Legends and Lore of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast by Edmond Boudreaux Jr.

Bureau of Ethnology, visited Howard Memorial Library in New Orleans to read his paper entitled “Two Biloxi Tales” to the American Folklore Society. Reverend Dorsey had interviewed two Biloxi Indian women at Lacombe, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, and recorded their language and legends. Reverend Dorsey reported, “The mysterious music at Biloxi is that when the Biloxi Indians were overcome by their enemies the conquered remnants of the tribe clasped hands and went down into the depths of the sea singing their old death chants.” The report stated that the music is still heard on summer nights and has caught the attention of scientists.
    In 1922, the version of the legend with the Biloxi as the tribe that drowned was recounted in the Daily Herald . In the same article, Peter J. Hamilton, a Mobile historian, told the legend of the Pascagoula worshipping a beautiful mermaid. The mermaid appeared on rough seas, “pleading with irresistible music that her deluded children return to worship her, and come back they did.” She seduced them into deeper water, and everyone drowned.
    By the 1940s, we begin to see the legend as it is known today begin to evolve. As long as humans have been communicating, there have been stories and legends like these. Along Mississippi’s Golden Gulf Coast, it is no different, and the tales get taller down the line. Like all local legends, the story is ultimately in the hands of the storyteller.

CHAPTER 10
    T HE I NDIAN L EGEND OF THE R ING IN THE O AK
    The oak with its ring still stands today near Bellman Street and Beach Boulevard. Until Hurricane Camille destroyed the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer rectory, the Ring in the Oak stood directly in front. Of course, one will find many versions of a so-called Indian legend of how the ring came to be in this live oak. All agree that the daughter of the Biloxi Indian chief had fallen in love with a warrior of another tribe. The most common legend indicates that the warrior was a Pascagoula Indian and that the Pascagoulas were the enemy of the Biloxis. The chief told the young couple that not until a ring appeared in the oak would he allow them to marry. A storm of hurricane force hit that evening, and in the morning, a ring appeared in the oak. The Biloxi chief honored his word and allowed his daughter to marry the Pascagoula warrior. While a great love story, we know from historical records that the Biloxi and Pascagoula Indians were not only allies but also friends. Still, this legend stands as a true testimony to the power of love.
    The earliest account of the legend appeared in 1896, when the Daily Herald published a book titled Legends and Lyrics of the Gulf Coast , by Laura F. Hinsdale. Included among her thirty-two poems was one titled “The Live Oak Ring.” In Hinsdale’s verses, we find the Biloxi chief’s daughter.
    Twas here she grew, flower of the wild
    A maiden of Biloxi’s race, a chieftain’s fair and only child .

    The Ring in the Oak and the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi. Courtesy of Alan Santa Cruz Collection .
    Hinsdale indicates that many had sought “a glimpse of her sweet face.” Finally, into the story enters a Natchez warrior of noble descent.
    The warrior sought the chieftain’s side, a Natchez ring he bore
    He asked the maiden for his bride, to leave his side no more .
    Of course, the Biloxi chief stated his conditions:
    When a ring grows on yonder tree, and circles yonder bough
    Then you may bear my child from me, and wed with ring and vow .
    Enter Mother Nature with a strong storm, causing “two branches twined into a ring.” So this version of the legend has it beginning with a Biloxi maiden and Natchez warrior.
    Who was Laura F. Hinsdale? Mrs. Hinsdale was married to Dr. Robert Hinsdale, pastor of the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. Dr. and Mrs. Hinsdale served the church from 1883 to 1889. After Dr. Hinsdale’s death on January 9, 1889,