Settlers changed stories behind Frog Woman Rock

Frog Woman Rock looms above the Russian River and Highway 101 about 6 miles north of the Sonoma-Mendocino County line.

That's both the latest and oldest name for a feature that's also been called Lover's Leap. You may know it as Squaw Rock, a moniker now widely recognized as derogatory. This imposing landmark was listed as a State Historical Landmark under that name in 1959. For many years the Hopland Band of the Pomo petitioned for the name to be changed to the translation of bi-tsin' ma-ca ka-be, its Northern Pomo name. Bi-tsin' ma-ca is the word for “Frog Woman” and ka-be means “cliff.”

Most of the tales about Frog Woman Rock reflect how poorly 19th-century settlers understood indigenous culture. Stories were reworked, or fabricated whole, given a tragically romantic sheen and passed off as authentic native lore. Just as the Pomo's territory was overrun by the newcomers, so were the old stories co-opted.

One such story was written down by a white schoolgirl after it was supposedly told to her by a native servant. (Slavery of California's native peoples was legal until after the end of the Civil War.) It related how a native woman, heartbroken by her unfaithful man, picked up a rock and jumped from the cliff. When she landed on him and his new lover, who were sleeping at the bottom, all three were killed. Hence, “Lover's Leap.”

Another tells of two brothers, both vying for a beautiful woman. When one discovers he is not her chosen, he throws a spear at her, which misses and kills his sibling instead. The woman traps the evil-doer inside the rock and condemns him to spend eternity there. As a warning to others, she put his murdered brother's profile high up on the cliff where it could be easily seen, visible on southbound 101 between mile markers 6.4 and 6.2. When a railroad tunnel was bored through Frog Woman Rock in 1889, a story circulated that the evil brother's spirit had been released back into the world.

None of these stories have been verified as legitimately native in origin. But where some see a human visage, others see the face of a frog. Speakers of both the Northern and Central Pomo languages have verified that this location is known as Frog Woman's dwelling - she's an important figure in Pomo lore and the wife of the trickster Coyote. Bi-tsin' ma-ca is described as having the face of a beautiful woman and the body of a frog. From her lair high on the rock face, she jumps onto unsuspecting men and has sex until she's satisfied. Then, like a black widow, she devours them.

Ethnographer John Hudson originally collected this story in the late 1800s. In 2011, the State Office of Historic Preservation officially changed the name to “Frog Woman Rock” as a way to honor and respect the still-living heritage of the region's First Nations. Hudson noted that “the rock is avoided because of bi-tsin' ma-ca living there.” Unlike 101, the old trail detoured to the west of Frog Woman Rock. Best to take no chances.