USA > Wyoming > Wyoming; its history, stirring incidents, and romantic adventures > Part 18
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Mr. Slocum, after the accustomed salutations, told his sister that he had brought his eldest and youngest children to see her. The coldness and reserve of the former visit were now entirely gone, and Frances ex- pressed great joy upon the occasion of again seeing her brother, and particularly that he had brought his daughters so far to see her. The mother and daugh- ters immediately commenced an animated conversa- tion upon the subject of the family resemblances which were observable. The old lady, looking at the ladies earnestly, passed her hand down her cheeks, stopping the motion at the posterior point of her lower jaw. There is an unusual fullness and prominence at that point of the Slocum face.
The preparations for dinner were soon commenced. They spread the table with a white cotton cloth, and wiped the dishes, as they took them from the cup- board, with a clean cloth. They prepared an excellent dinner of fried venison, potatoes, shortcake, and cof- fee. Their cups and saucers were small, and they put
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LOSSING-BARRITT
- -
MA-CON-A-QUA.
three or four table-spoonfuls of maple sugar in a cup. They were told by their white visitors, "Our way is not so much sugar." They seemed very anxious to please, and would often ask, "Is that right?" The eldest daughter waited on the table, while her mother sat at the table and ate with her white relations. After dinner they washed the dishes, and replaced them upon the shelves, and then swept the floor. The ladies were
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surprised at these evidences of civilization, and upon asking their aunt why they did these things, she made answer that her mother used to do so, and she had al- ways done it, and learned it to her daughters. It was, therefore, a uniform rule in her house to wipe the dust from the dishes when they were put upon the table, and when the meal was concluded to wash them and return them to the cupboard, and then to sweep the room.
In the afternoon all left but Mr. Slocum, his daugh- ters, and Mr. Miller ; the last remained till near night, when he returned. They strolled over the prem- ises, and visited the burying-ground. They raise a pole over the grave fifteen or twenty feet high, with a white cloth at the top, which remains until destroyed by time. The premises showed great skill and indus- try for savage life, and no little order and attention to comfort in its arrangements. The house was "a dou- ble hut." A neighboring squaw came in to help do the work, and the Indian daughters kept close to their white cousins, and talked with them incessantly. They supposed candles would be wanted, and, to meet the emergency, the squaw melted some tallow, twisted wicking on a stick, and with a spoon poured the tal- low down the wicks until " quite a respectable candle" was produced.
For supper they had the breast of a wild turkey stewed with onions-" quite a delicate dish." When they came to retire, " the pillow," all there was in the house, was assigned to Mr. Slocum by the Indian sis- ter. "They pay great respect to age. They had six beds, principally composed of blankets and other goods folded together," says Mrs. Bennet. "They were made of almost every thing," says Mrs. Drake. The visitors
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slept sweetly, and, after taking " a comfortable break- fast," they commenced their arrangements to return to Peru.
After breakfast a white man came to purchase a steer, and brought with him a colored man as an in- terpreter. He could not trade for the want of the money, as "he might move away," and that would be the last of it. No business transaction takes place in the family without the consent of Frances. She usu- ally makes the bargains herself.
The colored man served so well in the capacity of an interpreter that he was retained by Mr. Slocum for the purpose. Frances was more free in her com- munications through him than she had been through Mr. Miller, and gave many circumstances in her his- tory and recollections which she had not previously given.
They seemed anxious to tell their white relatives as much as possible about themselves, and to make as favorable an impression as possible. They had made in the spring "eleven barrels of sugar." "She says she could have a better house, but fears to do it on account of the jealousy of the Indians. She has money ; some that has been saved since the treaty of St. Mary's, eighteen years ago. They had cloths and calicoes enough to fill a country store. They have a looking-glass-several splint-bottomed chairs-a great many trinkets hung about the house-beads and chains of silver and polished steel. Some of their dresses are richly ornamented with silver brooches, seven or eight rows of them as close as they can be put together-many silver ear-rings: my aunt had seven pairs in her ears; her daughters perhaps a dozen a piece. They have saddles and bridles of the
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most costly kind- six men's saddles and one side- saddle. They have between fifty and sixty horses, one hundred hogs, and seventeen head of cattle. They have geese and chickens. Their house is in- closed with a common worm fence, with some out- houses, principally built of logs. A never - failing spring of excellent water is near the door, with a house over it." This is Mrs. Bennet's description, with some items added by Mrs. Drake. From the same sources I give the following description of the family.
"My aunt is of small stature, not very much bent; her hair clubbed behind in calico, tied with worsted ferret; her dress a blue calico short-gown, a white Mackinaw blanket, a fold of blue broadcloth around her, red cloth leggins, and buckskin moccasins. Her hair is somewhat gray, her eyes a bright chestnut, clear and sprightly for one of her age, her face very much wrinkled and weather-beaten. She has a scar on her left cheek, which she received at an Indian dance. Her skin is not so dark as would be expected from her age and constant exposure. Her teeth are remark- ably good."
This extraordinary family had not been without their griefs. The first husband of the youngest daugh- ter had died, and the second had been killed in a fight. The only child of the eldest had been poisoned by a desperate lover, son of Godfrey the chief, because her family would not consent to her marrying him on ac- count of his intemperance and idleness. These sad events had left traces behind them which death alone would efface.
At the time the whole family gave themselves up to inconsolable grief.
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"Lady Cap. Alack the day ! she's dead, she's dead, she's dead.
Cap. Ha ! let me see her. Out, alas ! she's cold ;
Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff;
Death lies on her, like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.
Accursed time ! unfortunate old man !
Nurse. O, lamentable day !
Lady Cap. O, woeful time !
Cap. Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make me wail,
Ties up my tongue, and will not let me speak.
Lady Cap. Accurs'd, unhappy, wretched, hateful day ! Most miserable hour that e'er time saw
In lasting labor of his pilgrimage !
But one, poor one, one poor and loving child,
But one thing to rejoice and solace in,
And cruel death hath catch'd it from my sight."
SHAKSPEARE-Romeo and Juliet.
The following is from Mrs. Bennet's journal : "The eldest daughter is large and fleshy-I should think would weigh near two hundred pounds. She is act- ive, observing, and intelligent, thirty-four years of age. The youngest is smaller-is quiet and very retiring- is twenty-four years of age. The mother's name is Ma- con-a-qua, a young bear. The eldest daughter's name is Kich-ke-ne-che-qua, cut-finger. The youngest is O-saw-she-quah, yellow leaf. The grandchildren's names are Kip-pe-no-quah, corn-tassel, Wap-pa-na-se-a, a blue corn, Kim-on-sack-quah, young panther."
As to the religious notions of Frances, Mrs. Bennet says, "She is well apprised of a heaven and hell, and the necessity of living a sober, honest, and quiet life, and if she does she thinks she will be happy when she dies, having been taught these things by her adopted parents." The heathenism of the Delawares, into whose hands she fell, had been much modified by Christian influences and instructions, through the agency of the
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Moravian missionaries. It is not at all unlikely that the Christian ideas of a state of future rewards and punishments had made a deep impression upon the general mind of that tribe far beyond what was devel- oped in the form of a profession of Christianity. These ideas, being in harmony with the childish impressions and early instructions of Frances, would be likely to take a deeper hold upon her heart and life than upon those of native Indians. There was a high moral bearing in this adopted Indian mind that well accords with this theory; and how far the Holy Spirit may have wrought these principles into the texture of her soul, and, through them, finally sanctified that soul, is not for us to know. But it would scarcely border upon presumption to entertain a hope of the final hap- piness of Frances Slocum.
To proceed with the visit. It had been arranged that Frances, her eldest daughter, and Captain Brou- riette should accompany the visitors to Peru, in the way of an interchange of hospitalities. After break- fast Captain Brouriette left upon some business, prom- ising to meet the company at Peru at three o'clock P.M. The arrangements for proceeding on horseback were nearly completed. Frances had but one side- saddle, and she went to the brink of the river, and took off her moccasins and leggins, waded the river, and went a mile and borrowed another side-saddle, that both of her fair nieces might be accommodated. As for herself, like the Indian women generally, she rode a man's saddle.
About noon the horses were all rigged and at the door. When the company were all seated in their saddles, Frances started off, followed by her eldest daughter. Mr. Slocum rode on next, followed by his
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two daughters, "all in Indian file." They forded the Missisinewa twice and the Wabash once. Just be- fore they arrived at Peru, Frances and her daughter fell behind, wishing her white relatives to take the lead as they entered the village. They arrived a little be- fore three, and, punctual to the minute, Captain Brou- riette rode up at three. They were now all seated in the parlor, with Mr. Miller, the interpreter, and visit- ing proceeded briskly. The Indian portion of the party were now more observing than ever, and did not try to conceal their preferences for many of the usages of the whites. They would neither eat nor do scarcely any thing else until they saw how their white friends did it. They spoke of many things they saw upon the table, and said they must get some like them. Harriet had knitting, and the Indian daughter would scarcely allow her to lay it down until she had learned " the stitch." She said she would knit herself a pair of stockings, "they were so comfortable." At night the ladies all retired to the same room. Here Fran- ces and her daughter closely observed the garments of the ladies, and, so far as was physically practicable, tried them on. The bulky young Indian woman, by shrewd signs, intimated that if she had stays to wear she would be small too. When their curiosity was gratified, the queen Ma-con-a-qua and her daughter lay down upon the floor, not listening for a moment to the solicitations of the ladies to take a bed, and in a few minutes were sound asleep.
We will now proceed to give the history of Frances as she gave it, piecemeal, during the two visits.
She said that before her father removed to Wyo- ming they lived by a great water. They had a large house, and she thought her father had sold it, as she
M 2
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saw a great heap of paper money counted out on the table. In a few days there was a large new wagon brought up, and they were all put into it like a flock of quails or chickens. The wagon had a sail or tent over it. They used to peep out sometimes, and her broth- er, who rode on one of the horses, would strike at them with his great whip. He called her "red-head," and told her to keep her head in, or it would get knocked off against the trees. She said, they would take us out and feed us, and then put us back again under the tent. She remembered her mother-remembers see- ing her spin : she was a large woman, and she would make her mind, and make her work. She tells this to her girls : when she was small, her mother would make her wash up the dishes as soon as they had done eat- ing, and she taught them the same thing. When they came to Wyoming they lived by a long river near a fort. On being asked if they had any black people in the family, she said they had, and the Indians took a black girl before they took her.
THE CAPTIVITY.
We will now proceed to the story of the captivity of Frances Slocum as related by herself. "Three Del- aware Indians came suddenly to our house. They killed and scalped a man near the door. A boy ran into the house, and he and I hid under the staircase. The Indians came into the house and went up stairs. They took some loaf-sugar and some bundles of other things. They carried us through the bushes. I look- ed back, but saw no one except my mother. They carried us over the mountains-it seemed to me a long way-to a cave where they had left their blankets and some other things. There was a bed of leaves,
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and here we staid all night. We reached this place while it was yet light. I was very tired, and I lay down on the ground, and cried until I fell asleep.
" The next morning we set off early, and we traveled many days in the woods before we came to an Indian village. When we stopped at night, the Indians would make a bed of hemlock boughs, and make up a great fire at their feet which would last all night. They roasted their meat by sticking a stick into it, and hold- ing it to the fire. They drank at the brooks and springs, and made me a little cup of birch bark to drink out of. The Indians were very kind to me ; when they had any thing to eat, I always had the best; when I was tired, they carried me in their arms; and in a short time I began to feel better, and stopped cry- ing. I do not know where the Indian village was which we first stopped at; we only staid there a few days." It was probably Sheshequin.
"Very early one morning two of the same Indians took a horse, and set the boy and me on it, and set off upon a journey. One Indian went before, and the oth- er behind, driving the horse. We traveled a long way, when we came to the village where these Indians be- longed. I now found that one of them was an Indian chief whom they called Tack-horse. I do not know what that name means." The name, it is probable, has allusion to some fact in the chief's history while he mingled with the whites, for we shall subsequently see that he had quite a sprinkling of civilization in his character. Her story proceeds : "Early one morning Tack-horse took me and dressed my hair in the Indian fashion, and painted my face. He then dressed me up, and put on me beautiful wampum beads, and made me look very fine. I was much pleased with the wampum.
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"We then lived on a hill not far from a river"- probably the Genesee River. "I was now adopted by Tack-horse and his wife in the place of one they had lost a short time before, and they gave me her name. When the Indians lose a child, they often adopt some one in its place, and treat that one in all respects as their own. This is the reason why they so often carry off the children of white people.
"It was now the fall of the year, for chestnuts had come. There were a great many Indians here, and here we remained all winter. The Indians were fur- nished with ammunition and provisions by the British. In the spring we went to Sandusky, and staid there through the summer, but in the fall we came back, and we lived one year at Niagara. I recollect that the In- dians were afraid to cross above the Falls on account of the rapidity of the water. I also recollect that they had a machine by which they raised goods from below the Falls, and let things down." This was, no doubt, a tackle erected by the English.
"We went from Niagara near Detroit, where we lived three years. My adopted father made chairs, which he sold; he also played on the fiddle, and fre- quently went into the white settlements and played, and received pay for it. My adopted mother made baskets and brooms, which she sold. The British made them presents of ammunition and food, which they had to go after in the night.
"In the spring we went down to a large river- Detroit River-where the Indians built a great many bark canoes. When they were finished we went up Detroit River, where we remained three years.
" There had been war between the British and Americans, and the American army had driven the
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Indians around the fort where I was adopted. In their fights, the Indians used to bring home scalps. I do not know how many. When peace was made be- tween the British and Americans, we lived by hunt- ing, fishing, and raising corn. The reason why we staid here so long was that we heard the Americans had destroyed all our villages and corn-fields."
Frances had now been among the Indians eight years, and was thirteen years of age. She had been tenderly treated, and taught that the white people were enemies to the Indians. She had adopted the Indians for her people, and had a dread of being recaptured and taken back among the whites. She was taught the use of the bow and arrow, and became expert in all the wild sports and athletic exercises of the squaws. She was a successful hunter. She would mount an In- dian pony, and gallop through the woods with almost the speed of the wild deer, and with the spirit of the most romantic princess of the Western forests
" Soft was the light that filled her eye, And grace was in her every motion ; Her tone was touching, like the sigh When young love first becomes devotion. Among a savage people, still She kept from savage moods apart, And thought of crime and dream of ill Had never swayed her maiden heart." Pocahontas, by W. G. SIMMS.
" She'd often wander in the wood, or roam
The wilderness in quest of curious flowers, Or nest of bird unknown, till eve approach'd, And hemm'd her in the shade." .
LOGAN
But let us proceed with our story.
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REMOVES TO FORT WAYNE.
" After three years, my family and another Dela- ware family removed to Fort Wayne, after Wayne's victory. I do not know where the other Indians went. This was now our home, and I suppose we lived there thirty years. We lived on Eel River, three miles from Fort Wayne. I was there at the time of Harmer's defeat. At the time when this battle was fought, the women and children were all made to run north. I do not know whether the Indians took any prisoners, or brought home any scalps at this time. After the battle they all scattered and returned to their homes. I then returned to Fort Wayne again. The Indians who returned from this battle were Delawares, Pota- watomies, Shawnees, and Miamis."
" There stood the Indian hamlet, there the lake Spread its blue sheet that flashed with many an oar ; Where the brown otter plunged him from the brake, And the deer drank : as the light gale flew o'er, The twinkling maize-field wrestled on the shore. And while that spot, so wild, and lone, and fair, A look of glad and innocent beauty wore, And peace was in the earth and in the air, The warrior lit the pile, and bound his captive there.
"Not unavenged, the foeman from the wood Beheld the deed; and when the midnight shade Was stillest, gorged his battle-axe with blood ; All died : the wailing babe, the shrieking maid ; And in the flood of fire that scathed the glade, The roofs went down; but deep the silence grew, When on the dewy woods the day-beam played ; No more the cabin smokes rose wreathed and blue, And ever by their lake lay moored the light canoe."
BRYANT.
"I was always treated kindly by the Delawares;
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and while I lived with them I was married to a Dela- ware by the name of Little Turtle. He afterward left me and went west of the Mississippi. I would not go with him. My old mother staid here, and I chose to stay with her. My adopted father could talk English, and so could I while he lived. It has now been a long time since I forgot it all.
"The Delawares and Miamis were then living to- gether as one people. I was afterward married to a Miami, a chief, whom the white people called 'The Deaf Man.' His Indian name was She-poe-ken-ah. We came to this reserve about twenty-four years ago. I had no children by my first husband, but by the last one I had four-two boys and two girls. My boys died while they were young; my girls are still living, and are here with me." At the period of the last visit her husband had been dead six years. As to the Indian wars, she says :
"I can not tell much about the Indian wars with the whites, which were so common and so bloody. I well remember a battle and a defeat of the Americans at Fort Washington, which is now Cincinnati. I re- member how Wayne and 'Mad Anthony' drove the Indians away, and built the fort. The Indians then scattered all over the country, and lived upon game, which was very plenty. After this they encamped on Red River. After peace was made we all returned to Fort Wayne, and received provisions from the Americans, and there I lived a long time. I had re- moved with my family to the Missisinewa River some time before the battle of Tippecanoe. The Indians who fought in that battle were Kickapoos, Potawato- mies, and Shawnees. The Miamis were not there. I heard of the battle on the Missisinewa ; but my hus-
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band could not hear, and never went into the wars, and I did not know much about it."
The day after their arrival at Peru, Frances was prevailed upon to have her likeness taken. An artist was sent for from Logansport, but, for some reason, he did not arrive as was expected, and the consequence was that the adieu was not so formal as it would have been. Frances went home with Brouriette and her daughter, expecting to return, and, after having her portrait taken, to bid the visitors a formal farewell. After waiting two or three days, the party became weary and set off for home. Arrangements were, however, made for the portrait, and the painting was executed. Subsequently another was taken, and both are in the possession of her friends in Wilkesbarre.
Before leaving, Frances made a serious effort to pre- vail upon her brother to come and live with her. Not to be outdone by her brothers, who had made her such liberal offers if she would come and live with them, she told Mr. Slocum that, if he would come to her vil- lage and live, she would give him half of her land, and this would have been no mean present. Her sincerity and earnestness in this proposition were affecting. No arrangement could be made by which the brother and sister-so long separated, and to each other as dead, and now so mysteriously brought together and united in affection-could spend their remnant of life in the same neighborhood. They both bowed submissively to what was evidently the order of Providence, and tried to adjust their feelings to the separation.
The Indian daughter took a fancy to Harriet Slo- cum, dressed her in beads and wampum, and said she looked like her daughter, who had been cruelly pois-
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oncd. " Would I not make a nice squaw?" asked Harriet. "Yes, beautiful squaw; will you be in the place of my daughter, and live with me?" On being told that her friends could not spare her, she was sat- isfied. She seemed sensible that she was asking too much; but, could the boon have been granted, it would have been most grateful to her heart.
Frances, Brouriette, and his wife finally gave their white relatives the parting hand, expressing their high gratification with the visit and the affection which they had manifested for them in coming so far to see them. 1
But, before the final adieu, Captain Brouriette gave Mr. Slocum the most ample assurances that he would take good care of his mother-in-law while she lived. He said he had never left her but once, and that was because of a disagreement with his brother-in-law, who was a drunken, lazy Indian, and would do nothing for himself or any one else. He was now dead, and they lived in the utmost harmony.
They shook hands and parted, expecting to meet in a day or two; but this was the final adieu. Mr. Slocum and his daughters returned from this most in- teresting visit via Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Pitts- burg. They brought home many little remembrances of their Indian relatives.
ACT OF CONGRESS IN FAVOR OF FRANCES.
When arrangements were being made by the gov- ernment to settle the Indians of Indiana west of the Mississippi, Mr. Slocum did not forget his sister. He petitioned Congress in her behalf, and succeeded in en- listing powerful support. Hon. B. A. Bidlack took charge of the bill, and John Quincy Adams made one
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