USA > Virginia > A history of the valley of Virginia, 1st ed > Part 26
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At this juncture, Andrew Poe, missing his brother from the party, and supposing from the report of the gun which he shot, that he was either killed or engaged in conflict with the hufians, hastened to the spot. Ou seeing him, Adam called out to him to " kill the big li- dian on shore." But Andrew's gun, like that of the Indian's, was empty. 'The contest was now between ' the white man and the Indian, who should load and fire first. Very fortunately for Poe, the Indian, in load- ins, drew the ramreal from the thinthles of the stock of the gun with so much violence, that it slipped out of bis hand and fell a little distance from him. Ile quickly caught it up, and ranted down his bullet. 'This little delay gave I've the advantage. He show the Indian as he was raising his gun to take afin at hiun.
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As soon as Andrew had shot the Indian, he jumped into the river to assist his wounded brother to shore ; but Adam, thinking more of the honor of carrying the scalp of the big. Indian home as a trophy of victory than of his own safety, urged Andrew to go back and prevent the struggling savage from rolling himself into the river and escaping. Andrew's solicitude for the life of his brother prevented him from complying with this request.
In the mean time, the Indian, jealous of the honor of his scalp even in the agonies of death, succeeded in reaching the river and getting into the current, so that his body was never obtained.
An unfortunate occurrence took place during this conflict. Just as Andrew arrived at the top of the bank for the relief of his brother, one of the party who had followed close behind him, seeing Adam in the ri- ver, and mistaking him for a wounded Indian, shot at him and wounded him in the shoulder. He however recovered from his wounds.
During the contest between Adam Poc and the In- dians, the party had overtaken the remaining six of them. A desperate conflict ensued, in which five of the Indians were killed. Our loss was three men-kill- ed and Adam Poe severely wounded.
Thus ended this Spartan conflict, with the loss of three valiant men on our part, and with that of the whole Indian party excepting one warrior. Never on any occasion was there a greater display of desperate bravery, and seldom did a conflict take place, which, m the issue, proved fatal to so great a proportion of those engaged in it.
The fatal result of this little campaign, on the side of the Indians, occasioned a universal mourning among the Wyandot nation. The big Indian and his four brothers, all of whom were killed at the same place, were amongst the most distinguished chiefs and warri- ors of their nation.
The big Indian was magnanimous as well as brave.
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ADAM POE.
He, more than any other individual, contributed, by his example and influence, to the good character of the Wy- andots for lenity towards their prisoners. He would not. suffer them to be killed or ill treated, This mercy to captives was an honorable distinction in the character of the Wyandots, and was well understood by our first settlers, who, in case of captivity, thought it a fortunate circumstance to fall into their hands.
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It is consoling to the historian to find instances of those endowinents of mind which constitute human greatness even among savages. The original stamina of those endowments, or what is called genius, are but thinly scattered over the earth, and there can be little doubt but that the lower grades of society possess their equal proportion of the bases of moral greatness, or in other words, that there is as much of native genius; in proportion to numbers, amongst savages, as there is amongst civilized people. The difference between these two extremes of society is merely the difference of edu- cation. This view of human nature, philosophically correct. is well calculated to increase the benevolence of even the good Samaritan himself, and encourage his endeavors for the instruction of the most ignorant, and the reformation of the most barbarous.
Had the aboriginals of our country been possessed of science to enable them to cominit to the faithful page of history the events of their intercourse with us since the discovery and settlement of their native land by the Eu- ropeans, what would be the contents of this history ! Not such as it is, from the hands of our historians, who have presented nought but the worst features of the In- dian character, as exhibited in the course of their wars against the invaders of their country, while the wrongs inflicted on them by civilized men have occupied but a very small portion of the record. Their sufferings, their private virtues. their bravery and magnanimity in war, together with their individual instances of greatness of miud, heroism, and clemency to captives in the midst of
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THE JOHNSONS. 323
the cruelties of their barbarous warfare, must soon be buried with themselves in the tomb of their national existence.
CHAPTER XV.
The Johnsons.
The following narrative goes to show that the long continuance of the Indian war had inspired even the young lads of our country not only with all the brave. ry but all the subtility of the Indians themselves.
In the fall of the year 1793, two boys of the name of John and Henry Johnson, the first thirteen and the latter eleven years old, whose parents lived in Carpenter's station, a little distance above the mouth of Short creek, on the east side of the Ohio river, were sent out in the evening to hunt the cows. At the foot of a hill, at the back of the bottom, they sat down under a hickory free to crack some nuts. They soon saw two men coming towards them, one of whom had a bridle in his hand. Being dressed like white men, they mistook them for their father and an uncle in search of horses. When they discovered their mistake and attempted to run off, the Indians, pointing their guns at them, told them to stop or they would kill them. They halted and were taken prisoners.
The Indians, being in pursuit of horses, conducted the boys by a circuitous route over the Short ercek hill- in search of them, until late in the evening. when they halted at a spring in a hollow place, about three miles from the fort. Here they kindled a small fire, cooked and ate some victuals; and prepared to repose for the night.
Henry, the youngest of the boyz, during the ramble
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THE JOHNSONS.
had affected the greatest satisfaction at having been ta- ken prisoner. Ho said his father was a hard master, who kept him always at hard work, and allowed him no play ; but that for his part he wished to live in the woods and be a hunter. This deportment soon brought him into intimacy with one of the Indians, who could speak very good English. The Indians frequently asked the boys if they knew of any good horses running in the woods. Somethne before they halted, one of the In- dians gave the largest of the boys a little bag, which he supposed contained money, and made him carry it.
When night came on, the fire was covered up, the boys pinioned, and made to lie down together. The In- dians then placed their hoppis straps over them, and laid down, one on each side of them, on the ends of the straps.
Pretty late in the night the Indians fell asleep; and one of them becoming cold, caught hold of John in his arms, and turned him over on the outside. In this situ- ation, the boy, who had kept awake, found means to get his hands loose. He then whispered .to his brother, made him get up, and untied his arms. This donc, Henry thought of nothing but running off as fast as possible ; but when about to start, John caught hold of him, saying, "We must kill these Indians before we go." After some hesitation, Henry agreed to make the attempt. John then took one of the rifles of the In- dians, and placed it on a log with the muzzle close to the head of one of them. He then cocked the gun, and placed his little brother at the briteh, with his finger on the trigger, with instructions to pull it as soon as he should strike the other Indian.
He then took one of the Indian's tomahawks, and standing astraddle of the other Indian, struck him with it. The blow, however, foll on the back of the neck and to one side, so as not to be fatal. The Indian then attempted to spring up; but the little fellow repeated his blows with such force and rapidity on the skull.
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THE JOHNSONS.
that, as he expressed it, " the Indian laid still and began to quiver."
At the moment of the first stroke given by the elder brother with the tomahawk, the younger one pulled the trigger, and shot away a considerable portion of the In- dian's lower jaw. This Indian, a moment after receiv- ing the shot, began to flounce about and yell in the most frightful manner. The boys then made the best of their way to the fort, and reached it a little before daybreak. On getting near the fort they found the people all up and in great agitation on their account. On hearing a woman exclaim, "Poor little fellows, they are killed or taken prisoners !" the oldest one an- swered, " No, mother, we are here yet."
Having brought nothing away with them from the Indian camp, their relation of what had taken place be- tween them and the Indians was not fully credited. A small party was soon made up to go and ascertain the truth or falsehood of their report. This party the boys conducted to the spot by the shortest route. On arri- ving at the place, they found the Indian whom the old- est brother had tomahawked, lying dead in the camp : the other had crawled away, and taken his gun and shot-pouch with him. After scalping the Indian, the party returned to the fort ; and the same day a larger party went out to look after the wounded Indian, who had crawled some distance from the camp and conceal- ed himself in the top of a fallen tree, where, notwith- standing the severity of his wound, with a Spartan bra- very he determined to sell his life as dearly as possible. Having fixed his gun for the purpose, on the approach of the men to a proper distance, he took aim at one of them, and pulled the trigger, but his gun missed fire. On hearing the shap of the lock, one of the men ex- claimed, " I should not like to be killed by a dead lu- dian !" 'The party concluding that the Indian would die at any rate, thought best to retreat, and return and look for him after some time. On returning. however, he could not be found, hoving crawled away and con-
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cealed himself in some other placo. His skeleton and gun were found sometime afterwards.
The Indians who were killed were great warriors and very wealthy. The bag, which was supposed to contain money, it was conjectured was got by one of the party, who went out first in the morning. On hear- ing the report of the boys, he slipped off by himself, and reached the place before the party arrived. For some time afterwards he appeared to have a greater plenty of money than his neighbors.
The Indians themselves did honor to the bravery of these two boys. After their treaty with Gen. Wayne, a friend of the Indians who were killed made inquiry of a man from Short creek, what had become of the boys who killed the Indians ? He was answered that they lived at the same place with their parents. The Indian replied, " You have not done right : you should make kings of those boys."
CHAPTER XVI.
Settlement of the country ..
Having thus given to the reader, in the preceding pa- ges, a connected history of the wars with the Indians, from the earliest settlement of the country until the treaty of peace ina le by Gen. Wayne in 1791, I will go back to the year 1772, and trace the various steps by which our settlements advanced to their present vigo- rou s state of existence.
'The settlements on this side of the mountains com- menced along the Monongahela, and between that river and the Laurel ridge, in the year 1772. In the suc- ceeding year they reached the Ohio river. The greater number of the first settlers came from the upper parts
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of the then colonies of Maryland and Virginia. Brad- dock's trail, as it was called, was the route by which the greater number of them crossed the mountains. A less number of them came by the way of Bedford and Fort Ligonier, the military road from Eastern Pennsylvania. to Pittsburg. They effected their removals on horses furnished with pack-saddles. This was the more easily donc, as but few of these carly adventurers into the wil- derness were encumbered with much baggage.
Land was the object which invited the greater num- ber of these people to cross the mountain ; for as the saying then was, " it was to be had here for taking up." That is, building a cabin and raising a crop of grain, however small, of any kind, entitled the occupant to four hundred acres of land, and a preemption right to one thousand acres more adjoining, to be secured by a land office warrant. This right was to take effect if there happened to be so much vacant land, or any part thereof, adjoining the tract secured by the settlement right.
At an carly period the government of Virginia ap- pointed three commissioners to give certificates of set tlement rights. These certificates, together with the surveyor's plat, were sent to the land office of the state, where they laid six months, to await any caveat which might be offered. If none was offered the patent then issucd.
There was, at an early period of our settlements, an inferior kind of land title, denominated a "tomahawk right," which was made by dendening a few trees near the head of a spring, and marking the bark of some one or more of them with the initials of the name of the person who made the improvement. I remember having seen a number of those "tomahawk right " when a boy. For a long time amany of them here the ·names of those who made them. I have no knowledge of the efficacy of the tomahawk improvement, or whe ther it conferred any right whatever, unless followed by an actual settlement. These rights, however, were of
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ten bought and sold. Those who wished to make set- tements on their favorite tracts of land, bought up the tomahawk improvements, rather than enter into quar- rels with those who made them. Other improvers of the land with a view to actual settlement, and who hap- pened to be stout veteran fellows, took a very different course from that of purchasing the tomahawk rights. When annoyed by the claimants under those rights, they deliberately cut a few good hickories, and gave them what was called in those days " a laced jacket," that is, a sound whipping.
Some of the carly settlers took the precaution to come over the mountains in the spring (leaving their families behind), to raise a crop of corn, and then return and bring them out in the fall. This I should think was the better way. Others, especially those whose fami- lies were sinall, brought them with them in the spring. My father took the latter course. His family was but small, and he brought them all with him. The Indian meal which he brought over the mountain was expend- ed six weeks too soon, so that for that length of time we had to live without bread. The lean venison and the breast of the wild turkeys we were taught to call bread, and the flesh of the bear was denominated meat. 'This artifice did not succeed very well; for after living in this way some time we became sickly, the stomach sceming to be always empty and tormented with a sense of hunger. I remember how narrowly the children watched the growth'of the potatoc tops, pumpkin and squash vines, hoping from day to day to get something to answer in the place of bread. How delicious was the taste of the young potatoes when we got them ! What a jubilee when we were permitted to pull the young corn for roasting cars ! still moore so when it had acquired sufficient hardness to be made into jonny-cakes by the aid of a tin grater! We then became healthy, vigorous, and contented with our situation, poor as it was.
My father, with a small number of his neighbors,
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THIE COUNTRY.
made their settlements in the opring of 1773. Though they were in a poor and destitute situation, they never- theless lived in peace ; but their tranquillity was not of long continuance. 'Those most atrocious murders of the peaceable inoffensive Indians at Captina and Yel- low creek, brought on the war of lord Dunmore in the spring of the year 1774. Our little settlement then broke up. The women and children were removed to Morris's fort, in Sandy creek glade, some distance to the east of Uniontown. The fort consisted of an assem- blage of small hovels, situated on the margin of a large and noxious marsh, the eflluvia of which gave most of the women and children the fever and ague. The men were compelled by necessity to return home, risking the tomahawk and scalping knife of the Indians, to raise corn to keep their families from starvation the succeed ing winter. Those sufferings, dangers and losses, were the tribute we had to pay to that thirst for blood which actuated those veteran murderers who brought the war upon us ! The memory of the sufferers in this war, as well as thet of their descendants, still looks back upon them with regret and abhorrence, and the page of his tory will consign their names to posterity with the full weight of infamy they deserve.
A correct and detailed view of the origin of societies, and their progress from one condition or point of wealth. science and civilization, to another, is always highly in teresting even when received through the dusky medi um of history, oftentimes but poorly and partially writ ten ; but when this retrospect of things past and gone is drawn from the recollections of experience, the im pressions which it makes on the heart are of the most vivid, deep and lasting kind.
'The following history of the state of society, manners and customs of our forefathers, is to be drawn from the latter source ; and it is given to the world with the te- collection that many of my contemporaries, still living have, as well as myself, witnessed all the scenes and events berein described, and whose memories woubt
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speedily detect and expose any errors the work may contain.
The municipal, as well as ecclesiastical institutions of society, whether good or bad, in consequence of their long continued use, give a corresponding cast to the pub- lic character of society whose conduct they direct, and the more so because in the lapse of time the observance of them becomes a matter of conscience.
This observation applies in full force to that influence of our early land laws which allowed four hundred acres and no more to a settlement right. Many of our first settlers scemed to regard this amount of the surface of the earth as the allotment of Divine Providence for one family, and believed that any attempt to get more would be sinful. Most of them, therefore, contented them- selves with that amount, although they might have eva- ded the law, which allowed but one settlement right to any one individual, by taking out the title papers in the names of others, to be afterwards transferred to them, as if by purchase. Some few indeed pursued this prac- tice, but it was held in detestation.
My father, like many others, believed, that having secured his legal allotment, the rest of the country be- longed of right to those who chose to settle in it. There was a piece of vacant land adjoining his tract, amount- ing to about two hundred acres. To this tract of land he had the preemption right, and accordingly secured it by warrant ; but his conscience would not permit him to retain it in his family : he therefore gave it to an ap- prentice lad whom he had raised in his house. This lad sold it to an uncle of mine for a cow and calf, and a wool hat.
Owing to the equal distribution of real property di- rected by our land laws, and the sterling integrity of our forefathers in their observance of them, we have no districts of "sold land," as it is called, that is, large tracts of land in the hands of individuals or companies who neither sell nor improve them, as is the case in Lower Canada and the northwestern part of Pennsylvania,
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THE COUNTRY.
These unsettled tracts make huge blanks in the popu- lation of the country wherever they exist.
The division lines between those whose lands adjoin- ed, were generally made in an amicable manner by the parties concerned, before any survey of them was made. In doing this they were guided mainly by the tops of ridges and water courses, but particularly the former. Hence the greater number of farms in the western parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia bear a striking resem- blance to an amphitheater. "The buildings occupy a low situation, and the tops of the surrounding hills are the boundaries of the tract to which the family mansion belongs.
Our forefathers were fond of farms of this descrip- tion, because, as they said, they are attended with this convenience, "that every thing comes to the house down hill." In the hilly parts of the state of Ohio, the land having been laid off in an arbitrary manner, by straight parallel lines, without regard to hill or dale, the farms present a different aspect from those on the east side of the river opposite. There the buildings as frequently occupy the tops of the hills as any other situation.
Our people had become so accustomed to the mode of " getting land for taking it up," that for a long time it was generally believed that the land on the west side of the Ohio would ultimately be disposed of in that way.
Hence almost the whole tract of country between the Ohio and Muskingum was parceled out in tomahawk improvements ; but these latter improvers did not con- tent themselves with a single four hundred acre tract. apiece. Many of them owned a great number of tracts of the best land, and thus, in imagination, were as " wealthy as a South Sea dream." Many of the land- jobbers of this class did not content themselves with marking the trees, at the usual hight, with the initials of their names; but climbed up the large beech trees, and cut the letters in their bark, from twenty to forty feet from the ground, To enable them to identify those
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SETTLEMENT, &C.
trece, ar a future period. they made marks on other tree: around them as references.
Most of the early settlers considered their land of lit .- te value, from an apprehension that after a few years' cultivation it would lose its fertility, at least for a long time. I have often heard them say that such a field would bear so many crops, and another so many more or less than that. 'The ground of this belief concerning the shortlived fertility of the land in this country, was, the poverty of a great proportion of the land in the lower parts of Maryland and Virginia, which, after producing a few crops, became unfit for use, and was thrown out into commons.
In their unfavorable opinion of the nature of the soil of our country our forefathers were utterly mistaken. The native weeds were scarcely destroyed before the white clover and different kinds of grass made their ap- pearance. These soon covered the ground, so as to af- ford pasture for the cattle by the time the wood range was eaten out, as well as protect the soil from being washed away by drenching rains, so often injurious in hilly countries.
Judging from Virgil's* test of fruitful and barren soils, the greater part of this country must possess every re quisite for fertility. The test is this. Dig a hole of any reasonable dimensions and depth : if the earth which was taken out, when thrown lightly Lack into it does not fill up the hole, the soil is fruitful; but if it more than fill it up, the soil is barren.
Whoever chooses to try this experiment will find the result indicative of the richness of our soil. Even our
* Ante loeum capics oculis, alteque jubebis In solido putoum demitti, omnemque reponcs Rursus humum, et pedibus summas a quabis arenas.
Si decrunt : warum, pocotique et vitibuo almis Aptius aber erit. Sin in sua posse negabunt Ire loca, et serobibus superabit terra repletos, Spiaus ager : gle bas cunci antes crassique tenga Expecta, et validis terrain prescinde juvenis.
Vir, dico. lib. 2, 1. 930
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HOUSE FURNITURE AND DIET,
graves, notwithstanding the size of the vault, are sel- dom finished with the earth thrown out of them, and they soon sink below the surrounding surface.
CHAPTER XVII.
House furniture and diet.
The settlement of a new country in the immediate neighborhood of an old one, is not attended with much difficulty, because supplies can be readily obtained from the latter ; but the settlement of a country very remote from any cultivated region, is a very different thing ; because at the outset, food, raiment, and the implements of husbandry, are obtained only in small supplies and with great difficulty. The task of making new estah- lishments in a remote wilderness, in time of profound peace, is sufficiently difficult ; but when, in addition to all the unavoidable hardships attendant on this busj. ness, those resulting from an extensive and furious war- fare with savages are superadded ; toil, privations and sufferings, are then carried to the full extent of the ca- pacity of men to endure them.
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