he summoned Katong and bade him ring the sacred rock and summon the east wind. Katong struck the rock slowly, three times, and sang to the wind. Three more times he struck it and a breeze sprang up, growing stronger and stronger. Pontho shot an arrow into the air with a single feather tied to the shaft. Higher and higher it climbed and the people shouted. It was a signal to the warriors about the mountain. Fires leaped up on every side and the strong wind swept the slopes of Wee-la-mee. It killed the Yuma warriors and Pontho and his people found the traitorous Calamee in his hut. Calamee confessed that he had brought the raiders to the valley and he was executed by the San Pasqual Indians. And ever since that day no Indian dared go near the sacred rock until the white man came and taught him to scorn the spirit world. Because of the historical value of the rock, Escondido citizens have contemplated moving it to the monument marking the San Pasqual battle grounds where Gen. Stephen W. Kearny and Kit Karson, with their men, fought the Mexican soldiery in 1846. ROCK DISAPPEARS At one time there were two rocks that gave the clear, ringing sound, but one of them has been taken away. Where -- no one knows. The ringing sound has baffled many local people who have accounted for it in many different ways. Some say the ringing is due to the way the rock is wedged in the pile of granite-like slabs and boulders, others are ready to concede it has mysterious powers, but according to well-informed persons the rock is phonolithic. It is grayish rock answering the description of phonolite: A volcanic rock composed of orthoclase, nephelite, hauyne, pyroxane, etc., which gives a ringing sound when struck. Phonolite is supposed to ring when it is fresh and compact and it is volcanic. This ringing rock is not volcanic -- it is a conglomerate. Neither is it fresh for, according to the legend, this particular "ringing medicine" was old when the first white man came.

Editor's note: This San Diego Union article is mostly a summary of a known Indian story. In the original story, the Ringing Rock is "where dwells the spirit of the hot desert wind." The San Diego Union article also included a photograph of someone ringing the rock. For more details on this story and the significance of the Lake Hodges Ringing Rock, see pages 103-126 of "Indian Stories of the Southwest" by Elizabeth Judson Roberts, published by Harr Wagner Publishing Company in 1917. If you have any information on the current whereabouts of the rocks or the original location of the "island" they refer to, please contact the Lake Hodges Scientific Resource Center to let us know.