(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) SEPARATING FROM THE CROWD - 1125 hypothesis, though still retaining their wagons, several of the messes of our train sold considerable quantities of pork, hard bread, etc., at fifty or sixty cents per pound, which, being six or eight times their cost, was supposed to be a good speculation. Whether such was the case, we shall see before we get through. All safely across the river, and somewhat refreshed by our three days' rest, we pluckily resumed our journey. A succession of rugged hills, the last range being the Bear River Mountains, with intervening muddy valleys, and difficult crossings of creeks, brings us to Bear river, which, where we struck it, runs about northwest, but sixty-five miles further on turns abruptly to the south and empties into the Great Salt Lake, 150 miles to the southward. AN INDIAN PHILOSOPHER.-A few miles before reaching the bend of Bear river, we passed a number of now celebrated soda springs, and geysers, including steamboat spring, in the bank of the river, ejecting at intervals of a second or two jets of water and vapor, with a sound resembling the puffing of a low-pressure steamboat. From the bend of Bear river, the old Oregon trail runs in a northerly direction, through a fertile valley, about twenty miles, and then over a low divide into the valley of Lewis' Fork, of the Columbia river, on which Fort Hall is situated, the road forking a few miles beyond the fort, the right keeping on northwesterly into Oregon and the left running southwesterly towards California. The year before, as above stated, about one-half of the emigrants went via Fort Hall, the balance by Salt Lake. This year, however, an early emigrant, by the name of Sublette, had discovered a so-called "cut-off," by which, proceeding due west from the bend of Beaver river, over a succession of rugged mountain ranges intersecting the regular trail on the other side, about one-half of the distance, could be saved. Imbued with the desire to " get there " as quickly as possible, nearly the entire northern wing went that way. . Having been advised by Captain Grant, an agent of the Hudson Bay Company, whom we met here, to go by Fort Hall, instead of by this "cut-off," when we reached the diverging point we stopped to hold a " council of war." The train was about evenly divided in sentiment, when an old Snake Indian, who seemed to comprehend the situation, volunteered to enlighten us upon the subject. Pointing westward, by a motion of his hand, he indicated the number of high mountain ranges we would have to climb and descend, with rapid intervening streams to cross, as well as the scarcity of feed, by the Sublette route, and, by similar signs, the avoidance of difficult hills with plenty of feed, by the Fort Hall route, clinching his pantomimic argument by raising the bail of one of our water-buckets, to a perpendicular and tracing the circumference with his hand, and then laying it down on the edge of the bucket, going through the same motion, indicating that it really was no further to go around the hills than to go over them, while the labor for both men and teams would be less and feed far better. We finally took the old Indian's advice, and though rather lonesome, until we again fell in with the Grand Procession, we had no reason to regret our choice, besides lying by a day or two on account of sickness, actually reaching the junction ahead of many 1126 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. who left the bend of Bear river about the same time we did, thus demonstrating, anew, the old adage that "the longest way around is the shortest way home." A CHARACTERISTIC INCIDENT.—In crossing Ham's Fork of Bear river, a narrow but rapid stream, on descending the steep bank, by the mismanagement of our driver, John McKibben, the off hind mule became entangled in the evener and whippletrees of the leaders, and was thrown beneath the pole with his head under water. Holmes, who was 'on the wagon, and Carson and myself, who were horse-back, rushed to the rescue, and by "sloshing around," waist-deep in the muddy water ten or fifteen minutes, succeeded in straightening out the tangle and saving the animal's life. THE MAGIC CHEESE.—Among the provisions taken from home by our mess, was a rich, fifty-five pound Tallmadge-built cheese. This, in a closely-fitting box, was packed in the bottom of the wagon. There it remained undisturbed for about three weeks, when, getting cheese hungry, I cut out a wedge of five or six pounds for present use, replacing the balance in the box. Two weeks later, in seeking to replenish our provision chest, on opening the box, I found the cheese apparently as perfect as when taken from the press. By brushing off the mould which had gathered upon the surface, I found where the cut had been made, took another wedge, precisely the same size, and replaced the box, as before. Another fortnight passes by, when a third requisition on the supply finds the cheese again whole, though by this time quite a visible diminution in the thickness of the oleaginous product is apparent, the constant motion of the wagon causing the pulpy substance of the cheese to settle and adjust itself to the dimensions of the box. Measures were then taken to prevent its further spread, a precaution that would scarcely be necessary with most of the cheese product of the present day. A " PALE " BRANDY EPISODE.—While many emigrants took along, as a prime necessity, a good supply of whisky and other liquors—generally to their detriment—very little was taken or used by the members of our train. Holmes, however, as purveyor for our mess, purchased, at St. Louis, a half gallon of pure pale brandy, for use in case of sickness or accident, the precious fluid being stored in a tin canteen. Stowed away in the lower depths of our wagon box, the " medicine" remained intact for about six weeks, when, unfortunately, the stifle joint of one of our mules became dislocated. Thinking that bathing it with brandy might aid in keeping the weakened joint in place, when re-set, I extracted the canteen from the wagon, our good-natured mess-mate, McKibben—who with several others were watching the operation with watering mouths— saying: "Wull, I'm bound to have one good swug at it, onyhow!" But lo! and behold! on uncorking the canteen, the ,"pale" brandy panned out as black as ink—the fiery liquid having, by corrosion, been converted into a very pronounced solution of tinand iron. The swiggers declined to swig, and finding no further use for it, as an external remedy, the residue was poured upon the ground. SOMETHING ABOUT INDIANS.—After passing the Indian agency and mission school for the Sac, Fox and Iowa tribes, thirty miles west of St. Joseph, the entire country traversed, before crossing INDIAN BEGGARY, COOKERY, ETC. - 1127 the South Platte, was inhabited by Pawnees, though many of them having taken the cholera from the later emigration of the year before, they fought shy of us, and excepting a few about Fort Kearney, were only seen at a distance. Beyond the junction of the north and south branches of the Platte, however, Indians were abundant. At the head of Ash Hollow, was a small village of the Sioux (Soo) variety, the stalwart chief greeting the emigrants with: "How! How! How! Do! Do! Do!" and an affectionate shake of the hand, and presenting a paper from a government agent asking for contributions to compensate the Indians for the loss of their cattle (buffalo, elk, etc.), grass and fuel, and nearly every mess chipped in a little pork, bread, beans, rice, sugar, matches, tobacco, etc., the collections for the day being stored on buffalo robes spread upon the ground. A few miles further on was a much larger town, with a herd of several hundred head of horses and mules and some oxen feeding upon the plains near by, many of which were undoubtedly stolen from the emigrants, for we had already met several companies returning home on account of having lost their stock. Quite a traffic was carried on here, a small quantity of provisions, tobacco, blankets, etc., purchasing a pretty good horse or mule, though they didn't seem to understand much about the value of money, and wouldn't pay any attention whatever to the cheap brass rings and trinkets, taken along by many of the emigrants for the purpose of traffic. MODEL CULINARY OPERATIONS.—And then, such arrant beggars! Scarcely would we get our camp-fires kindled, than, if permitted to approach, would a hungry-looking squaw, with two or three still hungrier-looking youngsters, squat themselves down near-by, and watch our every movement while cooking and eating'our meals, and by signs make known their anxiety to secure a portion of the savory viands, every morsel thrown to them being devoured with the greatest avidity. And their manner of cooking! In the absence of larger fresh game, the prairie gopher—a little burrower between a squirrel and a rat—was found to make quite a palatable stew. Hunting for a mess one day, Holmes only succeeded in bagging one, which was thrown aside as not worth dressing and cooking. A full grown young Indian, by signs, asking if he might have it, on being answered in the affirmative, went to a neighboring camp fire, covered said gopher with hot ashes and embers for fifteen or twenty minutes, when raking it out and scraping off the ashes and singed hair with his fingers, he devoured the entire rodent, hide, entrails and all, with great gusto. One Sunday, when encamped on Ham's Fork of Bear river, several members of our train visited one of the numerous villages of the Snake Indians found in the vicinity. While there, our wonderment at the large number of wolf-looking dogs they kept was solved by an old squaw knocking one of them on the head with a club, and, almost before it had done kicking, singeing off the hair, over the fire, and without further dressing, placing it in a large stone kettle to boil! I didn't stay to dinner. UNIQUE AND FANCIFUL TOILETS.—The earlier tribes passed were much better dressed than those encountered later—the adults among the latter being rather sparsely clad in dirty blankets, while 1128 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. many of the juveniles were entirely naked. Some of the adults, however, had become possessed of sundry cast-off " civilized " garments, the novel modes of wearing which, very greatly amused the emigrants. If a stalwart buck could secure a high plug hat, he cared for little else. A sleeveless shirt, a ragged coat, vest or pair of pants were to them mines of wealth. One strapping fellow had his long arms stuck through the legs of a dilapidated pair of pants, with the waistband buttoned around his neck, while a gay and festive young squaw had thrust her legs through the sleeves of an old red and white blanket coat, with the skirts fastened about her waist—her head being adorned with a rimless and crownless chip hat. MURDERS, STRATAGEMS AND SPOILS. - Notices were found posted, from time to time, warning us of depredations committed by Indians—stealing stock, and provision, killing guards, etc. As before stated, through our extreme vigilance, we were not seriously incommoded, but came very near it one night. There being no feed near the road, our entire stock was taken to a large meadow or swale, about a mile from camp, and picketed there for the night, with an extra large guard for their protection. Though the night was bright starlight, the dense forest surrounding the meadow created intense darkness. Having eaten their fill the animals laid down to rest, about midnight, and soon not a sound was to be heard, save the tread of the guards, with an occasional word on meeting at the end of their respective beats. Just before daylight, without an object having been seen or a sound heard by the guards to produce such a result, every animal at the same instant sprang to its feet and made a frantic ,-effort to escape, all in the same direction. Fortunately, however, the lariat pins all held, and not one of the seventy-five or eighty animals thus tethered, escaped. Lighting their lanterns and circulating among the stock, the boys --little less frightened than the animals themselves—soon restored them to quiet, though many frightened glances were pointed in the direction from whence the alarm had apparently cotne. Though nothing had been seen or heard by the guards, it was supposed to have been an Indian stratagem to stampede the Mock, to be gathered in by them in the neighboring woods the next day. Many animals were thus lost, and hundred of emigrants compelled to abandon their wagons, and other effects, and with such subsistence as they could carry upon their backs, foot it the last 500 or 600 miles of their journey. FORTS, TROOPS, SHIPWRECK, ETC.-At Fort Kearney there were 175 soldiers, besides the officers and their families, and at Fort Laramie 200 soldiers with the usual complement of officers, women, and children, and quite a number of government teamsters, mechanics, etc.—about 250 souls in all. The new government buildings and property at Fort Hall, were guarded by a single soldier, only, the troops, owing to change of the current of emigration this year, and the trouble made by the Indians on that route, having been transferred to Fort Bridger, on the Salt Lake route. The original Fort Hall was then merely a trading station, occupied by agents of the Hudson Bay and American Fur Companies and their families, from whom we obtained a limited supply of milk and butter, the first at 10 cents per quart, and the latter at 50 cents per pound. SERIOUS ILLNESS FROM MOUNTAIN FEVER - 1129 The representatives of several tribes of Indians were found here, the Snakes predominating. Just beyond the fort were a couple of difficult rivers to cross, the Port Neuff, 300 feet wide, and the Pannack, 350 feet, both rising in the " Cut-off " Mountains and emptying into Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river. An old Walla-Walla Indian and his son, mounted on excellent horses, volunteered to pilot us across these streams. Plunging into the Port Neuff, they showed us that the water would reach about six inches above the bottom of the wagon boxes, making it necessary to raise the box up on blocks, resting upon the rocker and bolster, to prevent our supplies from getting wet, as we had often had occasion to do. Arrived at the Pannack, by the same process they showed .us that to go straight across at that stage of the water, our animals would have to swim, in the rapidest part of the stream, but by heading up stream after getting into the water, and making a long circuit, it could be readily waded. All our wagons got safely over but that of Mills and Anson. The driver, William Denaple, inadvertently driving too far out, before turning up stream, the wagon box was lifted from the blocks, and becoming capsized, floated down the river. By rushing down the river bank and plunging in, on either side, the boys succeeded in saving nearly everything, though in a decidedly moist condition. DENTISTRY EXTRAORDINARY.—Compensating our tawny guides with liberal contributions of bread, sugar, tobacco, matches, etc., we soon after went into camp to give our water-soaked comrades an opportunity to a dry-up;" the rest of us exchanging as much of our hard-bread for their soft-bread, as we could consume before it would be likely to sour or mould. Eight yeas before, the late well-known dentist, Dr. I. E. Carter, had inserted four nice porcelain teeth in the upper jaw of the writer, on hickory pegs. A too ravenous attack on a piece of our hard-bread had twisted off one of the pegs aforesaid, and while the drying process was going forward I thought I would see if I could not remedy the inconvenience occasioned by the absence of said porcelain incisor. Splitting off a fragment from the but-end of our well-seasoned hickory whip-stock, I carefully adjusted one end to the orifice in the tooth, and the other to the orifice in the jaw, and, after extracting the moisture with a little cotton batting purloined from a bed-comforter, on the point of my darning-needle, I placed the tooth in position and drove it home with a horse-shoeing hammer, where it firmly remained for some eight or ten years thereafter. Many other mechanical and " professional " operations were performed upon that journey, without either proper materials or tools, that would do credit to home skill and ingenuity, again and again demonstrating the well-worn truism, that " necessity is the mother of invention." ILLNESS OF MR. SPERRY.—The so-called mountain fever, after getting fairly among the " Rockies," became quite prevalent, and many deaths from that cause occurred among the emigrants. Several of the members of our own company were more or less affected, the most serious case being that of our well-known fellow-citizen, Hon. Ira P. Sperry, of Tallmadge. The second morning after the mishap above recorded, Mr. Sperry was found to be too ill to travel, and the train remained in camp, a few miles below the 1130 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. American Falls, on Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river, three days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Impatient at the delay, the majority of our men voted to move forward, on Monday morning, whether Mr. S. was able to travel or not. Monday morning came and the patient was apparently no better. The balance of the train accordingly pulled out—some of us with sad hearts—leaving Mr. S. and his mess alone in camp, excepting that Mr. James M. Mills took the place of Mr. Philo Wright, who was also quite unwell, transferring Mr. W. to his own wagon; Mr. Jonathan F. Fenn, of Tallmadge, and his man, Leonard Root, also remaining behind. It was understood that we should travel slowly, so that if Mr. S. did get better they could overtake us, notwithstanding which, and the difficult nature of the roads, the end of the week found us on the further side of " Thousand Spring Valley," fully 150 miles from the point where we had left our sick friend, on Monday morning. THE FEVER. BROKEN.—Fortunately, the day we left him, Mr. Sperry's fever abated—possibly from the copious draughts of cold citric-acid "lemonade," administered to him by the writer, while watching with him the night before—and early on Tuesday morning, at his urgent request, making as comfortable a bed for him as possible in the wagon, his attendants again started forward with him, making such good time—keeping advised of our movements by the notices posted from point to point—that they came up with us at the place indicated above, about 5 o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Mr. Sperry has since told me that he never before or since experienced such pleasurable emotions as were produced by the motion of the wagon as they started from that lonely camp. And no wonder! For three or four days he had been lying there, upon the hard earth, with a reasonable prospect that it would soon open to receive his lifeless body—away from his wife and children and every civilized comfort; abandoned by those whom he had so often laid under especial obligations, in the earlier stages of the journey; and now to feel that he was once more in motion; that though still very weak, he was improving; that his destination might possibly be reached; and above all, that he might once more be permitted to join his family and friends in old Tallmadge, were certainly emotions far more easily imagined than described. STEEPLE ROCKS—THE GLORIOUS FOURTH, ETC.—Soon after leaving "Sick Camp," as stated, we left the Oregon trail to the right, passing up Raft river (also rising in the " Cut-Off" mountains) and the principal tributary, Rattlesnake river, with their innumerable muddy and mirey crossings, and on the second day, arrived at the junction with the cut-off road, when it really seemed as though we had got home again, one or two small trains, only, besides our own, having been seen on the Fort Hall route. On comparing notes, we found that, deducting the time we had laid by for sickness, we had made better time in reaching that point than those who had taken the so-called "cut-off." From Rattlesnake river, we passed over the low but rough and nearly barren range of mountains between the Rattlesnake river and Goose Creek, about twenty miles, passing the junction with the Salt Lake road, about mid-way when the grand procession THE DEADLY HUMBOLDT RIVER - 1131 again became a unit. It was also learned, from the notes posted at the junction, and from conversation with emigrants, that the Salt Lake wing had scarcely made as good time as we did, while the hardships of travel and casualties had been fully as great, their only advantage being in the opportunity to replenish supplies at the extravagant rates prevalent among the saints. Just before reaching the junction, we found a series of curious granite formations called " Steeple Rocks"—blocks from twenty to forty feet square, being piled one on top of another to the height of one hundred to one hundred and fifty feet, or more, some of the columns quite regular, and others so over-lapping that seemingly a sudden mountain zephyr might topple them down. Camping under the shadow of these rocks on the night of July 3, on the morning of the Glorious Fourth, the day was duly remembered by a patriotic rendition of "Yankee Doodle" by our martial band, and and by a few extra discharges from our rifles, but though feeling pretty " independent," we could not tarry for a more elaborate celebration. THOUSAND SPRING VALLEY.—The mountain range we had just crossed is the divide between the Columbia and Humboldt valleys. Soon after descending into the latter we reach. the head of "Thousand Spring Valley," a sandy but generally grassy basin about thirty miles in diameter, peculiar from the fact that the large number of considerable streams of pure water which flow into it from the surrounding hills, sink into the sand near the border, to reappear near the center in thousands of springs, or more properly wells, flush with the surface, some of them being unfathomable with any sounding appliances at the command of the emigrant. THE PESTILENT HUMBOLDT.—Thirty miles from Thousand Spring Valley, brings us to the north fork of the Humboldt, and thirty miles further to the south or main branch of that celebrated river, which at that point was found to be fordable, by raising our wagon boxes as heretofore indicated. The previous year, the emigrants had crossed and re-crossed the river its entire length, three hundred miles, at pleasure, but this year, by reason of high water, we were obliged to keep entirely upon its western or sterile side, often making long detours into the neighboring hills to get around impassable sloughs. Nearly its entire length, grass for our stock was only obtainable by swimming the river, wading through water.two or three feet deep, from one to two miles, cutting with sickles and knives, carrying it in bundles upon the back, and towing it across the river with ropes. NEARLY A FATAL SWIM.—Though less than one hundred feet in width, this river was one of the most dangerous streams to swim across, encountered upon the journey. In a high stage of water innumerable eddies are formed, getting into the influence of which the most expert swimmer, being carried round and round, can make no headway, and soon becoming exhausted, sinks to rise no more. One evening, Benjamin D. Wright, of Tallmadge, and Henry Anson and Warren Clark, of Akron, all good swimmers, having arrived with their back-loads of grass, started to swim across so as to be ready to assist in towing the bundles over, when the other grass-gatherers should arrive. Getting into an eddy in mid-stream, they were unable to extricate themselves, while we 1132 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. non-swimmers on shore were unable to render them any assistance with such appliances as we had. The boys were rapidly becoming exhausted, when, providentially, a stranger, from Michigan, came along, and comprehending the situation at a glance, divested himself of his clothing, and seizing the end of a lariat between his teeth, the end of which, by splicing with others, was retained by strong hands on shore, succeeded in rescuing all of them from a watery grave. It transpiring that the stranger's company, having lost their stock and provisions, were footing it through, and subsisting as best they could, he was gratefully taken into the Tallmadge mess, and treated as one of the family during the balance of the journey. HOT SPRINGS, ASHES, DUST, ETC.--Innumerable volcanic indications had been seen upon the journey, notably in the neighborhood of Soda Springs, and at the head of Bear river. But the west bank of the Humboldt, for three hundred miles, was little else than solid packed scoria and ashes. The ashen sage-bush bottoms in the traveled road, were worn down from six to twelve inches, and the plod, plod of the animals, and the continuous grinding of the wagons raised a cloud of fine alkaline dust that permeated everywhere and everything—eyes, ears, nose, moth, clothing, provisions, etc., making the emigrant, with his best efforts at cleanliness, a fit companion, externally, for the " Digger" Indians, the most squalid and filthy,of all the tribes encountered, who infested the last four or five hundred miles of our journey. At several points, especially at the foot of several volcanic hills over which we passed, hot springs were to be found almost side by side with springs of normal coolness. It was said of a Teutonic member of a neighboring train, that lying down to drink from the first of these warm springs encountered, on nearly scalding the tip of his nose, he sprang to his feet and exclaimed: "Trive on, poys! Trive on ! for hell ish not more as two miles from dish blace A HARVEST OF DESTITUTION.—It was along this river that the most destitution and suffering prevailed among the emigrants. Brackish from the start, the water becomes largely impregnated with alkali, from the volcanic rocks and ashen soil through which it passes, and the innumerable alkaline springs adjacent thereto. Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, are without teams or provisions, and many without money with which to buy, even had their more fortunate neighbors provisions to sell, and later in the• season scores were driven to the necessity of eating their own famished horses and mules. The most of our company, though running out of "sorts," generally had enough to prevent serious• suffering, and one or two had some provisions to sell generally, in such cases, favoring the members of our own train., though suffering no outside applicant for a bite to go unrelieved. THE " LAW " OF THE PLAINS.—Speaking of selling brings us to prices and the mode of adjusting differences, and dispensing justice upon the plains. At any time after reaching the Humboldt Valley, all kinds of provisions—bread, flour, meat, rice, beans, pork, sugar, etc., sold readily at a dollar per pound, a pint of all the measurable articles named being counted a pound. On reaching that point in the river, where grass had to be obtained from the ADMINISTERING JUSTICE UPON THE PLAINS - 1133 opposite side, a member of the company who could not swim, but who had a surplus of bread, made a bargain with the boys of another mess, who were running short, that if they would supply him with grass, he would pay them in bread—a pound for each back-load. The grass was accordingly furnished from day to day, as long as the necessity therefor existed, but when, a few days later, the boys demanded their bread, they were tendered a dollar a load in money, the party of the first part declaring that he had no bread to spare. This the boys refused to receive—they had not risked their lives to obtain the grass for money, but for bread, and bread they would have. In the course of the discussion it transpired that the surplus bread promised to the boys had been sold to outside parties, for $2 a pound, but as it was worth only one dollar when the bargain was made and the grass furnished, that was all that he would pay them. Things were assuming a serious aspect, when other members of the company proposed that the matter be 'settled by arbitration, which was agreed to, each party choosing an arbitrator and the two the third. The "High Court" being duly organized, the statements of the parties were listened to, and other evidence adduced, and the general summing up and verdict of the arbitrators was about this: First, that a fair-sized back-load of grass, obtained in the manner indicated, was worth more than a pound of bread; second, that if a pound of bread was worth $2 in money, a load of grass was worth $2.50, and that in the absence of bread, the defendant must pay to the plaintiffs, at that rate, in money, for the quantity of grass furnished. The defendant put in a demurrer after judgment, but finding that the verdict of the arbitrators was approved by the balance of the members of the train, the money was reluctantly paid over. SEQUEL TO THAT BETTER " BROUGHTEN UP."—Apropos of the bread question, and of the general shortness of provisions at this stage of our journey, recalls the unsifted corn-meal episode of Missouri, and a subsequent, incident which demonstrates anew the aphorism, that "circumstances alter cases." It will be recollected that we all took along a supply of corn for the subsistence of our animals, in the absence of grass, on the first part of our journey. Knowing that we had at least one forty-mile desert to traverse, without grass or water, further on, the most of us had reserved a small portion of grain to help us over that hard spot. While not entirely out of provisions, the Wheeler and Howe messes began to run pretty short of "sorts," particularly -of bread. A day or two before reaching the desert, looking across the camp, I saw Judge Wheeler and his boys vigorously twisting away at the coffee mill attached to the box of one of their wagons. On drawing near I found them grinding the corn which had been hauled 1,500 miles to feed to the mules upon the desert, then almost in sight. "Hello, Judge I What are you going to do with that?" I inquired. " Make it into griddle cakes," said he. "But how in the world will you manage to sift it?" I asked. " Eat it without sifting," responded the Judge. "Well," said I, with a grin, "you can eat coarse, coffee-mill-ground corn meal, without sifting, if you choose to, but I was better brought up!" The Judge good-naturedly " acknowleged the corn" by saying that I had fairly 1134 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. turned the tables on him, and afterwards declared that those coffee-mill griddle cakes were the sweetest he ever tasted. HUMBOLDT SINK, DESERT, ETC.—The minor peculiarities of the pestilential Humboldt, are above faintly set forth, but its chief characteristic remains to be mentioned, in that, in a run of perhaps 400 miles it suddenly disappears on the northern verge of a forty-mile desert lying between it and Carson river. This year, however, the "sink"—an extensive marsh—by reason of extra high water, had spread itself out into sloughs, several miles on to the desert, making the distance to be traveled, in crossing it, from five to ten miles further than in ordinary seasons. It is now the 23rd day of July, and though the mountains to the right and left are covered with snow, it is almost suffocatingly hot in the valley and on the desert. It is the better plan, therefore, to make as much of the journey across at night as we possiblycan. Arriving at the sink about ten o'clock in the morning, we rest there until five o'clock in the afternoon, in the meantime having provided ourselves with a supply of dry grass, and as much water as we have vessels for. Starting out with comparative freshness, we hope to reach the Carson soon after daylight the next morning. The first twenty miles were, like the valley of the Humboldt, of a solid ashen foundation, sparsely covered with sage brush; then about two miles of heavy sand, then five or six miles of sage brush, and the remainder, sixteen or eighteen miles of heavy fine sand, unrelieved by a single shrub or blade of grass or other vegetation. Ten miles out we stopped two hours to feed and rest, and ten miles furthei—on the narrow strip of sand spoken of—two hours and a half, by this time using up nearly all our feed and water, and yet not half way across. MOONLIGHT AND POETRY.—The night was clear and bright—just the full of the moon—a night well calculated, in spite of adverse surroundings, to inspire poesy and melody in the most prosy mind. Our four mules and the two larger horses were attached to the wagon, which for the first twenty miles was in charge of Carson and McKibben, while to Holmes and myself was assigned the care of the two ponies, the weakest of the eight. As along the Humboldt, dead animals line the road on either hand, by actual count fully twenty to the mile. Marching along side by side, in the bright moonlight, and odorifer6us atmosphere, each towing a pony, silently ruminating upon the pleasures of the journey, Holmes, remembering the familiar song beginning: "The moon had climbed the highest hill That rises o'er the source of Dee," suddenly broke out : "The moon had climed the highest hill ! Hesitating a moment, here, I caught up the refrain by adding : "That rises o'er the Humboldt sink"— Holmes continuing : "And as we travel o'er the plain "- I completing the stanza : " Whew! How those old dead horses stink !" THE TERRORS OF THE DESERT - 1135 ABANDONING WAGONS ON THE DESERT.—On striking the first belt of heavy sand, Wheeler and Howe were compelled to leave their wagons to save their animals; out of the abandoned material constructing pack-saddles for the transportation of provisions, clothing, and such other necessaries as they must carry along. Striking the sixteen-mile stretch of sand about daylight, our progress was slow and fatiguing in the extreme. Leaving Holmes with Carson and McKibben, to manage the wagon, I started forward alone, with the two nearly done-over ponies, having almost literally to pull them along by main strength. Six miles out upon this burning sandy desert, a couple of enterprising emigrants had established a water station—hauling water from the Carson river, and selling it to their famishing comrades at twenty-five cents per quart. Happening to have a loose quarter about me, I bought a quart, gave about half of it to the two ponies and divided the balance between myself and a stranger who was . destitute of money, and who afterwards told me that but for that drink of water he should never have got through alive. THE LIFE-INVIGORATING CARSON.—Thus refreshed, with my two ponies I pushed, or rather pulled forward, but when a mile or two further on the sagacious animals seem to sniff the fresh waters and grasses of the Carson Valley, and pricking up their ears, and quickening their pace, I had to step quite lively to keep up with them the last two or three miles. I reached the river about 11 o'clock and by noon our entire company, with every animal alive, were snugly encamped in the grateful shade of the immense cotton-wood trees that lined the banks of the Carson river at this point. The thirst created by that last sixteen miles of desert travel, between broiling sun and blistering sands, was fearful to contemplate—men plunging into the river and drinking like cattle, while the animals themselves, if not restrained, would rush into the middle of the river, and, turning their heads up-stream, literally let the water run down their throats. RELIEF STATIONS—SPECULATORS, ETC.—Here, in the Carson Valley, we met so-called relief trains—speculators, who, in anticipation of the distress which would prevail among the emigrants, had come from Sacramento with provisions, '•whisky," and other necessaries, which they sold at high figures to such as had money, but giving, in limited quantities, to such as were destitute—their prime object being to buy the famished animals of the emigrants at low figures, and recruit them for the California market. But a few days later we met the real relief trains, sent out by the generous-hearted people of Sacramento and San Francisco, on the report of the earlier emigrants, that there was likely to be terrible suffering among those yet to follow, these trains not only affording needed relief to those in the the Carson Valley, but crossing the desert, and extending their humanitarian efforts some distance up the Humboldt. PACKING BECOMES GENERAL.—Owing to the weakness of our animals, and the extreme labor of getting wagons over the almost impassable ridges of the Sierras, the rest of us, except the Tallmadge messes, also concluded to pack the balance of the way. We left our wagon and tent intact, and such other conveniences 1136 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. as we had to dispense with, in good order. Another company with ox-team, observing our operations asked permission to substitute our lighter wagon for their heavier one, which was granted on condition that they 'would leave theirs standing in like good order. Many " household" conveniences, of course, had to he abandoned with the wagons and tents, but nearly every one had some highly cherished article that he very greatly desired to carry through. The writer, for instance, slung his nice little seven and a half pound rifle across his shoulders,. but in a day or two it became so burdensome, that he "cheerfully" gave it away. So, also, with McMasters and his drum—his constant companion for twenty years, and which was such a source of comfort to us all upon the journey—light as it was it got so heavy that on the second morning of our packing life, it was left, not exactly " hanging upon the willows," but on the limb of a large cottonwood tree. Carson Valley, which we traversed for about 100 miles, was really the Garden of Eden of our journey, abounding in innumerable streams of fresh water, luxuriant meadows of timothy, clover and other wholesome grasses, with a sufficiency of fuel for culinary purposes. CROSSING THE SIERRA NEVADAS. — Taking leave of Carson Valley, we pass through a five-mile zig-zag canon with vertical walls a thousand feet in height, traversed by a rapid mountain creek with many difficult crossings, in which many of the animals of the earlier emigrants had stuck fast and perished, though before our arrival the approaching relief parties had humanely constructed corduroy bridges over the worst of them. Getting through this canon, we encountered a succession of beautiful valleys sandwiched between lofty and almost inaccessible mountains, up and down the craggy sides of which men and animals climb with the utmost difficulty, and over which wagons and other similar commodities had to be carried, piece by piece, and hoisted and lowered over the most difficult places, by ropes. OVER PERPETUAL SNOW.—The tops of these mountains were covered with snow, and on ascending the highest, properly denominated "Snow Mountain"— 10,000 feet above sea-level--on July 31, we passed over hard-packed snow apparently from 50 to 100 feet in depth, the continual tramping of animals and men with a slight softening by the midday sun, having sunk the traveled road from fifteen to twenty feet below the general level. Overcoats and blankets were by no means uncomfortable at high noon, while in the valleys where we encamped, ice would form upon the streams at night nearly half an inch in thickness. ON THE HOME STRETCH.—On the western slope of the Sierras, the road was tolerably good but feed scarce and difficult of access, being found only in narrow valleys and ravines, considerable distance from the road. But way-side (tent) groggeries were abundant, and it was strange to see men, reputed to have been abstemious and thoroughly temperate at home, throwing off all restraint, and becoming uproariously intoxicated on this the last stage of their long and perilous journey, though I am happy to say our entire company should be excepted from that imputation. HAY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS A TON.—At one point, where our guide books advised us that there was a large meadow of good HAY FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER TON - 1137 grass three miles from the road, we found one of these whisky shops— a cloth affair—called the "Mountain House," the proprietors of which had caused all the grass of the meadow in question to be cut, cured, hauled to the road and stacked, to be sold to the incoming immigrants at 25 cents per pound, or at the rate of $500.00 per ton. Other similar philanthropists were found further on, every available blade of grass being thus appropriated, though the price declined, first to 20, then to 15 cents per pound, or $300.00 per ton. Of course, the owners of animals had to have it, our mess treating each of our eight head of stock to half a pound or so, each, twice a day. FAIRLY IN THE "DIGGINGS."--On the westward slope of the Sierra Nevadas we saw large areas of the more diminutive of the celebrated big trees of California—one of the smaller of which, a redwood, straight as an arrow, having been broken off several feet from the ground, and with the top entirely gone, measured five feet in diameter and 240 feet in length. Leaving our last camp about 8 o'clock, on Sunday morning, August 4, 1850, at 10 o'clock we rode triumphantly into the mining town then known by the confidence-inspiring name of " Hangtown, so-called because of the summary execution, by strangulation, of two or three offenders against the unwritten " code " of the mines, on a tree standing in front of the print ipal (cloth) hotel of the village, a year or so before. It has since been known by the more euphonious, and equally appropriate name of " Placerville." Here we found several Akronians, the Garrett crowd having got into the "diggings" about two weeks ahead of us, and having had about the same pleasurable experiences that we had enjoyed. Here, too—Sunday though it was—our animals and other saleable effects were disposed of—the four horses for $250.00 and the four mules for $175.00, just about one-half what they had originally cost us. We had now been just four months and a half from home, ninety-four days of which had been consumed in making the journey from the Missouri river, a distance, by the route traveled, of just about 2,000 miles, involving, in addition to the time consumed, an amount of labor, fatigue and privation that can scarcely be conceived by those who now, in a palace car, perform the journey in less than one week. IN THE GOLDEN METROPOLIS.—Spending one day in the mines, among old acquaintances and obtaining a little inkling of the modus operandi of delving for, and the immense amount of downright hard labor involved in securing, the coveted metal, I hied me to Sacramento City, and after spending a day with the " boys" there, to San Francisco, where I remained •until the first day of September, 1852, my rooms being the headquarters of the Summit county boys, when visiting the Bay City, either on business, or en route from the mines for home, via the Isthmus, or, by the same route, from home to the mines; also, during the entire two years, writing semi-monthly letters to the BEACON, and part of the time to the Democratic Standard, thus keeping the good people at home largely advised of the movements and welfare of their loved ones upon the Pacific coast. EARLY CALIFORNIA LIFE.—Of course, space would not permit, nor the patience of the reader endure, even were the data at my 72 1138 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. command, a full history of the individual fortunes and misfortunes of all of those who went from Summit county to California, in those early days. It should, perhaps, suffice to say that while a few " struck it " reasonably rich, and a somewhat larger few secured fair compensation for time and labor expended, and the privations endured, the great majority of those who lived to get home, were infinitely worse off, financially, physically, and, in some instances, morally, than when they started. One of the great drawbacks to the success of the average miner, was restlessness and impatience. Getting fairly at work on a claim yielding a fair, return for his day's labor—say $6 or $8—reports reach him that in the newly discovered "Humbug Diggings," one hundred or two hundred miles away, from $100 to $500 can be gathered in a day, and incontinently off he goes, to find either every inch of the new territory occupied, or the dust less plenteous than in his former claim in which, meantime, his more patient successor may have struck a regular bonanza. Then off he goes again to some other reputed rich placers or gulches, only to be again disappointed, and so on to the end of the chapter, AKRON'S BONANZA KING.—For several years previous to 1850, Akron had for a citizen, one "Abe" Curry, by profession a horse-jockey. With' a companion named Gould, prospecting in the mountains, these two men stumbled upon a rich quartz-lead, and not having the money to purchase the necessary machinery for its development, the " Gould and Curry Mining Company" was organized, an agreed upon ratio of stock being assigned to them, as a consideration for the find, but not sufficient to give them a controlling voice in the management of the affairs of the corporation. A few years later, by combinations, watering the stock, and other sharp practices, though millions upon millions of dollars were extracted from the mine, the original discoverers, and other small shareholders, were completely "frozen out," and at last accounts our "Abe" was reported to be impecuniously and nearly hopelessly prospecting for another find—and has probably long ere this, in miner's parlance, "passed in his checks." FAMILY TIES STRONGER THAN LOVE OF GOLD.—While thousands upon thousands braved the dangers and privations of the plains, mountains, ocean, etc., to better the condition of ;their families, there were innumerable instances where men who- had been separated from their loved ones for several months, voluntarily aban, doned the fortunes within their very grasp, for the purpose of expediting their return, of which class Akron furnished the following notable examples: One of the writer's most intimate friends, both before and since, Mr. Lewis Hanscom—the younger of the well-known Hanscom brothers—had been in. California some eight or nine months without making any particular headway. In the Spring of 1851, pooling his little " pile" of some $450, with like amounts furnished by two other gentlemen, they opened a miners' hotel and boarding house, called the " Eastern Exchange," on Long Wharf, in San Francisco. Besides paying a rental of $600 per month, and the expense of fitting up (which occupied about a week) and all their help, their profits the first month were equal to their entire investment. During the three succeeding months their net monthly profits were $600 each. SUCCESSES, REVERSES, HOMESICKNESS, ETC. - 1139 Coming into my place of business one day, Hanscom informed me that he had sold out and was going home. "Sold out!" I -exclaimed in surprise, "at what figure ?" " Six hundred dollars," he replied. "Lew Hanscom," I responded, "You're an egregious fool ! After struggling and striving for nearly a year to get into a paying business, now that, on a $450 investment, you are clearing $600 per month, to sell out for $600, and go home with a paltry $3,00Q, when by holding on a few months you could realize enough to make you independent for life." "Lane," said he, with quivering lips, and tears coming into his eyes, "I've got a wife and four little girls. in Akron, and I would give one hundred dollars apiece to see them this very minute." The secret was out—homesickness. It is proper to add that "Lew" subsequently seeing "where he missed it," returned to California, this time taking his loved ones with him, where a fair degree of prosperity has attended his efforts, his time being now about equally divided between his San Francisco home and a valuable farm in Ashtabula county, Ohio., of which he is the proprietor. OTHER SIMILAR CASES.- Similar were the cases of Akron's two well-known bakers, Henry McMasters and William Sinclair, who came home on the same vessel with Mr. Hanscom. They had been in California nearly three-fourths of a year without getting a start, when they established a bakery in a new mining camp, a hundred miles or so above Sacramento City. At the end of three months they divided $2,700 net profits each, over and above their investment, when they sold out their rapidly increasing business for about what the fixtures had cost them, and pulled out for home. On being interrogated by me as to the cause of their foolishness, Mr. Mac. said that his wife kept writing, "come home! come home!" declaring that she would rather live in a cabin, in poverty, than have him longer away, and that Mrs. Howe had written him that his wife was pining her life away, on account of his absence, and as he had got more than he thought would satisfy him when he started, he couldn't bear to stay away from home any longer. Sinclair's reasons were similar, both ever afterwAds regretting their folly. COMMERCIAL UPS AND DOWNS.-Mr. James G. Dow, whose trials and tribulations in reaching California, via the Isthmus, in 1849, have already been described, after barely subsisting on such odd jobs as he could pick up for several months, finally, with a young man from Massachusetts, engaged in the auction business, closing up in October, 1850. with about $20,000 each. Charles G. Caldwell, another Akron Forty-niner, who had accumulated some money in the milk, butter and egg business, at Sacramento, in company with the writer succeeded Dow & Co. with a cash investment of $3,000, with the prospect of making money as rapidly as their predecessors had done. But, by reason of the stagnation of business caused by the breaking out of the cholera on that coast, and the over-importation of all kinds of merchandise, Caldwell & Co., at the end of five months, instead of having cleared $40,000, had sunk their entire capital, and were $1,500 in debt for rent. Caldwell, returning to his cows and chickens, continued to do well for a year or two, but in an evil hour invested in a quartz mill, dying, in San Francisco, some two or three years ago, in abject poverty. 1140 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. Charles W. Tappan, proprietor of the well-remembered Tappan Hall block, on East Market street, after nearly dying from a gunshot wound and Panama fever, upon the Isthmus, in the Spring of 1851 arrived in San Francisco without a dollar. Entering into partnership with a Mr. Guild, of Cincinnati (the latter furnishing $3,000 capital on which he was to draw ten per cent. a month interest), he engaged in the same business (auction) that had so recently swamped Caldwell & Co., and at the end of the first month, besides expense of fitting up, help, and the stipulated ten per cent. to Mr. Guild, Mr. Tappan's share of the profits was $2,700. Dow and his former partner, having meantime returned from the East, purchased Mr. Guild's interest, the business continuing equally profitable for a year or two longer, when they entered into a general jobbing trade in which their gains were larger still, finally retiring from this business, two or three years later, possessing from $125,000 to $150,000 each. Tappan invested in real estate and embarked in the lumber and coal business. For a time his profits were larger than ever, but after a year or two a panicky shrinkage in values of the large stocks of coal and lumber that he had purchased, and of his real estate, the title to most of which proved worthless, every dollar was sunk, a calamity from which he never recovered, afterwards keeping lodging houses, for longer or shorter periods at Elko, Nevada, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Deadwood, Wyoming Territory, being killed at the latter place, in March, 1878, by a pistol-shot at the hands of a drunken gambler whom he was endeavoring to eject from his premises; Mrs. Tappan dying at Oakland, California, in absolute poverty, in 1888. Mr. Dow, also, swamped everything in real estate speculations, except a few thousand dollars, invested in the name of his wife, in the stock of the "Gould & Curry," on which, after three years of litigation, in resistance to the " freezing out" process referred to, in 1867 she obtained a judgment for $36,000 in gold, which, bearing a high premium at the time, netted her from $50,000 to $60,000 in currency, one-half of which was securely invested in New York City, by Mrs. D.; Mr. D., after sinking about one-half of the balance in mining operations, in Montana, investing the residue in, and becoming the cashier of, the First National Bank of Bozeman, where he died in the Winter of 1881, '82. THE SUMMING UP.—Many incidents and reminiscences of California life—floods, fires, earthquakes, murders and robberies, vigilance committee operations, etc.—might be given that would doubtless be exceedingly interesting to the present generation, as well as to surviving gold-seekers themselves. But space forbids. It may be proper, however, in summing up, to say, that while a very large percentage failed to realize their expectations, Summit county may congratulate herself that she did her full share in the commercial, agricultural and financial development of one of the most intelligent, enterprising and loyal states in the American Union. CHAPTER LVI. EARLY CRIMES AND OTHER INCIDENTS WITHIN THE PRESENT LIMITS OF SUMMIT COUNTY—CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY'S FLIGHT AND WONDERFUL LEAP FOR LIFE — SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER, OF DEERFIELD, BY THE SENECA INDIAN, JOHN MOHAWK—PURSUIT OF INDIANS INTO HUDSON, BOSTON AND RICHFIELD— KILLING OF NICKSHAW AND ESCAPE OF MOHAWK —CAPTURE, TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL OF THE INDIAN CHIEF, BIGSON, AND OTHER MEMBERS OF HIS TRIBE — SHOOTING OF CANAL DRIVER, NATHAN CUMMINS, BY ABNER S. BARRIS— CAPTURE OF THE MURDERER—EXAMINATION BEFORE JUSTICE JACOB BROWN, OF AKRON—TRIAL IN SUPREME COURT OF PORTAGE COUNTY—CONVICTED OF MURDER IN SECOND DEGREE —SENTENCED TO PENITENTIARY FOR LIFE— SUBSEQUENT DEATH, ETC. PIONEER LIFE AND INCIDENT. THOUGH, of course, largely traditional, the thrilling adventures, and the wonderful nerve and prowess attributed to our pioneer settlers, in their contact with the aboriginal owners and occupants of the beautiful country which their descendants and successors now inhabit, possess an interest and charm that will steadily increase as the years go by. Among the most authentic, as well as among the most heroic, of those early episodes, in which Summit county has a direct interest, were the wonderful exploits of Captain Samuel Brady, briefly narrated as follows: CAPTAIN SAMUEL BRADY.—Captain Brady, who is described as of medium stature, but of wonderful nerve and great power of endurance, was a resident of Western Pennsylvania, on Chartier's creek, near the Ohio river, and was one of the most daring and successful, of the many daring and successful "Indian Hunters" of those early times. The cause of his implacable hostility to the Indian is said to have been the massacre, by a marauding expedition from the Falls of the Cuyahoga, of several families in the neighborhood where he, when a boy, resided with an uncle, he alone escaping; another boy about his own age—an adopted son of his uncle—named Simon Girty, being captured and carried into captivity by the Indians. Young Brady then swore eternal hostility to the entire savage race, and as he grew to manhood, most faithfully and fearfully did he fulfil his oath. Tradition is rife with his almost innumerable and superhuman efforts in this direction; but with one, only, can we properly deal. And of events immediately leading to this, in the data before us, there are several different versions. One account states that about the year 1780, on one of his excursions west of the Ohio river, accompanied by three or four trusted companions, they were surprised, near the Sandusky river, his companions all killed, and himself captured and taken to the Sandusky Indian village. There was great rejoicing over his capture, and great preparations were made for torturing him by slowly burning him at the stake. While the ghastly preparations for his torture were going forward 1142 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. before his eyes, Brady recognized, in one of the chiefs who had come in to take part in the savage pow-wow, his youthful friend,. Simon Girty, who, grown to manhood among his captors, had adopted their customs, and by his prowess, risen to the high position he then occupied. Brady appealed to his former playmate to-assist him to escape, but without avail. A DESPERATE EXPEDIENT.—The hour of execution arrived; the captive was lashed to the stake; the combustibles were laid; the fires were lighted ; the savage orgies commenced; the flames circled nearer and nearer; the withes about his arms and legs began to crackle from the effects of the heat; but, watching his opportunity. he suddenly, by almost superhuman strength, broke the band,- that held him to the stake, and seizing a handsome young squaw who was circling near, threw her upon the blazing fagots, and in the confusion of the moment, made his escape into the darknes,- of the surrounding forest. The very audacity of this act, and the momentary horror and panic resulting therefrom, delayed pursuit, until a considerable distance into the wilderness had been gained by the fugitive. A vigorous puruit was begun, however, and kept up for over a hundred miles to, and across, the Cuyahoga river, in what is now the township of Northampton. Another version of the story is that Brady and his companions were following a band of Indians, who were returning from a predatory excursion into Pennsylvania, and that on nearing the Cuyahoga river, in the present township of Northampton, they encountered a larger force of Indians than they could successfully cope with, and that Brady, ordering his men to separate, and each take a different direction, himself started directly east, toward what is now the village of Kent, in Portage county, with the entire band howling like demons at his heels; his companions being too small game to merit consideration at their hands. "BRADY'S LEAP "—Whichever of these and of the several other versions is the correct one, all accounts of the flight from the Cuyahoga river eastward, the pursuit and escape, are substantially agreed. To properly understand the situation, it should he stated that the Cuyahoga river, rising in Geauga county, pursues a southwesterly course through Portage county into Summit, where, a mile and a half north of Akron, it turns abruptly to the north, emptying into Lake Erie at Cleveland. Thus, in going from Bath, in Summit county, to Ravenna, in Portage county, on a direct line, two crossings of the river wbuld necessarily have to be made. Brady forged steadily ahead, intending to make the eastern crossing at a point known as " Standing Stone," a short distance above the present village of Kent. The Indians, however, being in considerable force, divining his intentions, had spread themselves out in that direction, and were making a superhuman effort to intercept him before he could gain the crossing. Seeing this, Brady sought to turn to the right and make a crossing lower down; but in this, also, the Indians had anticipated him, and were likely to head him off there, too. In this extremity, Brady's mind was instantly made up to attempt the dread alternative—a leap for life across the rocky gorge, with a span of nearly, or quite, 22 feet, a few rods above the BRADY'S WONDERFUL LEAP FOR LIFE - 1143 present site of the fine stone bridge across the Cuyahoga river at the village of Kent. The Indians, who were now close upon his heels, could have killed him at any moment, by a shot from any one of their rifles; but their great object and desire was to secure him alive, in order to glut their savage and brutal vengeance upon him; never dreaming that he would attempt what the most agile among their own number would not dare to do. PERILOUS PREDICAMENT.—On, on, they come, yelling like demons incarnate. Their hated foe is, in imagination, already within their fiendish clutches. The brink of the precipice appears in view, with no perceptible diminution of speed, of either the pursued or the pursuers. Knowing full well the terrible death that awaits him, if taken alive, and reflecting that the failure of the attempt he was about to make could only result in a less cruel death, Brady summoned all his remaining powers of body and mind for the one supreme effort of his life, and, to the horror of his pursuers, sprang boldly across the fearful chasm. The point whence he sprang was a large flat overhanging rock, from twenty-five to thirty feet above the surface of the water; the opposite side, also overhanging the river, being somewhat lower, and covered with small evergreen trees and bushes. In landing, Brady struck upon the edge of this bushy projection, and came near falling back into the seething waters below; but, clutching hold of the scraggy bushes, he finally drew himself upward and forward, and escaped into the timber, on the east side of the river. The Indians, for. a moment, could only hold up their hands in sheer astonishment, and utter unintelligible ejaculations of surprise. Realizing, as they almost immediately did, that their prey was about to escape them, several shots were fired at him, as he was clambering up the bank, only one of which took effect, producing an ugly flesh wound in the right thigh. THE FLIGHT NOT YET ENDED.—Taking a momentary breathing spell, to recover somewhat from the shock of his fall upon the edge of the ledge, Brady, though suffering severely from his wound, continued his flight eastward, but speedily became aware that the Indians, having effected a crossing both above and below the scene of his daring exploit, were again in pursuit, on either flank. He now made directly towards a large pond, a mile or so east of the river, where, in full view of his pursuers, he boldly plunged in, and started as if to swim to the opposite shore. After swimming a short distance, however, he dove beneath the surface, and changing his direction, made for a dense mass of pond lilies, or as some accounts state, the top of a fallen tree, under which he managed to hide himself, with his nose and mouth above the surface, and so near the shore that, understanding their language, he could hear the speculations of his bloodthirsty enemies as to his probable fate; their belief being that he had become exhausted from his long run and leap, and from the wound that, from the blood left along his track, they knew he had received, and had sunk to the bottom and drowned. The Indians, at length satisfied that their mortal enemy was surely dead, left the vicinity of the pond and retraced their steps, to tell to their astonished fellows the almost incredible story of the white man's daring "Leap for Life," and his subsequent death from drowning. 1144 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. To make sure that they were not still lingering about the shores of the pond, Brady remained in his uncomfortable position through the night, when, hearing no sound, nor seeing any signs of further pursuit, he leisurely continued his weary way to his home in the Valley of the Ohio; and from this event, and the other traditional story that upon the banks of the same pond. Brady and his companions still later ambushed and slaughtered a considerable body of Indians, it has long been, and will probably continue forever to be, known as "BRADY'S LAKE."—This beautiful little lake has, within a few years, become quite a resort for picnic parties, and other Summer pleasure seekers in Portage and adjoining counties. The encroachments of modern improvements, canals, railroads, etc., to say nothing about the encroachments of time, have very greatly changed the aspect of the various points of pioneer, as well as Indian prowess and adventure, so that it is difficult, at this remote period, to tell the exact distance covered by the intrepid Brady in his alleged "leap for life." The late Frederick Wadsworth, who pretty thoroughly investigated the matter, some forty-five years ago, found the distance from point to point to be then a trifle less than twenty-five feet. But as nearly, or quite, half a century had then gone by since the reputed adventure, it is probable that time's unceasing abrasions had already wrought a marked change upon the edges of the overhanging rock, though the leap, if made at all at the point named, which the writer sees no reason to doubt, even if but twenty-two feet, as most versions state it, was one of the most wonderful ever achieved by mortal man; although men, in desperate straits, have since been known to make wonderful leaps; three persons, within the knowledge of the writer, having been caught in the upper part of a burning building in San Francisco, Cal., in 1851, saving their lives by ascending to the roof and jumping across a sixteen-foot alley to the roof of another buiiding a few feet lower. At the annual meeting of the Portage-Summit Pioneer Association in September, 1886, it was suggested by the secretary, Dr. A. M. Sherman, that a movement be inaugurated by the Association towards erecting a suitable monument, at the point on the river bank where Brady's wonderful leap is alleged to have been made, in commemoration of the event; a proposition that the people of both counties should have a deep interest in carrying into effect. THE SHOOTING OF DANIEL DIVER.—A more recent reminiscent incident of pioneer intercourse and trouble with the Indians, is compiled from reasonably reliable data, and may, therefore, be considered substantially accurate; though there is some discrepancy of authority as to the exact cause of the trouble, and the name of the tribe to which the Indians implicated belonged; one account naming them as "Mohawks," and others as "Senecas," the preponderance of evidence being in favor of the latter. Be this as it may, in the Winter of 1806, '07 there was an encampment of Indians in the township of Deerfield, in Portage county, which had been opened to settlement about seven years. Among the white inhabitants at that time were two brothers by the name of John and Daniel Diver. The former had traded a mare and colt to an Indian named John Nickshaw, for an Indian pony, and RED-SKIN MALIGNITY—WHITE-SKIN REVENGE - 1145 though it does not appear that either had obtained any considerable advantage in the trade, for some reason or other the Indian became dissatisfied and wished to trade back, which Diver declined to do. On the 20th of January, 1807, while John Diver was entertaining a sleighing party at his house, five Indians from the camp, John Nickshaw, John Mohawk, John Bigson and his two sons, all under the influence of whisky, rudely intruded upon the party, and on some pretense, endeavored to decoy John Diver to their camp. Failing in this, they became quite boisterous, but were eventually quieted down by the mildness of Daniel Diver. A little later they renewed the disturbance, charging Daniel Diver with having stolen their guns, but were finally persuaded by him to leave the house. The night was bright and cold, there being about two feet of snow upon the ground. Stepping out of doors, about 10 o'clock, Daniel Diver saw the five Indians standing in a row in a slight ravine a short distance from the house. Going rapidly towards them he saluted them pleasantly, and was, in turn, cordially greeted by the Indians; each shaking hands with him as he passed, until the last one, John Mohawk, was reached, who not only refused to shake hands with him, but, as he was turning to go back to the house, the treacherous savage raised his gun and shot him through the temples, destroying both eyes. Hearing the report of the gun, John Diver ran to the assistance of his wounded brother, the Indians fleeing to their camp, and from thence, the same night, into the wilderness in a northwesterly direction. Although Daniel Diver was not killed, he never regained his sight, though afterwards raising a family and dying in 1847. SEEKING VENGEANCE ON MOHAWK, BUT KILLING NICKSHAW.— Before daylight the next morning, so rapidly had the alarm spread, a party of twenty-five determined men were on the track of the murderous red-skins. The weather was intensely cold, and several of the pursuing party froze their feet and hands, and their places were filled by other settlers along the route. The night following, the five fleeing Indians were surprised and surrounded, in their camp, on the west side of the Cuyahoga river, in the west part of Boston, or the east part of the present township of Richfield. John Bigson and his two sons were captured, but Mohawk and Nickshaw got away. They were followed by two Hudson men named George Darrow and Jonathan Williams, overtaken, and commanded to surrender, but not obeying the summons, Williams fired upon them, instantly killing Nickshaw; but Mohawk, the Indian who shot Daniel Diver, entirely escaped. A squaw belonging to the party was said to have been left to take care of herself, and it was afterwards reported that she perished in the snow. Bigson and his two sons were returned to Deerfield, and, being examined before Justice Lewis Day, were committed to the Warren jail. They were subsequently tried in Court of Common Pleas and acquitted. AN INDIAN WAR IMMINENT.—The excitement attendant upon this affair, both among the whites and Indians, was most intense, and came very near resulting in a bloody war between the two races. Considerable correspondence was had between the citizens of Deerfield and Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, of Warren, then the 1146 - AKRON AND SUMMIT COUNTY. military commander for Northern Ohio, and between Gen. Wadsworth and Judge Samuel Huntington, of the Supreme Court. at Cleveland ; several personal interviews also being had between Judge Huntington and Chief Seneca, in behalf of the tribe of Indians involved in the difficulty. The people of Deerfield demanded that John Mohawk, the shooter of Diver, be delivered up for trial; the Indian Chief as strenuously insisting that Darrow and Williams should also be arrested and tried for the killing of Nickshaw, and promising to surrender Mohawk when legal steps for the punishment of the white murderers should be taken. Seneca, in his talks with Judge Huntington, Major Carter and others, said he did not want to go to war; he simply wanted justice. Nickshaw had been murdered; shot in the back, while fleeing for his life. He, with Major Carter and Mr. Campbell, had gone to the place where Nickshaw was killed, and had buried him. There was no evidence of any struggle, and Nickshaw had fallen in his tracks with the bullet hole in his back. Seneca sententiously remarking: "Indian may lie; white man may lie; but snow tell no lie," and adding that all he wanted was, that "the same measure of justice should be dealt out to the Indian as to the white man." The excitement finally died away, and neither Mohawk nor Williams or Darrow were ever brought to trial, though it was a long time before the parties were restored to their former friendly relations; the event, taking all the circnmstances into consider ation, furnishing additional proof that the greater portion of the trouble between the early white settlers and the Indians grew out of the fact that the former were not as ready to do justice to the latter as to exact it from them. MURDER OF NATHAN CUMMINS, A CANAL DRIVER.—Though a little out of its chronological order, the following account of a wan ton homicide, perpetrated within the present limits of Summit county, may properly come in here. On the night, of the 8th day of September, 1832, a dissipated fellow by the name of Abner S. Barris, living in a log shanty on the west side of the Ohio canal, near Old Portage, got upon the canal boat " Victory," some distance below, to ride up as, far as his own place. On the way he got into a wrangle with the hands upon the boat, accusing them of stealing his wood, demanding pay for the same, etc., and was put off the boat, in which operation he was either purposely or accidentally thrown into the water, by the steersman, whose name was Hart Lepper. Threatening vengeance upon Lepper, he disappeared into the bushes, in the direction of his house. Later in the night he appeared upon the bank of the canal, further south, carrying a gun, and hailing the steersman of the downward bound boat, " Fair American," inquired for the boat upon which he had been riding, saying that they had stolen his wood, pushed him off the boat into the canal and snapped a gun at him, and that if they wanted bush-whacking, he would give them plenty of it, for he had a gun and plenty of ammunition, and knew hoW to use them, too. When the "Fair American" reached the lock, below Old Portage, an up-bound boat was found in the lock, and while waiting there, the report of a gun was heard by the two crews, it being presently discovered that the driver of the up-bound boat—the "Victory"—a boy about seventeen years old, by the name MURDER IN THE SECOND DEGREE - 1147 of Nathan Cummins, belonging in Cleveland—had fallen from his horse, fatally shot through the neck. Barris was, of course, immediately suspected, followed and captured, while skulking in the bushes, near his own shanty. He was brought to Akron, and being examined before Justice Jacob Brown, was committed to the Portage county jail, at Ravenna, to answer to the charge of murder. At the May term, 1833, of the court of Common Pleas for Portage county, an indictment was found against Barris, charging him with deliberate and premeditated murder. To this indictment Barris entered• a plea of not guilty, and elected to be tried in the Supreme Court, to convene early in the following September. TRIAL IN SUPREME COURT.—The Supreme Court, for Portage county, for 1833, convened at Ravenna on Monday, September 2, with Judges Ebenezer Lane, of Norwalk, and John C. Wright, of Cincinnati, upon the bench. L, V. Bierce, then prosecuting attorney for Portage county, and Hon. Peter Hitchcock, of Geauga county, appeared on behalf of the State, the defendant being represented by Van R. Humphrey, Esq., of Hudson, and Eben Newton, Esq., of Canfield. The trial was short, only eleven witnesses being sworn and examined on both sides, the entire proceedings, including the empaneling of the jury, examination of witnesses, arguments of counsel, charge of Court, verdict of jury and sentence of prisoner, occupying less than two days, being in striking contrast to the "long drawn out " trials in similar cases in these modern days. The killing of the boy was not denied by either Barris or his attorneys; the former, on being brought to the hotel of William Coolman, Jr., on his arrival from Akron, saying to that gentleman, who had previously known him, that "it was not Barris, but it was whisky that did it." The principal effort of counsel for the defense was to bring the offense down to manslaughter; but the jury, under the able charge of Judge Lane, brought in a verdict of murder in the second degree. Judge Lane immediately pronounced sentence upon the prisoner as follows : "ABNER S. BARRIS :—You have been found guilty, by a jury of your own selection, of murder. In most countries, for this offense you would pay the forfeit of your life ; but under the benign provisions of that section of the statute under which you are convicted, you do not forfeit your life ; but the law adjudges you unworthy longer to associate with your fellow citizens. This law leaves with the Court no discretion. We have no alternative but to deprive you of your liberty for the remainder of your life. Your sentence, therefore, is that you be taken hence to the Penitentiary of the State of Ohio, and that you be there confined at hard labor, for and during the remainder of your natural life." No effort was ever made for his pardon, and Abner S Barris, forty years of age at the time of his conviction, fully expiated the offense committed by him while under the influence of that incarnate devil, of all earthly devils, whisky, by faithful service to the State until released by death, February 3, 1842, just eight years, four months and five days from the date of his incarceration. CHAPTER LVII. SOME SHARP DETECTIVE OPERATIONS-WEALTHY FARMER TURNS DETECTIVE TO AVENGE THE MURDER OF HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW-FOLLOWS THAT CALLING AS A,DUTY TO SOCIETY-MARSHAL WRIGHT "ARRESTS" HIM AND MAYOR NASH " COMMITS " HIM ON THE " CHARGE " OF FORGERY-TKO DAYS AND NIGHTS IN A FELON'S CELL-HIS DISCOVERIES WHILE IN JAIL -HIS RELEASE ON " BAIL " - TAKES WITH HIM A LETTER OF INTRODUCTION TO THE BROTHER OF AN ALLEGED COUNTERFEITER - MAKES THE ACQUAINTANCE OF SAID BROTHER AND HIS PALS - CONTRACTS TO PURCHASE A BURGLARIZED STOCK OF. BOOTS AND SHOES FROM THEM-FAILS TO KEEP HIS APPOINTMENT, BUT OFFICERS WRIGHT AND TOWNSEND PROMPTLY ON HAND-THE BURGLARS ARRESTED WITH THE " SWAG " IN THEIR POSSESSION - TRIED, CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO THE " PEN " FOR THREE YEARS - DISCOVERY OF PLOT TO ROB THE TREASURY OF SUMMIT COUNTY - ROBBER CAUGHT IN THE ACT-TRIAL, SENTENCE AND CONVICTION - EXTENSIVE GANG OF COUNTERFEITERS BROKEN UP, ETC.-SOME DECIDEDLY " CLEVER " WORK BY "HOME TALENT." A VOLUNTEER DETECTIVE. THOUGH not claiming to have much detective talent myself, it was nevertheless my good fortune to have assisted in some very clever detective operations, during my first two terms as Sheriff of Summit county, from November, 1856, to January, 1861. A year or two previous to my accession to that office, the brother-in-law of a wealthy and enterprising farmer, near Loudonville, in Ashland county, had been killed in a neighboring city, by being struck on the head with an iron dray-pin. The authorities of the county where the crime was perpetrated failing to trace the murderer, our farmer friend, whose name was E. W. Robeson, started out upon a line of detective operations on his own hook. Though not succeeding, after long and patient search, in running down the slayer of his kinsman, yet he obtained such an insight into the existing crookedness of the day, that for the benefit of society at large, he gave himself up, almost exclusively, to the detection and exposure of crime, and in aiding the authorities of his own and contiguous counties, in bringing the rascals of their several localities to justice and merited punishment, and that, too, without compensation or expectation of pecuniary reward, other than his actual expenses when operating away from home. With this justice-loving gentleman Marshal J. J. Wright and Constable James Burlison had become acquainted, and had often co-operated with him in ferreting out crimes in several of the counties to the south and west of us ; the latter gentleman at one time actually buying out, and for some time running, a saloon in one of the most notorious "Rogues' Hollows" in Holmes county ; and in the denouement of whose discoveries, and consequent police requirements, Marshal Wright, Deputy Sheriff Townsend and Constable David A. Scott took a prominent and exceedingly lively hand. EARLY DETECTIVE OPERATIONS - 1149 " WORKING " THE COUNTY FAIR.—Among the large number of huckster's stands at the ninth annual fair (October, 1858) of the Summit County Agricultural Society, upon their original six acre grounds, on South Main street, opposite the present Rubber Works and Match Factories, was one kept by a man by the name of J. M. Foster, hailing from Franklin Mills (now Kent), in Portage county. Something about the fellow had early attracted the attention of the officers who were policeing the grounds, but no overt act, on which an arrest could be based, was detected until towards night on the last day of the Fair. Then Marshal Wright and Constable Burlison caught him in the act of passing a counterfeit two dollar bill upon a young man from the country, took him into custody, and lodged him in jail. Marshal Wright having already had some inkling of the crooked propensities of the Fosters, of Franklin Mills, thus having one of them in limbo, thought it would be well enough to apply the "pumping" process to him, and accordingly wrote to Mr. Robeson to come to Akron at once, which summons was promptly responded to. AKRON'S ORIGINAL "EEL POT."--At that time the late Frederick A. Nash was mayor of Akron, and to fully carry out our plans, as in "council of war" agreed upon, he was taken into our confidence and promised us a hearty co-operation. At that time, too, the Hanscom brothers—George, Charles and David—were the keepers of the principal grocery and family supply store of Akron, in their new brick block, on the northeast corner of Howard and Market streets. This grocery store was the evening loafing place of that time—the original "Eel Pot" of Akron—and among the numerous other loafers there congregated on a given evening, were Marshal J. J. Wright and Sheriff S. A. Lane. While old-time jokes and antique "chestnuts" were being rapidly fired at each other by the congregated "eels," a rather rough-looking stranger entered the store and "Dave" Hanscom pulled himself out of the charmed (or, more properly speaking, charming) circle, and stepped towards the front to wait upon his new customer. Calling for a paper of "fine-cut," which "Dave" produced, the stranger threw upon the counter a two dollar bill in payment. Glancing at it, "Dave" indignantly exclaimed : "You don't think I'm big fool enough to take such stuff as that, do you?" "Why, 'aint that good ?" innocently inquired the stranger. "I took it from the captain of the boat I come from Cleveland on." "Good ! Thunder, no ! A blind man could see that that was counterfeit, by just feeling of it!" replied "Dave." By this time the attention of the "eels" was attracted to the conversation between "Dave" and the stranger, and Marshal-Wright hastily stepped forward, saying: "Here, let me look at that, ' and after scrutinizing the bill a moment, said : "Yes, that's counterfeit, fast enough 1' Then, looking at the stranger, the Marshal exclaimed : "Hello, you're just the man I've been looking after for some time!" and pulling a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, undertook to slip them upon the wrists of the stranger. This was vigorously resisted, however, and quite a tussle ensued, but the stranger was finally subdued and triumphantly escorted before the mayor.