A Native American Legend... From the book The Shack by W.M Young

A legend of redemption and love

Once there was a princess, who was the only child left to her aging father a chief of the Multnomah tribe. He loved his daughter dearly and carefully picked out a husband for her; a young warrior chief of the Clatsop tribe, who her father knew she loved dearly and that loved her dearly too. The two tribes came together to celebrate the wedding feast, but before it could begin, a terrible sickness began to spread among the men, killing many. 

The Elders and the Chiefs met to discuss what they could do about the wasting disease that was quickly decimating their warriors. The oldest medicine man among them, spoke of how his own father, when aged and near death, had foretold of a terrible sickness that would kill their men, an illness that could only be stopped if a pure and innocent daughter of a chief would willingly give up her life for her people. In order to fulfill the prophecy, she must voluntarily climb to the cliff above the Big River and from there jump to her death upon the rocks below. 

A dozen young women, all daughters of the various chiefs were brought before the council. After considerable debate, the Elders decided that they could not ask for such a precious sacrafice, especially for a legend they weren't sure was true.

But the disease continued to spread unabated among the men and eventually the young warrior chief, the husband-to-be, fell ill with the sickness. The princess who loved him knew in her heart something had to be done, and after cooling his fever and kissing him softly on the forehead, she slipped away.

It took her all night and the next day to reach the place spoken of in the legend, a towering cliff overlooking the Big River and the lands beyond. After praying and giving herself to the Great Spirit, she fulfilled the prophecy by jumping without hesistation to her death on the rocks below.

Back at the villages the next morning, those who had been sick arose well and strong. There was great joy and celebration until the young warrior discovered that his beloved bride was missing. As the awareness spread of what had happened quickly among the people, many began the journey to the place where they knew they would find her. As they silently gathered around her broken body at the base of the cliff, her grief-stricken father cried out to the Great Spirit, asking that her sacrafice would always be remembered and at that moment immediately after, water began to fall from the place where she had jumped, turning into a fine mist that fell at their feet, slowly forming a beautiful pool.

~Legend Courtesy of the book,

The Shack