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 PREFACE. 
 
 THE author deems it proper to say that the term " legend," used in the 
 title of this book, is not to be taken in the sense of that which is fictitious 
 or doubtful, but of what is strictly historical and true ; and, although 
 the events narrated are, in point of fact, believed to be strictly true, yet 
 there are many incidents connected with them of such marvellous charac- 
 ter as to touch not only the romantic, but the sublime of personal dar- 
 ing and moral heroism. Hence he has preferred the title of "Legends."* 
 
 The object of this book is to present to the public a faithful record of 
 
 some of the most thrilling events connected with the border wars carried 
 v> 
 
 on for several years between the whites and the Indians in the Valley of 
 
 the Upper Ohio. 
 
 In carrying out this purpose he has endeavored to derive his informa- 
 tion as much as possible from original sources, and from the best authors 
 on the subject. Nor has he, through any false pride of originality, failed 
 
 j^ to give due credit to the proper parties. This he has been careful to do, 
 
 > either by quotation marks, and giving the name of the author in each 
 particular case, or by stating the facts, either in his own or in the lan- 
 guage of others, giving proper reference to the source of his information. 
 
 x In most cases he has preferred giving the precise language of the writer 
 to whom he refers. He has not, however, deemed it his duty to servilely 
 
 Q adopt the opinions of the writers to whom he is under obligations ; but 
 in every case where he has had occasion to differ with them has not hesi- 
 
 tated to express his own views with the utmost freedom. 
 
 < Although " there is no end to the making of books," it is believed that 
 the public will appreciate this effort when they consider that most of the 
 best authorities on the history of the border wars between the whites and 
 the Indians especially on the Upper Ohio are now entirely out of 
 print, or the comparatively few copies of those interesting works which 
 still exist are inaccessible to the general reader. 
 
 *LEGEND. "Any narrative, memorial, relation, or record," Sleele. 
 
 447178 
 3
 
 4 PREFACE. 
 
 It has been deemed advisable, therefore, to collect the most striking 
 portion of those narratives into a more permanent form, thereby furnish- 
 ing a book which, owing to its cheapness, will admit of very general 
 circulation among all classes. 
 
 The wisdom of this plan will appear more evident when it is consid- 
 ered that such a work will be likely to prove very attractive to the 
 young, and, if put into their hands at a suitable age, would, in all prob- 
 ability, tend to awaken in their minds an ardent desire to know some- 
 thing more of their own particular locality, and to inspire them with a 
 thirst for a more general knowledge of history, not only of their own 
 country, but of foreign nations, both ancient and modern. 
 
 Commending these views to the thoughtful consideration of the public, 
 the author puts forth this humble effort, hoping that the book will ac- 
 complish its intended mission of gf>od, even beyond his most sanguine 
 expectations. 
 
 J. H. McM. 
 
 2207 Chapline Street, Wheeling, West Va.
 
 I. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT 
 
 Dunmore's Treaty Murder of Cornstalk. 
 
 Battle of Point Pleasant took place in Dunmore's War, Octo- 
 ber 10th, 1774. It was the bloodiest battle, perhaps, ever fought with 
 the Indians in Virginia. It had its origin in a variety of causes, 
 but the immediate, exciting cause, and that which more than all others 
 hastened the crisis, undoubtedly was the murder of the family of Logan, 
 by the whites, at or near the mouth of Yellow Creek. This disgraceful 
 act is, by some, imputed to Colonel Cresap, a distinguished frontiersman, 
 who resided near the town of Wheeling. Logan, at least, believed him 
 to be the guilty party. By others it is strongly denied that Colonel 
 Cresap was a participant in the affair. But, be this as it may, the act, in 
 addition to other exasperations, had greatly incensed the Indian tribes on 
 the North of the Ohio River. 
 
 The most powerful of these tribes were the Shawnee, Delaware, Min- 
 go, Wyandotte, and Cayuga, at the head of whom was Cornstalk, Sachem 
 of the Shawnees, and King of the Northern Confederacy. Under this 
 renowned chieftain were other chiefs whose names were not unknown to 
 fame. Such as Redhawk, a Delaware chief; Scoppathus, a Mingo ; 
 Elinipsico, a Shawnee, and son of Cornstalk ; Chiyawee, a Wyandotte, 
 and Logan, a Cayuga, but generally spoken of as a Miugo. 
 
 To protect the settlements bordering on the Upper Ohio, it soon be- 
 came necessary to organize an army in the East sufficient to operate 
 against the savages. The effort to do this proved successful, and two 
 bodies, numbering in all twenty-five hundred men, were collected. 
 
 "The army destined for the expedition was composed of volunteers 
 and militia, chiefly from the counties west of the Blue Ridge, and con- 
 sisted of two divisions. The northern division, comprehending the troops 
 collected in Frederick, Dunmore, (now Shenandoah), and the adjacent 
 counties, was to be commanded by Lord Dunmore in person ; and the
 
 6 LEGENDS OP THE VALLEY. 
 
 southern, comprising the different companies raised in Bottetourt, Au- 
 gusta, and the adjoining counties east of the Blue Ridge, was to be led on 
 by General Andrew Lewis. These two divisions, proceeding by different 
 routes, were to form a junction at the mouth of the Big Kanawha, and 
 from thence penetrate the country north west of the Ohio River, as far as 
 the season would permit, and destroy all the Indian towns and villages 
 they could reach. 
 
 " About the 1st of September the troops placed under the command of 
 General Lewis rendezvoused at Camp Union (Lewisburg), and consisted 
 of two regiments, commanded by Colonel William Fleming of Botte- 
 tourt, and Colonel Charles Lewis, (brother of General Lewis), of Au- 
 gusta, containing about four hundred men each. At Camp Union they 
 were joined by an independent volunteer company, under Colonel Field, 
 of Culpeper ; a company from Bedford, under Captain Buford, and two 
 from Holstein Settlement, (now Washington county), under Captains 
 Evans, Shelby and Harbert. These three latter companies were part of 
 the forces to be led on by Colonel Christian, who was likewise to join the 
 two main divisions of the army at Point Pleasant as soon as the other 
 companies could be assembled. The force under General Lewi*, having 
 been thus augmented to eleven hundred men, commenced its march for 
 the mouth of the Kanawha, on the llth of September, 1774. 
 
 " From Camp Union to the point proposed for the junction of the 
 northern and southern divisions of the army, a distance of one hundred 
 and sixty miles, the intermediate country was a trackless forest so rug- 
 ged and mountainous as to render the progress of the army at once tedi- 
 ous and laborious. Under the guidance of Captain Mathew Arbuckle 
 they, however, succeeded in reaching the Ohio River, after a march of 
 nineteen days, and fixed their encampment on the point of land immedi- 
 ately between that river and the Big Kanawha, The provisions and 
 ammunition, transported on pack mules, and the beeves and droves ar- 
 rived soon after. 
 
 " When the southern division arrived at Point Pleasant, Governor 
 Dunmore, with the forces under his command, had not reached there, 
 and, unable to account for his failure to form the preconcerted junction 
 at that place, it was deemed advisable to await that event, and by so do- 
 ing a better opportunity would be afforded to Colonel Christian of coming 
 up with that portion of the army which was then with him. Meanwhile, 
 General Lewis, to learn the cause of the delay of the northern division, 
 dispatched runners by land in the direction of Fort Pitt, to obtain tidings 
 of Lord Dunmore, and to communicate them to him immediately. In 
 their absence, however, advices were received from his lordship that he 
 had determined on proceeding across the country directly to the Shawnee 
 towns, and ordering General Lewis to cross the river, march forward
 
 THE BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT. 7 
 
 and form a junction with him near to them. These advices were re- 
 ceived on the 9th of October, and preparations were immediately com- 
 menced for the transportation of the troops over the Ohio River. 
 
 "Early on the morning of Monday, the tenth of that month, two sol- 
 diers left the camp and proceeded up the Ohio River in quest of deer. 
 When they had progressed about two miles they unexpectedly came in 
 sight of a large number of Indians rising from their encampment, and 
 who, discovering the hunters, fired upon them and killed one; the other 
 escaped unhurt, and, running briskly to the camp, communicated the in- 
 telligence ' that he had seen a body of the enemy, covering four acres of 
 ground as closely as they could stand by the side of each other.' The main 
 part of the army was immediately ordered out under Colonels Lewis and 
 Wm. Fleming, and, having formed into two lines,they proceeded about four 
 hundred yards, when they met the Indians, and the action commenced. 
 
 " At the first onset, Colonel Charles Lewis having fallen, and Colonel 
 Fleming being wounded, both lines gave way, and were retreating brisk- 
 ly toward the camp, when they were met by a reinforcement under Col- 
 onel Field and rallied. The engagement then became general, and was 
 sustained by the most obstinate fury on both sides. The Indians, per- 
 ceiving that the " tug of war " had come, and determined on affording 
 the colonial army no chance of escape, if victory should declare for them, 
 formed a line extending across the point from the Ohio to the Kanawha, 
 and protected in front by logs and fallen timber. In this situation they 
 maintained the contest with unabated vigor from sunrise till toward the 
 close of evening bravely and successfully resisting every charge which 
 was made on them, and withstanding the impetuosity of every onset 
 with the most invincible firmness, until a fortunate movement on the 
 part of the Virginia troops decided the day. 
 
 " Some short distance above the entrance of the Kanawha River into 
 the Ohio there is a stream called Crooked Creek, emptying into the 
 former of these from the northeast, whose banks are tolerably high, and 
 were then covered with a thick and luxuriant growth of weeds. Seeing 
 the impracticability of dislodging the Indians by the most vigorous at- 
 tack, and sensible of the great danger which must arise to his army if the 
 contest were not decided before night, General Lewis detached the three 
 companies which were commanded by Captains Isaac Shelby, George 
 Mathews and John Stuart, with orders to proceed up the Kanawha Riv- 
 er and Crooked Creek, under cover of the banks and weeds, till they 
 could pass some distance beyond the enemy, when they were to emerge 
 from their covert, march downward toward the point, and attack the In- 
 dians in the rear. The manoeuvre thus planned was promptly executed, 
 and gave a decided victory to the colonial army. The Indians finding 
 themselves suddenly and unexpectedly encompassed between two armies,
 
 8 LEGENDS OP THE VALLEY. 
 
 and not doubting but in their rear was the looked for reinforcement un- 
 der Colonel Christian, soon gave way, and about sun down commenced 
 a precipitate, retreat across the Ohio, to the towns on the Scioto. The 
 victory, indeed, was decisive, and many advantages were obtained by it ; 
 but they were not cheaply bought. The Virginia army sustained in this 
 engagement a loss of seventy-five killed, and one hundred and forty 
 wounded about one-fifth of the entire number of troops. 
 
 "Among the slain were Colonels Lewis and Field , Captains Buford, 
 Morrow, Wood, CundifF, Wilson and Robert McClanahan, and Lieu- 
 tenants Allen, Goldsby and Dillon, with some other subalterns. The 
 loss of the enemy could not be ascertained. On the morning after the 
 action, Colonel Christian, who had arrived after the battle ended, 
 marched his men over the battle-ground, and found twenty-one of the 
 Indians lying dead ; and twelve others were afterwards discovered, where 
 they had been concealed under some old logs and brush. 
 
 " From the great facility with which the Indians either carry off" or 
 conceal their dead, it is always difficult to ascertain the number of their 
 slain ; and hence arises, in some measure, the disparity between their 
 known loss and that sustained by their opponents in battle. Other reasons 
 for this disparity are to be found in their peculiar mode of warfare, and in 
 the fact that they rarely continue a contest when it has to be maintained 
 with the loss of their warriors. It would not be easy otherwise to ac- 
 count for the circumstance, that even when signally vanquished, the list of 
 their slain does not, frequently, appear more than half as great as that 
 of their victors. In this particular instance, many of the dead were 
 certainly thrown into the river. 
 
 " Nor could the number of the enemy engaged be ever ascertained. 
 Their army is known to have been composed of warriors from the dif- 
 ferent nations north of the Ohio, and to have composed the flower of the 
 tribes already mentioned. The distinguished chief and consummate 
 warrior, Cornstalk, who commanded their forces, proved himself on that 
 day to be justly entitled to the prominent station which he occupied. 
 His plan of alternate retreat and attack was well conceived, and occa- 
 sioned the principal loss sustained by the whites. If at any time his 
 warriors were believed to waver, his voice could be heard above the din 
 of arms, exclaiming in his native tongue : ' Be strong ! be strong ! ' and 
 when one near him, by trepidation and reluctance to proceed to the 
 charge, evinced a dastardly disposition, fearing the example might have 
 a pernicious influence, with one blow of the tomahawk he severed his 
 skull. It was, perhaps, a solitary instance in which terror predom- 
 inated. Never did men exhibit a more conclusive evidence of bravery 
 in making a charge, and fortitude in withstanding an onset, than did 
 these undisciplined soldiers of the forest in the field at Point Pleasant.
 
 THE BATTLE OP POINT PLEASANT. 9 
 
 Such, too, was the good conduct of those who composed the army of Vir- 
 ginia on that occasion, and such the noble bravery of the many, that 
 high expectations were entertained of their future distinction. Nor were 
 those expectations disappointed. In the various scenes through which 
 they subsequently passed, the pledge of eminence then given was fully 
 redeemed, and the names of Shelby, Campbell, Mathews, Fleming, 
 Moore and others, their compatriots in arms on the memorable 10th of 
 October, 1774, have been inscribed in brilliant characters on the roll of 
 fame. 
 
 " Having buried the deaJ,and made every arrangement of which their 
 situation admitted for the comfort of the wounded, intrenchments were 
 thrown up, and the army commenced its march to form a junction with 
 the northern division, under Lord Dunmore. Proceeding by the way of 
 the Salt Licks, General Lewis pressed forward with astonishing rapidity, 
 (considering that the march was though a trackless desert), but before 
 he had gone far, an express arrived from Dunmore with orders to 
 return immediately to the mouth of the Big Kanawha. Suspecting the 
 integrity of his Lordship's motives, and urged by the advice of his 
 officers generally, General Lewis refused to obey these orders, and con- 
 tinued to advance till he was met, (at Kilkenny Creek, and in sight of an 
 Indian villiage, which its inhabitants had just fired and deserted), by the 
 Governor, accompanied by White Eyes, who informed him that he was 
 negotiating a treaty of peace, which would supercede the necessity of the 
 further movement of the Southern division, and repeated the order for 
 his return. 
 
 " The army under General Lewis had endured many privations and 
 suffered many hardships. They had encountered a savage enemy in 
 great force, and purchased a victory with the blood of their friends. 
 When they arrived near the goal of their anxious wishes, and with 
 nothing to prevent the accomplishment of the object of their campaign" 
 that is, to inflict summary chastisement on the Indian tribes "they re- 
 ceived those orders with evident chagrin, and did not obey them without 
 murmuring. Having, at his own request, been introduced severally to 
 the officers of that division, complimenting them for their gallantry and 
 good conduct in the late engagement, and assuring them of his high 
 esteem, Lord Dunmore returned to his camp, and General Lewis com- 
 menced his retrograde movement." Withers. 
 
 On his arrival at Point Pleasant, General Lewis left a sufficient force 
 to protect the place, and a supply of provisions for the wounded, and 
 then led the balance of the division to the place of rendezvous, (Lewis- 
 burg), and disbanded them.
 
 10 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 "UW>" "- ' 
 
 LORD DUNMORE'S TREATY WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 On his return to Camp Charlotte,* Lord Dunmore concluded a 
 treaty with the Indians. "The chief speaker on the part of the Indians 
 was Cornstalk, who openly charged the whites with being the sole cause of 
 the war, enumerating the many provocations which the Indians had re- 
 ceived, and dwelling with great force and emphasis upon the diabolical 
 murder of Logan's family. This great chief spoke in the most vehement 
 and denunciatory style. His loud, clear voice was distinctly heard 
 throughout the camp. Cornstalk, had from the first, opposed the war 
 with the whites, and when his scouts reported the advance of General 
 Lewis' division the sagacious chief did all he could to restrain his men 
 and keep them from battle. But all his remonstrances were in vain, and 
 it was then he told them, 'As you are determined to fight, you shall 
 fight.' After their defeat and return home, a council was convened to 
 determine upon what was next to be done. The stern old chief rising, 
 said, ' What shall we do now ? The Lougknives are coming upon us by 
 two routes. Shall we turn out and fight them ?' No response being 
 made, he continued, 'Shall we kill all our squaws and children, and then 
 fight until we are killed ourselves?' Still the congregated wariors were 
 silent, and after a moment's hesitation, Cornstalk struck his tomahawk 
 into the war post, aud with compressed lips and flashing eye,gazed around 
 the assembled group, then with great emphasis spoke, 'Since you are 
 not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace.' Colonel Wilson, who 
 was present at the interview between Cornstalk and Lord Dunmore thus 
 speaks of the chieftain's bearing : "When he arose he was in nowise con- 
 fused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without 
 stammering or repitition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks while 
 addressing Dunmore were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and 
 attractive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry 
 and Richard Henry Lee, but never have I heard one whose powers of 
 delivery surpassed those of Cornstalk." Colonel Wilson. 
 
 "But there was one who would not attend the camp of Lord Dun 
 more, and that was Logan. The Mingo Chief felt the chill of despair at 
 his heart ; his very soul seemed frozen within him ; and although he 
 would not interpose obstacles to an amicable adjustment of existing 
 difficulties, still he could not meet the Long-Knives in council as if no 
 terrible stain of blood rested upon their hands. He remained at a dis- 
 
 *Camp Charlotte is said to have been on Sippo Creek, about eight miles from the 
 town of Westfall. The present writer, in 1862, was on the spot where tradition says 
 the above named treaty was executed. It was under a large, wide-spreading elm 
 tree, whose trunk at the base was ten feet in diameter, and whose branches, from out 
 to out, were about one hundred and sixty feet in circumference. It is presumed to 
 be still standing (1877), and, if so, may be seen on the farm of James Boggs, Esq., 
 about twelve miles north of Chillicothe, and two miles east of the fccioto river.
 
 DUNMORE'S TREATY. 11 
 
 tance, brooding in melancholy silence over his accumulated wrongs dur- 
 ing most of the time his friends were negotiating. But Dunmore felt the 
 importance of at least securing his assent; and for that purpose sent a 
 special messenger, Colonel John Gibson, who waited upon the chief at his 
 wigwam. 
 
 "The messenger in due time returned, bringing with him the celebrated 
 speech which has given its author an immortality almost as imperish- 
 able as that of the great Athenian orator. 
 
 "It is due perhaps, in candor, to state that the authenticity of this 
 celebrated speech has been questioned. De Hass. 
 
 The sentiments of the celebrated speech to which the above author 
 refers, may be, and perhaps, ought to be imputed to Logan ; but to be- 
 lieve that an untutored savage should be able thus to excel in the 
 rhetorical art, requires a credulity that does not ordinarily, at least, fall 
 to the lot of cultivated minds. It was probably prepared by Colonel John 
 Gibson, and polished either by himself, or some one else skilled in the 
 art of composition. Its authorship has been ascribed to Mr. Jefferson. 
 But after reading the highly eulogistic terms in which that gentleman 
 speaks ot it, one would hardly suppose that it could have been written by 
 him. He says, "I may challenge the whole orations of Demosthenes and 
 Cicero, and of any more eminent orator, (if Europe has furnished a more 
 eminent), to produce a single passage superior to it." This would be rather 
 too much for any modest rhetorician to say of his own performance. It 
 may be added that Dewitt Clinton endorsed the opinion expressed by Mr. 
 Jefferson. 
 
 But that the intelligent reader may judge for himself, the speech of 
 Logan, as found in "Jefferson's Notes," is given below : 
 
 "I appeal," said he "to any white man to say if he ever entered, Logan's 
 cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold and 
 naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and 
 bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, and advocated peace. 
 Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they 
 passed, and said, 'Logan is the friend of the white man.' I had even 
 thought to live with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel 
 Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the 
 relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There 
 runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This 
 called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed many; I 
 have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams 
 of peace ; but do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Lo- 
 gan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who 
 is there to mourn for Logan ? Not one." 
 
 "The Mingos," as appears from the American Archives, "were not par- 
 ties to the peace of Fort Charlotte ; " but became active participants in
 
 12 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 the bloody scenes which took place when the Indians were employed as 
 allies by the British, after the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. 
 How far Logan himself was a participant in these scenes we do not now 
 recollect to have learned ; but there can be but little doubt that he con- 
 tinued his hostility to the whites to the day of his death, the manner and 
 time of which we are not now prepared to state. 
 
 The conduct of Lord Dunmore, in effecting the peace of Camp Char- 
 lotte, was suspected at the time, and is generally believed at the present 
 day, to have been treacherous to the colonies, and in the interest of Great 
 Britain. But the charge of treasonable design, although plausible in 
 part, is not fully sustained by facts and circumstances. The writer 
 would prefer, therefore, to dismiss the subject from further discussion, as 
 involving a question incapable of satisfactory solution. 
 
 THE MURDER OF CORNSTALK. 
 
 " In the year 1777, the Indians being urged by British agents, became 
 very troublesome to the frontier settlements, manifesting much appear- 
 ance of hostility, when Cornstalk, the warrior, with Redhawk, paid a visit 
 to the garrison at Point Pleasant. He made no secret of the disposition 
 of the Indians, declaring that, on his own part, he was opposed to joining 
 in the war on the side of the British, but that all the nations, except him- 
 self and his own tribe, were determined to engage in it, and that, of 
 course, he and his tribe would have to run with the stream. 
 
 " On this Captain Arbuckie thought proper to detain him, Redhawk, 
 and another fellow, as hostages to prevent the nation from joining the 
 British. 
 
 " In the course of that summer our Government had ordered an army 
 to be raised, of volunteers, to serve under the command of General Hand, 
 who was to have collected a number of tro >ps at Fort Pitt, with them 
 descend the river to Point Pleasant, there to meet a reinforcement of vol- 
 unteers expected to be raised in Augusta and Bottetourt counties, and 
 then proceed to the Shawnee towns and chastise them, so as to compel 
 them to neutrality. Hand did not succeed in the collection of troops 
 at Fort Pitt, and but three or four companies were raised in Augusta 
 and Bottetourt, which were under the command of Colonel George Skill- 
 ern, who ordered me " (Stuart) " to use my endeavors to raise all the 
 volunteers I could in Greenbrier for that service. The people had begun 
 to see the difficulties attending on a state of war and long campaigns car- 
 ried through wildernesses, and but a few were willing to engage in such 
 service. But as the settlements which we covered, though less exposed 
 to the depredations of the Indians, had showed their willingness to aid 
 in the proposed plan to chastise the Indians, and had raised three com- 
 panies, I was very desirous of doing all I could to promote the business
 
 THE MURDER OF CORNSTALK. 13 
 
 and aid the service. I used the utmost endeavors and proposed to the 
 militia officers to volunteer ourselves, which would be an encouragement 
 to others, and by such means to raise all the men who could be got. The 
 chief of the officers in Greenbrier agreed to the proposal, and we cast lots 
 who should command the company. The lot fell on Andrew Hamilton, 
 for captain, and William Renick, lieutenant. We collected in all about 
 forty, and joined Colonel Skillern's party on their way to Point Pleasant. 
 
 " When we arrived, there was no account of General Hand or his ar- 
 my, and little or no provision made to support our troops other than what 
 we bad taken with us down the Kanawha. We found, too, that the gar- 
 rison was unable to spare us any supplies; but we concluded to wait as 
 long as we could for the arrival of General Hand, or some account of 
 him. During our stay two young men, of the names of Hamilton and 
 Gilmore, went over the Kanawha one day to hunt for deer. On their 
 return to camp some Indians had concealed themselves on the bank among 
 the weeds, to view our encampment, and, as Gilmore came along past 
 them, they fired on him and killed him on the bank. 
 
 " Captain Arbuckle and myself were standing on the opposite bank 
 when the gun fired, and while we were considering who it could be shoot- 
 ing, contrary to orders, or what they 'were doing over the river, we saw 
 Hamilton run down the bank, who called out that Gilmore was killed. 
 Gilmore was one of the company of Captain John Hall, of that part of 
 the country now Rockbridge county. The Captain was a relation of 
 Gilmore's, whose family and friends were chiefly cut off by the Indians 
 in the year 1763, when Greenbrier was cut off Hall's men instantly 
 jumped into a canoe and went to the relief of Hamilton, who was standing 
 in momentary expectation of being put to death. They brought the corpse 
 of Gilmore down the bank, covered with blood and scalped, and put him 
 into the canoe. As they were passing the river I observed to Captain 
 Arbuckle that the people would be for killing the hostages as soon as the 
 canoe should land. He supposed they would not offer to commit so great 
 a violence upon the innocent, who were in no wise accessory to the mur- 
 der of Gilrnore. But the canoe had scarcely touched the shore until the 
 cry was raised, ' Let us kill the Indians in the fort,' and every man, with 
 gun in hand, came up the bank full of rage. Captain Hall was at their 
 head, and lead them. Captain Arbuckle and I met them, and endeav- 
 ored to dissuade them from so unjustifiable an action ; but they cocked 
 their guns, threatened us with instant death if we did not desist, rushed 
 by us into the fort, and put the Indians to death. 
 
 " On the preceding day Cornstalk's son, Elinipsico, had coine from the 
 nation to see his father, and to know if he was well or alive. When he 
 came to the river, opposite the fort, he hallooed. His father was at that 
 instant in the act of delineating, at our request, with chalk on the floor, a
 
 14 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 map of the country, and the waters between the Shawanee towns and the 
 Mississippi. He immediately recognized the voice of his son, got up, 
 went out, and answered him The young fellow crossed over, and they 
 embraced each other in the most tender and affectionate manner. The 
 interpreter's wife, who had been a prisoner among the Indians, and had 
 recently left them, on hearing the uproar the next day, and hearing the 
 men threatening that thev would kill the Indians, for whom she retained 
 much affection, ran to their cabin and informed them that the people 
 were just coming to kill them ; and that, because the Indians who killed 
 Gilmore had come with Elinipsico the day before. He utterly denied it, 
 declared that he knew nothing of them, and trembled exceedingly. His 
 father encouraged him not to be afraid, for that the Great Man above had 
 sent him there to be killed and die with him. As the men advanced to 
 the door Cornstalk rose up and met them. They fired upon him, and 
 seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell Cornstaik, the great 
 warrior, whose name was bestowed upon him by the consent of the na- 
 tion, as their great strength and support. His son was shot dead as he 
 sat upon a stool. Redbawk made an attempt to go up the chimney, but 
 was shot down. The other Indian was shamefully mangled, and I erriev- 
 ed to see him so long in the agonies of death. 
 
 " Cornstalk, from personal appearance and many brave acts, was un- 
 doubtedly a hero. Had he been spared to live, I believe he would have 
 been friendly to the American cause ; for nothing could have induced 
 him to make his visit to the garrison at the critical time he did but to 
 communicate to them the temper and disposition of the Indians, and their 
 design of taking part with the British. On the day he was killed we 
 held a council at which he was present. His countenance was dejected, 
 and he made a speech, all of which seemed to indicate an honest and 
 manly disposition. He seemed to be impressed 
 
 with an awful premonition of his approaching fate, for he repeatedly said : 
 ' When I was a young man and went to war, I thought that might be the 
 last time, and I would return no more. Now I am here among you. 
 You may kill me if you please. I can die but once, and it is all one to 
 me, now or another time.' This declaration concluded every sentence of 
 his speech. He was killed about one hour after our council." Colonel 
 John Stuart. 
 
 The murder of Cornstalk and his party, of course, produced its natural 
 effect, deciding the wavering Shawnees to join the other tribes, as allies 
 of the British, and converting them as possible friends of the American 
 cause, into the most bitter and relentless enemies.
 
 II. 
 
 THE SEIGE OF FORT HENRY; 
 
 Gunpowder Exploit-MeCulloeh's Leap-His Death, 
 
 JHE " most important event in the history of Wheeling was the siege 
 of Fort Henry, near the mouth of Wheeling Creek, in September, 
 1777. The bravery and perseverance of the little band who de- 
 fended it against more than thirty times their number of savages, led on 
 by the notorious Simon Girty,* was such as to rank it among the most 
 memorable events in border warfare." Howe. 
 
 " Fort Henry stood immediately on the east bank of the Ohio River, 
 about a quarter of a mile above Wheeling Creek, * 
 The savages, variously estimated at 380 to 500 warriors, having been 
 abundantly supplied with arms and provisions by the British Governor 
 (Hamilton) at Detroit, and led on by Simon Girty, were brought before 
 the walls of Fort Henry before Colonel Shepherd, the commandant, knew 
 of their real design. Some symptoms of their proximity having been dis- 
 covered, the settlers of the vicinity had, the night previous, sought shel- 
 ter within the fort. 
 
 " The garrison numbered only 42 fighting men, all told, counting those 
 advanced in years as well as those who were mere boys. A portion of 
 them were skilled in Indian warfare, and all were excellent marksmen. 
 The storehouse was amply supplied with muskets, but was sadly deficient 
 in amunition. 
 
 " The next morning Colonel Shepherd dispatched a man, accompanied 
 by a negro, on an errand a short distance from the fort. The white man 
 
 *This Simon Girty was a renegade white man, who, for some unknown cause, had 
 taken offense against his own people, and for the purpose of revenge had allied him- 
 self with the British cause. After the murder of Cornstalk, at Point Pleasant, the 
 Indians seemed to be without a prominent leader, and, for the time being, it would 
 appear that Girty had been assigned to the chief command of the Indian tribes; at all 
 events, in conducting the siege of Fort Henry.
 
 16 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 fell by a blow from the fire-lock of an Indian ; but the negro escaped 
 back to the fort, and gave information that they had been waylaid by a 
 party of Indians in a cornfield, 
 
 " As soon as the negro related his story the Colonel dispatched Captain 
 Samuel Mason, with fourteen men, to dislodge the Indians from the field. 
 Captain Mason, with his party, marched through the field, and arrived 
 almost on the bank of the creek without finding the Indians, and had al- 
 ready commenced a retrograde movement when he was suddenly and 
 furiously assailed in front, flank and rear by the whole of Girty's army. 
 The Captain rallied his men from the confusion produced by this unex- 
 pected demonstration of the enemy, and instantly comprehending the sit- 
 uation in which he was placed, gallantly took the lead and hewed a pas- 
 sage through the savage phalanx that opposed him. In this desperate 
 conflict more than half the little band were slain and their leader se- 
 verely wounded. Intent on retreating back to the fort, Mason pressed 
 rapidly on with the remnant of his command, the Indians following 
 closely in pursuit. One by one these devoted soldiers fell at the crack 
 of the enemy's rifle. An Indian who pursued Captain Mason at length 
 overtook him, and, to make sure of his prey, fired at him from the dis- 
 tance of five paces, but the shot, though it took effect, did not disable the 
 Captain, who immediately turned about, and, hurling his gun at the 
 head of his pursuer, felled him to the earth. The fearlessness with which 
 this act was performed caused an involuntary dispersion of the gang of In- 
 dians who led the pursuit ; and Mason, whose extreme exhaustion of phy- 
 sical powers prevented him from reaching the fort, was fortunate enough 
 to hide himself in a pile of fallen timber, where he was compelled to re- 
 remain to the end of the siege. Only two of his men survived the skirm- 
 ish, and they, like their leader, owed their safety to the heaps of logs 
 and brush that abounded in the cornfield. 
 
 " As soon as the critical situation of Captain Mason became known at 
 the fort, Captain Ogle, with twelve volunteers from the garrison, sallied 
 forth to cover his retreat. This noble, self-devoted band, in their eager- 
 ness to press forward to the relief of their suffering fellow soldiers, fell into 
 an ambuscade, and two-thirds of their number were slain upon the spot. 
 Sergeant Jacob Ogle, though mortally wounded, managed to escape with 
 two soldiers into the woods, while Captain Ogle escaped in another direc- 
 tion, and found a place of concealment, which, like his brother officer, 
 Captain Mason, he was obliged to keep as long as the seige continued. 
 Immediately after the departure of Captain Ogle's command, three new 
 volunteers left the garrison to overtake and reinforce him. These men, 
 however, did not reach the cornfield until after the bloody scenes had be,en 
 enacted, and barely found time to return to the fort before the Indian 
 host appeared before it. The enemy advanced in two ranks, in open
 
 THE SIEGE OP FORT HENRY. 17 
 
 order, their left flank reaching to the river bank, and their right extend- 
 ing into the woods as far as the eye could reach. As the three volun- 
 teers were about to enter the gate a few random shots were fired at them 
 and instantly a loud whoop was heard on the enemy's left flank, which 
 passed, as if by concert, along the line to the extreme right, until the 
 welkin was filled with a chorus of the most wild and startling character. 
 This salute was responded to by a few well directed rifle-shots from the 
 lower block houses, which produced a manifest confusion in the ranks of 
 the besiegers. They discontinued their shooting and retired a few paces, 
 probably to await the coming up of their right flank, which it would 
 seem, had been directed to make a general sweep of the bottom, and 
 then approach the stockade on the eastern side. 
 
 "At this moment the garrison of Fort Henry numbered no more than 
 twelve men and boys. The fortunes of the day, so far, had been fear- 
 fully against them ; two of their best officers and more than two-thirds of 
 their original force were missing. The exact fate of their comrades was 
 unknown to them, but they had every reason to apprehend that they 
 had been cut to pieces. Still they were not dismayed ; their mothers, 
 sisters, wives and children were assembled around them ; they had a 
 sacred charge to protect, and they resolved to fight to the last extremity, 
 and confidently trusted in Heaven for the successful issue of the combat. 
 
 "When the enemy's right flank came up, Girty changed his order of 
 attack. Parties of Indians were placed in such of the village houses as 
 commanded a view of the block-houses ; a strong body occupied the yard 
 of Ebenezer Zane, about fifty yards from the fort, using a paling-fence 
 as a cover, while the greater part were posted under cover in the edge 
 of the cornfield, to act offensively or serve as a corps of reserve as occa- 
 sion might require. These dispositions having been made, Girty, with a 
 white flag in his hand, appeared at the window of a cabin and demanded 
 the surrender of the garrison in the name of his Britannic majesty. He 
 read the proclamation of Governor Hamilton, and promised them pro- 
 tection if they would lay down their arms and swear allegiance to the 
 British Crown. He warned them to submit peaceably, and admitted his 
 inability to restrain the passions of his warriors when they once became 
 excited with the strife of battle. Colonel Shepherd promptly told him 
 in reply that the garrison would never surrender to him, and that he 
 could only obtain possession of the fort when there remained no longer 
 an American soldier to defend it. Girty renewed his proposition, but be- 
 fore he finished his harrangue a thoughtless youth in one of the block- 
 houses fired a gun at the speaker, and brought the conference to an abrupt 
 termination. Girty disappeared, and in about fifteen minutes the In- 
 dians opened the siege by a general discharge of rifles. 
 
 " It was yet quite early in the morning, the sun not having^ appear- 
 3
 
 18 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 ed above the summit of Wheeling hill, and the day is represented as be- 
 ing one of surpassing beauty. The Indians, not entirely concealed from 
 the view of the garrison, kept up a brisk fire for the space of six hours 
 without much intermission. The little garrison, in spite of its hetero- 
 geneous character, was, with scarcely an exception, composed of sharp- 
 shooters. Several of them, whose experience in Indian warfare gave 
 them a remarkable degree of coolness and self-possession in the face of 
 danger, infused confidence into the young, and, as they never fired at 
 random, their bullets, in most cases, took effect. The Indiarns, on the 
 contrary, gloated with their previous success, their tomahawks reeking 
 with the blood of Mason's and Ogle's men, and all of them burning with 
 impatience to rush into the fort and complete their work of butchery, dis- 
 charged their guns against, the pickets, the gate, the logs of the block- 
 houses, and every other object that seemed to shelter a white man. Their 
 fire was thrown away. At length some of the most daring warriors rush- 
 ed up close to the block-houses and attempted to make sure work by firing 
 through the logs; but these reckless savages received from the well- 
 directed rifles of the frontiermen the fearful reward of their temerity. 
 About one o'clock the Indians discontinued their fire and fell back 
 against the base of the hill. 
 
 "The stock of gunpowder in the iort having been nearly exhausted, it 
 was determined to seize the favorable opportunity offered by the suspension 
 of hostilities to send for a keg of powder which was known to be in the 
 house of Ebenezer Zane, about sixty yards from the gate of the fort The 
 person executing this service would necessarily expose himself to the dan- 
 ger of being shot down by the Indians, who were yet sufficiently near to 
 observe everything that transpired about the works. The Colonel ex- 
 plained the matter to his men, and, unwilling to order one of them to un- 
 dertake such a desperate enterprise, inquired whether any man would vol- 
 unteer for the service. Three or four young men promptly stepped for- 
 ward in obedience to the call. The Colonel informed them that the weak 
 state of the garrison would not justify the absence of more than one man, 
 and that it was for themselves to decide who that person should be. The 
 eagerness felt by each volunteer to undertake the honorable mission pre- 
 vented them from making the arrangement proposed by the commandant, 
 and so much time was consumed in the contention that fears began to 
 arise that the Indians would renew the attack before the powder could 
 be procured. At this crisis a young lady, the sister of Ebenezer and Si- 
 las Zane, came forward and desired _that she might be permitted to exe- 
 cute the service. This proposition seemed so extravagant that it met 
 with a peremptory refusal, but she instantly renewed her petition in 
 terms of redoubled earnestness, and all the remonstrances of the Colonel 
 and her relatives failed to dissuade her from her heroic purpose. It was
 
 THE SIEGE OF FORT HENRY. 19 
 
 finally represented to her that either of the young men on account of his 
 superior fleetness and familiarity with scenes of danger would be more 
 likely than herself to do the work successfully. She replied that the 
 danger which would attend the enterprise was the identical reason that 
 induced her to offer her services, for, as the garrison was very weak, no 
 soldier's life should be placed in needless jeopardy, and that if she were to 
 fall her loss would not be felt. Her petition was ultimately granted, and 
 the gate opened for her to pass out, The opening of the gate arrested the 
 attention of several Indians who were straggling through the village. It 
 was noticed that their eyes were upon her as she crossed the open space 
 to reach her brothers' house ; but seized, perhaps, with a sudden freak of 
 clemency, or believing that a woman's life was not worth a load of gun- 
 powder, or influenced by some other unexplained motive, they permitted 
 her to pass without molestation. . When she reappeared with the powder 
 in her arms the Indians, suspecting, no doubt, the character of her bur- 
 den, elevated their fire-locks and discharged a volley at her as she swiftly 
 glided toward the gate, but the balls all flew wide of the mark, and the 
 fearless girl reached the fort in safety with her prize. The pages of his- 
 tory may furnish a parallel to the noble exploit of Elizabeth Zane, but an 
 instance of greater self-devotion and moral intrepidity is not to be found 
 anywhere." Kiernan. 
 
 " This heroine had but recently returned from Philadelphia, where she 
 had received her education, and was totally unused to such scenes as 
 were daily exhibited on the frontier. She married twice, and is, or was 
 a few years since, living in Ohio with her husband, a Mr. Clarke." 
 Withers. 
 
 " About half-past two o'clock the Indians put themselves again in mo- 
 tion, and advanced to renew the siege. As in the first attack, a portion 
 of the warriors took possession of the cabins contiguous to the fort, while 
 others availed themselves of the cover afforded by Zane's paling-fence. 
 A large number posted themselves in and behind a blacksmith shop and 
 stable that stood opposite the northern line of pickets, and another party, 
 probably the strongest of all, stationed themselves undercover of a worm 
 fence and several large piles of fallen timber on the south side of the fort. 
 The siege was now re-opened from the latter quarter a strong gang of 
 Indians advancing under cover of some large stumps that stood on the 
 side of the declivity below the fort, and renewing the combat with loud 
 yells and brisk fire. The impetuosity of the attack on the south side 
 brought the whole garrison to the lower block-houses, from which they 
 were enabled to pour out a destructive fire upon the enemy in that quar- 
 ter. While the garrison was thus employed, a party of eighteen or 
 twenty Indians, armed with rails and billets of wood, rushed out of 
 Zane's yard and made an attempt to force open the gate of the fort.
 
 20 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 Their design was discovered in time to defeat it ; but only abandoned 
 after five or six of their number had been shot down. Upon the failure 
 of this scheme, the Indians opened a fire upon the fort from all sides, 
 except from that next to the river, which afforded no shelter to a be- 
 sieging host. On the north and east the battle raged most fiercely ; for, 
 notwithstanding the strength of the assailants on the south, the unfavor- 
 ableness of the ground prevented them from prosecuting with much vigor 
 the attack which they had commenced with such fury 
 
 " The rifles used by the garrison, towards evening, became so much 
 heated by continued firing, that they were rendered measurably useless ; 
 and recourse was then had to muskets, a full supply of which was found 
 in the store-house. As darkness set in, the fire of the savages grew weaker, 
 though it was not entirely discontinued until next morning. Shortly 
 after nightfall, a considerable party of Indians advanced within sixty 
 yards of the fort, bringing with them a hollow maple log, which they 
 had converted into a field-piece, by plugging up one of its ends with a 
 block of wood. To give it additional strength, a quanity of chains, 
 taken from the black-smith shop, encompassed it from one end to the 
 other. It was heavily charged with powder, and then filled to the 
 muzzle with pieces of stone, slugs of iron, and such other hard substances 
 as could be found. The cannon was graduated carefully to discharge its 
 contents against the gate of the fort. When the match was applied it 
 burst into many fragments ; and although it produced no effect upon the 
 fort, it killed and wounded several of the Indians who stood by to wit- 
 ness its discharge. A loud yell succeeded the failure of this experiment, 
 and the crowd dispersed. By this time the Indians generally had with- 
 drawn from the siege, and fallen back against the hill to take rest and 
 food. Numbers of stragglers, however, lurked about the village all 
 night, keeping up an irregular fire on the fort, and destroying whatever 
 articles of furniture and household comfort they chanced to find in the 
 cabins, 
 
 "Late in the evening, Francis Duke, a son-in-law of Colonel Shepherd, 
 arrived from the forks of Wheeling, and was shot down by the Indians 
 before he could reach the gate of the fort. About 4 o'clock next morn- 
 ing, September 28th, Colonel Swearingen, with 14 men, arrived in a 
 pirogue from Cross Creek, and was fortunate enough to fight his way 
 into the fort without the loss of a man. 
 
 "About daybreak Major Samuel McColloch,~with 40 mounted men 
 from Short Creek, came to the relief of the little garrison. The gate was 
 thrown open, and McColloch's men, though closely beset by the Indians, 
 entered in safety ; but McColloch himself was not permitted to pass the 
 gateway: the Indians crowded around him and separated him from his 
 party. After several ineffectual attempts to force his way to the gate, he
 
 McCoLLOcn's LEAP. 21 
 
 wheeled about and galloped with the swiftness of a deer in the direction 
 of Wheeling hill. 
 
 MAJOR M'COLLOCH'S LEAP. 
 
 " The Indians might easily have killed him. But they cherished to- 
 wards him an almost phrensied hatred; for he had participated in so 
 many encounters that almost every warrior personally knew him. To 
 take him alive, and glut their full revenge by the most fiendish tor- 
 tures was their object ; and they made almost superhuman exertions to 
 capture him. He put spurs to his horse, and soon became completely 
 hemmed in on three sides, and the fourth was almost a perpendicular 
 precipice of 150 feet descent, with Wheeling creek at its base. Sup- 
 porting his rifle on his left hand, and carefully adjusting his reins with 
 the other, he urged his horse to the brink of the bluff, and then made 
 the leap which decided his fate. In the next moment the noble steed, 
 still bearing his intrepid rider in safety, was at the foot of the precipice. 
 McColloch immediately dashed across the creek, and was soon beyond 
 the reach of the Indians. 
 
 "After the escape of Major McColloch, the Indians concentrated at the 
 foot of the hill, and soon after set fire to all the houses and fences outside 
 of the fort, and killed about 300 head of cattle belonging to the settlers. 
 They then raised the siege, and took up the line of march to some other 
 theatre of action. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 " During the investiture, not a single man within the fort was killed, 
 and only one wounded, and that wound was a slight one. But the loss 
 sustained by the whites during the enemy's inroad was remarkably severe. 
 Of the forty-two men who were in the fort on the morning of the 27th, no 
 less than 23 were killed in the cornfield before the siege commenced. 
 The two men who had been sent down the river the previous night in a 
 canoe, were intercepted and killed ; and if we include Mr. Duke in the 
 list, the loss sustained by the settlement amounted to twenty-six killed, 
 besides four or five wounded. The enemy's loss was from sixty to one 
 hundred. Agreeably to their ancient custom, they removed their dead 
 from the field before the siege was raised ; the extent of their loss, there- 
 fore, is merely conjectural." Kiernan. 
 
 MAJOR M'COLLOCH'S DEATH. 
 
 As the reader will very naturally desire to learn the fate of Major 
 McColloch after his almost miraculous escape from the Indians, some 
 account of the manner of his death may be properly introduced in this 
 place : 
 
 " Towards the latter end of July, 1782, indications of Indians having 
 been noticed, by some of the settlers, Major McColloch and his brother
 
 22 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 John, mounted their horses, and left Van Metre's fort, to ascertain the 
 correctness of the report. They crossed Short creek, and continued in 
 the direction of Wheeling, but inclining towards the river. They scouted 
 closely, but cautiously, and not discovering any such ' signs ' as had been 
 stated, descended to the river bottom at a point on the farm subsequently 
 owned by Alfred P. Woods, about two miles above Wheeling. They 
 then passed up the river to the mouth of Short creek, and thence up Girty's 
 Point in the direction of Van Metre's. Not discovering any indications 
 of the enemy, the brothers were riding leasurely along, (July 30, 1782)> 
 and when a short distance beyond the " point," a deadly discharge of 
 rifles took place killing Major Samuel McColloch instantly. His brother 
 John escaped, but his horse was killed. Immediately mounting that of 
 his brother, he made off to give the alarm. As yet no enemy had been 
 seen ; but turning in his saddle, after riding fifty yards, the path was 
 filled with Indians, and one fellow was seen in the act of scalping the 
 unfortunate Major. Quick as thought the rifle of John was at bis 
 shoulder, an instant later, and the savage was rolling in the agonies of 
 death. John escaped to the fort unhurt, with the exception of a slight 
 wound on his hip. 
 
 " On the following day, a party of men from Van Metre's went out and 
 gathered up the mutilated remains of Major McColloch. The savages had 
 disemboweled him, but the viscera all remained except the heart. Some 
 years subsequent to this melancholy affair, an Indian, who had been one of 
 the party on this occasion, told some whites that the heart of Major Mc- 
 Colloch had been divided and eaten by the party. ' This was done,' said he, 
 'that we be bold like Maj. McColloch.' On another occasion, an Indian, in 
 speaking of the incident, said: "The whites,' (meaning John Mc- 
 Colloch), ' had killed a great captain, but they,' (the Indians), ' had 
 killed a greater one.' " De Hass. 
 
 The question has been mooted whether Samuel McColloch or his 
 younger brother John, of whom honorable mention has just been made, 
 was the real hero of the " leap ; " but this point has been so thoroughly 
 sifted, that there no longer remains the shadow of a doubt that Samuel 
 McColloch was the identical person ; so that the subject may be safely 
 dismissed, as not requiring further discussion. 
 
 But not so as to the real heroine in " the gunpowder exploit." This 
 has been a disputed point, some claiming the honor of the feat for Eliza- 
 beth Zane, others for Molly Scott. With the view, therefore, of settling 
 the question, if possible, the writer caused the following articles to be 
 inserted in the Wheeling Daily Register, dated respectively July 21, 1876, 
 and August 3, 1876 :
 
 THE GUNPOWDER EXPLOIT. 23 
 
 THE REAL HEROINE OF THE GUNPOWDER EXPLOIT MOLLIE SCOTT VS. 
 
 ELIZABETH ZANE. 
 
 That the niaiu facts, as given by Mr. Kiernan, in regard to the gun- 
 powder exploit during the siege of Fort Henry, are to be relied upon, 
 there can be no reasonable doubt ; but it has been suggested by some 
 that Mr. Kiernau's account of that transaction is rather overdrawn, and 
 was probably written under the pressure of strong family influence. Be 
 this as it may, it is positively denied, by competent testimony, that 
 Elizabeth Zane was the real heroine of the story, and as stoutly affirmed 
 that Mollie Scott was. The testimony of Mrs. Lydia S. Cruger as to who 
 was the real heroine in the case, is positive. Mrs. Cruger was the daugh- 
 ter of Captain Boggs, who had charge of the public stores, (including the 
 ammunition), within the stockade. She was then seventeen years of age, 
 and retained to the day of her death a vivid impression of the events 
 which she records. Her account of the transaction has the recommenda- 
 tion of being clear, circumstantial, positive, almost defiant. It is not 
 given as hear-say evidence merely, but as a narrative of events which 
 fell under her own personal observation, and in which she was to some 
 extent an actor. She was a lady of remarkably sound judgment and re- 
 tentive memory, and it is yet to be learned that her character for truth- 
 fulness and integrity has ever been successfully impeached. 
 
 The idea put forth by some recent fictitious writer that Mrs. Cruger 
 was influenced in her statement by an old feeling of rivalry toward 
 Elizabeth Zane, in the absence of historical proof, is simply preposterous, 
 and will not receive a moment's consideration from any one who enjoyed 
 her acquaintance. 
 
 It has been incidentally learned that there are certain parties who 
 claim to be in possession of evidence that Mollie Scott declined the honor 
 of being the heroine of the gunpowder exploit, and gave the credit ex- 
 plicitly to Elizabeth Zaue. If such be the fact, then the writer can only 
 say that he has never seen any such statement from Mollie Scott in print, 
 and, until further enlightened, is simply left to wonder why ? 
 
 But, be this as it may, if the friends of Elizabeth Zane can produce 
 any such statement, well authenticated, not merely by hear-say testimony, 
 but by such evidence as would be received in a court oi justice, then all 
 special pleading is at an end, and the statement of Mrs. Cruger falls to 
 the ground, no matter what may be the effect upon her future reputation. 
 This vexed question should be settled at once, now, in this Centennial 
 year, and the present offers a favorable opportunity. Mrs. Cruger, as be- 
 fore stated, was the daughter of Captain William Boggs. Her first hus- 
 band was Colonel Moses Shepperd. She subsequently married Colonel 
 Cruger, of New York, and died a few years ago, at the Monument House, 
 six miles east of Wheeling, aged 102 years. We will now allow her to 
 speak for herself, and then we pause for a reply. INVESTIGATOR.
 
 24 LEGENDS OP THE VALLEY. 
 
 [From De Hass' History of the Indian Wars.] 
 
 "The undersigned having been applied to for a statement of facts re- 
 specting the memorable achievement at the attack on Fort Henry 
 (Wheeling) in September, 1782, known as the gunpowder exploit, would 
 state as follows, viz : 
 
 " On Monday afternoon, September 11, 1782, a body of about 300 In- 
 dians, and 50 British soldiers, composing part of a company known as 
 the Queen's Rangers, appeared in frout of the fort and demanded a sur- 
 render. These forces were commanded respectively by the white rene- 
 gade Girty and Captain Pratt. 
 
 " The demand for a surrender was, of course, not complied with, and 
 the attack then commenced. 
 
 "During the forenoon of Tuesday, Sept* mber 12, the enemy having 
 temporarily withdrawn from the attack, but occupying a position within 
 gunshot of the fort, those within the stockade observed a female leave the 
 residence of Colonel Zane and advance with rapid movements toward the 
 fort. She made for the southern gate, as it was le^-s exposed to the fire 
 of the enemy. The gate was opened immediately, and she entered in safe- 
 ty. That person was none other than Mollie Scott, and the object of her 
 mission was to procure powder for those who defended the dwelling of 
 Colonel Zane. The undersigned was at that time in her seventeenth year, 
 and remembers every circumstance connected with the incident. She 
 saw Mollie Scott enter the fort, assisted her in getting the powder and 
 saw her leave, and avers most positively that she, and she alone, accom- 
 plished the feat referred to, and deserves all the credit that may be at- 
 tached to it. 
 
 "The ammunition at that time was kept in the store-house, adjoining 
 the residence of my father, and known as the " Captain's house." My 
 father, (Captain Boggs), having left for help on the commencement of 
 the attack ; and I, being the oldest child under the paternal roof, was 
 directed by my mother to go with the messenger, (Mollie Scott), to the 
 store-house, and give her whatever ammunition she needed. This the un- 
 dersigned did, and will now state, without fear of contradiction, that the 
 powder was given to Mollie Scott, and not to Elizabeth Zane. 
 
 " The undersigned assisted Mollie Scott inplacing thepowder in her apron, 
 and to this she is willing to be qualified at any time. 
 
 " Elizabeth Zane, for whom has long been claimed the credit of this 
 heroic feat, was at that time at the residence of her father, near the pres- 
 ent town of Washington, Pa. 
 
 " At the time of its occurrence, the achievement was not considered 
 very extraordinary. Those were emphatically times when woman's heart 
 was nerved to deeds of no ordinary kind. We all felt it was then ' to 
 do or die,' and the undersigned does not hesitate to say that more than one
 
 THE GUNPOWDER EXPLOIT. 25 
 
 within the little stockade at Wheeling would have accomplished the feat 
 with as much credit as the one whose name seems destined to an immor- 
 tality in border warfare. 
 
 " But the undersigned does not wish to detract from the heroism of 
 that feat ; she only desires to correct a gross error to give honor to whom 
 honor is due. This she deems imperative, that the truth and justice of 
 history may be maintained. 
 
 " The undersigned disclaims all unkind feeling toward any one, in re- 
 lation to this statement. Elizabeth Zane was one of her earliest ac- 
 quaintances, whom she knew to be a woman brave, generous and single- 
 hearted. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal this 28th day of November, 1849. 
 
 " LYDIA S. CRUGER, [Seal]." 
 
 THE GUNPOWDER EXPLOIT. 
 
 In the Wheeling Daily Register, of July 21, 1876, an article appeared 
 over the signature of " Investigator," accompanied by a statement of 
 Lydia S. Cruger, in regard to the gunpowder exploit, the object of which 
 was to elicit information on the one single point, as to whether Mollie 
 Scott, to whom Mrs. Cruger gives the credit of this memorable feat, had 
 ever declined the honor of the same in favor of Elizabeth Zane, as had 
 by some been alleged. It was believed that on this point hinged a final 
 settlement of the question. But to said communication in the .Register 
 no response has been made, which, in the opinion of the writer, warrants 
 the conclusion that no satisfactory response can be made ; in other 
 words, that Mollie Scott never made any such concession in favor of 
 Elizabeth Zane as that which has been imputed to her. This view of the 
 case receives further confirmation from the circumstance that Mr. De 
 Hass, in his account of the border wars, published, perhaps, twenty years 
 ago, makes no allusion whatever to any such waiver on the part of Mollie 
 Scott; but, had there been *uch, he would undoubtedly have heard of it 
 during the progress of his investigations, and would have referred to it 
 in his work. 
 
 It seems to be generally conceded that there was a second siege of Fort 
 Henry, which took place in 1782. By Mr. Kiernan the powder exploit 
 is assigned to the siege of 1777 ; by Mrs. Cruger to that of 1782. Now it 
 may be suggested that Mr. Kiernan may have fallen into an error in as- 
 signing the feat to the former rather than the latter siege. On this point 
 Mrs. Cruger speaks positively that it took place in 1782; that her father, 
 Captain Boggs, being at that time commandant of the fort, was tem- 
 porarily absent hunting up recruits ; that she was not only an eye-wit- 
 ness, but to some extent an actor in the transaction, and, of course, had 
 every opportunity of knowing the truth of what she affirmed. 
 4
 
 26 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 In 1777 the Indians burned all the houses outside of the fort, and, ac- 
 cording to De Hass, Colonel Ebenezer Zane resolved, that, should the sav- 
 ages again visit the settlement, he would remain in his house and perish 
 sooner than abandon it to the torch of the enemy. On the reappearance 
 of the Indians in 1782, under the lead, as is said by some, of George Gir- 
 ty, brother of Simon, Colonel Zane continued at his house, and declared 
 his fixed determination to defend it to the last. With some members of 
 his family, his brother Silas, and a few others, he did so ; " and so con- 
 stantly did they keep up the fire against the enemy that they were slow to 
 approach within range of the guns." 
 
 Mr. Kiernan speaks of a keg of powder having been left in the Zane 
 house during the siege of 1777. But why should it have been left there ? 
 Why was it not in the store-house within the stockade, which was the 
 proper place for the ammunition, especially as the Zane house was not 
 defended at the siege of 1777? Besides, during the attack of 1777, a 
 part of the Indians occupied Zane's yard, and fought under cover of the 
 " paling fence." Of course they had easy access to the house, and would 
 almost certainly have discovered and confiscated the powder ; but we 
 read of nothing of the kind, nor yet of an explosion when the house was 
 burned. 
 
 Mr. Kiernan says, in 1777, the east gate was the only gate of the 
 stockade ; but Mrs. Cruger speaks of a southern gate, in 1782, and it was 
 by this gate, she says, that Mollie Scott entered the fort after she left the 
 Zane house, and this is the more likely, as the Zane house was in a south- 
 easterly direction from the fort. 
 
 With the foregoing facts well understood, it is an easy matter to con- 
 ceive that the defenders of the Zane house, on the failure of their powder, 
 should have dispatched a messenger to the fort,and that the girl would aim 
 for the southern gate ; and this is in exact agreement with the testimony 
 of Mrs. Cruger, who says that such a messenger was sent; that she en- 
 tered and returned by the southern gate, that she (Mrs. Cruger) put 
 the powder into her lap, and that the said messenger " was none other 
 than Mollie Scott." The inference, therefore, in favor of the truth of 
 Mrs. Cruger's statement, when all the facts presented in this and the for- 
 mer article are considered, would seem to be almost irresistible. 
 
 The writer would only say, in conclusion, that in attempting to vindi- 
 cate the truth of Mrs. Cruger's statement, he has been governed by the 
 single motive of wishing " to maintain the truth and justice of history," 
 desiring, at the same time, to ascribe all honor justly due to Elizabeth 
 Zane and her noble and heroic family, INVESTIGATOR.
 
 III. 
 
 CAPTAIN FOREMAN AND HIS MEN. 
 
 A Deplorable Ambuscade. 
 
 BOUT four miles above the present town of Moundsville, on 
 the Ohio river, is a monument bearing the following in- 
 scription : 
 
 "This humble stone is erected to the memory of Captain Foreman and 
 twenty-one of his men, who were slain by a band of ruthless savages the 
 allies of a civilized nation of Europe on the 25th of September, 1777. 
 
 ' So sleep the brave who sink to rest, 
 By all their country's wishes blest.' " 
 
 The account of the massacre which the monument is designed to com- 
 memorate, is thus given by De Hass : 
 
 " Captain William Foreman, a brave and meritorious officer," but 
 unskilled, it should be said, in Indian warfare " organized a volunteer 
 company in Hampshire county, Virginia, and marched to Wheeling in 
 the fall of 1777. 
 
 ******" On Sunday morning, September 24th, (?) a 
 smoke was noticed by some persons at Wheeling, in the direction of 
 Grave Creek, which caused an apprehension that the Indians might be 
 burning the stockade and houses of Mr. Tomlinson. In order to ascer- 
 tain the fact, and afford protection, if any were necessary, Captain 
 Foreman, with his company and a few experienced scouts, were dis- 
 patched by Colonel Shepherd for the purpose. 
 
 "The party proceeded without interruption to Grave Creek and found 
 all safe. Remaining over night, they started the following morning to 
 return. When they reached the lower end of the narrows, some of the 
 more experienced frontiermen suggested the expediency of leaving the 
 river bottom, and returning by way of the ridge. The commander, how- 
 ever, hooted at the idea of so much caution, and ordered the party to 
 proceed. The order was obeyed by his own men, including several of 
 the scouts ; but some declined to go with him, and of these was a man 
 named Lynn, whose great experience as a spy, added to his sagacity and
 
 28 LEGNDS OP THE VALLEY. 
 
 judgment, should at least have rendered his opinions valuable, and en- 
 titled to weight. His apprehensions were that the Indians, if lurking 
 about, had watched the movements of the party, and would most likely 
 attack them at some point on the river. He said, that in all probability, 
 they had been on the opposite side of the river and noticed the party go 
 down ; that they had crossed during the night and probably were at that 
 time lying in ambush for their return. 
 
 " During the interchange of opinions between Foreman and Lynn, the 
 controversy, at times, ran high. Foreman, who prided himself on being 
 a thoroughly disciplined officer, was not disposed to yield to the sug- 
 gestions of a rough backwoodsman. Lynn, on the other hand, con- 
 vinced of the fatal error which the other seemed determined to commit, 
 could not but remonstrate with great earnestness. Finally, when the 
 order to inarch was given, Lynn, with some six or eight others struck up 
 the hill side, while Foreman with his company pursued the path along 
 the base. Nothing of importance occurred until the party reached the 
 extreme upper end of the narrows. Just where the bottom begins to 
 widen, those in front had their attention called to a display of Indian 
 trinkets, beads, bands, &c., strewn in profusion along the path. With a 
 natural curiosity, but with a great lack of caution, the entire party 
 gathered about those who picked up the articles of decoy, and whilst thus 
 standing in a group, looking at the trinkets, two lines of Indians stretched 
 across the path, one above, the other below, and a large body of them 
 simultaneously arose from beneath the bank, and opened upon the de- 
 voted party a most deadly and destructive fire. The hill rises at this 
 point very abruptly, presenting an almost insurmountable barrier. Still, 
 those of the party who escaped the first discharge, attempted to rush up 
 the hill, and some with success. But the savages pursued and killed 
 several. 
 
 "At the first fire, Captain Foreman and most of his party, including 
 his two sons fell dead. The exact loss cannot with certainty be ascer- 
 tained, but is supposed to have been about twenty, including the Captain. 
 
 " When Lynn and his party heard the guns, they rushed down the 
 hill-side hallooing as though they were five times as numerous. This had 
 the effect of restraining the savages in pursuit. Of those who escaped 
 up the hill were Robert Harkness and John Collins. The former in 
 pulling himself up by a sapling, had the bark knocked into his face by a 
 ball from an ludian's gun. Collins was shot through the left thigh, 
 breaking the bone and completely disabling him. Lynn and his com- 
 panions carried him to a spring supposed to be the one near the 
 present residence of Colonel Samuel Baker and throwing together their 
 supply of provisions, left him in a sheltered position, promising to send a
 
 CAPTAIN FOREMAN AND His MEN. 29 
 
 horse for him the next day, which was accordingly done. Collins re- 
 covered, and lived for many years. 
 
 " On the second day, a party went down and buried the dead. Colonel 
 Shepherd, Colonel Zane, Andrew Poe and Martin Wetzel were of the 
 number. The slain were buried in one common grave, and the site is in- 
 dicated by the stoue already described."* 
 
 *This stone has recently been removed to the town of Moundsville, with cere- 
 monies. But wherein the wit or wisdom of such a proceeding lies, is difficult to 
 perceive. One would think it ought to be returned to is former position, in order to 
 mark the spot where the renowned dead are buried ; or, which would be better per- 
 haps, a new stone or monument, should be erected in its place.
 
 IV. 
 
 THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE. 
 
 Moravian Indians consisted chiefly of Delawares and Mohicans, 
 who had been converted to Christianity through the zeal and in- 
 fluence of the Moravian missionaries. They had four towns on the 
 Upper Muskingum, in the line of travel between the nearest point 
 on the Ohio River and Sandusky City, the home of the Shaw- 
 nees and other warlike tribes. The Moravian Indians were al- 
 ways friendly toward the whites. During the whole of the Rev- 
 olutionary War they had remained neutral, or, if they took part, 
 it was in favor of the Americans, advising them of the approach of 
 hostile Indians, and rendering other kindly offices. For ten years of bor-' 
 der strife they had lived in peace and quietness, but at length became 
 objects of suspicion to both whites and savages. They were, it may be 
 said, between two fires. While passing to and fro, the hostile parties 
 would compel them to furnish provisions. It is not surprising, there- 
 fore, that they should have fallen a sacrifice to one or the other. 
 
 It happened that early in February, 1782, a party of Indians from 
 Sandusky penetrated the white settlements, and committed numerous 
 depredations. Of the families which fell beneath the murderous stroke of 
 these savages was that of David Wallace, consisting of himself, wife and 
 six children ; and, at the same time, a man named Carpenter was taken 
 prisoner. The early date of this visitation induced the whites to believe 
 that the depredators had wintered with the Moravians, and they at once 
 resolved on executing summary vengeance. About the first of March 
 a body of eighty or ninety men rendezvoused at Mingo Bottom, a few 
 miles below the present town of Steubenville, Ohio. The second day's 
 march brought them within a short distance of one of the Moravian 
 towns of which there were four and they encamped for the night. 
 
 The victims received warning of their danger, but took no measures to 
 escape, believing that they had nothing to fear from the Americans. On 
 the arriyal of an advanced party of sixteen men, they professed peace 
 and good-will to the Moravians, and informeJ them that they had come
 
 THE MORAVIAN MASSACRE. 31 
 
 to take them to Fort Pitt for safety. The Indians surrendered, delivered 
 up their arms, even their hatchets, on being promised that everything 
 should be restored to them on their arrival at Pittsburgh. By per- 
 suasion of some, and driving of others, the inhabitants of two or three of 
 the towns had been brought together and bound without resistance. A 
 council of war was then held to decide their fate. The commandant, 
 Colonel David Williamson, at the suggestion of his officers, then put the 
 question to his men in form ' Whether the Moravian Indians should be 
 taken prisoners to Pittsburgh, or put to death?' and requested that all 
 who were in favor of saving their lives should step out of the line and 
 form a second rank. On this, sixteen men stepped out and formed them- 
 selves into a second line. The fearful determination of putting the Mora- 
 vians to death was thus shown. 
 
 Most of those opposed to this diabolical resolution protested, in the 
 name of high heaven, against the atrocious act, and called God to witness 
 that they were innocent of the blood of these people; yet the majority 
 remained unmoved, and some of them were even in favor of burning them 
 alive. But it was at length decided that they should be scalped in cold 
 blood, and the Indians were told to prepare for their fate. They were 
 led into buildings, in one of which the men, and in the other the women 
 and children were confined, like sheep for the slaughter. They passed 
 the night in praying and exhorting one another, and singing hymns of 
 praise to God. 
 
 When the morning arrived, for the purpose of slaughter, two houses 
 were selected, one for the men and the other for the women and children. 
 The v'ctirns were then bound, two and two together, led into the slaugh- 
 ter-houses, and there scalped and murdered. The number of the slain, 
 according to the Moravian account for many of them had made their 
 escape was ninety-six. Of these sixty-two were grown persons, one- 
 third of whom were women ; the remaining thirty-four were children. 
 
 After the work of death had been finished, and the plunder secured, 
 all the buildings in the towns were set on fire. A rapid retreat to the set- 
 tlements concluded this deplorable campaign. 
 
 The facts embodied in the foregoing narrative are derived chiefly from 
 Doddridge's Notes, and partly expressed in the language of De Hass. 
 
 " In justice to the memory of Colonel Williamson," says Doddridge, 
 " I have to say, that although at that time very young, I was personally 
 acquainted with him, and from my recollection of his conversation, I 
 say with confidence that he was a brave man, but not cruel. He would 
 meet an enemy in battle and fight like a soldier : but not murder a 
 prisoner. Had he possessed the authority of a superior officer in a 
 regular army, I do not believe that a single Moravian Indiaq would 
 have lost his life ; but he poseessed no such authority. He was only a
 
 32 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 militia 'officer, who could advise, but not command. His only fault was 
 that of too easy a compliance with popular opinion and popular 
 prejudice. On this account his memory has been loaded with unmerited 
 reproach. 
 
 "Should it be asked what sort of people composed the band of mur- 
 derers, I answer, they were not all miscreants or vagabonds ; many of 
 them were men of the first standing in the country. Many of them had 
 recently lost relations by the hands of the savages, and were burning 
 with revenge. They cared little upon whom they wreaked their vengeance, 
 so they were Indians. 
 
 " When attacked by our people, although the Moravians might have 
 defended themselves, they did not. They never fired a single shot. 
 They were prisoners, and had been promised protection. Every dictate 
 of justice required that their lives should be spared. It was, therefore, 
 an atrocious and unqualified murder." Doddridge. 
 
 The fate of the Maravians was probably decided by a mob, which 
 Colonel Williamson felt himself powerless to control ; in which a few in- 
 furiated spirits, by clamor, violence and intimidation of weaker minds, 
 carried them forward against their own convictions, to the perpetration 
 of this diabolical wickedness. In such a crisis, as it seems to the writer, 
 even hesitation is a crime : and though he is prepared to sympathize 
 with Colonel Williamson to the extent of pitying his embarassment, he 
 is not disposed to exonerate him from severe censure. In such a case, it 
 would have been better for his reputation had he thrown himself into the 
 breach and died in the struggle rather than allow such a gross triumph 
 of wicked barbarity over the acknowledged principles of justice and 
 humanity. Had he done so, at the critical moment, perhaps the ma- 
 jority would have sprung to his side, and thus this burning and cruel 
 shame might have been avoided. Every person knows what one bold 
 and determined spirit, in a crisis like this, can accomplish ; and what 
 responsive throbs such heroic deeds awaken in the hearts of all true 
 lovers of humanity. But still, all men are not capable of all things ; 
 and the Moravian Massacre will forever remain a foul blot npon the 
 historic page.
 
 V. 
 
 Disaster and Horrible Death. 
 
 object of this campaign was twofold : First, to complete the 
 work of murdering and plundering the Moravians, at their new es- 
 tablishment on the Sandusky ; and, secondly, to destroy the Wyan- 
 dotte towns on the same river. It was the resolution of all concerned in 
 this expedition not to spare the life of any Indian that might fall into 
 their hands, friend or foe, man, woman or child. But, as will be seen in 
 the sequel, the result was widely different from that of the Moravian 
 campaign of the preceding March. 
 
 It would seem that the long continuance of this Indian war had great- 
 ly demoralized the early settlers, and, being prompted by an indiscrimi- 
 nate thirst for revenge, they were prepared to go to almost any extreme 
 of barbarity. 
 
 On the 25th of May, 1782, four hundred and eighty men mustered at 
 Mingo Bottom, and proceeded to elect their commander. The choice fell 
 upon Colonel William Crawford, who accepted the command with some 
 degree of reluctance. 
 
 The army marched along " Williamson's trail " until they arrived at 
 the ruins of the upper Moravian town, in the fields belonging to which 
 there were still plenty of corn on the stalks, with which their horses were 
 fed during the night. 
 
 Shortly after the army halted at this place two Indians were discovered 
 by some men who had walked out of the camp. Three shots were fired 
 at one of them, but without effect. As soon as the news reached the 
 camp, more than one half of the men rushed out, without command, and 
 in the most tumultuous manner, to see what had happened. From that 
 time Colonel Crawford felt a presentiment of the defeat which fol- 
 lowed. 
 5
 
 34 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 The truth is, that notwithstanding the secrecy and dispatch with which 
 the enterprise had been gotten up, the Indians were beforehand with the 
 whites. They saw the rendezvous on the Miugo Bottom, and knew the 
 number aud destination of the troops. They visited every encampment 
 immediately after the troops had left, and saw from their writing on the 
 trees and scraps of paper, that " no quarter was to be given to any In- 
 dian, whether man, woman or child." 
 
 Nothing of importance happened during their march, until the sixth 
 of June, when their guide conducted them to the site of the Moravian 
 villages, on one of .the upper branches of the Sandusky river. From 
 this retreat the Christian Indians had lately been driven away by the 
 Wyaudottes to the Scioto, and here the army of Colonel Crawford, in- 
 stead of finding Indians and plunder, met with nothing but vestiges of 
 ruin and desolation. 
 
 In this dilemma what was to be done? The officers held a council, in 
 which it was determined to march one day longer in the direction of Up- 
 per Sandusky, and if they should not reach the town in the course of a 
 day, to make a retreat with all possible speed. 
 
 The march was commenced the next morning through the plains of 
 Sandusky, and continued until 2 o'clock, when the advance guard was 
 attacked and driven in by the Indians, who were discovered in large 
 numbers in the high grass with which the place was covered. The In- 
 dian army was at that moment about entering a large piece of woods, 
 almost entirely surrounded by plains ; but in this they were disappointed 
 by a rapid movement of the whites. The battle then commenced by a 
 heavy fire from both sides. From a partial possession of the woods, 
 which they had gained at the outset of the battle, the Indians were soon 
 dislodged. They then attempted to gain a small skirt of woods on the 
 right flank of Colonel Crawford, but were prevented from so doing by 
 the vigilance and bravery of Major Leet, who, at the time, commanded 
 the right wing. The firing was heavy and incessant until dark, when it 
 ceased, and both armies lay on their arms during the night. Both adopt- 
 ed the policy of kindling large fires along the line of battle, aud then re- 
 tiring some distance in the rear of them, to prevent being surprised by a 
 night attack. During the conflict of the afternoon three of our men were 
 killed and several wounded. 
 
 In the morning Colonel Crawford's army occupied the battle ground 
 of the preceding day. The Indians made no attack during the day, un- 
 til late in the evening, but were seen in large bodies traversing the plains 
 in various directions. Some of them appeared to be carrying off the 
 dead and wounded. 
 
 In the morning of this day a council of officers was held, and a retreat
 
 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 35 
 
 was resolved on, as the only means of saving the army, the Indians ap- 
 pearing to increase in number every hour. 
 
 During the day preparations were made for a retreat, by burying the 
 dead, burning fires over the graves to prevent discovery, and preparing 
 means for carrying off the wounded. The retreat was to commence in the 
 course of the night. The Indians, however, became apprised of the intend- 
 ed retreat, and about sundown attacked the army with great force and fury 
 in every direction except that of Sandusky. When the line of march 
 was formed and the retreat commenced, Colonel Crawford's guides pru- 
 dently took the direction of Sandusky, which afforded the only opening 
 in the Indian lines, and the only chance of concealment. After march- 
 ing about a mile in this direction the army wheeled about to the left, and 
 by a circuitous route, gained before day, the trail by which they came. 
 They continued their march the whole of the next day without further an- 
 noyance than the firing of a few distant shots by the Indians at the rear 
 guard, which slightly wounded two or three men. At night they built 
 fires, took their suppers, secured the horses, and resigned themselves to 
 repose, without placing a single sentinel or vidette for safety. In this 
 careless situation they might have been surprised and cut off by the In- 
 dians, who, however, did not disturb them during the night, nor after- 
 wards during their whole retreat. The number that retreated in the 
 main body is supposed to have been about three hundred. 
 
 But several parties, supposing that they could more effectually secure 
 their safety by breaking off from the main army in small numbers, were 
 pursued by the Indians and nearly all of them slain. 
 
 At the commencement of the retreat Colonel Crawford placed himself 
 at the head of the army, and continued there until they had gone about 
 a quarter of a mile, when, missing his son, John Crawford, his son-in-law, 
 Major Harrison, and his nephews, Major Rose and William Crawford, he 
 halted and called for them, as the line passed, but without finding them. 
 After the army had passed him, he was unable to overtake it, owing to 
 the weariness of his horse. Falling in company with Dr. Knight and 
 two others, they traveled all night, first north and then to the east, to 
 avoid the pursuit of the Indians. They directed their courses by the 
 north star. 
 
 On the. next day they fell in with Captain John Biggs and Lieutenant 
 Ashley, the latter of whom was wounded. Two others were in company 
 with Biggs and Ashley. They encamped together the succeeding night. 
 On the next day, while on their march, they were attacked by a party of 
 Indians, who made Colonel Crawford and Dr. Knight prisoners. The 
 other four made their escape, but Captain Biggs and Lieutenant Ashley 
 were killed the day following. 
 
 For the foregoing facts, and, to a considerable extent, for the language
 
 36 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 in which they are given, the writer acknowledges his indebtedness to 
 Doddridge's Notes. 
 
 " The Colonel and I," says Dr. Knight, " were then taken to the In- 
 dian camp, which was about half a mile from the place where we were 
 captured. On Sunday evening five Delawares, who had posted them- 
 selves at some distance further on the road, brought back to the camp, 
 where we lay, Captain Biggs' and Lieutenant Ashley's scalps, with an 
 Indian scalp which Captain Biggs had taked in the field of action. They 
 also brought in Biggs' horse and mine. They told us the two other 
 men got away from them, 
 
 " Monday morning, the tenth of June, we were paraded to march to 
 Sandusky, about thirty-three miles distant. They had eleven prisoners 
 of us and.four scalps, the Indians being seventeen in number. 
 
 " Colonel ^Crawford was very desirous to to see a certain Simon Girty, 
 who lived among the Indians, and was on this account permitted to go to 
 town the same night, with two warriors to guard him, they having orders 
 at the same time to pass by the place where the Colonel had turned out 
 his hojse, that they might, if possible, find him. The rest of us were 
 taken as far as the old town (Sandusky), which was within eight miles of 
 the new. 
 
 " Tuesday morning, the eleventh, Colonel Crawford was brought out of 
 town on purpose to be marched in with the other prisoners. I asked the 
 Colonel if he had seen Mr. Girty. He told me he had, and that Girty 
 had promised to do everything in his power for him, but that the Indians 
 were very much enraged against the prisoners, particularly Captain 
 Pipe, one of the chiefs ; he likewise told me that Girty had informed him 
 that his son-in-law, Colonel Harrison, and his nephew, William Craw- 
 ford, were made prisoners by the .Shawnese, but had been pardoned. 
 This Captain Pipe had cootie from the towns about an hour before Colonel 
 Crawford, and had painted all the prisoners faces black, 
 
 "As he was painting me, he told me I should go to the Shawnese towns 
 and see my friends. When the Colonel arrived he painted him black also, 
 told him he was glad to see him, and that he would have him shaved 
 when he came to see his' friends at the Wyandotte town. When we 
 marched, the Colonel and I were kept^between Pipe and Wingenim, the 
 two Delaware chiefs, the other nine prisoners were sent forward with a 
 party of Indians. As we went along we saw four of the prisoners lying 
 by the path tomahawked and scalped ; some of them were at the distance 
 of half a mile from each other. When we arrived within half a mile of 
 the place where the Colonel was executed, we overtook the five prisoners 
 that remained alive. The Indians had caused them to sit down on the 
 ground ; also the Colonel and myself, at some distance from them. I 
 was then given in charge of an Indian fellow to be taken to the 
 Shawnese towns.
 
 CRAWEORD'S CAMPAIGN. 37 
 
 " In the place where we were now made to sit down, there was a num- 
 ber of squaws and boys, who fell on the five prisoners and tomahawked 
 them. There was a certain John McKinley among the prisoners, 
 formerly an officer in the 13th Virginia Regiment, whose head an old 
 squaw cut off, and the Indians kicked it about upon the ground. The young 
 Indian fellows came often where the Colonel and I were, and dashed the 
 scalps in our faces. We were then conducted along toward the place 
 where the Colonel was afterwards executed. When we came within 
 half a mile of it, Simon Girty met us, with several Indians on horse- 
 back. He spoke to the Colonel, but as I was about one hundred and fifty 
 yards behind, I could not hear what passed between them. 
 
 "Almost every Indian we met struck us with fists or sticks. Girty 
 waited till I was brought up, and then asked, 'Is that the doctor ?' 
 I answered, ' Yes,' and went towards him, reaching out my hand, but he 
 bid me begone, and called me a damned rascal ; upon which the fellow 
 who had me in charge pulled me along. Girty rode up after me and 
 told me that I was to go to the Shawuese towns. 
 
 " When we came to the fire, the Colonel was stripped naked, ordered 
 to sit down by the fire, and then they beat him with sticks and fists. 
 Presently after, I was treated in the same manner. They then tied a 
 rope to the foot of a post about fifteen feet high, bound the Colonel's 
 hands behind his back, and fastened the rope to the ligature between his 
 wrists. The rope was long enough either for him to sit down or to walk 
 round the post once or twice and return the same way. The Colonel 
 then called to Girty, and asked if they intended to burn him ? Girty 
 answered, 'Yes.' The Colonel said he would take it all patiently. 
 Upon this, Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, made a speech to the In- 
 dians, consisting of about thirty or forty men, and sixty or seventy 
 squaws and boys. 
 
 " When the speech was finished, they all yelled a hideous and hearty 
 assent to what had been said. The Indian men then took up their guns 
 and shot powder into the Colonel's body, from his feet as far up as his 
 neck. I think not less than seventy loads were discharged upon his 
 naked body. They then crowded about him, and to the best of my ob- 
 . servation, cut off his ears. When the throng had dispersed a little, I 
 saw the blood running from both sides of his head. 
 
 " The fire was about six or seven yards from the post to which the 
 Colonel was tied ; it was made of small hickory poles, burnt quite 
 through in the middle, each end of the poles remaining about six feet in 
 length. Three or four Indians, by turns, would take up, individually, 
 one of these burning pieces of wood and apply it to his naked body, al- 
 ready burnt black with powder. These tormentors presented themselves 
 on every side of him, so that whichever way he ran round the post they
 
 38 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 met him with the burning fagots and poles. Some of the squaws took 
 broad boards, upon which they would put a quantity of burning coals and 
 hot embers and throw them on him, so that in a short time he had 
 nothing but coals of fire and hot ashes to walk upon. 
 
 " In the midst of these extreme tortures, he called to Simon Girty, and 
 begged him to shoot him ; but Girty making no answer he called him 
 again. Girty then, by way of derision, told the Colonel he had no gun, 
 at the same time turning about to an Indian who was behind him, 
 laughed heartily, and by all his gestures seemed delighted at the horrid 
 scene. 
 
 " Girty then came up to me and bade me prepare for death. He said, 
 however, ' I was not to die at that place, but to be burnt at the Shawnese 
 towns. He swore by G d I need not expect to escape death, but should 
 suffer it in all its extremities.' 
 
 " Col Crawford at this period of his suffering, besought the Almighty 
 to have mercy on his soul, spoke very low, and bore his torments with 
 the most manly fortitude. He continued in all the extremities of pain 
 for an hour and three-quarters or two hours longer, as near as I can 
 judge, when at last being almost spent, he laid down on his belly. 
 They then scalped him, and repeatedly threw the scalp in my face, 
 telling me, ' That is your great Captain's.' An old squaw, (whose ap- 
 pearance every way answered the idea people entertain of the devil), got 
 a board, took a parcel of coals and ashes and laid them on his back and 
 head after he had been scalped. He then raised upon his feet and began 
 to walk round the post. They next but a burning stick to him, as 
 usual, but he seemed more insensible to pain than before. After he 
 expired his body was thrown into the fire and consumed to ashes." Dr. 
 Knight. 
 
 Colonel Crawford was about fifty years of age, when he suffered at the 
 stake. His son-in-law and nephew were executed about the same time. 
 His son John escaped. Dr. Knight was doomed to be executed at a 
 town about fifty miles from Sandusky, and was committed to the care of 
 a young Indian to be taken there. The first day they traveled about 
 twenty-five miles, and encamped for the night. In the morning, the 
 gnats being very troublesome, the Doctor requested the Indian to untie 
 him, that he might help to make a fire to keep them off. With this re- 
 quest the Indian complied. While the Indian was on his knees and 
 elbows, blowing the fire, the Doctor caught up a piece of tent pole which 
 had been burned in two, about eighteen inches long, with which he struck 
 the Indian oh the head with all his might, so as to knock him forward 
 into the fire. The stick, however, broke, so that the Indian, although 
 severely hurt, was not killed, but immediately sprang up. On this, the 
 Doctor caught up the Indian's gun to shoot him, but drew back the cock
 
 CRAWFORD'S CAMPAIGN. 39 
 
 with so much force as to break the main-spring. The Indian ran 
 off with a hideous yell. The Doctor then made the best of his way 
 home, which he reached in twenty-one days, almost famished. On his 
 journey he subsisted on roots, a few young birds and berries. 
 
 Thus ends this sad and heart-rending story ; and thus it may be said, 
 were the Moravians signally avenged. But to what extent the sword of 
 justice fell upon the really guilty parties, the writer does not pretend to 
 know, nor does he consider it his province to decide. But to every 
 reflective mind, it must be evident, that the disasters connected with this 
 unfortunate campaign may be referred to, in a general way, as furnishing 
 one of the many striking proofs afforded by the history of the world, 
 that retributive justice is sooner or later meted out to evil doers, and that 
 " the way of the transgressor is hard," whether it be spoken of individ- 
 uals or communities. Those who claim to live under the laws of 
 civilization, should not allow themselves to be governed by the rules 
 which belong only to a state of savage lawlessness. 
 
 Having narrated the events connected with the battle of Point 
 Pleasant, the Seige of Fort Henry, the Moravian Massacre, Crawford's 
 Campaign, and Foreman's Disaster, together with some others which 
 cluster closely about them, the remainder of this work will be occupied 
 chiefly with brief descriptions of some of the more thrilling incidents be- 
 longing to that state of border warfare which existed for several years, 
 in the upper Ohio Valley. 
 
 In doing this, greater regard will be paid to locality, than to the strict 
 order of dates. Most of the descriptions will relate to acts and scenes of 
 personal daring and bravery, which, although strictly true in point of 
 fact, are of such marvelous character as to border almost on the wildest 
 visions of romance.
 
 VI. 
 
 MORGAN'S RENCONTRE. 
 
 of the earliest frontier settlers was David Morgan " a man of 
 great energy of character and sterling worth. He was a near rel- 
 ative of General Morgan, of Revolutionary memory, and, like that 
 distinguished officer, possessed, in a remarkable degree, courage and ca- 
 pacity for almost any emergency. 
 
 " At the time we speak of," says De Hass " Mr. Morgan was living 
 near Prickett's Fort, about twelve miles above Morgantown, and close to 
 the Monongahela River. He was then upward of sixty years of age, and 
 for some days had been slightly indisposed. Early in April, 1779, he 
 desired two of his children, Stephen, sixteen years of age, and Sarah, 
 about fourteen, to feed the stock at his farm, distant about one mile, on 
 the opposite side of the river. This he did, in consequence of feeling 
 worse that morning than usual. No Indians had yet been seen in the 
 neighborhood, and, of course, he considered all perfectly safe. As the 
 weather was fine, the brother and sister concluded to remain and pre- 
 pare a piece of ground for melons. Soon after they left the fort for 
 they were then at the stockade Mr. Morgan lay down, and, shortly fall- 
 ing to sleep, dreamed that he saw the children walking before him 
 scalped. This vision awoke him, and finding upon inquiry that the chil- 
 dren had not returned, he became uneasy, and started immediately in 
 hunt of them. Approaching the premises, he beheld his children busily 
 engaged in the manner already indicated. 
 
 " Seating himself upon a log close at hand, Morgan watched his chil- 
 dren for some time, when suddenly he saw emerge from the house two In- 
 dians, who moved rapidly up toward Stephen and his sister. Fearing to 
 alarm the children, Morgan cautiously warned them of their danger, and 
 told them to go at once to the fort. They instantly obeyed, and the In- 
 dians, discovering their movements, gave their accustomed whoop, and 
 started in pursuit. Morgan, having hitherto escaped their attention, now 
 arose, and returning their shout, caused the savages to seek behind trees 
 instant protection.
 
 MORGAN'S RENCONTRE. 41 
 
 " Knowing that the chances of a fair fight were almost hopeless, Mor- 
 gan thought to escape by running, and so manage as to keep the trees 
 between himself and the enemy. In this, however, he was mistaken. 
 Impaired health and the imfirmities of age disabled him from keeping 
 long beyond the reach of the fleet and athletic warriors. Finding, after 
 a run of some two hundred yards, that the savages were rapidly gaining 
 on him, he determined to shoot one , and take his chance with the other. 
 Turning to fire, both Indians sprung behind trees, and Morgan did the 
 same ; but finding the one lie first gained too small to protect his person, 
 he quitted it and made for another, which was reached in safety. 
 
 " One of the Indians, hoping to get nearer his intended victim, ran to 
 the tree which Morgan had left, but finding it too small, threw himself 
 behind a log close at hand. This, however, did not conceal him entirely, 
 which Morgan noticing, instantly fired and shot the savage through the 
 part exposed. Feeling himself mortally wounded, with more than Spar- 
 tan fortitude, he drew his knife, and inflicted two deep stabs upon his 
 breast. To him death had no terrors, save as dealt by the hand of his 
 white antagonist. 
 
 " The heroic old man, having thus effectually disposed of one of his 
 pursuers, again resorted to flight. The chances were now desperate, as 
 the Indian had the double advantage of tomahawk and rifle. Running 
 fifty or sixty yards, he glanced hurriedly over his shoulder, just in time 
 to see the savage ready to fire. Jumping to one side, the ball passed 
 harmlessly by, and the two now felt that the combat must be brought to 
 close quarters. With all the fury of his nature, the savage rushed upon 
 his adversary with loud yells and uplifted tomahawk. Morgan prepared 
 to meet him with his gun, but the savage aimed a blow with his toma- 
 hawk with such force and effect as to knock the rifle from Morgan's grasp 
 and cut two of the fingers from his left hand. They now clinched, and 
 the combat became equal, except the savage was the younger and much 
 more powerful of the two. Frantic at the loss of his companion, and his 
 own ill-success, he fought with a desperation rarely known in single com- 
 bat; Morgan, on the other part, inspirited by the success which had thus 
 far attended him, nerved his arm, and strung every muscle to the conflict, 
 resolved to kill his combatant or sell his life as dearly as possible. Our 
 hero, in his younger days, had been a most expert wrestler, and was thus 
 enabled with ease to throw the Indian ; but the latter, more active and 
 powerful, readily turned him. With a yell of exultation the savage now 
 held his adversary down, and began to feel for his knife. Morgan saw 
 the movement, and well knew all would be over if the savage got posses- 
 sion of it. 
 
 "The Indian was prevented getting the knife by a woman's apron, 
 which he had wrapped around his body in such a manner as to confine 
 6
 
 42 LEGNDS OP THE VALLEY. 
 
 the handle. Whilst, endeavoring to extricate it Morgan got one of the 
 Indian's thumbs between his teeth, and so effectually ground it that the 
 poor wretch was sadly disconcerted, and more than once screamed with 
 pain. Finally he grasped his knife, but so close to the blade that Mor- 
 gan, noticing it, caught the end of the handle And drew it through the 
 Indian's hand, cutting it severely. The savage was now literally /tors de 
 combat, and, springing to his feet, endeavored to get away; but the resolute 
 Morgan, not yet having done with him, held on to the thumb, until he 
 had inflicted a mortal thrust in the side of the enemy. Letting go, the 
 Indian sank almost lifeless to the ground, and Morgan made his way to 
 the fort. Before reaching the river he overtook his children. After 
 hearing his adventure a party of men left the fort and proceeded to the 
 place of conflict. On reaching the spot nothing was to be seen of the 
 wounded Indian ; but his trail of blood indicated the place of his con- 
 cealment. The poor creature had taken the knife from his side, bound 
 up the wound with the apron already alluded to, and, as the whites ap- 
 proached him he feelingly accosted them with ' How do do, broder ?' But 
 this met with no fraternal response from the party who discovered his 
 retreat. He was immediately dispatched, and both he and his compan- 
 ion were scalped."
 
 VII. 
 
 LEWIS WETZEL'S EXPLOITS. 
 
 ^EWIS WETZEL was the son of John Wetzel, a German, who 
 settled on Big Wheeling creek, about fourteen miles from the Ohio 
 river, and was killed by the Indians near Captina, in 1787, when 
 Lewis was about 23 years of age. The education of Lewis, like that of 
 his cotemporaries, was that of the hunter and warrior. When a bov 
 he adopted the practice of loading and firing his rifle as he ran. This 
 was a means of making him fearfully destructive to the Indians in after 
 life. On account of his father's death he and his brothers, of whom he 
 had five, vowed sleepless vengeance against the whole Indian race. 
 
 During the lifetime of his father, " when he was about thirteen years 
 of age, Lewis was taken prisoner by the Indians, together with his 
 brother Jacob, about eleven years old. Before he was taken, he received 
 a slight wound in the breast from a bullet, which carried off a small 
 piece of his breast-bone. The second night after they were taken, the 
 Indians encamped at the Big Lick, twenty miles from the river, on the 
 waters of McMechen's creek.* The boys were not confined. After the 
 Indians had fallen asleep, Lewis whispered to his brother Jacob that he 
 must get up and go back home with him. Jacob at first objected, but 
 afterwards got up and went along with him. When they had gone about 
 one hundred yards from the camp, they sat down on a log. ' Well,' said 
 Lewis, ' we cannot go home barefooted ; I will go back and get a pair 
 of moccasins for each of us,' and accordingly did so, and returned. 
 After sitting a little longer, ' Now,' said he, ' I will go back and get 
 father's gun, and then we will start.' This he effected. They had not 
 traveled far 011 the trail by which they came, before they heard the In- 
 dians coming after them. It was a moonlight night. When the Indians 
 came pretty near them, they stepped aside into the bushes, let them 
 pass, then fell into the rear, and traveled on. On the return of the In- 
 
 *This creek takes its name from Captain Wm. McMechen, who settled on the east 
 side of the Ohio river, nearly opposite the mouth of the creek, about the year 1777.
 
 44 LEGENDS OF THE VALLEY. 
 
 dians they did the same. They were then pursued by two Indians on 
 horseback, whom they dodged in the same way. The next day they 
 reached Wheeling in safety, crossing from the Indian shore to Wheeling 
 Island on a raft of their own making. By this time Lewis had been 
 almost spent from his wound. 
 
 " In the year 1782, after Crawford's defeat, Lewis went with a Thomas 
 Mills, who had been in the campaign, to get his horse, which he had left 
 near the place where St. Glairsville now stands. At the Indian springs, 
 two miles from St. Clairsville, on the Wheeling road they were met by 
 about forty Indians, who were in pursuit of the stragglers from the cam- 
 paign. The Indians and white men discovered each other about the 
 same moment. Lewis fired first and killed an Indian, while the Indians 
 wounded Mills in the heel, who was soon overtaken and killed. Four of 
 the Indians then singled out, dropped their guns, and pursued Wetzel. 
 Wetzel loaded his rifle as he ran. After running about half a mile, one 
 of the Indians having gotten within eight or ten steps of him, Wetzel 
 wheeled round and shot him down, ran, and loaded his gun as before. 
 After going about three quarters of a mile further, a second Indian came 
 so close to him, that when he turned to fire, the Indian caught the muzzle 
 of the gun, and, as he expressed it, ' he and the Indian had a severe 
 wring.' He, however, succeeded in bringing the muzzle to the Indian's 
 breast, and killed him on the spot. By this time, he as well as the In- 
 dians were pretty well tired ; yet the pursuit was continued by the two 
 remaining Indians. Wetzel, as before, loaded his gun, and stopped 
 several times during this latter chase ; when he did so, the Indians 
 treed themselves. After going something more than a mile, Wetzel 
 took ad vantage of a little open piece of ground over which the Indians were 
 passing, a short distance behind him, to made a sudden stop for the pur- 
 pose of shooting the foremost, who got behind a little sapling, which was 
 too small to cover his body. Wetzel shot, and broke his thigh. The 
 wound in the issue proved fatal. The last of the Indians, then gave a 
 little yell, and said, ' No catch dat man, gun always loaded,' and gave up 
 the chase, glad no doubt to get off with his life." Doddridge. 
 
 It seems to be generally conceded, that a most fatal decoy on the 
 frontier was the " turkey-call." Several anecdotes of pretty much the 
 same tenor are related with reference to different parties, and different 
 localities, only one of which will be here given. 
 
 The following is taken from De Hass : " On several occasions, men 
 from the fort at Wheeling had gone across the hill in quest of a turkey, 
 whose vociferous gobbling had elicited their attention, and on more than 
 one occasion the men never returned, Wetzel suspected the cause, and 
 determined to satisfy himself. On the east side of the creek, and at a 
 point elevated at least sixty feet above the water, there is a small cavern,
 
 LEWIS WETZEL'S EXPLOITS. 45 
 
 the entrance to which at that time was almost obscured by a heavy 
 growth of vines and foliage. Into this the alluring savage would 
 crawl, and there have an extensive view of the hill front on the opposite 
 side. From that cavern issued the decoy of death to more than one 
 incautious soldier and settler. Wetzel knew of the existence and exact 
 locality of the cave, and accordingly started out before day, and by a 
 circuitous route, reached the spot from the rear. Posting himself so as to 
 command a view of the opening, he waited patiently for the expected 
 cry. Directly the twisted tuft of an Indian warrior slowly rose in the 
 mouth of the cave, and looking cautiously about sent forth the usual 
 gobble, and immediately sunk back out of view. Lewis screened himself 
 in his position, cocked his gun and anxiously awaited the reappearance 
 of the tufted head. In a few minutes up rose the tuft, Lewis drew a fine 
 aim at the polished head, and the next instant the brains of the savage 
 were scattered about the cave. That turkey troubled the inhabitants no 
 longer." 
 
 The foregoing gives only a tithe of the many hazardous exploits be- 
 tween the settlers and the Indians in which Lewis Wetzel was engaged. 
 It is said, that in the course of these wars, in the upper Ohio Valley, he 
 killed twenty-seven Indians, besides a number more along the frontier 
 settlements of Kentucky. As might naturally be expected, he was of a 
 roving disposition. He is believed to have died at the residence of a 
 relative, named Philip Sikes, about twenty miles in the interior from 
 Natchez. 
 
 It is said of Lewis Wetzel, " that he loved his friends and hated his 
 enemies." He belonged like many others, to the heroic period of our 
 country ; and although rude and uncultivated in manners, it may be 
 considered entirely within the range of probability, that his name will 
 live in history, poetry and song to the latest posterity.
 
 VIII. 
 
 THE POE BROTHERS AND BIG FOOT. 
 
 MONO those who settled at an early day near the northern ex- 
 tremity of what is now called the Pan-handle of West Virginia, 
 were two brothers, Adam and Andrew Poe. They were born in 
 Maryland, and emigrated to the West in 1774. Adam was the elder of 
 the two by five years. He lived to the age of ninety-three, and died in 
 1840. 
 
 " In the summer of 1782, a party of seven Wyandottes made an incur- 
 sion into a settlement some distance below Fort Pitt, and several miles 
 from the Ohio River. Here finding an old man alone in a cabin, they 
 killed him, packed up what plunder they could find, and commenced 
 their retreat. Amongst their party was a celebrated Wyandotte chief, 
 who, in addition to his fame as a warrior and counsellor, was as to his size 
 and strength, a real giant." This Indian was known by the name of 
 " Big Foot." 
 
 " The news of the visit of the Indians soon spread through the neigh- 
 borhood, and a party of eight good riflemen was collected in a few hours 
 for the purpose of pursuing them. In this party were the two brothers, 
 Adam and Andrew Poe. They were both famous for courage, size and 
 activity. This little party commenced the pursuit of the Indians with a 
 determination, if possible not to suffer them to escape, as they usually 
 did on such occasions, by making a speedy flight to the river, crossing it 
 and then dividing into small parties, to meet at a distant point in a given 
 time. The pursuit was continued a greater part of the night after the 
 Indians had done the mischief. In the morning the party found them- 
 selves on the trail of the Indians, which led to the river. When arrived 
 at a little distance from the river, Adam Poe, fearing an ambuscade, left 
 the party, who followed directly on the trail, to creep along the brink of 
 the river bank, under cover of the weeds and bushes, to fall on the rear 
 of the Indians, should he find them in ambuscade. He had not gone far 
 before he saw the Indian rafts at the water's edge. Not seeing any In- 
 dians he stepped softly down the bank, with his rifle cocked. When 
 about half way down he discovered the large Wyandotte chief and a
 
 THE POE BROTHERS AND BIG FOOT. 47 
 
 small Indian, within a few steps of him. They were standing with their 
 guns cocked, and looking in the direction of our party, who by this time 
 had gone some distance lower down the bottom. Poe took aim at the 
 large chief, but his rifle missed fire. The Indians bearing the snap of 
 the gun-lock, instantly turned round and discovered Poe, who, being too 
 near them to retreat, dropped his gun and sprang from the bank upon 
 them, and, seizing the large Indian by the clothes on his breast, and at 
 the same time embracing the neck of the small one, threw them both 
 down on the ground, himself being uppermost. The small Indian soon 
 extricated himself, ran to the raft, got his tomahawk, and attempted to 
 dispatch Poe, the large Indian holding him fast in his arms with all his 
 might, the better to enable his fellow to effect his purpose, Poe, however, 
 so well watched the motions of his assailant, that when in the act of aim- 
 ing a blow at his head, by a vigorous and well-directed kick with one of 
 his feet, he staggered the savage, and knocked the tomahawk out of his 
 hand. This failure on the part of the small Indian was reproved by an 
 exclamation of contempt from the large one. 
 
 " In a moment the Indian caught up his tomahawk again, approached 
 more cautiously, brandishing his tomahawk and making a number of 
 feigned blows in defiance and derision. Poe, however, still on his guard, 
 averted the real blow from his head by throwing up his arm and re- 
 ceiving it on his wrist, in which he was severely wounded ; but not so as 
 to lose entirely the use of his hand. In this perilous moment Poe, by a 
 violent effort, broke loose from the Indian, snatched up one of the In- 
 dian's guns, and shot the small Indian through the breast, as he ran up a 
 third time to tomahawk him. The large Indian was now on his feet, and 
 grasping Poe by a shoulder and leg, threw him down on his back. Poe 
 instantly disengaged himself, and got on his feet. The Indian then 
 seized him again, and a new struggle ensued, which, owing to the slippery 
 state of the bank, ended in the fall of both combatants into the water. 
 In this situation it was the object of each to drown the other. Their ef- 
 forts to effect their purpose were continued for some time, with alternate 
 success, sometimes one being under water and sometimes the other. Poe 
 at length seized the tuft of hair on the scalp of the Indian, with which he 
 held his head under water until he supposed him drowned. Relaxing his 
 hold too soon, Poe instantly found his gigantic antagonist on his feet 
 again and ready for another combat. In this they were carried into the 
 water beyond their depth. In this situation they were compelled to 
 loose their hold on each other and swim for mutual safety. Both sought 
 the shore to seize a gun and end the contest with bullets. The Indian, 
 being the best swimmer, reached the land first. Poe seeing this, imme- 
 diately turned back into the water, to escape being shot, il possible, by
 
 48 LEGENDS OF 
 
 diving. Fortunately the Indian caught up the rifle with, which Poe had 
 killed the other warrior. At this juncture Andrew Poe, missing his 
 brother from the party, and supposing from the report of the gun which 
 he shot that he was either killed or engaged in conflict with the Indians, 
 hastened to the spot. On seeing him Adam called out, to '.kill the big 
 Indian on shore.' But Andrew's gun, like that of the Indian's, was emp- 
 ty. The contest was now between the white and the Indian who should 
 load and fire first. Very fortunately for Poe, the Indian in loading drew 
 the ramrod from the thimbles of the stock of the gun with so much vio- 
 lence that it slipped out of his hands and fell a little distance from him. 
 He quickly caught it up and rammed down his bullet. This little delay 
 gave Poe the advantage. He shot the Indian as he was raising his gun 
 to take aim at him. 
 
 " As soon as Andrew had shot the Indian he jumped into the river to 
 assist his wounded brother to shore ; but Adam, thinking more of the 
 honor of carrying the scalp of the big Indian home as atrophy of victory 
 than his own safety, urged Andrew to go back and prevent the struggling 
 savage from rolling into the river and escaping. Andrew's solicitude 
 for the life of his brother prevented him from complying with this request. 
 In the meantime the Indian, jealous of the honor of his scalp, even in the 
 agonies of death, succeeded iu reaching the river and getting into the 
 current, so that his body was never obtained. An unfortunate occur- 
 rence took place during the conflict. Just as Andrew arrived at the top 
 of the bank for the relief of his brother one of the party who had follow- 
 ed close behind him, seeing Adam in the river, and mistaking him for 
 a wounded Indian, shot at him and wounded him in the shoulder. He, 
 however, recovered from his wound. During the contest between Adarn 
 Poe and the Indians the party had overtaken the remaining six of them. 
 A desperate conflict ensued, in which five of the Indians were killed. 
 Our loss was three men killed, and Adam Poe severely wounded. Thus 
 ended this Spartan conflict, with the loss of three valiant men on our 
 part, and with that of the whole Indian party excepting one warrior. 
 Never on any occasion was there a greater display of desperate bravery, 
 and seldom did a conflict take place, which, in the issue, proved fatal tc 
 so great a proportion of those engaged in it. 
 
 " The fatal result of this campaign, on the side of the Indians, occa 
 siou. d a universal mourning among the Wyandotte nation. The big 
 Indian and his four brothers, all of whom were killed in the same place 
 were among the most distinguished chiefs and warriors of their nation. 
 
 "The big Indian was magnanimous as well as brave. He, more than any 
 other individual, contributed, by^his example and influence, to the good 
 character of the Wyandottes for lenity towards their prisoners. He would 
 not suffer them to be killed or illtreated. This mercy to captives was an
 
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