USA > Massachusetts > Our western border : its life, combats, adventures, forays, massacres, captivities, scouts, red chiefs, pioneer women, one hundred years ago, containing the cream of all the rare old border chronicles > Part 25
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My oldest brother was from home at the time the above punishment was inflicted on us; he came home that same night; I scarcely ever saw him more out of humor than when he found the way we had been treated. He said, (whether he was in earnest or not, I cannot tell,) that if he had been at home he would have applied his tim-ma-keek-can to Mos-sooh-whese's head rather than suffer such an ignominious punishment, as he conceived it, to be inflicted on any of his family. However, he told Mos-sooh-whese never to do the like again without his consent. I was very near being innocently punished about a year afterwards, notwithstanding I had more than a dozen of witnesses to prove that I was not, in the course of that day, where the mischief was done : which was only the plundering of a watermelon patch.
Whilst we were living at Kseek-he-ooing, one Andrew Wilkins, a trader, came to the town, and was taken ill while there-he sent me to the other end of the town with some beads to purchase a fowl for him to work off a physic with ; when I came back, he was sitting alone in the house : as he could talk the Indian tongue tolerably well, he began to question me about where I was taken from; I told him from Cono- cocheague-he asked my name ; I told him. As soon as he returned
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to Shippensburg, (which was his place of residence,) he informed my father that he had seen me, which was the first account they received of me from the time I was taken. The next Spring we moved to a town about fifteen miles off, called Ma-hon-ing, which signifies a lick. Some time in the Summer following, my father came to Mahoning, and found me out. I was shy in speaking to him, even by an interpreter, as I had at that time forgot my mother tongue. My Indian brother not being at home, my father returned to Pittsburgh and left me. e
My brother was gone to Tus-ca-la-ways, about forty or fifty miles off, to see and hear a prophet that had just made his appearance amongst them ; he was of the Delaware nation ; I never saw nor heard him. It was said, by those who went to see him, that he had certain hiero- glyphics marked on a piece of parchment, denoting the probation that human beings were subjected to whilst they were living on earth, and also denoting something of a future state. They informed me that he was almost constantly crying whilst he was exhorting them. I saw a copy of his hieroglyphics, as numbers of them had got them copied and undertook to preach, or instruct others.
The first (or principal doctrine) they taught them was to purify themselves from sin, which, they taught, they could do by the use of emetics, and abstinence from carnal knowledge of the different sexes; to quit the use of firearms, and to live entirely in the original state that they were in before the white people found out their country ; nay ; they taught that that fire was not pure that was made by steel and flint, but that they should make it by rubbing two sticks together, which I have frequently assisted to do, in the following manner: Take a piece of red cedar, have it well seasoned, get a rod of bor-tree, well seasoned, gouge out a small bit with the point of a knife, cut off the cedar about an eighth of an inch from the edge, set the end of the bor-tree in it, having first stuck a knife in the side of the cedar, to keep the dust that will rub out by the friction ; then take it between the hands and rub it, pressing hard on the cedar and rubbing as quick as possible; in about half a minute the fire will kindle. It was said that their prophet taught them, or made them believe, that he had his instructions immediately from Keesh-she-la-mil-lang-up, or a being that thought us into being, and that by following his instructions, they would, in a few years, be able to drive the white people out of their country.
I knew a company of them who had secluded themselves for the pur- pose of purifying from sin, as they thought they could do; I believe they made no use of firearms. They had been out more than two years before I left them; whether they conformed rigidly to the rules laid down to them by their prophet, I am not able to say with any degree of
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certainty-but one thing I know, that several women resorted to their encampment ; it was said, that they made use of no other weapons than their bows and arrows : they also taught, in shaking hands, to give the left hand in token of friendship, as it denoted that they gave the heart along with the hand-but I believe that to have been an ancient custom among them, and I am rather of opinion, that the practice is a caution against enemies-that is, if any violence should be offered, they would have the right hand ready to seize their tim-ma-keek-can, or tomahawk, or their paughk-sheek-can, or knife, to defend themselves, if necessary."
The Fall following, my father went out to Fort Venango, or French Creek, along with Wilkins. Wilkins sent a special messenger to Mahoning, for my brother to take me to Venango, telling him that my father would purchase me from him ; accordingly he took me off with- out letting me know his intention, or, it is probable, I would not have gone with him. When we got to Venango, we encamped about a mile from the garrison ; my brother went to the garrison to bargain with my father for me, but told me nothing of it. The next morning my father and two others came to our camp, and told me that my brother wanted to see me at the fort; I went along with them ; when we got there he told me that I must go home with my father, to see my mother and the rest of my friends ; I wept bitterly-all to no purpose; my father was ready to start ; they laid hold of me and set me on a horse-I threw myself off; they set me on again, and tied my legs under the horse's belly, and started away for Pittsburgh.
We encamped about ten or fifteen miles from Venango; before we lay down, my father took his garters and tied my arms behind my back; however, I had them loose before my father lay down; I took care to keep it concealed from them by keeping my arms back as if they were tied. About midnight, I arose from between my father and John Simeons, who was to accompany us to Pittsburgh ; I stepped out from the fire and sat down as if I had a real necessity for doing so; my father and Simeons arose and mended up the fire ; whilst they were lay- ing the chunks together, I ran off as fast as I could ; I had got near a hundred yards from the camp, when I heard them hunting a large dog, which they had along with them, after me; I thought the dog would certainly overtake me; I therefore climbed up a tall tree, as fast as I could ; the dog stopped at the root of the tree, but as they continued to hunt him on, he ran off again-they came past the tree ; after they
*The observant reader will note that these were the peculiar doctrines of Pontiac and his Dela- ware prophet, and the incident so attested by a captive boy, proves that Pontiac had his emissaries out through all the tribes, trying to excite a general war. The murder of the traders, mentioned later, was part of the same plan.
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passed by me, I climbed further up, until I got to some limbs, where J could rest myself; the dog came back to the tree again-after a short time they came back and stood a considerable time at the root of the tree-then returned to the fire; I could see them distinctly from where I was.
I remained on the tree about an hour ; I then went down and steered through the woods till I found the road; I went about two or three miles along it, and the wolves were making a hideous noise all around me; I went off the road a short distance and climbed up a dogwood sapling, and fixed myself on the branches of it, where I remained till break of day; I then got on the road again; I ran along as fast as I was able, for about five miles, where I came to an Indian camp; they told me that I had better not keep the road, alleging that I would cer- tainly be pursued; I took their advice and went off the road immedi- ately, and steered through the woods till I got to where my friends were encamped ; they advised me to take along the road that we came, when we came there; telling me that they were going to return home that day ; I made no delay, but went on about ten miles, and there waited till they came up with me. Not long after I left them, my father came to the camp; they denied that they had seen me-supposing that I had gone on to Mahoning by myself, telling him that if I had, that they would take me to Pittsburgh that Fall.
Soon after we got home to Mahoning, instead of taking me to Pitts- burgh, agreeable to their promise, they set out on their Fall hunt, tak- ing me along with them; we staid out till some time in the Winter before we returned. We lived about a mile out of Mahoning ; there were some traders at Kseek-he-ooing, or Salt Licks, early in the Spring. A nephew of my adopted brother's had stolen a horse from one Tom Green, a trader ; he pursued the thief to Mahoning ; he was gone out a trapping when Green came after him. Green waited three days on the Indian's return with the horse. The third night, about midnight, there came an alarm, which was notified by hallooing Qua-ah / still repeating four halloos at a time, at certain intervals. When we heard the alarm, my oldest brother went off to the town, to see what was the matter. In about two hours he returned; Green asked him what was the matter-he told him that it was some foolish young fellows that had done it, for diversion. Green did not seem to be satisfied with the answer. However, about sunrise Mus-sooh-whese, (an Indian, my adopted brother's nephew, known by the name of Ben Dickson, among r the white people,) came to our house ; he had a pistol and a large scalp- ing knife, concealed under his blanket, belted round his body. He in- formed Ket-too-ha-lend (for that was my adopted brother's name) that
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he came to kill Tom Green ; but Ket-too-ha-lend endeavored to per- suade him off it. They walked out together, and Green followed them, endeavoring, as I suppose, to discover the cause of the alarm the night before ; in a short time they returned to the house, and immediately went out again. Green asked me to bring him his horse, as we heard the bell a short distance off ; he then went after the Indians again, and I went for the horse.
As I was returning, I observed them coming out of a house about two hundred yards from ours ; Ket-too-ha-lend was foremost, Green in the middle ; I took but slight notice of them, until I heard the report of a pistol ; I cast my eyes towards them and observed the smoke, and saw Green standing on the side of the path, with his hands across his breast ; I thought it had been him that shot ; he stood a few moments, then fell on his face across the path; I instantly got off the horse, and held him by the bridle. Ket-too-ha-lend sunk his pipe tomahawk into his skull, Mos-sooh-whese stabbing him under the arm-pit with his scalping knife ; he had shot him between the shoulders with his pistol. The squaws gathered about him, stripped him naked, trailed him down the bank, and plunged him into the creek; there was a " fresh" in the creek at the time, which carried him off. Mos-sooh-whese then came to me, (where I was holding the horse, as I had not moved from the spot where I was when Green was shot,) with the bloody knife in his hand; he told me that he was coming to kill me next ; he reached out his hand and took hold of the bridle, telling me that that was his horse ; I was glad to parley with him on the terms, and delivered the horse to him. All the Indians in the town immediately collected together, and started off to the Salt Licks, where the rest of the traders were, and murdered the whole of them, and divided their goods amongst them, and likewise their horses. My adopted brother took two horse loads of beaver skin, and set off with them to Tus-ca-la-ways, where a number of traders resided, and sold the fur to them.
There happened to be an old Indian, who was known amongst the traders by the name of Daniel; he cautioned the traders not to pur- chase the fur from him, assuring them that he had murdered some traders -to convince them, he showed them that the skins were marked with so many different marks, which convinced him in his opinion ; however, either through fear or some other motive, they exchanged goods for the fur ; the same evening, old Daniel offered his services to them, assuring them that he would endeavor to conduct them safe into Pittsburgh, add- ing that, if they would not take his advice, he was sure they would be all murdered by daylight the next morning ; they took his advice, and, as they lived about a mile out of town, they had an opportunity of go-
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ing away without being discovered ; they started shortly after dark, as was conjectured by the Indians, leaving all their merchandise behind them ; how many there were of them I do not recollect of hearing ; however, as I heard, they went on safe until they got to Ksack-hoong, an old Indian town at the confluence of the Beaver and Ohio, where they came to an Indian camp unawares ; probably the Indians had dis- covered them before they reached the camp, as they were ready for them ; as soon as they made their appearance the Indians fired on them -the whole of them fell, excepting old Daniel and one Calhoun, who made his escape into Pittsburgh; old Daniel had a bullet shot into his saddle, close behind him, the mark of which I frequently saw, after he made his escape back to his friends.
Mahoning lay on the frontier, as they had evacuated all their towns to the north of it when the war commenced. Shortly after the com- mencement of the war, they plundered a tanyard near to Pittsburgh, and carried away several horse-loads of leather ; they also committed several depredations along the Juniata ; it happened to be at a time when the small-pox was in the settlement where they were murdering, and the consequence was, a number of them got infected, and some died before they got home, others shortly after ; those who took it after their return, were immediately moved out of the town, and put under the care of one who had had the disease before. In one of their excur- sions, they took some prisoners-among them was one of the name of Beatty, whom they beat unmercifully when they took him to Mahon- ing ; they set him to make bridles for them, (that is, to fill old bits,) of the leather they took from Pittsburgh; he appeared very cross; he would often run at the little fellows with his knife or awl, when they came to look at him where he was at work; however, they soon took him off to Cay-a-haw-ga, a town not far distant from Lake Erie.
We remained in Mahoning till shortly after the memorable battle at Bushy Run ; we then moved to Cay-a-haw-ga; the day before we got there they began to be alarmed at Beatty's behavior ; they held a coun- cil and agreed to kill him, lest he should take some of their lives. They led him about fifty or sixty perches out of the town, some walking be- fore and some behind him; they then shot him with arrows. I went out the evening after we got there, along with some little fellows, to see him ; he was a very disagreeable sight to behold ; they had shot a great number of arrows into his body-then went off and left him exposed to the vermin !
The same year that Beatty was taken, Ket-too-ha-lend was the Moy- a-sooh-whese, or foreman, of a party consisting of nine Indians ; they came to a house where there were two men and a woman who had
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killed a hog, and had a large pot of water on the fire, making ready to scald it-Ket-too-ha-lend rushed into the house-the rest stopped at the outside ; he seized the woman and shoved her out of the door, and told the rest to take care of her; one of the men broke out of the house and made off, whilst the other catched hold of Ket-too-ha-lend by the arm, and endeavored to put him into the pot of boiling water, shoving him back to the corner of the house, where two guns were standing- he said he frequently called on the rest to come in to assist him, but none of them would venture in. The man was constantly looking about, either for assistance or from fear of the rest of the Indians; he there- fore, after he was almost exhausted, watched his opportunity, and sud- denly putting his hand up behind the man's back, and catching hold of his queue, jerked his head back, by which means he got his other arm disengaged, and drew his tim-ma-keek-can, or tomahawk, and knocked him on the head. But, to his great mortification, when he came out, he found the woman whom he had shoved out of the door lying dead and scalped.
We stayed but a short time in Cay-a-haw-ga, then moved across the country to the forks of Moosh-king-oong, (Muskingum,) which signifies clear eyes, as the river abounds with a certain kind of fish that have very clear eyes ; from thence we took up the west branch to its source, and from thence I know not where. Nothing remarkable happened during our peregrinations, excepting that we suffered by hunger, it be- ing in the Winter ; we sometimes had to make use of the stems of turkey quills for food, by running them under hot embers till they would swell and get crisp. We have subsisted on gum bark, and sometimes on white plantain ; but the greater part of our time on a certain kind of root that has something of the resemblance of a potato.
In the Spring we returned to the west branch of Moosh-king-oong, and settled in a new town, which he called Kta-ho-ling, which signifies a place where roots have been dug up for food. We remained there dur- ing the Summer. Sometimes in the Summer, whilst we were living at Kta-ho-ling, a great number of Indians collected at the forks of Moosh- king-oong ; perhaps there were three hundred or upwards; their inten- tion was to come to the settlements and make a general massacre of the whole people, without any regard to age or sex ; they were out about ten days, when the most of them returned ; having held a council, they concluded that it was not safe for them to leave their towns destitute of defence. However, several small parties went on to different parts of the settlements ; it happened that three of them, whom I was well ac- quainted with, came to the neighborhood of where I was taken from- they were young fellows, perhaps none of them more than twenty years
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of age-they came to a school house, where they murdered and scalped the master and all the scholars, excepting one, and a full cousin of mine. I saw the Indians when they returned home with the scalps; some of the old Indians were very much displeased at them for killing so many children, especially Neep-paugh-whese, or Night Walker, an old chief cr Half King-he ascribed it to cowardice, which was the greatest affront he could offer them .*
In the Fall they were alarmed by a report that the white people were marching out against them, which, in a short time, proved to be true; Colonel Bouquet, with an army, was then actually marching out against them. As the Delaware nation was always on the frontier, (which was the nation I was amongst,) they had the first notice of it, and imme- diately gave the alarm to the other nations adjoining them. A council was called: the result was, that they were scarce of ammunition, and were not able to fight him; that they were then destitute of clothing; and that, upon the whole, it was best to come to terms of peace with the white people. Accordingly they sent off special messengers to meet the army on their march, in order to let them know that they were dis- posed to come to terms of peace with them. The messengers met the army at Tuscalaways. They crept up to the camp after dark, and in- formed the guard that they were sent by their 'nation to sue for peace. The commander of the army sent for them to come into camp; they went and delivered their mission. The Colonel took care to take host- ages for their fidelity; the remainder were suffered to return; but he told them he would march his army on to Moosh-king-oong, where he expected to meet their chiefs and warriors, to come to terms of peace with him, assuring them, at the same time, that he would not treat with them but upon condition that they would deliver up all the prisoners they had in their possession. The messengers returned, and gave a nar- rative of their mission. The Sha-a-noo-wack, or Shawanese, were not satisfied with the terms; however, as the Delawares had left hostages with the commander of the army, the Shawanese acquiesced to come to terms of peace jointly with the other tribes. Accordingly the army marched on to Moosh-king-oong. The day they arrived there, an ex- press was sent off to one of their nearest towns, to inform them that they were ready to treat with them.
* This refers to a horrid massacre in Pennsylvania, of a whole school, in August,'64. The remains of the murdered and mutilated scholars were all interred together, in a large and rudely constructed Dox. just as they were found. The name of the teacher was Brown. Seventy-nine years after an exhumation took place, and the bones were again committed to earth, and a mound raised to per- petuate the memory of this sad spot. The school house was truly a solitary one, and some of its remains exist to the present day.
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We then lived about ten miles from Moosh-king-oong; accordingly they took all the prisoners to the camp, myself among the rest, and de- livered us up to the army. We were immediately put under a guard- a few days after, we were sent under a strong guard to Pittsburgh. On our way two of the prisoners made their escape, to wit, one Rhoda Boyd and Elizabeth Studibaker, and went back to the Indians. I never heard whether they were ever brought back or not. There were about two hundred of us-we were kept a few days in Pittsburgh. There was one John Martin, from the Big Cove, came to Pittsburgh after his family, who had been taken by the Indians the Fall before I was taken: he got leave from the Colonel to bring me down along with his family. I got home about the middle of December, 1764, being absent (as I heard my parents say) eight years, four months and sixteen days. Previous to my return, my father had sold his plantation, where I was taken from, and bought another about four miles from the former, where I have re- sided ever since.
When I reflect on the various scenes of life I came through during my captivity, methinks I see the hand of Providence, remarkably con- spicuous, throughout the whole. First, What but the hand of Providence directed them to take us alive, when our scalps might have answered the same purpose? or that they should, when apparently in danger, risk their lives by the incumbrance of us, by carrying us on their backs? Secondly, That they should not have drowned me outright, when they washed me in the Allegheny river ? Thirdly, That they took any care of me, when I was apparently on the point of death, by two severe fits of sickness ? Fourthly, That they should have taken any notice of me when I was, to all appearances, drowned at Shenango? Nay, I have often thought that the hand of Providence guided me in making my escape from my father, as, in all probability, I would have been at the school where the master and scholars were murdered, as I had two cou- sins among the number, one of whom was scalped, and who, I believe, is yet alive; or even when Mus-sooh-whese came to me, after he had murdered Green, with the bloody knife in his hand. I say, methinks I see the hand of Providence remarkably displayed throughout the whole.
How ofter. are we exposed to dangers, which we have neither had knowledge of nor power to prevent ? I could have related many dan- gers that I was exposed to during my captivity, which I have thought proper to omit in the foregoing narrative; as I am conscious that there are numbers, who never have had the trial of what they were able to undergo, would be ready to charge me with falsehood, as I have often observed what other narrators have met with.
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CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE OF THE BARD FAMILY.
THE CAPTIVITY AND ESCAPE OF THE BARD FAMILY.
COLLECTED FROM HIS PAPERS BY HIS SON, ARCHIBALD BARD.
My father, Richard Bard, lived in York county, now Adams, and owned the mill now called Marshall's mill, in what is called Carroll's tract, where, on the morning of the 13th of April, 1758, his house was invested by a party of nineteen Indians. They were discovered by a little girl called Hannah M'Bride, who was at the door, and on seeing them, screamed, and ran into the house. At this time there were in the house, my father, mother, and Lieutenant Thomas Potter, (brother of General Potter,) who had come the evening before, (being a full cousin,) together with a child of about six months old, and a bound boy. The Indians rushed into the house and one of them, with a large cut- lass in his hand, made a blow at Potter, but he so managed it as to wrest the sword from the Indian and return the blow, which would have put an end to his existence had not the point struck the ceiling, which turned the sword so as to cut the Indian's hand.
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