The natives of the Florida swamps, the Seminoles, were on the warpath and many lives were lost, and they retreated from their enemy, the Cherokee.
One young, handsome Seminole brave was captured and taken prisoner by the Cherokees. He was a strong lad with jet black hair and black eyes, but he had been seriously wounded and was an easy target. He was condemned to die at the stake by burning until his body was consumed by fire. This was the custom of treating enemy captives in the Cherokee culture. The young man fell ill on top of being wounded. He was too sick to stand on his feet, so the execution was postponed until the young man became well. The Cherokees wanted to see a strong, healthy warrior die, not a sick one, weak as a woman.
"Let him be fed until he is strong again and then we will punish him," the Chief said. And so it was decided. The young Seminole warrior was brought to a Cherokee lodge to be nursed back to health. In that home lived a Cherokee warrior and his wife and daughter. When the daughter saw the young captive, she felt sorry for him. As she tended him each day, feeding him nourishing soups and binding his wounds with herbs, her feelings of tenderness grew. With each day's passing, the two grew to appreciate each other even if they were enemies. The feelings of sorrow and sadness turned to love for both of them.
"You must not die!" the young maiden said to him. And of course, the young brave did not want to die. He wanted to live his life with this lovely Cherokee girl. Finally one day, the young man said, "I am getting well. You have nursed me back to health and soon they will realize that I am ready for burning at the stake and I will soon be with Our Creator. The wood is dried and ready to be fired, but I am not ready. I don't want to leave you.
"We must run away together," said the young Cherokee girl. "As soon as night comes and it is dark, we must go-or it will be too late!"
When night came, the Bull Alligator was heard in the distance and then the croaking song of the frogs was carried on the night air; the girl crept to where the young warrior was lying, his eyes wide open.
"We must go now while the night noises are loud," the girl whispered. "My people will not hear us, and they are probably asleep by now."
So the two crept out of the lodge slowly and once out of the lodge, they began running swiftly through the paths of the Georgia swamp. The girl was in the lead for she had known these paths well since early childhood. There were as many strange noises in that swamp as there were stars in the sky. The noises in the woods were many. After they had gone a little way, the girl suddenly stopped.
"Why are you standing still?" the young warrior asked.
"I feel sad to leave my tribe and my father and mother," she answered.
"Do you want to go back?"
"No.! will go with you-but I want to take something from my home to remember my family and our home by."
"Go," he said. "I will wait here for you. You must take care."
She turned and went swiftly back along the trail they traveled while he waited for her in the dark. After a time she returned with something in her hand.
"What did you bring?" he asked.
"I took a lovely vine with the roots that grew on my old home. It has a beautiful, small white flower with a little yellow sun in the middle that smells sweetly. This lovely flower with its sweet scent will remind me of my home and my father and mother."
They resumed their journey. When the young couple came to his home in Seminole Country, they built a home to live in.
She planted the vine with the lovely white flower nearby where it grew and flourished and spread all over the land in Georgia like a lovely white song.
People there called it the Cherokee Rose in remembrance of the Cherokee bride who planted it so long ago.
