Ancient Quests of the Double-Peaked Mountain

Only traces of ancient civilizations and cultures remain from the prehistoric record, and only through small pieces - stories, images and fragments - do we feel the lives of the Native Americans who called this land 'Home' for thousands of years, and then forced away from that homeland. As cultures merged, efforts continued by solitary ethnic populations to maintain their ancient ways. But scattered, diluted and confused many of the ancient sacred ways became legend and myth. The story seemingly ends with most of these people and their heritage either driven away or finally scattered into mixed cultures. At some time around 1898, the last time any of these people returned to a mysterious annual quest - a link to their past - was the time at which they would never return. This is a tale of a "double-peaked mountain", a vision quest and the Shaman who perhaps ritualistically preserved markers of heritage important to those people who passed through the river valleys of Arkansas.