USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 79
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An Indian woman, known by the name of the Grenadier Squaw, was sitting doing some work by the trap door of the cell, or hole in which he was confined, for the trap-door was kept open and a sentry at the outer door of the guard-house; the Indian woman was led by sympathy
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to sit by him. I had the curiosity to know the force of abstract senti- ment, in preferring greater evils to what with us would seem to be lesser ; or rather the force of opinion over pain. For knowing the idea of the Indians with regard to the disgrace of hanging, I proposed to the Indian woman, who spoke English as well as Indian, and was a Delaware her- self, (and Mamachtaga was of that nation,) to ask him which he would choose, to be hanged or burnt ? Whether it was that the woman was struck with the inhumanity of introducing the idea of death, she not only declined to put the question, but her countenance expressed re- sentment. I then recollected, and have since attended to the circum- stance, that amongst themselves, when they mean to put any one to death, they conceal the determination, and, the time, until it is about to be put in execution, unless the blacking the prisoner, which is a mark upon snch as are about to be burnt, may be called an intimation ; but it is only by those who are accustomed to their manners that it can be un- derstood. However, I got the question put by the interpreter, at which he seemed to hesitate for some time, but said he would rather be shot or be tomahawked. In a few days it made a great noise through the country that I was to appear for the Indian, and having acquired some reputation in the defence of criminals, it was thought possible by some that he might be acquitted by the crooks of the law, as the people ex- pressed it ; and it was talked of publicly to raise a party and come to town and take the interpreter and me both, and hang the interpreter, and exact an oath from me not to appear in behalf of the Indian. It was, however, finally concluded to come in to the garrison and demand the Indian, and hang him themselves. Accordingly, a party came, in a few days, and about break of day summoned the garrison, and demanded the surrender of the Indian ; the commanding officer remonstrated, and prevailed with them to leave the Indian to the civil authority. Upon which they retired, firing their guns as they came through the town. The interpreter, hearing the alarm, sprang up in his shirt, and made for a hill above the town, called Grant's-hill. On seeing him run, he was taken for the Indian, who they supposed had been suffered to escape, and was pursued, until the people were assured that it was not the Indian. In the mean time he had run some miles, and swimming the river, lay in the Indian country until he thought it might be safe to return.
It was not without good reason that the interpreter was alarmed, for having been some years amongst the Indians, in early life a prisoner, and since a good deal employed in the Indian trade, and on all occasions of treaty, employed as an interpreter, he was associated in the public mind with an Indian, and on this occasion, considered as the abettor of the Indian, from the circumstance of employing counsel to defend him. And before this time a party had come from the Chartiers, a settlement south of the Monongahela, in the neighborhood of this town, and had attacked some friendly Indians on the Island in the Ohio, (Killbuck's Island) under the protection of the garrison, had killed several, and amongst them some that had been of essential service to the whites, in the expeditions against the Indian towns, and on scouting parties, in case of attacks upon the settlements. One to whom the whites bad given yh. the name of Wilson, (Capt. Wilson) was much regretted by the garrison. 0 it st $ h
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A day or two after his return, the interpreter came to me, and relin- quished all interest in the beaver that was lodged with the trader, or ex- pected from the towns, that he might, to use his own language, wipe his hands of the affair, and be clear of the charge of supporting the Indian. The fact was, that as to beaver from the towns I expected none, having been informed in the mean time by the friendly Indians, that Mamach- taga was a bad man, and was thought so by his nation ; that he had been a great warrior ; but was mischievous when in liquor, having killed two of his own people ; that it would not be much regretted in the nation to hear of his death ; and that, except his brother, no one would give any thing to get him off.
He had the appearance of great ferocity ; was of tall stature, and fierce aspect ; he was called Mamachtaga, which signifies trees blown across, as is usual in a hurricane or tempest by the wind, and this name had been given him from the ungovernable nature of his passion. Having, therefore, no expectation of peltry or fur in the case, it was no great generosity in me to press upon the interpreter the taking of half the beaver, as his right in procuring the contract ; but finding me obsti- nate in insisting upon it, he got a friend to speak to me, and at length I suffered myself to be prevailed upon to let him off and take all the bea- ver that could be got to myself.
It did not appear to me advisable to relinquish the defence of the In- dian, fee or no fee, lest it should be supposed that I yielded to the popu- lar impression, the fury of which, when it had a little spent itself, began to subside, and there were some who thought the Indian might be cleared, if it could be proved that the white men killed had made the Indian drunk, which was alleged to be the case ; but which the wounded and surviving persons denied, particularly the dwarf, (William Freeman,) but his testimony, it was thought, would not be much regarded, as he could not be said to be man grown, and had been convicted at the Quarter Sessions of stealing a keg of whiskey some time before.
At a Court of Oyer and 'Terminer holden for the county of West- moreland, before Chief Justice M'Kean and Bryan, Mamachtaga was brought to trial. The usual forms were pursued. An interpreter, not Nicholas, but a certain Handlyn, stood by him and interpreted, in the Delaware language, the indictment and the meaning of it, and the privi- lege he had to deny the charge, that is, the plea of " not guilty." But he could not easily comprehend that it was matter of form, and that he must say "not guilty ;" for he was unwilling to deny, as unbecoming a warrior to deny the truth. For though he did not confess, yet he did not like to say that he had not killed the men ; only that he was drunk, and did not know what he had done ; but " supposed he should know. when he was under the ground." The court directed the plea to be entered for him, and he was put upon his trial.
He was called upon to make his challenges, which the interpreter explained to him, which he was left to make himself, and which he did as he liked the countenances of the jury, and challenged according to the sourness, or cheerfulness of the countenance, and what he thought indications of a mild temper. The jurors, as they were called to the book, being told in the usual form, " Prisoner, look upon the juror-
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juror, look upon the prisoner at the bar-are you related to the pri- soner ?" One of them, a German of a swarthy complexion, and being the first called, took the question amiss, thinking it a reflection, and said with some anger, that " he thought that an uncivil way to treat Dutch people, as if he could be the brother, or cousin, of an Indian ;" but the matter being explained to him by another German on the jury, he was satisfied, and was sworn.
The meaning of the jury being on oath, was explained to the Indian, to give him some idea of the solemnity and fairness of the trial. The testimony was positive and put the homicide beyond a doubt ; so that nothing remained for me, in opening the defence, but the offering to prove that he was in liquor, and that this had been given him by the white people, the traders in town. This testimony was overruled, and it was explained to the Indian that the being drunk could not by our law excuse the murder. The Indian said " he hoped the good man above would excuse it."
The jury gave their verdict, guilty, without leaving the bar. And the prisoner was remanded to jail. In the mean time there was tried at the same court another person, (John Bradly,) on a charge of homi- cide, but who was found guilty of manslaughter only. Towards the ending of the court, these were brought up to receive sentence. The Indian was asked what he had to say, why sentence of death should not be pronounced upon him. This was interpreted to him, and he said he would rather run awhile. This was under the idea of the cus- tom among the Indians of giving time to the murderer, according to the circumstances of the case, to run, during which time if he can satisfy the relations of the deceased, by a commutation for his life, a gun, a horse, fur, and the like, it is in their power to dispense with the punish- ment, but if this cannot be done, having not enough to give, or the rela- tions not consenting to take a commutation, he must come at the end of the time appointed, to the spot assigned, and there, by a warrior of the nation, or some relative, son, brother, &c., of the deceased, be put to death, in which case the tomahawk is the usual instrument. No in- stance will occur in which the condemned will not be punctual to his engagement. And I think it very probable, or rather can have no doubt, but that if this Indian had been suffered to run at this time, that is, go to his nation, on the condition to return at a certain period, to receive the sentence of what he would call the council, he would have come, with as much fidelity, as a man challenged, would on point of honor come to the place assigned, and at the time when, to risk himself to his adversary. Such is the force of opinion, from education, on the hu- man mind.
Sentence having been pronounced upon the convict of manslaughter : (In this case, the first part of the sentence, as the law directs, was that of hanging, which is not done until the benefit of clergy is prayed by the prisoner ; but not understanding this, he was not prepared for the shock; nothing could exceed the contortion of his muscles when a sentence, contrary to what he nad expected, was pronounced. Being a simple man, he made a hideous outcry, gave a most woful look to the court, and begged for mercy ; and it was not for some time after that, having
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the matter explained to him, and the benefit of clergy being allowed, he could be composed.) Sentence of burning in the hand was now pro- nounced; at this moment the sheriff came in with a rope to bind up his hand to a beam of the low and wooden court house in which we were, in order that the hot iron might be put upon it.
Sentence of hanging had been previously pronounced upon the Indian, on which he had said that he would prefer to be shot ; but it being ex- plained to him that this could not be done, he had the idea of hanging in his mind. Accordingly, by a side glance, seeing the sheriff coming in with a rope, which was a bed cord he had procured, having nothing else, in our then low state of trade and manufactures, Mamachtaga con- ceived that the sentence was about to be executed presently upon him, and that the rope was for this purpose, which coming unaware upon him, he lost the command of himself for a moment; his visage grew black, his features were screwed up, and he writhed with horror and aversion-the surprise not having given time to the mind to collect itself, and on the acquired principal of honor, to conceal its dismay, or on those of reason to bear with and compose itself to its fate. Even when undeceived and made acquainted that he was not to die then, he re- mained under a visible horror, the idea of immediate death, and espe- cially of hanging, giving a tremor, like the refrigeration of cold upon the human frame.
Before he was taken from the bar, he wished to say something, which was to acknowledge that his trial had been fair, and to express a wish, that his nation would not revenge his death, or come to war on his account. Being asked as he was taken off, by some of those accompa- nying the sheriff, in conducting him to jail, whom he thought the judges ; to be before whom he had beeh tried, and who were on the bench in scarlet robes, which was the official custom of that time, and being of the Delaware nation, amongst whom Moravian missionaries had been a good deal, and as it would seem, mixing some recollections which he : had derived from this source, he answered that the one,-meaning the : chief justice,-was God, and the other Jesus Christ.
At the same court of Over and 'Terminer was convicted a man for the crime against nature, and at a court of Quarter Sessions a short time after, another person had been convicted of larceny, and was now con -. fined in the same jail, and in fact. in the same room, for there was but ! one, with the Indian and the white man before-mentioned; and though, upon account of his youth and family connections, the jury in finding a verdict, had recommended him to pardon, for which the supreme execu- tive council of the State had been petitioned some time before ; never- theless he could not restrain the wickedness of his mind and had pre -. vailed upon the white man, guilty of the crime against nature, as he had to die at any rate, to save the disgrace of being hanged, to consent to be murdered by the Indian. The creature was extremely simple, and had actually consented, and the young culprit had prepared a knife for the purpose, but the Indian refused, though solicited, and offered liquor, saying that he had killed white men enough already.
A child of the jailer had been taken sick, and had a fever. The In- dian said he could cure it, if he had roots from the woods, which he [ 326]
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knew. The jailer taking off his irons which he had on his feet, took his word that he would not make his escape, while he let him go to the woods to collect roots, telling him that if he did make his escape, the great council, the judges, would hang him, (the jailer,) in his place .- But for greater security the jailer thought proper to accompany him to the woods, where the roots were collected, which on their return were made use of in the cure of the child.
The warrant for the execution of the Indian and of the white man, came to hand, and on the morning of the execution the Indian expressed a wish to be painted, that he might die like a warrior. The jailer, as before, unironed him, and took him to the woods to collect his usual paints, which having done, he returned and prepared himself for the occa- sion, painting highly with the rouge which they use on great occasions.
A great body of people assembled at the place of execution, the white man was hung first, and afterwards the Indian ascended a ladder placed to the cross timber of the gibbet ; the rope being fastened, when he was swung off it broke, and the Indian fell. Having swooned a little, he rose with a smile, and went up again ; a stronger rope in the mean time having been provided, or rather two put about his neck together, so that his weight was supported, when he underwent the sentence of the law, and was hanged till he was dead.
This was during the Indian war, and this place on the verge of the settlement, so that if the Indian had taken a false step, and gone off from the jailer while he was looking for roots for the cure, or for painting, it would have been easy for him to have made his escape; but such is the force of opinion, as we have before said, resulting from the way of thinking amongst the Indians, that he did not seem to think that he had the physical power to go. It was nevertheless considered an imprudent thing in the jailer to run this risk. For if the Indian had made his escape, it is morally certain that in the then state of the public mind, the jailer himself would have fallen a sacrifice to the resentment of the people .- Border Life.
STORY OF THE LAME INDIAN.
In Pittsburg, (Pennsylvania,) about the year 1786, one evening just at twilight, there was found sitting in a porch, an Indian with a light pole in his hand. He spoke in broken English to the person of the house who first came out, and asked for milk. The person (a girl) ran in and returning with others of the family, they came to see what it was that had something like the appearance of a human skeleton. He was to the last degree emaciated, with scarcely the semblance of flesh upon his bones. One of his limbs had been wounded, and it had been on one foot, and by the help of the pole that he had made his way to this place. Being questioned, he appeared too weak to give an account of himself, but asked for milk, which was given him, and word sent to the commanding officer of the garrison at that place, (Gen. William Irwin,) who sent a guard and had him taken to the garrison. After having had food, and being now able to give an account himself, he was questioned by the interpreter, Joseph Nicholal. He related that he had been on Beaver river trapping, and had a difference with a Mingo Indian, who
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had shot him in the leg, because he had said he wished to come to the white people.
Being told that this was not credible, but that he must tell the truth, and that in so doing he would fare the better, he gave the following account, to wit : 'T'hat he was one of a party which had struck the set- tlement in the last moon, attacked a fort, killed some and took some pri- soners. (This appeared to be a fort known by the name of Waltour's Fort, by the account which he gave, which is at the distance of twenty- three miles from the town, on the Pennsylvania road, towards Philadel- phia, and within eight miles of what is now Greensburg.) He stated that it was there he received his wound.
The fact was that the old man, Waltour, his daughter and two sons, were at work in the field, having guns at some distance, which they seized on the appearance of the Indians, and made towards the fort .- This was one of those stockades or block-houses to which a few fami- lies of the neighborhood collected in times of danger, and going to their fields in the day, returned at night to this place of security. These persons in the field were pursued by the Indians, and the young woman taken. The old man with his sons kept up a fire as they retreated, and had got the distance of about a hundred and fifty yards from the fort, when the old man fell. An Indian had got upon him and was about to take his scalp, when one in the fort directing his rifle, fired upon the Indian, who gave a horrid yell and made off, limping on one foot. This was in fact the very Indian. as it now appeared, that had come to town. He confessed the fact, and said, that on the party with which he was, being pursued, he had hid himself in the bushes, a few yards from the path along which the people from the fort came in pursuit of them.
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After the mischief was done, a party of our people had pursued the Indians to the Allegheny river, tracing their course, and had found the body of the young woman whom they had taken prisoner, but had toma- hawked and left. 'The Indian, as we have said, continuing his story to the interpreter, gave us to understand that he lay three days without moving from the place where he first threw himself into the bushes, until a pursuit might be over, lest he should be tracked ; that after this, he had got along on his hands and feet, until he found this pole in the marsh, which he had used to assist him, and in the meantime, had lived on berries and roots ; that he had come to post some distance, and thought of giving himself up, and lay all day on a hill above the place, thinking whether he would or not; but, seeing that they were all militia men and no regulars, he did not venture. (The Indians well know the distinction between regulars and militia, and from these last they expect no quarter.)
The post of which he spoke, was about twelve miles from Pittsburg, on the Pennsylvania road, at the crossings of what is called Turtle creek. It was now thirty-eight days since the affair of Waltour's Fort, and during that time this miserable creature had subsisted on plants and roots, and had made his way on foot by the help of the pole. Accord- ing to his account, he had first attempted a course to his own country, by crossing the Allegheny river, a considerable distance above the town, but strength failing to accomplish this, he had wished to gain the garri-
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son where the regular troops were, having been at this place before the war, and in fact he was now known to some of the garrison by the name of Davy. I saw the creature in the garrison, after his confession some days, and was struck with his endeavors to conciliate good will by smiling, and affecting placability and a friendly disposition.
The question was what to do with him. From the mode of war car- ried on by the savages, they are not entitled to the laws of nations .- But are we not bound by the laws of nature, to spare those that are in our power ; and does not our right to put to death cease, when an enemy ceases to have it in his power to injure us. This diable boitieux, or devil on two sticks, as they may be called, his leg and his pole, would not seem to be likely to come to war again.
In the meantime the widow of the man who had been killed at Wal- tour's Fort, and mother of the young woman who had been taken prisoner, and found tomahawked, accompanied by a deputation of the people of the settlement, came to the garrison, and addressing themselves to the commanding officer, demanded that the Indian should be delivered up, that it might be done with him as the widow and mother, and rela- tions of the deceased should think proper. After much deliberation, the country being greatly dissatisfied that he was spared, and much clamor prevailing through the settlement, it was thought advisable to let them take him, and he was accordingly delivered up to the militia of the party which came to demand him. He was put upon a horse and car- ried off with a view to take him to the spot where the first mischief hal been done, (Waltour's Fort.) But as they were carrying him along, his leg, the fracture of which by this time was almost healed, (the Sur- geon of the garrison having attended to it,) was broken again by a fall from the horse, which had happened some way in carrying him.
The intention of the people was to summon a jury of the country and try him, at least for the sake of form, but as they alledged, in order to ascertain whether he was the identical Indian that had been of the party at Waltour's Fort, though it is not very probable that he would have an impartial trial, there having been considerable prejudice against him. The circumstance of being an Indian would have been sufficient to condemn him. The idea was, in case of a verdict against him, which seemed morally certain, to execute him according to the Indian manner, by torture and burning. For the fate of Crawford, and others, was at this time in the minds of the people, and they thought retaliation a principal of natural justice.
, But whilst the jury was collecting, sometime must elapse, that night at least, for he was brought to the fort or blockhouse in the evening. Accordingly a strong guard was appointed to take care of him, while in the meantime, one who had been deputed sheriff went to summon a jury, and others to collect wood and materials for the burning, and to fix upon the place, which was to be the identical spot where he had received his wound, while about to scalp the man whom he had shot in the field, just as he was raising the scalp halloo, twisting his hand in the hair of the head, and brandishing his scalping-knife. It is to be presumed, that the guard may be said to have been off their guard somewhat on account of the lameness of the prisoner, and the seeming impossibility that he
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could escape ; but it so turned out that while engaged in conversation. on the burning that was to take place, or by some other cause of inat tention, he had been permitted to climb up at a remote corner of the blockhouse, get to the joists, from thence upon the wall-plate of the blockhouse, and from thence, as was supposed, to get down on the out- side between the roof and the wall-plate, for the blockhouse was so constructed that the roof over jutted the wall of the blackhouse, resting on the ends of the joists that protruded a foot or two beyond the wall, so that those within could fire down upon the Indians, who should ap- proach the house to set fire to it or attempt the door. But towards morning the Indian was missed, and when the jury met, there was no Indian to be brought before them.
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