USA > Indiana > Pioneer history of Indiana : including stories, incidents, and customs of the early settlers > Part 9
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The next morning they all went to a place seen by one of them the day before, which he felt sure it was a regular bear den in a cave or hole in a bluff. While they were hunt- ing for the place they heard a loud, piercing scream not far away, coming, apparently, from a child. It was very loud at first but gradually grew weaker until it ceased. The hunt- ers were greatly startled and could not account for such a noise in this great wilderness. They hid in the bushes for a while waiting for further developments but did not see or hear anything more.
They resolved to find out the cause of the screaming and it was determined that Doyle should go first, the other two to keep him in sight and be governed by his motions. He crawled through the thick brush and when they were near a high bluff he signalled to the others to come to him. He had seen smoke and heard voices that he believed to be those of Indians. The smoke seemed to come from the eastern side of the bluffs and they determined to go farther around. Ad- vancing very carefully for two or three hundred feet they could see the fire and going still farther could see that there were several Indians around it and a little to one side a white man and woman were sitting on a log with their hands tied behind them. There were four Indians in view and the hunters each selected one to shoot at. After firing they de- termined they would reload their guns where they were and trust to luck for the outcome. They all fired at once, killing two and fatally wounding another one that fell in the fire; the fourth one ran around the side of the bluff.
After waiting awhile the hunters slipped to where the
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prisoners were, cut the leather thongs they were bound with and finished the Indian who was kicking and squirming in the fire. Doyle determined to follow the other Indian and in a short time a shot was heard in the direction he had gone. Soon an Indian was seen running eighty or ninety yards away. The two hunters fired at him and he dropped his gun but kept on running. On going around the bluff in the di- rection Doyle had gone, they came upon his lifeless body, killed no doubt by the Indian at whom they had just been shooting.
The prisoners released were James Griscom and his wife, Rachel. The screaming heard by the hunters was little Mary Griscom, who the day before had a fall that had hurt her ankle so that she could not walk and had to be carried for several miles to where the camp was made. She was no better the morning the hunters found them and would hinder their time in marching, so the Indians resolved to kill her. One of them gathered her up and going to the top of the bluff threw her over to the bottom, many feet below, killing her.
Griscom informed the hunters that there were three more Indians that had gone away with their guns, he sup- posed to hunt and that they might return at any time. They took the Indians' guns and hid them in the brush; then took Doyle's body around to the end of the bluff where the body of the little girl was and hastily put them in a crevice or shelf in the rock made by the action of running water and covered and wedged them in so that they would be safe from animals.
After consulting together they resolved to avenge the death of the brave Doyle and little Mary by killing the other Indians if they should return. Murtree went back up the slope of the bluff to a point where he could see for some dis- tance around and also see where the fire was. The others dragged the dead Indians into the brush, then made up the fire and hid behind a screen of brush so they could have a view of the fire and of Murtree who was to signal to them when he saw anything of the Indians. They were in that
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position about one hour when Murtree signalled them to be on the look out, pointing to a position beyond the fire. In a short time two Indians came into a view with a deer on a pole with them. As they came near the fire they stopped and looked around for their comrades. At that moment Greenway and Griscom fired, killing one and breaking the thigh of the other, who fell but tried to drag himself, gun in hand to a log and was killed by Murtree. The hunters re- mained in their position for some time but the other Indian did not return. Fearing that the Indian wounded in the first battle would be able to find some other band of warriors and come back to his camp, and being told by Griscom that an Indian town they had come near the day before was not more than six miles south of them, they concluded to get away as soon as they could.
Griscom also told them that another band of Indians with four prisoners had been with their party and had gone to the town. The band he was with would not go to the vil- lage but went around it.
Gathering up such of the plunder stolen by the Indians as would be of use to them, and taking all the Indian guns, they went to their camp where they had eight deer killed the day before. It took a long time to load their canoes as they had to wade through the slush and water a long distance to get to them. It was late in the afternoon when they started for their island camp and after night when they arrived there. The next day they fixed up quarters for their new comers who were very grateful for being released from captivity but were very sad over the loss of their little Mary.
Griscom gave this account of their capture: He. with his wife and little daughter seven years old; George Talbert and wife, a sister of Mrs. Griscom's and little boy five years old; Thomas West and wife; Davtd Hope and wife; a brother James, 15 years old and a sister, Jane, 11 years old, had em- barked on a boat, which they fitted out near Wheeling. Va., for the mouth of the Ohio river. Mr. Hope had been there when a soldier. The river was in a good stage of water and the run most
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of the way had been very pleasant, not requiring much use of the oars. They saw nothing of Indians until a day after passing the mouth of Green river. Late in the evening, three days before they were liberated by the hunters, they came to the head of a large island and the current drew the boat into the channel on the north side. As soon as they were well into the schute they were fired on by a concealed foe on the north bank, killing Talbert and Mrs. West. se- verely injuring Hope and breaking Mrs. Hope's arm. They lay down in the bottom of the boat hoping that the current would carry them beyond the reach of the Indians' guns, but soon they were seen coming after them in two canoes. The boatmen fired at them, killing two and wounding another one. West was shot and fell overboard. Griscom, in his hurry, broke the lock of his gun and before he could get another one the Indians were in the boat. They finished killing Hope and his wife and Mrs. West, as they were badly wounded and captured and tied the other seven. The boat was soon landed and unloaded and the stores divided among the twenty Indians capturing them. The prisoners were huddled together and lay on the bank until the next morning when they started on the trip northward. On the second evening, coming to the edge of the Indian town before men- tioned, Mrs. Talbert, her little boy and the two Hope child- ren were taken by the Indians that stopped there. The Griscom family was taken around the town to the point where they were liberated. The two hunters and Griscom had many consultations trying to form some plan to recap- ture Mrs. Talbert and the three children taken to the Indian town if they were still there. They finally took Pierre De Van, the Frenchman, into the council and talked over many ways to best accomplish the dangerous undertaking and, as they were brave men, decided that, come what would, they would make the attempt.
The water had gone down until it was nearly all out of the bottoms and the hunters made arrangements to go to the Indian town which, as they understood from Griscom, was twelve or fifteen miles away, at the same time intending to go
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by the bluff and bury Doyle and the little girl. They were in a quandary what to do with Mrs. Griscom, it being dangerous to leave her at the camp as at any time Indians from their town on the Patoka or White river not far to the northeast, might came to the Island. She decided the question by informing them that she intended to go as she had been raised on the frontier of Virginia where Indian raids and counter raids by whites were of frequent occurence and that she would not in any way be a hindrance to them --- if need be using a rifle as well as the best. This being settled they decided to start early the next morning.
They marched along the bayou to the place where they had left their canoes 'on the other trip and thence to their camp of two weeks before. It was agreed that Murtree should make a reconnoissance of the surrounding neighborhood. going as far as the bluff. He was gone about an hour and reported everything as they had left it except that he didn't see the least trace of the five Indians they had killed and left there. He supposed their bodies had been carried away and eaten by bears, wolves or panthers as the conntry was full of them. The shelf where the two white people were placed was just as they had left it. They all went to that point, taking an axe and a wooden shovel that they had made for the occasion. After selecting a place for the grave and digging it, they un- covered the bodies, carried them to it and buried them side by side. Though the mother of little Mary was a brave woman, it was very trying to her to thus give up her only child. It was necessary, however, not to waste time and so they were soon on the march again, Griscom leading the way.
He intended to go within about a mile of the town and then let Pierre De Van, the Frenchman, go to the village in his full Indian dress, representing that he had been with four Indian hunters going to the Ohio river; that he had shot a. deer and while following its trail had gotten lost from the party and failed to find them, his purpose being to find the number of men in the village and if he could, to see Mrs .. Talbert and give her a word of their plan.
Griscom, after finding a good hiding place for the party,
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went with him near to the town. As they went he found a good place for defense, not more than half a mile away to which he could bring the rest of the party. He told DeVan that when he had accomplished his mission to come to this place.
The party was moved up to the new position Griscom had found. It was after dark when De Van came slipping into camp and reported that there were eight or nine warriors and an old man who seemed to be the head and that he had seen the white woman and the boy but not the other children. The Indians seemed to want him to go away as they told him his friends were to the east. As there was a big creek he could not cross to the south but would have to go to the east quite a dis- tance, then south. While the old man and the warriors were in consultation he had a chance to say only two words in Eng- lish to Mrs. Talbert-"Friends near." She said nothing but looked at him as if she understood. The old man sent a young Indian with him for about two miles east and put him in a trace that would take him to the creek where he could cross it. He went south far enough to feel sure that he was not watched, then turned into a thicket, waited for dark and came into camp.
They all held a consultation and it was decided best not to attack the Indians as there were too many warriors, but to try and get Mrs. Talbert by stealth, if possible and not to at- tempt that until late in the night.
Waiting until after eleven o'clock, DeVan, Murtree and Greenway started, the hunters intending to go near the edge of the town so that DeVan could have a point to come to if attacked. Then DeVan was to do his part in his own way. Everything was very quiet for nearly an hour after they had taken their station. At that time three Indians came to the town and they must have been bearers of bad news for soon there was great excitement among them. Two women were screaming and tearing their hair.
It was fully two o'clock when everything was quiet again Soon the stillness was broken and a terrible noise raised by the snapping and snarling and howling of many
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dogs and the screaming of a child, which raised a great com- motion among the Indians. Soon the Frenchmen with the little boy in his arms and Mrs. Talbert after him came run- ning to where the two hunters were. The child was still moan- ing so loud that the Indians could tell the direction in which they had gone. It was placed in its mother's arms and she did all she could to make it keep still. DeVan told the hunters it was best for them to take the woman and child back to the others and for all of them to start north by the north star and leave him to check the Indians. They did this and it was but a little while until the crack of a rifle was heard, then everything became still. The party had been slipping away for some time when another rifle was heard but a little way to the rear. In a few moments De Van came up with them and told them to go as they were until just before day and to find a good place for defense, then stop at that place; that there were several Indians following them but he would keep them in check until daylight.
. Just at the break of day they came to a small creek where there was some large fallen timber that would make a good place for defense. Hurriedly piling logs between two large fall- 'en trees they made two end walls which provided a fort that could not be successfully attacked unless the enemy had such numbers that they could carry it by storm. Soon another rifle shot was heard and this time a shot was fired at the blaze or flash of De Van's rifle. In a few minutes De Van was seen and would have passed had not Murtree ran to him and brought him into the improvised fort. They kept a careful watch for the Indians and in a little while two were seen, half bent one behind the other, following the trail made by De Van. Greenway and Murtree instantly fired on them. One fell and the other showed that he was hit but managed to get behind an obstruction. Another Indian rushed to the one shot down and dragged him out of sight, De Van shooting at him but missing him. After this, during all the day a sharp , look-out was kept but no more Indians made their appear- ance.
The little boy who was hurt in the morning was suffering
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very much. De Van said that when he ran out of the Indian tepee with the child in his arms, on running around it he ran into a dog kennel where an old bitch had a litter of good- sized pups and such another fuss as they made he had never heard before and the old dog bit the child through the calf of the leg.
In the evening not long before sundown there was heard in the woods to the west of them the chattering of many squirrels, which was thought very probably to be caused by slipping Indians, and a very sharp look-out was kept in that. direction. Just as the grey dusk of evening came on Mr. Griscom had his arm broken by a shot that came from a tree not more than sixty yards away. The Indian had climbed up' a little tree behind a larger one so that he could see over the log pile. When he shot he tried to get back of the large tree but in his hurry the small tree swayed so much with him that his body came into view from back of the large tree and De Van shot him, his body falling to the ground.
After this everything became still and the hunters held a. consultation to agree on a plan to pursue. They could not: form a correct idea of the number of Indians beseiging them nor were they certain that there were any, but they thought, as they were encumbered with two women, the child and the wounded man, that they had better not run any more risk than was necessary. They agreed that they would remain where they were until the middle of the night and then at- tempt to go to the bluff. In the meantime De Van would be making a reconnoissance around the camp and along the route they were to go. After he had been gone a while the hooting of an owl was heard in the direction they had come that morning. After a little while it was repeated and soon it was answered not more than a hundred yards from where they were. De Van returned and said that he was certain that the answer to his owl call was made by Indians and that they were but a little way off-that he had gone to the north, the way the little party would have to go. for about three hundred yards and had not seen or heard anything, so they de- cided to get away.
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. Greenway, Murtree and Griscom and the women started to the north, De Van asking the privilege of staying in the rear. They had to travel very slowly owing to the brush and fallen timber and had gone but a little way when a shot was heard and in a little time another, then two more in quick succession not more than two hundred yards behind them. They came to a large fallen tree and determined to stop and fight it out, but had just gotten into position when DeVan came up with them. He told them he thought it best for them to continue their march as he had fired at an Indian the first time not more than fifteen feet away. The last shot he had fired was at an object about eighty yards away and that two shots were fired at the blaze of his gun, one of them splintering his gun stock. He could not tell how many In- dians there were but there were too many for them with their small party. He said he thought he could keep them back but if he found that he could not he would come to them and they would find a place for defense.
The women and hunters started again and had gone about half a mile when DeVan hurried up to them and told Griscom and the women to go as fast as they could for as much as a hundred yards and then to halloo and scream loudly for a little while and he and the other two men would get in- to a good position and wait for the Indians.
They came to the forks of a good sized creek and soon had a good position. The hallooing and screaming were heard and as they expected, in three or four minutes six or seven Indians came came into view hurrying on to where the noise was made. All three of the men fired and killed two Indians, while the rest were heard running away. One of the hunters brought the rest of the party back to their posi- tion and they all remained there until after daylight but saw no more Indians.
At daylight they started again, this time leaving Green- way and Murtree to stay at the creek for a while to see if any Indians would follow, and having De Van pilot the party. They had gone but a little way when they came to objects familiar to Mr. Griscom and were soon at the south end of
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the bluff. In a short time the two hunters came up with them and they went into their temporary camp. Fortunately one of the party had killed a deer and some of it was soon prepared and ready to cook. After thus refreshing them- selves, they went to their island home, from which they had been gone only three days and two nights but during that time they had underdone enough exciting eqperiences to last a lifetime.
After the very exciting experiences that the three hunt- ers had gone through to liberate Mrs. Talbert and her child from the Indians they rested for several days in their com- fortable quarters at the island. Mrs. Talbert's little boy was very ill for some time from the dog bite. Mr. Griscom's arm was very sore, the ball having fractured his arm and it was several weeks healing. Mrs. Talbert said that the Indians who captured the boat at "Diamond Island" belonged to two bands, one of them to the town she was taken to "six miles south of Owensville," the other belonged to a much larger town farther north; and the reason the Indians who had Mrs. Griscom and family would not go into the town she was taken to was, that the two factions had a disagreement about the di- vision of prisoners and spoils taken at the boat and they were afraid the other Indians would take their prisoners away from them. She said that if the Indians that had her and her child had any knowledge of the Indians that were killed at the bluff, they never made it known to her. The Indians that came into the camp the night DeVan came after her were all that were left of ten from the town who at- tempted to capture another boat on the Ohio river and the women who were crying and tearing their hair were the wives of two of the Indians killed. She said that these two women would have killed her and her child that night if the old chief and two other men had not protected her. She also said that the two Hope children were given to three Indians of one family who had helped capture the boat and were adopted by the mother to take the place of a boy and girl of hers who had died.
A few days after Mrs. Talbert and her child had arrived
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at the Indian town, the three Indian hunters, the two white children and their Indian mother went away in canoes down the small river and were gone for five days. When they re- turned they had a large iron kettle with them. James Hope told Mrs. Talbert that they went down the small river until it went into a much larger river about one-third as large as the Ohio (meaning the Wabash) and finally they had gone into a creek on the west side and left their canoes and then they went into a beautiful grove where the Indian mother and the two children put up a brush and bark house large enough for them to stay in. The three hunters went away and did not come back until in the evening of the second day and they then had an iron kettle with some salt in it. They did not say how they got it but said they "make salt down in the woods some way off." The next morning they took sev- eral deer they had killed and started home. As they were on their way they stopped at a place not far above the mouth of the small river and went into camp, "a very pretty place," James said. The Indian mother asked the two children how they would like to live in that place and told them-"Maybe in one moon we live here."
The next day they came back to the town. Mrs. Talbert learned from an Indian woman that they lived at a much larger town north but they had had some trouble and about sixty Indians had left and come to that place. She also said that there was some trouble even then and it was likely. that several families would move away in a short time and that the Indians with the white children were then on a lookout for a new home. Mrs. Talbert said that the same Indians and the white children and three other families had gone away in canoes the morning before De Van rescued her and she did not know when they intended to return; James Hope told her that they said they were going on a hunting trip.
From their recent experience the hunters felt that it was best for them to be well prepared. They built a strong cabin for the new addition to their camp and put a heavy stockade around their cabins with port holes to shoot from on all sides. The guns captured from the Indians were inspected and three
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of them put in serviceable condition and their stock of ammu- nition was ample for any probable need. Mr. Griscom's arm was yet very sore but with the aid of his wife and Mrs. Talbert who were both experts with rifles, he felt sure that he could defend the camp against any probable attack while the hunters were absent.
De Van's heroic action during the perilous retreat when Mrs. Talbert was recaptured had raised him high in the esteem of his comrads and they had invited him to take the place of Doyle and hunt and trap with them and share their profits while the camp would be left to the care of Griscom. The three hunters intended being on the chase all the time and when near enough would return to camp at night. Their aim was to hunt for large game during the summer and early fall and at the same time explore the surrounding country. Greenway and Murtree had land warrants for two enlistments and they wanted to find a suitable place and when the land was surveyed lay their claims. They knew that the east side of the river was infested with Indians and concluded to do their hunting for a time on the west side and inspect the dif- ferent creeks and inlets for beaver in order to trap when the fur season came.
They had been hunting and prospecting for several weeks and had seen no Indians, so they concluded to go up a good sized stream that empties into the Wabash river on the east side several miles south of their island camp, on an inspec- tion for Beaver signs; (this small river now known as Black river drains with its many tributaries a large section of fine country and at that time was one of the best beaver trapping territories in southern Indiana.) They ran up the river for several hours coming to a good sized creek that empties into the river on the northwest side. They followed this for some distance until they came to point where they could con- ceal their conoes and then went on a hunt, agreeing to be back to that place at night.
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