According to legend, a Chickasaw chieftain, who was protecting his beautiful daughter from white man’s admiration, journeyed to The Blowing Rock and into the care of a squaw mother. One day the lovely maiden was daydreaming on the cliff and noticed a Cherokee brave wandering in far below. She playfully shot an arrow in his direction and they began to flirt. Soon he appeared before her wigwam, courted her with songs of his land, and they became lovers, wandering the pathless woodlands and along the crystal streams.
One day a strange reddening of the sky brought the brave and the maiden to The Blowing Rock. To him, it was a sign of trouble commanding his return to his tribe in the plains. With the maiden’s entreaties not to leave her, the brave, torn by conflict of duty and heart, leaped from The Rock into the wilderness far below. The grief-stricken maiden prayed daily to the Great Spirit until one evening with a reddening sky, a gust of wind blew her lover back onto The Rock and into her arms. From that day a perpetual wind has blown up onto The Rock from the valley below. For people of other days, at least, this was explanation enough for The Blowing Rock’s mysterious winds causing even the snow to fall upside down.
For more information about the legend, and to purchase tickets to visit The Blowing Rock attraction, visit www.theblowingrock.com