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 80
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When George Bozarth fell as the Indian fired, he lay as if dead, and supposing the scalping knife would be next applied to his head, deter- mined on seizing the savage by the legs as he would stoop over him, and endeavor to bring him to the ground, when he hoped to be able to gain the mastery over him. Seeing him pass on in pursuit of his father, he arose and took to flight also. On his way he overtook a younger brother, who had become alarmed and was hobbling slowly away on a sore foot. George gave him every aid in his power to facilitate his flight, until he discovered that another of the savages was pressing close upon them. Knowing that if he remained with his brother, both must inevitably perish, he was reluctantly forced to leave him to his fate. Proceeding on, he came up with his father, who, not doubting but he was killed when the savage fired at him, broke forth with the exclamation, " Why, George, I thought you were dead !" and manifested, even in that sor- rowful moment, a joyful feeling at his mistake. The Indians who were at the house wrought their work of blood, killing two or three small children and took Mrs. Bozarth and two boys prisoners. With these they made their way to their towns, and arrived in time to surrender their captives to General Wayne.
TWO BOYS IN THE WOODS ALL WINTER.
In the Fall of 1803 Henry Perry, one of the first pioneers about Delhi, Ohio, after getting up his cabin in the woods, left his two little sons in it and returned to Philadelphia for the remainder of his family ; but finding his wife sick, and afterwards falling sick himself, could not get West again until the following June. His two little boys, Levi and
747
A BOY MADE TO SLAY SIX INDIANS.
Reuben, only eleven and nine years old, remained there alone eight months, fifteen miles from any white family and surrounded by sava- ges, with no food but the rabbits they could trap or catch in hollow logs, the remains of one deer that the wolves drove and killed near their cabin, and a little corn meal that they occasionally obtained of Thomas Cellar by following down the "Indian Trail." The Winter was a severe one and their cabin was open, having neither daubing, fireplace nor chimney; they had no gun and were wholly unaccus- tomed to forest life, being fresh from Wales, and yet these little fellows not only struggled through the Winter but actually made a considerable clearing.
A BOY MADE TO SLAY SIX INDIANS.
In May, 1788, a man by the name of Kirk lived near Knoxville, Tenn. While he was absent, an Indian by the name of Slim Tom visited the family and was supplied with provisions. Having learned their defenceless condition, he soon after returned with a party, and the whole Kirk family-eleven in number-were brutally massacred. Kirk soon after returning, saw the dead bodies of his dear family lying in the yard, gave the alarm, and soon a band of several hundred men, under Colonel Sevier, were in pursuit, and ravaged several villages on the Hiwassee river. Abraham, a friendly Indian, who lived with his son on the Tennessee, had publicly declared that if the Indians went to war he would remain at his home and never quit it.
When the troops came to the south side, Hubbard, Colonel Sevier not then being present, sent for Abraham and his son to come over the river to the troops, and to bring with them the chief Tassel and other Indians that they might have a talk with them. They came over, all unsuspicious, and were put in a house, and young Kirk, the son of him whose family had been killed, was urged to go into the house and com- mence killing with the tomahawk. As soon as the first dropped dead, the others, six in number, foresaw their fate. Each cast his eyes to the ground, bowed his head, and one after the other stoically received the fatal tomahawk strike.
Colonel Sevier, on returning, was very indignant, and rebuked the savage tragedy, but was answered by Kirk-who was largely backed by the troops-that if Sevier had suffered from the murderous savages as he had, that he, too, would have acted the same way. Sevier, unable to punish the offender, was obliged to smother his resentment and over- look the flagitious deed. The Indians, however, exacted a terrible re- venge, and for some time after ravaged that whole border.
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
ANECDOTES OF INDIANS.
-An Indian chief, on being asked whether his people were free, answered, "Why not, since I myself am free, although their king ?"
-An Indian having been found frozen to death, an inquest of his countrymen was convened to determine by what means he came to such a death. Their verdict was, "Death from the freezing of a great quantity of water inside of him, which they were of opinion he had drunken for rum."
-A white man, meeting an Indian, accosted him as "brother." The red man, with a great expression of meaning in his countenance, in- quired how they came to be brothers ; the white man replied, "Oh, by way of Adam, I suppose." The Indian added, " Me thank him Great Spirit we no nearer brothers."
-About 1794 an officer presented a western chief with a medal, on one side of which President Washington was represented as armed with a sword, and on the other an Indian was seen in the act of burying the hatchet. The chief at once saw the wrong done his countrymen, and very wisely asked, " Why does not the President bury his sword, too?"
-An Ottawa chief, known to the French by the name of Whitejohn, was a great drunkard. Count Frontenac asked him what he thought brandy to be made of? He replied that it must be made of hearts and tongues. " For," said he, "when I have drunken plentifully of it, my heart is a thousand strong, and I can talk, too, with astonishing freedom and rapidity."
-A chief of the Five Nations, who fought on the side of the English in the French wars, chanced to meet, in battle, his own father, who was fighting on the side of the French. Just as he was about to deal a deadly blow on his head, he discovered who he was, and said to him, " You have once given me life, and now I give it to you. Let me meet you no more, for I have paid the debt I owed you."
-When any of the Indians come into our towns, our people are apt to crowd around them, gaze upon them and incommode them, when they desire to be private; this they esteem great rudeness, and the effect of the want of instruction in the rules of civility and good manners. "We have," say they, "as much curiosity as you, and when you come into our towns we wish for opportunities of looking at you ; but for this purpose we hide ourselves behind bushes where you are to pass, and never intrude ourselves into your company."
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ANECDOTES OF INDIANS.
-A missionary residing among a certain tribe of Indians, was one day, after he had been preaching to them, invited by their chief to visit his wigwam. After having been kindly entertained, and being about to depart, the chief took him by the hand and said, "I have very bad squaw. She had two little children. One she loved well, and the other she hated. In a cold night, when I was gone hunting in the woods, she shut it out of the wigwam and it froze to death. What must be done with her?" The missionary replied, " She must be hanged." "Ah!" said the chief, "Go, then, and hang your God, whom you make just like her."
-An Indian of the Kennebec tribe, remarkable for his good conduct, received a grant of land from the State, and fixed himself in a new township where a number of families were settled. Though not ill-treated, yet the common prejudice against Indians prevented any sympathy with him. This was shown at the death of his only child, when none of the people came near him. Shortly afterwards, he went to some of the in- habitants and said to them, "When white man's child die, Indian man be sorry-he help bury him. When my child die, no one speak to me -I make his grave alone. I can no live here." He gave up his farm, dug up the body of his child, and carried it with him two hundred miles through the forests, to join the Canada Indians.
-A certain clergyman had for his text on a time, "Vow, and pay the Lord thy vows." An Indian happened to be present, who stepped up to the priest, as soon as he had finished, and said to him, " Now, me vow me go home with you, Mr. Minister." The priest, having no language of evasion at command, said, " You must go, then." When he had arrived at the home of the minister, the Indian vowed again, saying, " Now, me vow me have supper." When this was finished, he said, " Me vow me stay all night." The priest, by this time thinking himself sufficiently taxed, replied, "It may be so, but I vow you shall go in the morning. The Indian, judging from the tone of his host that more vows would be useless, departed in the morning sans ceremonie. -About the time Cornplanter left his nation to proceed on his mission to the hostile tribes, three of his people were traveling through a settle- ment upon the Genesee, when they stopped at a house to light their pipes. There happened to be several men within, one of whom killed the foremost Indian with an axe as he stooped to light his pipe. One of the others was badly wounded with the same weapon, while escaping from the house. They were not pursued, and the other, a boy, es- caped unhurt. When Cornplanter learned what had happened, he charged his warriors to remain quiet, and not to seek revenge. He was only heard to say, " It is hard, when I and my people are trying to
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
make peace for the whites, that we should receive such a reward. I can govern my young men and warriors better than the thirteen fires can theirs."
-An Indian came, one day, to a tavern in Sherman's Valley, Pa., called for a gill of whiskey and drank it, when there came another In. dian in. He also called for a dram, but set it on the table without tasting. He then took the first savage outside and discoursed with him most seriously for some time. The first Indian then stripped himself naked and stretched himself on the floor. The other stood at the door, and when he was ready, he stepped forward with his knife and stabbed his companion, who was lying down, to the heart. The prostrate Indian re- ceived the stab quietly, leaped to his feet, drank the other whiskey off and dropped down dead. The white people made prisoner of the other Indian, and sent word to the heads of the nation. Two of them came, saw the Indian homicide, and then told the whites to let him go, as he had done right. The cause of the killing was a mystery. The dead man had probably broken some tribal law, and cheerfully submitted to the penalty.
-In a time of Indian troubles, an Indian visited the house of Gov- ernor Jenks, of Rhode Island, when the Governor took occasion to re- quest him that if any strange Indian should come to his wigwam, to let him know it, which the Indian promised to do; but, to secure his fidelity, the Governor told him that when he should give him such in- formation he would give him a mug of flip. Some time after, the In- dian came again : " Well, Mr. Gubenor, a strange Indian come to my house last night." "Ah!" says the Governor, "and what did he say?" "He no speak," replied the Indian. "What ! not speak at all?" added the Governor. "No, he no speak at all." "That certainly looks sus- picious," said His Excellency, and inquired if he were still there, and being told that he was, ordered the promised mug of flip. When this was disposed of, and the Indian was about to depart, he mildly said, " Mr. Gubenor, my squaw have child last night ;" and thus the Gov- ernor's alarm was suddenly changed into disappointment, and the strange Indian into a new-born pappoose.
-A white trader sold a quantity of powder to an Indian, and imposed upon him by making him believe that it was a grain which grew like wheat, by sowing it upon the ground. He was greatly elated by the prospect of not only raising his own powder, but of being able to supply others, and thereby becoming immensely rich. Having prepared his ground with great care, he sowed his powder with the utmost exactness in the Spring. Month after month passed away, but his powder did not even sprout, and Winter came before he was satisfied that he had been
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ANECDOTES OF INDIANS.
deceived. He said nothing ; but some time after, when the white trader had forgotten the trick, the same Indian succeeded in getting credit of him to a large amount. The time set for payment having expired, he sought out the Indian at his residence and demanded payment for his goods. The In- dian heard his demand with great complaisance; then looking him shrewd- ly in the eye, said, " Me pay you when my powder grow." This was enough. The guilty white man quickly retraced his steps, satisfied, we apprehend, to balance his account with the chagrin he had received.
-An Indian came into Bethlehem, Penn'a., to dispose of his peltry. " Well, Thomas," said a trader who happened to be there, to him, "I believe you have turned Moravian." "Moravian !" answered the In- dian, "what makes you think so?" "Because," replied the trader, "you used to come to us to sell your skins and peltry, and now you trade them away to the Moravians." "So!" rejoined the Indian, " now I understand you well, and I know what you mean to say. Now, hear me. See, my friend ! when I come to this place with my skins and peltry to trade, the people are kind; they give me plenty of good victuals to eat, and pay me in money or whatever I want, and no one says a word to me about drinking rum, neither do I ask for it ! When I come to your place with my peltry, all call to me, 'Come, Thomas ! here's rum ; drink heartily, drink ! it will not hurt you !' All this is done for the purpose of cheating me. When you have obtained from me all you want, you call me a drunken dog, and kick me out of the room."
-An aged Indian, who, for many years, had spent much time among the white people, both in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, one day, about the year 1770, observed that the Indians had not only a much easier way of getting a wife than the whites, but also a more certain way of getting a good one. " For," said he, in broken English, "white man court- court-may be one whole year ! may be two years before he marry : Well, may be then he get very good wife-but may be not-may be very cross ! Well, now, suppose cross! scold so soon as get awake in morning! scold all day ! scold until sleep !- all one-he must keep him-white people have law forbidding throw away wife if he be ever so cross-must keep him always ! Well, how does Indian do? Indian, when he see industrious squaw, he go to him, place his two forefingers close aside each other, make two like one-then look squaw in the face -see him smile-this is all-he say, yes !- so he take him home-no danger he be cross ! No, no-squaw know too well what Indian do if he cross ! throw him away and take another ! Squaw love to eat meat -no husband no meat. Squaw do everything to please husband, he do everything to please squaw-live happy."
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
-An Indian well known as Sam Hide, was notorious for his lying and his propensity for cider, which he obtained by traveling through the country and begging it from door to door. At one time he happened to be in a part of the country where cider was very hard to get; but Sam was determined to have it, if he could obtain it by lying. Being not far from the house of an acquaintance, who he knew had cider-but he was well satisfied that in the ordinary way of begging he could not get it-he set his wits to work, and soon contrived a way to obtain his desire. On arriving at the house of the gentleman, instead of asking for cider he inquired for the man of the house, whom, on appearing, Sam requested to go aside with him, as he had something important to com- municate. When they were alone, Sam told him that he had that morn- ing shot a fine deer, and if he would give him a crown he would tell him where it was. The gentleman declined, but offered half a crown. Final ly, Sam said, as he had walked a great distance that morning, and was very dry, for half a crown and a mug of cider he would tell him This was agreed upon, and the price paid. Then Sam pointed out the place in this manner. He said to his friend, "You know of such a meadow ?" describing it. " Yes." "You know a big ash tree, with a big top, by the little brook?" "Yes." "Well, under that tree lies the deer." This was satisfactory and Sam departed. It is scarcely ne cessary to say the meadow was found and the tree, but no deer. The duped man was greatly enraged, but as Sam was out of his reach, he had to go home contented. Some years afterwards he happened to fall in with the Indian, and immediately began to rally him for deceiving him so, and demanded back his money, and pay for his cider and trouble. " Why," said Sam, " would you find fault if Indian told truth half the time ?" " No." "Well," says Sam, "you find him meadow?" "Yes." "You find him tree ?" "Yes." "What for, then, you find fault with Sam Hide when he told you two truth to one lie." Sam heard no more from the farmer. In all the wars with the Indians, during his life- time, Hide fought on the side of the English, and was a brave soldier. He was a great jester and passed as an uncommon wit. He died in Dedham, January 15, 1732, at the age of one hundred and five years.
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