Introduction - Adventure Guide to Maine - page 47

Indian Legends
Native American legends also feature prominently in Maine lore. Per-
haps foremost is the mythical figure Pamola , a creature with the head of
a moose, wings of a bat, body of a man and legs of an eagle, that report-
edly ruled on top of Katahdin in Baxter State Park. Pamola lived in a
cave on the peak that bears his name. He controlled the weather and was
quick to show his wrath if angered.
Legend has it that it was Pamola who each night pushed the moon up
into the sky over Chimney Pond and rolled it along the Knifes Edge
before letting it sink below the summit prior to daybreak.
Stories about Pamola are profiled in the topic Chimney
Pond Tales, Yarns told to Leroy Dudley (North Country
Press).
In the Far North, at Allagash Falls where the famed Allagash River
drops 35 feet over jagged ledges, legend holds that a spectre appears
some nights in the mist. Supposedly, an Indian maiden died in the churn-
ing water and returns each year on the anniversary of her death. She
appears at the top of the falls, hovers for a moment, and then disappears
into the froth.
What's In a Name?
The Name of Maine
While some historians who employed questionable logic have tried to tie
the name of Maine, the state, with a province of the same name in
France, historian Charles Clark in Maine, A History , believes the term is
North American in origin.
The area known as Maine today was first described in 1622 as “Province
of Maine.” The name can be researched from a variety of early land
grants and documents.
“These island-studded waters were customarily called 'the main,' spelled
alternately maine , maigne , mayn , mayne , and even meign ,” Clark writes.
During the debate over statehood some suggested the name Ligonia or
Columbia but Maine ultimately prevailed.