USA > Tennessee > Old tales retold; or, Perils and adventures of Tennessee pioneers > Part 2
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Great Chief Chisca on the Mound.
the living skeleton whose flesh was quite dried up with age, and on whose cheeks the skin hung loose like wrinkled red leather. The adelantado was so shocked by this shrunken, mummied creature that he knew not what to say. He could barely stammer out thanks for the hospitality he had received. Then, without a question as to the fountain of youth, without a word concerning the treasures of gold and silver, he turned and went down the ladders to join his men who were waiting to resume their march. How much or how little he told them of his visit is not known. It is only certain that with them he crossed the Mississippi, and wandered for a year west of the river, still look- ing for the treasure and the fountain.
Finding neither, he came back to the Mississippi, where the remnant of his army built rafts and em- barked with their leader to float down the stream to the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing had been accomplished by the expedition. The result of three years of toil and privation, sickness and death was merely an idle claim for Spain to all the land and the waters the cavaliers had crossed in their journey. At the end of that time their commander fell ill with the fever of the country. On the voyage down the Mississippi, in the year 1542, De Soto died, and was buried at midnight in the great river which he had discovered.
Only a few of the travel-stained soldiers at last reached Cuba; but a handful of weary, disappointed cavaliers rejoined the ladies who, waiting on the is- land, had grown heartsick for the return of De Soto and his glittering band.
More than a hundred years passed before another white man saw the Father of Waters. It was not un-
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Old Tales Retold.
til the year 1682 that the Mississippi Valley was again claimed for a white nation. In that year La Salle, a French explorer, planted the banner of France on the old site of Chisca and built there a cabin and a fort which he called Prud'homme. La Salle claimed for France all the land from the gulf to the sources of the Mississippi, the Alleghany, the Monongahela, the Ka- nawha, and the Tennessee, and named the country Louisiana, in honor of his sovereign, Louis the Four- teenth.
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IT A GENTLE SAVAGE.
A LONG time ago, in the days of George II., Fort Loudon was built by Englishmen right in the heart of the wild Indian country, on the Little Tennessee River. The garrison of two hundred soldiers and the few families who built cabins near by were the only white people who lived within many hundreds of miles in any direction of this fort in the untouched. wilderness. But the strong stone walls of the fortress, surmounted by twelve brass cannon, gave the people a feeling of safety. Moreover, they had a powerful friend among the savages in the Cherokee vice king, Atta Culla- Culla, who lived in Echota, scarcely ten miles away. Echota, the "Sacred" or "Beloved Town" of his race, was also the home of Oconostota, the king of the Cherokees, who held sway over all the tribes living in the eastern part of Tennessee.
It was the silver-tongued Atta Culla-Culla who had induced Oconostota to let the white people build in his country. At the persuasion of the vice king the Cherokee head men had smoked the pipe of peace in solemn treaty with the palefaces. This gentle-hearted chief desired to introduce among his own people the arts and industries known to the whites. He wished to make friends of all the English, and he was par- ticularly fond of Capt. John Stuart, of the British garrison at Fort Loudon, whom he often visited in the barracks.
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Old Tales Retold.
It was at the close of one of these visits that he lingered in the great gateway of Fort Loudon, saying cheerfully to his white friend: "I rejoice in the day of peace. Oconostota loves his white brothers. The red hatchet is buried between his people and the pale- faces."
While he was still speaking, a troop of mounted warriors came galloping out of the surrounding woods toward the fort. The tall king Oconostota was in front. John Stuart saw at a glance that he was in a bad humor. The glitter of the chief's restless black eyes, the grim mouth, and the feathered head held high left him no room for doubt. The plumed band swept by the gate like a flight of arrows. Oconostota did not speak as he swiftly passed. He did not so much as nod to the English captain. To the vice king he merely waved a haughty signal to bid him follow.
Captain Stuart looked in astonishment to his friend for explanation. Whereupon, Culla-Culla, gazing sin- cerely back into his face, simply said: "Should danger come near my white brother, let him call on Atta Culla- Culla. The heart of John Stuart is straight. I have eaten of my white brother's salt. I will give my life to save him." Without waiting for reply he sprang lightly to his horse and sped after the troop.
If the white people could have followed the vice king to Echota and seen there the excited Indians awaiting him in the "Beloved Square," they would have been alarmed. If they could have heard the warriors applauding their huge king, who towered above them all, swearing vengeance against the white race, they would not have felt secure even behind the
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A Gentle Savage.
solid walls of the fort; for Indians, as they knew, were cunning to surprise and patient to lurk around forts and starve out garrisons. Had they heard Oconostota exclaim passionately, "The palefaces have betrayed us. Trusty French messengers have brought word that a number of our young warriors who had been helping the English fight the French at Fort Du- quesne were murdered for no cause by men of the nation they were helping, as they passed on their way home through Virginia. This calls for vengeance on every one in whose veins flows English blood;" and had the white men witnessed the war dance in front of the great council house of upright poles-they would have trembled for the safety of their families. Having been persuaded by secret emissaries of the French that the English had broken faith with them, the Cher- okees believed, according to the teachings of their heathen religion, that they owed it to the ghosts of their slain tribesmen to massacre all the people of the same nation within their reach.
In Fort Loudon no one dreamed of what was going on except John Stuart. He alone suspected that dan- ger might be near. And not until several days had passed, during which he noticed that the chiefs kept strictly away from the fort and that the Indian boys and girls no longer came to play with the white chil- dren, did Stuart feel uneasy enough to say to his fellow-officers : "Mischief is brewing in Echota. Look out for an Indian uprising." About this time he also observed that his friend, Culla-Culla, was avoiding him, and finally when he forced a meeting the vice king in silence turned coldly away from him. In place of his old, confiding manner was a sullen dis-
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Old Tales Retold.
trust which convinced Captain Stuart that it was time to act.
As quickly as they could be assembled the families outside were brought inside the walls, and the gates were shut fast. Messengers were dispatched secretly through the woods to Virginia and Carolina for help, and everything was put in a state of defense. None too soon. Oconostota's war club was already speed- ing among his tribes. Carried by a runner from Echota, the principal over-hill town of the Ottari Cherokees, it was rapidly borne southward to the Erati of the middle towns in the valleys between the Blue Ridge and the Smoky Mountains, and still on to the lower towns of the Chickamaugas near Lookout Moun- tain, summoning all the Cherokee warriors of every tribe to rally around their king. Presently the fort was encircled by concealed red men. On all sides they crouched behind rocks and trees waiting a chance to shoot the palefaces. Let the gates be opened but a crack, and whiz! flew an arrow straight to the chink. No head dared show above the walls. Food became scarce in the fort, yet it was not possible to send a man out into the forest for game, even at night. The people went hungry most of the time, and were saved from actual starvation only by the mercy of some squaws who crept under the walls to give the soldiers a quantity of beans, while they hurriedly whispered to them: "Do not surrender. The warriors will show no quarter."
Later on, when every path was watched, the friend- ly squaws could find no chance to smuggle food to the suffering soldiers, who grew desperately impatient to rush outside and have an open fight. They said: "Of
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A Gentle Savage.
what use to us are guns, swords, or courage, shut up as we are behind walls? We cannot turn our cannon on redskins who are nowhere in sight."
But Stuart and the other officers wisely opposed the idea of opening the gates to make a sally, saying, "The savages outnumber us fifty to one. They will push their way in and massacre the women and chil- dren," an argument which quieted the soldiers only for a short while. A few more days of deprivation brought them back with still others of the hunger- weakened men begging to be allowed to surrender. "Why, in surrendering now," answered the discreet captain, "you would throw away your last chance of life;" but the men retorted gloomily, "We would rather die under the tomahawk than see our families starve to death before our eyes."
Stuart still urged patience. "The troops that are coming to help us are on their way," he said. "The messengers we sent on the first alarm to the Governors of Virginia and North Carolina cannot fail to bring relief in time. Yet week after week went by, and no troops came. The army of savages grew larger and larger, and each day the supply of food in the fort was less and less. The starving time came at last when the valued horses of the officers, which were loved as friends, had to be killed for food. After them the faithful dogs which had followed their masters hun- dreds of miles into the wilderness were slaughtered. After the last lean cur had been eaten and there was no more meat, the people grew frantic with hunger. "Let us at least have a parley with the Indians," they demanded, "for we can hold out no longer." The women joined their wails to the murmurs of the men,
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Old Tales Retold.
and wrung their hands, crying: "Our little ones are perishing. They must have food at once."
Such entreaties could not be withstood, and a par- ley with the Indians was finally agreed upon. This was all very well, until the question was asked: "Who shall go outside to treat with the Cherokees?" They all knew in their hearts that among them John Stuart alone had the tact and daring to deal successfully with the enemy. He was the man above all others whom the red men admired and feared. Quite nat- urally, therefore, he was unanimously chosen for the task which no one else cared to undertake; and quite naturally, being a brave, good man, he consented to risk his life for his fellow-men.
Only a few days were spent in watching his chance to slip through the Indian lines before he stood in the presence of Oconostota and his head men. The In- dian leaders were amazed when he, their chief enemy, put himself, unarmed, completely in their power. Touched by his trust in them, they allowed admiration for his courage to overcome their anger, and readily gave him leave to speak for his people. The fate of the garrison depended on what he should say. Fortu- nately, his well-chosen words and the captivating man- ner of his speech made a good impression on the sav- ages. Scarcely was he through talking before Oco- nostota, completely won over, smiled and said frankly : "We will let the white people go free. They may march out of the fort with drums and flags, each sol- dier carrying his gun. The rest of the people may take whatever baggage they choose to carry." He also agreed that a chosen guard of warriors should escort the palefaces out of the Cherokee country along
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A Gentle Savage.
the great warpath which led from Virginia to Geor- gia, conducting them safely to Fort Prince George, where there was another English garrison a few hun- dred miles southward. These were better terms than Stuart had any reason to expect. The only condition which Oconostota had exacted was that the twelve brass cannon, with all the spare arms and ammunition stored in Fort Loudon, should be left behind. The chief looked searchingly at Captain Stuart as he added sharply : "Take care. No cheating."
With a light heart the peacemaker hurried back to tell the good news. "We have only to do faithfully our part," he said, "and all will be well."
Although every one seemed satisfied with the terms granted, there were several soldiers in the fort who, thinking it manly to cheat an Indian on all occasions, determined secretly to defraud Oconostota in spite of Stuart's pledge. For this purpose they arose at mid- night when the garrison were asleep and took all the powder and balls from the magazines where they were stored, and buried them under the fort. Then they crept to the walls overlooking the river and lowered every spare gun and six of the cannon into the depths of the Little Tennessee. So quickly and quietly was it done that nobody waked to find out the mischief they were doing.
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Oconostota, rising from his camp at peep of day, glanced toward the fort and missed the cannon from its walls. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. There were only six brass pieces, be they counted backward or forward. The chief was greatly vexed, but no word of displeasure passed his lips, as he silently pre- pared to carry out his plans for the day. Indian men
3
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Old Tales Retold.
were compelled to learn self-control at an early age. With them a hasty word was often punished with blows or death.
It was still early when the Cherokee king at the head of his escort entered the fort. There was a look on his face which Stuart did not understand. With- out doubt evil gleams shot from Oconostota's eyes as he went rummaging through armories and magazines to satisfy himself that the guns and ammunition as well as the cannon were missing. Yet he showed not the least bit of anger. On the contrary, he ordered food to be brought for the starving people. Their hun- ger being satisfied, he and his guards filed slowly out of the principal gate. Behind them followed a sorrowful- looking procession of emaciated men, women, and children, all on foot and all burdened with bundles in their arms and baggage on their backs.
A tiresome march of many miles brought the garri- son and their escort at close of day to a broad, level opening in the forest, one of those treeless spaces which were reverenced by the Indians as the "old fields" of a prehistoric race which, they said, had occupied the country before them. Here they struck camp for the night. Worn out with walking, the famine-wasted people fell asleep almost as soon as their pallets were spread upon the ground. Captain Stuart alone forced himself to keep awake; for he had noticed suspicious movements among the guards, and he resolved to watch. For a long time he lay quite still, feigning sleep ; but although he once in a while peeped through half-closed lids, he saw only the guards lying motion- less as logs, rolled in their blankets, in their own camp. Nine o'clock came; not an Indian had stirred. Ten
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A Gentle Savage.
o'clock ; still nothing had happened. It was not until midnight that Stuart, barely parting his eyelashes, saw Oconostota rise stealthily from his buffalo robe. Soft- ly the tall form glided away and melted into the shad- ows of the forest. Minutes passed. He did not re- turn. Another warrior stole into the woods. Neither did he come back. Then another and still another fol- lowed, until every Indian was gone. "They have gone for an army, and will come back and murder us," was Stuart's first thought, as he sprang to his feet to arouse a number of soldiers, whom he stationed some distance out, to watch, as a precaution against sur- prise.
A night of anxiety was passed by the sentinels, who expected every moment to hear the Indians returning. At last came morning, and the camp had not been dis- turbed. With the first streak of dawn Captain Stuart drew a free breath, believing that all danger was over. That instant his ear caught a smothered cry. A sol- dier came running in at full speed. Almost out of breath, he said, between gasps: "They are on us- thousands of redskins-creeping on their hands and knees-through the bushes!"
There was hardly time to alarm the camp before war whoops were heard close at hand on all sides. An army of Indians was breaking into the opening every- where. They fell upon the whites while some were still rising from their pallets. With guns, clubs, and tomahawks they took swift vengeance on all for the injury which had been done them by a few. Within an hour only nine white persons were left alive. Five men had escaped into the woods during the first onset. Stuart and three others had been taken prisoners in
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Old Tales Retold.
the course of the fight. The rest of the people had all been killed. After the massacre was over, while the warrior who had overpowered Stuart was leading him away, fearful thoughts were passing through the unfortunate Captain's mind. He knew that his life had not been spared through mercy. As he was say- ing within himself, "I have only escaped so far to be tortured later at the stake," he heard a familiar voice at his side shouting the command, "Let go the white man !" and saw Culla-Culla clutching the wrist of his captor. But the warrior shook off the strong grasp of the vice king, and, holding fast to his prize, retorted angrily: "He is mine. Oconostota himself cannot deny to the poorest Cherokee in the nation the right to his own prisoner." This was the beginning of a quarrel between the two Indians which came near ending in bloodshed. Culla-Culla threatened, com- manded, and persuaded by turns. For a long while the lesser warrior was obstinate and defiant, refusing to give up his prisoner. At last, however, he con- sented, after sharp bargaining, to give his captive in exchange for the vice king's most valued strings of wampum, his strong bow which had never missed its mark, and his handsomest clothing of dressed doeskin richly ornamented with quill work.
The prisoner now belonged to Culla-Culla. What was to become of him, Stuart could not guess. His old friend beckoned him to follow. In silence he was led back through the forest to Fort Loudon. Without a word he was conducted to a comfortable room in the barracks and presently refreshments were set before him. It was not until he had eaten of the sodden venison and hot corn cakes and rested his weary limbs
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A Gentle Savage.
that his old friend came to him with outstretched hand, saying : "My white brother lives in Atta Culla- Culla's heart."
"How can that be," asked John Stuart reproach- fully, "when you are fresh from slaughtering my peo- ple ?"
The red man straightened his lithe form as he replied with dignity: "There is no white man's blood on Atta Culla-Culla's hands."
Then followed a full explanation of the peace-loving chief's conduct. He told at length what he had done to avert the war in the beginning, and ended with the assertion : "I spoke for peace in the council, but my words were swept away by the angry breath of the warriors like leaves blown before the storm." Stuart became satisfied that the vice king had had no hand either in the uprising or in the massacre, and in his turn he convinced the Cherokee that he had been in no wise to blame for the fraud that had been prac- ticed on Oconostota by the white soldiers. Once more the two trusted each other as friends, and the vice king assured Stuart that he would protect him from all danger.
And safe enough he was from the common Indians, though they wished to kill him. For when they came in a crowd and beat on his door, clamoring to have him out, Culla-Culla had only to speak to them sternly, when they went away in a hurry.
But the case was different when, a few days later, the Englishman was sent for to appear before Oco- nostota in Echota. Culla-Culla at once suspected a trap set for his prisoner, and Stuart, realizing that he was in real danger, went with a heavy heart into the
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Old Tales Retold.
presence of the king and his head men in the great round council house. He was surprised when Oco- nostota spoke gently to him, saying in a coaxing voice : "Friend and brother, we have spared your life. Lis- ten. There is a way for you to return our kindness." The chief looked at the prisoner narrowly, and after a short pause continued : "My warriors are ready to go on the warpath to Fort Prince George. They can drag the six brass cannon through the forest, but they do not know how to shoot the big guns." There was another pause and a still more searching look as he asked: "Will my white brother go with his red broth- ers and show them how to use the cannon? Listen. Will my white brother put on paper what I tell him to write, in his own name, to the commander of the fort to cause the garrison to surrender?" In wheedling tones, with many inducements offered, the shrewd chief further unfolded his plan to surround Fort Prince George, and with the aid of Stuart to capture the garrison. But he did not know the character of the man with whom he was dealing. Stuart refused to betray his countrymen under any circumstances. The chief's disappointment was so great that he cried out in anger: "Willingly or not, you shall go. If you choose not to help us, your fellow-prisoners will be tortured before your eyes. Before the sun has trav- eled his yellow road in the sky three times, we will be on the warpath. You have till then to choose."
There seemed little hope left for Captain Stuart. There was, in his opinion, but one chance for life. He resolved to seek help from the gentle Culla-Culla. In a private interview he threw himself on the mercy of his friend, crying: "Help me to escape, noble vice
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A Gentle Savage.
king. Think how a man's heart must turn from be- traying his own people. Imagine, on the other hand, what would be my suffering (if I should refuse) in seeing the torture of my fellow-captives."
The kind Cherokee scarcely allowed the Englishman to finish before he grasped his hand and said: "The Great Spirit made us brothers. We will escape to- gether. No one will dare question if I take my own prisoner into the forest with me to hunt. It is enough for me to say that there is no meat in Culla-Culla's lodge. Come !"
Together the red man and the white man stole into the woods. They were far on their way to the settle- ments in Virginia before they were missed in Echota. For fear of pursuers they avoided the great war trail and took winding paths known to the wild beasts and to Culla-Culla. Not a leaf rustled beneath the Cher- okee's moccasins as he led the British officer north- ward through the unbroken forest, up steep mountain sides, and across yawning chasms. Not a twig snapped as he crept through thickets and canebrakes. Nine nights they had shaped their course by the stars of the Great Bear. Nine days they had crouched in hollow trees or hidden in caves for fear of being seen by chance hunters. On the tenth morning they reached the southern boundary of Virginia. At a point called Steep Rock on the Holston they had passed over the line which began "at a white oak stake on the Atlantic Coast at 39.20 degrees north and thence west to the South Seas" (Pacific Ocean). A little farther on their safety was assured when they came upon a camp of British soldiers-the very same Virginia troops who were marching (too late) to the relief
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Old Tales Retold.
of Fort Loudon. Stuart was soon in the tent of the commander, Colonel Byrd, telling him and his officers the dreadful news of the massacre. In finishing his story the rescued captive said with deep emotion as he laid his hand on Culla-Culla's shoulder : "But for this gentle savage, I should not be alive to tell the tale."
The grateful Virginians, moved by admiration for the untutored son of the forest, crowded about him and overwhelmed him with praise and thanks. He was escorted to Williamsburg, the capital town of the colony, where he was rewarded with honors and loaded with costly gifts by the Royal Governor before he was permitted to return to his native wilds. In memory of the kindness then shown him Atta Culla- Culla afterwards induced the head men in council to set free the remaining three white prisoners.
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III. LOST ON THE MOUNTAIN.
THERE was once a young farmer named James Robertson, in Wake County, North Carolina, who was so wise and so truthful that all who knew him trusted him fully and went to him for advice. The country in which he lived belonged at that time to King George III. of England, who allowed it to be tyrannically ruled by the Royal Governor Tryon. The downtrodden people hated Tryon for his cruelties, and called him the "Old Wolf of Carolina." He treated them so badly that at last they could bear it no longer. In their desperation a number of them said to their trusted neighbor, James Robertson : "Lead us away to some distant land, where we may hide in the forest from Tryon the Wolf, and live peaceably with our families."
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