450 - HISTORY OF OHIO. The remarkable statement is made that, in the eastern part of the Village of Conneaut, there were found the remains of an ancient burying-ground, which evidently belonged to a race who had occupied the soil at some period, far before the days of the present Indian inhabitants. The burial-ground embraced four acres. It was laid out in the form of an oblong-square. It had been, accurately surveyed into lots running north and south. It presented all the order of arrangement of a Christian grave-yard. Many of the bones seemed to have belonged to men of gigantic stature. Some of the skulls were sufficiently large to admit the head of an ordinary man. The jaw-bones were much larger than those of any men of our day. In one jaw, a metallic tooth was found, which had been fitted into the cavity from which the natural tooth had been drawn. Though the region was covered with a gigantic forest, there were many traces of ancient cultivation. A large tree was cut down, which presented, near its heart, evident marks of the blows of an ax. The annular rings of the tree, when carefully counted with a magnifying glass, amounted fo three hundred and fifty, since the blows received by the ax. This would carry us back to thirteen years before the discovery of America. Emigrants began to flock in considerable numbers to the Reserve, and having no fear of the now friendly Indians, commenced settlements in various places. Being thus far removed from the haunts of civilization, one would suppose that they would have clustered together, for the sake of companionship and aid in case of sickness or other adversity. But one who was familiar with these adventures and hardships writes: "The settlement of the reserve commenced in a manner somewhat peculiar. Instead of beginning on one side of a county, and advancing gradually into the interior, as had usually been done in similar cases, the proprietors of the reserve, being governed by different and separate views, began their improvements wherever their individual interests led them. Hence we find many of the first settlers immured in a dense forest, fifteen or twenty miles or more from the abode of any white inhabitants. " In consequence of their scattered situation, journeys were sometimes to be performed of twenty or fifty miles for the sole purpose of having the staple of an ox-yoke mended, or some other mechanical job, in itself trifling, but absolutely essential for the HISTORY OF OHIO - 451 successful prosecution of business. These journeys had to be performed through the wilderness, at a great expense of time; and in many cases the only safe guide was to direct their course by the township lines made by the surveyors." As early as the year 1755 there was a French trading post in a small Indian village on the banks of the Cuyahoga River, near the mouth of which stream the beautiful City of Cleveland now stands. Ten years after this a Moravian missionary, Zeisberger by name, accompanied by several Indian converts, left Detroit in a vessel called the Mackinaw, and cast anchor in the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. They then ascended the lonely, forest-fringed stream about ten miles, and settled in an abandoned village of the Ottawas. They gave their little settlement the appropriate name of Pilgerruh, or Pilgrim's Rest. It was within the limits of the present Town of Independence. From an early day the mouth of the Cuyahoga River had attracted the attention of leading American statesmen as an important commercial position. The company of surveyors who celebrated the fourth of July, 1796, at Conneaut, in the Autumn of that year, advanced to the Cuyahoga and laid out the plan of a city, which they named Cleveland, in honor of General Moses Cleveland, who was the agent of the Land Company. Mr. Cleveland was a lawyer of Canterbury, Connecticut. He had received a liberal education at Yale College, had a large fortune, and was a man of considerable note. The surveyors having completed their task by the 18th of October, retired from the place, leaving two families only to pass the dreary Winter in those vast solitudes. The heads of these families were Job V. Stiles and Edward Paine. Both families resided in one log cabin, which stood in the heart of the present city, where at that time a dense forest shed its gloom. The next Summer the surveying party returned, and made Cleveland its headquarters. Judge Kingsbury, whose family experience during the Winter at Conneaut had been so dreadful, moved to Cleveland. Soon several other families of emigrants came to the same place. The difficulty of traveling in those days was greater than we can now easily imagine. Mr. Nathaniel Doane, in the year 1798, removed to Cleveland with his family from Chatham, Connecticut. It took him ninety-two days to traverse the vast wilderness between. In the Autumn of that year every person 452 - HISTORY OF OHIO. in the little hamlet of log huts was sick of bilious fever. Mr. Doane's family consisted of his wife and nine children, all under thirteen years of age. The eldest child, Seth, had daily attacks of fever and ague. He was so weak that he could not without difficulty lift a pail of water. And yet, for two or three months, the only way in which the family were supplied with food was for this poor boy to walk to Judge Kingsbury's, five miles distant, with a peck of corn, grind it in a hand-mill, and bring it home upon his shoulders. Little Seth would wait in the morning till his first attack of ague was over. He would then hasten along his toilsome journey. Having obtained his meal, he would wait until the second attack had come and gone—for he had two attacks each day—and he would then set out on his return. At one time the boy was so feeble, and a wintry storm so severe, that for several days he was unable to make the trip. During that time the sick family lived upon turnips alone. In November four men of the settlement, who were just recovering from severe sickness, started in a boat for Walnut Creek, Pennsylvania, to obtain some flour for their enfeebled families. When just below Euclid Creek a fierce storm swept the lake; the boat was driven ashore and dashed to pieces upon the rocks. With difficulty they saved their lives, and in utter destitution regained their homes. During the Winter and the ensuing Summer there was no flour in the settlement but such as was obtained from hand and coffee mills. As they had no means of separating the bran, the flour was made into bread similar to what is now called Graham bread. During the Summer of 179o, the Connecticut Land Company constructed the first road on the Reserve. It ran from the Pennsylvania line, a few miles back from the lake, to Cleveland. Very strangely the settlers scattered at great distances from each other. The dispersion was such that, from January, 1799, to April, 1800, there was but one white family in Cleveland, that of Major Carter. During this latter year several settlers came. Two enterprising Connecticut emigrants erected a saw-mill and a grist-mill, at the falls, on the site of Newbury. The little colony began now to flourish. In the year 1801 the fourth of July was celebrated in Cleveland by a ball given by Major Carter in his log cabin. One of the guests fiddled while the dancers, numbering thirty in all, vig- HISTORY OF OHIO - 453 orously passed through the evolutions of scamper-down, double-shuffle, and western-swing. These were not temperance days. Whisky, sweetened with maple sugar, was amply provided for the guests, and it is not improbable that with some the merriment degenerated into carousing. Even in the most genteel circles of our cities, where wine flows freely at an evening entertainment, it is not unusual for some wine-bibber to learn that " it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." The Indians were accustomed, at this period, to meet every Autumn at Cleveland in large numbers, and from wide dispersion, for purposes of trade. They came in canoes from their hunting grounds along the shores of the lake, and up the rivers and the creeks, and in quite a fleet entered the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. They would spend the Winter in hunting, scattered through these wide regions. In the Spring they flocked to Cleveland, disposed of their furs to traders, and launching their bark canoes upon the lake, returned to their towns in the region of the Sandusky and the Maumee. Here they spent the Summer raising their crops of corn and potatoes. They were far more dependent upon their crops for food than has generally been supposed. " In this connection we give an incident showing the fearlessness and intrepidity of Major Lorenzo Carter, a native of Rutland, Vermont, and a thorough pioneer, whose rough exterior covered a warm heart. Sometime in the Spring of 1799, the Chippewas and Ottawas, to the number of several hundred, having disposed of their furs determined to have one of their drinking frolics at the camp on the west bank of the Cuyahoga. As a precautionary measure, they gave up their tomahawks and other deadly weapons to their squaws to secrete, so that, in the height of their frenzy, they need not harm each other. "They then sent to the major for whisky, from time to time, as they wanted it and in proportion as they became intoxicated he weakened it with water. After a while it resulted in the Indians becoming partially sober from drinking freely of diluted liquor. Perceiving the trick they became much enraged. Nine of them came to the major's cabin, swearing vengeance on him and hies family. Carter, being apprised of their design, and knowing that they were partially intoxicated, felt himself to be fully their match, although he possessed but poor weapons of defense. Stationing himself behind the cabin door, with a fire poker, he 454 - HISTORY OF OHIO. successively knocked down two or three as they attempted to enter, and then, leaping over their prostrate bodies, furiously attacked those on the outside, and drove them to their canoes. Soon after a deputation of squaws came over to make peace with the major ; when, arming himself, he fearlessly repaired to the camp alone and settled the difficulty. Such eventually became his influence over the Indians that they regarded him as a magician ; and many of them were made to believe that he could shoot them with a rifle and not break their skins." CHAPTER XXIV. LIFE IN THE CABIN. A FEARFUL TRAGEDY - ATTACK UPON CAPTAIN KIRKWOOD'S HOUSE - SETTLEMENT AT GLEN'S RUN - MR. WILLIAMS' NARRATIVE - SILENCE OF THE WILDERNESS-REMARKS OF MR. ATWATER - HAPPY CONTENT OF THE PIONEERS - RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE-CAPTURE OF MRS. BUILDERBUCK - TORTURE OF CAPTAIN BUILDERBUCK - MRS. BUILDERBUCK RANSOMED-WONDERFUL ESCAPE OF JOHN DAVIS - MEETING OF TWO CAPTIVES ON THE SCIOTO RIVER CAPTURE OF TWO BOYS-THEIR BRAVERY AND ESCAPE LIFE IN COLUMBIA, IN 1790 -- THE FIRST CLERGYMAN IN COLUMBIA. THERE WERE, during these journeys of emigration, many fearful tragedies enacted in the wilderness, which it appalls one to contemplate. Mr. Hunter, with his wife, one or two children, and a colored servant boy, was on his way to Cleveland. He had taken a boat, and was coasting along the southern shore of Lake Erie. Just east of Rocky River they were overtaken by a squall, which drove the boat violently upon the shore, where the craggy bluffs rose almost perpendicularly. Gigantic waves were dashed upon the rocks, drenching them with the spray. With great difficulty they clambered up a few feet, \where they clung to the side of the cliff, with but very narrow foothold, holding on by the shrubs, which grew out from the crevices of the rocks. Awful hours passed, while the gale raged with unabated fury. Night came, midnight came, lurid morning dawned, and still the maddened elements howled around, as cold, drenched, and starved, they clung to the rock. On Saturday, the children, one after another died, on Sunday, Mrs. Hunter died. On Monday, Mr. Hunter died. Their lifeless bodies rolled down into the boiling surf. On Tuesday, as the storm was subsiding, some French traders, going to Detroit, discovered the black boy cling- 28 456 - HISTORY OF OHIO. ing to the rock. He was nearly dead, having been for three days and four nights without sleep or food. Opposite the City of Wheeling, in Virginia, lies the County of Belmont, in Ohio. Here, in the year 1791, Captain Joseph Kirkwood had reared his lonely cabin. He was from Delaware, and had obtained much distinction for his bravery during the Revolutionary war. His house stood upon a small eminence, surrounded by gigantic forest trees, and was by no means in a state of preparation to repel an attack by the savages. It is not improbable. that his native recklessness of danger influenced him to neglect those precautions which should have been adopted. It fortunately so happened on the night of the attack that fourteen soldiers were in the cabin with Captain Kirkwood and family. The Indians stealthily approached through the forest in the night, and a little before the dawn, while the soldiers were sleeping as soundly in the cabin as if no danger were to be apprehended, they succeeded, without giving any alarm, in setting fire to the highly inflammable roof, while each savage completely concealed himself behind a tree, rifle in hand, prepared to shoot the inhabitants of the cabin whenever they should expose themselves to extinguish the flames. The first alarm the inmates had was from the flame bursting up from the roof. All was consternation. The dense forest surrounded them. Every tree might conceal a warrior, and the savages might be numbered by hundreds. Still, as the glare of the conflagration illumined the forest, not a foe was to be seen, not a hostile sound was to be heard. The family, fully aware of their danger, immediately commenced pushing off the flaming roof, while they kept themselves concealed as much as possible. Captain Biggs, who was in command of the little company of soldiers, while descending the ladder which led from the loft to the room below, was struck by a bullet which entered the window and pierced his wrist. Then the war-whoop resounded from apparently hundreds of savage throats. The cabin was entirely surrounded by the exultant foe. ,While all the energies of the inmates were devoted to the attempt to extinguish the flames, the savages kept close watch for any exposure. Several boldly rushed forward and endeavored to hew down the door with their tomahawks. So unprepared were the inmates for this assault, that there was HISTORY OF OHIO - 457 not even a firm fastening for the door. They had to tear up the puncheons from the floor to brace it. Awful was the scene. The roof was on fire. The howling savages were hammering at the door. Rifle bullets were piercing the hut through the crevices between the logs. The fort at Wheeling was on the other side of the river, and at the distance of a mile. The feeble garrison there heard the firing and the yells of the Indians, and knew too well what those sounds portended. The soldiers at Wheeling did not dare to leave the fort and cross the river, for they knew not but that the Indians outnumbered them ten to one. They knew also that the Indians would have spies upon the banks, and that their canoes would be riddled with bullets before they could touch the shore. They therefore contented themselves with firing a swivel. The Indians heard the impotent report, understood its significance, and hailed it with a shout of derision. The panic within the burning cabin was such that many wished to escape from the flames at whatever hazard. Captain Kirkwood, who was one of the most resolute of men, threatened to shoot down the first man who should attempt to leave, asserting that the Indians would tomahawk them as fast as they went out. At length they succeeded in smothering the flames, mainly with damp earth from the floor of the cabin. The fight continued for two hours. With the light of day the baffled savages disappeared. The number of Indians engaged in this attack, or their loss, was never known. In the darkness of the night and surrounded by the gloom of the forest, one Indian only was seen from the cabin. He endeavored to climb a corner of the hut, when he was fired upon and fell to the ground. Whether killed or merely wounded could not be ascertained. Seven of the inmates of the cabin were struck by the bullets of the Indians, and one, Mr. Walker, was mortally wounded. He died in a few hours, and was buried at the fort in Wheeling. This tragic affair seems to have disgusted Captain Kirkwood with frontier life. Abandoning his cabin in the wilderness, he returned to Delaware. It was nearly nine years after this before any attempts were again made to people these solitudes. There was then peace with the Indians, and the pioneer had only the natural hardships of emigration to encounter. In the year i800, Mr. Williams 458 - HISTORY OF OHIO. moved from Carolina, and, with several other families, commenced a settlement upon the banks of a small creek called Glen's Run, about six miles northeast from the present site of St. Clairsville. His son, John S. Williams, subsequently editor of the American Pioneer, was then a lad eleven years old. In after life he wrote a sketch entitled, " Our Cabin, or Life in the Woods." From his graphic narrative we give an abridged account of the adventures of this pioneer family. Emigrants were pouring in from different parts. Cabins were put up in every direction, and women, children and goods were tumbled into them. The tide of emigration flowed like water through a breach in a mill-dam. Every thing was bustle and confusion, and all were at work who could work. Our cabin had been raised, covered, part of the cracks chinked, and part of the floor laid, when we moved in on Christmas day. There had not been a stick cut except building the cabin. We had intended an inside chimney, for we thought the chimney ought to be in the house. We had a log put across the whole width of the cabin for a mantel. But when the floor was in we found it so low as not to answer, and removed it. Here was a great change for my mother and sister, as well as for the rest of us, but especially for my mother. She was raised in the most delicate manner, in and near London ; and had lived, most of the time, in affluence, and always comfortable. She was now in the wilderness, surrounded by wild beasts ; in a cabin with about half a floor, no door, no ceiling overhead, not even a tolerable sign for a fire-place; the light of day and the chilling winds of night passing between every two logs in the building; the cabin so high from the ground that a bear, wolf, panther, or any other animal less in size than a cow could enter without even a squeeze. Such was our situation on Thursday and Thursday night, December 25, 1800, and which was bettered but by very slow degrees. We got the rest of the floor laid in a few days. The chinking of the cracks went on slowly. The daubing with clay could not proceed until the weather became more suitable. Doorways were sawed out, and steps made of the logs. The back of the chimney was raised up to the manfel ; but thy, funnel, of sticks and clay, was delayed until Spring. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Williams, a daughter HISTORY OF OHIO - 461 twenty-two years of age, a son twenty-one, in very feeble health, and little John. Mr. Williams was a man of mathematical accuracy of mind, and he reared his cabin by the compass, facing exactly south. Indeed it had two fronts precisely alike, a north and a south. Both of the doors had high, unsteady, and often icy steps, made of round beech logs. A window on each side of the doors was made by sawing a hole through the logs about two feet square. Two narrow strips of wood were placed across so as to divide it into four parts, a foot square each. Over these were pasted a newspaper, saturated with lard. When the sun shone brightly this glazing illuminated the room with a soft and cheerful light. It shut out the wind and shed the rain. The cabin consisted of one room, twenty-four feet long by eighteen feet wide. There were two beds at the west end. Clap", boards, made of split logs, resting on wooden pins, afforded shelves. Upon these were pewter plates. and various vessels of shining tin. A ladder of five rounds occupied one of the corners, by which to climb to the loft above. The chimney occupied nearly the whole of the east end of the cabin. A gun hung on pegs over the north door. For seats, they had four split-bottom chairs, and three three-legged stools. A small looking-glass, eight inches by ten, was also attached to the wall. There was a spinning-wheel in one corner of the room. The floor overhead was of loose clapboards, split from a red oak. The evenings of this first Winter passed very heavily. There was no work which could be done. They had no tobacco to stem, no corn to shell, no turnips to scrape, and even no hickory nuts to crack. Mr. Williams had brought with him one barrel of flour and a jar of lard. It was a very tempestuous Winter. The wind howled fearfully through the gigantic tree-tops. The family were often greatly alarmed from the apprehension that some of those giants of the forest might come crushing down upon them. " The monotony of the time," writes Mr. Williams, " for several of the first years, was broken and enlivened by the howl of wild beasts. The wolves howling around us, seemed to moan their inability to drive us from their long and undisputed domain. The bears, panthers and deers seemingly got miffed at our approach, and but seldom troubled us. When Spring was fully come, and our little patch of corn, three acres, put in among the beech roots, which, at every step, contended with the shovel plow for the 462 - HISTORY OF OHIO. right of soil, and held it, too, we enlarged our stock of conveniences.. As soon as the bark would peel we could make ropes and bark boxes. These we stood in great need of, as such things as bureaus, stands, wardrobes, and even barrels, were not to be had. "The manner of making ropes of linn bark was, to cut the bark in strips of convenient length, and water-rot it, in the same manner as rotting flax or hemp. When this was done, the inside bark would peel off, and split up so fine as to make a pretty considera- ble rough and good-for-but-little kind of rope. We made two kinds of boxes for furniture. One kind was of hickory bark, with the outside shaved off. This we would take off all around the tree, the size of which would determine the caliber of our box. Into one end We would place a flat piece of bark, or puncheon, cut round to fit in the bark, which stood on end, the same as when on the tree. There was little need of hooping, as the strength of the bark would keep that all right enough." They settled on beech land, which required a great deal of labor to clear. Instead of cutting down the forest, they merely girdled the large trees, leaving them standing. The underbrush and saplings were cut down, gathered in piles, and burned. The land was very rich, and would produce astonishing crops of corn, growing up in the midst of the gnarled roots. Mr. Williams had a horse, a cow, and two sheep. They were fed mainly from the blades of corn. Salt was so scarce, costing five dollars a bushel, that they could seldom afford to use it. They had no candles. For light they relied mainly upon the fire blazing upon the hearth. They used also seasoned sticks and the bark of hickory. It is said that one of the more prominent features of this life in the wilderness was its solemn, almost awful, silence. Singing birds love the companionship of men. Seldom was a bird song-heard amidst the glooms of the forest. The midnight howl of the wolf, and the screech of the owl, seemed but to intensify the general silence. Even the dog, listless at the cabin door, hearing no sound to rouse him, forgot to bark. Indeed, in the days when Indians were prowling about, he was taught not to bark, lest the noise should guide the savage to the lonely cabin. Occasionally, the melancholy croak of the raven might be heard, or the tap of the woodpecker on the hollow tree, or the gobble of the wild turkey. Speaking of this period of the history of Ohio, Mr. Atwater writes : HISTORY OF OHIO - 463 "Our houses were logs, not always laid very close together. Before our people had time to clear fields, that would produce a harvest, the woods furnished nuts, on which their hogs fed and fattened. The wild grasses fed the cattle and horses abundantly, Winter and Summer. Better beef or sweeter pork never was tasted than the wild grasses and the nuts fattened, in almost all parts of this now State of Ohio. Many of our old settlers mourn the loss of that breed of hogs which ran wild in fhe woods and lived on nuts, acorns, and wild roots. The beef, too, of that period, the old settlers think, was sweeter and more like wild animal's flesh than ours now is. " In this opinion, we agree with them. . The honey of those days was made by wild bees. The Indians abundantly procured it, and often sold it to our people. Our sugar was made from the maple tree, and ndt a few of us, even now, prefer it to that which, at a low price, we obtain from Louisiana. Wild turkeys were abundant. They were so easily taken that they sold in market for only twelve and a half cents each. A good deer sold for one dollar, or even less. Hogs were almost as easily raised as the deer. Thousands were never seen by their owner until he went out with his gun to kill them." The majority of the settlers, at this time, were very worthy men,. though,.of course, there were not a few adventurers roving these wilds, of a very different character. Though the emigrants endured many privations after the horrors of Indian warfare had terminated, they seem to have been, in most cases, eminently happy. One of these pioneers, after he attained the luxuries to be found in a dense population, writes : " When I look back upon the first few years of our residence here, I am led to exclaim, ' O happy days of primitive simplicity !' What little aristocratic feeling any one might have brought with him, was soon quelled for we soon found ourselves equally dependent on one another. We enjoyed our winter evenings around. our blazing hearths, in our log huts, cracking nuts, full as much,. Yes, far better, than has fallen to our lot since the distinctions and animosities, consequent upon the acquisition of wealth, have crept in upon us." One incident, which occurred sometime before the close of the Indian war, deserves record here, as illustrative of retributive justice, and of the peculiar traits in the Indian character. Captain 464 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Charles Builderback was a man of herculean frame, and noted for his recklessness in fighting the Indians. He accompanied the band of renegade white men, in its iniquitous assaults upon the Moravian villages, to which we have before alluded. It will be remembered that, in 1782, Colonel Wilkinson led a band of a hundred desperadoes to Gnadenhutten, where they perpetrated a massacre upon the friendly Moravians almost unparalleled in the annals of Indian war. This same Captain Builderback accompanied Colonel Crawford in his totally unjustifiable expedition to the Upper Sandusky, to pursue and kill the unoffending Moravian Indians who had taken refuge there. The Indians never forget an injury ; and they are very apt to learn and remember the names of those who have inflicted wounds upon them. Captain Builderback had reared his cabin on the Virginia shore of the Ohio River, at the mouth of Short Creek, a few miles above Wheeling. One lovely morning in June, he crossed the river to the Ohio shore in a canoe, with his wife and brother, to look after some cattle. Upon reaching the shore, about twenty Indians, rushing from ambush, fired upon them. His brother, though wounded in the shoulder, succeeded in reaching the canoe, and escaped. The captain was chased some distance and taken captive. In describing this event, Colonel McDonald writes : " In the meantime Mrs. Builderback secreted herself in some driftwood, near the bank of the river. As soon as the Indians had secured and tied her husband, not being enabled to discover her hiding-place, they compelled him, with threats of immediate death, to call her to him. With the hope of appeasing their fury, he did so. " Here,' to use Mrs. Builderback's words, a struggle took place in my breast, which I cannot describe. Shall I go to him and become a prisoner, or shall I remain, return to our cabin, and provide for and take care of our two children ? " He shouted to her a second time to come to him, saying that, if she obeyed, it would perhaps be the means of saving his life. She no longer hesitated ; but left her place of safety, and surren- dered herself to his savage captors. All this took place in full view of their cabin, on the opposite shore, and where they had left their two children, one a son, about three years of age, and an infant daughter. The Indians, knowing that they would be pur- HISTORY OF OHIO - 465 sued as soon as the news of their visit reached the stockade at Wheeling, immediately commenced their retreat. Mrs. Builder-back and her husband traveled together that day and the following night. The next morning the Indians separated into two bands. One band took Captain Builderback and the other his wife, and each party continued the journey westward, by different routes." Mrs. Builderback was taken to a large Indian encampment on the Tuscarawas River. Here she was soon joined by the party who had taken her husband in charge. But he was no longer with them. Brutally they tossed his scalp into her lap, which she instantly recognized. That dreadful night the Indians held a fiend-like carouse, and their hideous yells awoke all the echoes of the forest. Poor Mrs. Builderback, utterly exhausted with fatigue, sleeplessness and anguish, fell soundly asleep, and for a few hours God mercifully granted her the oblivion of all her sufferings. The Tuscarawas River is one of the upper tributaries of the Muskingum. It was on the banks of the latter stream, but a few miles below the encampment, that the innocent Moravians were slaughtered. In that massacre the first blood was shed by Captain Builderback. He shot down a Moravian chief by the name of Shebosh, and then tomahawked and scalped him. The Indians, who were leading their captive, passed very near the spot where this cruel tragedy was enacted. One of them chanced to ask his name. For a moment he hesitated. Then knowing that they would learn it from his wife, and not deeming it possible that they could know anything of his previous history, he replied, Charles Builderback. Instantly the little band stopped and looked at each other with astonishment and with malignant triumph. " Ah! " said one of them, "Charles Builderback! You kill many Indians. You big captain. You kill Moravians." His doom was sealed. These untutored savages deemed it a religious duty which they owed the spirits of their slaughtered brethren to punish their slayer with death by torture. He was bound to a tree, and demoniac ingenuity was exercised in drawing from his quivering nerves the utmost possible agony. With the exception of his tormentors, God alone heard his shrieks and witnessed the convulsions of his torment. 466 - HISTORY OF OHIO. As soon as the capture of Builderback was known at Wheeling a party of scouts set out in pursuit of the Indians. They soon struck their trail, and followed it until they found the charred and mangled body of the victim, presenting appalling indications of the lingering and dreadful death he had endured. Mrs. Builderback, though her mental sufferings were severe, was treated humanely. The Indians took her to the upper waters of the Great Miami. Here she was adopted into the family of a chief, and was required to perform all that drudgery which was usually exacted of squaws. She carried, upon her shoulders, meat from the hunting-grounds, cut it up and dried it, made moccasins and leggins, and other clothing. In this captivity, hearing nothing of the fate of her family, she continued for several months. At length a friendly Indian informed the commandant at Fort Washington that there was a white woman in captivity in one of the Miami towns. Upon the payment of a liberal ransom she was brought to the fort and surrendered. Speedily she was sent up the river to her lonely and desolated cabin and to her orphan children. Without loss of time she took her two children and re-crossed the mountains to her parental home in Lancashire County, in Virginia. It may be mentioned, as illustrative of the vicissitudes of this strange earthly life, and of the recuperative energies of the human soul, that after the lapse of two years she married Mr. John Green. With her husband and family she again crossed the mountains, and found a pleasant and prosperous home in the beautiful Valley of the Hockhocking, where peace and plenty reigned. Here, almost forgetful of the woes of her early life, she lived for nearly half a century, not dying until about the year 1842. The following account of the escape of Mr. John Davis from fhe Indians, is but one among many similar adventures which Might be told. We give the narrative mainly as it has been described by Colonel John McDonald. Mr. Davis, while hunting on the Big Sandy, with one companion, was surrounded at his camp fire, in the night, by about thirty warriors, and was taken captive, The Indians were returning from an unsuccessful attack upon one of the white men's stations upon the Big Sandy. They had several of their wounded with them. They had succeeded, here and there, in accumulating considerable plunder, and the horses HISTORY OF OHIO - 467 which they had stolen were heavily laden. They consequently did not travel more than ten or twelve miles a day. Mr. Davis was well aware that the Indians often put their cap--• tives to death by the most horrible tortures.. Many circumstances led him fo the conviction that he was reserved for that fate. He doubted not that as soon as they should reach their distant towns, the tribe would_ be assembled, he would be bound to the stake, and the savages would have a. gala day in inflicting upon him the most awful torments. He, therefore, resolved to attempt an escape, even under the most desperate circumstances, preferring much to die by the bullet or from a sudden blow of the tomahawk than by. lingering tortures at the stake. The Indians, having swam their horses across the Ohio River, on their journey, came to a small stream, called Salt Creek, in the present County of Jackson. Here they encamped for the night. Their mode of securing their prisoners seemed to render an escape impossible. A. strong rope or thong was cut from the raw hide of a buffalo;, this they tied around the prisoner's waist. The two ends were then tied each around the waist of an Indian. Thus the prisoner, at the encampment, laid down upon the 'ground with these Indians on each side of him, and in the closest proximity. He could not turn at all; he could not move even without disturbing the Indians, and receiving from them cruel blows. In the morning, as they :resumed their journey, the captives were released from this most uncomfortable confinement. With their hands bound behind them, and an Indian armed with' rifle and tomahawk before and behind each one, they .trudged along in single file through the narrow trail. They. were told that instant, death would be the consequence of any ,attempt to leave the line of march. During the long hours of the night, Davis lay in his uncomfort- able position, brooding over the awful fate which awaited him. As the day began to dawn he hunched one of the Indians, and by signs requested to be untied. The savage raised his head and looked around, and seeing that it was still quite dark, and that no Indians were yet moving, gave him a, severe blow with his fist, and. told him to lay still. Fire and faggot, sleeping or awake, were constantly floating before his mind's eye. The torturing suspense would fill his soul with horror. After some time a number of Indians rose up and 468 - HISTORY OF OHIO. made their fires. It was growing light, but not light enough to ,draw a bead. Davis again jogged one of the Indians to whom he was fastened, and said that the tug hurt his middle, and again requested the Indian to untie him. The Indian looked around, and seeing that it was getting light, and that there were a number of Indians about the fires, untied him. Davis rose to his feet. The doom before him nerved him with the energies of despair. He resolved upon an immediate attempt to escape, whatever the result might be. It was morning twilight ; chill, cheerless and foggy. Some of the Indians were still sleeping. Others were moving about, kindling fires and preparing breakfast. The two Indians to whose guard he was intrusted still stood at his side. As Davis looked around and saw how .desperate was the undertaking to escape, his heart throbbed violently, and, for a moment, even his eyesight began to fail him. The Indians had placed a pole between two forked sticks, and had stacked their guns so that they could grasp them at any moment. These guns were but a few yards behind where Davis :stood. Quite a group of Indians were before him, moving around the fire. Should he start back to plunge into the forest, the Indians, as they rushed after him, could easily seize a gun by the way. Should he make a bold and vigorous plunge directly through the midst of them, they would have to run back for their guns. This would give the captive a little advantage in the race, especially as the morning light was dim and a thick mist hung rover the gloomy landscape. All this passed through his mind in a moment. Summoning all the frenzied energies of despair, he made the plunge. One :stout Indian who stood directly in his way he struck such a blow with his clenched fist as to prostrate him sprawling in the fire. With the speed of an antelope he sprang into the forest. The Indians, inured to such surprises, were instantly on the pursuit. The somber forest echoed with their yellings. But he was soon out of sight among the gigantic trees, and no one could get a shot at him. The pursuers, knowing the direction in which he had fled, put their swiftest runners on his trail, and for some time the demoniac howlings of the savages were so near that fhe fugitive had but little hope of escape. But if overtaken he resolved, if possible, not to be taken alive. At length he felt conscious that he was gaining ground upon HISTORY OF OHIO - 469 the savages. He could no longer hear the twigs break beneath their footsteps, and their whoops and yells sounded more distant. Reaching the summit of a long, sloping ridge, he looked back for the first time, and, to his inexpressible joy, could see no foe. But his feet were terribly torn by thorns and gashed by the sharp stones over which he had heedlessly rushed. He sat down, took off his waistcoat, tore it into two pieces, and bound them around his feet for moccasins. His flight was nearly west, hoping to reach the Scioto River,, and to follow that down to the Ohio. He would then, in someway, paddle himself across the river and regain his home in Kentucky. Through indescribable sufferings he at length reached the Scioto, near where Piketown now stands. Here he crossed the stream. As there were Indian villages on the banks of the river he kept several miles back from the stream, moving every step of the way with the utmost caution. He reached the majestic flood of the Ohio on the 1st of January, about eight miles below the mouth of the Scioto. For three days and two nights he had toiled through the wilderness without food, save such roots as starvation compelled him to eat, and without covering or fire. It is strange that human strength can endure such privations. It is pleasant to record that " Mr. Davis was an unwavering believer in that All-seeing Eye whose providence prepares means to guard and protect those who put their trust in Him. His confidence and his courage never forsook him for a moment during, this trying and fatiguing march." " When he reached the Ohio," writes Mr. McDonald, " he began to look about for some dry logs to make a kind of raft on which to float down the stream. Before he .began to make his. raft he looked up the river, and, to his infinite gratification, he saw a Kentucky boat come floating down the stream. He now thought his deliverance sure. Our fondest hopes are frequently blasted in disappointment. As soon as the boat floated opposite to him he called to the people in the boat, told them of his lamentable captivify and fortunate escape. "The boatman heard his tale of distress with suspicion. Many boats, about this time, had been decoyed to the shore by similar tales of woe; and their inmates, as soon as they landed, had been cruelly massacred. The boatmen refused to land. They said that they had heard too much about such prisoners and escapes to be. 470 - HISTORY OF OHIO. deceived in his case. He followed along the shore, keeping pace with the boat as it slowly glided down the stream. The more pitiably he described his forlorn situation, the more determined were the boat's crew not to land for him. " He at length requested them to row the boat a little nearer the shore, and he would swim to them. To this proposition the boatmen consented. They commenced rowing towards the shore, when Mr. Davis plunged into the freezing water and swam towards the boat. Their suspicions now gave way, and they rowed with all their force to meet him. He was at length lifted into the boat almost exhausted. The boatmen were not to blame for their suspicions. They now administered to his relief and comfort everything in their. power. The next morning he was landed at Massie's Station, now Manchester, and was soon restored to his friends in health and vigor." What became of the companion of Mr. Davis, in his captivity, we have not learned. It is terrible to reflect upon the numerous tragedies which occurred during these wars, and which have never been recorded. The human mind sickens with anguish in contemplating many of these scenes too awful to be described. And when the crushed spirit, with sobbing voice, asks, " How long, oh Lord, how long?" The only answer which comes back is, "Be still and know that I am God." A little boy, Jonathan Alder, was taken captive and adopted into one of the tribes. After he had been with the Indians about a year, they took him with them to the salt works on the Scioto. Here he met a Mrs. Martin, who was also a prisoner. They had many very affecting interviews. In the following artless language the child describes their meeting : "It was now better than a year after I was taken prisoner, when the Indians started off to the Scioto salt springs, near Chillicothe, to make salt, and took me along with them. Here I got to see Mrs. Martin, that was taken prisoner at the same time I was; and this was the first time I had seen her since we were separated at the council-house. When she saw me, she came, smiling, and asked me if it was me. I told her it was. She asked me how I had been. I told her I had been very unwell, for I had the fever and ague for a long time. " So she took me off to a log, and there we sat down ; and she combed my head, and asked me a great many questions about HISTORY OF OHIO - 471 how I lived, and if I didn't want to see my mother and little brothers. I told her that I should be glad to see them, but never expected to again. She then pulled out some pieces of her daughter's scalp, that, she said, were some trimmings that they had trimmed off the night after she was killed, and that she meant to keep them as long as she lived. She then talked and cried about her family, that was all destoyed and gone, except the remaining bits of her daughter's scalp. We staid here a considerable time, and meanwhile took many a cry together. And when we parted again, took our last and final farewell, for I never saw her again." We will give one more narrative, illustrative of these days of blood and woe Mr. Johnson, of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, having a large family to provide for, sold his farm and moved into the great Ohio Valley, that he might have larger possessions to divide among his children as they should grow up. He crossed the Ohio River, near where Steubenville now is, and reared his cabin about two and a half miles back from the river, and three miles above the mouth of a little stream called Short Creek. He had two sons ; John was about eleven and Henry thirteen years of age. One Sunday morning the two boys were in the woods, at a little distance from the cabin, sitting upon a log cracking walnuts; they saw two men approaching through the forest, from the direction of the house. From their dress they supposed them to be two neighbors, James Perdue and Mr. Russell. They were, therefore, not at all alarmed until the men drew near, and they saw that they were Indians. Escape was now impossible, and they were terror stricken. One of the Indians greeted the boys pleasantly, saying, " How do brodder," but told them, in terms not to be misunderstood, that they must immediately follow them. At once they took up their rapid line of march; both of the savages were strong men, well armed with rifle and tomahawk. One walked about ten steps in the advance, and the other at the same distance behind. Rapidly they pressed on for several hours, to put as much distance as possible between them and the friends of the boys, when they halted in a deep ravine and sat down to rest. They took out their knives and began to whet them, talking, in the meantime, eagerly in the Indian tongue, which the boys did not understand. This was probably merely a savage ruse to ascertain the 472 - HISTORY OF OHIO. temper of the boys, and to learn whether they were cowardly or brave. If brave, they were worthy of being adopted into the tribe ; if cowards, death was their doom. Henry, the youngest, thought that the Indians were preparing to kill them, and told his brother so. John was of the same opinion, but, with wisdom above his years, he assumed an attitude of perfect calmness, and finding that the Indians understood a little English, said to them : " We are very glad to go with you ; we do not like to work upon the farm. We have to work very hard ; we had very much rather live with the Indians, and go with them hunting in the woods." This speech evidently pleased them greatly. They sheathed their knives and began to talk socially and pleasantly with the boys. They asked John which was the way home ; though he knew perfectly well, he pointed in a contrary direction. This made them laugh heartly, for they thought that the boys were completely bewildered and lost ; soon they resumed their march. As the darkness of night began to settle down upon the forest, they selected a place of encampment in a deep gulley where there was a dense growth of trees and shrubs. The boys, worn out with the long march, and far away from their friends in the pathless forest, were not very closely watched. The Indians were doubly deceived ; they thought that the boys had no wish to escape, and that escape was impossible, even had they desired it ever so much. One of the Indians struck fire by flashing powder in the pan of his gun. As the gun was loaded, he plugged the touch-hole. They soon had a cheerful blaze, and, cooking some game by the camp-fire, ate a hearty supper, with such appetites as health and fatigue give. They all talked together some time very pleasantly, and then threw themselves upon the bare ground around the fire for sleep. The Indians took the precaution to put the two boys between them, that they might guard them more safely. After a time, one of the Indians, supposing the boys to be asleep, and not finding his own position very comfortable, rose and laid down on the other side of the fire, and, by his breathing, soon gave unmistakable proof that he was soundly sleeping. Both Henry and John were carefully watching every motion, and had whispered to each other, hoping that an opportunity might present itself for their escape. John, when he found that they were soundly asleep, whispered HISTORY OF OHIO - 473 to Henry to get up. They both rose as carefully as possible. John took the gun with which the Indian had struck fire, cocked it, and aimed it over a log directly at the head of one of the Indians, and left it in Henry's hand to pull the trigger as soon as he should make the sign. He then took a tomahawk, and crept to the side of the other Indian, and held it over his head. At the given signal the gun was discharged, while at the same instant John brought down the sharp tomahawk upon the head of the other Indian with all the force with which the little fellow could strike. The bullet seemed effectually to have done its work, as the Indian neither groaned nor moved. He apparently lay still in death. But John, in the excitement of the moment, struck the Indian too far back upon the head. Still, it was a stunning blow. The Indian, uttering a. terrific yell, endeavored to spring to his feet. For a moment the conflict was terrible and doubtful. A little boy of thirteen was struggling against a burly savage of almost herculean strength. But terror nerved the puny arm. Blow followed blow in quick succession, as the savage struggled upon his knees in the vain attempt to rise. The blood flowed profusely. At length the Indian sank down,.helpless and senseless. John did not leave his work half done. Satisfying themselves that both of the Indians were dead, the two boys took one of their guns, and in rapid flight returned to their friends with the astounding news. They reached home in safety. A small party was sent back, led by John, to the spot where the heroic deed had been achieved. The bodies of the Indians were found, and also the other gun. Mr. O. A. Spencer, one of the early emigrants to Columbia, Ohio, in the year 1790, gives the following account of life as he then experienced it in that remote settlement : " It is, perhaps, unknown to many that the broad and extensive plain stretching along the Ohio, from the Crawfish to the mouth, and for three miles up the Little Miami, and now divided into farms highly cultivated, was the ancient seat of Columbia, a town laid out by Major Benjamin Stiles, its original proprietor ; and by him and others once expected to become a large city, the great capital of the west. From the Crawfish, the small creek forming its northwestern boundary, more than one mile up the Ohio, and extending back about three-fourths of a mile, and half way up the high hill which formed a part of its eastern and northern 29 474 - HISTORY OF OHIO. limits, the ground was laid off into blocks, containing each eight lots of half an acre, bounded by streets intersected at right angles. The residue of the plain was divided into lots of four or five acres, for the accommodation of the town. Over this plain, on our arrival, we found scattered about fifty cabins, flanked by a small stockade, nearly half a mile below the mouth of the Miami, together with a few block-houses for the protection of the inhabitants, at suitable distances along the banks of the Ohio. " Fresh on my remembrance is the rude log house, the first humble sanctuary of the first settlers of Columbia, standing amids tthe tall forest trees, on the beautiful knoll, where now (1834) is a grave-yard, and the ruins of the Baptist meeting-house of later years. There, on the holy Sabbath, we were wont to assemble to hear the Word of Life ; but our fathers met with their muskets and rifles, prepared for action, and ready to repel any attack of the enemy. And while the watchman on the walls of Zion was uttering his faithful and pathetic warning, the sentinels without, at a few rods distance, with measured step, were now pacing their walks ; and now standing and with strained eyes endeavoring to pierce through the distance, carefully scanning every object that seemed to have life or motion. " The first clergyman I heard preach there was Mr. Gano, father of the late General Gano, of this city, then a captain, and one of the earliest settlers of Columbia. Never shall I forget that holy and venerable man, with locks white with years, as with a voice tremulous with age, he ably expounded the word of truth. "I well recollect that, in 1791, so scarce and dear was flour, that the little that could be afforded in families was laid by to be used only in sickness, or for the entertainment of friends ; and although corn was then abundant, there was but one mill, a floating mill on the Little Miami, near where Turpin's now stands; it was built in a small flat-boat tied to the bank, its wheel turning slowly with the natural current, running between the flat and a small pirogue anchored in the stream, and on which one end of its shaft rested ; and having only one pair of small stones, it was at best barely sufficient to supply meal for the inhabitants of Columbia and the neighboring families ; and sometimes from low water and other unfavorable circumstances, it was of little use, so that we were obliged to supply the deficiency from hand-mills, a most laborious mode of grinding. HISTORY OF OHIO - 475 " The Winter of 1791-2 was followed by an early and delightful Spring. Indeed I have often thought that our first western winters were much milder, our springs earlier, and our autumns longer than they are now. On the last of February some of the trees were putting forth their foliage ; in March the redbud, the hawthorn and the dogwood, in full bloom, checkered the hills, displaying their beautiful colors of rose and lily ; and in April the ground was covered with May-apple, bloodroot, ginseng, violets, and a great variety of herbs and flowers. Flocks of parroquets were seen decked in their rich plumage of green and gold. Birds of various species and of every hue were flitting from tree to tree, and the beautiful redbird and the untaught songster of the West made the woods vocal with their melody. " Now might be heard the plaintive wail of the dove, and now the rumbling drum of the partridge or the loud gobble of the turkey. Here might be seen the clumsy bear, doggedly moving off or urged by pursuit into a laboring gallop, retreating to his citadel in the top of some lofty tree ; or, approached suddenly, raising himself erect in the attitude of defense, facing his enemy and waiting his approach. There the timid deer, watchfully resting, or cautiously feeding, or aroused from his thicket gracefully bounding off; then stopping, erecting his stately head, and for a moment gazing around or snuffing the air to ascertain his enemy, instantly springing off, clearing logs and bushes at a bound, and soon distancing his pursuers. It seemed an earthly paradise ; and but for apprehensions of the wily copperhead, who lay silently coiled among the leaves or beneath the plants waiting to strike his victim; the horrid rattlesnake, who more chivalrous, however, with head erect amidst its ample folds, prepared to dart upon his foe, generously with the loud noise of his rattle apprised him of danger ; and the still more fearful and insidious savage, who, crawling upon the ground, or noiselessly approaching behind trees and thickets, sped the deadly shaft or fatal bullet, you might have fancied you were in the confines of Eden, or the borders of elysium. " At this delightful season the inhabitants of our village went forth to their labor, inclosing their fields which the spring floods had opened, tilling their ground, and planting their corn for their next year's sustenance. I said went forth, for the principal corn field was distant from Columbia about one and a half miles east,. 476 - HISTORY OF OHIO. and adjoining the extensive plain on which the town stood. That large tract of alluvial ground, still known by the name of Turkey Bottom, and which, lying about fifteen feet below the adjoining plain, and annually overflowed, is yet very fertile, was laid off into lots of five acres each, and owned by the inhabitants of Columbia; some possessing one, and others two or more lots; and to save labor was enclosed with one fence. " Here the men generally worked in companies, exchanging labor, or in adjoining fields, with their fire-arms near them, that in case of an attack they might be ready to unite for their common defense. Here their usual annual crop of corn, from ground very ordinarily cultivated, was eighty bushels per acre, and some lots well tilled produced a hundred, and in very favorable seasons a hundred and ten bushels to the acre. An inhabitant of New England, New Jersey, or some portions of Maryland, would scarcely think it credible, that in hills four feet apart, were four or five stalks, one and a-half inches in diameter and fifteen feet in height, bearing each two or three ears of corn, of which some were so far from the ground that to pull them an ordinary man was obliged to stand on tiptoe." EVENING IN THE WOODS. CHAPTER XXV. THE CAPTURE OF THE BOAT. THE EMBARKATION - THE DECOY- THE CAPTURE - SCENE OF INDIAN REVELRY- DESTRUCTION OF THE CANOE AND ITS CREW - THE THREE BARGES- TERRIBLE RIVER FIGHT- CAPTURE OF TWO BOATS - PICTURESQUE FOREST SCENE-ANOTHER CAROUSE DISTRIBUTION OF THE CAPTIVES AND THE BOOTY - PERIL FROM A DRUNKEN SAVAGE - KINDNESS OF MESS-HA-WA THE JOURNEY TO THE INDIAN VILLAGES-VARIOUS INCIDENTS-GAME OF NOSEY - A COLD BATH-AN INDIAN TRADER - THE MIDNIGHT REVEL PROPOSAL OF A MINGO CHIEF CURIOUS INCIDENT. IN THE month of February, 179o, Mr. John May, a gentleman from Virginia, who was employed in surveying lands in Kentucky, accompanied by Charles Johnston, who was but twenty years of age, purchased a boat, such as was then used for the navigation of the western waters, to descend the Kanawha River and the Ohio, to Lexington. At Kelly's Station they took on board Mr. Jacob Skyles with a stock of dry goods. Arriving at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Kanawha, a man by the name of Flinn and two Misses Flemings joined the party. Here they learned that both banks of the Ohio were infested by bands of hostile Indians, who were using every stratagem which Indian cunning could devise to decoy boats on shore, when they plundered the boat and murdered or captured all on board. They resolved that they would keep in the middle of the channel, and that nothing should induce them to approach either bank. They knew that the Indians, concealed in the forest, would follow descending boats for miles— that by torture they would compel their white captives to assist them in luring their victims to land. It was the season of spring floods, and the swollen river, filling its banks to the full, rolled along in its channel almost like a 478 - HISTORY OF OHIO. mountain torrent. Their speed was such that there was no need, save to keep themselves in the middle of the stream. On the morning of the 20th of March, just as they had passed the point where the Scioto River enters the Ohio, they were awoke a little before daylight by Flinn, who was on the watch. Far down the river was to be seen the alarming gleam of camp-fires. Those fires could have been kindled only by the Indians. There was no hope of escaping their keen eyes. There might be a. hundred warriors there, thoroughly armed with rifles, and with war canoes by which they could assail the boat from every quarter. The windings of the river were such that it was impossible to tell on which side of the stream the camp stood. They could not land without certain destruction. They could not anchor. They could not force their way back against the current. All that remained to them was to float down to their fate, whatever that fate might be. As the current bore them swiftly on, it ere long became manifest that the encampment of the savages was on the Ohio shore. Soon two white men appeared upon the bank, in apparently a frenzy of terror. In the most earnest and piteous tones they entreated the voyagers to come to the bank and take them on board. "We were captured," they said, "a few days ago by the Indians, at Kennedy's Bottom. Last night we escaped. The savages are in hot pursuit of us. Our death, by the most horrible torture, is certain unless you come to our rescue. You have nothing to fear. There are no Indians near enough to fire upon you before you have time to push out again into the middle of the stream. For the love of God save us, and do not leave two of your unfortunate countrymen to be tortured to death by the savages." The voyagers, in accordance with their resolution, steeled their hearts against these imploring cries. The boat was swept along by the swollen current, at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. The two white men, perceiving the obduracy of the boatmen, ran along the bank evidently anguish stricken, and uttering the most lamentable entreaties to be saved. Human nature could not long withstand such supplication. The kind-hearted girls entreated the captain to go ashore. A council was held of the six on board the boat. Captain May, with Johnson and Skyles, declared that it was not safe to listen to their cry; chat the chances were that a party of savages was in the forest, compelling the men, by HISTORY OF OHIO - 479 threats of the most awful torture, to do their bidding; and that the moment the bows of the boat touched the shore they would be fired upon from ambush and all massacred. But Flinn and the two Miss Flemmings pleaded for the fugitives. They urged that there was every evidence that the men were sincere; that there were too many circumstances corroborating their statement to render it reasonable to suppose that their story was made up for the occasion ; and that it would be an eternal disgrace to them all, should they allow two of their fellow countrymen miserably to perish when they could so easily rescue them. Flinn heroically made a proposition which he said could be carried into effect without endangering any one but himself. The boat had now drifted nearly a mile below the men who were still despairingly running along the shore. He offered, if Captain May would only touch the shore with the bow of the boat, that he would leap on land before it would be possible for the Indians, even if they were at hand, to arrest the boat. The captain should immediately push from the shore and abandon him to his fate. If then he found that there was no danger all could be taken on board. This plan was assented to. But the unwieldy and heavily-laden boat, when out of the current, was moved with difficulty. It took a much longer time than was expected to reach the bank. The moment the bows grated upon the sand Flinn leaped from the boat. At that moment six savages rushed upon him from the dense wood. They seized him, and with their rifles opened upon the crew a deadly fire. The panic was terrible. Two seized their rifles to return the fire. One seized an oar to push out into the stream. But such a mass could not easily be moved by one puny arm. The forest seemed to be alive with the savages, as with horrid yells they came rushing on. The boat became entangled in the bows of the trees. The Indians, at the distance of scarcely ten paces, were pouring in their fire. There were many horses on board. Some were struck by the bullets. All were terrified. They broke their halters and plunged madly to and fro. All on board threw themselves on their faces as some slight protection. The yells of the Indians added to the terrors of the awful scene. The wary Indians, ever careful not to expose themselves, continued their fire. Soon all the horses were killed. One of the girls, venturing to raise her head a little, was 480 - HISTORY OF OHIO. pierced through the brain by a bullet, and fell dead. Skyles was struck by a bullet, which shattered his shoulder blade. May received a ball through the forehead, and dropped lifeless. The lad Johnston and one of the Miss Flemmings alone remained unharmed, with the exception of Flinn, who was a captive on the shore. Twenty of the savages now boarded the boat, some swimming to it, and climbing over its sides. Johnston, making a virtue of necessity, received them with apparent kindness, and helped them in. They all seemed in high glee, and very good natured. They shook him quite cordially by the hand, exclaiming in broken English, " How de do? " Skyles was writhing in anguish under his painful wound. Miss Flemming was sitting silent and pallid with horror by the side of her dead sister. The Indians greeted them both civilly. They then proceeded to scalping the dead, and the lifeless bodies were thrown overboard. The scalps were stretched upon hoops and hung up to dry. They then drew the boat ashore and very eagerly examined their prize. The unhappy Skyles, tortured by his cruel wound, saw his silks, cambrics and broadcloths seized by the barbarian spoilers, while many of his most precious articles were trampled contemptuously in the mire. At length they came upon a keg of whisky. A general shout of exultation greeted this discovery. Everything else was forgotten, and, in a tumult of delight, they rushed ashore. They built an immense fire, and all gathered around it, dancing and singing. Thus far, in the excitement and eagerness of examining their prize, they had made no attempt to rob the captives of their clothing. Johnston was quite richly dressed, for a boatman, having provided himself with a new suit just before sailing. He had a warm broadcloth surtout, a thick red flannel vest, a ruffled shirt, and an excellent pair of boots. While they were gathered around the fire, a stout Shawnee chief, whose name he afterwards learned to be Chick-a-tom-mo, came up and eyed his finery very closely. He then took hold of the skirt of the overcoat, and giving it several very expressive jerks, indicated, by gestures not to be misunderstood, that he wished for it. Johnston drew it off and politely handed it to him. The red flannel waist-coat was now exposed to view in all its shining glories. The chief examined it with great admiration, and regarding it HISTORY OF OHIO - 481 as an emblem of the wearer's martial rank, exclaimed: " Hugh! you big cappatain ? " Johnston replied, in language which the chief seemed to understand, that he was not an officer, that he had nothing to do with military affairs. The chief, towering up as imposingly as he could, said : " Me cappatain all dese," pointing to the other Indians, "my sogers." He then demanded the waistcoat. It was a cold windy March day. Johnston gave it to him, and stood shivering in his shirt and pantaloons. Just then an old Indian of hideous aspect, and filthy in the extreme, came up and fixed an eagle eye upon Johnston's nice clean ruffled shirt, and striking him upon the shoulder, said, in imperative tones: "Swap, swap.! " There was nothing to be done but to obey. As he was drawing the shirt over his head, exposing his bare chest to the really wintry air, another Indian came up, a young man of very stout proportions, and of unexpectedly humane spirit. The young Indian, whose name was afterwards found to be Tom Lewis, indicating that he had seen much of the whites, pulled the half-drawn shirt back again, and severely reproached the old Indian for robbing the captive of his shirt in such cold weather. Soon after this, the kind young man, with an extraordinary look of pity and compassion, threw his own blanket over the shivering shoulders of Johnston. This act greatly cheered the poor prisoner, for it proved that, even among the savages, there were those who had sympathies of kindness and generosity, to which one might appeal not in vain. The two white men who had decoyed the boat ashore, now took seats by the side of the captives and began to make excuses for their infamous conduct. They said that the Indians had compelled them, by threats of instant death, to do as they had done. But these cheap words could by no means atone for so atrocious a crime. They had both been captured by the Indians from Kentucky. The name of one was Thomas, of the other, Divine. While they were talking, a negro, who was also a captive, came forward. He said that Thomas had been very averse to having any share in the treachery, but that Divine, having had a promise from the Indians that, in case of success, his own liberty should be restored to him, had planned the project, and with great eagerness entered into its executiou. In some things the Indians had a high sense of honor ; and it was known that they would be faithful 482 - HISTORY OF OHIO. in keeping such a promise. This charge against Divine was afterwards fully substantiated. As the whole band of Indians and white captives were gathered around the bonfire, the Indians preparing for their, carouse with the contents of the whisky keg, six Indian women came up, leading with them two white children, a girl and a boy. They had recently been taken from Kentucky. Skyles' wound was agonizingly painful, and Flinn, who, in his adventurous life, had picked up some little knowledge of surgery, dressed the wound as well as he could. An Indian woman kindly washed the wound, and, catching the bloody water in a tin cup, insisted upon Skyles' drinking it, saying that it would accelerate the cure. This Indian band, it soon was learned, was composed of detachments from several tribes. There were Shawnees, Wyandots, Delawares, and Cherokees. The booty captured was divided among them by an aged chief, and all seemed satisfied with his decision. Flinn was given to a Shawnee warrior. Skyles to an old, wrinkled, crabbed Indian of the same tribe, who looked like a fiend incarnate. Johnston was particularly fortunate. He was assigned to a young Shawnee chief, who developed very generous and noble traits of character. His countenance was mild, open, and prepossessing. His figure was very fine, his movements graceful, and in native courtliness of bearing he would have graced almost any society. Miss Flemming was surrendered to the Cherokees. These arrangements were very promptly made. Though the Indians were sure that there could be no foe near them, and therefore they did not deem it necessary to post any sentinels, still, every man placed his gun directly behind him, the breech resting upon the ground and the barrel resting between the forks of a small stake, driven into the ground, so that upon the slightest alarm each man could easily seize his gun. After the distribution of their captives, Flinn and Johnston with Thomas and Divine, were ordered to prepare oars for the boat they had taken that the Indians might man it with their warriors, and compel the white men to row it to the attack of other boats which might be descending the Ohio. They manifested much sagacity in these preparations, which occupied the remainder of the day. That night the Indians had a grand carouse. Their camp-fire threw its lurid gleams over the wide expanse of miles of forest and HISTORY OF OHIO - 483 of river. Their demoniac revelry, blending with the cry of the bear and the howl of the wolf echoed through those vast solitudes, reminding one rather of the maddened yell of fiends in the world of woe, than of the enjoyments of rational men, originally made in God's own image. The next morning the Indians, as soon as it was light, sent their scouts up the river to watch for descending boats. Those who remained in the encampment painted their faces, dressed their scalp-tufts, and decorated themselves in the highest style of barbaric military art. Each warrior had a pocket mirror which had been obtained by previous traffic with the whites. About ten o'clock in the forenoon a canoe was seen close to the Kentucky shore, containing six white men. They were ascending the river, laboriously rowing against the current. All the prisoners were immediately ordered upon pain of death to descend to the water's edge, and make every effort to decoy the canoe within reach of the Indian rifles. Divine entered upon the service with alacrity, seeming to enjoy it, and was very ingenious in the stratagems which he employed. He invented a very lamentable and plausible story of their descending the river in a boat, when it struck a snag and sunk, they escaping only with their lives. He said that they had no guns to obtain food, that they had not come across any Indians, and that they were actually starving. With agony Johnston beheld the canoe put off from the Kentucky shore to cross the river. In vain he endeavored to make signs to them to go back. The Indians concealed themselves among the willows which grew very densely along the river banks, As soon as the humane, unsuspecting men drew within gunshot, the Indians selected their victims, and taking deliberate aim, fired. Some fell into the river, and in thus falling overset the canoe. which floated down the river with the bodies of the dead. When they fired, the canoe was within one hundred feet of the shore. The Indians, eager for scalps, plunged into the water, and seizing. the dead bodies, obtained the scalps of all. While thus employed their scouts announced another and a far more splendid prize in view. Three large, flat-bottomed boats were in sight, heavily laden with horses and dry goods. They were bound for Lexington, Kentucky. It was then nearly twelve o'clock and the little flotilla was about a mile above the point where the Indians stood concealed in the woods. Instantly all. 484 - HISTORY OF OHIO. was commotion. A large party of warriors sprang into the boat, and compelled their white prisoners to pull at the oars. The three boats, at a short distance from each other, drifted rapidly down the stream, until they came opposite the point where the savages were concealed beneath the shelter of the willows. The Indians then forcing the rowers to their utmost efforts, pushed out rapidly in pursuit, and very speedily opened a heavy fire upon their victims. The boats returned the fire, and a warm contest ensued, as the contending parties floated rapidly side by side, down the swift current of the stream. The Indian warriors, though they had but one boat, greatly outnumbered the white men. The hindermost boat of the three was for a time in great danger. It had but one pair of oars, was heavily laden, and had only three or four men on board. The Indians made for that boat, and swept the deck with an incessant fire from their rifles. The men at the oars in this boat strained every nerve in the endeavor to overtake their companions who were in the advance, while Captain Marshall, who was in command, stood firmly at the steering oar, with a shower of bullets whistling around him. The Indians, in their eagerness to overtake the whites, left the swift central current, and endeavored to cut across the river, from point to point, hoping by shortening the distance to gain the advantage. They thus lost the force of the current, and found themselves rapidly dropping astern. The practiced rowers in the white man's boat pushed on with renewed zeal, while the second boat waited for them. As soon as they came in contact the crew leaped on board the larger and better manned barge, and they abandoned their own, with its horses, goods, and all its contents to the enemy. The two crews, thus united, were enabled to shoot ahead with increased rapidity, so that they soon overtook the leading boat, into which they also leaped, surrendering another richly freighted -craft to the foe. This boat, in which all were now assembled, was the largest and strongest of all. It had six pair of oars, and being so strongly manned, was soon beyond the reach of the bullets of the savages. Fortunately the Indians, accustomed only to the paddle, did not know how to row. The white men were skilled in the use of the oars. The captive whites, who were forced into the chase, while apparently doing their best, were careful never to 486 - HISTORY OF OHIO. pull together, and did everything in their power to favor the escape of their friends. The Indian, also, who endeavored to steer, was not a skilled helmsman. Though the chase continued for an hour, the Indians then became satisfied that they could not overtake the white men. Abandoning the pursuit, they turned their attention to the two boats which had thus been deserted. They were both drawn to the shore, and to their unbounded delight they discovered that the prize which had fallen into their hands was rich beyond their most sanguine expectations. There were several fine horses on board these capacious barges, and a large supply of sugar, flour, chocolate and other inestimable treasures. Another keg of whisky was found, which discovery was greeted with more exuberant applause than was any other of the acquisitions. These Indian warriors ever carried their home with them. Wherever they chanced to be was their home. They resolved to regale themselves with another magnificent feast. The sublime and gigantic forest, with no underbrush, carpeted with green sward, and bordered on the south by the wide-flowing river, presented a lawn for such a festival as no park which the hand of opulence had reared could rival. The sun shone in beautifully upon them from the south. The trees and the rising hills beyond sheltered them from the cold March winds. With their hatchets they soon constructed several wigwams, which rose in graceful beauty beneath the canopy of foliage which was even then beginning to clothe the forest. The warriors, in their gay attire of plumes and fringes and gorgeously colored robes, as they flitted about among the trees, added to the enchantment of the scene. Fire, bright illumination, seems to be ever and inseparably the companion of festivity. As the shades of evening darkened around them, one of the grandest of bonfires which ever graced a savage carousal was built. A large kettle was filled with chocolate and sugar, the Indians seeming to understand perfectly the art of preparing the rich beverage. Somehow they learned that young Johnston understood the art of cookery. He was ordered to make some flour cakes, and bake them in the fire. A deer skin was handed him as a tray on which to knead the flour. As this skin had been used for some time as a saddle, it was not in a condition to add to the appetite of the white lookers on. HISTORY OF OHIO - 487 Johnston made some dumplings, sweetened them with sugar, and boiled them in the chocolate. The Indians, in devouring such unimagined delicacies, gave utterance to the most unbounded satisfaction. They praised the cook in their most eulogistic strains, and declared that he should ever henceforth serve them in that capacity. As with the white men, the wine comes after the feast, so with these Indian revelers the whisky came, after they had gorged themselves with their unaccustomed food. The beverage, so precious yet so fatal to them, as to all the rest of mankind, had been carefully guarded. As usual, in preparation for a disgraceful drunken bout, a select band was appointed to keep sober, and to watch over the inebriates when frenzied with the fire-water. With what was intended as true hospitality, their white prisoners were invited to share in their carouse. Johnston and Skyles declined the invitation. But Flinn, a backwoodsman of generous impulses, but of semi-barbarian habits, eagerly joined the revelers. He drank as deeply as any, and soon, in the frenzy of intoxication, forgot all his calamities and lost all self-control. He fell into a quarrel with a drunken Indian, and, being a man of wonderful muscular strength, gave his antagonist an unmerciful beating. Several of the tribe to which that Indian belonged rushed upon him with fury; but the others interposed, with peals of laughter, saying that Flinn had exhibited genuine pluck, that it was a fair fight, and that he should have fair play. As Johnston and Skyles had refused to join the revelers, it was feared that they might attempt to escape during the scene of tumult and confusion which would ensue. They were therefore bound. But as there was danger that they might be assailed by some of the Indians, in their drunken fury, and killed, they were removed to a distance and laid down beside some trees. While in this helpless condition, unable in the slightest degree to defend themselves, they saw with terror a burly savage reeling towards them, with his drawn knife in his hand, and uttering drunken curses. The wretch, when within a few paces of them, stopped, eyed them savagely, and harangued them madly for a minute, in language which they could not understand. Having worked himself up to a state of insane fury, he uttered a hideous yell, and springing upon Skyles, seized him by the hair and endeavored to scalp him. He was so intoxicated that he worked very clumsily, though he cut a severe gash in Skyles' head. 488 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Before he had accomplished his purpose, the guard appointed for the general protection ran up at their utmost speed, and seizing him by the shoulders hurled him to the distance of several yards. The escape of poor, wounded, suffering Skyles was very extraordinary, and it was some time before he could recover from the agitation of the scene. The next morning the Indians separated. The party to which Flinn belonged remained at the river, hoping to intercept more boats. Johnston's party directed their steps in a northerly direction toward their distant homes on the banks of the Maumee. Among the prizes which they found in the boat abandoned by Captain Marshall there was a cow. Johnston was required to lead her by a halter. As she was unaccustomed to this mode of travel, she proved exceedingly refractory. We are told that, " when he took one side of a tree, she regularly chose the other. Whenever he attempted to lead her, she planted her feet firmly before her, and refused to move a step. When he strove to drive her, she ran off into the bushes, dragging him after her, to the no small injury of his person and dress. The Indians were in a roar of laughter throughout the whole day, and appeared highly to enjoy his perplexity."* After the first day's march, at night they reached a small Indian village, or rather encampment. Here they left the women and children of their party. Also, to the great relief of Johnston, they slaughtered the cow, and had a great feast, fortunately without any whisky to inflame their wild passions. The kind-hearted Mess-ha-wa, to whom Johnston had been committed, was absent this night. The wary Indians, far more cautious than the white people often were, thinking it possible that they might be pursued, had entrusted a guard of several warriors to Mess-ha-wa, who was to bring up the rear. During his absence, Johnston was entrusted to an Indian of very inhuman character. After the feast he cruelly bound Johnston that he might not escape during the night. As he drew the cord tightly around the wrist; causing great pain, Johnston ventured to complain. The merciless fellow affected to fall into a great passion. Uttering a revolting oath, which he had learned from the lips of vulgar, swearing white men, he drew the tightly twisted cord with all the * Western Adventures, by John A. McClung, HISTORY OF OHIO - 491 strength of his brawny muscles, burying it in the tender flesh of his victim. The anguish was most acute. During the whole night Johnston remained thus fearfully tortured, moaning in almost unendurable pain. In the morning Mess-ha-wa came. He found his prisoner in a burning fever, with his hands dreadfully swollen. He was very indignant, immediately cut the cords, and assailed, in language of severest rebuke, the wretch who had wantonly inflicted the torture. The march was resumed. Mess-ha-wa watched over his captive with the utmost tenderness. He could not have treated a brother more kindly. On the other hand, the savage fiend to whom Skyles had been entrusted, seemed to delight in making him miserable. Notwithstanding his inflamed wound, he piled upon his back a heavy burden of baggage, and also compelled him to carry his rifle. Thus his wound was kept continually irritated, and prevented from healing. He continually assailed him with curses, often with blows, and nearly starved him. The Indians were east of the Scioto River. They soon reached the stream, which it was necessary to cross. It could not be forded, as it was swollen by the spring rains. It was but a partial protection, after all, which the kind hearted Mess-ha-wa could afford his captive. It was necessary to build a raft. Johnston was compelled to work like a slave. A large log was to be carried for this purpose several hundred yards. Two Indians took the light end. The heavy butt was given to Johnston alone. With convulsive strength he placed it upon his shoulder. As he tottered along it was crushing him. Sinking beneath the load, he shouted to those at the other end, " take care," and dropped his burden. They did not understand the warning, and were both violently knocked down, and rendered, for a moment, insensible. Then, seizing their tomahawks, they rushed, with curses upon their lips, towards Johnson, and would instantly have killed him had not the others interposed. These savages had a singular sense of justice. They reviled the two Indians who had placed upon the shoulder of their captive twice as heavy a burden as they could carry themselves. They laughed uproariously at their merited discomfiture, and would not allow them to lay any hand of violence upon the victim of their fury. 30 492 - HISTORY OF OHIO. They all crossed the river on the raft. The Indians, deeming themselves now entirely secure from pursuit, began to journey much more leisurely. Johnston was quite impatient to reach the villages on the Maumee. He hoped to find there some benevolent trader, French or English, who would ransom him and set him at liberty. Johnston gives the following account of a game of cards which they were accustomed to play with the most intense enjoyment. The game was called Nosey. The Indians took an ordinary pack of cards, such as they obtained from the traders. The pack was equally divided between the two players. The game consisted in each one endeavoring, by some process not explained, to get all the cards into his own possession. The winner had the right to ten fillips at his adversary's nose. This the loser was to meet in perfect gravity. Should the slightest smile curl his lip, he was to receive ten additional fillips, and so on for every smile. At this game the childish Indians would play all day long. They seemed never to be weary of it. A group of bystanders usually looked on, as much entertained as were the players Shouts of laughter rose from all lips when the penalty was exacted. The Indians were very capricious. Sometimes they were good natured, and seemed peculiarly amiable and smiling. Again they would seem sulky, morose, and cruel in the extreme. Upon one occasion, Johnston asked an aged Shawnee chief how far it was to their village. The chief replied with great good nature. Taking a stick, he drew quite accurately upon the sand a diagram of their route. He pointed out the situation of the Ohio River and of the Sciofo, of the various Indian villages, and waived his hand for every day which would be necessarily occupied on the journey. Johnston then inquired how many inhabitants their village contained. The placidity of the chief at once disappeared. He was thrown into a great rage. His eyes flashed fire. " Once," said he, " we were a great, great nation. We had many warriors. The Long Knives came, and they have killed nearly all of us. There are but few left. But so long as there is a single Shawnee alive, we will fight, fight, fight. When there is no Shawnee then there is no fight." It so chanced that they passed through a forest which a surveying party had explored. The indications of their encroachments HISTORY OF OHIO - 493 were evident by ax-marks on a tree. The Indians halted, examined the trees for some moments in silence, and then they unitedly set up a maddened yell. They gave vent to their rage, and added to its intensity by smiting the tree with their hatchets, and by cursing their prisoners with such menacing gestures that they supposed their doom was sealed. It seemed that such anger could never be appeased. Resuming silently their journey, they had advanced but a little distance when they came to a creek of deep, dark water, which they had to pass on a slippery log. The weather was bitterly cold. A severe frost during the night had glazed with ice the log which had been barked. The Indians passed in safety. Johnston's inexperienced foot slipped, and he was soused over head and ears in the cold flood. The Indians, who had just been apparently almost bursting with rage, raised shouts of good-natured laughter. Their anger was instantly all dispelled. It was one of their favorite amusements, when good natured, to compel their captives to dance in English fashion, keeping time to their own music. Again, indulging in more savage enjoyment, they would build a large fire and force their captives to leap through the flames with such rapidity as not to be seriously burned. The slow and painful journey through the wilderness, which we are now describing, occupied several weeks. Thus far Skyles and Johnston had been kept together. They were now separated. One party with Skyles took a westerly course, and directed their steps toward the valley of the Great Miami. The other party turned north, seeking the Sandusky. A negro slave had escaped from Kentucky, and had taken refuge among the Wyandots. They had received him kindly and adopted him into the tribe. A Wyandot Indian, who had become a very shrewd trader, had taken the negro into his service as an assistant. He found the negro's knowledge and intelligence to be of great value to him. The Indian was in the habit of purchasing, at Detroit, whisky, powder, blankets and other such articles as would be in demand, packing them upon horses and selling them in the Indian villages for furs and hides, often making a thousand per cent. on his sales. This man, with his negro attendant, casually encountered, in one of the trails of the forest, the party journeying with Johnston towards the Sandusky. The trader produced his rum, and imme- 494 - HISTORY OF OHIO. diately a brisk traffic ensued ; the Indians rapidly disposing of the articles which they had obtained from the boats. Johnston saw his admirable boots, for which he had paid eight dollars in Virginia but a few weeks before, exchanged for a pint of rum. Other articles were sold at the same rate. The Indians, as usual on such occasons, laid in an ample supply of whisky, and made their deliberate preparations for a night's carouse. Johnston, for his own personal safety, and also to prevent his escape, was entrusted to the care of two sober Indians. They bound him securely with a cord, the two ends of which they passed under their own bodies, as they laid themselves down to sleep in the open air, one on each side of their prisoner. He could not move without giving them warning. In the night it began to rain. The falling flood woke Johnston. The Indians regarded it no more than would a wolf or a buffalo. Johnston, unable to extricate himself, was endeavoring to submit to his lot in patience, when the kind-hearted negro, with benevolence characteristic of his race, came to him and courteously invited him to take shelter beneath his tent, which stood near by. Johnston was beginning to explain to his friend that he was so fettered that he could not extricate himself without the consent of his guards, when they, roused by the incident, and supposing that • an escape was intended, sprang to their feet, grappled their captive with convulsive violence, and simultaneously gave that terrific yell which was called the alarm whoop. The cry seemed to be instantly repeated by every Indian in the encampment. The whole band, nearly all in a frenzy of drunkenness, rushed towards Johnston, and he gave himself up for lost. The poor negro was pallid with terror. The savages, however, proved more considerate than could reasonably have been expected of them. They were doubtless conducting Johnston to their village, in anticipation of a grand revel in burning him at the stake. To kill him in a moment of anger would spoil their sport. Several of the Indians seized Johnston and dragged him violently a few paces into the woods. They then questioned him with the shrewdness of a cross-examining lawyer respecting his interview with the negro—what the negro said and what he said. He replied by simply and clearly telling the whole truth. They then took the terrified negro aside,, and with their gleaming toma- HISTORY OF OHIO - 495 hawks brandished before his face, assured him that Johnston had confessed all, and that they would scalp him on the spot if he did not tell the whole truth. His story agreed exactly with that which Johnston had told. As it was not possible that he could know what Johnston had said, these logical barbarians inferred that their story must be true, and that no plot for escape had been concerted. The Indians were completely sobered by the alarm, and as it was raining violently, they allowed Johnston to take shelter in the comfortable wigwam which the negro had reared for himself. Johnston was in the vigor of youth and health, and being much exhausted he soon fell very soundly asleep—sleeping like a log, as is often said. But he was soon tormented by a terrible nightmare. He dreamed that he was drowning in the creek into which he had that morning fallen, and that he was suffering all the horrors of strangulation. At length he awoke. He found that a burly Indian had entered the wigwam, seated himself upon his breast as if he had been a log, and was quietly smoking his pipe. Johnston threw the Indian off. The savage did not resent it ; but taking another seat, with great gravity resumed smoking his pipe. The next morning the warriors, in continuation of their revel, had a great war dance. They painted themselves hideously, dressed themselves in their most gorgeous military display, and endeavored to fan the flame of their passions into fury, as they recited the wrongs which they had received from the white men. A stake was planted in the ground and painted in alternate stripes of black and red. The dancers circled around it, chanting in angry tones their accusations and denunciations. " The pale faces," they sang, " have robbed us of our lands ; they have slaughtered our warriors ; they have burned our villages; they have cut up and trampled down our corn; they have insulted our women; they have frightened the game from our fields they have driven our wives and children into the forest to starve." More and more enraged the warriors became, as the song and the dance went on. At length, Chick-a-tom-mo, to whom we have before alluded as the chief of the band who had robbed Johnston of his warm surtout and gaudy vest, maddened with rum and the excitement of the carouse, with eyes flashing fire like those of a maniac, broke from the dancers, and rushing to the spot where 496 - HISTORY OF OHIO. Johnston sat calmly contemplating the scene, struck him a violent blow with his clenched fist. Then, seeing the two white children near him, who were prisoners, he snatched up a tomahawk, and swinging it through the air, plunged like a maddened bull upon them. The little creatures, terrified, fled, uttering piercing screams. The drunken savage soon overtook the girl, and was just about to bury his tomahawk in her brain when Mess-ha-wa, with the fleetness of a deer, overtook him, seized the uplifted arm, and hurled the would-be murderer several paces. back. The noble Indian caught the shrieking child in his arms, and then ran to catch and protect the boy. The little fellow, terrorstriken, ran so fast, often doubling in his flight, that it was some time before he could be caught. Mess-ha-wa took them both in his arms, and spoke to them so kindly as to soothe their fears, and though he addressed them only in the Indian language, they instinctively understood his meaning, and clung to him for protection. Chick-a-tom-mo, probably conscious how greatly he was in the wrong, sullenly retired, without any attempt to resent the violent interference of Mess-ha-wa. The rum was not yet all gone, and the revelry was to continue until the last drop had disappeared. The Indians never thought of laying up any for future use. While the disgusting drunken bout continued, a Mingo chief, who was out on a hunting excursion, joined the party. Nothing loth, he accepted the cordial invitation to join in the drinking. Drunkenness sometimes creates rage, sometimes maudlin good nature. The Mingo, chief took advantage of a moment when all seemed to him to be in a particularly loving mood, to ask as a special favor that they would give their captive, Johnston, to him. He had lately killed a Wyandot warrior; his widow was inconsolable; she had no one to bring game to her lodge; she insisted that the Mingo chief should either provide her with another husband, or, in accordance with an ancient custom, should lay down his own life. He said that the squaw was old, toothless, bent with rheumatism, and a terrible scold. He was too poor to hire any one to marry her; he could not think of marrying her himself. He urged, therefore, that they should give him their captive, who being young and handsome, would be gladly accepted by the squaw. HISTORY OF OHIO - 497 The Mingo chief knew the fate of burning at the stake, for which Johnston was reserved. He supposed that Johnston might be aware of it. He therefore thought that he would gladly avail himself of the opportunity of saving his life by marrying into the tribe. The intoxicated Indians, in their excessive good nature, agreed to this. Johnston, who had many fears respecting his approaching fate, made no objection to the arrangement. He thought the plan greatly increased his chances of final escape. All the Indians gathered around him with congratulations, shaking him heartily by the hand, and assuring him that a fine Wyandot squaw was waiting to throw herself into his arms. Within an hour the Indians went on their way, leaving Johnston with his new master. The Mingo chief, whose route led along the same trail, conscious of the capricious character of his countrymen, was anxious to put as much distance as he could between himself and the former owners of the prisoner, tarried at the encampment until nearly evening. He then shouldered his. wallet, and, accompanied by Johnston, followed slowly on. As soon as the Shawanese became sober, they regretted their liberality, and began to reproach one another for the senseless transaction. They halted, waiting for the Mingo chief to overtake them. By noon the next day he made his appearance. Clamorously, they demanded the return of their prisoner. He demurred. A scene of violent altercation ensued, accompanied with angry gestures and many oaths — for the Indians had learned of the white men how to swear. At length Mess-ha-wa silently mounted a horse, and led another by a halter. He then approached the spot where Johnston stood, and ordered him to leap upon the spare horse. The captive, bewildered, not knowing what was best, and having confidence in his friend, immediately obeyed. The whip was applied to both steeds, and with clattering hoofs they rushed along the trail, and soon disappeared in the distance. Thus the affair was settled. CHAPTER XXVI. DOOM OF THE CAPTIVES. ARRIVAL AT UPPER SANDUSKY THE FRENCH TRADER - ATTEMPT AT RANSOM DESPAIR OF JOHNSTON - BOASTING OF THE INDIANS- THE INDIANS IN BEGGARY - JOHNSTON REDEEMED-AWFUL FATE OF FLINN - SKYLES RUNS THE GAUNTLET - DOOMED TO BE BURNED THE FLIGHT AND THE PURSUIT - WILD AND PERILOUS ADVENTURES - WONDERFUL ESCAPE - PERILS IN DETROIT - SUFFERINGS OF Miss FLEMING BOUND TO THE STAKE HER SINGULAR RESCUE BY KING CRANE - SUBSEQUENT HISTORY - JOHNSTON'S RETURN TO HIS FRIENDS - FATE OF THE PROMINENT INDIANS. MESS-HA-WA, with his prisoner companions, rode, with great rapidity, for an hour or two, when they reached an Indian village on the Upper Sandusky. Here they stopped and waited the arrival of Chick-a-tom-mo with his band. He soon appeared, accompanied by his warriors, and followed by the discontented Mingo. The poor chief, feeling that his own life was at stake, gazed upon his lost captive with an expression of the most bitter disappointment and sadness. At length, however, he approached Johnston, shook him kindly by the hand, bade him adieu, and with an exceedingly disconsolate air left the village. At Sandusky there was a French trader by the name of Duchonquet. He had resided there for several years, on perfectly friendly terms with the Indians, engaged in the fur trade. He was a kind hearted man, became deeply interested in John ston, who was a frank, ingenuous, fine looking young man, and, as we have said, in all the vigor and promise of but eighteen years of age. Knowing well the character of the Indians, Mr. Duchonquet had many fears that he should not be able to accomplish anything effectual in the prisoner's behalf. He, however, assured Johnston that he would leave no efforts untried to rescue him. HISTORY OF OHIO - 499 That evening, he sought an interview with the chief, Chick-atom-mo, who seemed to be regarded as a superior chief, to whose authority all the other chiefs were subordinate. M. Duchonquet offered a very large reward for the ransom of the prisoner. The chief replied : " Your offer is liberal and ample. But no consideration whatever can induce us to surrender our captive until we have exhibited him in all our principal villages." When this answer was reported to Johnston, it filled him with despair. M. Duchonquet shared his emotions, and trembled for the fate of his friend. The Shawanese had still in reserve some of the goods which they had purloined from the boats. With these they purchased another keg of rum, and prepared for another carouse. Johnston entreated M. Duchonquet to try the Indians again, when perhaps their hearts would be mellowed with drink. He complied. But the refusal was still peremptory. Johnston, in a state of great anxiety, wished him to inquire what Shawanese village they intended first to take him to, and what was to be his fate when he arrived there. The chief replied that he was to be taken to all their villages on the Maumee, but declined giving any answer as to the fate which awaited him. Johnston was now in utter despair. He had often heard that every white prisoner taken to the Maumee villages fell a sacrifice to the vengeance of the savages. He had also heard that the Indians carefully concealed from their prisoners the dreadful doom to which they were destined, lest they should make more desperate efforts to escape, or even commit suicide. But suddenly affairs took a very strange turn. The Wyandot trader, flushed with his recent success, hastily obtained a fresh supply of rum, and hurriedly entered Sandusky with several horses laden with kegs of that fatal beverage, which had such resistless charms for the Indian. In three days he stripped them of everything— of every skin, fur and article of value which the boats had afforded. They were left destitute, ragged, hungry, and in abject poverty. They had sent forward glowing accounts of their great achievements, and of the wealth and grandeur with which they were returning to their native villages. The pride of the Indian warriors was humiliated at the thought of presenting themselves, after all their boastings, before their friends in such a beggarly