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OF NORTH AND SOU-TIH
COMPRING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE PRINCIPAL ABORIGINAL RACES;
A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR NATIONAL CUSTOMS, MYTHOLOGY,
AND RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES; THE HISTORY OF THEIR MOST POWERFUL TRIBES, AND OF THEIR MOST CELEBRATED CHIEFS AND WARRIORS;
THEIR INTERCOURSE AND WARS WITH THE EUROPEAN SETTLERS;
AND A GREAT VARIETY OF ANECDOTE AND DESCRIPTION, ILLUS
TRATIVE OF PERSONAL AND NATIONAL CHARACTER.
BY CHARLES DE WOLF BROWNELL
INCLUDING THE LATE
SIOUX WAR AND INDIAN MASSACRES IN MINNESOTA.
NUMEROUS AND DIVERSIFIED COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS,
FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS.
PUBLISHED ONLY BY SUBSCRIPTION BY
HURLBUT, SCRANTON & COMPANY,
HARTFORD, CONN.
B. B. TREAT & CO., CHICAGO, ILL.-R. C. TREAT & CO., ST. Louis8, Mo.
C. M. DUNN & CO., CINCINNATI, OeIO.
1864.
THE
I NDIIAN RACES
A  He  w  t  e  h' A  (1 
4     Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by
HURLBUT, SCRANTON & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.
I
I 
I 
41 
PREFACE.
FROM the size of this volume, as compared with the variety and extent of the subjects under examination, it will be readily perceived that
minuteness of detail has been impossible.
In describing the adventures and proceedings of the pioneers in the
settlement and civilization of the Western Continent, the interesting
nature of the narrative may have led the author, in some instances, away
from the immediate object of his attention, viz.: the manners, peculiarities, and history of the aboriginal inhabitants. He trusts, however, that
where this may appear to be the case, it will generally be found to have
resulted from the inseparable manner in which the history of the natives
and those who have supplanted them is interwoven.
So far as has proved convenient or practicable, localities will be found
to be in such a manner pointed out or referred to, that the reader who
is ordinarily well acquainted with the geography of the country will
seldom be at fault. Upon this point, the opening of the fifth book of
"The  True Travels, Adventures, and  Observations of Captain  John
Smith," is worthy the attention of all historical writers. It runs thus:
"Before we present you the matters of fact, it is fit to offer to your
view the stage whereon they were acted; for, as geography without
history seemeth a carcass without motion, so history without geography wailidereth as a vagrant, without a certain habitation."
The works which have been carefully examined by the author in the
prosecution of his design, and from which most of the facts embodied
in this outline of history and description have been obtained, are the
following:American Antiquities and Researches into The Natural History of Man; by James
the Origin and History of thie Red Race;   Cowles Pritchard.
by Alexander W. Bradford.            Letters and Notes on the Manners, CusThe Biography and History of the Indians   toms, and Condition of the North Amer of North America; by Samuel G. Drake.   ican Indians; by George Catlin.
(5)
.I-                  ..   i —   -                      -   -7'? 
PREFACE.
The History, Condition, and Prospects of
the Indian Tribes of the United States;
by Henry R. Schoolcraft, LL. D.
The Ijnited States Exploring Expedition;
by Commander Charles Wilkes.
Indian Biography; by B. B. Thacher. 
McIntosh's Book of the Indians. 
Travels of Capt. Jonathan Carver through 
the Interior of North America, in 1776  7-8.
Indian Wars or thle United States; by
William V. Moore.
The History of tae Conquest of Mexico;
from the Spanish of Don Antonio De
Solis.
The Conquest of Mexico; by Bernal Diaz
del Castillo, Regidor of the city of Gua  temala, written in 1568.
Prescott's Conquest of Mexico.
Conquest of Mexico and Peru; Harper's
series of Tales from American History.
Robertson's History of America.
The Invasion and Conquest of Florida,
under Hernando de Soto, written by a
gentleman of the town of Elvas.
Irving's Conquest of Florida.
The Territory of Florida; by John Lee
Williams.
The True Travels, Adventures, and Obser- 
vations of Captain John Smith; from
the London edition of 1629.
The Life of Captain John Smith; by W. G.
Sinims. 
The History of the Indians of Connecticut; 
by John W. De Forrest.
Baylie's Memoirs of Plymouth Colony.
Barber's Historical Collections, in Massa chlusetts and Connecticut.
The Rev. William Htibbard's Narrative of
the Indian Wars in New England; writ ten in 1775.
The History of Philip's War; by Thomas
Church, a son of Capt. Benjamin Church.
New  England's Memorial; by Nathaniel
Morton, published in 1669.
The  Publications of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, especially those re latinig to the Early Settlements in New
England, including, among other docu ments, the Relations of G. Mourt and E.
Winslow concerning the Pilgrims at
Plymouth; Letters and Writings of Rog  er Williams; Gookin's Historical Col  lections, &c., &c.
Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois.
Stone's Life ofJos. Brant-Thayendanegea.
Memoirs of William  Penn; by Thomas
Clarkson.
Heckewelder's Narrative of the Mission of
the United Brethren among the Dela  ware and Mohegan Indians.
The Life of William Henry Harrison, with
a History of the Wars with the British
and Indians on our North-western Fron  tiers.
The Adventures of Daniel Boone; by the
author of Uncle Philip's Conversations.
The History of the American Indians; by
James Adair, for forty years a resident
and trader among them.
Cobbett's Life of Andrew Jackson.
The History of Georgia; by Capt. Hugh
McCall.
The Adventures of Capt. Bonneville in the
Far West, and among the Rocky Moun  tains; by Washington Irving.
Cox's Adventures on the Columbia River.
Barrow's Voyages of Discovery and Re  search within the Arctic Regions.
Back's Narrative of the Arctic Land Expe  dition.
Greenland, the Adjacent  Seas, and the
North-west Passage; by Bernard O'Reilly.
Parry's Journal of a second voyage for the
Discovery of a North-west Passage.
Mackenzie's Inland Expedition to the Arc  tic Ocean.
Purchas, his Pilgrimage.
The Modern Traveller; by Josiah Conder;
Article       s  on South America.
Spanish Am       eric a;  by R. H. Bonnycastle.
Irving's Life of C    o     lumbus.
Indian    Tr ibes of Guiana; by Rev. W. H.
Brett.
Alexander    de  Humboldt's Travels in    South
America.
Prescott's Conquest of Peru.
Travels in Peru; by Dr. J. J. Von Tschudi,
translated from the German by Thom  asina Ross.
The Geographical, Natural, and Civil His  tory of Chili; by Abbe don J. Ignatius
Molina; translated from the original
Italian by an American Gentleman.
John Mawe's Travels in the Interior of
Brazil.
Head's Journey to the Pampas and the
Andes.
6 
.
CONTENTS.
G:RAL CHARACTERISTICS.
CHAPTER I. Origin of the North American Indians.-Some of their General Cu
toins and Peculiarities,......................................................
CHAPTER II. Religion of the Indians. -Their Weapons and System of Warfa
-Their Lodgings, Dress, Ornaments, &c.....................................
AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER L  United States Territory, &c.,......................................
CHAPTER II.  Antiquities of Mexico, &c.........................................
CHAPTER III.  Antiquities of South America,...................................
THE ABORIGINES OF MEXICO.
CHAPTER I. General Remarks. -Expedition ofGiljalva.-Hernando Cortez,.... 60
CHAPTER IL. Battles with the Natives. - Conciliatory Intercourse. - Donna Ma rina.......................................................................... 73
CHAPTER III. Communications with the Mexican Emperor. - The Zempoallans
and Quiavistlans............................................................. 78
CHAPTER IV. The March to Tlascala. -Occupation of the City.-Great Massa cre at Clholula. -Entrance into the City of Mexico, and Interview with Monte zuma.- Description of the Temple, &c........................................ 87
CHAPTER V. Seizure and Imprisonment of Montezuma. - Exetution of Qualpo poca and his Companions. -Ominous Prospects.- Expedition of Pamphlilo de
Narvaez. - Success of Cortez against him. - Return to Mexico. - Outrage by
Alvarado, and Consequent  Troubles. - Death of Montezuma. - The ".' ochc
Triste." -Battle of Obtumba, and Arrival at Tlascala......................... 97
CHAPTER VI. Preparations for the Attack on the City of Mexico. - Building and
Transportation of Brigantines. - Siege laid to the City.-Assault by the Span iards, and their Repulse. -Sacrifice of Prisoners. -Capture of Gulatimozin. -
Conquest of the Capital....................................................... 106
CHAPTER VII. Rebuilding of the City. -Extension of Spanish Powers. - The
March to Honduras. - Execution of Guatimozin. - Donna Marina. - Modern
Mexico,.......................................................................  116
THE FLORIDA INDIANS.
CHAPTER 1. Early Expeditions of Spanish Adventurers. -Ponce de Leon. -L.
Velasquez de Ayllon.- Pamphilo de Narvaez. -Fernando de Soto; his Land ing- and Establishment at Tampa. - Story of John Ortiz, a Spanish Captive
among the Indians................................................1............ 20
CCIAPTER If.  Progress Northward. - Contests with the Natives. - Vitacliuco. -
Expedition to Cutifachiqui. - Departure for the West.......................... 126
CHAPTER IIr.  From the Conquest by De Sooto to the Year 1818.-Missionary Op erations by thie Spaniards. - Moore's Invasion of Florida. - Bowles. -Wars of
1812.- Defeat of the Seminoles by General Jackson............................134
CHAPTER IV.  Coimenticeinent of the late Florida War. -Treaty of Moultrie
Creek. - Treaty of Payne's Landing. - Osceola. - Destruction of Dade's Conim mniand.- Battle of the Ouitlilacoochie. - Conference with Indian Chiefs by Gen eral Gaines.................................................................... 138
(7)
PAGN.
15
31
42
50
55 
PAGE.
CHAPTER V.  Condition of East Florida. - Gen. Scott's Campaign. -  Gafrison
besieged on the Ouithlacoochie.- Occurrences during the Summer of 1836.- Ar  rival of Creek Allies. - Col. Lane's Expedition from Tampa. - Battle of the Wa  hoo Swamp. -Gen. Jessup appointed to the Command in Florida................ 148
CHAPTER VLI. Pursuit of the Seminoles Southward. -Encounter on the Hatchlee
Lustee. - Conference and Truce with the Indians. - Renewal of the Treaty of
Payne's Landing. -Neglect on the Part of the Indians to comply with its Provis
ions.- Capture, Surrender, and Treacherous Seizure of various Chiefs. - Death
of Osceola. -Col. Taylor's Campaign,........................................... 154
CHAPTER VII.  Various Minor Engagements. - Surrender of Large Numbers of
Indians. - Continuance of Depredations. - Bloodhounds from Cuba. - Attack
upon a Company of Actors. - Seminole Chiefs brought back from the West to
report their Condition to their Countrymen. - Col. Harney's Expedition to the
Everglades. - End of the War.- Indians shipped West. - Numbers still remain ing in Florida............................................................... 159
THE INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I. Expedition of Amidas and Barlow. -Of Sir Richard Grenville.- Of
Bartholomew Gosnoll, with Capt. Smith. - Settlement at Jamestown. - Visit to
Powhatan.- Improvidence and Difficulties of the Colonists.- Exploration of the
Chiickahominy. - Smith taken Prisoner. - His Treatment by the Indians........ 165
CHAPTER II. Court of Powhliatan. - Smith's Preservation by Pocalhontas. - Sup  plies by the Indians. - Newport's Arrival. - Smith's Expeditions up the Chlesa  peake......................................................................176
CHAPTER III. Coronation of Powhatan.- Smith's Visit to Werowocomoco for
Supplies. - Treachery of Powhatan. - Smith a second time preserved by Poca  hontas. - Visit to Pamunky.- Fight with the King of Paspaheghl.- Ascend  ency of the English,............................................................ 189
CHAPTER IV.  Distress of the Colonies. -Martin and West's Settlements. - Ar  rival of Lord De la Warre. - Retaliations upon the Natives. - Seizure of Poca  hontas. - Her Marriage. - Peace with the Indians. - Pocahontas visits England.
- Her Death. - Death of Powhatan. - Pory's Settlement....................... 199
CHAPTER V. Tle Virginia Massacre of 1622 and of 1641 (or 1644). -Death of Ope chancanough................................................................... 209
CHAPTER VI. Smith's Account of the Numbers, Appearance, and Habits of the
Indians,........................................................................ 212
NEW  ENGLAND INDIANS.
CHAPTER r. Conduct of the Early Voyagers.- Arrival of the May-Flower.  Sanioset. - Tisquantum. - Massasoit. - Weston's Colony. - Caunbitant's Con  spiracy. -Trade in Fire-Arms. -Thomas Morton. -Death of Massasoit and Al  exander, and Accession of Philip............................................... 217
CHAPTER II. The Narragansetts.- Thle Pequots.- Murder of Stone and Oldhlam.
- Endicott's Expedition. - The Pequot War. - Destruction of the Pequot Fort.
-The Tribe dispersed and subdued............................................ 233
CIIAPTER III. Quarrel between the Narragansetts and Molhegans. - Uncas and
Miantonimo. - The Molhegan Land Controversy. - Subsequent Condition of the
Pequots and Mohliegans,......................................................... 243
CHAPTER IV.  The Indians furnished with Fire-Arnis- Situation of the C(lo nists. - Philip's Accession. - His Treaties with the Whites. - His True Plans.
-Emissaries sent to ogkonate. - Capt. Benjamin Cliurch. - His Interview with
Awoshonks.- Murder of John Sassamon...................................... 52
CHAPTER V.  Attack on Swansey.- Collection of Troops. - Fight at Miles'
Bridge. - Philip driven from the Neck. - Church at Punkatese. - Destriction of
Brookfield..................................................................... 263
8
CONTENTS. 
P.TGX.
CHAPTER VI.  Philip moves Westward. -Attacks on Hadley and Deerfield. -
Goffe, tihe Regicide. - Destruction of Lathrop's Command. - Assaults on Spring field and Hatfield. - Expedition against the Narragansetts. - Outrageous Cruelties
in their Reduction. - Philip on the Hudson. - Destruction of Lancaster, Medfield,
Seekonk, Groton, Warwick, Marlborough, &c. - Canonchet taken, and put to
Death.- Further Indian Ravages,.............................................. 272
CHAPTER VII.  Philip's Return to Pokanoket.-Major  Talcott's Successes. Church commissioned by the Court at Plymouth.- His Interview with Awo  shonks; with the Sogkonates at Sandwich. - His Campaign against the Indians.
-Philip seen. - His Wife and Son taken. - Death of Weetamore, Queen of Po  casset. -Death of Philip.......................................................  22
CHAPTER VIII. Pursuit of Ainnawon and his Party. - Daring Procedure of Cap  tain Church. - End of the War, and Final Disposal of Prisoners. - Summary of
the Colonial Losses,............................................................ 293
CHAPTER IX.  The Eastern Indians. -Their Friendly Disposition. - Seizure of
those implicated in Philip's Conspiracy. - French and Indian War in 1689. - At tack on Cocheco. - Murder of Major Waldron. - War of 1702. - Church's Last
Campaign. - War of 1722. - Capt. John Lovewell..............................298
THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
CHAPTER I. General Outlines of Character, &c. - Impressions of the Inhabitants
of New England respecting the Iroquois. - Garangula.- His Speech to M. de la
Barre,........................................................................ 308
CHAPTER II. Iroquois Tradition relative to their Former History. -A Brief Ac  count of the different Tribes belonging to the Confederacy, and the Manner of
their Union.- Incidents of Early Warfare,..................................... 316
CHAPTER III. Important Characters and Events of the Eighteenth Century. Brant. - Cresap's War, and History of Logan.................................  327
CHAPTER IV. History of Brant continued. - Connection of the Six Nations with
the War of the American Revolution.......................................... 336
CHAPTER V.  Continuation of Revolutionary Incidents......................... 347
CHAPTER VI. Gen. Sullivan's Campaign against the Iroquois.- Subsequent War like Operations of the Nations................................................. 355
CHAPTER VII. Condition of the Six Nations subsequent to the Revolution. Conclusion of Brant's History. -Red-Jacket and Corn-Planter.................. 361
CHAPTER VIII. Present Condition of the Six Nations.......................... 370
PONTIAC'S WAR
CHAPTER I. French Influence over the Indians.- British Occupation of the
Western Posts. - Pontiac, and his Plans for exterminating the English,.......... 376
CIIAPTER II. Siege of Detroit. - Battle of Bloody Bridge......................... 382
THE DELAWARES, SHAWANEES,
AND OTHER TRIBES OF THE MIDDLE AND WESTERN STATES.
CIIAPTER I. The Delawares. - William  Penn. - St. Tammany. - The Mora vians. - The Shawanees. - French and Indian War. - Braddock's Defeat.  Massacre of the Canestoga Indians.- Daniel Boone............................. 386
CIIAPTER If.  Division of the Delawares.-White-Eyes, and Pipe.-Indian Con federacy of 1781. - Attack on Bryant's Station, and Battle near the Blue Licks.
-Gen. Clarke's Expedition.- Disastrous Campaign of Harmar and St. Clair. -
Military Operations of Gen. Wayne. - Decisive Battle near the Maumee Rapids,
and subsequent Treaty of Peace............................................... 401
CHAPTER III. Condition of the Indians subsequent to the Peace. - The Prophet
Elskwatawa. - Tecumseh. - His Plans and Intrigues. - Gen. Harrison's Expedi tion against the Prophet's Town. - Defeat of the Indians at Tippecanoe. - War
CONTENTS.
:9
I 
CONTENTS.
PAO.
of 1812. - Harrison's Invasion of Canada.- Battle of the Thames, and Death of
Tecumseh..................................................................... 410
CHAPTER IV. Acquisition and Sale, by thlie'United States, of Indian Land in Illi nois.- Black-Hawk. - The Sacs removed west of the Mississippi. - Return of
Black-Hawk and his Followers. -Defeat of Major Stillman. -The Hostile In dians pursued by Atkinson and Dodge. - Their Defeat on the Bank of the Missis sippi.- Black Hawk's Surrender. - He is taken to Washington. -His Subse quent Career................................................................. 422
INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
CHAPTER I. Early Location, Numbers, Character, &c., of the Catawbas; of the
Upper and Lower Cherokees; of the Mluscogees or Creeks; of the Choctaws; of
the Chickasaws.- French War with the Natchez and Chlckasaws............. 431
CHAPTER II. Colonization of Georgia. - Early Intercourse with the Natives. -
Tomochichi. - Intrigues of the Rev. Thomas Bosomworth.- Cherokee War of
1759. - Attakullakulla and Occonostota. - Murder of Indian Hostages. - Col.
Montgomery's Expedition. - Destruction of the Eastern Cherokee Towns. - Bat  tle near Etchoe. - Capitulation at Fort Loudon. - Indian Treachery. - Cam  paign of Col. Grant, and Complete Reduction of the Cherokees.................. 440
CHAPTER III. Capt. Steuart's Agency. - Disturbance in 1767. - Visit of Tecuin  seh to the Southern Tribes. - Weatherford.- Sack of Fort Mimms.- War of
1813. -Gen. Jackson's Campaign.- Battles on the Tallusahatchee, at Talladega,
Autossee, &c. - The Hallibees. - Defeat of the Indians at Horse-Shoe Bend. -
End of the War.............................................................. 452
CHAPTER IV. The Removal of the Cherokees west of the Mississippi. - Present
Location and Condition of the other Tribes of the Southern States.............. 461
NORTHERN RACES.
CHAPTER L. The Esquimaux; their Manners and Personal Appearance. - Ac  counts of Early Voyagers.- Esquimaux Habitations, Food, &c. -The Kaiak or
Canoe. - Sealing. - The Reindeer. - Uses of the Dog. - Patriarchal Govern ment.- Efelbcts of Foreign Intercourse......................................... 466
CHAPTER II. The Esquimaux of Melville Peninsula. - Their Stature and Cos tume. - Snow Huts and their Furniture. - Implements for Hunting and Sealing.
- Mental Traits.............................................................. 476
CHAPTER II. The Knisteneaux, Chippewas, &c................................ 481
VARIOUS NATIONS AND TRIBES
BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN.
CHAPTER I. The Sioux, or Dahcotas, and other Tribes of the same Race.-Clas  sification. - The Mandans. - Their Number, Situation, Villages, &c. - Their
Cemeteries.- Affectionate Remembrance of the Dead.......................... 489
CHAPTER It. Personal Appearance and Peculiarities of the Mandans. - Their
Hospitality and Urbanity.- Their Cleanliness of Person.- Their Dress.- Por  traits of Mandan Chliefs. - Contrast between the Wild Tribes and those of the
Frontier. - Mandan Domestic Usages. - Games and Dances. - Training of the
Youth. - The Great Annual Religious Ceremony. - Tlhe Mandans supposed to be
of Welsh Descent. - Annihilation of the Tribe by the Small-pox............... 4965
CHAPTER III. The Sioux, continued. -Their Mode of Life. - Maternal Affec  tion. -Exposure of the Aged.- The famous Quarry of Red Pipe-stone.- Nature
of this Material. - Indian Superstitions respecting it. - The Bison or Buffalo. -
Horses of the Indians. - Various Modes of Hunting the Buffalo. —Wasteful De struction of the Herds......................................................... 513
CHAPTER IV. Indians of the Great Western Prairies. - Their Summer and Win  ter Lodges. - The Medicine-Bag. - The Crows and Blackfeet. - Races Hostile to
I
lo.
of 
CONTENTS.                                  11
PAGZ.
the latter Tribe. - Fortitude of a Blackfoot Warrior. - The Crow Chief Arapoo  ish and his Guest. - Indian Conceptions of a Perfect Country. - Story of Lo  retto and his Indian Wife. - Adventures of Kosato, a Blackfoot Warrior........ 521
CHAPTER V.  Tribes on the Columbia and its Tributaries. -The Nez-Perces. -
Thieir Religious  Character.-The Walla-wallas.-TThe Chinooks.-Mode of
Flattening the Head. -The Botoque. - Canoes of the Tribes on the Lower Wa ters of the Columbia. - Fishing. - Houses of the Flat-heads................... 533
CHAPTER VI. The Shoshonees, or Snake Indians. - The Shoshokoes, or Root diggers.- Extent of Country occupied by the Snakes. - The Camanches; their
Horsemanship, Mode of Life, Dwellings, &c. - The Pawnee Picts. - The Naba joe and Moques,.............................................................. 537
Of the United States and Territories........................................... 547
SOUTH AMERICA.
TOIBE OF THE WEST INDIES,
AND THEr NORTHERN PROVINCES OF SOUTH AERICA.
CHAPTER I. Indians first seen by Columbus. - Landing at Guanahani. - Natives
of Cuba.- Embassy to the Grand Kahn. - Discovery of Hayti, and Intercourse
with the Natives. - Guacanagari. - Wreck of the Admiral's Vessel. - Honesty
and Hospitality of the Native Inhabitants. - Trade for Gold. - Building of the
Fortress of La Navidad. - Departure of the Nina. - The Ciguayans. - Disorders
and Destruction of the Garrison at La Navidad. - Fort of St. Thomas.......... 549
CHAPTER It.  Indians of Jamaict.- Cruise along the Southern Coast of Cuba.  Speech of an Indian Counsellor.- Difficulties at the Fortress of St. Thomas.- Its
Siege by Caonabo. - Efforts of Columbus to restore Order. - Great Rising of the
Indians of Hispaniola. -Their Defeat. - Tribute imposed. - Visit of Bartholo  mew to Xaraguay. - Further Insurrection in the Vega. - Bobadilla as Viceroy. -
Cruelties practised on the Indians. - Las Casas. - Incidents related by Purchas.
- Administration of Ovando. - Expedition against Xaraguay. - Reduction of
Higuey........................................................................ 559
CHAPTER [It. The Caribs. -Tlheir Islands first visited by Columbus.- Origin
and Location of the Race. - Tokens of Cannibalism seen by the Spaniards. -
Cruise among the Islands. - Demeanor of Prisoners taken. - Return to Hispan iola. - Destruction of the Fortress at that Island. - Capture of Caonabo. - His
Death. - Expulsion of the Natives from the Caribbee Islands.................... 570
CHAPTER IV. Indians of Guiana and Venezuela. - Classification. - The Ara waks. - First seen by Columbus.- Entry into the Gulf of Paria. - Hospitality of
the Natives. - Raleigh's Visit to the Orinoco, - Early Wars of the Arawaks. Victory over the Caribs. - Maroon Negroes. - Present Condition of the Arawaks.
- Other Tribes of the Interior. - General Description.......................... 576
THE ABORIGINES OF PERU.
CHAPTER I. Physical Peculiarities of the Quichtas, Aymaras, Atacamnas, and
Changos. - Nature of the Country. - Peruvian Works of Art, &c. - First Rumors
of the Wealth of the Country. - Expedition of Pascual de Andagoya. - Fran eisco Pizarro. -His First Voyage of Discovery. - Almagro's Voyage. - Contract
I
NTDIAN POPULATION 
PAGOI.
of Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque. - The Second Expedition. - Pizarro and his
Companions upon the Isle of Gorgona. - Continuation of the Voyage. - Return
to Panama.................................................................... 586
CHAPTER II. Mythological Traditions.-Topa Inca Yupanchi,and his Son Huay na Capac. - The Peruvian Capital. - Religious System. - Government. - Agra rian Law.- Llamas. -Public Records. -The "Quipu." -Agriculture. - Mar riages. - Warlik) Policy of the Incas. - The Great Roads. - Contentment of the
Natives. - Division of the Empire. - Huascar and Atahuallpa. - Contest for Su premacy..................................................................... 601
CHAPTER III. Pizarro's Visit to Spain, and Application to the Emperor.- His
Four Brothers.- Funds procured for a New Expedition to Peru.- Vessels again
fitted out at Panama. - Landing of the Spaniards upon the Peruvian Coast. Plunder at Coaque. - The March towards Tumbez. - Battles on the Isle of Puna.
- Tumbez deserted.- Settlement of San Miguel. - March into the Interior. Passage of the Andes. - Messages from Atahuallpa. - Entry into Caxamalca,.... 613
CHAPTER IV. First Interview with the Inca. - Plans for his Capture. -Entry of
of Atahuallpa into Caxamnialca. - Address of the Chaplain. - Attack by the Span iards.- Fearful Massacre of the Natives, and Seizure of thie Inca. - Prisoners
and Plunder obtained.-The Promised Ransom. -Hernando Pizarro's Visit to
Pachacamaca. - Challcuchima. - Messengers sent to Cuzco.- Immense Treasure
collected at Caxamalca. - Trial and Murder of Atahuallpa..................... 621
CHAPTER V.  March towards Cuzco. - Opposition of the Natives. - Death  of
Toparca, and Murder of Challcuchima. - Manco Capac. - Entry into the Capital.
- Booty obtained. - Escape of Manco, and General Insurrection. - Siege of Cuzco.
- Reverses of the Spaniards. - Civil Wars. - Further Hostilities of Manco Ca pac. - Cruel Treatment of the Natives. - Death of Manco Capac. - Reforms
under Pedro de la Gasca. - Tupac Amaru. - Insurrection of 1781.- Present Con dition of the Peruvian Indians................................................. 635
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
CHAPTER I. Their Location, Appearance, &c.-Purchas' Description of Chili. Division of the Tribes.- Peruvian Conquests. -Agriculture, Arts, &c., among the
Natives. - Almagro's Invasion. - Expedition of Pedro de Valdivia. - Founding
of St. Jago. - Battles with the Mapochinians. - Destruction of Spanish Miners.
- Peace with the Promaucians,................................................. 646
CHAPTER II. The Araucanians Proper. - Character and Habits of the Tribe. -
Houses and Dress. - Sectional Divisions and Government. - System of Warfare.
- Courage and Military Skill. -Religious Belief and Superstitions. - Patriotism
and Public Spirit of the Natives. - Molina's Eulogium......................... 651
CHAPTER ItL  Army sent to oppose the Progress of the Spaniards. - Battle on the
Adalien. - Lincoyan's Campaign. - Valdivia's March Southward. - Foundation
of Valdivia, and Establishment of Forts in the Araucanian Territory. - The Na tives roused by Colocolo. - Caupolican made Toqui. - His Successes. - Great
Victory over the Spaniards. - Death of Valdivia. - Invasion of Arauco by Villa  gram. - His Defeat. -Destruction of Conception. - Lautaro's Fatal Expedition
against Santiago,.............................................................. 657
CHAPTER IV.  Don Garcia de Mendoza. - His Establishment at Quiriquina. —
Fort of Mount Pinto attacked by Caupolican. -Don Garcia's Invasion of Arauco.
- His Cruelties. - Expedition to Chiloe. - Artful Management of the Cunclhea
- Seizure and Cruel Death of Caupolican. - Subsequent Successes of the Span iards. - Retreat of the Natives to the Marshes of Lurmaco.- Indian Victory at
Mount Mariguenu. - General Summary of Succeeding Hostilities,.................  666
CHAPTER V. Viceroyalty of Martin Loyola. - Paillamachu. - Renewal of the
War. -Loyola slain. -General Insurrection of the Natives. - The Spaniards
driven from the Country South of the Bio-Bio. - Bloody Campaigns under several
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CONTENTS. 
PA(]1.
successive Toquis. - Peace of 1640. - Ten Years' War. - Subsequent Treaties
and Hostilities. - Present Position of the Araucanians.......................... 674
INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.,
CHAPTER I. Physical Clharacteristics. - Pinzon's Discoveries. - Landing of Pedro
Alvarez Cabral upon the Brazilian Coast. -Expedition under Vespucius.- Can nibalism. - Colonization of the Country, and Wars with the Natives. - Fate of
Juan de Solis, at the Estuary of La Plata. - Settlement of Bahia de Todos San tos by Diogo Alvarez. - The Jesuits. - Particulars of the Cannilbal Propensities
of the Natives. - The Botocudos.............................................. 681
CHAPTER II. Success of the Portuguese against the Natives. - Their Contests
with Settlers from other Countries of E/irope.- English Colony at Paraiba. Expulsion of Guarani Tribes from their Country on La Plata. - Division of Bra zilian Nations. - Daily Routine of Indian Life in the Forests. -Reflections..... 691
THE PAMPAS INDIANS
Their Horsemanship.- Their Mode of Life.- Sir Francis Head's Description of
the Race. - Female Captives among the Indians. - Trading Visits to European
Settlements. -Classification of Tribes.- Change in their Condition by the Intro duction of European Domestic Animals........................................ 696
THE PATAGONIANS.
Early Exaggerated Reports concerning them. - Race to which they belong. - Na ture of the Country. - Terra del Fuego. - General Description and Classification
of the Inhabitants. - Captain Fitzroy's Narrative. - Physical Conformation of
the Natives. - Scantiness of their Clothing. - Their Huts, Resources for Food,
etc. -Fuegians carried to England by Fitzroy.- Attempt at the Introduction of
Agriculture on the Island. - Pecherais described in Wilkes' Narrative of the
United States' Exploring Expedition......................................... 701
ThIE SIOUX MIA.SSACRE.
CIHAPTER I  Condition of the Tribes previous to the Outbreak.-A Warlike Tribe.  Civilization Commenced.-Churches and Schools.-Causes of the Outbreak.-Injus  tice of our Government.-Beginning of the Massacre.-Inhabitants calling for Help.  Little Crow.-Attack on the Lower Agency.-Escape of Rev. Mr. Ilindman.-A
Noble Ferryman.-Cut Nose.-Twerty-five Massacred.-Heart-rending Sight.  Flight and Death of Dr. Humphreys.-Whole Family Burned.-Destruction of Capt.
Marsh's Company.............................................................. 709
CHAPTER If. Escape of Rev. Mr. Riggs and Dr. Williamson.-Clark, Paul and Enos,
faithful Indians, aiding Riggs and Williamson in their escape.-Arrival at Birch
Cooley.-Purning Women Alive.-Destruction of Lower Agency.-Attack on New
Ulm.-Boardman and Judge Flanderan defend New Ulm.-Attack on Fort Ridge  ley.-Defended by Sergeant Jones.-Indians dispersed by Shells.-Terrible Thander
Storm.-Little Crow renewing the Attack.-Slaughtering of Men, Women and Chil  dren.-Little Crow re-enforced, making the second attack.-Evacuation of New Ulm.
CHAPTER III. Col. Sibley Marches to the Relief of Fort Ridgely and New Ulm.- 722
Fight at Birch Cooley.-Crow asks for Peace.-Deacon Paul pleads with his Tribe.  Col. Sibley advances to the Yellow Medicines.-Defeats the Indians.-Prisoners
rescued.-Camp release-Guilty Indians.-Marvellous Escapes.-Women of Newr
Ulm attack the Prisoners.-Their Examination.-Thirty-eight Tried and Executed.  Their Behavior Mounting the Scaffold...........................................
CHAPTER IV.  Bishop Whipple on the Outbreak and the Nation's Duty to the Red 784
Men.-Fresh Manceuvers in the Spring.-Death of Little Crow.-Siblcy's Expedi tion into Dacotah.-Defeat of the Indians at Big Mound.-Cavalry Charge averted
by a Stroke of Lightning.-Fight at Buffalo Lake.-The Army reaches the Missouri. Escape of the Indiana-Return of the Expedition.-Final Results................. 746
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
GENERAL CHIARACTERISTICS.
CHAPTER I.
ORIGIN OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. -SOME OP THEIR GPN.
ERAL CUSTOMS AND PECULIARITIES.
07i'ty w  U' 06).V     ytE?',, roi43i Dab   vpZyv.
"Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;
Another race the following spring supplies." - ILIAD.
IT were far easier to foretell the period when the extinction of the Indian races must be consummated, and to explain the causes that must sooner or later terminate their
national existence, than to trace back their early history.
Even a succinct account of the various theories, with
the arguments upon which they are based, as to the probable sources whence the early inhabitants of the Western
hemisphere derived their origin, would furnish matter for
a volume: we shall therefore do little more than allude
to the different hypotheses upon the subject, leaving the
reader to follow up the inquiry, if his inclination so move
him,' by the examination of works especially devoted to
the discussion of this vexed question.
The want of a written language among the aborigines
of America; the blindness of the system of hieroglyphics
used by the more advanced nations of the continent; and
the wild discrepancies in their fanciful oral traditions, leave
us little hope of satisfactorily elucidating the mystery by
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
any direct information obtained from the people themselves. Analogies in physical conformation, customs, architecture, language, and religion, must form our principal
clew in deciding the question of their origin.
That America was first peopled by wanderers from the
Old World seems to be a conclusion to which most of those
who have treated on the subject have arrived. Exclusive
of the supposed necessity for maintaining the truth of Scriptural history by deducing all the races of the globe from a
common ancestry, abundant facilities for an intentional or
casual migration have been pointed out by geographers.
The numberless isles of the Pacific offer ready restingplaces for adventurous or bewildered navigators, and might
have been peopled successively by wanderers from Southeastern Asia. Some of the natives of that portion of the
eastern continent possess a skill in nautical affairs which
would abundantly qualify them for voyages as hazardous
as any to which they would be exposed in crossing the
Pacific from island to island in their swift proas.  The
near approach of the two grand divisions of the globe at
Behring's Straits presents still greater facilities for a passage from one to the other, when the waters are closed by
ice, during the severe northern winter, or when they lie
open, affording a free passage for canoes.
That the north-eastern portions of America were visited
and probably peopled, at a very early date, by adventurers
from the north of Europe seems to be fully established.
Many wild and improbable legends indeed exist, touching
these early voyages, and we can sympathize with the manner in which the old historian of Virginian colonization
dismisses the subject: "For the stories of Arthur, Malgo,
and Brandon, that say a thousand years ago they were in
the north of America, or the friar of Linn, that by his
black art went to the north pole in the year 1360. In
that I know them not. Let this suffice."
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Modern investigation has brought to light abundant
evidence of visits by the Northmen to Greenland and the
neighboring American coast, at the close of the tenth
and in the beginning of the eleventh centuries, and it is
not improbable that intercourse had subsisted between the
two countries at a much earlier period. The marked difference between the Esquimaux Indians and all other
tribes of the Western continent points plainly to a separate
ancestry. We shall speak more at large upon this subject
when we come to treat of the natives of that vast and
desolate region lying between the Canadas and the frozen
seas of the North.
Vague accounts of islands or continents at the West are
found in the works of many early writers. The Atlantis
of Plato, the Hesperides, and a host of other uncertain
fables have been tortured by ingenious antiquaries into
proof of more extensive geographical knowledge than is
generally attributed to the ancients. 
Some theorists have indefatigably followed up the idea
that we are to search for the lost tribes of Israel among
the red men of America, and have found or fancied resemblances, otherwise unaccountable, between Indian and Hebrew words, ceremonies, and superstitions.
Others have exhibited equal ingenuity in carrying out
a comparison between the Moors of Africa and the Americans, claiming to establish a near affinity in character and
complexion between the two races. They suppose the
Moorish immigrants to have arrived at the West India
islands, or the eastern coast of South America, and thence
to have spread over the whole continent.
However variant, in some particulars, the different
nations of America may appear, there are peculiarities of
language which are noticeable throughout the continent,
and which would seem to prove that neither of these
nations has subsisted in an entirely isolated condition.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
According to Humboldt, "In America, from the country of the Esquimaux to the banks of the Orinoko, and
again, from these torrid banks to the frozen climate of the
Straits of Magellan, mother tongues, entirely different with
regard to their roots, have, if we may use the expression,
the same physiognomy. Striking analogies of grammatical construction have been recognized, not only in the
more perfect languages, - as that of the Incas, the Aymara,
the Guarani, the Mexican, and the Cora, - but also in languages extremely rude. Idioms, the roots of which to
not resemble each other more than the roots of the Sclavonian and Biscayan, have resemblances of internal mechanism similar to those which are found in the Sanscrit, the
Persian, the Greek, and the German languages."
Of the primary roots of the different Indian dialects,
it is said that there are four more prominent than the rest,
and which can be traced over nearly the whole continent.
These are the Karalit or Esquimaux, the Iroquois, the
Lenni Lenape, and that of the Cherokees, Choctaws, and
other tribes of the South.
The great body of the American aborigines, notwithstanding the country over which they are distributed, have
many features of physical conformation in common. The
exceptions to this general truth, exhibited principally in
the persons of the Esquimaux, and in certain white tribes
at the West, deserve a separate consideration: at present,
our remarks will be confined to the red men, and particularly to those of the present United States and territories.
The appellation universally bestowed upon this people is
in itself a strange misnomer, and would hardly have obtained
so generally, had not the error in which it originated been
one which early voyagers were slow to acknowledge.
The Americans have, indeed, usurped the name of those
for whom they were so long mistaken, and whom we are
now reduced to distinguish by the title of East Indians.
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Ti  geierJal appearance- of a Worth Ameefan Inn
cie  given in few wors; -the -resemblance between tho'
M-~~erent tribes - with- the exceptions to- whih we'ha.^
erred-  being fulla-:close as between: different nations
of either of the -great -families into which the human race
has been srbit rariy divided.  They-are about of-the aver  age height which man attains when his form is not cr ped
by premature or excessive labor; but their erect postur
an4 sleder figure give  them the appearance of a tall race.
Theb   limbs are well formed, but calculated rather for agility
t- strength, in which they rarely equal the moreVigorous
of European nations.  They generally have small feet. 
The most distinguishing peculiarities of the race are,
the reddish or copper color of the skin, the prominence
of the cheek bone, and the color and quality of the hair.
This is not absolutely straight, but somewhat wavy, and
has not inaptly been compared to the mane of the horse
— less from its coarseness than from its glossy hue Ad the
manner in which it hangs. Their eyes are universally> dark. The women are rather short, with broader faces,
and a greater tendency to obesity, than the men; but many
of them possess a symmetrical figure, with an agreeable
and attractive countenance.
It was formerly quite a general impression that the
Indians were destitute of beards.   This error resulted
from the almost universal custom prevalent among them
of eradicating what they esteemed a deformity.  Tweezers,
made of wood or muscle shells, served to pluck oUt-the
hairs as soon as they appeared; and, after intercourse with
the whites'commenced, a coil of spiral wire was applied to
the same use.-  It was esteemed greatly becoming among
the men to carpe this operation still farther, and to lay
bare the whole- head, with the exception -of a top-k,
or:ri'  like the comb of a: cock, in whiCh' feathers ct —porcupine tqlls were fantastically interoven.       - -! -'
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Of the hideous custom of flattening the head, and the
means by which it was accomplished, we shall speak
when describing the tribes among whom it was practised.
No nations on the Eastern continent approach so nearly to
the American Indians, in bodily conformation, as do certain
tribes of Tartars. A similarity in habits of life, in dress,
festivals, and games, is also observable between the two
nations.  This, combined with the proximity of their countries, and the ease with which a passage could be effected,
would seem to afford a rational presumption as to the direct
origin of no small portion of the, red tribes of North America. Who can undertake to decide, however, as to what
admixture of races has here taken place, or how often
fresh arrivals, from  different portions of Eastern Asia,
have given rise to new colonies, or destroyed, by amalgamation, the distinctive characteristics of the earlier people? Above all, can we  ccount for the wonderful remains
of antiquity described in another chapter, by referring
them to the same races as' were found inhabiting these
wilds when the white man first ventured to explore them?
The difficulty of the subject is sufficiently manifest from
the contradictory conclusions drawn by laborious but dogmatic antiquaries; and still more by the doubt and uncertainty in which more candid but equally diligent laborers
in the same field have confessed their researches to have
resulted.
There have not been wanting those who have maintained the theory that the Indians were indigenous to
America. Some who have adopted this idea consider that
it involves the doctrine of a separate creation, while others,
that they might not discard the ordinarily received opinion that all mankind have sprung from a single pair, place
the seat of paradise somewhere upon the Western continent, and consider the Eastern nations as descendants of
emigrants from America.
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However interesting these speculations may prove to
the antiquary, they must appear simply wearisome to the
reader who is not willing to give the subject a full investigation. The two hemispheres remained sundered for so
long a period, that the history of their former connection by
intercourse of their respective inhabitants is now reduced
to little more than speculation; and we will pass to matters of which we can speak with certainty, and which
appeal more closely to our sympathies, and attract our
attention with more lively interest than such groping amid
the dim relics of antiquity.
A knowledge of the habits and peculiarities of the Indians can be acquired in the most pleasing manner by the
perusal of their history, interspersed as it is with the quaint
descriptions of old chroniclers, who wrote when the events
and scenes were vividly impressed upon their minds, and
before modern refinements had done away with that directness of expression which marks their narratives.
Such details make, moreover, a far stronger impression
upon the memory than can be effected by a series of dry
generalities.  We shall therefore refer the reader tot the
historical portion of this work for most of the information
which we shall attempt to convey.
In this, and in the ensuing chapter, we may frequently
speak of usages and characteristics, as belonging to a past
age, which are still to be observed among the more remote
Western tribes.   The  difficulty of always  drawing the
distinction in a series of such general remarks as are here
submitted, must form our excuse for such seeming anach
ronisms.
We notice in the Indian a remarkable gravity and
innate dignity which leads him to avoid, with the most
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scrupulous care, all involuntary or impulsive  expression
of his feelings.  This is not confined to the occasions
upon which he calls forth his powers of endurance in suffering the most cruel torments with apparent insensibility
or even with exultation, but enters into all the acts of his
daily life. He betrays no unseemly curiosity or impatience under circumstances that would naturally excite
both in the highest degree. Has he been long absent from
home on a war-path, or on a visit to cities of the whites; has
he learned some great and threatening danger, or has the
intelligence reached him of the'death of those whom he
most values; his conduct and method of communicating
his adventures or his information, are governed by the same
deliberation and immobility.
Returning half famished from an unsuccessful hunt, he
enters his wigwam, and sits down unquestioned, showing
no symptom of impatience for food. His wife prepares
his refreshment, and after smoking his pipe, and satisfying
his hunger, he volunteers an account of his experience.
Catlin gives a striking description of the meeting between
a chief named Wi-jun-jon, who had just returned from an
embassy to Washington, and his family. He landed from
the steamer at his home in the far West, "with a complete suit en militaire, a colonel's uniform of blue, presented to him by the president of the United States, with
a beaver hat and feather, with epaulets of gold- with
sash and belt, and broadsword; with high-heeled boots
with a keg of whiskey under his arm, and a blue umbrella
in his hand. In this plight and metamorphose, he took
his position on the bank amongst his friends -his wife
and other relations; not one of whom exhibited, for an
half hour or more, the least symptoms of recognition,
although they knew well who was before them." The
conduct of the chief was of the same character, but, half
an hour afterwards, "a gradual, but. cold and exceedingly
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
formal recognition began to take place," after which, all
went on as if he had never been absent. -This strange
demeanor does not, by any means, result from real indifference, but from the supposed propriety of suppressing
any outbreak of emotion.   No  doubt all the parties to
the scene above described, were in a state of the greatest
curiosity and excitement, and the family doubtless felt
the most exuberant joy at the reunion; but custom, or
their ideas of good taste, prohibited the exhibition of a
"scene." Those who are best acquainted with the chlaracter of the Indians agree that with them the ties of family affection are exceedingly strong and enduring. The
most touching descriptions are given of the manner in
which they mourn for the dead, and of the tender and
faithful remembrance of lost relatives that no length of
time seems to obliterate. Carver says, "I can assert that,
notwithstanding the apparent indifference with which an
Indian meets his wife and children after a long absence, an
indifference proceeding rather from custom than insensibility,
he is not unmindful of the claims either of connubial or
parental tenderness."
The same author who had witnessed the most bloody
and savage scenes of Indian warfare, and who was familiar
with the cruelties and unrelenting spirit of revenge peculiar
to the race, candidly bears witness to their good qualities:
", No people," he says, "can be more hospitable, kind,
and free.     *     *     The honor of their tribe and the
welfare of their nation is the first and most predominant
emotion of their hearts; and from hence proceed in a great
measure all their virtues and their vices.      *     *     *
No selfish views ever influence their advice or obstruct
their consultations.    *     *    They are at once guided
by passions and appetites, which they hold in common with
the fiercest beasts that inhabit their woods, and are possessed of virtues which do honor to human nature."
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
The Indians are naturally taciturn, but fond of set
speeches. Their oratory is of no mean order, and is distinguished for a pithiness, a quaintness, and occasionally a
vein of dry sarcasm, which have never been surpassed.
We have specimens of some of their orations, upon great
occasions, which are models of stirring eloquence, adorned
with metaphors and similes which breathe the true spirit
of poetry.
The most pleasing traits in the character of these strange
people are their reverence for age, their affection for their
children, their high notions of honor, and their keen sense
of justice. The great stigma upon the whole race is their
deliberate and systematic cruelty in the treatment of captives. It is hard to account for this, but it really appears,
upon investigation, to be rather a national custom, gradually, reaching a climax, than to have arisen from any innate
love of inflicting pain. It is perfectly certain that, if the
children of the most enlightened nation on earth should be
brought up in occasional familiarity with scenes like those
witnessed at the execution of a prisoner by the American
savages, they would experience no horror at the sight.
We need not seek farther than the history of religious and
political persecutions in Europe, or the cruelties practised
on reputed witches in our own country, to satisfy us that
the character of the Indians will suffer little by comparison
with that of their contemporaries of our own race.
Among some of those nations which included an extensive confederacy, where a system of government had
become settled by usage, and the authority of the chief
had been strengthened by long submission to him and his
predecessors, an arbitrary monarchy seems to have prevailed; but among the smaller tribes, the authority of the
chief was rather advisory than absolute. There was generally a king who held hereditary office, and exercised
the powers of a civil governor by virtue of his descent,
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS..
t ile to lead the warriors in battle, the'bravest, most
',. lobted, and sagacious of the tribe was elected.  These
co  chief offices were  not unfrequently united  in the
,.:rme person, when the lawful sachem, from  a spirit of
n aulation, or from natural advantages, showed himself
orthy of the position.
All matters of national interest were discussed at a sol   nan council, consisting of the principal men of the tribe,
... d at which great decorum and formality were observed.
_ s the debate proceeded, the whole conclave, whenever a
:,mark from the orator speaking excited their approbation,
ould give expression to their approval by  a guttural
jaculation.
A natural instinct of retributive justice ordained that
-he crime of murder should be punished by the hand of
the deceased person's nearest relative.   An interesting
incident, connected with this custom, is told in a notice of
the public life of the Hon. Pierre A. Rost, of Louisiana,
given in the United States Law Magazine, for March, 1852.
He is here said to have been the first to suggest the pro  priety of interference in these matters on the part of the
State Courts.   In a drunken fray, an Indian had been
accidentally killed.  "The relatives of the deceased were
absent at the time; but they soon heard of his death, and
came from the Indian territory to exact blood for blood
from the homicide.  He was advised to flee, but would
not, and, in blind submission to the law of the red man,
agreed to deliver himself on a certain day to be shot.
The Court was then sitting, and Mr. Rost proposed to the
presiding judge to prevent the horrid sacrifice, by giving
the victim a fair trial by jury, many members of which
were known and respected by the relatives of the deceased,
and impressing upon the latter the necessity of abiding
by the verdict, whatever it might be." This was done,
and every thing was conducted with due form and solem
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nity.   The Indian witnesses gave the most satisfactory
answers when questioned as to their ideas of the obli gation of an oath, and, after a full hearing, the defendant
was acquitted. The decision was translated to the com plainants, and they were told that to kill the prisoner
would now be murder, and would subject them to tlw
penalties of that crime.
"Mr. Rost then rose, and stated to the Court that the
prosecutors had left their hunting-ground to come and
avenge the death of their relative, as it was their duty to
do; that justice had been done to the accused, but that
was not sufficient.  Justice must also be done to the other
side; they must be indemnified for the inconvenience they
had been put to, and the loss they had sustained; and, as
the coffers of the treasury would not unlock at the bidding
of his honor, he moved that the bar, jury, and by-standers,
contribute a sufficient amount to satisfy them.   This was
done as soon as proposed, and the prosecutors declared
themselves satisfied."
The institution of marriage among the American Indians
is by no means so restrictive a system as that adopted by
enlightened nations. It is for the most part dissoluble at
the pleasure of the parties, and polygamy is extensively
practised. As with other barbarous nations, the woman
is compelled to undergo the drudgery of daily labor,
while her lord and master lounges indolently about the
village, except at times when his energies are called forth
for hunting or war. When once engaged in these pursuits, his fixedness of purpose, and the readiness with
which he will undergo the extremes of toil, exposure,
hunger, and privation, is marvellous.
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
CHAPTER II.
RELIGION OF THE INDIANS.-THEIR WEAPONS, AND BUYTEM OF WAR       FARE.-THEIR LODGINGS, DRESS, ORNAM,  ETC.
"Yet simple nature to,his hope has given,
Behind the cloud-topped hill, an humbler heaven;
Some safer world, in depths of wood embraced,
Some happier island in the watery waste." -POPE.
THE  Indians, before receiving instruction from Europeans, generally believed in the existence of a Supreme
Deity, embodying a principle of universal benevolence,
and that to him their gratitude was due for all natural
benefits.
On the other hand, they stood in fear of a spirit of evil,
whose influence upon human affairs they considered as
being more direct and familiar. To this being, known
among many tribes as Hobamocko, much more assiduous
devotion was paid than to the Great Spirit, it being far
more essential in their view to deprecate the wrath of a
terrible enemy, than to seek the favor of one already perfectly well disposed towards his creatures. Besides these
two superior deities, a sort of fanciful mythology, not
unlike that of many ancient Eastern nations, invested every
notable object with its tutelary divinity, and bestowed on
each individual his guardian spirit.
A general idea that the good would be rewarded, and
the bad punished, was entertained. Far away to the warm
South-west, a pleasant land was fabled, in which the hunter, after death, should pursue his favorite employment, in
the midst of abundance, and a stranger for ever to want or
fear;
"Where everlasting Autumn lies
On yellow woods and sunny skies."
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Their heaven was as far removed from the sensual para dise of the Mahometans, as from the pure abstractions of
an enlightened religion. Ease, comfort, and a sufficiency
for the natural wants, seemed all-sufficient to these simple
children of nature, to render an eternity delightful.
The description handed down to us of the Indian powwows or conjurers, and their medicine-men, derive an
additional piquancy and interest from the fact, that those
who detail them were generally as superstitious as the
poor natives themselves. We might cite pages in which
the necromantic performances of the red men are spoken
of with all the pious horror that would naturally be excited
by what were considered the direct operations of the devil,
as displayed in the works of his children. Winslow, taking occasion to explain the meaning of the word "Paniese,"
often applied to notable warriors in New England, says,
"The Panieses are men of great courage and wisdom, and
to these also the devil appeareth more familiarly than to
others, and, as we conceive, maketh covenant with them
to preserve them  from death by wounds with  arrows,
knives, hatchets, &c."
The works of the learned divine, Cotton Mather, are
filled with similar extravagances.
These powwows, says Gookin, "are partly wizards and
witches, holding familiarity with Satan, that evil one; and
partly are physicians, and make use, at least in show, of
herbs and roots for curing the sick and diseased. These
are sent for by the sick and wounded; and by their diabolical spells, mutterings, exorcisms, they seem to do wonders. They use extraordinary strange motions of their
bodies, insomuch that they sweat until they foam; and
thus they continue for some hours together, stroking and
hovering over the sick. -These powwows are reputed,
and I conceive justly, to hold familiarity with the devil."
Wherever the Indians have enjoyed free intercourse
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
with the whites, they have been no less eager to adopt
than apt to acquire the use of their more efficacious
weapons. It is of the primitive instruments for offence
or defence that we shall now speak. Scattered over the
whole country, even at the present day, small triangular
bits of wrought flint, quartz, or other stone are turned up
by the plough, or seen lying on the surface of the ground.
These arrow-heads, with occasionally one of a larger size,
which might have served for a lance, a stone tomahawk,
a rude pestle, or the fragment of a bowl of the same material, constitute almost the only marks now visible, in the
thickly settled Eastern states, of the race that formerly
inhabited them. The opening of a tomb sometimes brings
to light other relics, and various specimens of native art
have been preserved among us from generation to generation, as curious relics of antiquity; but until we arrive
at the Western tumuli, (commencing at the state of New
York) we find but slight impressions upon soil at the
hands of the red men, and the few and simple articles to
which we have alluded, constitute the most important productions of their skill, except those formed from a perish
able material.
How the arrow and lance heads could have been attached
with any degree of firmness to the wood, seems almost
incomprehensible. Captain Smith describes a species of
glue which assisted in accomplishing this object, but the
shank or portion of the stone that entered the wood is in
some of the specimens so short and ill defined, that it
seems impossible that it should have been held firm in its
place by such means. The arrow-heads were chipped into
shape, presenting something the same surface as a gunflint, while the tomahawks and pestles, being of a less intractable material, were ground smooth, and some of them
were highly polished. A handle was commonly affixed
to the "tom-hog" or tomahawk by inserting it in a split
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
sapling, and waiting for the wood to grow firmly around
it; after which, it was cut off at the requisite length.
The Indian bow was shorter than that formerly used in
England, and was so stiff as to require great strength or
skill to bend it. It became a much more effective weapon
after the introduction of steel or iron arrow-heads, which
quickly superseded those of stone.   Clubs, sometimes
armed with flints, with the bow and tomahawk, constitute
the principal weapon of the race. Daggers of flint or
bone, and shields of buffalo hide, were in use among some
of the Western tribes.
Divided into innumerable petty nations, nearly the whole
Indian population lived in a state of insecurity, from the
constant hostility which prevailed between different tribes.
So strong a clannish spirit as they all exhibited has seldom
been noticed in any country, and the bitterest hatred was
inherited bv every individual towards the members of an
unfiriendly tribe. War, as in most nations, whether barbarous or enlightened, was ever esteemed the most honorable employment. The manner in which hostilities were
conducted will appear by a detail of some of the more
noted Indian wars, as given in the ensuing chapters of this
work. The whole was a system of stratagem and surprise;
a pitched battle in an open field was almost unknown, and
greater honor was ascribed to the chief who, by a night
attack, destroyed  his enemies  at a disadvantage,  and
brought away their scalps in triumph, without loss to his
own people, than to deeds involving the greatest personal
exposure.   The remorseless cruelty with which women
and children were destroyed in the heat of conflict, has
furnished a theme for many a tale of horror.
Previous to a declaration of war against another tribe,
the chief men and councillors of the nation were in the
habit of holding solemn consultations, accompanied by
numerous fantastic ceremonies. When fully resolved upon
34
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
hostilities, the first step was to secure the assistance of as
many of the neighboring tribes as possible, for which purpose ambassadors were sent, to set forth the advantages
of the union, and to cement a treaty by exchange of wampum. When all was ready, a hatchet or other weapon,
painted red, was sent as an intimation to the enemy of
what was in store. We are told that the reception of this
ominous token frequently excited such-rage in the miinds
of those to whom it was sent, "that in the first transports
of their fury, a small party of them would issue forth, without waiting for permission fiom the elder chiefs, and, slaying the first of the offending nation they met, cut open the
body, and stick a hatchet, of the same kind as that they
had just received, into the heart of their slaughtered foe."
When, weary with the war, either party desired to terminate hostilities, the message was sent under the protective influence of the calumet, or pipe of peace, which, like
a flag of truce among other nations, every where secured
the person of those who bore it. This pipe, so widely
celebrated, and of such universal use, was most elaborately
carved and bedecked. Each nation had its own peculiar
style of ornament for this all-important symbol, which
was known to all the neighboring tribes. A solemn and
ceremonious smoking of the calumet, formed the token of
ratification to every treaty. When used at the conclusion
of a peace, the painted hatchet was buried in the ground,
and belts of wampum, so figured and arranged as to commemorate the essential articles of the pacific agreement,
were presented, to be kept as a perpetual memorial.
The treatment of captives exhibited the opposite extremes of cruelty and kindness. Greatly to the credit of
the race, it was observed that, in most instances, white
women who fell into their hands met with no outrage or
indignity. They were generally kindly treated, and every
respect was paid to their feelings.  The men taken prison
35 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
ers of war, were either adopted to supply the place of those
who had fallen in battle, - in which case they were to
undertake all the responsibilities, and were entitled to all
the privileges of the one in whose place they stood, - or
they were solemnly devoted to death, by the most refined
and cruel torments that diabolical ingenuity could devise.
On such occasions, all his native powers of stoical endurance were called forth on the part of the doomed warrior.
When told what was the fate before him, he would briefly
express his satisfaction; and when led to the stake, and
subjected to every torture, by fire and mutilation, he would
maintain a proud composure, recounting his exploits, and
the injuries which he had inflicted upon his tormentors
in former battles, taunting them with their unskilfulness in
the art, and describing the superior manner in which he
and his friends had tortured their relatives. Not unfrequently the rage of the surrounding company would be so
excited by these expressions of contempt, and by their inability to break the warrior's spirit, that some of them
would rush upon him, and despatch him at once by a blow
of the tomahawk.
The habitations and clothing of the Indians varied
greatly with the temperature of the climate. In the warm
regions of the South, a slight covering proved sufficient,
while to resist~the severity of a New England winter very
efficient precautions were taken.   The usual manner  of
building their wigwams, was by fixing a row of poles
firmly in the ground, in the form of a circle, and then
bending and confining the tops together in the centre. A
hole was left for the smoke of the fire to escape, at the
top of the cabin; every other part being warmly and
closely covered with matting. A tight screen hung over
36 
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
the doorway, which was raised when any one entered, and
then allowed to fall into its place.
A species of matting was prepared by peeling the bark
from trees, and subjecting it, packed in layers, to a heavy
pressure. With this material, or with mats woven from
rushes, &c., the walls of the huts were so closely thatched,
as to effectually resist wind and weather.
Some of these wigwams were of great size, being from
fifty to a hundred feet in length, but the generality were
of dimensions suitable to a single family. Their bedding
consisted of mattresses disposed in bunks attached to the
walls, or upon low movable couches. Bear and deer skins
furnished additional covering. Their other furniture and
household utensils were simple in the extreme. Clay or
earthen pots, wooden platters, bowls and spoons, and pails
ingeniously fashioned of birch bark, served their purpose
for cookery and the table. They were skilled in basketmaking.
In many of their towns and villages, the wigwams were
set in orderly rows, with an open space or court near the
centre; while the whole was surrounded by a strong palisade, having but one or two narrow entrances. For spirited descriptions and sketches of the modern Indian towns
of the extreme West, the reader is referred to the valuable
works of Mr. George Catlin. In many respects it will be
perceived that old customs are still observed.
The clothing of the Indians consisted mostly of skins,
dressed with no little skill. Leggins of deer skins, with a
hand's breath of the material hanging loose at the side
seam, and often highly ornamented with fringe and embroidery; moccasins of buck, elk, or buffalo skin; and a
garment of various fashion, from a simple cincture about
the loins, to a warm and ornamental mantle or coat, completed the equipment of the men.
Very rarely, even in our own times, do we find Indians
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who are willing to submit to the restraining and inconvenient dress of the whites. They have always4been accustomed to leave the thigh bare, and about the neck they
can endure none of the clumsy and disagreeable bandages
in such universal use among civilized nations.  "Those
who wear shirts," says Carver, "never make them fast,
either at the wrist or collar; this would be a most insufferable confinement to them."
The women wore a short frock, reaching to the knees;
their covering for the legs and feet were similar to that
worn by the men. In some portions of the country, very
beautiful specimens of ornamental mantles, covered with
neatly-arranged feathers, were seen and described by early
writers. Colored porcupine quills were in general use,
both for stitching and ornamenting the clothing and other
equipments of the Indian.
A fondness for gay colors and gaudy ornaments has
ever been conspicuous in the whole race. From pocone
and other roots, a brilliant red paint or dye was prepared,
with which, and with other pigments - as charcoal, earths,
and extracts from the barks of certain trees- they painted
their bodies, in different styles, either to make a terrible
impression on their enemies, or simply to bedeck themselves in a becoming manner in the eyes of their friends.
The usual savage custom of wearing pendants at the ears
was common. The cartilage was fri-equently stretched and
enlarged by weights, and by winding it with brass wire,
until it nearly reached the shoulder. Tattooing was practised by some nations, but not so systematically, or to so
great an extent as has been observed among the savages of
warmer climates, where little clothing is worn.
One  of the most noted species of ornament, which
answered all the purpose of a circulating medium among
the Eastern Indians, was wampum. This consisted of
small circular bits of sea-shell, smoothly ground and pol
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GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
ished, with a hole drilled through the centre of each, by
which it might be strung, or attached ornamentally to the
belt or other parts of the dress.  The "qua-hog" or round
clam furnished the principal material for this coin, the
variegated purple portions of the shell being much the
most valuable. The great labor in preparing it was the
boring, which was effected by a sharp flint.  When we
consider the slow nature of such a process, we can scarce
credit the accounts given of the immense quantities of
wampum that were procured by the white colonists, while
it retained its value, in exchange for European commodities, or which were exacted as tribute, in atonement for
national offences.
" The wompompeague," says Gookin, "is made principally by the Block Islanders and Long Island Indians.
Upon the sandy flats and shores of those coasts the wilk
shells are found. With this wompompeague they pay
tribute, redeem captives, satisfy for murders and other
wrongs, purchase peace with their potent neighbors, as
occasion requires; in a word, it answers all occasions with
them, as gold and silver doth with us. They delight much
in having and using knives, combs, scissors, hatchets, hoes,
guns, needles, awls, looking-glasses, and such like necessaries which they purchase of the English and Dutch with
their peague, and then sell them their peltry for their
wompeague."
The principal articles of food used by the aborigines of
the present United States, were the products of the chase,
fish, beans, some species of squashes and pumpkins, and
maize or Indian corn. Wild rice, growing in rich, wet
land in the interior of the country, furnished a wholesome
and easily gathered supply of farinaceous food to the tribes
of the temperate portion of the United States. Shell fish
were a very important addition to the resources of those
who dwelt near the sea-coast, and in the interior, various
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
species of wild roots, and certain nutritious bark supplied
the failure of the cultivated crop, and furnished the means
to eke out a subsistence when the hunt was unsuccessful
or the last year's stores had been consumed before the season of harvest.
To effect a clearing, and to secure a crop with such rude
implements of stone as they possessed, appears to us almost
an impracticable undertaking; but we are assured, by early
writers, that they obtained as large a yield firom a given
spot of ground as can be produced by the assistance of
all modern conveniences and contrivances. Two dishes,
greatly in vogue among the Indians, have maintained their
popularity among their European successors. Green corn,
the ripening of which was celebrated by a national dance,
is sought as eagerly as when it supplied a grateful refreshment to the red men, emaciated, as Smith describes them,
by the spring diet of fish and roots. A preparation, denominated "Succotash," consisting of maize, boiled with
beans, and flavored with fat bear's meat, or fish, still remains (with the substitution of pork for wild meats) a
favorite dish in New England.   Carver says that, as prepared by the natives, it was "beyond comparison delicious."
It is singular that the use of milk should have been
entirely unknown before the advent of the whites, although
there were various animals in the country from which it
might have been procured. This fact has been adduced
as a strong argument against the hypothesis, that immigrants from the nomadic tribes of Tartary have mingled
with the red race in comparatively modern times. If the
ferocity or wildness of the buffalo, deer, or elk, had at first
seemed to render their domestication impracticable, yet it
is not probable that so important an article of subsistence
would have been not only disused, but entirely forgotten,
until many generations had passed away.
With the foregoing brief sketch of some of the more
40 
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
marked Indian traits and peculiarities, we will dismiss this
portion of our subject; and, dealing no more in generalities, proceed to take up the history of various tribes and
nations, somewhat in the order of the dates of their first
intercourse with Europeans. We need make no apology
for the omission of many minor clans, or for avoiding that
particularity, in the delineation of private character, which
belongs rather to biography than to general history.
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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
CHAPTER I.
UNITED STATES TERRITORY, ETC.
"But what are These, still standing in the midst?
The Earth has rocked beneath; the Thunder-stone
Passed through and through, and left its traces there.
Yet still they stand as by some Unknown Charter!
0, they are Nature's own! and, as allied
To the vast Mountains and the eternal Sea,
They want no written history; theirs a voice
Forever speaking to the heart of Man! "   ROGERS.
IN the absence of any written record of those numerous
races which formerly peopled this hemisphere, information
must be sought in their monuments, and in the disinterred
relics of their ancient manner of life. These, considering
the almost unbroken wilderness which presented itself
to the first white adventurers, are surprisingly numerous.
They indicate the former existence of populous nations,
excelling in many of the arts of civilization, and capable,
by their numbers and combination, of executing the most
gigantic works for religion, public defence, and commemoration of the dead.  Such relics, though, for the most part,
not immediately pertaining to the history of the Indian
tribes, have supported the conjectures advanced by Humboldt and other eminent cosmographers, that these races are
but the dwindled and degraded remains of once flourishing
and populous nations. The retrograde process to which
certain forms of incomplete civilization appear doomed, has
(42)
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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
perhaps been most strikingly exemplifiea in the difference
to be discovered between the feeble and scattered tribes
of the red race, and those powerful and populous communities who occupied the soil before them.
The relics of the former people, usually discovered on
or slightly beneath the surface of the ground, are of a rude
and simple character, differing little from the specimens
common among their descendants of the present day. The
flint arrow-head, chipped painfully into shape - the stone
tomahawk, knife, and chisel- the pipe, the rude pottery
and savag,e ornaments, are their only relics; and these
differ but little from the same articles still fabricated by
their successors.
Except among the Esquimaux, who occasionally use
stone, and who avail themselves of the arch and dome in
the construction of their snow huts, nothing like regular
architecture can be assigned to the late or modern tribes
occupying this continent northward of Mexico.   The  Indian tumuli, or mounds of burial, are generally small and
of simple construction.  It has, however, been rationally
supposed that the force of religious custom, surviving art
and civilization, has preserved to the red tribes this characteristic method of their forefathers; and that the rude
barrows, which they still erect, are but the puny and
dwindled descendants of those mighty mounds and terraced pyramids which still rear their heads from the isthmus to'the lakes, and from the shores of Florida to the
Mexican Cordilleras.
The origin of these and of other unquestionably ancient
remains, is to the antiquarian a question of the most lively
and perplexing interest. Here, in unknown ages and for
unknown periods, have existed wealth, power, and civilization; yet the remains by which these are indicated seem
to furmnish but a slight clew to the epoch and history of
their long-vanished constructors.  Within the mounds and,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
mural embankments scattered through a large portion of
this country, are found the remains of high mechanical
and scientific art.  Pottery, the most  fragile of man's
works, yet almost indestructible by time, still remains in
large quantities and in good preservation. In the composition and coloring of these articles, much chemical skill
is evinced; while in many cases, their grace of form and
perfection of finish rival the remains of Grecian or Etruscan art. Some of these ancient vessels are of immense
size; one, disinterred from a Western mound being eighteen feet in length by six in breadth. Glass beads of rare
and elaborate construction have been found; stone ornaments, skilfully wrought, and brick, much resembling that
in modern use, have been often discovered.
Metallic remains are frequent. Copper, used both for
weapons and for ornament, has often been found, and occasionally specimens, plated with silver, have been disinterred.
At an ancient mound in Marietta, a silver cup finely gilt
on the inside, was exposed to view by the washing of a
stream. It has been often questioned whether the use of
iron was known to these aboriginal races; but except the
occasional presence of rust in the excavations, little has
been ascertained with certainty -the perishable nature of
that metal peculiarly exposing it to the destroying influence of time and dampness.
Inscriptions upon rocks, mostly of a hieroglyphic characted, are numerous; and on the walls of several caverns
in the west, some extraordinary specimens may be seen.
In the same gloomy receptacles have been found numbers
of a species of mummy, most carefully prepared, and beautifully covered with colored feathers, symmetrically arranged. Stone coffins and burial urns of great beauty have
also been disinhumed from the Western mounds.
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MOUNDS AND FORTIFICATIONS.
"*    4      *    *    Are they here
The dead of other days?P - And did the dust
Of these fair solitudes once stir with life,
And burn with passion P - Let the mighty mounds
That overlook the rivers, or that rise
In the dim forest, crowded with old oaks,
Answer. A race that long has passed away
Built them; a disciplined and populous race
Heaped, with long toil, the earth, while yet the Greek
Was hewing the Pentelicus to forms
Of symmetry, and rearing on its rock
The glittering Parthenon. These ample fields
Nourished their harvests; here their herds were fed,
When haply by their stalls the bison lowed,
And bowed his maned shoulder to the yoke." - BRYAN.
THE mural remains, in the United States alone, are of
almost incredible number, and of most imposing magnitude. It has been asserted by an accurate western antiquarian   " I should not exaggerate if I were to say that more
than five thousand might be found, some of them enclosing
more than a hundred acres." The mounds and tumuli,
he remarks, are far more numerous. Professor Rafinesque
ascertained the existence of more than five hundred ancient
monuments in Kentucky alone, and fourteen hundred in
other states, most of which he had personally examined.
These remains appear most numerous in the vicinity of the
Mississippi and its tributaries, and near the great lakes and
the rivers which flow into them.  A striking proof of their
immense antiquity is to be found in the fact that the latter
stand upon the ancient margin of the lakes, from which,
in some immemorial age, their waters are known to have
receded.
It is remarkable that these peculiar works of antiquity
touch the ocean only in Florida at the southern extremity
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
of the Atlantic coast; and their greater number and magnitude in the south and west seem to fortify the supposition that their founders came originally from Mexico, and
were, perhaps, a people identical with the builders of Cholula and Teotihuacan.
The extent of some of these works is extraordinary. In
New York, (where at least a hundred of them have been
surveyed) in the county of Onondaga, formerly existed the
remains of a fortification enclosing more than five hundred
acres. Three circular forts, disposed as a triangle, and
situated about eight miles distant firom each other, served
as its outworks. In many of these fortified places, considerable military skill is evinced;  angles, bastions, and
curtains, being frequently traceable.  "Though much defaced by time," says a traveller, of the intrenchments near
Lake Pepin, "every angle was distinguishable, and appeared as regular, and fashioned with as much military
skill, as if planned by Vauban himself."
Some of the most remarkable of these works have been
discovered in Georgia. On the banks of the Little River,
near Wrightsborough, are found the remnants of "a stupendous conical pyramid, vast tetragon terraces, and a
large sunken or excavated area of a cubical form, encompassed with banks of earth, and also the remains of an
extensive town." Other and similar structures occur in
the same region. On the Savannah, among other extensive
remains, is a conical mound, truncated, fifty feet in height,
and eight hundred in circumference at its base. In other
portions of the same region are found excavations, and vast
quadrangular terraces. Florida abounds in vestiges of a
similar nature.
At the west, these remains assume a much more permanent and imposing character. On a branch of the Muskingum river, in Ohio, a series of intrenchments and mounds,
two miles in length, and of great solidity of structure, is
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found to exist. In Licking county, a most extensive range
of fortifications, embracing or protecting an extent of several miles, has been traced.
At Circleville, in the same state, were found two extensive earthen enclosures, one an exact circle, and the other
a correct square, corresponding precisely to the cardinal
points of the compass; and a mound ninety feet in height.
In most of these and other similar ruins, stone was used,
though to a limited extent. Parallel walls, communicating
with the water, sometimes at a distance of several miles,
are features common to many of these structures. Farther
west, the extensive use of brick in constructing similar
edifices has been ascertained; and an arched sewer, constructed of stone, indicates a knowledge of architecture far
superior to that possessed by most semi-civilized nations.
In Missouri, and other regions of the west, the remains
of stone buildings have been frequently discovered -in
one instance, those of a town, regularly laid out in streets
and squares. Upon the Missouri and Arkansas rivers,
some of the most extensive fortified works are found. In
one of these, on the latter river, are two immense mounds,
truncated, each eighty feet high, and one thousand in circumference at the base.
These gigantic mounds are among the most interesting
and thickly scattered relics of the vanished races. Many
of them are tumuli, or sepulchres of the dead, others were
connected with the defensive fortifications, and others, of
the grandest and most imposing aspect, were probably huge
altars of idolatrous worship.* In general, these ancient
mounds  may be distinguished from those of the Indians
by their greater size, and still more certainly by the nature
of their contents. Some of these latter have already been
described. Besides utensils of lead, silver, and copper, the
* The usual material employed in their construction is earth, though
occasionally they have been built of stone.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
oxydized remains of iron have been found. Mica mirrors
of various sizes, with a variety of marine shells, are among
the deposits.
The practice of burning the dead appears to have been
common. Masses of ashes and charcoal are often found
mixed with incinerated bones. In Fairfield county, Ohio,
a huge earthen ware caldron, placed upon a furnace, was
disinterred. It was eighteen feet long by six broad; and
contained the skeletons of twelve persons, besides various
articles, which had been buried with them. They were in
a large mound, fifteen feet below the surface of the earth.
In the great mound at Circleville, an immense number
of skeletons were found, all laid with their heads toward
the centre.
In Illinois, nearly opposite St. Louis, within the circuit
of a few miles, are more than an hundred and fifty mounds,
some of extraordinary size. One of them, formerly occupied by monks of the Order of La Trappe, is ninety feet
in height and nearly half a mile in circumference. It is
a remarkable circumstance that the soil of which these
huge cones are constructed, must occasionally have been
brought from a great distance.*   The occasional existence of terraces or stages of ascent would seem to indicate a similarity of origin with the pyramidal structures
of Mexico.
Indeed, it is difficult to suppose that the authors of these
extensive remains could have had other than a south-western origin. All are ancient in the extreme; yet probably
they were erected by successive races, and the most venerable antiquity seems attached to the forest-covered mounds
of the West.
Mr. Bradford, in his interesting Researches into the Origin of the Red Race, (from which many of the foregoing
* Many others of great size, varying somewhat in form, yet all eincing
a striking similarity in construction, might be described.
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AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES.
facts have been drawn,) adopts with safety the following
conclusions in regard to the ancient occupants of our soil.
1. "That they were all of the same origin, branches of
the same race, and possessed of similar customs and institutions.
2. "That they were populous, and occupied a great
extent of territory.
3. "That they had arrived at a considerable degree of
civilization, were associated in large communities, and lived
in extensive cities.
4. "That they possessed the use of many of the metals;
such as lead, copper, gold, and silver, and probably the
art of working in them.
5. "That they sculptured, in stone, and sometimes used
that material in the construction of their edifices.
6. "That they had the knowledge of the arch of receding steps; of the art of pottery,   producing urns and utensils formed with taste, and constructed upon the principles
of chemical composition; and of the art of brick-making.
7. "That they worked the salt springs, and manufactured
that substance.
8. "That they were an agricultural people, living under
the influence and protection of regular forms of government.
9. "That they possessed a decided system of religion,
and a mythology connected with astronomy, which, with
its sister science, geometry, was in the hands of the
priesthood.
10. "That they were skilled in the art of fortification.
11. "That the epoch of their original settlement in the
United States is of great antiquity; and,
Lastly, "That the only indications of their origin, to be
gathered from the locality of their ruined monuments,
point towards Mexico."
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
CHAPTER II.
ANTIQUITIES OF MEXICO, ETC.
"  They stand between the mountains and the sea;
Awful memorials, but of whom we know not!
- Time was they stood along the crowded street,
Temples of Gods! "- ROGERS.
THE South-western regions of North America present a
most extensive and interesting field for antiquarian research.
The long-continued existence of powerful, civilized, and
populous races is fully proved by the occurrence of almost
innumerable ruins and national relics. Even in the sixteenth century, the Spanish invaders found these regions
in the possession of a highly prosperous and partially
civilized people. Government and social institutions were
upon that firm and well-defined basis which betokened
long continuance and strong national sentiment.   In many
of the arts and sciences, the subjugated races were equal,
and  in  others superior,  to their Christian conquerors.
Their public edifices and internal improvements were on
as high a scale, and of as scientific a character, as those
of most European nations of the day.
The fanatical zeal of Cortez and his successors destroyed
invaluable records of their history and nationality; and
many of their most splendid edifices fell before the ravages
of war and bigotry; yet numerous structures still exist,
though in ruins, attesting the art and industry of their
founders. Pyramids, in great numbers, still rear their
terraced and truncated surfaces through the land. In the
first fury of the conquest, the great Teocalli, or Temple
of the city of Mexico, was levelled to the ground, and
we can only learn by the description of its destroyers, with
what pomp and ceremony the Mexicans celebrated on its
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summit the rites of their sanguinary worship. The colossal figures of the sun and moon, covered with plates of
gold, the hideous stone of sacrifice, and the terrible sound
of the great war-drum, are mingled with strange fascination of description in the pages of the early chroniclers.
In the city of Tezcuco, which is said to have contained
a hundred and forty thousand houses, are the remains of
a great pyramid, built of large masses of basalt, finely
polished and curiously sculptured in hieroglyphics. Other
similar edifices in the neighborhood are composed of
brick. The enormous structure of Cholula, covering a
surface twice larger than the great Egyptian pyramid, but
truncated at half its altitude, still, in its ruins, excites the
admiration of travellers.
A still more extraordinary effort of semi-civilized industry is to be found in the celebrated Xochicalco, or "House
of Flowers," situated on the plain of Cuernavaca, more
than a mile above the level of the sea. It appears to be
a natural hill, shaped in a pyramidal form by human labor,
and divided into four terraces. It is between three and
four hundred feet in height, and nearly three miles in circumference.
Eight leagues from the city of Mexico are the two celebrated pyramids of Teotihuacan, sacred, according to tradition, to the deified sun and moon. The larger has a
base nearly seven hundred feet in length, and is a hundred and eighty feet in height. They are faced with stone,
and covered with a durable cement.   These  pyramidal
structures may be estimated by thousands in the Southwestern provinces of this continent.
The ruins of ancient cities, in the same region, are
extremely numerous, and every thing evinces the former
existence of a swarming and industrious population. In
Tezcuco and its vicinity are the remains of very magnificent buildings and aqueducts. At Mitlan, in the district
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
of Zapoteca, occur specimens of architecture of the most
imposing character. Six porphyry columns, each nineteen feet in height, and of a single stone, decorated the
interior of the principal building. Elaborate Mosaic work
and illustrative paintings abound, strongly resembling
some of the classical antiquities.
The ruins of Palenque, in Chiapa, are among the most
extensive and remarkable. Here formerly stood a great
city, the remains of which can be traced, it is said, over a
space six or seven leagues in circumference. Much elaborate sculpture, exhibiting curious historical reliefs, is discovered in the forsaken apartments of the ancient palaces
and temples. These represent human sacrifices, dances,
devotion, and other national customs. The richly-carved
figure of a cross excites surprise and speculation - the
same emblem having been discovered elsewhere, as well
as in Northern America.
Many surprising remains, both of erection and excavation, are to be found near Villa Nueva, in the province of
Zacatecas. A rocky mountain has been cut into terraces,
and extensive ruins of pyramids, causeways, quadrangular
enclosures, and massive walls are still standing.
At Copan, in Honduras, among many other remarkable
works, are found numerous stone obelisks, of little height,
covered with hieroglyphical representations. The relics
of a fantastic idolatry are frequent.   "Monstrous figures
are found amongst the ruins; one represents the colossal
head of an alligator, having in its jaws a figure with a
human face, but the paws of an animal; another monster
has the appearance of a gigantic toad in an erect posture,
with human arms and tiger's claws." At the time of the
Spanish - conquest, Copan was still a large and populous
city. It is now utterly deserted.
The extensive ruins of Uxmal or Itzlan, in Yucatan,
have been, ever since the memory of man, overgrown with
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an ancient forest. At this place is a large court, paved
entirely with the figures of tortoises, beautifully carved
in relief. This curious pavement consists of more than
forty-three thousand of these reptiles, much worn, though
cut upon very hard stone. A large pyramid and temple
are still standing, containing some elegant statues, and,
it is supposed, the representation of the elephant. Great
mathematical accuracy and adhesion to the cardinal points
distinguish the relics of this city.
Many other extraordinary remains might be cited. The
works of the Mexican nation, such as it was found by the
Spaniards, were of a massive and enduring character.
Extensive walls, designed for a defence against foreign
enemies; large public granaries and baths, with admnirable roads and aqueducts, evinced a degree of power and
enlightenment to which the colored races have seldom
attained.
Sculpture and elaborate carving were favorite occupations of the Mexicans, as well as of their forefathers, or
the races which preceded them. The famous Stone of
Sacrifice, the Calendar of Montezuma, and the hideous
idol Teoyamique, all still preserved, attest the grotesqueness and elaborate fancy of their designs.   The latter
image, as described by a traveller, "is hewn out of one
solid block of basalt, nine feet high. Its outlines give an
idea of a deformed human figure, uniting all that is terrible in the tiger and rattle-snake. Instead of arms, it is
supplied with two large serpents, and its drapery is composed of wreathed snakes, interwoven in the most disgusting manner, and the sides terminating in the wings of a
vulture. Its feet are those of a tiger, and between them
lies the head of another rattle-snake, which seems descending from the body of the idol. For decorations, it has a
large necklace composed of human hearts, hands, and
skulls, and it has evidently been painted originally in
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natural colors." Other figures of the deified rattle-snake
have been discovered.
Great skill existed in the art of pottery, and many vessels of exquisite design and finish have been disinterred.
The hieroglyphical paintings and manuscripts of the
Mexicans were, with few exceptions, destroyed by their
fanatical conquerors.   Some choice specimens, however,
still exist; principally exhibiting the migrations of the
Aztecs, their wars, their religious ceremonies, and the
genealogy of their sovereigns. Almanacs and other calendars of an astronomical nature have been preserved.
The material of the manuscript consists of the skins of
animals, or of a kind of vegetable paper, formed in a manner similar to the Egyptian papyrus.
Of the numerous cities and temples whose remains are
so abundant, many were, doubtless, erected by the Aztec
people, whom Cortez found' so numerous and flourishing,
or by their immediate ancestors. Others were probably
constructed at a remote age, and by a people who had at an
early period migrated to these regions. A, certain resemblance, however, appears to pervade them all. The presence of enormous pyramids and quadrangles, the peculiar
construction of causeways and aqueducts, and the great
similarity in mythological representation, appear to indicate that their founders were originally of a common stock,
and all of certain national prepossessions.
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CHAPTER III.
ANTIQUITIES OF SOUTH AMERICA.
"* *  *   We are but where we were,
Still wandering in a City of the Dead!" - ROGERS.
AT the Spanish discovery, South America, like the
Northern continent, was, in a great portion, peopled by
half-savage tribes, resembling the Indians of our own
country. Some powerful and partially-civilized kingdoms,
however, yet survived, and of these, the empire of the
Peruvian Incas was the first. Under the sway of these
powerful sovereigns was comprehended an extensive district, lying along the Pacific coast for many hundreds of
miles. Other nations, in their vicinity, of whose history
we are ignorant, also possessed a considerable share of
power and independent government.
The antiquities of these regions, so similar to those of
the Northern continent, appear to prove a similarity of
origin in their founders. Very numerous mounds occur,
some of them two hundred feet in height, and containing
relics of the dead. Urns of fine construction, and human
bodies interred in a sitting posture, have been excavated.
Embalming has evidently been extensively practised, and
in many instances the arid nature of the soil, without this
precaution, has preserved the bodies of its ancient inhabitants. Caverns appear to have been frequently adopted
as cemeteries. In one of these, six hundred skeletons
were found, bent double, and regularly arranged in baskets. Stone tombs, of a very massive construction, have
also been disinhumed.
In these mounds and graves are found a great variety
of ancient implements, of gold, copper, and stone. Exquisite carvings in stone, and jewels evincing great skill in
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the lapidary, have been discovered. The idols of gold
and copper are often of singular construction, being formed
of thin plates of metal, hammered into their respective
shapes, without a single seam. Stone mirrors and vases
of marble, weapons, domestic utensils, cotton cloth of fine
texture, and the implements of ancient mining, have also
been frequently brought to light.
The system of ancient agriculture and of artificial irrigation appears to have been extremely ingenious, and well
adapted to the nature of the soil and climate, reminding
us strongly of the Chinese industry in effecting similar
objects. The steepest mountains were laid out in terraces,
and aqueducts of the most solid and durable construction
conveyed water for domestic uses, and the fertilization of
land. In some instances, the pipes of these aqueducts
were of gold -a circumstance which excited the cupidity
of the Spaniards, and contributed to their destruction.
The public roads and causeways laid out by this ancient
people, minay justly compete with the most celebrated works
of the same kind in the old world. Their Cyclopean architecture, and the ingenuity with which the greatest natural difficulties have been overcome, excite the admiration
of travellers and inquirers.  "We were surprised," says
Humboldt, "to find at this place (Assuay), and at heights
which greatly surpass the top of the Peak of Teneriffe, the
magnificent remains of a road constructed by the Incas of
Peru. This causeway, lined with freestone, may be compared to the finest Roman roads I have seen, in Italy,
France, or Spain. It is perfectly straight, and keeps the
same direction for six or eight thousand metres. We observed the continuation of this road near Caxamarca, one
hundred and twenty leagues to the south of Assuay, and
it is believed, in the country, that it led as far as the city
of Cuzco." When complete, it extended from Cuzco to
Quito, a distance of five hundred leagues.
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"One of these great roads passed through the plains
near the sea, and the other Over the mountains in the interior. Augustin de Carate says that for the construction
of the road over the mountains, they were compelled to
cut away rocks, and to fill up chasms, often from ninety to
one hundred and twenty feet deep, and that when it was
first made, it was so plain and level, that a carriage might
easily pass over it; and of the other, which pursued a less
difficult route, that it was forty feet wide, and as it was
carried through valleys, in order to avoid the trouble of
rising and descending, it was constructed upon a high
embankment of earth." *
The ruins of many edifices, all of massive construction,
and all bearing the marks of similarity of origin, are scattered throughout a great expanse of country. In the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, built before the days of the
Incas, the architecture appears to have been of the most
massive character, reminding us of the Cyclopean structures at Baalbec and Mycenw. Immense porches and
doorways, each formed of a single stone, and supportedon masses of similar magnitude, struck the early travellers with astonishment.   In Cuzco, the city of the Incas,
are many remains of a singular character.   The walls are
built of stones of great dimensions, and, though of many
angles, fitted so accurately that the interstices can scarcely
be seen. On a round mountain near Caxamarca, are the'
extensive ruins of a city, built in terraces, and constructed
of such enormous stones, that a single slab often forms the
entire side of an apartment. Above these circular terraces, seven in number, appear the remains of a great fortress or palace. Many cities of a similar construction
have been discovered.  In some instances, pointed or bellshaped roofs, composed of stones Iaid, in cement, have
* Bradford's Origin and History of the Red Race.
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been remarked. Some of the ruins are constructed of
unburnt brick, exceedingly hardened by the sun.
Many sculptures, evincing great skill and delicacy, still
exist. These are the more remarkable when it is considered that the chief instruments of the ancient inhabitants
were, probably, for the most part, composed only of hardened copper. Of this material, their weapons, often of
exquisite manufacture, were composed. Far to the northward, beyond the dominion of the Incas, inscriptions and
figures may be found sculptured on the rocks.  "On the
banks of the Orinoco, and in various parts of Guiana, there
are rude figures traced upon granite and other hard stones,
some of them, like those in the United States, cut at an
immense height upon the face of perpendicular rocks.
They represent the sun and moon, tigers, crocodiles, and
snakes, and occasionally they appear to be hieroglyphical
figures, and regular characters."
The surprising number of these ruins and relics, and the
great space over which they extend, indicate the existence,
for many ages, of a people possessing all the power which
regular government, settled institutions, and national character can give.  "In  examining,"  says  Mr.  Bradford,
"the line of civilization, as indicated at present by these
ancient remains, which is found to commence on the plains
of Varinas, and to extend thence to the ruins of the stone
edifices, which were observed about the middle of the last
century, on the road over the Andes, in the province of
Cujo, in Chili, or to the road described by the Jesuit
Imonsff, or to the ancient aqueducts upon the banks of the
river Maypocho, in south latitude thirty-three degrees,
sixteen minutes, we are surprised to discover a continuous,
unbroken chain of these relics of aboriginal civilization.
Reverting to the epoch of their construction, we are presented with the astonishing spectacle of a great race cultivating the earth, and possessing many of the arts diffused
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at an early period through an immense territory, three
thousand miles in extent. Even up to the time of the
discovery, most of this vast region was occupied by populous tribes, who were dependent upon agriculture for subsistence, were clothed, and in the enjoyment of regular
systems of religion, and their own peculiar forms of government. From conquest, and various causes, some sovereignties had increased more rapidly than others; but
still, whether we are guided by the testimony of the Spanish invaders, or by the internal evidence yet existent in
the ancient ruins, it is impossible not to trace, alike in
their manners, customs, and physical appearance, and in
the general similitude observable in the character of their
monuments, that they were all members of the same family of the human race, and probably of identical origin."
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CHAPTER I.
GENERAL REMARKS.- EXPEDITION OF GRIJALVA. HERNANDO
CORTEZ.
"*       *       *       The Race of Yore;
How are they blotted from the things that be! "- ScoTl.
THE kingdoms of New Spain, as Central America and
the adjoining country were first called, presented a far
different aspect, when first discovered by Europeans, from
that of the vast and inhospitable wilderness at the North
and East. Instead of an unbroken forest, thinly inhabited
by roving savages, here were seen large and well-built
cities, a people of gentler mood and more refined manners,
and an advancement in the useful arts which removed the
inhabitants as far from their rude neighbors, in the scale
of civilization, as they themselves were excelled by the
nations of Europe.
When first discovered and explored by Europeans, Mexico was a kingdom of great extent and power. Montezuma, chronicled as the eleventh, in regular succession, of
the Aztec monarchs, held supreme authority. His dominions extended from near the isthmus of Darien, to the
undefined country of the Ottomies and Chichimecas, rude
nations living in a barbarous state among the mountains
of the North.  His name signified "the surly (or grave)
Prince," a title justified by the solemn and ceremonious
homage which he constantly exacted.
(60)
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HERAN.D O  COR RTEZ,
FROM AN ORIGINAL PORTRAIT BY TITIA..
~~~~~~~,i:) 
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ABORIGINES OF MEXICO.
When the Spaniards first appeared on the coast, the
natural terror excited by such unheard-of conquerors was
infinitely heightened by divers portents and omens, which
the magicians and necromancers of the king construed as
warnings of great and disastrous revolutions. This occasioned that strange, weak, and vacillating policy, which,
as we shall hereafter see, he adopted towards Cortez.
Comets, conflagrations, overflows, monsters, dreams, and
visions, were constantly brought to the notice of the royal
council, and inferences were drawn therefrom as to the
wisest course to be pursued.
The national character, religion and customs of the Mexicans presented stranger anomalies than have exer been
witnessed in any nation on the earth. They entertained
abstract ideas of right and wrong,, with systems of ethics
and social proprieties, which, for truth and purity, compare favorably with the most enlightened doctrines of civilized nations, while, at the same time, the custom of human
sacrifice was carried to a scarcely credible extent, and accompanied by circumstances of cruelty, filthiness, and
cannibalism, more loathsome than ever elsewhere disgraced
the most barbarous of nations.
A vast amount of labor and research has been expended
in efforts to arrive at some satisfactory conclusion as to the
causes which led to the Mexican superiority in the arts of
civilization over the other inhabitants of the New World.
Analogies, so strong as to leave little doubt upon the mind
that they must be more than.coincidences, were found, on
the first discovery of the country, between the traditions,
religious exercises, sculpture, and language of the inhabitants of Central America, and those of various nations in
the Old World. Notwithstanding this, the great distinctive
difference in the bodily conformation of all natives of the
Western Continent, from the people of the East, proves
sufficiently that, previous to the Spanish discoveries, the
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time elapsed since' any direct communication could have
existed between the two, must have been very great. The
obvious antiquity of the architectural remains carries us
back to. a most remote era: some maintain that portions
of these must have been standing for as many centuries as
the great pyramids of Egypt, while others refer them to a
much later origin. The pernicious habit of first adopting
a theory, and then searching for such facts only as tend to
support it, was never more forcibly exemplified than in the
variant hypotheses as to the origin of Mexican civilization.
The valley and country of Anahuac, or Mexico, was
successively peopled, according to tradition and the evidence qf ancient hieroglyphics, by the Toltecs, the Chichimecas, and the Nahuatlacas, of which last-mentioned
people, the Aztecs, who finally obtained the ascendency,
formed the principal tribe. These immigrations were from
some indeterminate region at the north, and appear to have
been the result of a gradual progression southward, as traces
of the peculiar architectural structures of the Mexican nations are to be found stretching throughout the country
between the Rocky Mountains and the sea, as far north as
the Gila and Colorado.
The periods of these several arrivals in Anahuac are set
down as follows. That of the Toltecs, about the middle
of the seventh century, and of the rude Chichimecas, the
year 1070.  The Nahuatlacas commenced their migrations
about 1170, and the Aztecs, separating themselves from the
rest of the nation, founded the ancient city of Mexico in
the year 1325.
The tale of cruelties, oppressions, and wholesale destruction attendant upon the Spanish invasion and conquest, is a
long one, and can be here but briefly epitomized; but enough
will be given to leave, as far as practicable, a just impression of the real condition of these primitive nations, and the
more marked outlines of their history.
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ABORIGINES OF MEXICO.
In the early part of the sixteenth century, the eastern
shore of Mexico and Central America had been explored
by Spanish navigators; and Vasco Nugnez de Balboa, led
by the ordinary attraction-tales of a country rich in gold
and silver- had, in September, 1513, crossed the isthmus
to the great and unknown ocean of the West. The condition and character of the natives was but little noticed
by these early explorers, and no motives of policy or humanity restrained them from treating those they met as caprice
or fanaticism might dictate. Balboa is indeed spoken of
as inclined to more humane courses in his intercourse with
the natives than many of his contemporaries, but even he
showed himself by no means scrupulous in the means by
which he forced his way through the country, and levied
contributions upon the native chiefs.
The mind of the Spanish nation was at last aroused
and inflamed by accounts of the wealth and power of the
great country open to adventure in New Spain, and plans
were laid to undertake some more notable possession in
those regions than had yet resulted from the unsuccessful
and petty attempts at colonization upon the coast.
Diego Valasquez, governor of Cuba, as lieutenant to
Diego Colon, son and successor of the great admiral, sent
an expedition, under command of Juan de Grijalva, to
Yucatan and the adjoining coast, in April of the year 1518.
After revenging former injuries received from the natives
of Yucatan, the party sailed westward, and entered the
river of Tobasco, where some intercourse and petty traffic
was carried on with the Indians. The natives were filled
with wonder at the " make of the ships, and difference of
the men and habits," on their first appearance, and "stood
without motion, as deprived of the use of their hands by
the astonishment under which their eyes had brought
them."
The usual propositions were made by the Spanish com
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mander, of submission to the great and mighty Prince of
the East, whose subject he professed to be; but "they heard
his proposition with the marks of a disagreeable attention,"
and, not unnaturally, made answer that the proposal to
form a peace which should entail servitude upon them was
strange indeed, adding that it would be well to inquire
whether their present king was a ruler whom they loved
before proposing a new one.
Still pursuing a westerly course along the coast, Grijalva gained the first intelligence received by the Spaniards of the Emperor Montezuma.   At a small island
were found the first bloody tokens of the barbarous religious rites of the natives.  In a "house of lime and stone"
were "several idols of a horrible figure, and a more horrible worship paid to them; for, near the steps where they
were placed, were the carcasses of six or seven men,
newly sacrificed, cut to pieces, and their entrails laid
open."
Reaching a low sandy isle, still farther to the westward,
on the day of St. John the Baptist, the Spaniards named
the place San Juan, and from their coupling with this
title a word caught from an Indian seen there, resulted
the name of San Juan de Ulloa, bestowed upon the site
of the present great fortress. No settlement was attempted,
and Grijalva returned to Cuba, carrying with him many
samples of native ingenuity, and of the wealth of the
country, in the shape of rude figures of lizards, birds, and
other trifles, wrought in gold imperfectly refined.
The Cuban governor, Velasquez, determined to pursue
discoveries and conquest at the west, and appointed Hernando Cortez, a Spanish cavalier, resident upon the island,
to command the new expedition. That the reader may
judge what strange contradictions may exist in the character of the same individual,- how generosity and cupidity, mildness and ferocity, cruelty and kindness, may be
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ABORIGINES OF 3MEXICO.
combined, -let him compare the after conduct of this celebrated hero with his character as sketched by the historian.
"Cortez was well made, and of an agreeable countenance; and, besides those common natural endowments,
he was of a temper which rendered him very amiable;
for he always spoke well of the absent, and was pleasant
and  discreet in his conversation.   His generosity was
such that his friends partook of all he had, without being
suffered by him to publish their obligations."
In the words of the poet, he
"       * *           Was one in whom
Adventure, and endurance, and emprise
Exalted the mind's faculties, and strung
The body's sinews. Brave he was in fight,
Courteous in banquet, scornful of repose,
And bountiful, and cruel, and devout."
Hidalgos of family and wealth crowded eagerly to join
the fortunes of the bold and popular leader.  "Nothing
was to be seen or spoken of," says Bernal Diaz, "but
selling lands to purchase arms and horses, quilting coats of
mail, making bread, and salting pork for sea store."
From St. Jago the fleet sailed to Trinidad on the southern
coast, where the force was increased by a considerable
number of men, and thence round Cape Antonio to
Havana.   From  the latter port the flotilla got under
weigh on the 10th of February, 1519. It consisted of a
brigantine and ten other small vessels, whose motley crews
are thus enumerated: "five hundred and eight soldiers,
sixteen horse; and of mechanics, pilots, and mariners,
an hundred and nine more, besides two chaplains, the
licentiate Juan Diaz, and Father Bartholomew De Olmedo,
a regular of the order of our Lady de la Merced." The
missile weapons of the party were muskets, cross-bows,
falconets, and ten small field pieces of brass. The color,
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quality, and. condition of each of the horses is described
with great particularity.
The first land made was the island of Cozumel, off the
coast of Yucatan. One of the vessels reached the island
two days before the rest; and finding the habitations of the
natives abandoned, the Spaniards ranged the country, and
plundered their huts and temple, carrying off divers small
gold images, together with clothes and provisions.
Cortez, on his arrival, strongly reprehended these proceedings, and, liberating three Indians who had been
taken prisoners, sent them to seek out their friends, and
explain to them his friendly intentions. Their confidence
was perfectly restored by this act, and by the restoration
of the stolen property; so that the next day, the chief
came with his people to the camp, and mingled with the
Spaniards on the most friendly terms.
No further violence was offered to them or their property during the stay of the Spaniards, except that these
zealous reformers seized the idols in the temple, and rolling
them down the steps, built an altar, and placed an image
of the Virgin upon it, erecting a wooden crucifix hard by.
The holy father, Juan Diaz, then said Mass, to the great
edification of the wondering natives.
This temple was a well-built edifice of stone, and contained a hideous idol in somewhat of the human form. "All
the idols," says de Solis, "worshipped by these miserable
people, were formed in the same manner; for though they
differed in the make and representation, they were all alike
most abominably ugly; whether it was that these barbarians
had no notion of any other model, or that the devil really
appeared to them in some such shape; so that he who
struck out the most hideous figure, was accounted the best
workman."
Seeing that no prodigy succeeded the destruction of
their gods, the savages were the more ready to pay attention
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to the teachings which were so earnestly impressed upon
them by the strangers, and appeared to hold the symbols
of their worship in some veneration, offering incense before
them, as erstwhile to the idols.
Cortez heard one of the Indians make many attempts
to pronounce the word Castilla, and, his attention being
attracted by the circumstance, he pursued his inquiries
until he ascertained that two Spaniards were living among
the Indians on the main.
He immediately used great diligence to ransom and restore them to liberty, and succeeded in the case of one of
them, named Jeronimo de Aguilar, who occupies an important place in the subsequent details of adventure.   The
other, one Alonzo Guerrero, having married a wife among
the Indians, preferred to remain in his present condition.
He said to his companion, "Brother Aguilar, I am  married, and have three sons, and am a Cacique and captain in
the wars; go you, in God's name; my face is marked, and
my ears bored; what would those Spaniards think of me
if I went among them?"
De Solis says of this man, that his natural affection was
but a pretence "why he would not abandon those deplorable conveniences, which, with him, weighed more than
honor or religion. We do not find that any other Spaniard, in the whole course of these conquests, committed
the like crime; nor was the name of this wretch worthy
to be remembered in this history; but, being found in the
writings of others, it could not be concealed; and his example serves to show us the weakness of nature, and into
what an abyss of misery a man may fall when God has
abandoned him."
Poor Aguilar had been eight years a captive: tattooed,
nearly naked, and browned by sun, he was scarce distinguishable from his Indian companions; and the only Castilian words which he was at first able to recall were " Dios,
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Santa Maria," and "Sevilla."  Still mindful of his old
associations and religion, he bore at his shoulder the tattered fragments of a prayer book.
He belonged to a ship's crew who had been wrecked
on the coast, and was the only survivor of the number,
except Guerrero. The rest had died from disease and
over work, or had been sacrificed to the idols of the country.  Aguilar had been "reserved for a future occasion
by reason of his leanness," and succeeded in escaping to
another tribe and another master.
Cortez sailed with his fleet, from Cozumel, for the river
Tabasco, which was reached on the 13th of March, 1519.
Urging their way against the current, in the boats and
smaller craft, —for the principal vessels were left at anchor
near the mouth, - the whole armament entered the stream.
As they advanced, the Spaniards perceived great bodies
of Indians, in canoes, and on both banks, whose outcries
were interpreted by Aguilar to be expressions of hostility
and defiance. Night came on before any attack was made
on either side.   Next morning, the armament  recommenced its progress, in the form of a crescent: the men,
protected as well as possible by their shields and quilted
mail, were ordered to keep silence, and offer no violence
until ordered. Aguilar, who understood the language of
these Indians, was commissioned to explain the friendly
purposes of his companions, and to warn the natives of
the consequences that would result from their opposition.
The Indians, with signs of great fury and violence, refused
to listen to him, or to grant permission to the Spaniards
to supply themselves with wood and water.
The engagement commenced by a shower of arrows
from the canoes on the river, and an immense multitude
opposed the landing of the troops. Numbers and bravery
could not, however, avail against the European skill and
implements of warfare. Those in the canoes were easily
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driven off, and, notwithstanding the difficulties of a wet
and marshy shore, where thousands of the enemy lay concealed to spring upon them unawares, the Spanish forces
made their way to the town of Tabasco, driving the Indians into the fortress, or dispersing them in the forest.
Tabasco was protected in the ordinary Indian style, by
strong palisades of trees, a narrow and crooked entrance
being left.
Cortez immediately attacked the town, and, by firing
through the palisades, his troops soon drove in the bowmen who were defending them, and, after a time, got complete possession.
The town was obstinately defended, even after the Spaniards had effected an entrance. The enemy retreated behind a second barricade, "fronting" the troops, "valiantly
whistling and shouting'al calachioni,' or'kill the captain."' They were finally overpowered, and fled to the
woods.
CHAPTER II.
GREAT BATTLES WITH THE NATIVES.- CONCILIATORY INTERCOURSE.
-DONNA MARINA.
HITHERTO a blind superstition, by which supernatural
powers were ascribed to the whites, had quelled the vigor
and spirit of the Indians; but an interpreter named Melchorejo, whom Cortez had brought over from Cuba, deserted from the Spaniards during the first night spent in
Tabasco, and urged the natives to another engagement.
He explained the real nature of the mysterious weapons,
whose flash and thunder had created such terror, and disabused the simple savages of the ideas entertained by them
of the invulnerable nature of their foes. They proved in
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the subsequent battles much more dangerous. opponents
than before. The narrator mentions, with no little satisfaction, the fate of this deserter. His new allies, it seems,
"being vanquished a second time, revenged themselves on
the adviser of the war, by making him a miserable sacrifice to their idols."
All was as still, upon the succeeding day, as if the country was abandoned by its inhabitants; but a party of one
hundred men, on a scout, was suddenly surrounded and
attacked by such hordes of the enemy, that they might
have been cut off firom sheer fatigue, but for another company which came to their assistance. As the Spaniards
endeavored to retreat to the camp, the Indians would rush
upon them in full force, "who, immediately upon their
facing about, got out of their reach, retiring. with the same
swiftness that they were attacked; the motions of this
great multitude of barbarians from one side to another,
resembling the rolling of the sea, whose waves are driven
back by the wind."
Two of the Spaniards were killed and eleven wounded
in the fray: of the Indians, eighteen were seen lying dead
on the field, and several prisoners were taken. From these
Cortez learned that tribes from all sides were gathered to
assist those of Tabasco in a general engagement planned
for the next day, and he accordingly made the most diligent preparation to receive them. The horses were brought
on shore, and care was taken to restore their animation,
subdued by confinement on board ship.
As soon as day broke, mass was said, and the little army
was put in motion to advance upon the enemy.   They
were discovered, marshalled on the vast plain of Cintia,
in such numbers that it was impossible to compute them.
They extended so far, says Solis, "that the sight could not
reach to see the end of them." The Indian warriors were
painted and plumed, their arms were bows and arrows,
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slings, darts, clubs armed with sharp flints, and heavy
wooden swords. The bodies of the leaders were protected
by quilted coats of cotton, and they bore shields of tor  toise-shell or wood, mounted, in some instances, with gold.
To the sound of rude drums, and the blast of sea-shells
and large flutes, the vast crowd fell furiously upon the
Spaniards, and although checked by their more efficient
weapons, only retired to a convenient distance for hurling
stones and discharging arrows. The field-pieces mowed
them down by hundreds; but concealing the havoc by rais ing clouds of dust, and closing up their ranks with shouts
of "ala —lala" (the precise sound of the Turkish war-cry,
viz., a constant repetition of the word Allah), they held
their ground with the most determined courage.
The little handfiul of cavalry, which, led by Cortez in
person, had made a detour to avoid a marsh, now fell upon
the Indians from a new quarter, and, riding tlirough and
through the crowded mass of savages, so bewildered and
amazed them that they fled in dismay. No such animal
as the horse had ever before been seen by them. They
took the monsters, says Diaz, for centaurs, supposing the
horse and his rider to be one.
On the field of battle, as the conquerors passed over it,
lay more than eight'hundred dead or desperately wounded.
But two of the Spaniards were killed, although seventy
of their number were wounded at the first rush of the
barbarians.
The victors having rendered thanks "to God and to our
Lady, his blessed Mother," for their success, dressed their
wounds, and those of the invaluable horses, with the fat
of dead Indians, and retired to refresh themselves by food
and sleep.
Lopez de Gomara affirms that one of the holy apostles,
under the form of Francisco de Morla, appeared upon the
field during this bloody engagement, and turned the scale
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of victory.  Diaz says, "It might be the case, and I, sinner as I am, was not permitted to see it. What I did see
was Francisco de Morla, in company with Cortez and the
rest, upon a chestnut horse. But although I, unworthy
sinner that I am, was unfit to behold either of those holy
apostles, upwards of four hundred of us were present; let
their testimony be taken." He adds, that he never heard
of the incident until he read of it in Gomara's history.
Several prisoners were taken in this battle, among them
two who appeared to be of superior rank. These were
dismissed with presents and favors, to carry proposals of
peace to their friends. The result was highly satisfactory:
fifteen slaves, with blackened faces and ragged attire, "in
token of contrition," camie bringing offerings. Permission
was given to bury and burn the bodies of those who fell
in the terrible slaughter, that they might not be devoured
by wild beasts ("lions and tigers," according to Diaz).
This duty accomplished, ten of the caciques and principal
men made their appearance, clad in robes of state, and
expressed desire for peace, excusing their hostility, as the
result of bad advice from their neighbors, and the persuasion of the renegade whom they had sacrificed. Cortez
took pains to impress them with ideas of his power and
the greatness of the monarch he served; he ordered the
artillery to be discharged, and one of the most spirited of
the horses to be brought into the reception-room: "it being
so contrived that he should show himself to the greatest
advantage, his apparent fierceness, and his action, struck
the natives with awe."
Many more chiefs came in on the following day, bringing the usual presents of little gold figures, the material
of which came, they said, from "Culchua," and from "Mex ico," words not yet familiar to the ears of the Spaniards.
Twenty women were, moreover, offered as presents, and
gladly received by Cortez, who bestowed one upon each
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of his officers. They were all duly baptized, and had
the pleasure of listening to a discourse upon the mysteries
of his faith, delivered for their especial benefit by Father
Bartholomew, the spiritual guide of the invaders. Knowing nothing of the language, and having no competent
interpreter, it probably made no very vivid impression;
but these captives were set down as the first Christian women of the country.
Among them was one young woman of remarkable
beauty and intelligence, whom the Spaniards christened
Marina. She was said to be of royal parentage, but, from
parental cruelty, or the fortunes of war, had been held in
slavery at a settlement on the borders of Yucatan, where
a Mexican fort was established, and afterwards fell into
the hands of the Tabascan cacique. She spoke both the
Mexican language, and that common  to Yucatan  and
Tabasco, so that Cortez was able, by means  of her and
Aguilar, to communicate with the inhabitants of the interior, through a double interpretation, until Marina had
mastered the Spanish tongue. She accompanied Cortez
throughout his eventful career in Mexico, and had a son
by him, who was made, says Solis, "a Knight of St. Jago,
in consideration of the nobility of his mother's birth.'
Before this connection she had been bestowed by the commander upon one Alonzo Puerto Carrero, until his departure for Castile.
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CHAPTER III.
COMMUNICATIONS WITH THE MEXICAN EMPEROR. - THE ZEMPOALLANS
AND QUIAVISTLANS.
"Thou too dost purge from earth its horrible
And old idolatries; -from their proud fanes
Each to his grave their priests go out, till none
Is left to teach their worship!"
BRYANT'S Hyjmn to Death.
BEFORE his departure from Tabasco, Cortez and his
priest made strenuous efforts to explain the principles of
his religion to the chiefs and their people. This, indeed,
seems really to have been a purpose uppermost in his
heart throughout the whole of his bloody campaign; but,
as may well be supposed, the subject was too abstract, too
novel, and too little capable of proofs which appeal to the
senses and inclinations, to meet with much favor.  "They
only complied," says Solis, "as men that were subdued,
being more inclined to receive another God than to part
with any of their own. They hearkened with pleasure,
and seemed desirous to comprehend what they heard; but
reason was no sooner admitted by the will than it was rejected by the understanding."  They acknowledged that
this must, indeed, be a great God, to whom such valiant
men show so much respect."
From the river Tabasco the fleet sailed direct for San
Juan de Ulua, where they were no sooner moored than
two large piraguas, with a number of Indians on board,
came boldly alongside. By the interpretation of Marina,
Cortez learned that these came in behalf of Pitalpitoque
and Tendile, governor and captain of the district, under
Montezuma, to inquire as to his purposes, and to make
offers of friendship and assistance. The messengers were
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handsomely entertained, and dismissed with a few presents,
trifling in themselves, but of inestimable value in their unskilful eyes.
As the troops landed, Tendile sent great numbers of his
men to assist in erecting huts for their accommodation; a
service which was rendered with remarkable dexterity and
rapidity.
On the morning of Easter-day, the two great officers
came to the camp with a lordly company of attendants.
Not to be outdone in parade, Cortez marshalled his soldiers, and having conducted the chiefs to the rude chapel,
Mass was said with due ceremony. He then feasted them,
and opened negotiations by telling of his great sovereign,
Don Carlos, of Austria, (Charles the Fifth,) and expressing a desire to hold communion in his behalf with the
mighty Emperor Montezuma.
This proposition met with little favor. Tendile urged
him to accept the presents of plumed cotton mantles, gold,
&c., which they had brought to offer him, and depart in
peace. Diaz says that the Indian commander expressed
haughty astonishment at the Spaniard's presumption.
Cortez told them that he was fully resolved not to leave
the country without obtaining an audience from the emperor; but, to quiet the apprehension and disturbance of
the Indians, he agreed to wait until a message could be
sent to the court and an answer returned, before commencing further operations.
Painters, whose skill Diaz enlarges upon, now set to
work to depict upon rolls of cloth, the portraits of Cortez and his officers, the aspect of the army, the arms, and
other furniture, the smoke poured forth from the cannon,
and, above all, the horses, whose "obedient fierceness"
struck them with astonishment. These representations
were for the benefit of Montezuma, that he might learn
more clearly than he could by verbal report, the nature
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of his novel visitants.  By the messengers, Cortez sent,
as a royal present, a crimson velvet cap, with a gold
medal upon it, some ornaments of cut glass, and a chair
of tapestry.
Pitalpitoque now settled himself, with a great company
of his people, in a temporary collection of huts, built in
the immediate vicinity of the Spanish camp, while Tendile attended to the delivery of the message to his monarch. Diaz says that he went to the royal court, at the
city of Mexico, in person, being renowned for his swiftness of foot; but the most probable account is that he
availed himself of a regular system of couriers, established
over the more important routes throughout the empire.
However this may be, an answer was returned in seven
days' time, the distance between Mexico and San Juan
being sixty leagues, by the shortest road.
With the messenger returned a great officer of the court,
named Quintalbor, who bore a most striking resemblance
to Cortez, and one hundred other Indians, loaded with
gifts for the Spaniards. Escorted by Tendile, the embassy arrived at the camp, and, after performing the usual
ceremony of solemn salutations, by burning incense, &c.,
the Mexican lords caused mats to be spread, and displayed
the gorgeous presents they had brought.
These consisted of beautifully woven cotton cloths;
ornamental work in feathers, so skilfully executed that
the figures represented had all the effect of a painting;
a quantity of gold in its rough state; images wrought or
cast in gold of various animals; and, above all, two huge
plates, one of gold, the other of silver, fancifully chased
and embossed to represent the sun and moon. Diaz says
that the golden sun was of the size of a carriage wheel,
and that the silver plate was still larger.
Proffering these rich tokens of good will, together with
numerous minor articles, the chiefs delivered their mon
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arch's mission.   Accompanied  by every expression of
good will, his refusal was declared to allow the strangers
to visit his court. Bad roads and hostile tribes were alleged to constitute insuperable difficulties, but it was hinted
that more important, though unexplainable reasons existed
why the interview could not take place.
Cortez, courteously, but firmly, persisted in his determination, and dismissed the ambassadors with renewed
gifts; expressing himself content to await yet another
message from Montezuma. He said that he could not,
without dishonoring the king, his master, return before
having personal communication with the emperor.
He, meantime, sent a detachment farther up the coast,
with two vessels, to seek for a more convenient and healthy
place of encampment than the burning plain of sand where
the army was now quartered.
Montezuma persisted in objections to the advance of
the Spaniards, and Cortez being equally immovable in his
determination to proceed, the friendly intercourse hitherto maintained between the natives and their guests now
ceased. Tendile took his leave with some ominous threats,
and Pitalpitoque with his people departed from their temporary domiciles.
The soldiers, cut off from their former supplies of provision, and seeing nothing but danger and privation in
store for them, began to rebel, and to talk of returning
home. Cortez checked this movement by precisely the
same policy that was resorted to by Agamemnon and Ulysses, under somewhat similar circumstances, as will be found
at large in the second book of the Iliad, line 110 et seq.
He seemed to assent to the arguments of the spokesman
of the malcontents, and proceeded to proclaim his purpose
of making sail for Cuba, but, in the meantime, engaged
the most trusty of his friends to excite a contrary feeling
among the troops. The effort was signally successful: the
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commander graciously consented to remain, and lead them
to further conquests, expressing his great satisfaction in
finding them of such bold and determined spirit.
About this time, Bernal Diaz and another sentinel being
stationed on the beach,. at some distance from the camp,
perceived five Indians of a different appearance firom any
hitherto seen, approaching them upon the level sands.
Diaz conducted them to the general, who learned, by
Marina's interpretation, that they came in behalf of the
cacique of Zempoala, or Cempoal, to proffer the services
of their king and his people. This tribe held the Mexicans in great fear and detestation, and rejoiced in the opportunity now presented for attempting some retaliation for
former oppressions and injuries.'
The exploring expedition had discovered a desirable
location, at the town of Quiavistlan, a few leagues north
of the encampment, and Cortez concluded to move thither
immediately. Before taking further steps, he established
himself more firmly in command by resigning his commission under Valasquez, and taking the vote of his followers
as to whether he should be their captain. This being settled to his satisfaction, he marched for Quiavistlan, passing
the river at the spot where Vera Cruz was afterwards built.
Zempoalla lay in his route, and there the army was
met by a deputation from the cacique, he being too corpulent to come in person. Sweet-smelling flowers were
offered as tokens of friendship to the Spanish officers.
The town was well built, and ornamented with shadetrees. The inhabitants collected in innumerable but orderly crowds to witness the entrance of the cavalcade.
The  "fat cacique" entertained his guests handsomely,
making grievous complaints of the oppressions and exactions suffered by him and his tribes at the hands of
Montezuma's officers.  He had been subdued by the great
emperor, and was now his unwilling tributary.
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Quiavistlan was situated upon a rocky eminence, up
which the army advanced, prepared to crush any opposition on the part of the inhabitants. These, however, had
mostly fled from their homes on the approach of the Spaniards. In the principal square, Cortez was met, and saluted
with the usual fumigations of incense, by fifteen of the
chief men of the town.   They excused the timidity of
their people, and promised that they should immediately
return, as no injuries were intended by the strangers.
They came accordingly; the chiefs, together with the
corpulent cacique of Zempoalla, being borne upon litters.
All united in lamentations over the cruel state of degradation and servitude to which they were subjected by the
tyrant Montezuma. He plundered them of their treasures,
seized and carried away their wives and daughters, and
sacrificed no small number of them to his gods.
While they were yet consulting and beseeching assistance from the Spaniards, the whole conclave was stricken
with terror by the intelligence of the arrival of five royal
emissaries or tax-gatherers. These stately personages, to
whom the Quiavistlans hastened to minister with cringing
servility, did not even condescend to bestow a look upon
the Spanish officers.  "They were dressed," says Diaz,
"in mantles elegantly wrought, and drawers of the same,
their hair shining, and, as it were, tied at the top of the
head, and each of them had in his hand a bunch of roses,
which he occasionally smelt to. They were attended by
servants, who fanned them, and each of whom carried a
cord and a hooked stick."
Calling the caciques before them, these dignitaries rebuked them for entertaining foreigners, who disregarded
the expressed will of the emperor, and, as a punishment
for the contempt, demanded twenty victims for sacrifice.
Cortez, being informed of this, advised the seizure and
imprisonment of these emissaries until report of their cru
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elties and insolence could be made to their master. The
caciques, accustomed to submission, were at, first horrorstricken at the proposal, but Cortez persisting boldly and
confidently in his opinion, they went to the other extreme.
The five magnates were placed, says Solis, "in a kind of
pillories, used in their prisons, and very incommodious;
for they held the delinquents by the neck, obliging them
continually to do the utmost with their shoulders to ease
the weight, for the freedom of breathing."  "One of them,
also, being refractory, was beaten soundly."
The exultant Quiavistlans would have gone still farther,
and made a speedy end of their prisoners, had not Cortez
interfered. Not willing to give immediate offence to Montezuma, but desirous of being in condition at any moment
to pick a quarrel, or to claim the rewards and consideration due to meritorious services, he contrived to effect the
escape of two of these lords, charging them to give him
all credit for the act at their master's court. To preserve
the other three from destruction, he took them on board
one of his vessels, (the fleet having come round by sea)
under pretence of safe keeping. He, none the less, proclaimed to the caciques, his allies, that they should thereafter be free from all oppressions and exactions on the part
of the Mexican authorities.
The army was now set to work at the foundation of a
permanent fortification and town. By the willing assistance of the natives, the walls of Vera Cruz rose rapidly.
To excite a spirit of industry and emulation, Cortez commenced the work of digging and carrying materials with
his own hands.  Thirty caciques, from  the mountaihous
districts of the Totonaques, led by reports of Spanish valor
and virtues, came in to offer their services and alliance.
Their followers are numbered by Herrera (an author who
speaks too confidently of particulars) at one hundred thousand men; wild mountaineers, but bold and efficient.
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While all hands were at work upon the new town, messengers once again appeared from Montezuma. His anger,
greatly excited by the first reports of the seizure of his
officers, had been mitigated by the favorable report of those
who had been allowed to escape; and he now sent two of
his own nephews, accompanied by four old lords, and a
splendid retinue.   Acknowledgments were made by the
embassy for the service rendered by Cortez in setting the
two tax-gatherers at liberty; but he was, at the same time,
vehemently requested to leave the country, and not hinder, by the respect due to his presence, the just punishment of the rebels with whom he was cohabiting. He
was adjured not to dream of making further progress
towards the royal court, "for that the impediments and
dangers of that journey were very great. On which point
they enlarged with a mysterious tediousness; this being
the principal point of their instructions."
Cortez replied that danger and difficulties would but
give zest to the adventure, for that Spaniards knew no
fear, and only sought for glory and renown. He entertained the ministers handsomely, and dismissed them with
presents.
The Zempoalans thought that the friendship cemented
between them and the foreigners could not be taken advantage of better than by engaging them to subdue a
neighboring tribe, whose chief town was called Cingapacinga. They therefore induced Cortez, by pretending that
a troublesome Mexican garrison was quartered there, to
assist them in conquering the country. With four hundred Spaniards, and a great company of Zempoalans, the
Spanish leader entered the mountain district where the
enemy was to be sought. As the army approached the
town, eight old priests, in black and hooded robes, like
friars, came out to deprecate his anger. These functionaries presented, as usual, the most disgusting and horrible
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appearance. Their long hair was tangled and clotted with
human blood, which it was a part of their rules should
never be washed off, and their persons were filthy, loathsome, and offensive beyond conception.
Cortez discovered that he had been deceived, as no Mexicans were in the vicinity, but he put a good face on the
matter, and succeeded in making a peaceable arrangement
between the rival tribes.
Returning to Zempoala, renewed evidence was brought
before the eyes of this zealous Catholic, of the extent to
which the custom of human sacrifice was carried; and
especially of the sale and consumption of the bodies of
the victims as a "sacred food." He therefore concluded
to prostrate the idols, and set up the insignia of the true
religion. Long and earnest harangues failed to induce tihe
natives to perform this service themselves: they would be
cut to pieces, they said, ere they would be guilty of such
sacrilege. The soldiers then broke up and destroyed the
images, purged the temples, and, covering the bloody
marks of pagan worship with lime and plaster, erected an
altar, and celebrated the-rites of Catholicism. As no prodigy or signal vengeance from Heaven followed the audacious act, the pliable natives seemed readily to fall in with
the proposed change, and, burning the fragments of their
idols, they aped the posture and formula of the devout
Spaniards, An old and partially disabled soldier, named
Torres, agreed to remain as keeper of the newly-consecrated temple, on the departure of the troops.
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CHAPTER IV.
THE MARCH TO TLASCALA. - OCCUPATION OF THE CITY. - GREAT MAS  SACRE AT CHOLULU.- ENTRANCE INTO THE CITY OF MEXICO, AND
INTERVIEW WITH MONTEZUMA. -DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE,
ETC.
"What divine monsters, 0 ye gods, are these
That float in air, and fly upon the seas!
Came they alive or dead upon the shore? "
DRYDEN.
THE bold and adventurous leader of the Spaniards now
began to set in earnest about his work of conquest. He
despatched one ship direct for Spain, to obtain a confirmation from the sovereign of his authority in New Spain;
and, with the consent of most of his companions, dismantled and sunk the rest of the fleet, that all might be
nerved to the most desperate efforts by the alternative presented them of death or complete success.
Leaving a garrison at the coast settlement, he commenced his march into the interior, accompanied by a body
of Zempoalans. The Indians of Jalapa, Socochima, and
Texucla, offered them no molestation, and, after enduring
great hardships in the passage of the rugged mountains,
the army reached Zocothlan.
Near the religious temples of this town, Diaz affirms,
with repeated asseverations, that he saw human skeletons,
so orderly arranged, that their numbers could be computed
with certainty, and that they could not have amounted to
less than one hundred thousand. Beside these were huge
piles of skulls and bones: other remnants of mortality
were hung from beams. Three priests had charge of
these relics.
Contrary to the advice of the cacique of this province,
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Cortez determined to pass through the country of Tlascala,
whose inhabitants were inimical to Montezuma.
Four Zempoalan Indians, decked out in the style deemed
suitable for ambassadors, and bearing arrows, feathered
with white, and carried point downwards, in token of a
peaceful mission, were sent to wait on the Tlascalan authorities. They were received with respect by the senate
or chief council, whose members were ranged in order, in
a great hall, seated upon low chairs, each made from a
single block of some remarkable wood.
Great debate ensued as to whether the strangers should
be permitted to pass through the country. On the one
hand, ancient prophecies were cited of an invincible race
that should come from the East. The remarkable fulfilment in the landing of these white men, of many attendant circumstances foretold, touching the ships, arms, and
valor of the invaders, was enlarged upon, and it was pronounced madness to cope with them. On the other hand,
it was suggested that the Spaniards might be nothing better than "monsters flung up by the sea upon the coasts,"
and, if not, that their sacrilege and cruelties forbade the
idea that they could be other than evil and avaricious barbarians, who should be crushed as noxious reptiles.
It was concluded to try the strength of the whites, and,
if they could not be resisted, the assault should be attributed to the intractability of the Ottomies, a nation of rude
and warlike mountaineers.
The result might readily be foreseen: no force, however overwhelming in numbers, could resist the firearms,
the discipline, and more especially the horses of the Spaniards.   These animals ("supernatural or monstrous  in
their imagination ") so terrified the Indians, that they trod
one another under foot in efforts to escape from the rush
of the little corps of cavalry. In several engagements,
although under advantageous circumstances, as in ambus
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cades and night attacks, the Tlascalans were routed, and
vast numbers of their warriors were slaughtered. Cortez,
to strike further terror, cut off the hands or thumbs of
fourteen or fifteen captives, and sent them to their own
people to report what manner of men he and his followers
were.
Montezuma, hearing of these successes, sent more messengers to endeavor to persuade Cortez not to make further
advance, and at the same time to obstruct the conclusion
of a peace between him and the Tlascalans. These efforts
failed signally: Xicotencal, the general of the opposing
forces, in behalf of the town and nation, made an amicable
settlement of difficulties with the Spaniards.
With great pomp and ceremony, Cortez marched his
army into the town of Tlascala, on the 23d of September,
(1519). The situation of the place was rugged and mountainous, giving the streets great irregularity; but the buildings were substantial, and the fortifications massive. Here
the army tarried twenty days, and then marched for Cholula, a great city, entirely subject to the emperor. Before
they set out, Montezuma had again sent heralds to announce his final consent to a meeting, and that quarters
for the Spanish troops should be made ready at Cholula.
Several thousand Tlascalans, armed and equipped, voluntarily offered their services, and the whole army reached
Cholula without molestation. Here the magnates of the
town met them, objecting to the entrance of the Indian
allies, as they had been enemies of the nation; and it was
agreed that the Spaniards and Zempoalans alone should
be quartered in the city, while the rest should encamp in
the suburbs. Here were seen evidences of greater wealth,
and higher attainments in architectural skill, than at any
place before visited. The caciques appeared friendly, and
furnished provisions for the troops for several days; but
finally discontinued both their visits and supplies. This
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aroused the suspicions of Cortez, and he determined to
maintain the utmost vigilance.
At this juncture an old woman of rank came to Marina,
for whom she had contracted great friendship, and begged
her to forsake the Spaniards, and come to live with her
and her friends. Marina, ever on the watch to serve her
lord and master, pretended compliance, and, by judicious
questions, elicited from the old woman all the particulars
of a formidable plot for the destruction of the Spaniards.
Montezuma had sent twenty thousand men into the vicinity, part of whom were already secretly. brought within the
walls; pitfalls with sharp stakes at the bottom had been
prepared in the principal highways for the destruction of
the horses;  and stones were piled on the roofs of the
houses to hurl down upon the devoted army. Diaz says:
"The recompense which they intended for our holy and
friendly services was to kill us and eat us, for which purpose the pots were already boiling, and prepared with salt,
pepper, and tomatas."   Seven human victims had been
sacrificed to propitiate the favor of the gods, and it was
purposed to devote twenty of the Spaniards to the same
fate, as soon as they could be secured.
All these things were confirmed by a searching examination of some of the caciques, who, surprised at the supernatural penetration of the Spaniards, confessed the whole,
but attributed it entirely to Montezuma. With his usual
duplicity, Cortez spoke of this conspiracy in confidence to
the ambassadors from the court, pretending that he had no
suspicion of the part Montezuma had taken. He then
gave public orders for marching on the ensuing day, in
order to precipitate the hostile movement, but, at the same
time, had all his plans arranged for battle, and intelligence
conveyed to his Tlascalan troops to be ready to assist him
at the dawning of day.
With the first light all was in motion; the Cholulans
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appointed to carry the baggage, and those who came armed
on pretence of acting as a guard, but, in reality, to fall
upon the rear of the army, poured into the great square.
At a given signal from Cortez, a horrible massacre was
commenced, which continued for two days. The Tlascalans of the party, reeinforced by multitudes from their own
town, who came at the first news of the attack, ravaged
and plundered the city with unrestrained barbarity. Cortez at last checked these outrages, and compelling such of
the plunder and prisoners as he could discover to be delivered up, proclaimed peace and general amnesty. He set
free the unfortunate prisoners, who were confined in cages
to be fattened for sacrifice, and vainly endeavored to convince the priests and people of the enormity of their religious rites and the truth of his own doctrines.
Cholula was one of the most noted cities of Mexico,
both for-its beauty of situation and structure, and its position as the head-quarters of the religion of the country.
The immense hill or temple of sacrifice has ever been the
subject of admiration and astonishment to all beholders.
Montezuma dared no longer openly oppose the advance
of the Spaniards. The terror of their arms and the gloomy
prognostications of the priests cowed and subdued his spirit,
and he sent messengers with gifts and invitations to Cortez
to visit his court. The general impression constantly gained
ground among the Mexicans that these white men must be
"Teules," or supernatural beings, against whom it were
hopeless openly to contend.
Fourteen days after the arrival at Cholula, the army
was   again put in motion.   The  Zempoalans were  dismissed at their own request, and their places were supplied
by Tlascalans, who were ready by thousands to share the
danger and profit of the expedition. On the march over
the rough mountainous district through which lay their
path, strong bodies of Mexicans had been placed in am               6
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bush by the order of the king, but their hearts failed them
on the approach of the invaders. Cortez reached Chalco,
near the imperial city, not only without serious opposition,
but with his forces increased by as many natives of the
provinces through which he passed, as he chose to enlist
under his banners.   Enchantments and conjurations, to
which Montezuma applied himself, with his whole corps
of magicians, proved as ineffectual as his armies to arrest
the enemy. It was still his purpose and hope, as the invaders well knew, to overwhelm and destroy them at a
disadvantage, when they should enter his city.
The Spaniards reached Iztapalapa, on the great lake in
which the city of Mexico was built, without further bloodshed, except the destruction of a few poor Indians who
approached "too near" the encampment at Amemeca, probably from motives of curiosity. The lord of Tezcuco, upon
the north-eastern border of the lake, a nephew of the emperor, visited them on their route with solemn ceremony.
Iztapalapa was built partly in the lake, although the
receding waters have left the site mostly dry. The appearance of the place was truly Venetian. Over the broad
expanse of water were seen the towers and buildings of
numerous towns, at beholding which, together with the
great causey which led to the island city, the Europeans,
in the words of Diaz, "could compare it to nothing but
the enchanted scenes read of in Amadis of Gaul, fr'om the
great towers and temples and other edifices of lime and
stone which seemed to rise out of the water." "Never
yet," he adds, "did man see, hear, or dream of any thing
equal to the spectacle which appeared to our eyes on this
day."
The lords of the city assigned splendid buildings of
stone for the troops to quarter in; and such was their
astonishment at the perfection of the architectural skill displayed in the palaces; the beauty of the gardens; the
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alleys of fruit and aromatic trees; the fountains, aqueducts,
and artificial pools; and the vast concourse of curious natives, crowding the street and causey to gaze on the novel
sight, or skimming the water in their light canoes, that
"to many it appeared doubtful whether they were asleep
or awake."
On the morning-of the 8th of November, 1519, Cortez
led his followers over the main causey into the imperial
city.'A great deputation of nobles and officers came out
to meet him, and escorted the army into the city. The
streets were empty, that the ceremony of the royal audience might not be impeded; but windows and balconies
were thronged with eager spectators.
Montezuma now appeared, borne in a glittering palanquin, and accompanied by his chief officers, magnificently
adorned, and displaying in their downcast looks and silent
obsequiousness the reverence in which they held their
monarch. As he dismounted and walked to meet Cortez,
leaning on his relatives, the lords of Tezcuco and Iztapalapa, attendants spread carpets before him.
With unheard-of condescension and expression of respect, the king saluted the Spanish commander in Mexican
style, stooping and touching the ground with his hand,
and then raising it to his lips.  He wore a robe of fine
cotton, adorned with gems, golden sandals, and a light
crown of gold supporting the ornamental circle of plumes,
esteemed the most graceful head-dress.   He was aboutforty years of age, of light complexion, and of majestic
aspect and demeanor.
Cortez advanced, and placing a showy necklace round
the monarch's neck, would have embraced him, but was
gently restrained by the attendant lords -such familiarity
being deemed unsuitable to their sovereign's greatness.
After mutual friendly speeches, the whole throng proceeded to the palaces set apart for the Spaniards' use, an&d
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Montezuma, leading Cortez by the hand, conducted him to
his apartment, and placed about his neck a golden collar.
During the week succeeding the entry into Mexico, ceremonious visits were interchanged by Cortez and the emperor. The Mexican prince conducted his guests through
the royal palaces and gardens, and, in their company,
visited the great temple of sacrifice. The historians of
that day can find no language strong enough to express
the wonder and admiration which the magnificent spectacle excited in the minds of the Spanish beholders. The
pomp and state of the monarch; his crowd of obsequious
attendants; his pleasure houses, aqueducts, fountains, and
gardens of odoriferous shrubs; the extent of his wealth in
jewels and the precious metals; his store of arms, and the
number of his skilful artisans, are described and enlarged
upon at great length.
It remains to this day a matter of astonishment that
such huge buildings of hewn stone, as every where met
the eye in the ancient city, could have been erected without the use of iron. Copper, hardened by an alloy of tin,
was the only metal of which the tools were made by which
the hard rock was laboriously shaped.
The indignation and horror excited by the bloody religious rites of the country, led Cortez to strive continually
to impress upon the mind of his host the folly and absurdity of his religion. The only good effect that is said to
have resulted from these arguments was the abandonment,
on the part of the king, of the custom of having human
flesh set upon his own table.
The principal temple is minutely described, and must,
indeed, have presented a singular scene of horror and
magnificence. It was surrounded by a wall, faced with
wreathed serpents, carved in stone, the gateways to which
were surmounted with statues. The roof of the main
building was flat, and paved with beautifully polished
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stones; and thereon appeared two hideous idols, seated
upon thrones of state, in all the splendor of barbaric ornament; while before them stood the terrible stone of sacrifice. This was a green mass of rock, five spans high,
presenting a sharp angle at the top, over which the miserable victims were stretched, while the priest gashed open
the living body with a rude knife of flint, and tore out the
palpitating heart.  "I devoted them and all their wickedness," says Diaz, "to God's vengeance, and thought
that the time would never arrive that I should escape from
this scene of human butchery, horrible smells, and more
detestable sights." He tells of an apartment filled with
wild animals and venomous reptiles, who were fed with
the sacrificial flesh. Of these, the most dangerous serpents
had "in their tails somewhat that sounds like castanets."
"These beasts and horrid reptiles were retained to keep
company with their infernal gods, and when these animals
yelled and hissed, the palace seemed like hell itself."
From this elevation, a beautiful view was obtained of the
whole of the great salt lake in which the city stood, the
towns of the vicinity, the long and well-built causeys
connecting them, and the magnificent mountains beyond.
It would be tedious to relate the ceremonies of the royal
court, although many of them are singular, and well worth
the examination of those who would obtain a complete
knowledge of a time and people varying so widely from
any thing now known on earth. Among Montezuma's
means of luxury or relaxation, were the habits of smoking
tobacco, drinking a fermented liquor of no little potency,
and listening to the remarks of a set of buffoons whom he
kept about him, in the same capacity as that of the courtfools of a past age in Europe.
An analogy to rites and customs of the Old World,
no less striking, was noticed in many of the popular religious observances. " It should seem that the Devil," as
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De Solis has it, "the inventor of these rites, was ambitious
to imitate baptism and circumcision, with the same pride
with which he endeavored to counterfeit the other ceremonies, and even the sacraments of the Catholic church;
since he introduced among these barbarians the confession
of sins, giving them to understand that thereby they obtained the favor of their gods. He instituted likewise a
ridiculous sort of communion, which the priests administered upon certain days in the year, dividing into small
bits an idol made of flour, mixed up into a paste with
honey, which they called the God of Penitence." -  "Nay,
they even gave their chief priests the title of Papas in
their language; by which we find that this imitation cost
Satan a very particular study and application."
Marriages were performed by the priest's tying the veil
of the woman to a portion of the man's dress, after certain
prescribed preliminaries.   In this guise the pair walked
home together, and concluded the ceremony by pacing
seven times round the domestic hearth. Divorces were at
the discretion of the parties, and when they took place, the
sons belonged to the man, the daughters to the woman.
Hasty separations were guarded against by a provision that,
should they again cohabit after having once broken the
bond of union, both should be put to death. In some instances, on the death of the husband, his wife would immolate herself, according to the custom until recently so
prevalent in India.
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CHAPTER V.
SEIZURE AND IMPRISONMENT OF MONTEZUMA. -EXECUTION OF QUAL  POPOCA AND HIS COMPANIONS. - OMINOUS PROSPECTS. - EXPEDITION
OF PAMPHILO DE NARVAEZ. -SUCCESS OF CORTEZ AGAINST HIM. -
RETURN TO MEXICO.- OUTRAGE BY ALVARADO, AND CONSEQUENT
TROUBLES. -DEATH OF MONTEZUMA. - THE "NOCHE TRISTE.1"  BATTLE OF OBTUMBA, AND ARRIVAL AT TLASCALA.
"And sounds that mingled laugh, and shout, and scream,
To freeze the blood in one discordant jar,
Rung to the pealing thunderbolts of war."
CAMPBELL.
CORTEZ was not yet satisfied; he felt his situation to be
precarious, and that his object would not be fully accomplished until he had acquired complete mastery over the
inhabitants of the imperial city. While he was on his
march to Mexico, Juan de Escalente, commander of the
garrison left at Vera Cruz, had, with six other Spaniards,
* perished in a broil with the natives. One soldier was taken
prisoner, but dying of his wounds, his captors carried his
head to Montezuma.   The trophy proved an object of terror to the king, who trembled as he looked on the marks
of manly strength which its contour and thick curled
beard betokened, and ordered it from his presence.
Cortez knew of these events when at Cholula, but had
kept them concealed from most of his people. He now
adduced them, in select council of his officers, as reasonwith other matters-for the bold step he purposed.  This
was to seize the person of Montezuma.
On the eighth day after the arrival at the city, Cortez
took with him Alvarado, Velasquez de Leon, Avila, Sandoval, and Francisco de Lujo, and, ordering a number of
his soldiers to keep in his vicinity, proceeded to the royal
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palace. He conversed with Montezuma concerning the
attack on the garrison at the coast, and professed belief in
the Mexican prince's asseverations that he had no part in
it; but added that, to quiet all suspicion on the part of the
great emperor of the East, it would be best for him to remove to the Spanish quarters! Montezuma saw at once
the degradation to which he was called upon to submit, but
looking on the fierce Spaniards around him, and hearing
an interpretation of their threats to despatch him immediately if he did not comply, he suffered himself to be conducted to the palace occupied by his false friends.
To hide his disgrace from his subjects, the unhappy
monarch assured the astonished concourse iln the streets
that he went of his own free will. Cortez, while he kept
his prisoner secure by a constant and vigilant guard, allowed him to preserve all the outward tokens of royalty.
Meanwhile, Qualpopoca, the governor of the district
where Juan de Escalente lost his life, was sent for, together
with his associate officers. When they arrived, Cortez
was allowed by Montezuma to punish them at his own discretion, and the inhuman  monster  caused them  to be
burned alive in the sight of the populace. The fuel used
for this purpose consisted of the royal stores of arrows,
darts, and other warlike implements. Still further to quell
the spirit of the king, fetters were placed upon his ankles
during the execution of this cruel sentence.
The people of Mexico could not be blinded to the true
position of their sovereign, and it was not long before
ominous signs appeared of a general determination to
avenge his wrongs, and vindicate the insulted honor of the
nation. The young lord of the ancient and powerful city
of Tezcuco was foremost in arousing this spirit of resistance, but by artifice and treachery he fell into the hands
of the Spaniards, and his brother was proclaimed governor
in,his stead.
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The king was brought so low as to consent to acknowledge himself a subject of the Spanish emperor; and he
delivered up to Cortez treasures of gold and silver, to the
amount, according to computation, of more than six millions of dollars, as a present to his new sovereign. But a
small portion of this wealth was reserved to be sent to
Spain; the rest was divided among the conquerors, the
chiefs and officers appropriating the lion's share.
The next movement was to establish the Christian ceremonies of worship upon the very site so long venerated as
the palace of the great god of war. After strong opposition, a portion of the area on the summit of the chief temple was set apart for the Spaniards' use in the solemnities
of their religion, while the blood-stained idol and the stone
of sacrifice maintained their old position.
At these sacrilegious innovations, the whole populace
became more and more exasperated. Montezuma warned
his oppressors of the storm that would break upon them,
declaring that if he should but give the sign, his whole
people would rise as one man to release him and destroy
the hated whites. The unfortunate monarch seems to have
been distracted and overcome by emotions of the most conflicting nature. For some of the Spanish officers he had
contracted no small degree of personal attachment, while
he must have felt continually galled by the restraint
placed upon his person, and by the consciousness that he
was now but a tool in the hands of the proud invaders of
his dominions. The mildness and dignity of his demeanor
excited sympathy and respect from his jailers, and Cortez
exacted the utmost deference and respect towards his captive from all around him.
The prudent general saw the necessity for every precaution against an attack from the natives, and, to guard
against his retreat being cut off, on such a contingency,
had two vessels built and furnished from the stores saved
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from the dismantled fleet. Living upon an island, it was
in the power of the natives at any time to destroy the
bridges and causeys, by which alone there was communication with the main.
At this crisis, when all his energies were required to resist the fury of an outraged multitude of barbarians around
him, Cortez heard of danger from another source, which
moved him more deeply than any hostilities on the part of
the Mexicans.
The jealous Cuban governor, Velasquez, enraged at his
presumption in throwing off the authority under which he
had sailed, fitted out a formidable armament, to overthrow
the newly-acquired power of Cortez.  The  fleet, under
the command of Pamphilo de Narvaez, reached the Mexican coast, and news of its arrival were conveyed to Cortez
in the month of May, 1520.
With his usual decision and promptness, the general
divided his forces, and leaving the larger portion under
Alvarado to maintain possession of the capital, he marched
to check the advance of Narvaez. By the boldness of a
night attack, followed up by the most consummate policy
in winning over the good wishes, and exciting the cupidity
of the newly-arrived army, he converted his enemies to
friends, and, placing the leader in confinement, hastened
back to the city with his powerful auxiliaries.  His return
was timely indeed. Alvarado had been guilty of an act
of barbarity, (whether caused by avarice, by a supposed
necessity, or by a desire to ape the valiant achievements of
his master, cannot now be ascertained,) which had brought
down upon him and his garrison the fury and indignation
of the whole Aztec nation.
Upon an occasion of great public ceremonials at the
Teocalli, or temple, at which were gathered a great concourse of the nobility and chiefs, the Spaniards, placing
a guard at the gates of the outer wall, mingled with the
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unarmed company, and, at an appointed sign, fell upon and
murdered every Mexican present.
A general rush upon the Spanish quarters, which followed this event, was only checked by the appearance of
Montezuma himself upon one of the towers of the building, who, knowing doubtless that his own life could scarcely
be preserved in such a melee, requested his subjects to forbear. They therefore contented themselves with besieging
the garrison, and cutting off supplies of food and wholesome water.
It was on St. John's day in the month of June, that
Cortez reentered the city. The streets were silent and deserted, and with doubt and apprehension he proceeded to
the Spanish palace.  The soldiers of the garrison were
overjoyed at the sight of the recruits, and received their
brethren with open arms. Cortez saw the folly of Alvarado's conduct, and in his first mood of indignation and
petulance, at the probable frustration of his plans, he indulged in contemptuous treatment of his royal captive.
The state of ominous silence observed in the city did not
continue long. News came in that the Indians were destroying the bridges; and a body of four hundred men,
under De Ordas, who were sent out to reconnoitre, were
driven back, with a loss of twenty-three of their number.
Such crowds of natives poured forth from their places of
concealment, that the streets were choked with the living
mass, while from balcony and roof-tops, a storm of weapons and missiles of every description rained upon the heads
of the Spanish troops.
Surrounding the quarters of the Spaniards, and using
every endeavor to burn the wooden portion of the buildings,
the wild horde of enraged Mexicans continued the assault,
with desperate fury, till nightfall.
Cortez attempted a sally with the first dawn of the following day, but he soon found that he had an enemy to
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encounter of far different spirit from those who had heretofore opposed him. Diaz says, "If we had been ten
thousand Hectors of Troy, and as many Roldans, we
could not have beaten them off.- Some of our soldiers
who had been in Italy, swore that neither among Christians nor Turks had they ever seen such desperation as
was manifested in the attacks of those Indians." The
artillery in vain swept them down, for thousands were
ready to rush over the fallen bodies of their comrades, and
continue the battle with augmented fierceness. The Spaniards were finally forced to retreat. Various expedients
were tried by the indefatigable Spanish general to quell the
insurrection, and to dislodge the assailants, who shot their
weapons from every high building in the vicinity of the
garrison. Moving towers of wood were constructed, to be
drawn through the street by companies of Tlascalans, while
Spanish warriors from the interior discharged volleys of
musketry upon the Indians. Many hundred houses were
destroyed by fire, but, being principally of stone, no general
conflagration ensued.
As a last resort, the great king himself, decked in his
robes of state, was taken to the tower from which he had
before succeeded in quieting the angry populace. The
multitude listened with deferential awe, but when they
heard again the palpable falsehood that he staid among
the Spaniards by his own free will, reverence gave way
to contempt and indignation.    Revilings and reproaches
were followed by a shower of stones and arrows.   The
attendant soldiers in vain interposed their shields to protect the emperor: he fell, severely wounded upon the head
by a stone. The crowd now retired, appalled at the sacrilege that they had committed. But the work was done:
the miserable Montezuma, overcome with rage, mortification, and despair, would accept of no assistance, either
surgical or spiritual, from the Spaniards. In three days,
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says de Solis, "he surrendered up to the devil the eternal
possession of his soul, employing the latest moments of his
breath in impious thoughts of sacrificing his enemies to his
fury and revenge."
For the particulars of the various sorties, the ceaseless
fighting, and, above all, the terrible scene at the storming
of the holy temple, the reader must refer to more extensive treatises than this; suffice it that, weakened by continual fatigue, and day by day less able to resist the assaults of the enemy, the Spaniards finally concluded to
evacuate the city. One Botello, a soldier who was reputed
a necromancer, as he "spoke Latin, and had been at
Rome," announced a certain night as the only time when
the army could escape utter destruction.
Cortez, whether moved by superstition or aware of its
influence with the army, and hopeless of longer maintaining a hold on the capital under existing circumstances,
made preparations to march. He attempted to blind his
proceedings by pretended treaties with the Mexicans, proposing to evacuate the city peaceably within eight days,
while, at the same time, he was ordering every thing for
an instantaneous departure. A portable bridge was prepared to afford the means for crossing the gaps in the
causey made by the enemy.
On the night of the first of July (1520), the general
brought out the immense treasures of gold stored in his
chamber, and, having separated the portion allotted to the
crown, told the soldiery to take what they would, but
cautioned them against encumbering themselves.
It was near midnight, and dark and rainy, when the
troops were put in motion.  They were in the act of passing the first breach, over the portable bridge, when the
alarm was given that the "Teules were going," and the
cry of "Taltelulco, Taltelulco, (out with your canoes)"
resounded over the water. The Spaniards were doomed
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to greater disaster and misery on this night, known as tle
"noche triste," or night of sorrow, than they had ever yet
experienced.   An  innumerable horde of dusky  figures
beset the causey, and attacked the fugitives in front, flank,
and rear.
By a complication of misfortune, the bridge broke, and
from the struggling mass of men and horses, the few who
could obtain footing on the causey were mostly killed, or
their cries for help were heard by their companions as they
were borne off in the canoes of the enemy, doomed victims
for sacrifice. The cavalry, who were in advance, hastened
forward, hopeless of relieving those whose retreat had been
cut off, and who were blindly contending in the darkness
with the fierce and enraged Aztecs.
Alvarado, dismounted and wounded, came up with the
advance, on foot, accompanied by three soldiers and eight
Tlascalans. He reported the destruction of the rear-guard,
together with their leader, Velasquez de Leon. According
to some accounts, Alvarado had made his escape by an
extraordinary leap over the gap, but Diaz denies the possibilitv of the act.
The wearied and disabled remnant of the proud army
of Cortez pursued their route towards the friendly district
of Tlascala, followed by detached companies of Mexicans,
who attacked the fugitives in the rear, and, with insulting
shouts, bade them hasten to the doom that awaited them.
Near a place called Obtumba, the Indians were found
arrayed upon a plain in countless hosts, to obstruct the
march, and finish the work so successfully commenced on
the night of the retreat. There was no way to avoid a
general engagement, and every Spaniard nerved himself
for the desperate struggle. We quote from Bernal Diaz"'Oh what it was to see this tremendous battle! how we
closed foot to foot, and with what fury the dogs fought
us! such wounding as there was amongst us with their
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lances and clubs, and two-handed swords, while our cavalry, favored by the plain ground, rode through them at
will. -Then to hear the valiant Sandoval how he encouraged us, crying out,' Now, gentlemen, is the day of victory; put your trust in God; we shall survive, for he preserves us for some good purpose.'"
The royal standard was taken, its bearer being slain, and
the whole multitude were put to flight, and hewn down
by hundreds in their retreat. The Spaniards pushed on
to Tlascala, not without misgivings as to the reception
they should meet with in their present crippled and suffering condition.  These fears proved groundless: the friendly
Tlascalans embraced them affectionately; wept over their
loss; and gently rebuked them for trusting the treacherous
Mexicans.
During the "noche triste," and upon the march to Tlascala, eight hundred and seventy Spaniards are recorded to
have perished in battle, or to have been doomed, as prisoners, to a far more terrible fate. Of their Tlascalan allies
more than a thousand were slain. Only four hundred and
forty of the Spanish troops reached Tlascala, and these
were many of them wounded and disabled, and were ill
supplied with arms. Some accounts state that the Mexican
army, at Obtumba, numbered two hundred thousand men,
and that twenty thousand of these fell in the engagement
or were slaughtered in their tumultuous retreat.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
CHAPTER VI.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE ATTACK ON THE CITY OF MEXICO. - BUILD,
ING AND TRANSPORTATION OF BRIGANTINES. -SIEGE LAID TO THE
C1TY. - ASSAULT BY THE SPANIARDS, AND THEIR REPULSE.- SAC  RIFICE OF PRISONERS. -CAPTURE OF GUATIMOZIN, AND CONQUEST
OF THE CAPITAL.
" And Aztec priests, upon their teocallis,
Beat the wild war-drum, made of serpents' skin."
LONGFELLOW.
ON tfe death of Montezuma, his brother Cuitlahua, governor of Iztapalapa, had taken the supreme command over
the Aztecs. He had been prime mover in the revolt which
resulted in the expulsion of the Spaniards from the city,
and it was by his orders that their flight had been so fiercely
followed up. At the present juncture, he sent heralds to
propose a treaty of peace with the friendly tribe by whose
hospitality the Spanish army was now supported, proposing
the destruction of the whites, who had brought such woes
upon the whole country. A portion of the Tlascalan assembly looked approvingly upon the suggestion, but the
older and wiser members, reflecting upon the known treachery of the Mexicans, and their former acts of oppression,
refused to listen to it.
Cortez, perceiving discontent to be rife among his men,
determined not to remain idle, but to keep their attention
constantly employed. Some, who were pining for ease and
quiet, he allowed to take ship for Cuba, while by every
argument he appealed to the honor and valor of his veterans, urging them not to desist at the first failure, but to
stand by their general and reinstate their fallen fortunes.
He engaged in bloody conflicts with Mexican tribes on
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either side of Tlascala, with the most distinguished suc cess; and taking possession of the town of Tepeaca, a few
leagues distant, established his head-quarters there.
By singular good fortune, several ships, bringing fresh
troops to support Narvaez, arrived from Cuba, and the
adventurers, learning the true position of affairs, readily
joined the popular leader. Another expedition, sent by
the governor of Jamaica to form a settlement farther up
the coast, only contributed to swell the resources of Cortez;
those engaged in the undertaking deeming it more profit able to unite with the followers of so renowned a general,
than to undergo the dangers and hardship of establishing
themselves unassisted among hostile savages.
Cortez determined to make every preparation for a
renewed attack upon the city of Mexico. Returning to
Tlascala, he set himself to equip and furnish his troops,
and to train the Indian allies in the art of war. Gunpowder was manufactured; the sulphur being procured from
the neighboring volcano of Popocatapetl. The most important part of his schemes, however, was the building a
number of small vessels, or brigantines, by means of
which his troops could be made independent of the narrow
and dangerous causeys. These vessels he ordered to be
made in separate pieces, of such a size that they could be
transported over the mountains by the Indian carriers: the
stores and rigging were brought from the coast by the
same means of conveyance.
On the 28th of December Cortez led his army forth
from Tlascala. The Spanish force was less than that with
which the first invasion was undertaken, but was superior
in martial equipments.   The whole army consisted of
about six hundred whites, and ten thousand, or upwards,
of Tlascalans. They marched direct for Tezcuco, on the
great lake of Mexico. No opposition was made during
the march, and the city was yielded to them without a
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little fleet should be launched. The beams and planks of
the vessels ready to be joined, with all the paraphernalia
of nautical outfit, were carried in state by an immense concourse of Tlascalans, charged with the burden, or acting
as a guard of protection. Diaz says that no less than
eight thousand men served in each of these capacities,
while two thousand more followed with provisions. About
the last of April (1521) the thirteen brigantines, fitted for
service, were launched into the canal.
The addition of an armed flotilla, which, urged by wind
and oars, could bear down upon and scatter the frail canoes
of the natives, proved of incalculable advantage. The size
of the vessels, the thunder of their cannons, their speed,
and the skill with which they were managed and controlled, must have filled the Mexicans with amazement.
Near the end of May a regular system of siege was entered upon, by the occupation of the three great approaches
to the city. The inhabitants were unwearied in their attacks, and a degree of vigilance and courage on the part
of the Spaniards, scarce equalled in any age or country,
only preserved them from utter destruction.  "For ninetythree days together," says Diaz, "we were employed in
the siege of this great and strong city, and every day andevery night we were engaged with the enemy. -  Were I
to extend my narrative to every action which took place,
it would be almost endless, and my history would resemble
that of Amadis and the other books of chivalry."
Every expedient, of driving sunken palisades to entangle
the vessels; of pitfalls for the cavalry; and of cutting gaps
in the causeys, was resorted to by the besieged, and persevered in with a determination and obstinacy only rivalled
by the stern temper of the obdurate invaders.
There was necessarily great suffering on both  sides,
exclusive of the horrors of actual warfare, from the scarcity of provision. Maize was the principal resort;. but
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the hordes of Indian allies sustained existence by a more
foul repast, feeding upon the bodies that were every where
scattered over the causeys, or floating in the lake - ghastly
memorials of each day's slaughter. Knowing the insufficiency of their own supplies, the Spaniards dared not forbid this practice.
Cortez at last determined upon an assault from three
different quarters, with his whole force. Fierce battles
had already been fought within the city walls; the great
Teocally had been a second time carried by storm, and its
officiating priests thrown from its summit; the royal palace,
with its adjoining buildings, and the old fortress where the
Spaniards had formerly quartered, had been destroyed;
but no general assault had been made. After some discussion, in which the hazard of risking so much upon a
single onslaught was fully discussed, the general determined to undertake it, and issued his orders for a simultaneous advance- the march over the causeys to be protected by the cooperation of the brigantines.
The three divisions under Cortez, Alvarado, and Sandoval, were put in motion on the ensuing morning. Orders were given that each party should secure a safe retreat
by thoroughly filling up all gaps in the causeys as they
made their way towards the heart of the city. Neglect
of this prudent arrangement proved most disastrous. An
advanced force, under Alderete, encouraged by the little
show of resistance, pressed on nearly to the great square,
leaving behind them a breach in the causey, (through
which the water from the canal on either side was flowing
to a depth of two fathoms) with very slight and inefficient
means for recrossing. As Cortez came up to this spot, he
began to suspect that his men were entrapped; he saw
that the causey had been narrowed, and at once perceived
the terrible confusion that must ensue, in case of precipitate retreat. While endeavoring to atone for this careless
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ness by filling the dike, Cortez and his followers heard
the blast of the horn of the Aztec emperor, Guatimozin,
followed by a deafening yell from his enraged warriors,
and shortly after, Alderete's party were seen crowding the
causey in their flight from an overwhelming mass of the
natives. At the gap a scene of terrible slaughter ensued.
Men and horses, floundering in the deep mud to which
the way was reduced, thrust into the water by the pressure of their own numbers, and seized by the enemy,
whose canoes filled the canals, presented a miserable scene
of hopeless disorder.   Cortez himself was nearly borne
away captive, in his endeavors to rescue the drowning sufferers from the dike. Six stout warriors laid hold of him,
and would have secured him as a notable offering to their
idols, but for the self-sacrificing devotion of his officers and
men. His whole surviving party were obliged to retreat,
making their way back to the camp under the protecting
fire of the brigantines.
The division under Alvarado was also driven from the
city, after having made some hopeful advance, driving in
their first opponents. The second body of natives who
stopped their progress, threw down five Spanish heads,
saying that they were those of Cortez and his officers. In
the retreat the great drum was heard sounding from the
summit of the principal teocalli: "Its mournful noise was
such as may be imagined the music of the infernal gods,
and it might be heard at the distance of almost three
leagues." Diaz, who gives this description, says that the
enemy were then sacrificing ten of the Spaniards' hearts
to their gods. This was just before the blast of the royal
horn -a signal which roused the Aztecs to an indescribable pitch of fury and courage.
Sandoval fared little better than the rest, and the Spanish army, completely foiled, returned to the several encampments, frightfully reduced in numbers, deprived of
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many of their invaluable horses, and, above all, dispirited
by the thought that sixty or more of their brethren were
alive in the hands of the enemy, destined victims at their
infernal orgies.
As night approached, the booming of the great drum
on the temple aroused the attention of the Spaniards, and,
looking towards the city, they could distinctly perceive
several of their unfortunate companions led up for sacrifice, decked out in gaudy plumes and coronals. A strong
light thr6wn by the fires on the platform upon their white
and naked bodies made the sickening sight too palpably
distinct, while the shrieks of the victims rose above even
the rude din of barbarous music and exultant shotits.
The ceremony was followed by a furious attack upon the
Spanish camps.
Not even scenes like this could shake the indomitable
resolution  of these  men  of iron.   They  continued  to
occupy the three causeys by which alone the city could
be approached, except in boats, and using every endeavor
to cut off supplies of provisions, made a steady and intrenched advance upon the capital. For ten successive
nights they witnessed the butchery of the Spanish prisoners upon the green stone of sacrifice, without the power
to render them the least assistance. As their hearts were
torn out and burned before the idol, the priests drew the
mangled remains down the stone steps.- Some of the Indians, mid their taunts and revilings, averred that the
Spanish flesh was "too bitter to be eaten; and truly,
it seems that such a miracle was wrought." "Let the
reader think," says the old chronicler, Diaz, "what were
our sensations on this occasion.  Oh heavenly God! said
we to ourselves, do not suffer us to be sacrificed by these
wretches."
To add to the Spaniards' distress, the great body of their
Indian allies deserted them at this crisis. They had be
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gun to lose their confidence in the invincibility of the
whites; and the prediction of the Mexican priests, that
within eight days the besiegers should be destroyed, had
its effect upon their superstitious minds. Ixtilxochitl, the
Tezcucan chief, who had been raised by Cortez to the government of the city on its abdication by his enemies, remained faithful.
When the eight days were passed, these fickle allies began to return, with fresh confidence, to the assistance of the
besiegers. With determined energy the Spaniards forced
their passage, foot by foot, towards the centre of the capital. Securing their way behind them, and demolishing
the buildings as they proceeded, they more than recovered
from their grand reverse. The miserable inhabitants were
reduced to the utmost extremity by famine. Crowded
together in the quarter of the city to which they were
driven, they perished by thousands, but nothing seemed
to tame their fierce and unyielding spirit. Guatimozin
refused to listen to terms, although Cortez repeatedly sent
embassies of prisoners, proposing a peaceable cession of
the place.  Stores and men were added to the Spanish
resources, by the arrival at Villa Rica of a vessel belonging to a fleet fitted out by De Aillon, which was mostly
destroyed on the reefs of Florida.
After the three divisions of the army had worked their
way completely through the city, and Guatimozin and his
people were confined in a limited district on the lake, the
fury of their sallies seemed undiminished. When they
were finally unable longer to keep their monarch in safety,
a last attempt was made to effect an escape in the piraguas
or large canoes.
The brigantines were immediately despatched to intercept and destroy the flotilla which now spotted the lake.
The natives fought desperately, as usual, attacking the
armed vessels of the Spaliards, regardless of the destruc
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tion occasioned by the artillery. Sandoval, who.commanded in this service, despatched Garcia Holguin, with
the swiftest of the brigantines, to the spot where the em
peror would probably steer, with orders to take him prisoner alive, if possible.
The attempt was successful, and the royal barge was
taken, containing Guatimozin, his beautiful wife,' (a daughter or niece of Montezuma,) and his chief followers. Being brought before Cortez, the king addressed his conqueror
in terms of proud but despairing submission, bidding him
draw his poniard, and put an end to the life of a monarch
who had striven to the last for his people, but il vain.
Cortez endeavored to reassure him by caresses and kind
words, ordering the queen and attendants to be treated
with courtesy and respect.
While this scene was enacting, and during the previous
day, a work of such fearful carnage had been going on in
the Mexican quarters as no pen can describe. No one can
presume to enumerate those who fell. Diaz reports as follows: "What I am going to mention is truth, and I swear
and say amen to it. I have read of the destruction of
Jerusalem, but I cannot conceive that the mortality there
exceeded this of Mexico; for all the people from the distant provinces which belonged to this empire, had concentrated themselves here, where they mostly died. The
streets, the squares, the houses, and the courts of the Taltelulco, (where the Mexicans were last intrenched,) were
covered with dead bodies; we could not step without treading on them; the lake and canals were filled with them,
and the stench was intolerable."
It is due to the Spanish general to say that he endeavored repeatedly to stay this butchery; but his Indian allies
could not be restrained, now that an opportunity was presented for safely wreaking their vengeance on their hereditary foes.
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The capture of Guatimozin, which consummated the
conquest of the city, took place on the thirteenth of August, 1521. All contention immediately ceased when this
was accomplished. Diaz says: "We felt like so many
men just escaped from a steeple where all the bells were
ringing about our ears. — This was owing to the continual
noise of the enemy for ninety-three days-shouting, calling, whistling, as signals to attack us, &c. -Then, from
the temples and adoratories of their accursed idols, the
timbals and horns, and the mournful sound of their great
drum, and other dismal noises were incessantly assailing
our ears, so that day or night we could hardly hear each
other speak."
By Guatimozin's request, the city was cleared of its inhabitants, that it might be effectually purified. The causeys were crowded for three successive days and nights
with a horde of such miserable, diseased, and helpless
wretches, creeping slowly away firom their former proud
capital, "that it was misery to behold them."
The booty discovered by the conquerors in no degree
equalled their anticipations. It was supposed that great
quantities of gold had been thrown into the lake, and
divers were employed in the search for it, but with little
effect. The unfortunate Guatimozin, and the lord of the
city of Tacuba were put to the torture, with the assent of
Cortez, to extort from them information as to the places
where they had concealed their treasures. Cortez objected
to this piece of barbarity, but permitted it that the suspicion might not rest upon him of having, by connivance,
appropriated the plunder to his own use.
The young monarch, in this extremity, preserved his
dignity and composure, enduring the cruelties of his tormentors with Indian fortitude.  When the barbarous inflictions of the Spaniards drew forth groans or complaints
from his companion in suffering, Guatimozin silenced him
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with the calm interrogative, "Think'st thou, then, that I
am taking my pleasure in my bath?"  Nothing was gained
by the inhuman transaction, although the emperor told
of a place in the lake where gold had been thrown, and
the lord of Tacuba confessed that he had stores at a house
in the country. These declarations were probably made
merely for the purpose of escaping present anguish.
CHAPTER VII.
REBUILDING OF THE CITY.- EXTENSION OF SPANISH POWER.-THE
MARCH TO HONDURAS. -EXECUTION OF GUATIMOZIN.-DONNA MA RINA. -MODERN MEXICO.
"Now they are gone - gone as thy setting blaze
Goes down the west, while night is pressing on,
And with them the old tale of better days,
And trophies of remembered power are gone."
BRYAN.
WITHIN a few years after the scenes we have just described, the royal city of the Aztec monarchs rose from
its ruins with renewed splendor; but under what different
circumstances from those which attended its first establishment! The proud-spirited nation, reduced to degrading
servitude, was compelled to build and plant for the benefit of the victorious Spaniards, whose power daily increased
with the multitudes flocking from the Old World to seek
wealth or novelty in the sunny climes of New Spain.
The modern city of Mexico presents a very different aspect from that of the ancient capital. By the drainage of
the lake, it no longer stands upon an island; and  the
causeys, which led to it, still used as public roads, are said
to be scarcely distinguishable from the other highways.
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ABORIGINES OF MEXICO.
All the surrounding tribes who did not yield implicitly
to the dictates of the general, when the great city was destroyed, were promptly quelled and humbled. Confirmed
in his authority by royal commission- for the efforts of
his enemies could avail little against the universal acclamation which followed the news of his successes - Cortez
continued to increase the extent of Spanish dominion, and
still more effectually to crush all spirit of opposition among
the miserable Mexicans. We cannot detail the terrible examples of vengeance which followed any attempt to throw
off the gallin~ yoke. With such coadjutors as Alvarado,
Sandoval, and other of his veteran officers, resistance to
his supremacy proved worse than vain. The stake or the
halter was the ready instrument by which the crime of rebellion was punished.
In October of 1524, Cortez, with a small force of Spaniards, and a large body of natives, undertook a long and
difficult march to Honduras. His purpose was to chastise
the rebellious de Olid, who had thrown off his general's
authority. Although the details of the dangers, hardships,
and adventures in this expedition are minute and interesting, we only refer to it as giving occasion for the destruction of the last Aztec monarch. Continually apprehensive
of a new revolt, Cortez had, ever since the conquest, kept
his royal prisoner a close attendant on his person. Together with his faithful vassal, the lord of Tacuba, Guatimozin was taken to accompany the party to Honduras. At
Gueyacala, or Aculan, a conspiracy of the Mexicans in the
train to fall upon and massacre the Spaniards, was reported
to the general, and attributed to the influence of these two
nobles. All participation in this plot was denied by the
captives; but slight suspicion was sufficient to furnish an
excuse to the unscrupulous Spaniard for ridding himself
of a constant source of anxiety.
Guatimozin and the Tacuban governor were both hanged
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by his orders. Diaz affirms that there was but one opinion among the company, that this was "a  most unjust
and cruel sentence." He proceeds to say that Cortez suffered much in his conscience for this act.   "H-e was so
distracted by these thoughts that he could not rest in his
bed at night, and, getting up in the dark to walk about, as
a relief from his anxieties, he went into a large apartment
where some of the idols were worshipped. Here he missed
his way, and fell from the height of twelve feet, to the
ground, receiving a desperate wound and contusions in his
head. This circumstance he tried to conceal, keeping his
sufferings to himself, and getting his hurts cured as well as
he could."
An interesting incident occurred on this march relative
to the history of the faithful interpreter Donna Marina.
The course taken led the army through her native province, and it so chanced that, at a great conclave of chiefs
and principal inhabitants to hold conference with the Spaniards, her mother and brother were present. The unnatural parent, who had so long before sold her daughter as
a slave, thought the hour of retribution was at' hand, but
Marina encouraged and caressed her, making her offerings
of jewels and other attractive trifles. She avowed her attachment to the Spaniards and their religion, expressing
great pride and satisfaction in the son and the husband, for
both of whom she stood indebted to her noble master and
friend.
We must now take leave of the historical detail of Mexican chronicles, with a few remarks upon the condition of
the Indians subsequent to the conquest, the changes since
wrought by lapse of time, the introduction of a foreign
population, and the mixture of races.
For a long period the mass of the natives were compelled
to waste their lives in hopeless toil on the plantations,
in the mines, or at the rising cities of their oppressors.
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Cortez felt and expressed some compunctious visitings of
conscience at the adoption of this general system of slavery,
but fell in with it as being essential to the maintenance
of Spanish power and the speedy growth of the colonies.
He saw that the mental capacity of the people was far
superior to that of the other North American aborigines,
and felt some natural regret that their national pride should
be entirely humbled, and their opportunities for civilization
and improvement be so entirely cut off. A better state of
things was gradually brought about, and the inhabitants
of pure native descent are now spoken of as a cheerful,
courteous race, busying themselves in the simpler arts of
manufacture,  cultivating their fields, and enjoying  the
equable freedom firom anxiety, so congenial to the mild
and delicious climate of their country.
Pulque, the intoxicating drink of the Mexicans, is productive of the evil effects that such beverages always produce among the Indians of America; and, in the large
cities, a disgusting horde of lazaroni disfigures the public
squares. In the city of Mexico, these beggars are especially numerous.
The half-breeds, who form at the present day so extensive a portion of the population, present every variety of
social position. Some of Montezuma's descendants married into noble families of Spain, and their posterity arrived
at great wealth and dignity. The wife of Guatimozin,
after his execution, married successively no less than three
Castilians of honorable family.  She is every where spoken
of as a woman of charming appearance and attractive
manners. A descendant of the former emperor of the
Aztecs held the office of Spanish viceroy in Mexico as late
as the close of the seventeenth century.
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CHAPTER I.
EARLY EXPEDITIONS OF SPANISH ADVENTURERS.-PONCE DE LEON. -
L. VALASQUEZ DE AYLLON. - PAMPHILO DE NARVAEZ. - FERNANDO
DE SOTO.- HIS LANDING AND ESTABLISHMENT AT TAMPA.- STORY
OF JOHN ORTIZ, A SPANISH CAPTIVE AMONG THE INDIANS.
FEW portions of the Western Continent have witnessed
such scenes of barbarous warfare between the natives and
European adventurers, or between subjects of contending
nations at the East, as the long, low peninsula which lies
at the southern extremity of the Atlantic sea-coast of the
United States.  Its whole history is strangely romantic,
and might well tempt us away from our subject, were there
room to chronicle all the interesting details of its discovery, conquest, and settlement.
The first picture presented to our minds, when we turn
back to these early times, is of Juan Ponce de Leon, governor of Porto Rico, led by Indian fables in 1512 to search
amid the low islands of the coast for a fountain that should
bestow perpetual youth; landing upon the green and flowery shores, and bestowing upon the country its pleasing
and musical appellation. All of North America, to the
northward and eastward of Mexico, went by the name of
Florida, before English settlements were made upon the
coast. Failing in his first search, Leon undertook a second
expedition into the unknown world, in hopes of finding
mines of the precious metals, but was killed in a fight with
the natives.
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The perfidious Luke Valasquez de Ayllon, in 1518, visited the coast to the northward of Florida, to procure gold
and slaves. The kindly natives, whom he tempted on
board, were shut under hatches, and conveyed to Cuba.
Returning again to the country, he and his party were
justly punished for their treachery, nearly all of them
being slain by the inhabitants, who, mindful of former
injuries, rose upon them unawares, after putting them off
their guard by demonstrations of friendship. Those who
had been carried into servitude mostly perished, some by
voluntary starvation, and others from grief and despair.
The Indians of Florida are represented by all early historians as a high-spirited and courageous race, showing
considerable skill in agriculture, and exhibiting marks of
far greater civilization than those of the North. It seems
not improbable, judging from their traditions, appearance,
and customs, that they, as well as the Natchez, had emigrated from Mexico, perhaps at no very remote period.
They resided in towns and villages of considerable extent,
and showed a degree of resolution and desperate valor,
in defending their homes against the murderous Spaniards,
which has seldom been equalled. Unappalled by the terrible execution of the unknown weapons of their enemies,
who, mounted upon horses (hitherto unknown in the country) and clad in defensive armor, presented a novel and
unaccountable spectacle to their wondering eyes, they disputed the invaded territory inch by inch.
Like most of their red brethren, they could not long
brook the indignity of slavery; the proud spirit of the
Indian can never, like that of the African, be so humbled
that his race can continue and multiply in servitude.
The old Portuguese narrator of De Soto's conquest,
speaking of the Indian slaves of Cuba, says that their
custom was to hang themselves, to escape the toil and
degradation of working the mines. He tells of an over
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seer in the service of Vasco Porcalho, (afterwards De Soto's
lieutenant-general,) who, "knowing the Indians under his
charge had resolved to hang themselves, went and staid
for them at the place where they intended to put this dis mal resolution into execution, with a rope in his hand: he
told them they must not imagine that any of their designs
were hid from him, and that he was come to hang himself
with them, that he might torment them in the other world
an hundred times more than he had done in this." His
expedient had the desired effect upon their superstitious
and credulous minds, and, giving, up their purpose, they
returned submissively to their tasks.
Pamphilo de Narvaez, in April, 1528, with a commission
from Charles the Fifth to conquer and take possession,
landed four hundred men and forty or fifty horses at East
Florida.   Penetrating the wilderness, they crossed the
country to Appalache, sometimes experiencing kind treatment from the Indians, at other times in danger from their
attacks. Finding no gold, and but little provision at this
town, from which they drove out the inhabitants on their
first arrival, the Spaniards shaped their course to the south
towards Aute. Tormented by hunger; beset by hidden
foes; disheartened by the terrible difficulties which beset
their path, from the almost impassable natural conformation of the country; and worn out by incessant exertion,
Narvaez and his men reached Aute only to find it burned
and deserted by its inhabitants.
Many of the party having already perished, the rest,
hopeless of making further progress by land, set to work
to construct boats in which they might reach a port of
safety. With singular ingenuity they prepared tools from
the iron of their accoutrements; and, with no further materials than were furnished by the productions of the forest,
and the manes, tails, and skins of their horses, five small
boats were built. They embarked and set sail, but nearly
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
all perished either by famine or by the dangers of the sea.
Onlly a handfiul of the number were ever heard from,
among whom was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. With
only four companions he kept on his course to the West,
and, after years of peril, hardship, and servitude, reached
the Spanish settlements of Mexico.
The next Spanish expedition to Florida was of far more
importance and interest than either that had preceded it.
The celebrated Fernando de Soto, after acquiring an immense fortune as a companion of Pizarro, at Peru, was
moved by the restless spirit of adventure to undertake a
more complete examination of the New World opened to
Spanish cupidity and curiosity.
With seven ships of his own providing, and accompanied by from six hundred to one thousand warlike and
energetic adventurers, many of whom were of noble rank,
De Soto set sail, in the month of April, 1538. Upwards
of a year was spent, mostly upon the island of Cuba, before
the fleet set sail for the Florida coast. In the latter part
of May, 1539, the vessels came to anchor off the bay of
Espiritu Santo, now Tampa Bay, on the western sea-board,
and a large division of soldiers, both horse and foot, were
landed. The Indians had taken the alarm, and, although
the smoke of their fires had been seen from ship-board in
various directions, all had fled from the district, or lay concealed in the thickets. De Soto appears to have been
desirous to proceed upon peaceable terms with the natives,
but hostilities soon followed. Some skirmishes took place
near the point of landing, and the Spaniards speedily possessed themselves of the nearest village, where were the
head-quarters of the cacique Ucita or Hiriga. Here De
Soto established himself in "the lord's house," which was
built upon a mound by the sea-shore; while the soldiers
used the materials of the other buildings in constructing
barracks.
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At the inland extremity of the town stood the temple
devoted by the Indians to,religious observances.  Over the
entrance of this building was the wooden figure of a fowl,
having the eyes gilded - placed there for the purpose of
ornament, or as symbolic of the tutelary deity of the place.
Clearings were now made around the village, to give free
scope to the operations of the cavalry, and parties were
sent out to explore the country, and to make prisoners who
should serve as guides or hostages.
The remembrance of horrible outrages committed upon
himself and his people by Narvaez, had so embittered the
old chief Hiriga against the whites, that no professions of
friendship and good will could appease his hatred. De
Soto released prisoners who were taken by his scouting
parties, charging them with presents and conciliatory messages for their chief, but all in vain.
In the tangled forests and marshes the Indians were
found to be no contemptible opponents. They were described as being "so dexterous fierce and nimble that foot
can gain no advantage upon them." Their bows and arrows
were so effective that coats of mail did not prove a sufficient protection against their force. The arrows were
headed, as usual, with stone, or with fish-bones; those
which were made of canes or reeds produced the deadliest
effect.
A party under Gallegos, scouring the country a few
miles from the camp, attacked a small body of Indians and
put them to flight; but, as a horseman was charging with
his lance at one of the number, he was amazed to hear
him cry out, "Sirs, I am a Christian; do not kill me, nor
these poor men, who have given me my life."
Naked, sun-burned, and painted, this man  was scarce
distinguishable from his wild associates.  His name was
John Ortiz, and he had lived with the Indians twelve
years, being one of the few followers of Narvaez who
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
all perished either by famine or by the dangers of the sea.
Only a handfill of the number were ever heard from,
among whom was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. With
only four companions he kept on his course to the West,
and, after years of peril, hardship, and servitude, reached
the Spanish settlements of Mexico.
The next Spanish expedition to Florida was of far more
importance and interest than either that had preceded it.
The celebrated Fernando de Soto, after acquiring an immense fortune as a companion of Pizarro, at Peru, was
moved by the restless spirit of adventure to undertake a
more complete examination of the New World opened to
Spanish cupidity and curiosity.
With seven ships of his own providing, and accompanied by from six hundred to one thousand warlike and
energetic adventurers, many of whom were of noble rank,
De Soto set sail, in the month of April, 1538. Upwards
of a year was spent, mostly upon the island of Cuba, before
the fleet set sail for the Florida coast. In the latter part
of May, 1539, the vessels came to anchor off the bay of
Espiritu Santo, now Tampa Bay, on the western sea-board,
and a large division of soldiers, both horse and foot, were
landed. The Indians had taken the alarm, and, although
the smoke of their fires had been seen from ship-board in
various directions, all had fled from the district, or lay concealed in the thickets. De Soto appears to have been
desirous to proceed upon peaceable terms with the natives,
but hostilities soon followed.  Some skirmishes took place
near the point of landing, and the Spaniards speedily possessed themselves of the nearest village, where were the
head-quarters of the cacique Ucita or Hiriga.  Here De
Soto established himself in "the lord's house," which was
built upon a mound by the sea-shore; while the soldiers
used the materials of the other buildings in constructing
barracks.
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escaped destruction. Since the disastrous failure of that
expedition he had made his way to Cuba in a small boat,
and had returned again to Florida in a small vessel sent
in quest of the lost party. The Indians enticed a few of
the crew on shore, and made them prisoners. Ortiz was
among the number, and was the only one who escaped immediate death. After amusing themselves by various expedients to terrify and torment their captive, the savages,
by the command of their chief, Hiriga, bound him to four
stakes, and kindled a fire beneath him. He was preserved,
even in this extremity, by the compassionate entreaties and
persuasions of a daughter of the cacique. His burns having been healed, he was deputed to keep watch over the
temple where the bodies of the dead were deposited, to
defend them from attacks of wolves. His vigilance and
resolution, in despatching a wolf, panther, or a "lion,"
(according to one account) which had seized the body of a
child of one of the principal chiefs, aroused a kindly feeling towards him, and he was well used for three years
At the end of that time Hiriga, having been worsted in
fight withl Moscoso, a hostile chief whose dwelling was ata distance of two days' journey, thought it necessary or
expedient to make a sacrifice of his Christian subject-to
the devil. "Seeing," says our Portuguese historian, "-the
devil holds these people in deplorable bondage, they are
accustomed to offer to him the life and blood even of their.
subjects, or of any body else that falls into their hands.'
Forewarned of this danger by his former benefactress,,
Ortiz fled in the night towards the country of Moscoso.
Upon first meeting with the subjects of this chief, he was.
in great danger from the want of an interpreter to explain,
whence he came, and what was his errand; but,, at lasts
finding an Indian who understood the language of the'.
people with whom he had lived, he quieted the suspicions.
of his hosts, and remained with them in friendship no less
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than nine years. Moscoso, hearing of the arrival of De
Soto, generously furnished his captive with an escort, and
gave him free permission to return to his countrymen, in
accordance with a promise made when Ortiz first came to
his territory.
The long-lost Spaniard was joyfully received, with his
companions, at De. Soto's camp; his services as guide being
considered invaluable.   In answer to the first inquiry,
however, where gold was to be sought, he could give no
satisfactory information.
The cacique Moscoso being sent for, soon presented himself at the Spanish encampment, and after spending some
days in familiar intercourse with the wonderful strangers,
departed, exulting in the possession of a shirt and other
tokens of royal munificence.
CHAPTER II.
PROGRESS NORTHWARD. - CONTESTS WITH THE NATIVES. - VITACHU'CO. -EXPEDITION TO CUTIFACHIQUI. - DEPARTURE FOR THE WEST.
'*    *    *    *    The longbare arms
Are heaved aloft, bows twang and arrows stream;
Each makes a tree his shield, and every tree
Bends forth its arrow. Fierce the fight and short
As is the whirlwind." -BRYANT.
DE SOTO now concluded to send his vessels back to Cuba,
and leaving a strong guard in Hiriga's country, to proceed
northward. Favorable accounts were brought by his emissaries from the adjoining district of Paracoxi, and deluding hopes of procuring gold invited to still more distant
exploration in Cale.   Vasco Porcalho, wearied and disgusted with hopeless and desultory skirmishing among the
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swamps and morasses, resigned his commission, and left
with the squadron.
The Spanish force, proceeding up the country, passed
with great difficulty the extensive morass now known as
the Wahoo Swamp, and came to Cale in the southern portion of Alachua. The inhabitants of the town, which was
large, and gave tokens of thrift and abundance, had fled
into the woods, except a few stragglers who were taken
prisoners.   The troops fell upon the stored provisions,
and ravaged the fields of maize with the eagerness of famished men.
Leaving Cale on the 11th of August, De Soto pressed
forward to the populous town of Ochile. Here, without
pretence of coming as friends, the soldiers fell upon the
inhabitants, and overpowered them by the suddenness of
their attack. The country was under the rule of three
brothers, one of whom was taken prisoner in the town.
The second brother came in afterwards upon the receipt
of friendly messages from the Spanish general, but the
elder, Vitachuco, gave the sternest and most haughty responses to all embassies proposing conciliatory measures.
Appearing, at last, to be convinced by the persuasion of
his two brothers, who were sent to him, he consented to a
meeting.  With a large company of chosen warriors, he
proceeded to De Soto's encampment, and, with due formality, entered into a league of friendship. Both armies betook themselves to the principal village of Vitachuco, and
royal entertainment was prepared.
The treacherous cacique, notwithstanding these demonstrations, gathered an immense force of his subjects around
the town, with a view of surprising and annihilating the
Spaniards; but the vigilance of John Ortiz averted the
catastrophe.
Preparations were at once made to anticipate the attack;
and so successfully were they carried out, that the principal 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
cacique was secured, and his army routed. Many of the
fugitives were driven into a lake, where they concealed
themselves by covering their heads with the leaves of
water lilies.   The lake was surrounded by the Spanish
troops, but such was the resolution of the Indians, that
they remained the whole night immersed in water, and, on
the following day, when the rest had delivered themselves
up, "being constrained by the sharpness of the cold that
they endured in the water," twelve still held out, resolving
to die rather than surrender. Chilled and stupefied by the
exposure, these were dragged ashore by some Indians of
Paracoxi, belonging to De Soto's party, who swam after
them, and seized them by the hair.
Although a prisoner, with his chief warriors reduced to
the condition of servants, Vitachuco did not lay aside his
daring purposes of revenge. He managed to circulate the
order among his men, that on a day appointed, while the
Spaniards were at dinner, every Indian should attack the
one nearest him with whatever weapon came to hand.
When the time arrived, Vitachuco, who was seated at
the general's table, rallying himself for a desperate effort,
sprang upon his host, and endeavored to strangle him.
"This blade," says the Portuguese narrator, "fell upon
the general; but before he could get his two hands to his
throat, he gave him such a furious blow with his fist upon
the face that he put him all in a gore of blood." De Soto
had doubtless perished by the unarmed hands of the muscular and determined chief, had not his attendants rushed
to his rescue, and despatched the assailant.
All the other prisoners followed their cacique's example.
Catching at the Spaniards' arms, or the "pounder wherewith they pounded the maize";' each "set upon his master
therewith, or on the first that fell into his hands. They
made use of the lances or swords they met with, as skilfully as if they had been bred to it from their childhood; so
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
that one of them, with sword in hand, made head against
fifteen or twenty men in the open place, until he was killed
by the governor's halbardiers."  Another desperate warrior, with only a lance, kept possession of thie room where
the Indian torn was stored, and could not be dislodged.
He was shot through an aperture in the roof. The Indians
were at last overpowered, and all who had not perished
in the struggle, were bound to stakes and put to death.
Their executioners were the Indians of Paracoxi, who shot
them with arrows.
Napetaca, the scene of this event, was left by the Spaniards in the latter part of September.   Forcing their way
through the vast swamps and over the deep and miry
streams that intercepted their path, and exposed to the
attacks of the revengeful proprietors of the soil, they came
to the town of Uzachil, somewhere near the,present Oscilla
river, midway between the Suwanne and Appalachicola.
Encumbered with horses, baggage, and armor as they
were, their progress is surprising. Uzachil was deserted
by the Indians, and the troops revelled in store of provis ion left by the unfortunate inhabitants.
Marauding parties of the Spaniards succeeded in seizing
many prisoners, both men and women, who were chained
by the neck, and loaded with baggage, when the army re commenced their march. The poor creatures resorted to
every method to effect their escape; some filing their
chains in two with flints, and others running away, when
an opportunity offered, with the badge of slavery still at tached to their necks. Those who failed in the attempt
were cruelly punished.
The natives of this north-western portion of Florida
evinced no little skill and good management in the con  struction of their dwellings and in their method of agricul  ture.  The houses were pronounced "almost like the farm  houses of Spain," and some of the towns were quite populous.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Making a halt at Anhayca, the capital town of the dis trict of Palache, De Soto sent a party to view the sea-coast.
The men commissioned for this service discovered tokens
of the ill-fated expedition of Narvaez at Aute, where the
five boats were built. These were a manger hewn from
the trunk of a tree, and the bones of the horses who had
been killed to supply the means of outfit.
De Soto, about the last of November, sent a detachment
back to the bay of Espiritu Santo, with directions for two
caravels to repair to Cuba, and the other vessels, which
had not already been ordered home, to come round by sea
and join him at Palache. Twenty Indian women were
sent as a present to the general's wife, Donna Isabella.
In one of the scouting expeditions, during the stay at
Palache, a remarkable instance of self-devotion was seen
in two Indians, whom the troops came upon as they were
gathering beans, with a woman, the wife of one'of them,
in their company.   "Though they might have saved themselves, yet they chose rather to die than to abandon the
woman."   "They  wounded  three horses; whereof one
died," before the Spaniards succeeded in destroying them.
Early in March, 1540, the Spanish forces were put in
motion for an expedition to Yupaha, far to the north-east.
Gold was still the object of search. A young Indian, who
was made prisoner at Napetaca, alleged that he had come
from that country, and that it was of great extent and
richness. He said that it was subject to a female cacique,
and that the neighboring tribes paid her tribute in gold,
"whereupon he described the manner how that gold was
dug, how it was I'ielted and refined, as if he had seen it
done a hundred times, or as if the devil had taught him;
inasmuch that all who understood the manner of working
in the mines, averred that it was impossible for him to
speak so exactly of it, without having seen the same."
It would be foreign to our present subject to follow De
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IM                            1~~~~~//fli~~~~
EXECUTION' OF./'  INLDI.N C.PTIVZ.
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Soto in this tour; and, indeed, the position of many of the
localities which are described by his historians, and the
distances and directions of his wearisome  and perilous
journeyings, must, at the present day, be matters of conjecture. It may not, however, be amiss to mention briefly
the accounts preserved of the appearance of some of the
tribes through whose dominions he passed before his return to the north-western districts of modern Florida.
As he moved northward, a marked change was perceived in the buildings. Instead of the grass-covered
huts which served well enough in the genial climate of the
peninsula, the people of Toalli had "for their roof little
canes placed together like tile; they were very neat.
Some had the walls made of poles, so artificially interwoven, that they seemed to be built of stone and lime."
They could be thoroughly warmed in the winter, which
was there pretty severe. The dwellings of the caciques
were roomy and commodious, and were rendered conspicuous by a balcony over the entrance. Great skill was
shown by these people in the manufacture of cloth fiom
grass or fibrous bark, and the deer skins, of which they
made  leggins and  other articles, were  admirably  well
dressed and dyed.
The most remarkable of the countries visited on this
Northern exploration, was Cutifachiqui, supposed to have
been situated far up the Chatahoochee, which was governed by a female.  The Spaniards were astonished at the
dignity and refinement of the queen. Her reception of
De Soto reminds one of Cleopatra's first meeting with
Anthony, as described by the great dramatist.  She was
brought down to the water in a palanquin, and there seated
in the stern of a canoe, upon cushions and carpets, with a
pavilion overhead. She brought presents of mantles and
skins to the general, and hung a necklace of large pearls
about his neck.'
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
The Indians of the country were represented as "tawny,
well-shaped, and more polite than any before seen in Florida." Their numbers had been greatly reduced, two years
previous, by a pestilence, and many deserted dwellings
were to be seen around the town. The accounts given of
the quantity of pearls obtained here, by searching the
places of sepulture, are incredible.
Departing from Cutifachiqui, De  Soto had the ingratitude to carry the queen  along with him, compelling her
even to go on foot.  "In the mean time, that she might
deserve a little consideration to be had  for her still," she
induced the Indians by whose houses the cavalcade passed,
to join the party, and lend their aid in carrying the baggage.  Shle succeeded, finally, in making her escape.
We must now dismiss De Soto and his band upon their
long journey through the western wilderness. He died
upon the Red River, and those of his companions who
escaped death from exposure, disease, or savage weapons,
years after the events above described, made their way
down the Mississippi to the gulf, and thence reached the
Spanish provinces of Mexico.
CHAPTER III.
FROM THE CONQUEST BY DE SOTO TO THE YEAR 1818. -MISSIONARY
OPERATIONS BY THE SPANIARDS.-MOORE'S INVASION OF FLORIDA.
-BOWLES. - WARS OF 1812. - DEFEAT OF THE SEMINOLES BY GEN ERAL JACKSON.
WVE can but briefly touch upon the incidents of Florida
history for nearly two centuries after De Soto's invasion.
The French Huguenot refugees, who settled upon St.
John's  river in  1562, found the natives  placable  and
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
generous. Although their kindness was but ill reciprocated by the colony, no very serious difficulties occurred
between the two races. The power and self-confidence
of the Indians had been broken, and their numbers greatly
reduced, by the desolating ravages committed by the
Spaniards.
In the brutal and murderous wars between the French
and Spanish colonies, which succeeded the new attempts
at settlement, the Indians, although they took no conspicuous part, were occasionally involved in hostilities.  The
most important era in the native history of this period, is
that of the establishment of a regular missionary-system
of instruction.
The central point of these operations was the convent
of St. Helena, situated at St. Augustine. Don Pedro Menendez de Avilla, the Spanish governor who founded this
town, and who had been commissioned by the king of
Spain to spread the Catholic religion among the Indians,
was indefatigable in carrying out his sovereign's intentions. The success met with by the ecclesiastics sent forth
among the various tribes, is astonishing. In the wilderness of central.Florida may still be seen the ruins of
buildings erected by their means for religious exercises.
Their efforts were not confined to'the vicinity of the colonies: emissaries penetrated the western forests, even to
the Mississippi; and amid the rough mountain districts of
the north, they were to be found living with the Indians, and assiduously instructing them, not only in their
religious creed, but in language and useful arts.
The Spanish influence might perhaps have been maintained over the Indians during the existence of the colony,
but for the jealous suspicions of Cabrana, who was made
governor in 1680. He. put to death the principal chief of
the Yemasees, or inhabitants of East Florida, upon an
accusation of having given aid and comfort to the English
135 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
settlers on the St. John's, then called May river. The consequence of this act was a long and troublesome war.
The unfortunate Indians were for many years after this
event made the tools of the hostile European colonies:
first in the French and Spanish wars, and afterwards, in
1702 and 1704, when Governor Moore, of South Carolina,
invaded Florida.
In the north-western districts of the peninsula dwelt the
Appalachees; the rest of the country was inhabited by
the Yemasees. These two nations had formerly been upon
terms of the bitterest enmity, but had been reconciled by
the mediation of the Spaniards.  Moore, followed by a considerable body of English, and a large force of Creek
Indians, ravaged nearly the whole country, beginning at
Appalachee, and proceeding south-easterly to the Atlantic
sea-board.   He carried away many Indians of the conquered tribes to the English plantations as slaves.
After a long period of hopeless and profitless warfare,
in which they had nothing to gain by success, and  by
means of which they were disabled from agriculture and
deprived of a settled abode, the scattered remnants of the
Indian tribes gradually took up their quarters in the heart
of the country, and farther towards the south. In the
latter part of the eighteenth century they acquired the
name of Seminoles, said to signify "wanderers."
In the year 1792, an unprincipled adventurer from England, named Bowles, made strenuous attempts to excite
the hostility of the Indians against the Spanish settlers.
Failing in a direct attempt to plunder an Indian tradinghouse on the St. John's, and finding himself abandoned by
his associates, he betook himself to the Creeks, married a
woman of that tribe, and persuaded the Indians that the
store of goods which he had attacked belonged rightfully
to them: He met with considerable success in deceiving
the simple-minded natives, and, assisted by several chiefs
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of the Creek nation, he got possession of the fortress of
St. Marks. Delivering himself up to riot and drunkenness, with his followers, it proved no difficult task'for' the
Spanish troops to retake the fort. Bowles was allowed to
escape, but was afterwards delivered up by his Indian
allies, and taken to Cuba a prisoner. The Seminoles were
partially involved in the wars of 181~ and the two succeeding years, when the Americans invaded Florida. Their
chief leaders were King Payne and his brother, the noted
Boleck or Bowlegs.   Having done no little damage by
burning buildings and plundering the plantations in their
vicinity, they purposed to march northward, but were engag,ed and routed nearer home, by General Newman, with
a body of troops firom Georgia. This force having crossed
the St. John's, marched into Alachua, and encountered
Payne within a few miles of his head-quarters. The Indians
fought bravely, but could not resist the superior skill of
the whites. Payne was killed, and his men were driven
off in the first engagement; but they rallied, and returned
to the attack with redoubled energy. They possessed themselves of the body of their chief; and afterwards, surrounding the American forces, kept them in a state of siege for a
number of days, imperfectly protected by a structure of logs.
After this period, and previous to the cession of the Floridas to the United States, the affairs of the Seminoles and
their American neighbors were unsettled, and some bloody
scenes were enacted. Fugitive slaves from the adjoining
states found a secure asylum among the immense wilds of
the marshy and uninhabited territory of the Floridas, and
conflicting claims of Indians and whites respecting negroes
long after formed a fertile source of quarrel and complaint.
Some of the Seminoles became possessed of large numbers
of slaves, holding them by undisputed title.
In the month of March, 1818, General Jackson, with
more than three thousand men, over one half of whom were
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Creek warriors, marched into West Florida to punish and
check the ravages of the Seminoles. With little opposition
from the inhabitants, the towns surrounding the lake of
Miccosukie were destroyed, and much booty, in torn and
cattle, was secured. The Indian villages upon the Oscilla
and St. Mark's rivers, known as the Fowel towns, met with
a similar fate. St. Mark's was soon after occupied by the
invaders, and, in the ensuing month, the great body of the
Seminoles, aided by large numbers of negroes, was defeated
on the borders of the Suwanee, and several hundred were
taken prisoners. The rest fled into East Florida.
CHAPTER IV.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE LATE FLORIDA WAR. - TREATY OF MOUL  TRIE CREEK. - TREATY OF PAYNE'S LANDING. - OSCEOLA. - DE  STRUCTION OF DADE'S COMMAND.- BATTLE OF THE OUITHLA  COOCHIE. - CONFERENCE WITH INDIAN CHIEFS, BY GENERAL
GAINES.
S *    *    *    Hark, that quick, fierce cry,
That rends the utter silence;'tis the whoop
Of battle, and a throng of savage men,
With naked arms, and faces stained like blood,
Fill the green wilderness.    *     *    *
*    *    *       *    Soon the conquerors
And conquered vanish, and the dead remain,
Gashed horribly with tomahawks."- BRYANT.
AFTER the whole country had passed into the hands
of the American government, it was thought necessary to
take steps to secure the frontiers of the white settlements
from the incursions of the Indians, and to confine the latter to certain specified districts. In the year'1823, therefore, on the 18th of September, a treaty was concluded
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at the camp on Moultrie Creek, between commissioners
from the United States and a number of Seminole chiefs,
whereby it was stipulated, that all territory not reserved
by the articles should pass to the American government;
that the Indians should confine themselves to a large dis trict described by courses and bounds in the heart of the
peninsula; that fugitive slaves should be delivered up,
the reasonable expenses of securing them being provided
for; and that certain sums should be paid by the government to compensate for the expenses and losses of removal,
and to establish the Indians comfortably in their new quarters.  Various minor particulars were  embodied in the
treaty, which was signed with mark and seal, on the part
of the Seminoles, by the principal chief Micanopy; by
Tuske Hajo, Emathlochee, Econchatimico, Tokosemathla
(known as Hicks), Charley Amathla, Tustenugge, John
Blunt, Mulatto King, Philip, Nea Mathla, and twenty-one
others, possessed of or claiming the authority of chiefs.
An exception was made, by an additional article, in favor
of six of the signers; who were allowed, in consideration
of former services, to remain upon the lands then occupied
by them.
Micanopy is described by Williams as a "large fat man,
rather obtuse in intellect, but kind to his people and slaves."
The Indians were removed in accordance with the
provisions of the agreement, and, until 1835, no serious
hostilities took place between them and the whites. Complaints wvere, indeed, made on both sides of unredressed
Wrongs and outrages.   The  Alachuan settlers lost their
cattle, and attributed the thefts to the Indians: on the
other hand, the Indians complained, with justice, of numberless impositions and deceptions to which they were
exposed in their intercourse with unprincipled traders
and speculators.
To quiet all disturbance it was at last deemed expedient
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by the American government, to effect an entire removal
of the Seminoles to the west of the Mississippi. Accordingly, a meeting was appointed by Micanopy and the government emissaries, to be held at Payne's Landing, on the
Ocklawaha river, on the eighth of May, 1832. Fifteen
chiefs were present, and, after much argument, signed an
agreement, in behalf of themselves and their people, to
accede to the proposals of government; provided the new
lands assigned them should prove acceptable to a deputation from their number who should first go to make examination. The United States were to pay the tribe fifteen
thousand four hundred dollars, and the removal was to
take place within three years. The authority of the signers of this treaty to bind the whole of the Seminole tribes
has been frequently, and with no little reason, called in
question. Certain it is, that to a majority of the nation
the proposition was highly distasteful.
Several chiefs, with Micanopy's prime counsellor, Abraham, an astute negro, undertook the survey of the western
reserve, and signed a writing expressive of their satisfaction with its appearance. - It was claimed by the Indians,
and their partisans, that some deception was used both
in the wording of this certificate, and generally as to the
conclusiveness of the arrangements entered into at Payne's
Landing.
As the end of the term prescribed, within which they
must leave their homes, drew near, opposition to removal
and determination to resist it, continued to gain force
among  the Indians.   They complained of the accounts
brought them of the belligerent character of the savages
who would be their near neighbors, and strenuously objected to a plan, set on foot at Washington, for uniting
their tribe with that of their old enemies the Creeks.
Serious disturbances commenced in 1835. Some months
previously, whites had been, upon one or two occasions,
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fired upon by the Indians, and mutual wrongs, insults,
and injuries, had excited general ill-feeling between the
two nations. In the month of October, of this year, several Indians were detected in killing a cow near Kenapaha
pond, not far from Miccosukie. They were set upon by
seven whites, who seized their arms, and commenced
beating them with whips. An affray succeeded, in which
several were wounded on both sides, and two of the Indians were killed outright. This may be considered to be
the commencement of the war: it was the first-blood shed,
but was soon followed by other outrages. The mail rider,
upon his route from Fort Brooke, on Tampa Bay, to Fort
King, fell a victim to Indian revenge; his body was found
hacked and mutilated.
It now appeared that the Seminoles, determined to maintain their ground, had been, for some time, purchasing and
hoarding great stores of arms and ammunition.   Their
numbers were considerable; they had among them leaders
known to be bold, determined, and sagacious; they considered themselves wronged and oppressed; and all these
circumstances, combined with their intimate knowledge of
the impassable wilderness to which they could at any moment retire, convinced the discerning that a war with them
must be fraught with danger and difficulty, and might be
indefinitely protracted.
The young chief, Osceoia, whose name is more intimately associated than any other with the bloody events
that succeeded, now began to attract attention for his
acuteness, energy, and determined hostility to the whites.
He was a quadroon of the Red Stick (anglicized from the
French "Baton Rouge ") tribe, of Miccosukie; his mother
being a half-breed, and his father supposed to be an Englishman named Powel- a name ordinarily borne by the
chief. Osceola had opposed the plan of removal at previous councils, with great vigor, and on one occasion
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demeaned himself with such violence that he was seized
by General Thompson, the government agent, and kept for
a day or two confined in fetters. Dissembling his rage,
he, for a time, managed to disarm suspicion; bringing in
a great number of his followers, and solemnly ratifying the
treaty.
His true purposes and feelings were first known by the
part he took in the murder of John Hicks and Charley
Amathla, two chiefs who had been prominent in forwarding
the treaty of removal. He obtained great ascendency for
himself and followers among the whole nation of the Seminoles; and mainly through his influence, instead of collecting their cattle and stock for appraisal, at the time when
they were notified that they must leave the country, the
warriors of the tribe secreted their women and children in
swamps remote from white settlements, and scoured the
country in hostile attitude.
Troops were ordered to Florida from  various  quarters.  Major Dade, arriving at Tampa Bay, with a comnpany of United States' infantry, being reeinforced, with two
other companies, started on the 24th of December, to
the relief of General Clinch, at Fort King.   His force
consisted of over one hundred regular troops, supplied
with ten days' provision: they took with them a small
field-piece. Some delay occurred upon the march, owing
to the difficulty of transporting the cannon, and on the
28th they had advanced no farther than a few miles to
the northward of the forks of the Ouithlacoochee. Here
they were attacked by an unknown multitude of Indians,
under the command of Micanopy, and his brother-in-law,
the celebrated Jumper, who had avoided signing the
treaty of Moultrie Creek.   The savages were crouching
among the long wire-grass, and protected by the trunks
of the pine-trees, when they commenced their fire. The
effect was deadly; Major Dade and a great number of
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his men were killed at the first discharge. The soldiers
continued to fight bravely, sheltering themselves as well
as possible behind trees; and, as the Indians rose up,
poured in their fire so briskly as to drive the enemy firom
the field. Every instant was now occupied in forming a
slight protection by cutting and piling up the trunks of
pines.   The Indians, however, soon returned in great
force, and, surrounding the little intrenchment, destroyed
nearly every man of the company. After they had taken
possession of the arms which lay scattered around, the
Indians retired, but a body of mounted negroes are said
to have come up and finished the murderous work by
knocking out the brains of the wounded. Only four men
escaped, being passed over by the negroes and Indians, as
they lay wounded and motionless among the dead bodies.
One of these was killed on the following day, while endeavoring to make his way back to the fort: the other
three, cautiously threading their path through the wilderness, arrived safe at Tampa Bay.
On the same day with the destruction of Dade's com,
mand, Osceola revenged himself upon his hated foe, General
Wiley Thompson, by whom he had been imprisoned, as
before mentioned. A company of nine, among them General Thompson, were dining at the house of a Mr. Rogers,
within fifty rods of Fort King, when the house was beset
by Indians, and a volley poured in upon the company.
Thompson and four others were killed; the rest escaped
to the fort.
In the course of the month, various plantations were
destroyed in different parts of the country bordering on the
Indian reserve, and some skirmishing took place. On the
last day of December, General Clinch, who had been stationed at Fort Drane, thirty miles north-west of Fort King,
being on his march towards Osceola's head-quarters with a
considerable force of Florida volunteers and about two, hun
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dred regular troops, encountered the enemy upon the left
bank of the Ouithlacoochee.
The Indians, numbering, as was supposed, about six
hundred, headed by Osceola, fell upon the first division
of the American army that had effected the passage of the
river.   The stream, contrary to expectation, was in no
place fordable, and the only means of crossing was by a
single canoe; the horses passed the river by swimming.
The Indian commander evinced great bravery and consummate marksmanship, and his men, firing from the cover
of a thick growth of underwood, and from behind trees,
pro'ed difficult opponents to dislodge.  The troops, with
one or two slight exceptions, stood firm, and after repeated
charges, drove the Indians from the field. In this engagement more than fifty Americans were wounded, and several
killed; the loss of the enemy was reported to have been
over one hundred.
Additional troops from Louisiana, and forces connected
with the marine service, were collected at Tampa Bay; and
a large detachment, under General Gaines, marched to Fort
SKing, where they arrived on the 22d of February. ProVisions being scarce, and the state of the roads being such
,that supplies could not be easily procured, Gaines and his
force commenced their return to Tampa, by the route formerly taken by Clinch, across the Ouithlacoochee. On the
'banik of the river, no great distance from the scene of the
last battle, the army was, in a manner, surrounded and besieged for more than a week, by Indians, apparently to the
number of from one to two thousand. A galling fire was
kept up at every exposed point. Word was sent to Fort
Drane, where General Clinch was stationed, for relief, as
'the provisions of the army were nearly expended.
On the 6th of March, a conference was held between
the American officers and three of the principal Indian
chiefs -Osceola, Jumper, and Alligator.  The camp had
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been hailed during the previous night, and a wish for a
parley expressed on the part of the savages. The chiefs
professed a desire for peace; said they were weary of war,
and that, if they could be allowed to retire quietly beyond
the Ouithlacoochee, and could remain there unmolested,
they would create no further disturbance.   They were
informed that the general had no authority to conclude
any agreement with them, and that their only course was
to comply with the requisitions of the government, as
forces, which it would be impossible for them to resist,
were on their way to enforce submission. The Indian
chiefs wished for an opportunity to take counsel with their
great King Micanopy, before returning an answer; but
General Clinch appearing, with the desired relief, and
engaging with a detachment of the Indians, the meeting
was broken up. They agreed, however, before retiring,
to draw off their warriors to the south bank of the river,
and to hold themselves ready to attend further council
when notified.
Nothing further was effected, and the combined American forces returned to Fort Drane.
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CHAPTER V.
CONDITION OF EAST FLORIDA.' -GENERAL SCOTT'S CAMPAIGN. -GAR
RISON BESIEGED ON THE OUITHLACOOCHEE. -OCCURRENCES DUR ING THE SUMMER OF 1836.-ARRIVAL OF CREEK ALLIES. -COLONEL
LANE'S EXPEDITION FROM TAMPA.-BATTLES OF THE WAHOO
SWAMP. -GENERAL JESSUP APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND  IN
FLORIDA.
"*   *  And there are tales of sad reality
In the dark legends of thy border war."
HALLECK.
BY this time grievous injury had been done by the Indians to the settlements in East Florida. Philip was the
principal leader in the devastations that took place in that
region. New Smyrna, at Mosquito Inlet, was destroyed,
and the plantations upon Halifax river, to the nortlhward
of the town, were ravaged and the settlers driven off. The
white inhabitants of the interior were every where obliged
either to abandon their homes, or to erect defences and to
establish a regular watch.
General Scott having been appointed to the command of
the army in Florida during the spring of this year (1836),
formed a plan to penetrate the heart of the country, with a
large force, from three different quarters simultaneously,
and thus surround the Indians and cut off their retreat.
Generals Clinch and Eustice, and Colonel Lindsey were
appointed to lead the three divisions. General Clinch's
party was attended by General Scott in person. The army
was put in motion in the latter part of the month of March.
The service was accomplished, but with little good
effect. The Indians, possessing perfect knowledge of the
country, instead of opposing the advancing columns in
force, hung about the flanks and rear of the army, and kept
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up a vexatious skirmishing.  No important engagement
took place, and the three divisions, after lying for a few
days at Tampa, were again put in motion.  Separate detachments were ordered to proceed, one to Fort Drane, one
to attack the enemy at Pease Creek, to the southward, one
to ravage the country in the vicinity of the Ouithlacoochee,
and another to march to Volusia.
Little benefit appears to have resulted from the campaign: a careful attention to the plans of Indian warfare
laid down, at an earlier age, by Captain Benjamin Church,
of New England, or by the redoubtable pioneer of Virginia, Captain John Smith, might have produced effects far
more decided.
A small detachment of troops had been left, about the
middle of March, to guard a quantity of provision, stored
in a rude building fifteen miles up the Ouithlacoochee.
Not having been heard from for many weeks after, they
were supposed to have been cut off by the Indians, and
no attempt was made to relieve them until towards the
latter part of May, when three of the garrison managed
to escape the vigilance of their besiegers, and to convey
intelligence of their condition to Tallahassee. The small
party had been defending their post gallantly for more
than two months against hosts of the enemy; their blockhouse had been partially destroyed over their heads, so
that they were exposed to the inclemencies of the weather,
and their provision consisted entirely of corn. A steamer
was sent to the river's mouth, and the company was brought
down to it in a barge.
As the season advanced, the enervating influence of the
climate produced its natural effect upon the troops. The
fevers of the country attacked those who were not acclimated, and the rest were but poorly conditioned for an
arduous campaign.  Active operations for the most part
ceased; the volunteers were discharged, and the regular
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soldiers distributed among the different forts extending
from St. Augustine across the country to the Suwanne.
The Indians were free to roam where they listed through the
immense wilderness to the southward, and to lay plans of
secret attack upon every exposed settlement or plantation.
About the end of April, a terrible massacre took place
at Charlotte Harbor; and in May and June, the country
between the St. Johns and the Atlantic, nearly as far north
as St. Augustine, was generally ravaged by the Indians.
Their attacks extended to the vicinity of Mandarin, only
sixteen or eighteen miles south of Jacksonville. A Mr.
Motte, residing at that place, was murdered, and his establishment was destroyed.
Early in June, the Indians, emboldened by success in the
destruction of plantations, and the expulsion of the whites
firom such extensive districts, beset the fort at Micanopy,
which was garrisoned by a company under the command
of Major Heillman, then at the head of the army west of
St. John's river. They were driven off, but not without
some loss on the part of the whites.
In July, Fort Drane had become so unhealthy that it
was thought necessary to abandon it. As the troops were
on their march upon the evacuation of the place, they
had a sharp brush with some hundreds of Indians who
lay in wait for them near Welika Pond, in the vicinity of
Micanopy. Towards the close of the month the lighthouse at Cape Florida was destroyed. The keeper, named
Thompson, was singularly preserved by clinging to the top
of the stone wall of the building, while the wood-work
was burned out from within. After the Indians had, by
their own act, cut off the means of access to the summit,
they descried the unfortunate man, half dead with the heat
and smoke, and shot at him a long time without effect.
He was able to crouch in such a manner upon the top of the
wall as to elude their aim, until they took their departure.
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
It would be impracticable, in a sketch of this kind, to
give full particulars of the skirmishing, plundering, and
murders which were to be heard of on every side during
the summer of 1836. About the middle of August, it was
ascertained that Osceola and a large company of his followers were staying in the vicinity of the abandoned Fort
Drane, for the sake of securing the corn growing upon the
neighboring plantations. They were attacked and defeated
by Major Pierce.
,In September a marauding party of Indians made their
way to within seven miles of Jacksonville, where they
attacked the house of Mr.  Higginbotham.  There were
only two men in the house, but, having a number of guns,
and receiving resolute assistance from the women of the
family, they successfully resisted the assault. After the
Indians had retired, Higginbotham hastened with all speed
to Jacksonville, and procured a party of twelve men,
under Major Hart, to pursue them. Taking the Indian
trail, the company followed it to the house of Mr. Johns,
ten miles distant from the scene of the attack. The building had been reduced to ashes, and the half-burned body
of its proprietor lay among the ruins.   Mrs. Johns had
been scalped, and left to perish. Before their departure,
one of the savages set fire to her clothes, but she managed
to extinguish the flame, and to creep away from the burning
building. In this miserable condition she was discovered,
lying by the border of the swamp, and kindly cared for.
The perpetrators of this outrage, having secured good
horses, effected their escape.
Before the end of this month, additional forces from
Tennessee were brought into Florida, and a body of nearly
a thousand Creeks, led by the chiefs Paddy Carr and Jim
Boy, came to lend their aid against the Indians of the peninsula. An army of from one to two thousand men, including the Tennessee brigade, under Governor Call, marched,
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in the beginning of October, to the deserted Fort Drane,
but found that the Indians had recently left their quarters
in that neighborhood. The trail of the fugitives was fol lowed towards the Ouithlacoochee, but the pursuit of savages, in their own country, especially in such a country as
Florida, by regular troops, encumbered with baggage, and
ignorant of the fastnesses of the enemy, proved as futile
in that instance as upon former and subsequent. occasions.
Little was accomplished against the enemy, who were enabled, at any time, to retreat beyond the reach of their
pursuers, and only showed themselves where they could
attack the whites at a disadvantage. Under existing circumstances, the main force was obliged to return to Fort
Drane, not without the loss of a great number of their
horses from hard service upon indifferent food.
Colonel Lane, with a strong force of Creek Indians and
regular troops, made an excursion into the enemy's country
from Tampa Bay, during the early part of this month.
Near the Ocklikany Lake, called the Spotted Lake, from
the great number of small wooded islands which cover its
surface, about sixty miles from Tampa, an Indian trail
was struck. The party followed this track to the southward, and came successively upon several considerable
Indian villages deserted by the inhabitants. Large corn
fields were seen in the vicinity of these settlements, and
some hundreds of cattle were secured by the Creek Indians
of the company.   At one advantageous post, where the
thick underwood on the borders of a small lake offered
protection to an ambush, the Seminoles attempted, unsuccessfully, to resist the invaders.   They were driven out
into the open country and dispersed. Lane and his detachment joined General Call at Fort Drane on the 19th. lHe
survived this service but a few days, being found in his
tent, nearly dead, with the point of his sword thrust into
the brain over his eye: there was little doubt among those
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conversant with the circumstances of his death, but that it
occurred accidentally.
The combined army, of more than two thousand men,
marched to the Ouithlacoochee in November. This region,
which had been a favorite resort of the Seminoles throughout the war, was now found entirely abandoned, and trails
were discovered trending towards the great Wahoo Swamp.
That the main body of the enemy had moved in that
direction, was also affirmed by an old negro, found at an
abandoned village on the river. Taking up the pursuit,
a portion of the American forces followed the trail, and
had a sharp engagement with the Indians on the border
of the swamp. There was, however, abundant space for
the fugitives to retreat into, where the whites were unable
to follow them, and no heavy loss occurred on either side.
Another battle took place pn the 21st, in which the
Seminoles displayed more resolution, and stood the charge
of the regular troops with greater firmness, than had ever
before been observed in them.  The dangers of the extensive morass to which they retreated proved more insurmountable than those attendant upon the contest with the
savages themselves.
Provisions being nearly exhausted, and it being impossible to procure supplies in such a wilderness, the army
proceeded to Volusia, between Lake George and Dexter's
Lake. There it was joined by General Jessup, who had
been appointed to the chief command in Florida, with four
hundred mounted volunteers from Alabama.
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CHAPTER VI.
PURSUIT OF THE SEMINOLES SOUTHWARD. - ENCOUNTER ON THE
HATCHEE LUSTEE. -CONFERENCE AND TRUCE WITH THE INDIANS.
- RENEWAL OF THE TREATY OF PAYNE'S LANDING.-NEGLECT
ON THE PART OF THE INDIANS TO COMPLY WITH ITS PROVIS IONS. -CAPTURE, SURRENDER, AND TREACHEROUS SEIZURE OF
VARIOUS CHIEFS. -DEATH  OF  OSCEOLA. -COLONEL  TAYLOR'S
CAMPAIGN.
WE have already given more space to the details of the
Florida campaign, than such ill-advised, ill-conducted, and
trivial operations deserve. We would be the last to endeavor to detract from the deserved laurels of many of
the brave men who were engaged in them, while we can
but lament that their lives should have been sacrificed;
less by the weapons of the savages than by the diseases of
the country; that the public money should have been
squandered; and the whole peninsula so long kept in a
state of agitation and suspense, when pacific measures
might have kept matters comparatively at rest.
Before the first of January, General Jessup, marching
with his troops from Volusia, with the cooperation of Colonel
Foster, despatched from Tampa, ranged the whole country
on the Ouithlacoochee and other haunts of the Seminoles,
and examined the deep recesses of the Wahoo morass,
without finding an enemy. The Indian trails which were
observed, all led to the unexplored wilderness of the south.
Thither he started in pursuit of the fugitive Seminoles,
on the 22d of January (1837). On the succeeding day, a
detachment, under Colonel Cawfield, surprised Osuchee or
Cooper, a Seminole chief, then encamped at Ahapopka
Lake, from which flows the Ocklawaha. The chief and
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several of his warriors were killed, and a number of prisoners were taken.
The main army, still following the course of the Indian
track, now came to the high ridge of sandy hills lying directly south of Lake Ahapopka. The second day after
passing these hills, cattle of the Indians were seen, and
shortly after a scouting party, under Colonel Henderson,
discovered the enemy upon the borders of the stream of
Hatchee Lustee. The troops instantly charged, and drove
them into the swamp, taking twenty or thirty prisoners,
mostly women and children.
On the same day, another large body of Indians was
discovered a little farther to the westward, who fled precipitately upon the approach of troops. One of the Seminoles was found watching by his sick wife, who had been
left as unable to travel. This Indian was sent the next
morning (January 28th) to invite the Seminole chiefs to a
conference. The army was marched to the border of Tohopekaliga Lake, (into which empties the Hatchee Lustee
Creek,) and encamped between its waters and the Big
Cypress swamp, to await the return of the messenger. He
made his appearance on the following day, bringing intelligence from the hostile chiefs, who agreed to have a parley.
The first who presented himself, on the part of the Seminoles, was Abraham, Micanopy's negro counsellor. Having held a consultation with General Jessup, he returned
to his people; but three days after, February 3d, escorted
Jumper, Alligator, and two other chiefs to the camp. It
was concluded that a grand talk should be held, and a new
treaty entered into on the 18th of the month, at Fort
Dade, on the Big Ouithlacoochee.  To that establishment
the army immediately repaired, as it was agreed that hostilities should be suspended until after the council.
On the 8th of the month, several hundred Indians, led
by Philip, the chief who had long been the terror of the
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eastern portion of the peninsula, attacked Colonel Fanning,
then in the occupation of a station on Lake Monroe, with
a mixed garrison of regulars, volunteers, and Creeks. The
Creek chief Paddy Carr was of the company. The assailants were driven off with loss, and, in their retreat, met
a messenger sent by Micanopy to convey intelligence of
the truce.
Some delays occurred in bringing about the conference
assigned for the 18th, but at last most of the principal Seminole chiefs signed a treaty similar to that of Payne's Landing, whereby they agreed to remove west of the Mississippi. The United States government was to make remuneration for the stock which must necessarily be left behind,
and to pay stipulated annuities, as before agreed.  There
can be but little doubt that, even on this occasion, the Indians had no real intention of complying with the requisitions of government. Few came in on the days appointed,
and rumors were circulated among them - whether actually
believed, or only used as an excuse for absenting themselves, does not appear - that the whites intended to destroy the whole tribe as soon as they should be secured on
board the government vessels.
Osceola and Coe Hajo, still pretending that their endeavor was to collect their people for transportation, held
a great festival or game at ball near Fort Mellon, upon
Lake Monroe, at the eastern part of the peninsula. They
doubtless chose this place for gathering their followers, as
being at a safe distance from the point of embarkation on
Tampa Bay. On the 2d of June, Osceola took two hundred of his warriors to Tampa Bay, and, either by force or
persuasion, induced the old king Micanopy, and all the
other Indians who had rendezvoused there in pursuance of
the treaty, to move off again to the wilderness.
Hearing of this, the commandant at Fort Mellon,
Colonel Harney, made up his mind to entrap such of the
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chiefs as were in his vicinity, under pretence of a conference; and retaliate upon the Seminoles for their breach of
faith at Tampa, by seizing those who should appear. Osceola got wind of the design, and it consequently proved
futile.
Fort Mellon and Volusia were abandoned during this
month, the sickness attendant upon the season having
commenced its ravages among the troops, and the Indians
were left free to roam over that whole portion of the country, while the settlers whose dwellings were exposed to
their assaults, were forced to fly to places of protection.
The last of the month, Captain Walton, keeper of the
floating light on Carysford reef, was killed, together with
one of his assistants, at Key Largos, the most considerable
of the Florida Keys. He had a garden at this island, and
had just landed, coming from the light, when he and his
party were fired upon. The whole south-eastern sea-coast
was then in undisturbed possession of the hostile Indians.
In September, General Hernandez, stationed at Fort
Peyton, a few miles from St. Augustine, made an expedition to the southward, and captured the dreaded Philip,
Uchee Billy, and nearly one hundred other Indians and
negroes. Philip's son, coming with a flag of truce to St.
Augustine, was taken prisoner, and retained in captivity.
Other chiefs and warriors  -among them Tustenugge
delivered themselves up at Black Creek, and several captures were made at other points; but the most important
transaction of this autumn - whether justifiable or notwas the seizure of Osceola, Alligator, and six other of the
leading Seminoles. They had come into the neighborhood
of Fort Peyton, and sent word to General Jessup that they
desired a parley.
General Hernandez was deputed to hold the conference,
but the talk of the Indians being pronounced "evasive and
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unsatisfactory," the commander-in-chief despatched a force
to capture the whole body; these chiefs accordingly, with
over sixty followers, fell into the hands of their enemies.
The excuse given for this act was, that the treachery of
the Indians upon former occasions had deprived them of
all claims to good faith on the part of the whites. Osceola
was removed to Charleston, and died in confinement on
the 30th of January, 1838. If hlie had survived, he was
to have been taken, with other Seminoles, to the west of
the Mississippi.
In  the  same  month,  various  other  captures  were
made, until the Indians in bondage at St. Augustine
numbered nearly one hundred and fifty. The United
States forces, consisting of regulars, volunteers, seamen,
and Indian allies, distributed among the various posts in
Florida at this time, are set down at little short of nine
thousand men!
Sam Jones, or Abiaca, was, after the capture of Osceola,
one of the most forward of the Seminole chiefs. HIe appears to have been spokesman at a conference held, not far
from this time, between his tribe and deputies from the
Creek nation, bearing proposals and advice from their celebrated chief John Ross.
We must next proceed to the campaign of Colonel
Zachary Taylor, the hero of many battles, and afterwards
the distinguished president of the United States. He left
Fort Gardner, a station sixty miles tlue east from Fort
Brooke, on Tampa Bay, with some six hundred troops, to
follow the enemy into their hidden retreats at the south.
Pursuing the course of the Kissimee, the army had advanced within fifteen miles of the great lake Okeechobee,
on the northern borders of the unexplored everglades,
when intelligence was obtained from a prisoner, that the
Seminoles were encamped in force on the eastern shore of
the Kissimee lake. With a portion of his army, Colonel
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Taylor crossed the river, and hastened to attack the Indians in the hammock where they were posted. Never
before had the Indian rifles done more deadly execution,
and never had their warriors evinced more determined
courage. They were with great difficulty dislodged and
dispersed: the number of killed and wounded on the part
of the whites considerably exceeded that of the Indians,
no less than one hundred and eleven of Col. Taylor's men
being wounded, and twenty-eight killed.
(
CHAPTER VII.
VARIOUS MINOR ENGAGEMENTS.- SURRENDER OF LARGE NUMBERS OF
INDIANS. - CONTINUANCE OF DEPREDATIONS. - BLOODHOUNDS FROM
CUBA. - ATTACK UPON A COMPANY OF ACTORS. - SEMINOLE CHIEFS
BROUGHT BACK FROM THE WEST TO REPORT THEIR CONDITION TO
THEIR COUNTRYMEN. - COL. HARNEY'S EXPEDITION TO THE EVER GLADES. - END OF THE WVAR. - INDIANS SHIPPED WEST. - NUMBERS
STILL REMAINING IN FLORIDA.
DURING December, (1837,) several encounters of minor
importance took place in different parts of the country.
Many prisoners were taken in the district between Fort
Mellon and Lake Poinsett, near the head waters of the St.
John's, and a small skirmish occurred as far north as the
Suwanne. There was a more severely contested action
near Fort Fanning, on this river, early in January, (1838,)
in which the whites met with some loss, but succeeded in
taking a number of prisoners.
On the eastern sea-coast, not far from Jupiter Inlet, a
company under Lieutenant Powell was worsted in an engagement, and retreated with loss. The Indians had been
driven into a swamp on Lochahatchee Creek, where they
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
made a spirited resistance until their pursuers found it
necessary to retreat.
General Jessup attacked and broke up this encampment
of the Indians, towards the end of January. He was himself wounded in the action. Toskegee was the chief who
commanded the Seminoles in both these battles.
The general was now anxious to conclude a treaty with
the Indians, by which they should be allowed to remain in
their own country, confining themselves to specified districts. But the government refused assent to any such
proposition. He nevertheless proceeded to bring about
parleys with his savage opponents, as it was evident that
desultory hostilities might be indefinitely protracted.
The Seminoles, miserably reduced by the troubled life
they had led so long, and weary of profitless warfare, hardship and exposure, were induced to surrender in large
numbers. They apparently expected to be allowed to remain in the country, as they were assured by the officers
with whom they treated that every endeavor would be
made to procure that permission from the government.
When General Jessup left Florida, in April, 1838, leaving General Taylor in command, more than two thousand
of the dangerous tribe were in the power of the whites.
Part of these had been captured, but the larger portion
had delivered themselves up upon fair promises.
Philip and Jumper both died on their route to the west,
the former on board the vessel in which he was embarked
and the latter at New Orleans.
The hopes entertained, after these events, that the war
was substantially at an end, proved fallacious. Murders
were committed during the summer and fall, by prowling
parties of Indians in widely distant parts of the country.
On the Ocklikoni and Oscilla rivers, in West Florida,
small establishments suffered from the depredations of the
savages; and their hostile feeling was manifest whenever
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
a vessel was in distress upon the dangerous eastern and
southern coast.
This desultory warfare, marked by many painful and
horrible details of private suffering and disaster, continued
until the spring of 1839. No conference could be obtained with the leading chiefs, and Indians were every
where lurking in small bands ready to fire upon the solitary traveller, or to rush at an unguarded hour upon an
isolated plantation.
General Macomb, who had command of the army during April and May, succeeded in bringing about a parley
with some of the Seminoles, in which it was agreed that
the tribe should stay peaceably in Florida until intelligence
could be brought of the safe arrival and prosperous condition of the captives already shipped westward. The
Tallahassee chief, Tigertail, and Abiaca, having had no
concern with this treaty, refused to abide by it, and bloody
skirmishes and assassinations continued to be heard from
on every side.
The government of Florida now offered a bounty of two
hundred dollars for each Indian secured or killed. We
cannot even enumerate one half the petty engagements and
sanguinary transactions of the ensuing winter and spring.
In March, 1840, bloodhounds were brought into Florida
from Cuba, to aid in tracking and ferreting out the savages
from their lurking places General Taylor had been authorized, during the preceding autumn, to. procure this
novel addition to the efficient force of the army, and natives of the island were also secured to train and manage
the dogs. There was a great outcry raised, and perhaps
justly, at this barbarous plan of warfare, but little seems
to have resulted from the operation except the furnishing
a valuable breed of the animal for future domestic use, and
the supplying of excellent subject matter for the: caricatur.ists, who made the war a theme for ridicule.
161 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Before the 1st of June, many more families were massacred, and several bloody engagements occurred between
comparatively small companies of whites and- Indians.
Near the close of May, a ludicrous though tragical ilncident took place on the road between Picolata and St.
Augustine.
A company of play-actors, en route for the latter town,
were set upon by the noted chief Wild Cat, with a large
body of Indians.  Four were killed, and the "property"
of the establishment fell into the hands of the savages.
Nothing could have delighted them more than an acquisition so congenial to their tastes. The tawdry red velvet,
spangles, and sashes, which every where obtain as the appropriate costume of the stage, were now put to a new use,
and served as royal appendages to the dusky forms of the
Seminole warriors. Decked in this finery, they made their
exultant appearance before Fort Searle, challenging the little garrison to an engagement.
The month of August was marked by scenes of terrible
interest. On the Suwanne, eleven families were driven
from their homes, and many of their members murdered:
the settlement on Indian Key was almost totally destroyed,
.six persons being massacred. Nothing was accomplished
in any way tending to bring the war to an end, or to mitigate its horrors, until autumn.
It was resolved, at last, to try fair measures, since foul
.proved of so little avail, and a number of the principal
Seminoles who had experienced the realities of a western
life, among whom were old Micanopy and Alligator, were
brought back to Florida, for the purpose of pointing out
to their brethren the advantages of their new homes, andcl
inducing peaceable compliance with the intended removal.
A meeting was obtained at Fort King, early in November,
with Tigertail and other Seminole chiefs; but after a few
days of profitless parley, the whole of the hostile party
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FLORIDA INDIANS.
disappeared, and with them all prospect of an amicable
settlement of difficulties.
The Indians continued their depredations, murdering
and plundering with greater boldness than ever. In December, Colonel Harney attacked the enemy in quarters,
which they had till then occupied in undisturbed security, viz.: the islands and dry spots of that waste of "grasswater," as the natives term it, the Everglades.  He  had
obtained a negro guide, who knew of the haunts of the
chief Chaikika and his people, and, taking a considerable
company in boats, he proceeded to beat up his quarters.
The party came upon the Indians most unexpectedly:
Chaikika was shot by a private after he had thrown down
his arms, and his men, with their families, were surrounded
and taken before they had time to escape. Nine of the
men were hanged! on the ground that they were concerned
in the Indian Key massacre; some of the property plundered on that occasion being found in the camp.
The only other important event of the month was the
surrender of a son and a brother of the old and implacable chieftain Tigertail. They delivered themselves up at
Fort King. In Middle Florida, travelling continued as
unsafe as ever, unless in well-armed companies, of force
sufficient to keep the lurking savages in awe.
We have now chronicled the principal events of this
tedious, harassing, and most expensive war. Hostilities
did not, indeed, cease at the period under our present consideration, but a knowledge of the true policy-to be pur sued towards these ignorant and truly unfortunate savages
began to be generally diffused, and more conciliatory meas ures were adopted.
John C. Spencer, Secretary of War, in November, 1842,
reported that, during the current year, four hundred and
fifty Indians had been sent west of the Mississippi from
Florida, and that two hundred more were supposed to have
.f
163 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
surrendered. This report proceeds: "The number of
troops has been gradually diminished, leaving an adequate
number to protect the inhabitants from the miserable remnants of tribes, still remaining. We have advices that
arrangements have been made with all but a very few of
those Indians for their removal west of the Mississippi, or
to the district in the southern part of the peninsula assigned them for their habitation; and it is believed that, by
this time, all the bands north of that district, have agreed
to cease hostilities and remove there. Two or three instances of outrages have occurred since the orders were issued
for the termination of hostilities, but they are ascertained
to have been committed by bands who were ignorant of
the measures adopted, or of the terms offered."
Some difficulty arose from the extreme dislike which
the Seminoles, who were moved westward, entertained of
being located upon the same district with the Creeks, and
a deputation from their body of a number of warriors, including Alligator and Wild Cat, repaired to the seat of
government for redress. Measures were taken to satisfy
them.
The Indians who still keep possession of a district in
Southern Florida, consisting of Seminoles, Micasaukies,
Creeks, Uchees, and Choctaws, are variously estimated as
numbering from three hundred and fifty to five hundred,
including women and children. Seventy-six were shipped
to the west in 1850.
As a tribe, they have long been at peace with their
white neighbors, although some individuals of these people
have, and at no distant date, given proof that the spirit of
the savage is not yet totally extinct.
164 
THIE INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER I.
EXPEDITION OF AMIDAS AND BARLOW -OF SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE
- OF BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLL, WITH CAPTAIN SMITH. - SETTLE  MENT AT JAMESTOWN. - VISIT TO POWHATAN. - IMPROVIDENCE
AND DIFFICULTIES OF THE COLONISTS. - EXPLORATION OF THE
CHICKAHOMINY. -SMITH TAKEN PRISONER.- HIS TREATMENT BY
THE INDIANS.
"He lived, the impersonation of an age
That never shall return. His soul of fire
Was kindled by the breath of the rude times
He lived in." -  BRYANT.
THE most complete and veracious account of the manners, appearance, and history of the aboriginal inhabitants
of Virginia, particularly those who dwelt in the eastern
portion of that district, upon the rivers and the shores of
Chesapeake Bay, is contained in the narrative of the redoubted Captain John Smith. This bold and energetic
pioneer, after many "strange adventures, happed by land
or sea;" still a young man, though a veteran in military
service; and inured to danger and hardship, in battle and
captivity among the Turks, joined his fortunes to those of
Bartholomew Gosnoll and his party, who sailed from
England on the 19th of December, 1606, (O. S.) to form
a settlement on the Western Continent.
Former attempts to establish colonies in Virginia had
terminated disastrously, from the gross incompetence, ex                                                (165)
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
travagant expectations, improvidence, and villanous con duct of those engaged in them.
In 1584, Sir Walter Raleigh and his associates, under
a patent from Queen Elizabeth, had sent out two small
vessels, commanded by Amidas and Barlow. By the cir cuitous route then usually adopted, the exploring party
passed the West Indies, coasted along the fragrant shores
of Florida, and entered Ocrakoke Inlet in the month of
July, enraptured with the rich and fruitful appearance of
the country. Grapes grew to the very borders of the sea,
overspreading the bushes and climbing to the tops of trees
in luxurious abundance.
Their intercourse with the natives was friendly and
peaceful; as they reported, "a more kind, loving people
could not be." They carried on trade and barter with
Granganimeo, brother to Winginia, king of the country,
and were royally entertained by his wife at the island of
Roanoke.
Wingandacoa was the Indian name of the country, and,
on the return of the expedition, in the ensuing September,
it was called Virginia, in honor of the queen.
Sir Richard Grenville, an associate of Raleigh, visited
Virginia the next year, (1585,) and left over one hundred
men to form a settlement at Roanoke. Being disappointed
in their anticipations of profit, or unwilling to endure the
privations attendant upon the settlement of a habitation
in the wilderness, all returned within a year. A most unjustifiable outrage was committed by the English of this
party, on one of their exploring expeditions. In the words
of the old narrative, "At Aquascogoc the Indians stole a
silver cup, wherefore we burnt the town and spoiled their
corn; so returned to our fleet at Tocokon." This act is but
a fair specimen of the manner in which redress has been
sought for injuries sustained at the hands of the natives,
not only in early times, but too often at the present day.
166 
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
It is not surprising that thereafter the Indians should
have assumed a hostile attitude. Granganimeo was dead,
and Winginia, who had now taken the name of Pemissapan, formed a plan to cut off these disorderly invaders of
his dominions.   This resulted only in some desultory
skirmishing; and, a few days afterwards, the fleet of Sir
Francis Drake appearing in the offing, the whole colony
concluded to return to England.
Mr. Thomas Heriot, whose journal of this yoyage and
settlement is preserved, gives a brief account of the superstitions, customs, and manner of living which he observed
among the savages. In enumerating the animals which
were used for food by the Indians, he mentions that "'the
savages sometimes killed a lion and ate him." He concludes his narrative by very justly remarking, that some
of the company "showed themselves too furious in slaying
some of the people in some towns upon causes that on our
part mnight have been borne with more mildness."
Grenville, in the following year, knowing nothing of
the desertion of the settlement, took three ships over to
America, well furnished for the support and relief of those
whom he had left on the preceding voyage. Finding the
place abandoned, he left fifty settlers to reoccupy it, and
returned home. On the next arrival from England the
village was again found deserted, the fort dismantled, and
the plantations overgrown with weeds. The bones of one
man were seen, but no other trace appeared to tell the fate
of the colony. It afterwards appeared, from the narrations
of the savages, that three hundred men from Aquascogoc
and other Indian towns had made a descent upon the
whites, and massacred the whole number.
The experiment of colonization was again tried, and
again failed: of over one hundred persons, including some
females, who landed, none were to be found by those who
went in search of them in 1589, nor was their fate ever
169 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
ascertained.  It is recorded that, before the departure of
the ships that brought over this colony, on the 18th of
August (O. S.), the governor's daughter, Ellinor Dare, gave
birth to an infant, which was named Virginia, and was the
first white child born in the country.
We now return to Gosnoll and his companions, numbering a little over one hundred, who, as we before mentioned, visited the country in 1606. They sailed from
England with sealed orders, which were not to be opened
until their arrival in America. Landing on Cape Henry,
at the entrance of the Chesapeake, the hostile feelings of
the Indians were soon made manifest;  "thirty of the
company recreating themselves on shore were assaulted
by five savages, who hurt two of the English very dangerously." The box containing the orders from the authorities in England being opened, Smith was found to be one
of the number appointed as a council to govern the colony;
but he was, at that time, in close custody, in consequence
of sundry absurd and jealous suspicions which had been
excited against him on the voyage, and he was therefore
refused all share in the direction of the public affairs.
Before the return of the ships, however, which took place
in June, the weak and ill-assorted colony were glad to
avail themselves of the services and counsel of the bold
and persevering captain.   His enemies  were disgraced,
and his authority was formally acknowledged. Meantime,
the settlement was commenced at Jamestown, forty miles
up the Powhatan, now James River. The Indians appeared
friendly, and all hands fell to work at the innumerable
occupations which their situation required.  A few ruins,
and the picturesque remains of the old brick church-tower
still standing, utterly deserted amid the growth of shrubs
and willows, are all that remains of the intended city.
Newport and Smith, with a company of twenty men,
were sent to explore the upper portion of the river, and
170 
INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
made their way to the town of Powhatan, situated upon
a bluff just below the falls, and at the head of navigationthe same spot afterwards chosen for the site of the capital
of the state. The natives were peaceable and kind to the
adventurers, receiving them with every demonstration of
interest and pleasure, and rejoiced at the opportunity for
traffic in beads  and  ornaments.    As  they approached
Jamestown, on their return, they perceived some hostile
demonstrations; and arriving there, found that seventeen
men had been wounded, and that one boy had been killed
by the Indians during their absence.
Wingfield, the president of the colony, had injudiciously
neglected to make any secure fortifications, and the people,
leaving their arms stored apart, set to work without a
guard; thus giving to the lurking foe convenient opportunity for an assault.
After Captain Newport had sailed for England, the
colonists, left to their own resources, were reduced to great
straits and privation. Most of them were men utterly
unfitted for the situation they had chosen, and unable to
endure labor and hardship. Feeding upon damaged wheat,
with such fish and crabs as they could catch; worn out by
unaccustomed toil; unused to the climate, and ignorant of
its diseases; it is matter of little wonder that fifty of the
company died before the month of October.
Smith, to whom all now looked for advice, and who
was virtually at the head of affairs, undertook an expedition down the river for purposes of trade. Finding
that the natives "scorned him as a famished man," derisively offering a morsel of food as the price of his arms,
he adopted a very common expedient of the time, using
force where courtesy availed not. After a harmless discharge of muskets, he landed and marched up to a village
where much corn was stored. He would not allow his
men to plunder, but awaited the expected attack of the
171 
INDIAN RACES 0F AMERICA.
natives. A party of sixty or seventy presently appeared,
"with a most hideous noise - some black, some red, some
white, some parti-colored, they came in a square order,
singing and dancing out of the woods, with their Okee
(which was an idol made of skins stuffed with moss, all
painted and hung with chains and copper,) borne before
them." A discharge of pistol shot from the guns scattered
them, and they fled, leaving their Okee.  Being now ready
to treat, their image was restored, and beads, copper, and
hatchets were given by Smith to their full satisfaction, in
return for provisions.
The improvident colonists, by waste and inactivity,
counteracted the efforts of Smith: and Wingfield, the
former president, with a number of others, formed a plan
to seize the pinnace and return to England. This conspiracy was not checked without some violence and bloodshed. As the weather grew colder with the change of
season, game became fat and plenty, and the Indians on
Chickahamania River were found eager to trade their corn
for English articles of use or ornament; so that affairs
began to look more prosperous.
During the ensuing winter, Smith, with a barge and
boat's crew, undertook an exploration of the sources of
the Chickahamania, (Chickahominy,) which empties into
James River, a few mniles above Jamestown. After making
his way for about fifty miles up the stream, his progress
was so impeded by fallen trees and the narrowness of the
channel, that he left the boat and crew in a sort of bay,
and proceeded in a canoe, accompanied only by two Englishmen, and two Indian guides. The men left in charge
of the boat, disregarding his orders to stay on board till
his return, were set upon by a great body of the natives,
and one of their number, George Cassen, was taken prisoner.   Having compelled their captive to disclose the
intentions and position of the captain, these savages pro
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
ceeded to put him to death in a most barbarous manner,
severing his limbs at the joints with shells, and burning
them before his face. As they dared not attack the armed
company in the boat, all hands then set out in hot pursuit
of Smith, led by Opechancanough, king of Pamaunkee.
Coming upon the little party among the marshes, far up
the river, they shot the two Englishmen as they were
sleeping by the canoe; and, to the number of over two
hundred, surrounded the gallant captain, who, acconpanied by one of his guides, was out with his gun in search
of game. Binding the Indian fast to his arm, with a garter, as a protection from the shafts of the enemy, Smith
made such good use of his gun that he killed three of his
assailants and wounded several others. The whole body
stood at some distance, stricken with terror at the unwonted
execution of his weapon, while he slowly retired towards
the canoe. Unfortunately, attempting to cross a creek
with a miry bottom, he stuck fast, together with his guide,
and, becoming benumbed with cold, for the season was
unusually severe, he threw away his arms, and surrendered himself prisoner.
Delighted with their acquisition, the savages took him
to the fire, and restored animation to his limbs by warmth
and friction. He immediately set himself to conciliate the
king, and presenting him with an ivory pocket compass,
proceeded to explain its use, together with many other
scientific matters greatly beyond the comprehension of the
wild creatures who gathered around him in eager and
astonished admiration. Perhaps with a view of trying his
courage, they presently bound him to a tree, and all made
ready to let fly their arrows at him, but were stayed by a
sign from the chief. They then carried him to Orapaks,
where he was well fed, and treated with kindness.
When they reached the town, a strange savage dance
was performed around Opechancanough and his captive,
173 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
by the whole body of warriors, armed and painted; while
the women and children looked on with wonder and curiosity. The gaudy color of the oil and pocones with which
their bodies were covered, "made an exceeding handsome
show;" and each had "his bow in his hand, and the skin
of a bird with her wings abroad, dried, tied on his head,
a piece of copper, a white shell, a long feather, with a
small rattle growing at the tails of their snakes tied to it,
or some such like toy."
Although the Indians would not, as yet, eat with their
prisoner, he was so feasted that a suspicion arose in his
mind that they " would fat him to eat him. Yet, in this
desperate estate, to defend him from the cold, one Mocassater brought him his gown, in requital of some beads
and toys Smith had given him at his first arrival in Virginia." One of the old warriors, whose son had been
wounded at the time of the capture, was with difficulty
restrained from killing him. The young Indian was at
his last gasp, but Smith, wishing to send information to
Jamestown, said that he had there a medicine of potent
effect. The messengers sent on this errand made their way
to Jamestown, "in as bitter weather as could be of frost
and snow," carrying a note from Smith, written upon "part
of a table book." They returned, bringing with them
the articles requested in the letter, "to the wonder of all
that heard it, that he could either divine, or the paper could
speak."
A plan was at that time on foot to make an attack upon
the colony, and such rewards as were in their power to bestow- "life, liberty, land, and women "    were proffered
to Smith by the Indians, if he would lend his assistance.
They now made a triumphal progress with their illustrious captive, among the tribes on the Rappahanock and
Potomac Rivers, and elsewhere; exhibiting him to the
Youthtanunds, the Mattapamients, the Payankatanks, the
174
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
Nantaughtacunds, and Onawmanients. Returning to Pamaunkee, a solemn incantation was performed, with a view
to ascertain his real feelings towards them.
Having seated him upon a mat before a fire, in one of
the larger cabins, all retired, "and presently came skipping in a great grim fellow, all painted over with coal
mingled with oil; and many snakes and weasels skins
stuffed with moss, and all their tails tied together, so as
they met on the crown of his head in a tassel; and round
about the tassel was a coronet of feathers, the skins hanging round about his head, back, and shoulders, and in a
manner covered his face; with a hellish voice and a rattle
in his hand." He sprinkled a circle of meal about the
fire, and commenced his conjuration.  Six more "such like
devils," then entered, fantastically bedaubed with red
"Mutchatos" (Mustaches) marked upon their faces, and
having danced about him for a time, sat down and sang a
wild song to the accompaniment of their rattles.
The chief conjurer next laid down five kernels of corn,
and proceeded to make an extravagant oration with such
violence of gesture that his veins swelled and the perspiration started from his body. "At the conclusion they all
gave a short groan, and then laid down three grains more."
The operation was continued "till they had twice encircled
the fire," and was then varied by using sticks instead of
corn. All these performances had some mystic signification, which was in part explained to the captain.
Three days were spent in these wearisome barbarities,
each day being passed in fasting, and the nights being as
regularly ushered in with feasts. Smith was, after this,
entertained with the best of cheer at the house of Opitchapam, brother to the king. He still observed that not one
of the men would eat with him, but the remains of the
feast were given him to be distributed among the women
and children.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
He was here shown a bag of gunpowder, carefully preserved as seed against the next planting season.
CHAPTER II.
COURT OF POWHATAN. - SMITH'S PRESERVATION BY POCAHONTAS. SUPPLIES FURNISHED BY THE INDIANS. -NEWPORT'S ARRIVAL. SMITH'S EXPEDITIONS UP THE CHESAPEAKE.
THE great monarch of the country, Powhatan, at this
period, was holding his court at Werowocomoco, on the
left bank of York river, and thither Smith was conveyed
to await the royal pleasure. The reception of so important a captive was conducted with suitable solemnity and
parade. Powhatan sat upon a raised seat before a fire, in
a large house, clothed with a robe of raccoon skins, the
tails hanging in ornamental array. He was an old man,
about sixty years of age, of noble figure, and that commanding presence natural in one born to rule with undisputed authority over all around him. A young girl sat
on each side of the king, and marshalled around the room
were rows of warriors and women, bedecked with beads,
feathers, and paint.
Smith's entrance was hailed by a shout; the queen of
Appamatuck brought him water to wash, and he was magnificently entertained, as a distinguished guest of the king.
The strange scene which ensued, so replete with pathos
and poetic interest, must be given in the simple language
of the old historian.
Having ended his repast, "a long consultation was held,
but the conclusion was, two great stones were brought
before Powhatan: then as madly as could, laid hands on
him, dragged him to them, and thereon laid his head, and,
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
being ready with their clubs to beat out his brains, Pocahontas, the king's dearest daughter, when no entreaty could
prevail, got his head in her arms, and laid her own upon
his to save him from death: whereat the emperor was
contented he should live to make him hatchets, and her
bells, beads, and copper; for they thought him as well of
all occupations as themselves."
The worthy captain's own rhymes describe his appearance and state of mind at this crisis:
"They say he bore a pleasant show, but sure his heart was sad;
For who can pleasant be and rest, that lives in fear and dread P"
Entertaining his captive as a privileged guest, Powhatan
now held long consultations with him, giving wonderful
accounts of the vast western country and its inhabitants.
Smith responded with details, equally amazing to the savage monarch, of the power and magnificence of the East.
After two days of friendly intercourse, Smith was informed
that he should return in safety to Jamestown; but as a
prelude to the conveyance of this satisfactory intelligence,
Powhatan was at much pains to get up a theatrical scene
that should impress or terrify his prisoner. Left alone in
a large cabin, Smith's ears were saluted by strange and
frightful noises from behind a mat partition, and, incontinently, Powhatan, with some hundreds of attendants, all
like himself, in hideous disguises, made his appearance.
He appointed twelve Indians to guide him to the settlement, requesting that a grindstone and two great guns
should be sent back, by them, in return for liberty and
favors received at his hands.
Captain Smith, well knowing the capricious disposition
of his captors, felt little security or ease, until he was safely
restored to his companions at Jamestown.
His absence had been severely felt: confusion and dissension were rife among the inhabitants of the colony, and
11
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
the strong arm and determined will of the bold captain
were required to keep order, and restrain those who were
again inclined to effect an escape in the pinnace.
The two guns (demi-culverins), together with a millstone, were brought out, and proffered to the guides; but,
seeing the terrible effect of a discharge of stones among
the branches of an ice-covered tree, the poor savages were
greatly terrified, and thankfully accepted divers toys in
place of so weighty and dangerous a present.
So reduced were the settlers at this time, that all must
have perished with starvation but for the intercourse established ly Smith between them and the people of Powhatan.
Every four or five days, his noble and generous little protectress, Pocahontas- she was then only about ten years
of age - would make her appearance, accompanied by
attendants laden with provisions. Part of these supplies
came as presents from the king or his daughter; for the
rest, the price paid in toys and articles of use was left
entirely at Smith's discretion, "so had he enchanted these
poor souls, being their prisoner."
Captains Newport and Nelson now arrived from England,-with two ships, laden with necessaries and articles
of traffic. Rejoiced at the arrival of friends and provisions, the colonists allowed the sailors to hold what intercourse they pleased with the natives, and the consequence
was that the market was soon spoiled by the irregularity
of prices offered by the English for the Indian commodities. Smith had possessed Powhatan and his people with
extravagant ideas of the power and majesty of Newport,
whose speedy arrival he predicted, and preparations were
now made to give a still more forcible impression. Messengers were sent to inform the Indian monarch that the
great captain of the seas had reached Jamestown,  and
would make a visit of state to his royal friend and ally.
The pinnace was made ready for this purpose, and "a great
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
coyle there was to set him forward." When they had
arrived at Werowo6omoco, Newport was wary and cautious, fearing treachery on the part of the savages, and
Smith therefore volunteered to go forward, with a small
company, and see that the coast was clear. Over the
creeks which meandered through the marshy country,
bridges were found, but of so frail a structure, being composed of poles bound with bark, that some suspicions
were entertained that they might be intended as traps.
Smith therefore kept some of the chief Indians, who acted
as guides, in the midst of his company, for security against
attack.
All their suspicion proved groundless: Powhatan received the officers with the greatest distinction, entertained
them hospitably, and celebrated their coming with feasts
and dances.  The great king "carried himself so proudly
yet discreetly (in his savage manner) as made all admire
his natural gifts."  He  declined any petty traffic, but
requested Newport to bring forward at once all the goods
that he had brought for trade, expressing his willingness
to give full return. His desire was complied with, Newport wishing to outdo the king in generosity and show of
munificence; but the result hardly equalled his expectation, for the cunning savage, says the narrator, "valued
his corn at such a rate that I think it better cheap im
Spain." A few blue beads in the possession of' Smith.
now caught the eye of Powhatan, and aroused his curiosity
and avarice. The wary captain pretended to be loath to
part with them, as being of a "most rare substance of the
color of the skies, and not to be worn but by the greatest
kings in the world.  This made him half mad: to be the
owner of such strange jewels," and, to obtain them, he
readily paid an immense quantity of corn, esteeming himself still the gainer.  The trade in blue beads,. after this,
became a royal monopoly.
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The party returned to Jamestown; but only to experience greater privation and hardship than ever.
The town took fire, and much of their provisions, clothing, and other means of comfort was destroyed. The winter was bitterly cold, and nearly the whole colony, together
with the crews of the ships, were possessed with an insane
desire to search for gold, to the neglect of the labors necessary to secure health and prosperity. From these causes
more than half their number perished.
The Indians, seeing their weakness, became insolent and
exacting, and, but for Smith, whose prompt and energetic
action, without actual bloodshed, subdued and brought
them to terms, they might have completely overawed,
and perhaps have extirpated the colony. Those whom
the English took prisoners insisted that thle hostilities
were in accordance with the orders of Powhatan: but
he, on the other hand, averred that it was the work of
some of his unruly subordinates. The conciliatory message was brought by "his dearest daughter Pocahontas,"
whose appearance ever had the most potent influence with
the brave man for whom she felt such filial attachment,
and who was bound to her by every tie of gratitude and
affection.
Upon the 2d. of June, 1608, Captain Smith, with fourteen companions - one half "gentlemen," the rest "soldiers "- undertook his celebrated exploration of Chesapeake Bay. Their conveyance was a large open barge.
They first shaped their course for the isles lying off
Cape Charles, still known as Smith's Isles, and thence
reentered the bay.  Passing Cape Charles, they saw "two
grim and stout savages," armed with bone-headed lances,
who fearlessly questioned them as to whence they came
and whither they were bound.   They were subjects of
the Werowance of Accomack, on the eastern shore of
the bay; and, being kindly entreated, responded with
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equal civility, and directed the English to their king's
head-quarters.
They found the chief to be the "comeliest, proper, civil
savage" that they had ever held communion with.  He gave
a most singular account of a pestilence which had not long
before carried off the greater portion of his people. Two
children had died, probably of some infectious disease, and
"some extreme passions, or dreaming visions, phantasies,
or affection moved their parents again to revisit their dead
carcasses, whose benumbed bodies reflected to the eyes of
the beholders such delightful countenances as though they
had regained their vital spirits." Great crowds gathered
to see this spectacle, nearly all of whom, shortly after, died
of some unknown disease.
These Indians spoke the Powhatan dialect, and entertained Smith with glowing descriptions of the beauties and
advantages of the bay, to the northward.   Proceeding on
their voyage, the navigators entered the river of Wighcocomoco, on the eastern shore, where the inhabitants exhibited great rage and hostility, but perceiving that no harm
was intended them, with true savage caprice, fell to dancing
and singing, in wonder and merriment at the novel spectacle. No good water was to be obtained here, and Smith
with his crew made short tarrying. Still coasting along
the eastern portion of the bay, they reached the Cuskarawaok,
where great troops of savages followed them along the bank,
climbing into the trees, and discharging their arrows with
"the greatest passion they could express of their anger."
As the party could not by signs give them to understand
that they came peacefully, a discharge of pistol-shot was
directed, which produced the usual effect, scattering the
Indians in every direction.   On  landing, not a native
could be found: the English therefore left a few beads,
bells, looking-glasses, and bits of copper in the huts, and re turned on board their barge.
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Next morning the poor simple savages, dismissing all
fear, gathered round them to the number, as appeared, of
two or three thousand, eager to offer whatever was in their
power to bestow for "a little bead" or other trivial toy.
These people were the Sarapinagh, Nause, Arseek, and
Mantaquak, and they showed such readiness to trade, that
Smith pronounced them the "best merchants of all other
savages." They gave wonderful accounts of the powerful
and warlike Massawomekes, who lived to the northward,
and were identical with the Iroquois or Six Nations.
Some of the crew falling sick, and the rest becoming
weary and discontented with their unaccustomed fatigue
and exposure, Smith, much against his inclination, turned
towards home, "leaving the bay some nine miles broad, at
nine and ten fathom water." Entering the Potomac, on
the 16th of June, it was determined to explore it, as the
sick men had recovered. No Indians were seen until the
company had passed thirty miles up the river; but, arriving at a creek in the neighborhood of Onawmanient,
"the woods were laid with ambuscades, to the number of
three or four thousand savages, so strangely painted, grimed,
and disguised, shouting, yelling, and crying as so many
spirits from hell could not have showed more terrible.
Many bravados they made," but a discharge of bullets, over
the surface of the water, quickly changed their mood.
Arms were flung down, hostages given, and courtesy and
kindness succeeded the truculent demeanor which was first
exhibited. By the account of the Indians, Powhatan had
directed this intended attack; and, if their representation
was true, he was stimulated to such a course by sundry of
Smith's enemies at Jamestown.
The boat's crew made their way as far up as the river
was navigable, encountering various other tribes, some of
whom were friendly, and others hostile. The thunder of
the English weapons never failed to awe and subdue them.
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
Ever hankering after the precious metals, the adventurers
were attracted by glittering particles in the bed of various
streams; and, making it a constant object of inquiry, they
were led by some Indians, subject to the king of Patawomeke, to a noted mine, on the little stream of Quiough.
It was on -a rocky mount, and the material sought, when
dug out with shells and hatchets, sparkled like antimony.
The Indians were accustomed to wash and cleanse it, and
then, putting it in small bags, "sell it all over the country,
to paint their bodies, faces or idols; which made them look
like blackamoors dusted over with silver."  Newport asserted that the contents of some of those bags, when assayed
in England, proved to be exceedingly rich in silver; but
all that Smith and his men collected was worthless.
On the way towards Jamestown, as the barge lay in
shoal water, the crew amused themselves by spearing fish,
which were exceedingly plenty. Captain Smith, using his
sword for this purpose, drew up a fish, (" not knowing her
condition,) being much of the fashion of a thornback,
but a long, tail like a riding rod, whereon the middle
is a most poisoned sting, of two or three inches long,*
bearded like a saw on each side, which she struck into the
wrist of his arm near an inch and a half." The swelling
and pain consequent upon this, were so great that the
brave captain, despairing of recovery, ordered his own
grave to be dug; which was accordingly done on a neighboring island. His time, however, had not yet come: the
physician of the party succeeded in relieving him, insomuch that, that very night, "he ate of the fish to his
supper."
As they returned to their old quarters, the Indians
judged from their appearance that they had been engaged
in notable wars; an idea which they failed not to encourage, averring that all the spoil brought home was taken
from the redoubtable Massawomekes.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
At Jamestown all was found in disorder and misery, as
was generally the case when the master-spirit was absent.
Thus ended the first exploration of the unknown waters
of the Chesapeake, leaving the English still in doubt as to
its extent, and still hopeful of eventually finding a passage
thereby to the South Seas!
On the 24th of July, a second expedition was undertaken
up the bay, by Smith, with a boat's crew of twelve men.
The Indians of Kecoughtan, with whom they spent several
days, exulted greatly in the supposition that the English
were out on a war expedition against their dreaded enemies,
the Massawomekes.
Proceeding up the bay, more than half the party were
prostrated by the diseases of the climate, and in this crippled condition they came upon seven or eight canoes, filled
with Indians of the warlike tribe they were supposed to be
in search of. Seeing that the English showed no fear, but
prepared briskly for an engagement, these Massawomekes
concluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and
fled to the shore. Being tempted by the offer of some
trifling toys, they at last came out to the barge unarmed,
bringing presents of provisions, targets, skins, and rude
implements of warfare. They had been engaged in war
with the Indians of the Tockwogh or Sassafras river, as
their fresh wounds bore witness.
They disappeared during the following night, and the
explorers made their way into the river of Tockwogh.
Seeing the Massawomeke weapons, the Tockwoghs were
in ecstasy, supposing that their enemies had been defeated;
and led Smith up to their fortified town: "Men, women,
and children, with dances, songs, fruit, furs, and what
they had, stretching their best abilities to express their
loves."
Here Smith made some stay, sending messengers to
invite a deputation from the renowned Sasquesahanocks
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to visit him.  Sixty of "those giant-like people," accordingly came down from their country, bringing presents,
and holding bold and familiar intercourse with the strangers. The daily devotional exercises of prayers and psalms,
which our pious captain regularly observed, were responded
to, on the part of the wondering savages, by strange ceremonies of their own.
"They began in a most passionate manner, to hold up
their hands to the sun, with a most fearful song, then
embracing our captain, they began to adore him in like
manner: though he rebuked them, yet they proceeded till
their song was finished: which done, with a most strange
furious action, and a hellish voice, began an oration of their
loves."
They then clothed him with rich skins and mantles, and
proffering beads and toys, declared that they, and all they
had, were at his service; if he would but lend his assistance
against the terrible Massawomnekes.
Returning to examine the river Rapahanock, Smith fell
in with a former acquaintance, one Mosco, of Wighcocomoco. He was doubtless a half-breed, and was supposed
to be some Frenchman's son, as he rejoiced in the distinguishing mark of a "thick, black, bush beard, and the savages seldom have any at all."
The English fortified their boat by making a breastwork
around the gunwale, of the Massawomeke shields, which
were so thickly plated as to resist the arrows of the savages.
This stood them in good stead in divers skirmishes with
the Rapahanocks.   On one occasion, thirty or forty of that
tribe so disguised themselves with bushes and branches, that,
as they stood discharging their arrows upon the edge of the
river, the English supposed their array to be a natural
growth of shrubs.
Mosco accompanied Smith in his visits to many nations
on the Chesapeake, and proved of no little service, whether
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the reception at their hands was friendly or hostile. The
good will of a patry of Manahocks was gained by means
of favor shown to a wounded prisoner, whom Mosco would
fain have despatched -" never was  dog  more furious
against a bear, than Mosco was to have beat out his
brains." They questioned this captive, who was called
Amorolock, about his own and the adjoining tribes, and
demanded of him why his people had attacked peaceful
strangers.  "The poor savage mildly answered," that they
had heard that the English were "a people come from
under the world to take their world from them." He de scribed the Monacans as friendly to his tribe, and said that
they lived in the mountainous country to the west, "by
small rivers, living upon roots and fruits, but chiefly by
hunting.  The Massawomeks did dwell upon a great water,
and had many boats, and so many men that they made war
with all the world."
In this, and the preceding voyage, the whole of the extensive bay of Chesapeake, was explored, together with the
lower portions of the principal rivers emnptying into it; and
an accurate chart of the whole country still bears witness
to the skill and perseverance of the brave commander.
Curious sketches of native chiefs, and of encounters between
them and the English, accompany the maps which illustrate
the quaint and interesting narrative from which' this portion of our history is drawn.
Before returning to Jamestown, the party sailed for the
southern shores, and passed up the Elizabeth river into
the "Chisapeack" country.  They saw but few dwellings,
surrounded by garden plots, but were struck with the
magnificent growth of pines which lined the banks. Thence
coasting along the shore, they came to the mouth of the
Nandsamund, where a few Indians were engaged in fishing. These fled in affright, but the English landing, and
leaving some attractive trifles where they would find them,
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
their demeanor was soon changed. Singing and dancing,
they invited the party to enter the river, and one of them
came on board the barge. Complying with the request,
Smith went up the stream seven or eight miles, when extensive corn fields were seen. Perceiving some signs of
treachery, he would not proceed farther, but endeavored to
regain the open water with all possible expedition. His
fears proved to be well grounded; for on the way down,
arrows were poured into the boat from either side of the
river by hundreds of Indians, while seven or eight canoes
filled with armed men followed "to see the conclusion."
Turning upon these, the English, by a volley from their
muskets, soon drove the savages on shore and seized the
canoes.
The Indians, seeing their invaluable canoes in the enemies' power, to save them from destruction readily laid
down their arms; and, upon further communication, agreed
to deliver up their king's bow and arrows, and to furnish
fotur hundred baskets of corn to avert the threatened vengeance of the terrible strangers.
CHAPTER III.
CORONATION OF POWHATAN. - SMITH'S VISIT TO WEROWOCOMOCO
FOR SUPPLIES.-TREACHERY OF POWHATAN.-SMITH A SECOND
TIME PRESERVED BY POCAHONTAS.- VISIT TO PAMUNKY. - FIGHT
WITH THE KING OF PASPAHEGH. -ASCENDENCY OF THE ENGLISH.
IN the ensuing September, Smith was formally made
president of the colony at Jamestown, and set himself
promptly to correct abuses and perfect the company in
the military exercises so suited to his own inclinations,
and so essential in their isolated and dangerous position.
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The wandering savages would collect in astonishment to
see these performances, standing "in amazement to behold
how a file would batter a tree, where he would make them
a mark to shoot at."
Newport, soon after, made his appearance, bringing out
from England many adventurers ill-suited to the life before
them in the new country: "thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots," says Smith, would have been
worth a thousand of them. By the same arrival, came a
large boat, brought out in five pieces, to be used in further
explorations in search of the South Sea, and a crown, with
brilliant trappings and regalia, for the solemn coronation
of Powhatan. Smith speaks with great contempt of this
transaction: the "costly novelties had been much better
well spared than so ill-spent," for they had the king's
"favor much better only for a plain piece of copper, till
this stately kind of soliciting made him so much overvalue
himself that he respected us as much as nothing at all."
The captain, with four companions, volunteered to go to
Werowocomoco, and invite Powhatan to come to Jamestown and receive his presents. Arriving at the village,
they found that the chief was thirty miles away from
home;  but a messenger was  despatched for him, and,
meanwhile, his daughter Pocahontas exerted herself, to the
best of her ability, to divert and entertain her guests. This
was done after a strange fashion. A masquerade dance
of some thirty young women, nearly naked, was ushered
in bv such a "hideous noise and shrieking," that the English seized on some old men who stood by, as hostages,
thinking that treachery was intended. They were relieved
from apprehension by the assurances of Pocahontas, and
the pageant proceeded. The leader of the dance was decked
with a "fair pair of buck's horns on her head, and an
otter's skin at her girdle." The others were Also horned,
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
and painted and equipped, "every one with their several
devices. These fiends with most hellish shouts and cries,
rushing from among the trees, cast themselves in a ring
about the fire, singing and dancing with most excellent ill
variety." Afterwards, when Smith had entered one of their
wigwams, "all these nymphs more tormented him than
ever with crowding, pressing and hanging about him, most
tediously crying, Love you not me? love you not me?"
Upon Powhatan's return, he proudly refused to go to
Jamestown for his presents, standing upon his dignity as
a king; and the robes and trinkets were accordingly sent
round to Werowocomoco by water. The coronation scene
must have been ludicrous in the extreme: "the presents
were brought him, his basin and ewer, bed and furniture set up, his scarlet cloak and apparel with much ado
put on him, being persuaded by Namontack, they would
not hurt him: but a foul trouble there was to make him
kneel to receive his crown, he neither knowing the majesty nor meaning of a crown, nor bending of the knee,
endured so many persuasions, examples and instructions
as tired them all; at last, by leaning hard on his shoulders, he a little stooped, and three having the crown in:
their hands, put it on his head, when, by the warning of a
pistol the boats were prepared with such a volley of shot,
that the king start up with a horrible fear till he saw all
was well."
After this, Newport, with one hundred and twenty men,
made some unimportant explorations, above the falls,
among the Monacans. Their continual greedy search for
mines of the precious metals interfered with useful operations and discoveries.
The Indians now became unwilling to trade, and Powhatan seemed to have adopted the policy of starving out
the colony. We can hardly justify the course of Smith
in enforcing supplies, on any other plea than that of ne
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
cessity; but certain it is, that he alone seemed to have that
power and influence ver the simple savages which could
secure at once their love and fear.
Powhatan having at last agreed to furnish a ship-load
of corn, if the English would build him a house, and furnish him with a grindstone, a cock and hen, some arms,
copper and beads, five men were sent to Werowocomoco
to commence operations.  Three of these were Dutchmen.
To carry out this contract, and procure the promised
corn, Smith started for the camp of Powhatan towards the
last of December, (1608,) accompanied by twenty-seven
men in the barge and pinnace, while a number of others
crossed the country to build the proposed house. At WVarraskoyack, the friendly king cautioned him against being
deceived by Powhatan's expressions of kindness, insisting
that treachery was intended.
Christmas was spent by the party at Kecoughtan, on the
left bank of James' river, near its mouth; and merry
cheer was made upon game and oysters.  They reached
Werowocomoco on the 12th of January, and landed with
much difficulty, as the river was bordered with ice, to break
through which they were obliged to wade waist-deep, "a
flight-shot through this muddy frozen oase."
Powhatan gave them venison and turkeys for their immediate use, but when the subject of the corn was broached,
he protested that he and his people had little or none, and
demanded forty swords in case he should procure forty
baskets. Smith replied sternly, upbraiding him for duplicity and faithlessness, and cautioning him not to provoke hostilities where friendship only was intended. The
wily chief, on the other hand, made many deprecatory
speeches, continually urging Smith to direct his men to
lay down their arms, that the conference should appear to
be peaceful, and the Indians feel at ease and in safety,
while bringing in their corn.                 4
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
After much bargaining and haggling, a small quantity
of corn was procured, and Powhatan made a most plausible and characteristic speech to persuade Smith that nothing could be farther from his intention than hostility. Can
you suppose, said he, that I, a man of age and experience,
having outlived three generations of my people, should
be "so simple as not to know it is better to eat good meat,
lie well and sleep quietly with my women and children,
laugh and be merry with you, have copper, hatchets, or
what I want being your friend: than be forced to fly from
all, to lie cold in the woods, feed upon acorns, roots, and
such trash, and be so hunted by you that I can neither
rest, eat, nor sleep; but my tired men must watch, and
if a twig but break, every one crieth, there comes Captain
Smith?"
Thus the time was spent in useless discourse, and Smith,
perceiving that the Indians were only watching for an opportunity to attack him unawares, ordered the barge to be
brought tb shore, and the pittance of corn to be stowed on
board. Powhatan then disappeared, but immediately sent
his warriors to surround the house and cut off Smith while
the body of the English were engaged with the barge.
Aided only by one companion, the valiant captain rushed
forth, "with his pistol, sword and target," and "made
such a passage among these naked devils, that, at his first
shoot, they next him tumbled one over another." Seeing
that Smith had rejoined his company, Powhatan pretended
that he had sent his people to guard the corn from being
stolen, and renewed his protestations of friendship.
The boats being left ashore by the tide, the captain was
obliged to spend the night on shore. Powhatan now conceived himself sure of his victims, and gathered all his
people, with the intention of surprising Smith under cover
of the night. "Notwithstanding the eternal all-seeing God
did prevent him, and by a strange means.   For Poca
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hontas, his dearest jewel and daughter, in that dark night
came through the irksome woods, and told our captain
great cheer should be sent us by and by; but Powhatan
and all the power he could make, would after come and
kill us all, if they that brought it could not kill us with
our own weapons when we were at supper.  Therefore if
we would live, she wished us presently to be gone. Such
things as she delighted in he would have given her; but
with the tears running down her cheeks, she said she durst
not be seen to have any; for if Powhatan should know
it she were but dead, and so she ran away by herself as
she came."
One can readily imagine the distress of the poor child
at feeling thus compelled, by her affection for her English
friend, to become unfaithful to her father and her own
people.
The feast was  sent in shortly after, by a number of
strong warriors, who were very earnest in their invitation
to the party to lay down their arms and fall to.   The
matches which the English kept burning met with their
decided disapproval, the smoke, as they averred, making
them sick. Smith, being forewarned, did not fail to spend
the night in vigilance, and sent word to Powhatan that he
felt well convinced of his villanous intentions, and should
be prepared for him.  The Dutchmen, who were with the
king, were all along supposed to be implicated in his treachery, being inimical to Smith, and glad of an opportunity
to destroy him.  After his departure from Werowocomoco,
two of them hastened to Jamestown, and, by various pretences, obtained a quantity of arms, which, with the assistance of some Indian companions, they carried off to Powhatan. In return for this assistance, he promised them
immunity from the havoc that should overtake the colony,
and high office and power in his own service.
Continuing his search for provision, Smith arrived at
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Pamunky, where Opechancanough received him with apparent kindness, but showed no readiness to trade. Smith
reminded him of former promises and injuries, and expressed a determination to obtain supplies; proffering just
payment. The chief managed to decoy the captain and
his "old fifteen" into his house, exhibiting some baskets
of corn, which he alleged were procured with great difficulty, but in the meantime some seven hundred armed
warriors, by his orders, surrounded the building.
Our brave captain, first exhorting his men to show no
signs of fear, now sternly addressed the king, challenging
him to single combat, with equal arms, upon an island in
the river. Opechancanough still pretended good will and
friendship, and attempted to entice Smith out at the door,
by promises of munificent presents: "the bait was guarded
with at least two hundred men, and thirty lying under a
great tree (that lay thwart, as a barricado) each his arrow
nocked ready to shoot."
Smith, perceiving that prompt action was now necessary,
sprang upon the king, and, holding him by the fore-lock
with one hand, while, with the other, he held a cocked
pistol to his breast, he led him forth among his people.
Opechancanough, completely cowed, delivered up his arms,
and all his warriors, amazed at the Englishman's audacity,
laid theirs upon the ground.
Still keeping hold of the chief's hair, Smith made a
brief oration, threatening terrible vengeance if a drop of
English blood should be spilt, and declaring that if they
would not sell him corn he would freight his ship with
their carcasses.  He promised, moreover, continued friendship if no further cause for complaint were given. All
now made friendly protestations, and brought in abundance
of provision; but, as Smith lay down to recruit himself
with a little sleep, a great number of the savages rushed
in to overpower him.  This attack was.repelled as success.
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fully and promptly as the first. The king in a lengthy
speech excused and explained the movement, and the day
ended in peaceful trade and barter.
At this time arrived one Richard Wyffin, who had venturously made his way alone through the wilderness to
announce to Smith a great loss which the colony had met
with in the death of Gosnoll and eight companions. They
had started in a skiff for the Isle of Hogs, and were upset
by a gale "(that extreme frozen time)." and drowned.
Wyffin had stopped at Powhatan's head-quarters, and only
escaped destruction by the kindness of the Englishman's
fast friend Pocahontas.  She "hid him for a time, and
sent them who pursued him the clean contrary way  to
seek him."
Concealing this disastrous intelligence from his followers,
Captain Smith set Opechancanough at liberty, and again
embarked, intending, ere his return to Jamestown, to secure the person of Powhatan. That chief had issued general oiders for the destruction of Smith, and every where,
as the boat passed along the river bank, crowds of Indians
would appear, bringing corn in baskets, and offering it to
the company if they would come for it unarmed. Their
intention was evidently to draw the English into an ambuscade. The captain succeeded in surprising one of these
parties, and obtaining their provision..
Some of them, who consented to trade, supplied the
English with poisoned food, which was eaten by Smith and
others, but the poison did not prove sufficiently potent to
destroy their lives. Suspicion fell upon a vigorous young
warrior named Wecuttanow, as the author of this treachery; but he, having forty or fifty companions with him,
"so proudly braved it as though he expected to encounter
a revenge. Which the president (Smith) perceiving in the
midst of his company, did not only beat, but spurned hint
like a dog, as scorning to do him any worse mischief."
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At other places where provision was sought, it was plain
that the Indians were themselves in want, and "imparted
that little they had with such complaints and tears from
the eyes of women and children as he had been too cruel
to have been a Christian that would not have been satisfied
and moved with compassion."
Powhatan, cautioned by "those damned Dutchmen,"
had left Werowocomoco, with all his effects, before Smith
arrived there, and the plan of making him prisoner was
therefore abandoned. Here Smith breaks out into a spirited justification of his conduct and purposes, complaining
that fault had been found with him, by some, for cruelty
and harshness, and by others for want of energy and determination. He draws a strong contrast between the proceedings of the English colony and the manner in which
the Spaniards usually followed up their discoveries. It
was not pleasing, he says, to some, that he had temporized
with such a treacherous people, and "that he washed not
the ground with their bloods, nor showed such strange inventions in mangling, murdering, ransacking, and destroying, (as did the Spaniards,) the simple bodies of such ignorant souls."
The renegade Dutchmen had a place of rendezvous near
Jamestown, known as the "glass house," whither they
resorted, with their Indian associates, to carry on their system of pilfering arms and other articles from the colony.
Captain Smith making a visit to this spot, with the inten
tion of arresting one of them, named Francis, whom he
had heard to be there, was set upon, as he returned alone,
by the king of Paspahegh, "a most strong stout savage,"
and a terrible personal encounter ensued. The Indian
closed upon him, so that he could make no use of his falchion, and, by sheer strength, dragged him into the river.
After a desperate struggle, Smith succeeded in grasping
the savage by the throat, and in drawing his weapon,
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"Seeing how pitifully he begged for his life, he led him
prisoner to Jamestown, and put him in chains." His
women and ch dren came every day to visit him, bringing
presents to  propitiate  the  English.   Being carelessly
guarded, the king finally made his escape. In attempts to
recover him, some fighting and bloodshed ensued, and two
Indians, named Kemp and Tussore, "the two most exact
villains in all the country," were taken prisoners. Smith,
with a corps of soldiery, proceeding to punish the Indians
on the Chickahominy, passed by Paspahegh, and there
concluded a peace with the natives. They at first ventured to attack him, but unable to resist the English
weapons, they threw down their arms, and sent forward a
young warrior, called Okaning, to make an oration.
He represented that his chief, in effecting an escape, had
but followed the instincts of nature; that fowls, beasts,
and fishes strove to avoid captivity and snares, and why
should not man be allowed so universal a privilege? He
added that, if the English would not live at peace with
them, the tribe must abandon the country, and the supplies
which the colony had heretofore obtained from them be
thereby cut off.
The power and influence of Smith among the savages
was infinitely increased by a circumstance which occurred
immediately after his return to Jamestown. A pistol had
been stolen by a Chickahominy Indian, and his two broth,ers, supposed to be privy to the theft, had been seized, to
secure its return. One of them was sent in search of the
missing article, assured that his brother should be hanged
if it was not forthcoming within twelve hours. Smith,
"pitying the poor naked savage in the dungeon, sent him
victuals, and some charcoal for a fire; ere midnight, his
brother returned with the pistol, but the poor savage in the
dungeon was so smothered with the smoke he had made,
and so piteously burned," that he appeared to be dead.
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His brother, overwhelmed with grief, uttered such touching lamentations over the body, that Captain Smith,
although feeling little hope of success, assured him that
he would bring the dead Indian to life, provided he and
his fellows would give over their thieving. Energetic
treatment restored the poor fellow to consciousness, and,
his burns being dressed, the simple pair were sent on their
way, each with a small present, to spread the report, far
and near, that Captain Smith had power to restore the dead
to life. Not long after, several Indians were killed by the
explosion of a quantity of powder, which they were attempting to dry upon a plate of armor, as they had seen
the English do.  "These, and many other such pretty
accidents, so amazed and frighted both Powhatan and all
his people," that they came in firom all quarters, returning
stolen property, and begging for favor and peace: "and
all the country," says the narrator, "became absolutely as
free for us as for themselves."
CHAPTER IV.
DISTRESS OF THE COLONIES. - MARTIN AND WEST'S SETTLEMENTS. -
ARRIVAL OF LORD DE LA WARRE.- RETALIATIONS UPON THE NA TIVES. - SEIZURE OF POCAHONTAS: HER MARRIAGE. - PEACE WITH
THE INDIANS.- POCAHONTAS VISITS ENGLAND: HER DEATH.  DEATH OF POWHATAN.-PORY'S SETTLEMENT.
WHILE, Captain Smith remained in America, and continued in power, he maintained his authority over the natives. In a grievous famine that succeeded the events we
have just detailed, they proved of infinite service in providing the wild products of the forest for the starving
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
colonists. Many of the English were sent out to live with
the savages, and learn their arts of gathering and preparing the roots and other edibles that must take the place of
corn. These were treated with every kindness by the Indians, "of whom," says Smith, "there was more hope to
make better Christians and good subjects than the one half
of those that counterfeited themselves both." Kemp and
Tussore, who had been set at liberty, remained thereafter
stanch adherents to the English interests. Sundry malcontents belonging to the colony had fled into the woods,
thinking to live in ease among the natives, whom they
promised revenge upon their old conqueror, the president.
Kemp, however, instead of giving ear to these persuasions,
fed them "with this law, who would not work must not
eat, till they were near starved indeed, continually threatening to beat them to death;" and finally carried them
forcibly back to Captain Smith.
In the early part of the summer of 1609, large supplies
came over from England, and a great number of factious
and disorderly adventurers were brought into the new settlement. Unwilling to submit to the authority of the
president, insatiate after mines of gold and silver, cowardly
in battle, and cruel and treacherous in peace, their distress
proved commensurate with their unthrift. At Nansemund,
a company, under one Captain Martin, after wantonly provoking the.ill will of the natives, was unable to resist
their attacks; and another division under West, which attempted a settlement at the falls of James' river, proved
equally inefficient  and impolitic.   "The  poor  savages
that daily brought in their contributions to the president, that disorderly company so tormented those poor
souls, by stealing their corn, robbing their gardens, beating them, breaking their houses and keeping some
prisoners, that they daily complained to Captain Smith,
he had brought them for protectors worse enemies
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA. *
than the Monacans themselves: they desired pardon if
hereafter they defended themselves."
Carrying out this intention, the Indians fell upon the
fort immediately after Smith's departure, he having set
sail for Jamestown. His vessel taking ground before he
had proceeded far, he was called upon to interfere, and
brought matters to an amicable conclusion, removing the
English from the inconvenient spot they had selected for
their habitation into the pleasant country of Powhatan.
Before reaching Jamestown, Captain Smith met with so
severe an accident by the firing of a bag of gun-powder,
that he was thereafter incapacitated from further service in
the colony. So terribly was his flesh torn and burned,
that, to relieve the pain, he instantly threw himself into
the river, from which he was with difficulty rescued. It
being impossible to procure the necessary medical assistance for the cure of so extensive an injury, he took passage for England by the first opportunity, and never again
revisited the colony he had planted and supported with
such singular devotion, energy, and courage. The fate of
the two principal of the Dutch conspirators against his
life, is thus chronicled: "But to see the justice of God
upon these Dutchmen: -Adam and Francis were fled
again to Powhatan, to whom they promised, at the arrival
of my Lord (La Warre), what wonders they would do,
would he suffer them but to go to him. But the king, seeing they would be gone, replied; you that would have betrayed Captain Smith to me, will certainly betray me to
this great lord for your peace; so caused his men to beat
out their brains."
Smith's departure was the signal for general defection
among the Indians.   They seized the boats of the settlers
under Martin and West; who, unable to keep their ground,
returned to Jamestown, with the loss of nearly half their
men. A party of thirty or forty, bound upon a trading
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
expedition, was set upon by Powhatan and his warriors,
and all except two were slain. One of these, a boy, named
Henry Spilman, was preserved by the intervention  of
Pocahontas, and sent to live among the Patawomekes.
Reduced to the greatest extremity, the English were
obliged to barter their very arms for provisions, thus adding to the power of the enemy in the same ratio that they
weakened their own resources.  Famine, pestilence, and
savage invasion reduced the colony, which before had
numbered five hundred inhabitants, to about sixty miserable and helpless wretches, within the short space of six
months from the time that Smith set sail.  The crude products of the forest formed their principal food; "nay, so
great was our famine," proceeds the narrative, "that a
savage we slew and buried, the poorer sort took him up
again and eat him, and so did divers one another, boiled
and stewed with roots and herbs: and one amongst the
rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of
her before it was known, for which he was executed as he
well deserved."
Upon the arrival of a ship, with Sir Thomas Gates and
company, all the unfortunate settlers, abandoning their
town, took passage with him for England. At the commencement of the voyage, they fell in with Lord La
Warre, who was on his way to Jamestown, bringing with
him large supplies of men and necessaries; and all returned together to Jamestown.
Fortunately the Indians had not, as yet, destroyed the
fort, and the numbers and efficiency of the whites were so
far increased, that they were "able to tame the fury and
treachery of the savages."
On the 15th of June (1610) Captain Argall, being engaged in a trading expedition among the Patawomekes,
found there the young prisoner, Henry Spilman, who had
met with kind treatment, and by whose intervention
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abundance of corn was procured. Frequent mention is
made of Spilman in subsequent portions of Virginian history.  He was killed by the Potomac Indians, in 1623,
while on a trading expedition up the river. Having gone
on shore with some of his company, some difficulty arose,
and, after a short skirmish, those on board the boat "heard
a great bruit among the savages ashore, and saw a man's
head thrown down the bank, whereupon they weighed
anchor and returned home; but how he was surprised or
slain is uncertain."
That the colonists were not slow in making use of their
newly-acquired power over the natives in their vicinity,
sufficiently appears from the manner in which they re'venged some injuries received from those of Paspahegh.
Not satisfied with burning their town, they deliberately
put to death the queen and her children, who had fallen
into their hands.
In the following year the Appomatuck Indians, for
some offences, were driven from their homes, and their
corn was seized, "without the loss of any except some few
savages." The manner in which peaceful intercourse was
at last established with Powhatan, however it may be justified upon the plea of necessity, reflects but little credit
upon the English. Argall, in the year 1613, (according
to some chronicles,) while up the Potomac in search of
corn, heard from the sachem Japazaws that Pocahontas,
who had not been seen at Jamestown since Smith's departure, was residing among his people., The captain determined not to lose the opportunity to secure so valuable a
hostage, and having, by the assistance of Japazaws, decoyed her on board his ship, he made her prisoner. The
treacherous Potomac sachem pretended great distress;
"the old Jew and his wife began to howl and cry as fast
as Pocahontas," but appeared pacified when Argall told
them that the princess should be well treated, and restored
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
as soon as Powhatan would make restitution of the goods
he had purloined and plundered from the colony.
When the emperor learned of this transaction, the "unwelcome news much troubled him, because he loved both
his daughter and the English commodities well;" and he
left Pocahontas in the enemies' hands for several months
before he deigned to pay the least attention to their demands. It has been supposed, and with great show of
reason, that the kind-hearted girl had lost favor with her
father by her sympathy with the English, and by endeavoring to save them at the time of the massacres which preceded the last arrival; and that this was the cause of her
retirement to Potomac.
When Powhatan at last consented to treat, his offers
were entirely unsatisfactory to the English, and another
long interval elapsed without any communication from
him. Meantime, an ardent attachment had sprung up between Pocahontas and a young Englishman of the colony
named John Rolfe, "an honest gentleman and of good behavior." When it was at last concluded to use open force
to reduce Powhatan to compliance with the English requisitions, a large force proceeded to the chief's head-quarters, by water, taking the princess with them. The Indians
exhibited an insolent and warlike demeanor, but were easily
put to flight, and their. town was burned. Pursuing their
advantage, the invading party proceeded up the river to
Matchot, where, a truce being agreed upon, two of Powhatan's sons came to visit their sister, and, overjoyed at
finding her well and kindly cared for, promised their best
endeavors to bring matters to a peaceful issue.  Rolfe, with
one companion, had an interview with Opechancanough,
who also declared that he would strive to persuade the
king to compliance with the English proposals.
When Powhatan heard of the proposed marriage of his
daughter, his anger and resentment towards the whites
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
seemed to be appeased. He sent his brother Opitchapan,
and others of his family, to witness the ceremony, and
readily permitted the old terms of trade and intimacy to be
renewed. Pocahontas and John Rolfe were married about
the 1st of April, 1613.
The Chickahomninies, hearing that Powhatan was in
league with the colony, felt little inclined to be upon ill
terms with so powerful a confederacy; and, having made
advances, a treaty of friendship was entered into with all
due forms and ceremonies.
Not contented with the security against Powhatan's hostility which the possession of his beloved daughter afforded, the colonial governor, Sir Thomas Dale, sought
yet another hostage from the king; and in 1614 sent John
Rolfe and Ralph Hamor to his court for this purpose.
The aged chief received them with courtesy and kindness, and appeared pleased and gratified at the accounts
which they gave him of Pocahontas' satisfaction with her
new alliance, and the religion and customs of the English.
When the purpose of the mission was made known to him,
which was no other than the obtaining possession of his
youngest daughter, upon pretext of marrying her nobly,
Powhatan gravely refused compliance. He would never
trust.himself, he said, in the power of the English; and,
therefore, if he should send away his child, whom he now
loved as his life, and beyond all his other numerous offspring, it would be never again to behold her.  "My
brother," he added, " hath a pledge, one of my daughters,
which so long as she lives shall be sufficient; when she
dies he shall have another: I hold it not a brotherly part
to desire to bereave me of my two children at once."
Pocahontas was carefully educated in the Christian
religion, which she appeared sincerely to embrace. She
nourished the warmest affection for her husband,- upon
his part faithfully returned; and what with these new ties,
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and the enlarged ideas attendant upon education and intercourse with intelligent Europeans, she seemed entirely to
lose all desire of associating with her own people.
Rolfe and his wife sailed for England in 1616, and
reached Plymouth on the 12th of June. Great interest
was excited by their arrival, both at court and among
many people of distinction. Captain Smith prepared an
address to the queen upon this occasion, setting forth in
quaint, but touching language, the continued kindness and
valuable services received by himself and the colony at
large from Pocahontas. He commended her to his royal
mistress, as "the first Christian ever of that nation, the
first Virginian ever spoke English, or had a child in marriage by an Englislman, a matter surely worthy a prince's
understanding."
When Smith met with his preserver at Branford, where
she was staying with her husband after her arrival in England, his demeanor did not at first satisfy her. Etiquette,
and the restraints of English customs, prevented him perhaps from making such demonstration of affection as she
had expected from her adopted father.  "After a modest
salutation," he says, "without any word, she turned herself about, obscured her face as not seeming well contented; and in that humor, her husband, with divers
others, we all left her two or three hours, repenting myself
to have writ she could speak English."
This pique, or whatever emotion it may have been, soon
passed off, and she began to converse fireely upon old times
and scenes. She said she would always call Smith her
father, that he should call her child, and ever consider her
as his "countryman."  It seems that she had been told
that he was dead, and only learned the truth on reaching
Eng,land. Powhatan had been anxious to get intelligence
of his old rival, and specially commissioned an Indian of
his council, named Uttomatomakkin, whom he sent over
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
to England, to find out Captain Smith; to see the Englishmen's God, their queen, and their prince; and to
ascertain the number of the country's inhabitants.
This last direction he endeavored to perform by carrying
a stick with him, and making a notch for every man he
saw, "but he was quickly weary of that task."
Captain Argall, Rolfe, and others, having been furnished
with an outfit for Virginia, in 1617, Pocahontas (known
as Rebecca, since her baptism and conversion,) was about
to revisit her native country, but was taken suddenly ill,
and died at Gravesend.  "She made not more sorrow for
her unexpected death, than joy to the beholders to hear
and see her make so religious and godly an end."  She
left one child, Thomas Rolfe, who afterwards resided in
Virginia, and from whom many families in that state still
trace their origin. The celebrated John Randolph, of
Roanoke, was one of his descendants.
At Jamestown, Argall found matters in a bad state.
Little was attended to but the raising of tobacco, which
was seen growing in the streets and market place. The
savages had become bold and familiar, "as frequent in the
colonists' houses as themselves, whereby they were become
expert in the English arms." They broke out, in some
instances, into open murder and robbery, but the old chief
Opechancanough, when redress was demanded, disclaimed
all knowledge of or participation in the outrages.
The venerable Powhatan died in April, of the year
1618, and was succeeded by his second brother, Itopatin.
The new king, as well as the formidable Opechancanough,
seemed desirous of continuing at peace with the whites.
Despite his protestations of friendship, and renewal of
solemn leagues and covenants, the old king of Pamaunky
was still held in sore suspicion, and it is plain that Indian
power, if roused against the colony, was growing formidable.  The historian expresses his amazement "to understand
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
how strangely the savages had been taught the use of
arms, and, employed in hunting and fowling with our fowling pieces, and our men rooting in the ground about
tobacco like swine."
John Pory, secretary of the colony, undertook a settlement on the eastern shore in 1621.  INamenacus, kiing of
Pawtuxent, visited him, and expressed his good will in
style characteristic of Indian metaphor. Baring his breast,
says Pory, he asked "if we saw any deformity upon it;
we told him, No; No more, said he, is the inside, but as
sincere and pure; therefore come freely to my country
and welcome." The English were accompanied by Thomas
Savage as interpreter; a youth who, sixteen years before,
had been left with Powhatan for the purpose of acquiring
the Indian language, and who afterwards proved of great
service to the colony.
When the party reached the dwelling of Namenacus
and his brother Wamanato, they were most hospitably
received and entertained. Boiled oysters were set before
them in a "brass kettle as bright without as within,"
and the alliance was cemented by exchange of presents.
Wamanato promised to keep what he had received
"whilst he lived, and bury them with him being dead.
Hie much wondered at our Bible," proceeds Pory, "but
much more to hear it was the law of our God, and the
first chapter of Genesis expounded of Adam and Eve,
and simple marriage; to which he replied he was like
Adam in one thing, for he never had but one wife at
once; but he, as all the rest, seemed more willing of other
discourses they better understood."
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
CHAPTER V
THE VIRGINIA MASSACRES OF 1622, AND OF 1641, (OR 1644.)- DEATH
OF OPECHANCANOUGH.
THE spring of 1622 was memorable for a deep-laid and
partially successful plot, attributed in no small measure to
the contrivance of Opechancanough, for the extermination
of the English colony. The settlers had come to look
upon the Indians with a mixture of condescension and
contempt; they admitted them freely into their houses;
suffered them to acquire the use of English weapons; and
took little or no precautions against an outbreak. The
plantations and villages of the whites were widely separated and ill-protected, offering an easy opportunity for a
sudden and concerted attack.
No suspicions whatever were entertained of any hostile
intent upon the part of the savages until just before the
massacre commenced, and then there was neither time nor
opportunity to convey the intelligence to the distant settlements.   The plot was so arranged that upon a day
appointed, the 22d of March, the Indians spread themselves throughout the settlements, and, going into the
houses, or joining the laborers in the field, on pretence of
trade, took the first opportunity to kill those with whom
they were communicating, by a blow from behind.
No less than three hundred and forty-seven of the English perished, the most extensive massacre at any one spot
being that in Martin's Hundred, only seven miles from
Jamestown. The savages spared not their best friends,
with whom they had held amicable intercourse for years,
but availed themselves of that very intimacy to carry out
their bloody design with the greater secrecy and impunity.  One only showed signs of relenting.  "The slaughter had been universal if God had not put it into the
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heart of an Indian, who, lying in the house of one Pace,
was urged by another Indian, his brother, that lay with
him the night before, to kill Pace as he should do Perry,
which was his friend, being so commanded from their king."
Instead of complying, he rose, and made known to his
host the plan of the next day's attack. Pace carried the
intelligence to Jamestown with the utmost expedition,
and the caution was spread as far as possible. Wherever
the Indians saw the English upon their guard, no attempt
was made upon them, even where there was a gross disparity in numbers. One of Smith's old guard, Nathaniel
Causie, after receiving a severe wound, seized an axe, and
put those to flight who had set upon him. In another
instance, two men repelled the attack of sixty savages,
and a Mr. Baldwin, at Warraskoyack, defended his house
and its inmates single handed, the Indians being unwilling
to stand his fire. Women, children, and unarmed men; all
who could be taken unawares, were murdered, and their
bodies hacked and mutilated.   No  tie of friendship or
former favor proved strong enough to stay the hand of the
remorseless foe.  A Mr. Thorp, who had shown every kindness to the Indians, and especially to the king, was one
of the victims, his "dead corpse being abused with such
spite and scorn as is unfit to be heard with civil ears."
He had formerly built a convenient house for the sachem,
"after the English fashion, in which he took such pleasure,
especially in the lock and key, which he so admired as
locking and unlocking his door a hundred times a day, he
thought no device in the world comparable to it."
It was supposed that the motive which operated most
forcibly upon Opechancanough, in urging him to these
enormities, was the death of Nemattanow, one of his favorites, styled "Jack of the Feather, because he commonly
was most strangely adorned with them." This Indian was
shot, about a fortnight before the massacre, for the mur
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INDIANS OF VIRGINIA.
der of a man named Morgan, whom he enticed from home
on pretence of trade.
Little active efforts were made to revenge the uprising
of the Indians. After the bloody day in March, no general engagement took place between the English and -the
savages until the ensuing autumn, when an army of three
hundred colonists marched to Nandsamund, and laid waste
the country.
The bitterest animosity prevailed for many years between the rival claimants to the country- the Indians and
the pale faces, who were supplanting them, insidiously, or by
open warfare. The old chief, Opechancanough, remained
long, a thorn in the sides of the colonists; and, as late as
1641, nine years after the conclusion of a settled peace, he
organized a conspiracy, which resulted in the destruction of
even a larger number of the whites than fell in the massacre of 1622. The time of the second uprising is fixed,
by some, three years later than the date above mentioned.
After that event, the war was pursued with the energy
that the dangerous circumstances of the colony required;
and the aged chief, falling into the hands of the English,
was carried captive to Jamestown. Regard to his infirmities and age restrained the authorities from showing him
indignity or unkindness, but he was shot by a private soldier, in revenge, as is supposed, for some former injury.
Although so enfeebled by the weight of years as to be
utterly helpless, and unable even to raise his eyelids without assistance, the venerable chief still maintained his dignity and firmness; and, just before  his  death, rebuked
Berkley, the governor, for suffering his people to crowd
around and gaze upon him.
It is'said by some historians that he was not a native of
Virginia, but that he was reputed among his subjects and
the neighboring tribes, to have been formerly a king over
a nation far to the south-west.
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CHAPTER VI.
SMITH'S ACCOUNT OF THE NUMBERS, APPEARANCE, AND HABITS OF
THE INDIANS.
"*  *  *  To the door
The red man slowly drags the enormous bear,
..Slain in the chestnut thicket, or flings down
The deer from his strong shoulders." - BRYANT.
VIRGINIA, like every other division of the eastern coast
of North America, was but thinly inhabited when the
white settlements first commenced.   As hunting formed
the chief means of subsistence to the natives during a
considerable portion of the year, it was impracticable for
them to live closely congregated. There were computed
to be, within sixty miles of the settlement of Jamestown, some
five thousand Indians, of whom not quite one-third were
men serviceable in war. The lower portion of the Powhatan or James' river, below the falls, passed through the
country of the great king and tribe who bore the same name:
among the mountains at its source dwelt the Monacans.
The great nations were subdivided into a number of smaller tribes, each subject to its own Werowance, or king.
The stature and general appearance of different races
among them presented considerable discrepancy.  Of the
Sasquesahanocks, Smith says: "Such great and well-proportioned men are seldom seen, for they seemed like
giants to the English. For their language, it may well
beseem their proportions, sounding from them as a voice
in a vault." One of their chief Werowances measured
three-quarters of a yard about the calf of his leg, "and
all the rest of his limbs so answerable to that proportion,
that he seemed the goodliest man we ever beheld. His
hair, the one side, was long, the other shore close, with a
ridge like a cock's comb."
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These people were dressed in bear and wolf-skins. "some
have cassacks made of bears' heads and skins, that a man's
head goes through the skin's neck, and the ears of the bear
fastened to his shoulders, the nose and teeth hanging down
his breast, another bear's face split behind him, and at the
end of the nose hung a paw. One had the head of a wolf
hanging in a chain for a jewel; his tobacco pipe, three quarters of a yard long, prettily carved with a bird, a deer, or
some such device, at the great end, sufficient to beat out
one's brains."
Farther to the South, upon the Rappahanock, and other
adjacent rivers, dwelt an inferior people, of small stature.
The Monacans, Mannahocks, Sasquesahanocks, and other
tribes, which environed the Powhatan country, were so
dissimilar in their language that they could only commu
nicate by interpretation.
The clothing of all these Indians consisted principally
of skins, dressed with or without the hair, according to
the season. Occasionally would be seen a mantle neatly
and thickly covered with feathers, so fastened as to appear
like a natural growth; but many of the savages contented
themselves with very simple and primitive  habiliments,
woven from grass and leaves.  Tattooing was common, especially among the women, and the red powdered root of the
pocone, mixed with oil to the consistency of paint, served
to satisfy their barbaric taste for fancifully coloring the
body.  He was "the most gallant who was the most monstrous to behold." Their ears were generally bored, and
pendants of copper and other ornaments were attached.
"Some of their men wear in those holes a small green
and yellow-colored snake, near half a yard in length,
which, crawling and lapping herself about his neck, oftentimes would familiarly kiss his lips."
Their wigwams were much after the usual fashion, warm,
but smoky, and stood in the midst of the planting grounds
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where they raised their beans, corn, and pompions. About
the dwellings of some, mulberry-trees were planted, and
fine groves of the same grew naturally in various parts of
the country. The English made an attempt to raise silk
here, "and surely the wormns prospered excellent well till
the master-workman fell sick.  During which time they
were eaten with rats." To effect a clearing, the custom
of the natives was to girdle the trees by bruising and burning the bark near the root; and, in the ensuing year, the
soil was rudely loosened for the reception of the seed.
During a great part of the year they were obliged to
resort to the natural productions of the forest, sea, and
rivers for their support; and, as their diet varied with the
season, "even as the deer and wild beasts, they seemed
fat and lean, strong and weak." Ins the spring they relied chiefly upon fish and small game; in summer, before
the green corn was ready for use, they were obliged to eke
out a subsistence with roots, acorns, and shell-fish. Some
species of acorns, besides being useful as food, furnished an
:oil with which the natives anointed their heads and joints.
Smith enumerates many of the wild fruits and game
which were sought by the Indians, describing them in
quaint and forcible language. It is singular to observe
'how the original Indian names of plants and animals have
been altered and corrupted on their adoption by the English.  All will recognize the "putchamin," whose " fruit is
like a medlar; it is first green, then yellow, then  red,
when it is ripe; if it be not ripe, it will draw a man's
mouth awry, with much torment." Broth or bread made
from the "chechinquamin," (chincopin,) was considered a
great dainty.
With a slight change of orthography, the "aroughcun,
a beast much like a badger, but which useth to live on
trees, as squirrels do," becomes familiar, as do also the
"opassum" and "mussascus."
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Among the fish, a kind of ray attracted the worthy captain's special admiration, being "so like the picture of St.
(jeorge his dragon as possible can be, except his legs and
wings.
The Indians fished with nets, woven with no little skill;
with hooks of bone; with the spear; and with arrows
attached to lines. For other game, the principal weapon
was the bow and arrow.   The arrows were generally
headed with bone or flint, but sometimes with the spur
of a turkey or a bird's bill. It is astonishing how the stone
arrow-heads, which are, to this day, found scattered over
our whole country, could have been shaped, or attached
to the reed with any degree of firmness. Smith says that
a small bone was worn constantly at the "bracert" for the
purpose of manufacturing them, - probably to hold the
flint while it was chipped into shape by another stone,andi that a strong glue, obtained by boiling deer's horns
and sinews, served to fasten them securely. Very soon
after intercourse with Europeans commenced, these rude
implements were superseded by those of iron.
Deer were hunted with most effect by driving in large
companies, dispersed through the woods. When a single
hunter undertook the pursuit, it was usual for him to disguise himself in the skin of a deer, thrusting his arm
through the neck into the head, which was so stuffed as
to resemble that of the living animal. Thus accoutred, he
would gradually approach his prey, imitating the motions
of a deer as nearly as possible, stopping occasionally, and
appearing to be occupied in licking his body, until near
enough for a shot.
In war these Indians pursued much the same course as
the other eastern nations. On one occasion, at MNattapanient, they entertained Smith and his companions with a
sham fight, one division taking the part of Monacans, and
the other of Powhatans.   After the first discharge  of
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
arrows, he says, "they gave such horrible shouts and
screeches as so many infernal hell-hounds could not have
made them more terrible." During the whole performance, "their actions, voices, and gestures, were so strained
to the height of their quality and nature, that the strangeness thereof made it seem very delightful." Their martial
music consisted of the discordant sounds produced by rude
drums and rattles.
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CHAPTER I.
CONDUCT OF EARLY VOYAGERS.- ARRIVAL OF THE MAY-FLOWER.  SAMOSET. - TISQUANTUM. - MASSASOIT. - WESTON'S COLONY. -
CAUNBITANT'S CONSPIRACY. - TRADE IN FIRE-ARMS. - THOMAS
MORTON. - DEATH OF MASSASOIT AND ALEXANDER, AND ACCES SION OF PHILIP.
"Erewhile, where yon gay spires their brightness rear,
Trees waved, and the brown hunter's shouts were loud
Amid the forest; and the bounding deer
Fled at the glancing plume, and the gaunt wolf yelled near."
BRYANT.
IT is lamentable to reflect that in the primitive dealings
between the venturous Europeans and aborigines of America, the kindly welcome and the hospitable reception were
the part of the savage, and treachery, kidnapping, and
murder too frequently that of the civilized and nominally
Christian visitor.
It appears to have been matter of common  custom
among these unscrupulous adventurers to seize by force
or fraud on the persons of their simple entertainers, and
to carry them off as curiosities to the distant shores of
Europe. Columbus, with kindly motives, brought several
of                        the West Indian natives to the Spanish court; -others,
whom his follower Pinzon had kidnapped, he restored
to their friends. Cabot, in his memorable expedition,
followed the same example, and the early French discov                                                (217)
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erers were peculiarly culpable in this respect. Most atro cious of all was the conduct of Thomas Hunt, who, in
1614, at Monhigon, enticed twenty-four of these unfor tunate people on board his vessel, and carried them to
Malaga, as slaves- an inhuman piece of treachery, to
which the English were probably indebted for much of
the subsequent hostilities evinced by the Indians of New
England.
On the 6th of September, 1620, the May-Flower, freighted with forty-one adventurous enthusiasts, the germ of a
western empire, sailed from Plymouth, in England; and
on the 9th of the following November arrived on the
barren and inclement shores of Cape Cod. A few days
afterwards a reconnoitring party caught sight, of a small
number of the natives, who, however, fled at their approach. On the 8th of December a slight and desultory
action occurred, the Indians attempting to surprise the
Pilgrims by night.  They were, however, discomfited, and
compelled to retreat, leaving, among other trophies, eighteen arrows, "headed with brass, some with harts' horns,
and others with eagles' claws."
' On the 11th of December (0. S.), memorable in the
annals of America, the little'band of Pilgrims landed, and
fixed their first settlement at Plymouth. The Indians, it
would appear, looked with evil eyes upon the pious colonists; for, says an old narrator, "they got all the powwows
in the country, who, for three days together, in a horrid
and devilish manner, did curse and execrate them with
their conjurations, which assembly and service they held
in a dark and dismal swamp. Behold how Satan labored
to hinder the gospel from coming into New England."
The appearance of the friendly chief Samoset, at the
settlement; his welcome in broken English; his manners
and discourse, are quaintly detailed by the historians of
the colony.   He  had acquired some knowledge of the
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INTE R VIEW OF SAiMO SET IVi17'll TI!,- L'PILG0UI il.1S
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English language by intercourse with the crews and masters of vessels employed in fishing upon the coast, and
readily communicated such information as the settlers required concerning the nature of the country and its inhabitants. He informed them of the manner in which the
district where they were located had been depopulated only
four years previous, by some incurable disease; a circumstance to which the feeble colony not improbably owed its
preservation.
Before the bold and friendly advances made by Samoset,
the only communication between the colonists and the
original inhabitants had been of a hostile character. The
natural fears and jealousy of the savages, and the superstitious horror of the English at the heathenish powwaws
and incantations which they witnessed, together with the
want of a common language, had kept the little company of
adventurers in a state of complete isolation during the whole
of the cold and dreary winter that succeeded their arrival.
It was in the month of March that a peaceful communication was established with the natives, through the intervention of Samoset. He introduced, among other of his
companions, the noted Tisquantum, or Squanto, who was
one of the twenty-four kidnapped by Hunt, at a former
period. By his knowledge of the country and coast, and
his acquaintance with their language, Squanto became of
great service to the colonists, and continued their friend
until his death, which took place in 1602, while he was
on his passage down the coast, in the capacity of pilot to
an expedition fitted out for the purpose of purchasing
supplies of corn and other necessaries. Much of romantic
interest attaches to the history and adventures of this serviceable Indian, both during his captivity and after his
restoration to his own  country.   Escaping  by the assistance of certain kindly-disposed monks, from Spain,
where he, with his companions, had been sold in slavery,
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he reached England, and was taken into the employment
of a London merchant, named Slaney, by whom he was
sent as pilot, or in some other capacity, to various places
on the eastern coast.
He was brought back to Patuxet, the Indian name of
the country in which the pilgrims first landed, by Captain
Thomas Dermer, who sailed in the employ of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, during the summer preceding the arrival
of the May-Flower. After his introduction by Samoset,
he remained with his new allies, instructing them in the
mode of raising corn, to which they were strangers; in the
best methods of fishing; and making himself of inestimable service.
By the friendly influence of Squanto and Samoset, who
acted as interpreters, a league of amity and mutual protection was effected between the colony and the powerful
sachem Massasoit, father of the still more celebrated Philip.
Massasoit's head-quarters were at Mount Hope, on Narragansett bay, overlooking the present town of Bristol; a
striking feature in a landscape of remarkable beauty, and
commanding from its summit a magnificent prospect of
island, bay and ocean. His authority extended over all
the Indian tribes living in the vicinity of the Plymouth
colony, and he held an uncertain but influential sway over
portions of other nations far into the interior.
In the month of July, 1621, some of the principal inhabitants of the settlement, among others, Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins, went on an embassy to the court
of this chief, as well to observe his power and resources
as to renew the amicable treaties before entered into. They
carried such attractive ornaments and apparel as would
please the eye of a savage.
They were accompanied by Squanto; and although their
entertainment, both as respects food and lodgings, was but
sorry, yet they were received in a spirit of friendliness.
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
They obtained much useful information concerning the surrounding tribes, and also learned the power and numbers
of the Narragansetts.
The ship Fortune arrived at Plymouth, in the month of
November, bringing out thirty-five emigrants; but no provisions for their support; in consequence of which, the
colony was not long after greatly distressed by want. To
add to their troubles and fears, the Narragansetts sent
them a hostile message, expressed by a bundle of arrows
tied with a snake skin. The skin was returned filled with
bullets, and the governor made the spirited reply -" that,
if they loved war rather than peace, they might begin when
they would."
The houses were thenceforth enclosed in palings, and
every precaution was taken, by watch and ward, to guard
against a sudden attack.
During the ensuing year, 1622, two ships were sent over
from England by a Mr. Thomas Weston, with a considerable number of colonists; in one of them came "sixty lusty
men." A new settlement was formed by them at Wesagusquaset, on Massachusetts Bay, known as Weston's colony.
The dishonesty and wastefulness of these new comers
produced very injurious effects upon the welfare of the colony at large. The hostility of the Indians was excited
by their depredations, and, if we may believe the old narrations, they were even base enough to circulate among the
natives false reports of an intention on the part of the
Plymouth authorities to attack them, and forcibly seize their
corn and provisions, the time being one of great scarcity.
Weston's men were in possession of a small vessel, in
which they proposed to their Plymouth neighbors to un
dertake an expedition round Cape Cod, for the purpose of
trading for supplies from the natives. After two unsuccessful attempts, having been delayed by rough weather, they
succeeded in reaching Nauset and Mattachiest, where they
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
obtained a quantity of corn and beans. It was on this
voyage that they lost their guide and interpreter Squanto.
He had been a highly useful and faithful coadjutor to the
colonists; his only faults being a natural inclination to pre sume upon his importance in his intercourse with his coun trymen. This led him to exalt himself in their eyes by
tales of his great influence over the English, and exagge rated reports of their powers and skill. He affirmed that
they had the plague  buried in the ground, which they
could, at pleasure, let loose for the destruction of the In dians.  On one occasion he was believed, for some purpose
of his own, to have raised a false alarm of an attack by the
Narragansetts, accompanied  by Massasoit.  This sachem
became at last so exasperated against Squanto, that, on di vers occasions, he sought to put him to death, and the colo nists had no small difficulty in preserving their interpreter.
Great rivalry and jealousy existed between Squanto and
Hobamak, another friendly Indian, who served the settlers
in a similar capacity.
In the year 1623, the people at Weston's plantation,
principally, as appears, from their own folly and improvi dence, were reduced to I state of extreme misery and destittition. They became scattered in small parties, obtaining
a precarious subsistence by gathering shell-fish, and by
working for or pilfering from the natives. On one occasion they actually hanged a man  for stealing, in order to
pacify the Indians; and although it appears probable that
:   whom  they executed was, in reality, guilty, yet they
have been accused of sparing the principal offender, as an
able-bodied and serviceable member of the community,
and hanging, in his stead, an old and decrepit weaver.
See "Hudibras" upon this point.
- An extensive conspiracy was formed among various
Files of the Massachusetts Indians, and others, extending,
W -some supposed, even to the inhabitants of the island
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of Capewack, or Martha's Vineyard, for the purpose of
destroying Weston's colony, and perhaps that at Plymouth
also. Caunbitant, or Corbitant, one of Massasoit's most
distinguished subordinate chiefs, was a prime mover in this
plot.  He had always entertained hostile feelings towards
the English, and regarded their increase and prosperity as
of fatal tendency to the welfare of his own people. The
desigV was made known to some of the chief men of Plymouth, by Massasoit, (whom the leaders of the conspiracy
had endeavored to draw into their plans;) in gratitude for
their having restored him from a dangerous fit of sickness.
Having been, as he supposed, at the point of death, he
sent for assistance to the colony, and Mr. Edward Winslow and John Hamden, (supposed by some writers to have
been the same afterwards so celebrated in English history
for his resistance to royal encroachments) with Hobamak
as interpreter, were despatched to his assistance.
In order to check the purposed uprising, Captain Miles
Standish, with only eight men, proceeded to Wesagusquaset, and attacking the Indians, in conjunction with Weston's
men, overpowered them, killing six of their number;
among the rest, the noted and dangerous Wittuwamat.
This chief had displayed great boldness and spirit. On
the arrival of Standish, he, with others of his company,
declared that he was in no wise ignorant of the English man's intentions.  "' Tell Standish,' said he,' we know
he is come to kill us, but let him begin when he dare.'
Not long after, many would come to the fort, and whet
their knives before him, with many braving speeches.  One
amongst the rest was by Wittuwamat's bragging he had a
knife that on the handle had a woman's face, but at home
I have one that hath killed both French and English, and
that hath a man's face upon it, and by and by these two
must marry; but this here by and by shall see, and by
and by eat but not speak." Of the manner of this In
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dian's death, and that of Peksuot, one of his principal companions, killed by Standish himself in a desperate hand to
hand struggle, Winslow says: "But it is incredible how
many wounds these two panieses received before they died,
not making any fearful noise, but catching at their weapons and striving to the last." Wittuwamat had often expressed great contempt of the English for their want of
fortitude, declaring that "they died crying, making sour
faces, more like children than men." A brother of this
chief, only eighteen years of age, they hanged.
The Weston plantation was, however, broken up, the
survivors, much reduced in numbers by sickness and want,
setting sail in their vessel for the eastward, to join the
fishing squadron on the coast: as the old historian has it,
"here see the effects of pride and vain-glory." Thomas
Weston himself, after a singular series of misfortunes,
only arrived at Plymouth to learn the disastrous fate of his
colony.
The system of working the land in common was this
year abandoned by the Plymouth colonists, and a portion
of land set apart to each man; a change which produced
the most favorable results.
In the course of a few years from the formation of the
Plymouth colony, the Indians, in spite of a royal proclamation forbidding the traffic, began to supply themselves
with firearms and ammunition, the use of which they acquired with singular facility. The trade for these dangerous articles first commenced upon the eastern coast, where
they were brought by English, French and Dutch fishing
vessels, and was further extended into the interior in 1628,
by one Thomas Morton, a notable contemner of godliness,
and long a thorn in the side of the sober colonists. Besides
his capital offence of teaching the Indians the use of firearms, and driving a profitable trade with them in these
deadly weapons, he became, as Morton has it, "a lord of
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misrule," with a set of disorderly companions who had
been brought out in the same ship with him. They spent
what they gained by unlawful trade in "vainly quafling
and drinking both wine and strong liquors to great excess
- setting up a May-pole, drinking and dancing about it,
and frisking about it like so many fairies, or furies rather."
This May-pole was cut down by Endicott, and Morton
was seized and sent to England, where he wrote an "infamous and scurrilous book' (The New Canaan),' against
many godly and chief men of the country." In 1633, a
year memorable for the first English settlement on the
Connecticut, by William Holmes, in spite of the opposition of the Dutch, a "pestilent fever" carried off many,
both of the colonists and Indians thereabout.
Morton, in his "New England's Memorial," says that
"It is to be observed that, the spring before this sickness,
there was a numerous company of flies, which were like,
for bigness, unto wasps or bumble-bees; they came out of
little holes in the ground, and did eat up the green things,
and made such a constant yelling noise as made the woods
ring of them, and ready to deafen the hearers." The Indians prophesied sickness from this sign.
No very serious hostilities occurred between the Plymouth colonists and the natives, from the period of which
we have been speaking, until the year 1637, memorable
for the extirpation of the Pequots. The causes and conduct of this campaign, marked as it was by the most savage ferocity on the part of both Indians and English, will
be detailed in a succeeding chapter.
In the year 1639, Massasoit, or, as he is generally styled
at this period, Woosamequen, brought his eldest son Mooanam, otherwise called Wamsutta, to the court at Plymouth,
and solemnly renewed the former league of peace and
amity with the colony.
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After the death of the friendly and powerful sachem,
his sons Wamsutta and Metacomet continued their profession of good-will towards the English. About 1656, they
presented themselves to the court at Plymouth, and, by
their own request, received English names.   Wamsutta
was denominated Alexander, and Metacomet, Philip, long
after a name of terror to the colonies.
In 1662, Alexander, having been. suspected of being
engaged with the Narragansetts in plans hostile to the
English settlers, was taken by surprise, and forcibly carried to Plymouth. This indignity is said so to have chafed
his proud spirit, that it threw him into a fever, of which
he died shortly after. Contradictory reports have been
handed down to us concerning the manner of his treatment
during this brief captivity, and the circumstances attending
his death.
Shortly after this event, Philip, now sachem of Pocanoket,
came to the court at Plymouth, with renewed acknowledgments of subjection to the king of England, and promises to fulfil all engagements theretofore entered into by
himself, his father, and brother. He covenanted, moreover, not to sell any of his lands to strangers without the
knowledge and consent of the authorities at Plymouth.
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CHAPTER II.
THE NARRAGANSETTS.- THE PEQUOTS.- MURDER OF STONE AND
OLDHAM.- ENDICOTT'S EXPEDITION.- THIE PEQUOT  WAR. - DE  STRUCTION OF THE PEQUOT FORT. - THE TRIBE DISPERSED AND
SUBDUED.. 
"Dark as the frost-nipped leaves that strew the ground,
The Indian hunter here his shelter found;
Here cut his bow, and shaped his alTows true,
Here built his wigwam and his bark canoe,
Speared the quick salmon leaping. up the fall,
And slew the deer without the rifle ball;
Here his young squaw her cradling-tree would choose,
Singing her chant to hush her swart pappoose;
Here stain her quills, and string her trinkets rude,
And weave her warrior's wampum in the wood."
BRAINARD.
THr islands and western shores of the beautiful bay
which still bears their name were, at the time of the first
European settlement, in the possession of the great and
powerful tribe of the Narragansetts.   Their dominions
extended thirty or forty miles to the westward, as far as
the cgantry of the Pequots, from whom they were separate by the Pawcatuck river.
Their chief sachem  was the venerable Canonicus, who
governed the tribe, with the assistance and support of his
nephew Miantonimo.  The celebrated Roger Williams, thie
founder of the Rhode Island and Providence plantations,
always noted for his kindness, justice, and impartiality
towards the natives, was high in favor with the old chief,
and exercised an influence over him, without which his
power might have been fatally turned against the English.
Canonicus, he informs us, loved him as a son to the day
of his death.
Mr. Williams had been obliged to leave the colony at
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the eastward, in consequence of his religious opinions,
which did not coincide with those so strictly interwoven
with the government and policy of the Puritans. He was
a man of whose enterprise and wisdom the state which he
first settled is justly proud, and whose liberal and magnanimous disposition stands out in striking relief when
compared with the intolerant and narrow-minded prejudices
of his contemporaries.
Miantonimo is described as a warrior of a tall and
commanding appearance; proud and magnanimous; "subtile and cunning in his contrivements;" and of undaunted
courage.
The Pequots and Mohegans, who formed but one tribe,
and were governed during the early period of English
colonization by one sachem, appear to have emigrated
from the west not very long before the first landing of
Europeans on these shores.  They were entirely disconnected with the surrounding tribes, with whom they were
engaged in continual hostilities, and were said to have
reached the country they then inhabited from the north.
They probably formed a portion of the Mohican or Mohegan nation on the Hudson, and arrived at the sea-coast by
a circuitous route, moving onward in search of better hunting grounds, or desirous of the facilities for procuring support offered by the productions of the sea.
In various warlike incursions they had gained a partial
possession of  extensive districts upon the Connecticut
river, and from them the early Dutch settlers purchased
the title to the lands they occupied in that region.
In the year 1634, one Captain Stone, a trader from Virginia, of whom the early narrators give rather an evil report,
having put into the Connecticut river in a small vessel, was
killed, together with his whole crew, by a party of Indians
whom he had suffered to remain on board his vessel.
Two years later, a Mr. John Oldham was murdered at
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Block Island, (called Manisses in the Indian tongue,) by a
body of natives. They were discovered in possession of
the vessel, and endeavoring to make their escape, were'
most of them drowned.
The Narragansetts and Pequots both denied having
participated in this last outrage, and, as respects Stone and
his companions, although the Pequots afterwards acknowledged that some of their people were the guilty parties,
yet they averred that it was done in retaliation for the
murder of one of their own sachems by the Dutch, denying that they knew any. distinction between the Dutch and
English.
To revenge the death of Oldham, an expedition was
fitted out firom Massachusetts, with the avowed determination of destroying all the male inhabitants of Block Island,
and of enforcing heavy tribute from the Pequots. Those
engaged in the undertaking, under the command of Endicott, landed on the island, ravaged the corn-fields, an4
burned the wigwams of the inhabitants; but the islanders
succeeded in concealing themselves in the thickets, so that
few were killed. Endicott thence proceeded to the -Pequot
country, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Gardiner,
commander of the garrison at Saybrook, who told him that
the consequence would only be to "raise a hornet's nest
about their ears."
Disembarking near the mouth of the Thamesi the adventurers were surrounded by a large body  of savagesi
mostly unarmed, who questioned them of their purposes
with much surprise and curiosity. The English demanded
the murderers, whom  they alleged to be harbored there,
or their heads. The Indians replied that- their chief sachem, Sassacus, was absent, and sent or pretended to send
parties in search of the persons demanded.   Endicott, impatient of delay, and suspecting deceit,  drove them off,
after a slight skirmish, and proceeded to lay waste their
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corn-fields and wigwams, destroying their canoes and doing
them incalculable mischief.
The same operations were carried on the next day, upon
the opposite bank of the river, after which the party set
sail for home.
The effect of procedures like these, was such as might
have been expected. The hostility of the Pequots towards
the whites was from this period implacable.
For several years the tribe had been engaged in a desultory war with the Narragailsetts, arising from a quarrel,
in 1632, respecting the boundary of their respective domains.  Sassacus at once perceived the necessity or policy
of healing this breach, aild procuring the assistance of his
powerful neighbors in the anticipated struggle. He therefore sent ambassadors to Canonicus, charged with proposals
of treaty, and of union against the usurping English.
A grand council of the Narragansett sachems was called,
and the messengers, according to Morton,l" used many
pernicious arguments to move them thereunto, as that the
English were strangers, and began to overspread their
country, and would deprive them thereof in time, if they
were suffered to grow and increase;" that they need not
"come to open battle with them, but fire their houses, kill
their cattle, and lie in ambush for them," all with little
danger to themselves.
The'Narraganlsetts hesitated, andl wouldcl not improbably
have acceded to the proposals but for the intervention and
persuasion of their friend RPoger Williams.  His influence,
combined with the hope, so dear to an Indian heart, of
being revenged upon their old adversaries, finally prevailed. Miantonimo, with a number of other chiefs and
warriors, proceeded to Boston; was received with much
parade; and concluded a treaty of firm alliance with the
English, stipulating not to make peace with the Pequots,
without their assent.
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
Meantime, during this same year (1637), the Pequots
had commenced hostilities by attacking the settlers on the
Connecticut. They. lay concealed about the fort at Saybrook, ready to seize any of the little garrison who should
be found without the walls.
In several instances they succeeded in making captives,
whom they tortured to death with their usual savage cruelty.  Among the rest, a "godly young man of the name
of Butterfield," was taken, and roasted alive.
The boldness, and even temerity of the few occupants
of the fort, with these horrors staring them in the face, is
surprising. Gardiner, their governor, on one occasion, exasperated a body of Indians who had come forward for a
species of parley, by mocking, daring, and taunting them
in their own style of irony and vituperation.
The colonists appear to ha,ve been even more horrorstricken and enraged at the blasphemous language of their
wild opponents, than at their implacable cruelty. When
they tortured a prisoner, they wMould bid him call upon his
God, and mock and deride him if he did so, in a manner not
unlike that recorded in the case of a, more illustrious sufferer.
They told Gardiner that they had "killed Englishmen,
and could kill.them like mosquitoes;" and that there was
one among them who, "if he could kill one more Englishman, would be equal with God."
Joseph Tilly, commander of a trading vessel, a man described as " brave and hardy, but passionate and wilful,"
going on shore, incautiously, and against the advice of
Gardiner, was taken by the savages, and tortured to death
in the most lingering and cruel manner, being partially
dismembered,  and slowly burned to death by  lighted
splinters thrust into his flesh.  His conduct in this extremity excited the lasting admiration of his tormentors; for,
like one of their own braves, he endured all with silent
fortitude.
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The Indians were accustomed to imitate and deride the
cries and tokens of pain which they usually elicited from
the whites, as being unworthy of men, and tolerable only
in women or children.
In April of this year (1637), an attack was made upon
the village of Wethersfield, by a body of Pequots, assisted or led by other Indians of the vicinity, whose enmity had been excited by some unjust treatment On the part
of the white inhabitants.  Three women and six men of
thle colonists were killed, and cattle and other property
destroyed or car'ied off to a considerable extent.   Two
young girls, daughters of one Abraham Swain, were taken
and carried into captivity. Their release was afterwards
obtained by some Dutch traders, who inveigled a number
of Pequots on board their vessel, and threatened to throw
them into the sea if the girls were not delivered up. During the time that these prisoners were in the power of the
Indians, they received no injury, but were treated with
uniform kindness, a circumstance which, with many others
of the same nature, marks the character of the barbarians
as being by no means destitute of the finer feelings of
humanity.
The settlers on the Connecticut now resolved upon active operations against the Pequot tribe. Although the
whole number of whites upon the river, capable of doing
military service, did not exceed three hundred, a force of
ninety men was raised and equipped. Captain John Mason, a soldier by profession, and a bold, energetic man, was
appointed to the command of the expedition, and the Revelrend Mr. Stone, one of the first preachers at Hartford,
who had accompanied his people across the wilderness, at
the time of the first settlement of that town, undertook the
office of chaplain - a position of far greater importance
and responsibility, in the eyes of our forefathers, than is
accorded to it at the present day. 
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Letters were written to the authorities of Massachusetts,
requesting assistance, inasmuch as the war was owing, in
no small measure, to the ill-advised and worse-conducted
expedition sent forth, as we have before described, by that
colony. The required aid was readily furnished, and a
considerable body of men, under the command of Daniel
Patrick, was sent to the Narragansett sachem, to procure
his cooperation, and afterwards to join the forces of Mason.
The little army was further increased by the addition
of a party of Indians, led by a chief afterwards so celebrated in the annals of the colony, as to deserve more
than a casual mention upon the occasion of this, his first
introduction to the reader.
Uncas, a sachem of the Mohegans, whom we have before mentioned as forming a portion of the Pequot tribe,
had, some time previous to the events which we are now
recording, rebelled against the authority of Sassacus, his
superior sachem, to whom  he was connected by ties of
affinity and relationship.
He is described as having been a man of great strength
and courage, but grasping, cunning, and treacherous, and
possessed of little of that magnanimity which, though
counterbalanced by faults peculiar to his race, distinguished
his implacable foe; Miantonimo the Narragansett.
With his followers, a portion of whom were Mohegans,
and the rest, as is supposed, Indians from the districts on
the Connecticut, who had joined themselves to his fortunes,
Uncas now made common cause with the whites against
his own nation. Gardiner, the commandant at Saybrook,
to test his fidelity, despatched him in pursuit of a small
party of hostile Indians, whose position he had ascertained.
Uncas accomplished his mission, killing a portion of them,
and returning with one prisoner. This captive the In dians were allowed by the English to torture to death, and
they proceeded to pull him asunder, fastening one leg to
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a post, and tying a rope to the other, of which they laid
hold.  Underhill, elsewhere characterized as a "bold, bad
man," had, on this occasion, the humanity to shorten the
torment of the victim by a pistol-shot.
The plan of campaign adopted by Mason, after much
debate, was to sail for the country of the Narragansetts,
and there disembarking, to come upon the enemy by land
from an unexpected direction.
Canonicus and.1iantonimo received  the party in a
friendly manner, approving the design, but proffering no
assistance.
Intelligence was here received of the approach of Captain Patrick and his men from Massachusetts; but Mason
determined to lose no time by waiting for their arrival,
lest information of the movement should in thle meantime
reach the camp of the Pequots. The next day, therefore,
which was the 4th of June, the vessels, in which the company had arrived from Saybrook, set sail for Pequot liver,
manned by a few whites and Indians, while the main body
proceeded on their march across the country. About sixty
Indians, led by Uncas, were of the party.
A large body of Narragansetts and Nehantics attended
them on their march, at one time to the number, as was
supposed, of nearly five hundred. In Indian style, they
made great demonstration of valor and determination; but
as they approached the head-quarters of the terrible tribe
that had held them so long in awe, their hearts began to
fail.  Many slunk away, and of those who still hung in the
rear, none but Uncas and Wequash, a Nehantic sachem,
were ready to share in the danger of the first attack.
The Pequot camp was upon the summit of a high
rounded hill, still known as Pequot hill, in the present
town of Groton, and was considered by the Indians as
impregnable. The people of Sassacus had seen the Eng
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
lish vessels pass by, and supposed that danger was for the
present averted.  After a great feast and dance of exultation at their safety and success, the camp was sunk in sleep
and silence. Mason and his men, who had encamped
among some rocks near the head of Mystic river, approached the Pequot fortification a little before day, on the
5th of June.
The alarm was first given by the barking of a dog,
followed by a cry from some one within, of "Owanux,
Owanux" -  the Indian term for  Englishmen -  upon
which the besiegers rushed forward to the attack.
The fort was, as usual, enclosed with thick palisades, a
narrow entrance being left, which was barred by a pile of
brushwood. Breaking through this, Mason and his companions fell upon the startled Pequots, and maintained for
some time an uncertain hand to hand conflict, until, all
order being lost, he came to the savage determination to
fire the wigwams. This was done, and the dry materials
of which these rude dwellings were composed blazed with
fearful rapidity.
The warriors fought desperately, but their bow-strings
snapped from the heat, and the Narragansetts, now coming
up, killed all who attempted to escape. The scene within
was horrible beyond description. The whole number destroyed (mostly by the flames) was supposed to be over
four hundred, no small portion of which consisted of women and children.
The spirit of the times cannot be better portrayed than
by citing the description of this tragedy given by Morton:
"At this time it was a fearful sight to see them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood quenching the
same; and horrible was the stink and scent thereof; but
the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and they gave the
praise thereof to God, who had wrought so wonderfully
for them, thus to enclose their enemies in their hands, and
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
give them so speedy a victory over so proud, insulting, and
blasphemous an enemy." Dr. Increase Mather, in much
the same vein, says: "This day we brought six hundred
Indian souls to hell."
In looking back upon this massacre, although much
allowance must be made for the rudeness of the age, and
the circumstances of terror and anxiety which surrounded
the early settlers, yet we must confess that here, as on
other occasions, they exhibited the utmost unscrupulousness as to the means by which a desired end should be accomplished.
The loss of the attacking party in this engagement was
trifling in the extreme, only two of their number being
killed, and about twenty wounded. Captain Patrick with
his soldiers from Massachusetts, did not reach the scene of
action in time to take part in it - Underhill, however, with
twenty men, was of the party.
The result of this conflict was fatal to the Pequots as a
nation. After a few unavailing attempts to revenge their
wrongs, they burned their remaining camp, and commenced
their flight to the haunts of their forefathers at the westward.
They were closely pursued by the whites and their JIndian allies, and hunted and destroyed like wild beasts.
The last important engagement was in a swamp at Fairfield, where they were completely overcome. Most of the
warriors were slain, fighting bravely to the last, and the
women and children were distributed as servants among the
colonists or shipped as slaves to the West Indies; "We
send the male children," says Winthrop, "to Burmuda,
by Mr. William Pierce, and the women and maid children
are dispersed about in the towns."  It is satisfactory to reflect that these wild domestics proved rather a source Qf
annoyance than service to their enslavers.
~Sassacus, Mononotto, and a few other Pequot warriors,
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succeeded in effecting their escape to the Mohawks, who,
however, put the sachem and most of his companions to
death, either to oblige the English or the Narragansetts.
The members of the tribe who still remained in Connecticut were finally brought into complete subjection.
Many of them joined the forces of the now powerful Uncas; others were distributed between the Narragansetts
and Mohegans; and no small number were taken and deliberately massacred.
The colonial authorities demanded that all Pequots who
had been in any way concerned in shedding English blood
should be slain, and Uncas had no small difficulty in retaining his useful allies, and at the same time satisfying
the powerful strangers whose patronage and protection
he so assiduously courted.
CIHAPTER III.
QUARRELS BETWEEN THE NARRAGANSETTS AND MOHEGANS.- UNCAS
AND MIANTONIMO.- THE MOHEGAN LAND CONTROVERSY. - SUBSE QUENT CONDITION'OF THE PEQUOTS AND MOHEGANS.
A SMALL body of the Pequots made one more futile
attempt to settle in their old country; but a company was
sent against them, and they were driven off; their provis'ions were plundered, and their wigwams destroyed.
The destruction of this powerful tribe left a large extent
of country unoccupied; to no small portion of which Uncas laid claim by virtue of his relationship to Sassacus.
The power and inflience- of this subtle and warlike chief
'had become, by this time, vastly extended, not only by
treaty and alliance with the Europeans, but by continual
addition to the number of his warriors; as many straggling
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Pequots, and wanderers from other tribes, were eager to
join his' rising fortunes.
Between him and Miantonimo, old feelings of jealousy,
rivalry, and national antipathy were now aroused anew by 
various acts of petty hostility and mutual treachery. Un cas and his followers succeeded in exciting in the minds of
the English a deep and abiding mistrust of the Narragan setts, which Miantonimo, upon repeated citations before
the court at Plymouth, was unable wholly to remove. His
wisdom, cautiousness, and sagacity, excited the admiration
of all who heard him, but, with all his tact, he failed to
convince the authorities of his good faith and innocent intentions.
The animosity of the two chiefs at last broke out into
open hostilities. Mliantonimo, accompanied, as was computed, by over nine hundred warriors, came suddenly upon
Uncas, who was supported by only about half that number
of effective followers. Before joining battle, the Mohegan
sachem challeng-dl his opponent to single combat, proposing that the vanquished party should, with his men, submit
to the victor.
Miantonimo refusing to accede to this proposal, Uncas,
according to a preconcerted signal, prostrated himself; and
his warriors, discharging a flight of arrows, rushed forward
with such impetuosity that, despite the disparity of numbers, they completely routed the Narragansetts, and drove
them from the field.
The chief of the invaders was taken prisoner in his
flight by Uncas himself, assisted by two other warriors.
He had been impeded in his motions by an old corselet, a
piece of defensive armor which had been presented to him
by an English friend, but which proved fatal to him. Seeing that resistance was hopeless, he seated himself upon
the ground, with true Indian stoicism and silence.
Uncas took his prisoner to Hartford, and requested the -
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advice of the authorities as to what course Jhe should pursue respecting him. They referred the question to the
general court of commissioners for New England, which
sat at Boston, in September, (1643). The court, unwilling
to undertake the responsibility of ordering the death of the
illustrious captive, submitted the matter to the decision of
the clergy, then in high council at the same city.  These
worthies, less scrupulous than the laity, came to the conclusion that his life must pay the forfeit of his attacks
upon Uncas, and his general turbulence, not to mention
the fact that he had, in one instance, beaten a follower of
a sachem who was allied to the English!
~The unfortunate sachem was therefore redelivered into
-th~ands of the Mohegans for execution, and two of the
EnglI~ were appointed to attend the proceeding, and see
that he'vas put to death without-torture. There is some
discrepancy in the accounts as to the place where  Miantollimo met'is fate, but it appears to have been in the
township of Norwich, where a pile of stones was long after
pointed out as marking his grave.  The manner of his
death was this: incas, with his brother WVawequa, and a
party of other Indi~ns, accompanied by the two  lwhites,
was leading his prisoner along a path, when, at a silent
signal from the chief,  (awequa buried his tomahawk in
the skull of the captive from behind.  It is said that Un cas cut a portion of flesh from the shoulder of his fallen
enemy, and ate it, declaring that it was the "sweetest meat
he ever ate; it made his heart strong."
The Narraganllsetts lamented bitterly over the untimely
end of their famous and beloved sachem, and complained
of the treachery of Uncas, averring that large quantities
of wampum had been sent as ransom to the Alohegans, and
appropriated by them, regardless of the conditions attend ing its mission.
Pessacus, a brother of Miantonimo, continued to make
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troublesome inroads upon the Mohegan domains, but the
English still held Uncas in favor, and warned the Narragansetts that they would support him should he require
their aid.
In 1644, the complaints and mutual recriminations of
the rival tribes were heard and examined by the commissioners of the colonies, who decided that Pessacus had not
proved his charges, and enforced a temporary treaty. This
was soon violated by the Narragansetts, who continued
their depredations as heretofore; and in the ensuing spring,
Pessacus, having done great damage to his opponent by
predatory excursions, finally besieged him in a fort on the
Thames, where he would probably have reduced him by
famine, had not supplies been secretly furnished by certain
of the English.
The tyranny and exactions of Uncas over the Pequots
who had become subject to him, aroused their indignation;
while his treachery towards his own people, and alliance
with the whites, secured him the hostility of every neighboring tribe. He was engaged in perpetual quarrels with
Ninigret, a celebrated Nehantic sachem; with Sequassen,
whose authority at an earlier date extended over the Tunxis
tribe, at the westward of the Conrecticut; and with the
grieved and revengeful Narragansetts.
Whenever these interminable disputes were brought before the court of the New England commissioners, the
decisions of that body appear to have favored the Mohegan.
Assisted by the counsel of a crafty and subtle Indian,
named Foxun or Poxen, who served him in the capacity
of chief advocate and adyiser, and whose wisdom and sagacity were widely noted, he generally managed to explain
away his iniquities; at least so far as to satisfy an audience
already prejudiced in his favor. When his crimes were
not to be concealed, a reprimand and caution were generally the extent of his punishment.
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INDIANS OF NEW ENGLAND.
On the other hand, when suspicions arose against the Narragansetts, the most prompt and violent proceedings were resorted to: the payment of an immense amount of wampum
was exacted; the delivery of hostages from among the principal people of the tribe was demanded; and threats of war
and extermination were used to humble and humiliate them.
In September, 1655, a few of the scattered Pequots who
had not joined the forces of Uncas, were allowed a restingplace by the commissioners, upon a portion of the southeastern sea-coast of Connecticut, and their existence as a
separate tribe was formally acknowledged.
This little remnant of the crushed and overthrown nation had been, for some time, under the guidance of two
self-constituted sachems, one commonly called Robin Cassinament, a Pequot, and the other Cushawashet, a nephew
of Ninigret, known among the English as Hermon Garret.
They had formed small settlements ypon the tract now
allotted to them, which they were allowed to retain upon
payment of tribute, in wampum, to the colonies, and the
adoption of a prescribed code of laws. Their governors
were to be chosen by the English; and Cushawashet and
Cassinament received the first appointment.
It will readily be perceived to what an extent the power
and control of the colonists over the affairs of the Indians
in their vicinity, had increased, even at this early period.
The natives were now glad to settle down under the protection of their masters; to pay yearly tribute as amends
for former hostilities; and to hire the lands of which they
had been so short a time previous the undisturbed possessors.
It is pitiful to read of the coarse coats, the shovels, the
hoes, the knives, and jews-harps, in exchange for which
they had parted with their broad lands. Utterly improvident, and incapable of foreseeing, or hopeless of averting
the ascendency of the whites, they yielded to their exactions, and submitted to their dictation.
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Sauntering indolently about the settlements, and wasting
their energies by excess in the use of the novel means of
excitement offered by "strong waters," they lost much of
that native pride, dignity, and self-respect which distingufiished them when intercourse with foreigners'first commenced.   Their numbers,  which appear to have been
grossly exaggerated, even in their most flourishing days,
were rapidly diminishing; their game was becoming scarce;
and the refinements and comforts of civilization, rude indeed
as compared to what now exists, presented to their eyes at
the white settlements, only aggravated the consciousness
of their own poverty and distress.
The Tunxis and Podunk Indians, who inhabited either
side of the Connecticut, in the vicinity of the English settlements; the Quinnipiacs on the sound, where New Haven
now stands; the Nehantics, to the eastward of the river;
and the feeble Pequot settlement, were subject to,'or in
effect, under the control of the colonists: Uncas was their
"friend and fast ally; " and the Narragansetts, though under
suspicion of various treacherous plans, were nominally at
peace with the whites, and quelled by the terror of their arms.
This condition of affairs continued, with the exception
of the great and final struggle between the colonists and
the natives, known as Philip's war -to be detailed in a
succeeding article -until the death of Uncas, about the
year 1682. He left the title to his extensive domains involved in inextricable confusion.  In consequence of deeds
and grants from himself and his sons Owenoco and Attawanhood, to various individuals among the white settlers, and
for various purposes, the effect of which conveyances were
probably unknown to the grantors, numerous contradictory
claims arose.  The same tracts were made over to different
persons; one grant would extend over a large portion of
another; and, to crown all, Uncas, in the year 1659, had
aliened his whole possessions by deed, regularly witnessed,
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to John Mason, of Norwich.  This  conveyance was evi dently intended by the sachem merely to confer a general
power as overseer or trustee upon a man whom he con sidered as friendly to his interests, and whose knowledge
would prove a protection against the overreaching of pro posed purchasers.   According to the Indian understanding of the transaction was the claim of Mason and his
heirs, who arrogated to themselves no further interest or
authority than that above  specified.   The  Connecticut
colony, by virtue of a general deed of "surrender of jurisdiction," obtained from Mason, insisted on an unqualified
property in tlie whole domain.
Owenoco succeeded his father as sachem of the Mohegans, and pursued a similar course to secure his lands,
conveying them to the sons of Mason as trustees. His
Indian improvidence and intemperance led him to disregard this arrangement, and to give deeds of various tracts
included in the trust conveyance, without the knowledge
or assent of the overseer. In July, of the year 1704, in
order to settle the conflicting claims of the whites and Indians, and to restore to the tribe the portions illegally
obtained firom them, a royal commission was obtained from
England, by some friends of the Mohegans, to examine
and settle the disputed questions.
The colony protested against the proceeding, denying
the authority of the crown to determine upon the matter,
and refused to appear before the commissioners. The
conduct of the case being ex parte, a decision was given in
favor of the Mohegans, restoring them to a vast extent of
territory alleged to hav,e been obtained from their sachems
when intoxicated, or by other under-hand and illegal
courses.   From this decree the Connecticut colony appealed, and a new commission was granted, but with no
decisive result, and the case remained unsettled for more
than half a century from the time of its commencement.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Owenoco lived to an advanced age, becoming, before his
death, a helpless mendicant, and subsisting, in coinpany
with his squaw, upon the hospitality of the neighboring
settlers. His son Caesar was his successor as sachem.
Ben, the youngest son, of Uncas, of illegitimate birth
succeeded Cesar, to the exclusion of the rightful heir,
young Mamohet, a grandson of Owenoco.
Mason now renewed his claims, and, accompanied by
his two sons, carried Mamohet to England, that he might
present a new petition to the reigning monarch. A new
commission was awarded, but both the applicants died
before it was made out. When the trial finally came on
in 1738, distinguished counsel were employed on both
sides, in anticipation of an arduous and protracted contest;
but by a singular course of collusion and artifice, which
it were too tedious to detail, the decision of 1705, on the
first commission, was repealed, and the Connecticut claims
supported. This was appealed from by the Masons, and
-good cause appearing, a new trial was decreed.
Five commissioners, men of note from New York  and
\New Jersey, met at Norwich in the summer of 1743, and
the great case brought in auditors and parties in interest
-from far and near. The claims, and the facts offered in
support of them, were strangely intricate and complex:
'counsel appeared in behalf of four sets of parties, viz.:
the Connecticut colony; the two claimants of the title of
Sachem of the Mohegans, Ben and John, a descendant of
the elder branch; and those in possession of the lands in
question.
The decree was in favor of the colony, which was sus tained on the concluding examination of the case' in
England.  Two  of the commissioners  dissented.   The
Mohegans still retained -a reservation of about four thou sand acres.
Their number reduced to a few hundred; distracted by
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the uncertain tenure of their property, and the claims of
the rival sachems; mingled with the whites in contentions,
the merits of which they were little capable of comprehending    with drunkenness  and  vice prevalent  among
them;  the tribe was fast dwindling into insignificance.
Restrictive laws, forbidding the sale of ardent spirits to the
Indians, were then, as now, but of little effect.
Of the celebrated and warlike tribes of the Mohegans
and Pequots, only a few miserable famnlilies now remain
upon their ancient territory. These are mostly of mixed
blood, and little of the former character of their race is to
be seen in them except its peculiar vices. They are
scantily supported by the rents of the lands still reserved
and appropriated to their use.  A number of the Mohegans removed to the Oneida district, in New York, aom6
years since, but a few still remain near the former headquarters of their tribe, and individuals among them retain
the names of sachems and warriors noted in the early ages
of the colonies.
Much interest attaches to the efforts which have been
made for the instruction and improvement of this remnant
of the Mohegan nation; especially as connected with the
biography of Samuel Occum, their native preacher; one
of the few Indians who  have been brought under the
influence of civilization, and have acquired a liberal
education.
In reviewing the character and history of these, as of
most of the native tribes, and reflecting upon their steady
and hopeless decline before the European immigrants, we
cannot but feel influenced by contradictory sympathies.
Their cruelties strike us with horror; their treachery and
vices disgust us; but, with all this, we still may trace the
tokens of a great and noble spirit. It is painful to reflect
that this has more and more declined as their communion
with the whites has become the more intimate. They
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have lost their nationality, and with it their pride and
self-respect; the squalid and poverty-stricken figures hanging about the miserable huts they inhabit, convey but a
faint idea of the picture that the nation presented when ih
a purely savage state; when the vices of foreigners had
not, as yet,' contaminated them, nor their superior power
and knowledge disheartened them by the contrast.
CHAPTER IV.
KING PHILIP'S WAR.
'THE INDIANS FURNISHED WVITH FIREARMS.- SITUATION OF THE COL
ONISTS.-PHILIP'S ACCESSION.-HIS TREATIES WITH TIIE WHITES.  HIS TRUE PLANS. -EMISSARIES SENT TO SOGKONATE.- CAPTAIN
BENJAMIN CHURCH. - HIS INTERVIEW WITH AWOSHONKS. - MURDER
OF JOHN SASSAMON.
THEE events of which we shall now proceed to give a
brief synopsis, were of more momentous interest, and
fraught with more deadly peril to the New England colonies, than aught that had preceded them.   The wild
inhabitants of the forest had now become far more dangerous opponents than when they relied upon their rude flintheaded arrows, or heavy stone tomahawks, as the only
efficient weapons of offence. Governor Bradford, many
years before the breaking out of the hostilities which we
are about to detail, had given a graphic description of the
effect produced upon their deportment and self-confidence
by the introduction of European weapons. We quote
from Bradford's verse, as rendered in prose in the appendix
to Davis' edition of the New Eng,land Memorial.
"These fierce natives," says he, "are now so furnished
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with guns and muskets, and are so skilled in them, that
they keep the English in awe, and give the law to them
when they please; and of powder and shot they have such
abundance that sometimes they refuse to buy more. Flints,
screw-plates, and moulds for all sorts of shot they have,
and skill how to use them. They' can mend and new
stock their pieces as well, almost, as an Englishman."
He describes the advantages which they thus obtained
over the whites in the pursuit of game; their own con sciousness of power, and boasts that they could, when
they pleased, "drive away the English, or kill them;"
and finally breaks out into bitter upbraidings against the
folly and covetousness of the traders who had supplied
them with arms.  His forebodings were truly prophetic:
"Many," says he, "abhor this practice," (the trade in,
arms and ammunition,) "whose innocence will not save
them if, which God forbid, they should come to see, by
this means, some sad tragedy, when these heathen, in their
fury, shall cruelly shed our innocent blood."
The English settlements were small, ill defended, and
widely scattered. Whoever is acquainted with the rough
nature of the New England soil, must at once perceive
how necessary it became for the first settlers to select the
spots most favorable for cultivation, and what an inhos pitable wilderness must have separated their small and ill protected villages.
The whole number of the European inhabitants of
New England, in 1675, when the memorable Indian war
broke out, has been computed at about fifty thousand,
which would give an effective force of not far from eight
thousand men.
It were but wild conjecture to attempt a computation
of the number and force of the native tribes who took
part in the war. Old historians frequently speak positively,
and in round numbers, when enumerating the aborigines;
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but, in many instances,'we call perceive, with tolerable
certainty, that they have been guilty of gross exaggeration,
such as the whole circumstances of their intercourse with 
the savages would naturally lead to.
An enemy whose appearance was sudden and unexpected; who, in secret ambuscade or midnight assault,
used every device to increase the terror and bewilderment
of their victims, might well be over-estimated by those
whose all was at stake, and who were waiting in fearful
uncertainty as to where the danger lay, or when they
should next be called to resist it.
In 1662, Philip, MIetacomet, or Pometacom, as we have
already seen, succeeded his brother Alexander,' within a
few months of the death of their father, Massasoit. Upon
the occasion of his assuming the dignity of' sachem over
the Wampanoags, there was a great collection of sachems
and warriors from all parts of the country, to unite in a
feast of rejoicing at Mount Hope, where he held his court.
Although the new chief renewed his treaty with the
English, and for nine years after his accession made no
open demonstrations of hostility, yet his mind appears
firom the first to have been aliened from the intruders.
Whether from anger at the proceedings attendant on the
death of his brother, or from sympathy withl his injured
allies, the Narragansetts, or that his natural sagacity suggested to him the ruin which must fall upon his people by
the spread of the whites; certain it is that his feelings of
enmity were nourished and brooded over, long before their
final exhibition.
Like his'father before him, he never inclined an ear to
tlie teachings of the Christian religion. Mather mentions
a signal instance of his contempt for this species of instruction. The celebrated preacher, Eliot, had expounded
the doctrines- of Christianity, and urged their acceptance
upon'Philip, with his usual zeal and sincerity; but the
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sachem, approaching him, and laying hold of a button on
his coat, told him that he cared no more for his Gospel
than for that button.
In the year 1671, Philip made grievous complaints of
trespasses upon the planting-lands of his people: according
to Hubbard, "the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning, had so filled the heart of this savage miscreant
with envy and malice against the English, that he was
ready to break out into open war against the inhabitants
of Plymouth, pretending some trifling injuries done him
in his planting-land."
This matter was for the time settled, the complaints not
appearing to the colonial authorities to be satisfactorily
substantiated. A meeting was brought about, in April,
1671, at Taunton, between Philip, accompanied by a party
of his warriors, in war paint and hostile trappings; and
commissioners firom Massachusetts. The Indian chief, unable to account for the hostile preparations in which he was
proved to have been engaged, became confused, and perhaps intimidated. He not only acknowledged himself in
the wrong, and that the rebellion originated in the "naughtiness of his own heart," but renewed his submission to the
king of England, and agreed to surrender all his English
arms to the government of New Plymouth, "to be kept as
long as they should see reason." In pursuance of this
clause, the guns brought by himself and the party who
were with him were delivered up.
The colonists, now thor.oughly alarmed, made efforts
during the succeeding summer to deprive the neighboring
tribes of arms and ammunition, making further-prohibitory
enactments as to the trade in these articles. Philip having
failed to carry out his agreement to surrender his weapons,
the Plymouth government referred the matter to the
authorities of Massachusetts; but Philip, repairing himself
to Boston, excited some feeling in his favor, and the
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claims of Plymouth were not fully assented to.  Another
treaty was concluded in the ensuing September, whereby
Philip agreed to pay certain stipulated costs; to consider
himself subject to the king of England; to consult the
governor of Plymouth in the disposal of his lands, as also
in the making of war; to render; if practicable, five wolves'
heads yearly; and to refer all differences and causes of
quarrel to the decision of the governor. The arms put in
possession of the English at the time of the,meeting in
April, were declared forfeit, and confiscated by the Plymouth government.
There can be but little doubt as to Philip's motive for
signing these articles.  Feelings of enmity and revenge
towards the whites had obtained complete possession of
him, and he evidently wished merely to quiet suspicion
and avert inquiry. It is almost universally allowed that
he had long formed a deep and settled plan to exterminate
the white settlers, and, in pursuance of it, had made use
of all his powers of artful persuasion in his intercourse with
the surrounding tribes. The time for a general uprising
was said to have been fixed a year later than the period
when hostilities actually commenced, and the premature
development of the conspiracy, brought about in a manner
to which we shall presently advert, has been considered the
salvation of the colonies.
Hubbard, indeed, who is ever unwilling to allow that
the Indians were possessed of any good or desirable qualities, and who can see no wrong in any of the outrages of
the whites, suggests that Philip's heart would have failed
him, had he not been pressed on to the undertaking by
force of circumstances. He tells us that, when the great
sachem succumbed to the English demands, in the spring
previous, "one of his captains, of far better courage and
resolution than himself, when he saw his cowardly temper
and disposition, flung down his alms, calling him a white
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livered cur, or to that purpose, and saying that he would
never own him again or fi,ght.under him; and, from that
time, hath turned to the English, and hath continued, to
this day, a faithful and resolute soldier in their quarrel."
Philip had mingled much with the whites, and was well
acquainted with their habits, dispositions, and force. For
fifty years there had been comparative peace between the
colonists and their savage neighbors, who, although slow
to adopt the customs and refinements now brought to their
notice, were apt enough, as we have seen, in availing themselves of the weapons which put the contending nations so
nearly upon terms of equality.
To rouse a widely-scattered people to such a desperate,
struggle; to reconcile clannish animosities, and to point
out the danger of allowing the colonies to continue their
spread, required a master-spirit. The Wampanoag sachem
proved himself qualified for the undertaking: he gained
the concurrence and cooperation of the Narragansetts, a
nation always more favorably disposed towards the English
than most others of the Indian tribes; he extended his
league far to the westward, among the tribes on the Connecticut and elsewhere; and sent diplomatic embassies in
every direction.
Six of his warriors, in the spring of 1675, were- despatched to Sogkonate, now Little Compton, upon the eastern shores of Narragansett bay, and extending along the
sea-coast, to treat with Awoshonks, squaw sachem of the
tribe, concerning the proposed uprising. The queen appointed a great dance, calling together all her people, but,
at the same time, took the precaution to send intelligence
of the proceeding, by two Indians, named Sassamon and
George, who understood English, to her friend, Captain
Benjamin Church, the only white settler then residing in
that part of the country.
This remarkable man, whose name occupies so prominent
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a place in the list of our early military heroes, had moved
from Duxbury into the unsettled country of the Sogkonates
only the year before, and was busily and laboriously en gaged, at this time, in building, and in the numerous cares
attendant upon a new settlement. lie was a man of cour age and fortitude unsurpassed'-bold and energetic; but
with all the rough qualities of a soldier, possessing a heart
so open to kindly emotions and the gentler feelings of hu manity as to excite our surprise, when we consider the stern
age in which he lived, and the scenes of savage conflict in
which he bore so conspicuous a part.
True courage is generally combined with generosity and
magnanimity. The brave man seldom oppresses a fallen
foe; a fact strikingly exemplified in Church's treatment
of his' prisoners.  He seems to have harbored none of those
feelings of bitterness and revenge which led the colonists
to acts of perfidy and cruelty hardly surpassed by the
savages themselves. The manner in which he was able
to conciliate the good-will of the Indians, known as he was
among them for their most dangerous foe, is truly astonishing. It was his custom to select from his captives such
as took his fancy, and attach them to himself, and never
was officer attended by a more enthusiastic and faithful
guard than they proved.   His son tells us that "if he
perceived they looked surly, and his Indian soldiers called
them treacherous dogs, as some of them would sometimes
do, all the notice he would take of it would only be to
clap them on the back, and tell them, "Come, come, you
look wild and surly, and mutter, but that signifies nothing;
these, my best soldiers, were, a little while ago, as wild and
surly as you are now; by the time you have been but one
day with me, you will love me too, and be as brisk as any
of them.'  And it proved so, for there was none of them
but, after they had been a little while with him, and seen
his behavior and' how cheerful and successful his men
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wire, would be as ready to pilot him to any place where
the Indians dwelt or haunted, though their own fathers or
nearest relations should be among them, or to fight for him,
as any of his own men."
Captain Church was in high favor and confidence with
Awoshonks and her tribe; he therefore accepted her invitation to attend at the dance, and started for the camp,
accompanied by a son of his tenant, who spoke the Indian
language.
He found the queen leading the dance, "in a muck of
sweat," surrounded by a great body of her subjects. She
received her visitor hospitably, told him of Philip's threats,
and inquired concerning the purposes of the English.
Church told her that no injuries had been meditated by
the whites, as Philip averred, bilt that the sachem was the
aggressor. He advised her to keep upon good terms with
the English, asking her whether it was a probable thing
that he should have come down into the wilderness to settle, if there were warlike preparations in progress among
his people; and silenced the six Mount Hope ambassadors
by recommending that they should be knocked on the head.
A stormy discussion ensued among the Indians, and one
Little Eyes, a man of importance, endeavored to draw
Church aside to despatch him quietly; but the captain was
unmoved, and upbraided the Mount Hopes for their bloody
intention, assuring them that, if they would have war, he
would prove a thorn in their sides. Awoshonks inclined
to his advice, and, having appointed two men to guard his
house during his absence, desired him to go to Plymouth,
and make known her good faith to the colonies.
Church started on his mission, and, on the way, gained
further information concerning Philip's movements from
Peter Nunnuit, the husband of Weetamore, queen of Pocasset, now Tiverton. Philip, it seems, had been holding
a protracted dance for a number of weeks, rousing a mar
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tial spirit in the minds of the young warriors who w~e
gathered about him from far and near. He had finally
promised them that, on the succeeding Sabbath, they might
plunder the English settlements, while the people were en gaged in religious services.
We may here mention a circumstance which was con sidered, by Hubbard and others, as having aqn important
bearing upon the premature commencement of hostilities
on the part of Philip: this was the murder of John Sas samon, and the subsequent execution of the guilty parties..'
Sassamon was one of the few Indians who, at that time,
had received the rudiments of an English education. He
was a professor of Christianity, and had been employed
among his people in the capacities of schoolmaster, preacher,
and royal secretary.   In ]662, he occupied this latter post
under Philip, to whom he was subject, although born a
Massachusett - and specimens of his imperfect communications with the colonies, in behalf of his sachem, are still
preserved.
Becoming aware of the dangerous conspiracy fomented
by Philip, he disclosed the whole plot to the bfficers of the
colony; and, not long after, his body was found in Assawomsett pond, with the neck broken, and presenting other
marks of violence. His gun and hat were so disposed as
to give the impression that he had accidentally fallen
through the ice, and been drowned.   The matter was
strictly inquired into, and three Indians, of Philip's party,
failling under suspicion, were regularly tried before a jury,
in part at least of their peers, as it was composed of whites
and Indians. The culprits were convicted and executed,
two of them upon what would appear to us as very insufficient evidence. lather speaks ff the blood oozing firom
the murdered body on the approach of the accused; but
whether this circumstance made a part of the evidence
before the court does not appear.
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Philip himself did not come forward to attempt to clear
himself of the charge of being concerned in this murder,
but kept his warriors in preparation for battle, receiving
and entertaining all the roving and unsettled Indians who
would resort to him, and "marching up and down" continually duling the pendency of the trial
CHAPTER'V.
ATTACK ON SWANSEY.-COLLECTION OF TROOPS.- FIGHT AT MILES'
BRIDGE.-PHILIP DRIVEN FROM TIlE NECK.-CHIIURCH AT PUNKA  TESE.-DESTRUCTION OF BROOKFIELD.
IT was on the 24th of June, 1675, that the first open
attack was made upon the colonies. The small village of
Swansey lay within a few miles of Mount Hope, and here
the first blood was shed. Some days previous, a party bf
the natives had committed a few slight depredations at this
place, and conducted themselves with insolence, evidently
desirous of provoking a quarrel.
The: squaws and children of Philip's active force were
sent, for safety, to the country of the Narragansetts, before
any open demonstration of hostilities.
Some little discrepancy occurs in the early accounts of
the first fatal attack, but it is certain that, on the day above
mentioned, eight or nine men were killed in different parts
of Swansey. A company returning from religious exercises, "in a way of humiliation," were fired upon with fatal
effect, one being killed and several wounded. Two more,
who had started in quest of a surgeon, were slain, scalped
and mangled; and six men were killed at a dwelling-house
situated in another part of the settlement.
From this period all was terror and confusion. Swan.
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sey was deserted by its inhabitants, and mostly reduced to
ashes by the Indians. Deputations were sent to Bostoni
to lay the case before the Massachusetts authorities, and
to solicit some prompt and efficient protection in this terrible emergency.
A party of horse and foot were at once despatched in
the direction of Mount Hope, under the command of Captains Henchman and Prentice.  Samuel  Mosely, a bold
and martial character, who had pursued the calling of a
privateer, raised a volunteer company of one hundred and
ten soldiers, and joined the expedition. He was, it is said,
accompanied by several buccaneers of his own class, with
a number of dogs; and the feats performed by them, upon
divers occasions, savor rather of the marvellous.
The head-quarters of the united forces were at the house
of a minister of Swansey, named Miles, and hard by was a
bridge, affording convenient access to the domains of Philip.
Captain Church, with the Plymouth troops under Major
Cutworth, were now acting in concert with the men from
Massachusetts.  The Indians  lay, concealed or skulking
about the garrison, and succeeded in killing a number by
shots from covert, but showed themselves wary of coming
to open combat.
A detachment of Prentice's men, led by a Mr. Gill and
one Belcher, made an attempt upon the enemy in their
own quarters, but, upon crossing Miles' bridge, were fired
upon by some of the Indians lying in ambush, and one
of their number was killed.  Gill was struck by a ball,
which would have proved mortal but for a singular species
of defensive armor, viz.: a quantity of thick brown paper
which he had inserted under his clothes.  The troops retreated, leaving Church, Gill, and another to bring off the
dead man; which, being accomplished, church pursued
and regained his horse, under the full fire of the enemy.
The next day the bridge was crossed by a larger force,
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and, after some skirmishing, in which "Ensign Savage,
that young martial spark, scarce twenty years of age," was
shot through the thigh - as Church says, by an accidental
ball from his own party - the neck of Mount Hope was
cleared of Indians. The English there found Philip's deserted wigwam, and the mutilated remains of a number
of the murdered whites.
It was now proposed to secure the ground already gained
by the erection of a fort. Church ridiculed the plan, and
urgently advocated a brisk pursuit of the enemy in the
Pocasset country, whither they had doubtless fled. From
disregard to this advice, Philip had free scope to extend
his devastations unchecked toward the east, and terrible
destruction ensued, as we shall see hereafter.
Early in July, Captains Church and Fuller, with six
files of soldiers, were sent across to Rhode Island, thence
to cross Sogkonate river, and endeavor to communicate
with the Pocasset and Sogkonate Indians.  About the same
time, Captain Hutchinson, from Boston, arrived at the
English encampment, having been commissioned to treat
with and gain over the Narragansetts.   In pursuance of
this purpose, Hutchinson, with Mosely and the Massachusetts troops, proceeded in arms to the Narragansett country,
where, in concert with commissioners from Connecticut,
they concluded a futile and inoperative treaty of amity
with certain Indians claiming to be chief counsellors of the
prominent sachems.   The  Narragansetts  were bound, by
the stipulations of this alliance, to render up all of Philip's
subjects who should be found in their country -receiving
two coats for every prisoner, and one coat for every head -
and to carry on active war against the enemies of the whites.
Hostages were given to ensure the performance of the engagement.
While this child's play was enacting, Fuller and Church,
with their little band of thirty-six men, had penetrated
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into the countlW of the Pocassets.  After some unsuccessful attempts to entrap the enemy by means of ambuscade,
(the concealed company being betrayed by incautiously
gratifying their "epidemical plague, lust after tobacco,")
Church and fifteen or twenty companions, with the consent
of Captain Fuller, left the rest at Pocasset, and marched
southward.
They struck an Indian trail leading towards an extensive
pine swamp, but the company becoming alarmed by the
numbers of rattlesnakes which abounded there, left the
track, and went down into Punkatese neck. At this place,
which is situated on the south-western part of the modern
town of Tiverton, they encountered a large body of the
natives in and around a pease-field of Captain Almy. They
numbered, as Church was afterwards told by some of their
own party, about three hundred; but, as they pursued' the
usual course of savage warfare, firing from behind trees
and thickets, the English could form no estimate of the
force with which they were to contend.
In this extremity the courage, coolness, and self-possession of the gallant captain were eminently conspicuous.
As  forcibly expressed in Church's narrative, "the hill
seemed to move, being covered over with Indians, with
their bright guns glittering in the sun."
A detachment had been sent down the river,in boats to
support the troops on land, and could be plainly seen,
landed upon the Rhode Island shore, across the river.
Church bade his men strip to their shirt-sleeves, and fire
signal guns to attract attention, and show their allies that
the party engaged was English.  This course succeeded,
and a boat put out, and approached the combatants;'but,
on approaching the shore, the crew received such a volley
from the guns of the Indians, that they pulled off again.
Church, enraged at their pusillanimity, finally ordered the
boat off, and threatened to fire into her himself. These
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few men, thus left to shift for themselves, now seemed to
be in a desperate condition. They were faint for want of
food, as they had neglected to bring any provisions, other
than a few cakes of rusk, and had been driven from the
pease-field while endeavoring to allay their hunger with
the crude nourishment within their reach. The Indians
beset them on all sides, and, gaining possession of the ruins
of an old stone-house, poured their bullets upon the English from its shelter. The ammunition of Church's party
was nearly expended, and their powder was poor and inefficient. In the midst of these difficulties, the captain
succeeded in preserving the courage and spirit of his men,
pointing out to them how providentially the balls seemed
to be directed.
They were finally relieved from their perilous situation
by the arrival of a sloop of Captain Golding, an acquaintance of Church. Mooring the vessel at a short distance,
he cast off a canoe, and suffered it to drive ashore. In
this slight vehicle, which would carry but two at a time,
the whole of the party got off to the sloop, by a repetition
of the same operation.  Church, who had left his hat at a
spring, declared that the enemy should not have it as a
trophy; and, loading his gun with his last charge of powder, he went up alone, in the face of the Indians, and recovered it.  When going on board in the canoe, a ball
struck a small stake just before his breast, and another
passed through his hair.
Joining company next day with Fuller's party, who had
also been engaged with the Indians at Pocasset, they all
returned to the encampment at Mount IHope, where the
army, as Church averred, "lay still to cover the people
from nobody, while they were building a fort for nothing."
Shortly after this, being upon RPthode Island, in pursuit
of supplies for the garrison, Church fell in with Alderman,
a deserter from the forces of Weetamore, queen of Pocas               16
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set. By conversation with this Indian, he learned the
precise spot at which the squaw sachem was encamped,
and, in pursuance of his suggestion, an expedition was immediately set on foot against her. The attempt terminated
in an unimportant skirmish; the chief officer of the Plymouth men being timid, and the Indians retiring to a swamp
of difficult access.
On the 18th of July, the united forces of the colonists
drove Philip, with a large body of his warriors, into an
extensive swamp in Pocasset. After an imperfect examination of the Indians' place of retreat, the forces were
drawn off, having sustained considerable loss by the fire
of the lurking enemy. It was averred, indeed, by some,
that half an hour more of energetic pursuit would have
secured Philip, and perhaps have ended the war. One
hundred newly-erected wigwams were found deserted in
the vicinity of the swamp; and an old man, who had been
left behind in the precipitate retreat, confirmed the supposition that Philip had but lately fled from the camp.
Not far from this time, the town of Dartmouth having
been, in great measure, destroyed by the enemy, a large
number of Indians, no less than one hundred and sixty,
who had dwelt in the country thereabout, and were not
active partakers in the destruction of the town, delivered
themselves up to one Captain Eels, upon promises of good
treatment.  They were, nevertheless, taken to Plymouth;
sold by the colonial authorities as slaves; and transported
to foreign parts. Captains Church and Eels made, upon
this occasion, the most vehement remonstrances, expressed
by Church with his characteristic energy and spirit; but
all to no purpose, as it only secured him the ill-will of the
government.   The act was grossly impolitic, as well as
perfidious and cruel.
The English entertained hopes of being able to confine
Philip within the limits of the swamp to which he had
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retired, and proceeded to erect another fort at Pocasset,
an expedient which seems to have been as ill-advised and
futile as the garrisoning of Mount Hope. The sachem
had abundant leisure to prepare canoes, an opportunity of
which he diligently availed himself, and secretly passed
the river with all his warriors. They were seen by the
people of Rehoboth, crossing the open country, which extended for some distance, and offered no means of protecti~n or concealment to the fugitives.
A party was speedily sent in pursuit, under Captain
Henchman, accompanied by Owenoco, the son of Uncas
the Mohegan, and a considerable band of warriors. Uncas had sent this detachment to Boston, upon the summons
of the Massachusetts authorities, to renew his assurances of
good faith, and proffer assistance in the campaign against
Philip.
Henchman's company proceeded up the river to Providence, and being there somewhat reeinforced, hastened at
once on the trail of the Wampanoag.   Coming up with a
portion of the enemy, a sharp engagement ensued, and
about thirty of Philip's warriors were killed, but the Mohegans stopping for plunder, the principal force escaped,
and from that time were no more seen by the pursuers..
Henchman returned with his men to the eastern colonies,
while the Mohegans took their way southward to their
own country, leaving Philip to pursue his course towards
the Hudson, and to rouse up the war among the western
settlements of Massachusetts.
The Nipmucks, a large tribe inhabiting the northseastern
portion of the present state of Connecticut, and the adjoining Massachusetts districts, appear, ere this period, to have
become involved in Philip's undertaking.   Mendon, a
small town, twenty-four miles westward from Providence.
and standing at some distance from any other settlement,
had been attacked on the 14th of July, and a number of
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men killed by shots from an unseen enemy. The whole
of the inhabitants deserted the place in terror, and it was
reduced to ashes by the assailants.
The colonies attempted, after this, to treat with the Nipmuck sachems, but found them reserved and "surly." A
meeting was, however, appointed between them and an
embassy from the Massachusetts  governmient.   Captains
Wheeler and Hutchinson, with a considerable body of
mounted men, repaired to the place of meeting at the time
designated, viz.: the 2d of August; but, instead of coming
forward in friendly conference, the Indians, to the number of
two or three hundred, formed an ambuscade, and, firing suddenly from their cover, killed eight of the whites at the first
discharge. Hutchinson was killed and Wheeler wounded.
The company, avoiding the other spots where they suspected the enemy to be lying in ambush, made the best of
their way to Brookfield, a solitary village near the principal head-quarters of the Nipmucks. The Indians, in
great numbers, pursued them into the town. They found
the terrified inhabitants collected in a single house, which
stood on a rising ground, where they had fortified themselves as well as possible, upon such an emergency, by
piling logs and hanging feather beds against the walls.
Wheeler and his companions also entered the house, and
the savages, after burning all the buildings in the town,
with the exception of a few immediately adjoining that
where the whites had retreated, laid close siege to the frail
fortification. Seventy people, including women and children, were here crowded together, with such slight defences as we have mentioned; while an enraged and
remorseless enemy was pouring showers of bullets through
the walls, and using every endeavor to fire the house.
The Indians shot burning arrows upon the roof, and,
attaching rags dipped in brimstone to long poles, they set
fire to them, and thrust them against the walls. From the
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
afternoon of Monday the 2d of August, till Wednesday
evening, these assaults continued; and, as a last attempt,
the besiegers loaded a cart with hemp and other inflammable materials, and binding together a number of poles,
so attached to the vehicle that it could be moved from a
safe distance, wheeled it blazing against the building. This
was in the evening, and, according to Wheeler's account,
nothing could have preserved the unfortunate inmates, had
not a heavy shower of rain suddenly extinguished the
burning mass.  In the words of Hubbard, by " this devilish stratagem," but for the rain, "all the poor people
would either have been consumed by merciless flames, or
else have fallen into the hands of their cruel enemies, like
wolves continually yelling and gaping for their prey."
To exclude all assistance from without, the Indians had
placed watchers and ambuscades upon all sides of the
town; but Major Willard, who had been despatched
against the Indians west of Groton, hearing of the probable condition of Brookfield, marched to its relief, and
succeeded ip effecting an entrance to the fortified house on
this same night. He had with him forty-six men, but it
is said that, as they passed through the ruins of the town,
a large number of terrified cattle, who had not been destroyed in the conflagration, followed them for protection;
and that, in the darkness, the Indians were deceived by
this circumstance, as to the number of the party, and
accordingly drew off their forces early the next morning.
They retired to a swamp, twelve miles distant, where they
met Philip with a band of his warriors. Only one of the
whites was killed on this occasion, while the Indians lost,
it is said, nearly eighty.
A garrison was maintained at the only remaining house
for some months, but was finally drawn off, the building
was burned by the savages, and the town left entirely
desolate.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
CHAPTER VI.
PHILIP MOVES WESTWARD.- ATTACKS ON HADLEY AND DEERFIELD. -
GOFFE THE REGICIDE. -DESTRUCTION OF LATHROP'S COMMAND. -
ASSAULTS ON SPRINGFIELD AND HATFIELD.-EXPEDITION AGAINST
'THE NARRAGANSETTS: OUTRAGEOUS CRUELTIES IN THEIR REDUC TION.-PlIILIP ON THE HUDSON.-DESTRUCTION OF LANCASTER,
MEDFIELD, SEEKONK, GROTON, WARWICK, MARLBOROUGH, ETC.'CANONCHET TAKEN AND PUT TO DEATH. - FURTHER INDIAN RAV AGES.
"All died - the wailing babe - the shrieking maid And in the flood of fire that scathed the glade,
The roofs went down." - BRYANT.
WVE can do little more, in continuing this account of
Indian ravages, than enumerate the towns and settlements
destroyed, and the little communities massacred or driven
firom their homes in utter destitution.
The terrible uncertainty which attended these calamities
rendered them the more distressing. No one could tell,
for many months firom this time, where Philip was to be
found, or at what point he meditated the next attack.  He
continued his westward progress, as is supposed, nearly to
the Hudson, through the Mohegan country.   He  was
thought to be present at many of the successful and murderous assaults,that were made upon the white settlements; but, if so, he was enabled so to disguise himself
as not to be distinctly recognized.
Mlosely and others in vain scoured the country in pursuit of the Indians. The enemy, neglecting agriculture,
and deserting their usual haunts, concealed themselves in
swamps and thickets, retiring unperceived at the approach
of regular troops, and ever ready to take advantage of any
weak and unprotected quarter.
The Indians in the vicinity of Hadley and Springfield,
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
on the Connecticut, were relied upon by the whites as
friendly and well-disposed; but ere long it was sufficiently
plain that they had made common cause with Philip.
On the 1st of September, Hadley and Deerfield were
both fiercely assaulted, and the latter town in great measure destroyed. At Hadley the Indians were driven off
after much hard fighting. The inhabitants were engaged
in religious exercises at the meeting-house, with arms, as
usual, by their sides, when the Indians came upon them.
So sudden and desperate was the attack, that they became
confused, and might have been totally discomfited, but for
a strange and unlooked-for champion. This was an old
man, with white and flowing locks, and unusual costume,
who appeared firom some unknown quarter, and at once
assumed the command of the panic-stricken congregation.
With military skill and coolness he directed every mancouvre, and so reestablished their confidence and spirit,
that the enemy was speedily put to flight. He disappeared
immediately after the engagement, and many of the astonished inhabitants were persuaded that an angel from heaven
had been miraculously sent for their deliverance.
The old warrior was no other than Major General Goffe,
who, with his companion, Whalley, lay for a long time concealed at the house of Mr. Russell, the minister of Hadley.
Ten men were killed at Northfield about this time, and
a party of thirty-six, under a Captain Beers, who had been
sent to relieve the town, were nearly all cut off by an
ambush. The bodies were mutilated, and the heads set
on poles. "One, (if not more,") says Hubbard, "was
found with a chain hooked into his under jaw, and so hung
up on the bough of a tree, (it is feared he was hung up
alive.")
Several thousand bushels of corn had been stored at
Deerfield, and a company of nearly one hundred young
men, "the flower of the country," under the command of
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a youthful and gallant officer, Captain Lathrop, marched
to secure it. On their way, an immense body of Indians
fell upon them, and slew nearly the whole party; among
the rest, the brave commander; only seven or eight sur vived. This defeat is attributed to the circumstance that
Lathrop, aware of the disadvantages which a compact
body of troops must labor under, when contending with
an enemy who always fired from cover, ordered his men
to separate, and take to the trees, like their opponents.
This being done, the disproportion of numbers proved so
great, that the Indians were enabled to surround the English, and cut them off separately.
The Springfield Indians had pretended unbroken firiendship for the whites, and had given hostages as pledges of
good faith; but the hostages succeeded in escaping, and
the whole body joined the hostile confederacy, with those
of Hadley, "hanging together like serpents' eggs."  The
town of Springfield received great injury from their attack,
more than thirty houses being burned; among the rest,
one containing a "brave library," the finest in that part of
the country, which belonged to the Rev. Pelatiah Glover.
Hubbard considers that this act "did, more than any other,
discover the said actors to be the children of the devil, full
of all subtilty and malice," as they had been upon friendly
terms with the whites for more than forty years.
On the 19th of October, seven or eight hundred of
Philip's coadjutors made an attempt upon Hatfield; but,
the place being well defended, by Mosely and others, the
enemy "were so well entertained on all hands, that they
found it too hot for them."
This was the last important engagement at the westward
part of the colony. Most of Philip's men are supposed
to have betaken themselves, before winter, to the Narragansett country; and whether the great sachem himself
remained concealed among them during that season, or
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
wandered to the west, hatching new plots in the vicinity
of the Hudson, is not certainly known.
The condition of the hostile Indians, notwithstanding
their signal successes, must by this time have beconme sufficiently miserable. Living almost exclusively upon animal food; ill protected from the inclemenelcies of the
weather; and continually shifting their quarters, it is surprising that they should so long have retained their energy
and fixedness of purpose.
In September of this year, 1675, the commissioners of
the united colonies of Plymouth, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, being in session at Boston, concluded arrangemenlts by which the war should be jointly and systematically prosecuted.  One thousand men were to be levied and
equipped; the proportion which each colony should furnish
being settled according to their comparative population and
resources.
On the 2d of November it was agreed, by the same
body, that an additional force should be raised, and active
measures be taken against the Narragansetts. The reasons
alleged for attacking this tribe were, that the stipulation
made by those sachems, who had treated with the colonies
to deliver up all of Philip's party who should take refuge
at Narragansett, had not been fulfilled; but that women,
children, and wounded men had been succored and received
by them!  In addition to this, some of the tribe had expressed satisfaction upon hearing of the Indian successes
at Hadley, and it was "credibly reported" that they had
killed and taken away many cattle from the neighboring
English.  These, with a detention of a MIr. Smith and his
famrily, for a short time,- no other harm being done
them, -were all the ostensible grounds upon which a formidable army was sent to exterminate the Narragansetts
with fire and sword!
No doubt their sympathies were with those of their own
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
race, and, had they fully joined the conspiracy, the addition
of so numerous a tribe to the enemy might have turned the
scale, and resulted in the annihilation of the whites.
Josias Winslow, governor of Plymouth colony, was
chosen commander-in-chief of the English force. Church,
at the request of Winslow, joined the expedition, although
he would not accept of a commission. A considerable body
of Mohegans, subjects of Uncas, accompanied the detachment from Connecticut.
After destroying many deserted wigwams, and taking a
considerable number of prisoners in desultory warfare, a
guide was obtained to pilot the invaders to the chief fort
of the Narragansetts.  The encampment covered five or
six acres-of elevated ground, forming an island in the
midst of an extensive swamp. In addition to the natural
defences of the place, the whole village was surrounded
by a strong palisade, and the only means of approach was
by crossing the marsh upon a huge fallen tree. The wigwams within, to the number of five or six hundred, were
rendered, to a great extent, bullet-proof by piling up tubs
of grain and other stores about the sides.
It was upon the 19th of December, early in the afternoon, that the English forces reached this place of retreat.
With determined and desperate courage they rushed to the
attack.  File after file of soldiers, with their officers at
their head, was swept from the narrow bridge by the fire
of a party within, posted in a log hut, from which the
approach was commanded. They continued to press on,
and succeeded in driving the Indians firom this covert into
the main enclosure. A scene of terrible carnage ensued
for several hours; but the assailants steadily gained
ground, driving many of the enemy into the swamp, and
covering the area within with dead bodies.
Church, who had made an excursion, with a small party,
into the swamp, to attack the Indians in the rear, and who,
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after doing good service, was severely wounded in the
thigh, seeing some  setting fire to the wigwams, made
strenuous efforts to prevent their destruction. The weather was intensely cold; night was coming on; many of the
troops were destitute of provisions; a heavy snow storm
was brooding;  and sixteen miles must be traversed by
the army, encumbered by their wounded, before they could
reach shelter. He represented all these circumstances to
the general, pointing out the advantages of obtaining plentiful supplies of food, and a warm cover where the wounded
could receive requisite attention. We will hope that some
feelings of humanity towards the unfortunate women and
children, with which the huts were crowded, formed a part
of his motives for this advice.        I
The general inclined to Church's counsel, but other
officers, fearing that the Indians would rally and attack
them in force, should the army take up their quarters for
the night, vehemently opposed him, and the work of destruction proceeded.   Now was reenacted the terrible scene
at the fort of the Pequots. Great numbers of old men,
women, and children were burned alive in the blazing wigwams, or mercilessly slain in their attempts to escape.
Hubbard, the reverend historian of the Indian wars, speaks
of this "firing of at least five or six hundred of their
smoky cells," as follows: The Indians were about preparing their dinner when  "our sudden and unexpected
assault put them beside that work, making their cookroom too hot for them at that time, when they and their
mitchin fried together; and probably some of them ate
their suppers in a colder place that night: most of their
provisions, as well as huts, being then consumed with fire,
and those that were left alive forced to hide themselves in
a cedar swamp, not far off, where they had nothing to defend them from the cold but boughs of spruce and pine
trees."  The whole town was reduced to ashes; and, leav
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
ing the enclosure a smoking ruin, every where strewn with
burned and mangled corpses, the army commenced a retreat, worn out by cold, fatigue, and hunger. Many perished by the way, and many more must have died from
starvation, but for the fortunate arrival at their rendezvous
of a vessel from Boston with provisions.
Eighty of their number were killed, and one hundred
and fifty wounded in the engagement. Besides an untold
number of the helpless occupants of the wigwams who
perished in the flames, it was supposed that not far from
three hundred Indian warriors were slain outright, and
seven hundred wounded, of whom many died firom exposure during the storm and cold of that terrible night.
Most of the survivors of the tribe fled to the Nipmucks,
after some inconclusive negotiation for peace with the English. The old sachem Ninigret seems to have been inclined
to make terms, but Canonicus, or Canonchet, a son of Miantonimo, and a brave and energetic chief, nourished the most
unyielding hostility towards the destroyer of his people.
On the 10th of January, an Indian'was found concealed
in a barn, "but after he was brought to the head-quarters " (in the words of Hubbard) "he would own nothing
but what was forced out of his mouth by the woolding of
his head with a cord, wherefore he was presently judged to
die, as a Wampanoag."
One Tift, an English renegade, who had joined the Indians, married one of their women, and assisted them in
their battles with the whites, was taken and put to death.
Winslow, in the latter part of January, pursued the
Narragansetts into the Nipmuck country, whither they had
fled, committing divers depredations on the route, and
killed about seventy of those whom he could come up
with. The larger portion, however, succeeded in joining
the forces of the Nipmucks, while the English were compelled to return to the settlement for want of provisions.
It
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
Philip is supposed to have fled about this time as far
west as the Hudson river, where, it is said, "the Mohags
(Mohawks) made a descent upon him, and killed many of
his men, which moved him firom thence." Some authors,
notwithstanding, speak of him as having been present at
various places in Massachusetts, attacked by Indians during the latter part of the winter.
About the 10th of February, (old style,) Lancaster was
destroyed by a large force of the enemy, consistiig of Nipmucks, Nashawas, and Narragansetts, under the noted Sagamore Sam. The house of Mr. Rowlandson, the minister, which was garrisoned, and contained fifty-five persons,
was set on fire, and the inmates were killed or made captives. More than twenty women and children fell into
the hands of the assailants.  They were, most of them,
well treated during their captivity, the Indians "offering
no wrong to any of their persons save what they could
not help, being in many wants themselves."   Mrs. Rowlandson, wife of the minister, was among the prisoners,
and her account of Indian manners and peculiarities, witnessed during the three months of her captivity, are exceedingly interesting.
Church says that Philip's next " kennelliing place" was
at the falls on the Connecticut, and he probably gave directions concerning many of the devastations committed in
February and March, if not personally present at them.
On the 2-1st of February, the town of Medfield, only
about twenty miles from Boston, was mostly destroyed.
The Indians had concealed themselves, (uring the previous
night, in every quarter of the place, and, at early dawn,
fired about fifty buildings simultaneously. One hundred
and sixty soldiers were quartered in the town, but so sudden and well concerted was the attack, that it was impossible to save the buildings which had been set on fire.
Nearly forty of the inhabitants were killed or wounded.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
Being compelled, at last, to retreat across Charles river,
the Indians burned the bridge behind them, and left a
paper, written by some of their number who had received
education firom the English, to the following effect:
"Kinow, by this paper, that the Indians whom thou hast
provoked to wrath and anger, will war this 21 years if you
will. There are many Indians yet. We come 300 at this
time. You must consider the Indians lose nothing but
their life: you must lose your fair hdbses and cattle."
One account states that Philip himself was seen at this
action, "riding upon a black horse, leaping over fences,
and exulting in the havoc he was making."
Through the months of February and March, the savages met with signal success. Seekonk, Groton, and Warwick were destroyed; Northampton was assaulted; one
house was burned in the very town of Plymouth, and a
number of buildings at Weymouth, only eleven miles firom
Boston, shared a similar fate. Thirty houses were burned
at Providence. Captain Pierce, of Scituate, who had been
sent with a party of fifty whites and a number of friendly
Indians on an excursion against the enemy, was slain, with
the entire company of English. Only a few of the Indian
allies escaped.
On the same day, Marlborough was destroyed, with the
exception of the houses which had been garrisoned. This
attack was probably made by Philip himself, with the Nipmuck and Narragansett Indians. Continuing their march,
they did much damage at Sudbury, and "met and swallowed up valiant Captain Wadsworth and his company,"
consisting of fifty men, with whom he was hastening to the
relief of the town.
One of the first severe reverses experienced by Philip,
was the capture and execution of the younger Canonicus
or Canonchet, the noblest and most influential of the Narragansett sachems. This was accomplished by a party
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
led by Captain Dennison, from Connecticut, consisting of
English, Nehantic Indians, subject to Ninigret, and Mohegans, under the command of Owenoco, son of Uncas.
Canonchet, with a small band of warriors, came to Narragansett early in April, for the purpose of procuring seedcorn for his people in the western settlements. Dennison,
having heard from a captive squaw, of the sachem's proximity, pursued and took him.
The proud chief, upon his capture, being addressed by
a young man of the party, according to Hubbard, "looking, with a little neglect upon his youthful face, replied in
broken English:'you much child: no understand matters
of war; let your brother or your chief come' acting herein
as if, by a Pythagorean metempsychosis, some old Roman
ghost had possessed the body of this western Pagan." He
was carried to Stonington, and there shot: his head was
sent to Hartford as a trophy. He approved his sentence,
saying that "he should die before his heart was soft, and
before he had spoken any thing unworthy of himself."
He had been Philip's faithful ally to the last, and ever
refused to "deliver up a WVampanoag, or the paring of a
Wampanoag's nail," to the English.  Dennison and his
men afterwards made further spoil of the enemy, killing
and capturing a large number of the Narragansetts.
During the months of April and May, twenty or thirty
buildings were burned in Plymouth; Taunton and Scituate
were attacked, and Bridgewater sustained no small injury
from an assault by three hundred Indians, under the
sachem Tisguogen.
Great numbers of hostile Indians having congregated at
the falls of the Connecticut, during the month of May, for
the purpose of fishing, a strong force of soldiers and inhabitants of the towns on the river, under the command of
Captains Holyoke and Turner, made a descent upon them.
The Indians were encamped in careless security, and, the
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
attack being made in the night, some two hundred were
killed, or drowned in attempting to escape across the river.
In the midst of this success it was reported to the English,
by anll Indian, that Philip in person, with an immense force,
was comining upon them. Commencing a retreat, upon this
news, the Indians recovered from their panic, and pursuing
the party from which they had so recently fled in confusion, killed from thirty to forty of their number.
On the 30th of May, six hundred Indians attacked
hIatfield, andc burned many buildings, but the place was
bravely defended, and the enemy was driven off. A still
larger number, about a fortnight later, assaulted Hadley,
but, by the assistance of troops from Connecticut, the inhabitants successfully repelled them.
CHAPTER VII.
PHILIP'S RETURN TO POKANOKET. - MAJOR TALCOTT'S SUCCESSES. -
CHURCH COMMISSIONED BY THE COURT AT PLYMOUTH. -HIS IN TERVIEW WITH- AWOSHIONKS; WITH THE SOGKONATES AT SAND WICHI.- HIS CAMIPAIGN AGAINST THE INDIANS. - PHILIP SEEN: HIIS
WIFE AND SON TAKEN. -DEATH OF WEETAMORE, QUEEN OF PO CASSET. -DEATHI OF PhILIP.
PHILIP'S power was now upon the decline: his forces
were discontented, and in separate bodies wandered about
the country, undergoing  much  hardship  and privation.
Losing influence with the river Indians, and unable to
concentrate the various tribes, with effect, he returned to
his old quarters in the vicinity of Narragansett bay, accompanied by the trusty warriors who still adhered to
him.
Major Talcott, from Connecticut, with a body of mounted
men, accompanied by many Mohegans and Pequots, sig
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
nalized himself during the month of June, by several
incursions into Narragansett. On a single occasion, he
killed a great number of the enemy, and took from one to
two hundred prisoners. To the everlasting disgrace of
the whites of this company, they allowed their Mohegan
allies, upon one occasion, to torture to death a young
warrior who  was made prisoner.  "The English," says
Hubbard, "at this time were not unwilling to gratify their
humor, lest, by a denial, they might disoblige their Indian
friends -partly, also, that they might have an ocular
demonstration of the savage, barbarous cruelty of the
heathen." This young warrior had killed, as he averred,
many Englishmen, and now, the narrative proceeds, "this
monster is fallen into the hands of those that will repay
him seven-fold."
The Mohegans cut round the joints of his fingers and
toes successively, and then "broke them off, as was formerly the custom to do with a slaughtered beast." The
victim bore all unflinchingly; replying to their taunts,
with asseverations that he "liked the war well, and found
it as sweet as the Englishmen do their sugar."   They
compelled him to dance and sing in this condition, till he
had "wearied himself and them," and then broke his legs.
Sinking, in silence, on the ground, he sat till they finished
his miseries by a blow. Meanwhile, the English stood by,
and, although the sight brought tears into the eyes of some
of them, none offered to interfere.
Famine, disease, and exposure had, by this time, begun
to do their work upon the miserable outcasts who had so
long kept New England in terror.
A large b(,dy fled westward, pursued by troops from
Connecticut, and, after sustaining considerable loss, succeeded in joining the Mohicans of the Hudson, with whom
they united, and formed thereafter a portion of that tribe.
The colonial authorities now offered terms of peace to
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the enemy, promising good treatment to all who should
surrender and deliver up their arms, with the exception
of notorious offenders. Within a few weeks from this
proclamation, five or six hundred of the Indians came in
and submitted to the English. Some of their chiefs, and
noted warriors, and those who had been chiefly concerned
in the outrages upon the settlements, were put to death;
the others had lands assigned them; were disarmed, and
kept under the surveillance of overseers.
As Church took so prominent a part in the final reduction of Philip and his chief sachems, we will now briefly
review his proceedings during this summer until the death
of Philip and the close of the war. He had been summoned to Plymouth in the spring, to assist at the council
of war, and, at that time, proffered advice, which, if approved by his associates, might have saved much havoc
and bloodshed. His plan was to "make a business of the
war, as the enemy did;" to employ large forces; to enlist
all the friendly Indians who were available, and to pursue
their opponents into their own country, and fight them in
their own manner. Not being able to persuade the authorities to his views, he remained inactive, with his family, at
Duxbury and on Rhode Island, until early in June, when
he again betook himself to Plymouth, where he was gladly
welcomed by the general court, then in session. The
members "told him they were glad to see him alive.  He
replied, he was as glad to see them alive, for he had seen so
many fires and smokes towards their side Of the country,
since he left them, that he could scarce eat or sleep with
any comfort, for fear they had all been destroyed. For all
travelling was stopped, and no news had passed for a long
time together."
The court had now concluded, according to Church's
plan, to raise a large force of English and Indians, and
eagerly accepted the captain's offer of cooperation. He
t
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
was to return to Pthode Island, and there enlist a company
for the campaign. Reaching Elizabeth's Island, he could
find no conveyance homeward other than a canoe, manned
by two Indians. Their course took them near Sogkonate
(commonly called Seaconnet) point, the wild mass of rocks
which juts into the ocean, at the southern extremity of
Awoshonk's domains. Church saw some of the Indians
fishing upon the rocks, and bethought him that here might
be further opportunity of communicating with his old
firiend, the squaw sachem.   Notwithstanding  her early
counsel with Church, she, or her people, against her inclinations, had been drawn into Philip's plans, and the Sogkonates had taken active part in the hostilities.
The canoe was soon hailed firom shore, but the surf beat
so heavily against the rocks that the reply could not be
heard. Two Indians, one of whom was George, the interpreter, therefore came out upon a long point of sand,
where Church could land without danger of being surprised, and, on his approach, they informed him that
Awoshonks had left Philip, and would be glad to have a
conference with him. An appointment was therefore made
for a meeting, on the next day that the weather would
permit, at a well-known rock, upon the Richmond farm.
None were to be present except the queen, her son Peter,
and Nompash, an Indian known to Church.
Arriving at Newport, and detailing his plans to the
authorities, they pronounced him demented to think of
risking himself unprotected among such a body of the
enemy. tIe replied that he had always wished for an
opportunity to confer with the Sogkonates, not doubting
but that he could secure their friendship, and that he was
determined to prosecute the adventure.
He accordingly crossed over the next day, to the place
appointed, accompanied only by "his own man," and the
Indian who had paddled him from Elizabeth's.. Hie was
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
met by the queen and the other two, who had been designated; but, upon retiring a short distance, to a convenient
spot for discussion, a crowd of armed and painted warriors
sprang up from amid the long grass around them.
Church betrayed no signs of surprise or fear, but, having
first obtained directions firom Awoshonks that the Indians
should lay down their guns, he pulled out a bottle of rum,
and opened the conference by proffering her a dram, asking, "if she had been so long at Weetuset as to forget to
drink Occapeches." Hlaving first swallowed some himself,
from the hollow of his hand, to quiet any suspicions of
treachery that she might entertain, he distributed the rest,
together with some tobacco that he had brought, among
those standing by.  He then answered her inquiries as to
the reasons why he had absented himself so long, using all
his powers of persuasion to revive her old firiendship for
the English; promising favor and protection from the government, if she would enlist her forces against Philip; and
by his bold and firank demeanor, disarming the suspicions
and softening the surliness of the warriors.
At one time, as related by Church, "there arose a mighty
murmur, confused noise and talk among the fierce-looking
creatures; and, all rising up in a hubbub, a great surlylooking fellow took up his tomhog, or wooden cutlass, to
kill SIr. Church, but some others prevented him."
This man had lost a brother in the fight at Punkatese,
but Church explained how, with only a handful of men,
he had been suddenly set upon, and how his intentions
were, even then, friendly to the Sogkonates.
His counsels finally prevailed, and it was agreed that an
offer of services should be made at Plymouth, in behalf of
the tribe; five men being chosen to accompany Church on
the embassy.
Having returned to Rhode Island, and, with much difficulty, procured a vessel, Captain Church set sail for Sog
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
konate, whence the Indians espied him, and stood waiting
upon the rocks with an old canoe, ready to come on board.
The sea ran so high that no one but Peter Awoshonks was
able to reach the vessel; and when, after much danger and
trouble, he was taken in, a strong head wind prevented
the prosecution of the voyage, and all returned to Newport, making the circuit of Rhode Island.
Church, after this delay, - the arrival of the army at
Pocasset being shortly expected, - was unwilling to leave
the Island, and accordingly sent Peter back to Sogkonate,
with directions to take the selected number of his companions, and proceed across the country to Plymouth, with
letters for the governor.
The Plymouth forces reached Pocasset; under command
of Major Bradford, and, having been joined by Church,
marched to Punkatese. Awoshonks and most of her warriors, having been notified to attend, came to this place,
and proffered their services; but, to their great grief and
disappointment, were ordered to repair to Sandwich, on
the coast to the eastward, and await further directions
firom the government at Plymouth. Church advised them
to comply quietly, and promised to join them himself,
within a week, with a commission to employ them, if he
could obtain it.
During the ensuing week, according to the opinion of
some, an opportunity was lost of surprising and destroying nearly the whole of Philip's remaining force, who had
gone to Wepoiset, in search of clams; provisions being
very scarce with them.
Captain Church, with only one companion, rode from
Rehoboth to Plymouth, starting at sunset, and reaching
the town early in the morning. lie there saw the gov ernor, who had received the messengers from Sogkonate
with favor, and who readily promised him the desired
commission, and ratified his agreement with Awoshonks.
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Not finding the Indians at Sandwich, Captain Church,
with a few companions, proceeded  along the coast, and
finally came upon the whole tribe, scattered over the level
sand-beach, engaged ill various occupations  and diversions   " A vast company of Indians, of all ages and sexes,
some on horse-back running races, some at foot-ball, some
catching eels and flat-fish, some clamming, &c."
He was received by Awoshonks  and her chiefs, and
royally entertained. WVhen night came onl, an immense
heap of dry pine branches and other fuel was set on fire,
and all the Indians, gathering round it, commenced those
dances and ceremonies deemed by them so essential in
cementing a league, or in entering upon any important
adventure.
A stout chief would step within the circle, armed with
spear and hatchet, and appear to fight the fire, with every
gesture and expression of energy and fury, naiming successively the several hostile tribes; "and, at the naming of
every particular tribe of IJdians, he would draw out and
fight a new fire-brand, and at finishing his fight with each
particular fire-brand, would bow to himn and thank him."
He would then retire, and another would repeat the same
operation, "with more fury, if possible, than the first."
Awoshonks and the chiefs told Church that hereby they
were his sworn soldiers, and, one and all, at his service.
He therefore selected a number of them, and took them to
Plymouth the next day, where he was regularly commissioned, by Governor Winslow, to raise volunteers, both
English and Indian; to fight the enemy at his discretion;
and to make treaty and composition with any, as he should
see reason, "provided they be not murderous rogues, or
such as have been principal actors in those villanies." The
commission was given, under the public seal, the 24th day
of July, 1676.
Being now furnished with a sufficient force, and being
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
at liberty to carry out his own plans, Church commenced
a vigorous and effective campaign. Spreading through
the forest with his men, keeping himself continually informed by scouts of the position and number of the enemy, and following up his advantages with unwearied
energy, he reduced his opponents to the greatest straits.
The army, under Bradford, remained at Taunton and vicinity, cutting off Philip's return from the eastward, while
Church and his corps scoured the woods, surprising and
killing, or taking captive, large numbers of hostile Indians.
On one occasion, he fell in with Little Eyes, the Sogkonate who attempted to make way with him at the first
interview with Awoshonks, and who had separated from
the rest of the tribe with a few companions.   His Indian
allies urged Church to takle this opportunity for revenging
himself; but he refused, and showed the unfriendly chief
quarter and protection.
Philip and his party, chiefly Narragansetts, anxious to
effect a retreat to the Narragansett country, came to the
banks of Taunton river, and felled a large tree over the
stream for the purpose of crossing. At this spot, Church,
with his company and a detachment from Bridgewater,
attacked him  on the 1st of August.   As the English
secretly approached the fallen tree, a single warrior was
seen seated upon the stump across the river, and as Church
was taking aim at him, one of his Indian followers called
to him not to fire, thinking that it was a man of their own
party.  At this moment the Indian sprang from the stump,
and effected his escape' down the river-bank; but as he
turned his face, he was distinctly recognized to be Philip
himself.
The whole body of the enemy then scattered and fled
through the woods, but succeeded in effecting a passage
of the river at a ford, some distance beyond, hotly pur sued by the English. Many women and children were
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captured; among the rest, Philip's wife, Wootonekanuske,
and his son, a lad only nine years of age. The Sogko nates, following closely upon the fugitives, killed several,
and made thirteen prisoners.
As the flight was continued, the women and.children
became wearied, and, being unable to keep pace with the
company, fell into the hands of the pursuers. They were
ordered to follow the trail, and were assured that, if sub missive and obedient, they should be the more favorably
treated.
Philip and his band, being suddenly surprised, while
they were busily engaged in preparing breakfast, fled into
a swamp, leaving "their kettles boiling, and meat roasting
upon their wooden spits." Here they were hemmed in,
and, after some hard fighting, no less than one hundred
and seventy-three, including those who had followed the
party, as directed, were taken prisoners or killed. A large
division of these were so surprised and panic-struck by the
number and determination of the pursuers, that they "stood
still and let the English come and take the guns out of their
hands, when they were both charged and cocked." Philip,
and some of his principal chiefs, escaped.
The prisoners, having been well supplied with foot,
were confined in the pound, at Bridgewater, and passed
the night in merriment, expressing little despondency or
apprehension.  They reported Philip's condition and frame
of mind as being miserable in the extreme. His wife and
son made prisoners; his allies overpowered, or treacherous; reverses coming thick upon him; and his force
dwindling to a handful of warriors, nothing but destruction seemed to await him.
On the 6th of August, Weetamore, queen of Pocasset,
and widow of Alexander, Philip's eldest brother, who
throughout the war had been a most valuable and faithful
coadjutor to her brother-in-law, perished in attempting to
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escape over the Tehticut river, into her own country, upon
a raft. She had been surprised, with twenty-six of her
subjects, who were all taken prisoners.  The dead body
of the poor queen was found stark naked, near the river
bank, where she had probably crouched, half drowned, and
died fironm exposure and famine. Her head was cut off by
those who discovered her, and fixed upon a pole at Taunton, where it was recognized by some of her loving subjects
kept there in captivity. Their burst of unrestrainable grief
at the sight, is characterized by Mather as "a most horrid
and diabolical lamentation."
Church returned to Plymouth, where he received the
thanks and gratulations of the authorities, but was allowed
little rest, as some of the enemy, under the great sachem
Totoson, were lurking around Dartmouth, and his aid was
required to dislodge them. The expedition was successful,
but Totoson, with an old squaw and his little son, escaped.
The squaw afterwards came to Sandwich, and reported the
chief's death, saying that, "reflecting upon the miserable
condition he had brought himself into, his heart became a
stone within him, and he died." She said that she had
covered his body with a few leaves and brush.
Worn out by hard service, hard fare, and exposure, Captain Church now sought to recruit his strength by rest;
but, being urged by the government to pursue Philip to
the death, and receiving promises of satisfaction for former
neglect, he marched to Pocasset with a company of volunteers, and thence crossed over to Rhode Island.
He there visited his wife, whom he had left at a Mrs.
Sandford's, and who fainted with surprise and joy at
meeting him alive; but hardly had the first greetings
been exchanged, when tidings came post that Philip was
to be found at his old quarters in Mount Hope neck. The
horses upon which Church and his companions had just
arrived stood at the door; and, telling Mrs. Church that
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"she must content herself with a short visit when such
game was ahead," they all mounted and spurred off.
They learned from the deserter who had brought the
intelligence, that Philip was encamped upon a spot of dry
land in a swamp hard by the mount; and Church, being
well acquainted with the locality, lost no time in taking
advantage of his information. He crossed the ferry with
his men, and approached the spot during the night. Having distributed a portion of the force in such a manner as
to command all the places where the enemy would be likely to attempt escape, another detachment, under Captain
Golding, proceeded to "beat up Philip's head-quarters;"
with directions to make all the noise possible, while pursuing the fugitives, that they might be known by those
who lay in ambush.
The Indians, startled by the first fire, rushed into the
swamp, with Philip at their head.   Half clothed, and
flinging his "petulnk" and powder-horn behind him, the
doomed chief came, at full speed, fully within range of the
guns of an Englishman and an Indian, who  lay concealed
at one of the points of ambuscade.
The white man's gun snapped, but the fire of his companion was fatal. Philip fell upon his face in the mire,
shot through the heart.   This event took place early in
the morning of Saturday, the 12th of August, 1676.
Thus the main object of the campaign was accomplished;
but most of the hostile party managed to escape.  Anmong
them was the old chief, Annawon, a great captain under
Philip, and Massasoit, his father.  He "seemed to be a
great surly old fellow," hallooing, with a loud voice,
" lootash -  Iootash!"  Peter, Church's man, said that he
was calling on his men to fight bravely, and hold their
ground.
Several of Church's Indians dragged the body of poor
Philip out of the mire, "and a doleful, great, naked beast
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he looked." By the direction of the captain, who averred
that, having "caused many an Englishman's body to be
unburied and to rot above ground, not one of his bones
should be buried," one of the Indians beheaded and quartered the body of the fallen sachem, as was the custom
towards traitors. The old executioner, who was appointed
to this office, first made a short speech, which, but that it
was rather more coarsely expressed, might remind one of
the exultation of the heroes of Homer over a conquered foe.
However far removed from that absurd and morbid sensibility which perceives greater tokens of depravity in an
indiignity offered to a senseless carcass than in acts of cruelty and injustice towards the living, we do not care to defend this act of Church. One of Philip's hands, which
had been formerly marred by the bursting of a pistol, was
given to Alderman, the Indian who shot him. The exhibition of it proved a source of no small profit. The head
was long exposed at Plymouth, and the devout Mather
exults in having, with his own hand, displaced the jaw from
the skull of "that blasphemous leviathan."
CHAPTER VIII.
PURSUIT OF ANNAWON AND HIS PARTY. - DARING PROCEDURE OF CAP TAIN CHURCH.-END OF THE WAR, AND FINAL DISPOSAL OF PRIS  ONERS. -SUMMARY OF THE COLONIAL LOSSES.
AFTER. the death of Philip, the company returned to
Plymouth, and received, as premium for their services,
thirty shillings for each Indian killed or taken.
Toward the end of August, Church was again called
from Plymouth to go in pursuit of Annawon, who, with
the feeble remains of his force, was scouring the country
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around Rehoboth and Swansey. He accordingly took a
few faithful soldiers, with his brave and tried lieutenant,
Jabez Howland, and hastened through the woods to Pocas set. He intended passing the Sabbath on Rhode Island,
but hearing that Indians had been seen crossing friom
Prudence Island to Poppasquash Neck, he hastened at
once in quest of them. As they were passing the river in
canoes, so heavy a gale sprang up that, after the captain
and fifteen or sixteen Indians were over, the boats could
no longer venture. Without waiting for their English
companions, this little company marched round through
the northern part of the present town of Bristol, and
spreading across the narrow portion of the neck, sent
scouts to ascertain the position of the enemy. They there
passed "a very solitary, hungry night," having no provisions. Early in the morning, Nathaniel, an Indian of the
scouting party, appeared, and told how he, with his compainion, had taken ten prisoners, by lying concealed, and
attracting the enemy's attention, by howling like a wolf.
One after another, they would run to see what caused the
noise, and Nathaniel, "howling lower and lower, drew
them in between those who lay in wait." They afterwards
secured the wives and children of these captives, all of
whom said that Annawon never "roosted twice in a place,"
but continually shifted his quarters. They represented
Annawon as the bravest and most subtle of all Philip's
warriors, and said that the men who still adhered to him
were valiant and resolute.
An old Indian, accompanied by a young squaw, were
next taken, both of whom had come direct from the great
chief's encampment, which was in Squannaconk swamp,
in the south-easterly part of Rehoboth. The old man, in
consideration that his life was spared, agreed to pilot
Church to the spot, but begged that he might not be compelled "to fight against Captain Annawon, his old friend."
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It was a bold act, indeed, on the part of Church, to undertake the capture of such a warrior, with so small a force;
for, having been obliged to send some back with the prisoners, only half a dozen Indians now accompanied him.
He was not a man to let slip an opportunity, and started
at once for the camp, having much ado to keep pace with
the hardy old Indian who led the way.
Annawon's "camnp or kennelling place," was pitched in
a recess in a ledge of precipitous rocks, which stood upon
a rising ground in the swamp, and the only way to approach it unperceived was by clambering down the cliff.
It was night when Church arrived there; stopping the
guide with his hand, he crawled to the edge of the rock,
and looked down upon the scene below. Annawon's hut
consisted of a tree felled against the wall of rock, with
birch bushes piled against it. Fires were lit without, over
which meat was roasting, and kettles were boiling, and the
light revealed several companies of the enemy. Their
arms were stacked together, and covered with a mat, and
in close proximity to them lay old Annawon and his son.
An old squaw was pounding corn in a mortar, and, as the
noise of her blows continued, Church, preceded by the
guide and his daughter, and followed by his Indian allies,
let himself down by the bushes and twigs which grew in
the crevices of the rock. With his hatchet in his hand,
he stepped over the younger Annawon, who drew himself
into a heap, with his blanket over his head, and reached
the guns.  The old chief sat up, crying out "Howoh!"
but, seeing that he was taken, lay down again in silence.
The rest of the company made no resistance, supposing
that the English were upon them in force. Church's Indians, going among them, enlarged upon his benevolence
and kindness, and advised them to submit quietly, which
they did, delivering up all their arms.
Annawon ordered his women to get supper for Captain
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Church and his men, and they all supped together in harmony. The captain, wearied out by long watching and
labor, now tried to get a little sleep, but was unable to
compose himself. Looking round, he saw the whole party,
friends and foes, sleeping soundly, with the exception of
Annawon; and there lay the two rival leaders, looking at
each other for near an hour.
Annawon then got up and retired a short distance, and,
as he did not immediately return, Church suspected that he
might have secured a gun, with intent to despatch him, and
therefore crept close to young Annawon, as security. The
old man soon reappeared, bringing with him Philip's regalia, and, kneeling down before Church, to his great surprise addressed him in English: "Great captain, you have
killed Philip and conquered his country; for I believe that
I and my company are the last that war against the English, so suppose the war is ended by your means, and therefore these things belong to you." He then handed him
two broad belts elaborately worked in wampum, one of
which reached from the shoulders nearly to the ground,
"edged with red hair, from the Mahog's country; " two horns
of powder, and a red cloth blanket. He said that Philip
used to ornament himself with these upon great occasions.
All night long the two captains continued their converse,
and Annawon detailed his adventures, and "gave an account of what mighty success he had formerly, in wars
against many nations of Indians, when he served Asumequin (Massasoit), Philip's father."
The next day the party proceeded to Taunton, and
Church, with Annawon in his company, went to Rhode
Island, and so on to Plymouth. There, to his great sorrow, the authorities refused to spare the old chief, but put
him to death. At the same time they executed Tispaquin,
the last of Philip's great sachems, who had surrendered
himself upon promise of mercy.
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NEW ENGLAND INDIANS.
The war was now at an end, with the exception of a few
"hunting excursions," after some stragglers of Philip's
men who yet lurked in the woods. Such of the prisoners,
now in the hands of the English, as had been active in
hostilities, were put to death: the rest were sold in slavery
in the colonies, or sent to toil in the West Indies. It was
much discussed whether the poor boy who was so culpable
as to be the son of Philip, should die. The clergymen
seemed inclined to the belief that such should be his fate;
Increase Mather cited the case of Hadad, saying that,
"had not others fled away with him, I am apt to think
that David would have taken a course that Hadad should
never have proved a scourge to the next generation." He
was finally sent a slave to Bermuda.
Baylies thus sums up the disasters of the eventful period
of Philip's hostilities: "In this war, which lasted but little
more than a year and a half, six hundred Englishmen were
killed. Thirteen towns in Massachusetts, Plymouth, and
Rhode Island, were destroyed, and many others greatly
injured. Almost every family had lost a relative. Six
hundred dwelling-houses had been burned. A vast amount,
in goods and cattle, had been destroyed, and a vast debt
created. But the result of the contest was decisive; the
enemy was extinct; the fertile wilderness was opened, and
the rapid extension of settlements evinced the growing
prosperity of New England."
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
CHAPTER IX.
THE EASTERN INDIANS. - THEIR FRIENDLY DISPOSITION. - SEIZURE
OF THOSE IMIPLICATEI) IN PIIILIP'S CONSPIRACY.- FREN(.H ANI) [N  DIAN WAR OF 1689.-ATTACK ON COCIIECO. —MUJRDER OF MAJOR
WALDRON.- WAR OF 170o'. —CHURCII'S LAST CAMPAIGN.- WAR OF
1722. -CAPTAIN JOIIN LOVEWELL.
THE services of Captain Benjamin Church, in the early
Indian campaigns, did not end with the death of Philip
and the reduction of the hostile tribes united by that chief
in enmity against the colonists. In the war which afterwards broke out with the Indians of New Hampshire and
Maine, the old soldier was again called upon to take the
field.
Our accounts of the early history of these Eastern tribes
are not very voluminous or connected. Some description is
given, in Captain John Smith's narrative, of the government
and division of the nations and tribes on the coast; and,
in subsequent times, tales of noted sagamores and warriors,
with detached incidents of adventure, are not wanting in
interest.
The first English settlers in Maine and New Hampshire
had little to complain of in the treatment they received
from the aboriginal inhabitants: according to Hubbard,
"Ever since the'first settling of any English plantation
in those parts about Kennebeck, for the space of about fifty
years, the Indians always carried it fair, and held good
correspondence with the English, until the news came of
Philip's rebellion and rising against the inhabitants of
Plymouth colony in the end of June, 1675; after which
time it was apprehended by such as had the examination
of the Indians about Kennebeck, that there was a general
surmise amongst them that they should be required to
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assist the said Philip, although they would not own that
they were at all engaged in the quarrel."
When Philip's forces were destroyed or dispersed, many
of them took refuge at the East, and the search for and
seizure of these served to arouse and keep alive hostile
feelings which might otherwise have slumbered. By the
contrivance of Major Waldron, a noted character among
the first settlers at Cocheco (afterwards Dover)  in New
Hampshire, some four hundred Indians, of various tribes,
were decoyed into the power of the colonial troops by
the pretence of a sham-fight exhibition. They were then
examined, and all who were adjudged to have been connected with the war, to the number of over two hundred,
were sent to Boston, where eight or ten of them were
hanged, and the rest were sold as slaves.
Many scenes of depredation and bloodshed are described
by historians of those early times previous to the regular
campaigns of 1689 and the years ensuing, against the
French and Indians. Duriing the war of 1675-6, connected
with Philip's conspiracy, the most important affairs were
the burning, by the Indians, of the towns of Casco and
Saco.  Under the administration of Sir Edmund Andross,
the conflicting claims to territory in Maine, between the
Baron of St. Castine and English proprietors, brought
about a war in which the neighboring Indian tribes were
involved.   With their usual success, the French excited
the eastern Indians to espouse their cause, and a series of
depredations upon the English colonists ensued.
At Cocheco (Dover), Major Waldron was still in authority, with a considerable force under his command, occupying five fortified buildings. In the summer of 1689, a
party of Indians planned an attack upon this post, as well
to strike a signal blow ill behalf of their white allies, as
to revenge the former wrong done to their friends by Waldron. The English considered themselves perfectly secure,
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and kept no watch - a circumstance which had been ob,
served by the enemy.   On the 27th of June, two squaws
obtained leave to sleep in each of the gairrisoned houses.
During the night they rose quietly, unbarred the doors,
and, by appointed signals, announced to the warriors lurking without that the time was propitious for an attack.
The  English were  completely  overpowered,  fifty-two
were killed or carried away captive; among the former
was Major Waldron. The old warrior (he was eighty
years of age) defended himself with astonishing strength
and courage, but was finally struck down from behind.
Bruised and mangled, he was placed in a chair upon a
table, and the savages, gathering round, glutted their longcherished vengeance by cutting and torturing the helpless
captive. He was in bad odor with the Indians for having,
as they alleged, defrauded them in former trading transactions. It was reported among them that he used to
"count his fist as weighing a pound, also that his accounts
were not crossed out according to agreement." Placed as
abov     e           mentioned, upon a table, some of them "in turns
gashed his naked breast, saying,' I cross out my account.'
Then           cutting a  joint from his finger, would say,' Will
you           r  fist  weigh a pound now?'"-(Drake's edition of
Church's Indian Wars.) They continued these cruelties
until he fainted from loss of blood, when they despatched
him. It is said, by the above author, that one of the
squaws, to whom was assigned the duty of betraying Waldron's garrison, felt some compunction at the act of treachery, and endeavored, ineffectually, to warn the commandan     t b  y       crooning the following verse:                 "0,O Major Waldo,
You great sagamore,
0, what will you do?
Indians at your door!'
In September of this year (1689) Captain (now styled
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Major) Church was commissioned by the authorities of the
Ulnited Colonies to prosecute the war in Maine, and he
sailed accordingly with his forces for Casco Bay. lie had
with him two hundred and fifty volunteers, English and
friendly Indians, and two companies from Massachusetts.
His arrival was seasonable, as a large party of Indians
and French was ascertained to be in the vicinity, intending to destroy the place. Some smnart skirmishing took
place upon the succeeding day, but the enemy finally
drew off.
When afterwards ordered home with his troops, Church
bestirred himself to bring about some action on the part
of the government for the more effectual protection of the
unfortunate inhabitants of Casco (the country in the vicinity of the present town of Portland), but in vain; and in
the ensuing spring the whole districtiwas ravaged by the
enemy. The English settlers at the East, after the event,
no longer dared to remain exposed to attacks of the savages, and, deserting their homes, collected at the fortified
post at Wells, in the south of Maine.
Church's second eastern expedition, in September, 1690,
was against the Indian forts on the Androscoggin. With
little resistance he drove off the occupants, released several
English captives, and took prisoners several members of
the families of the noted sachems Warombo and Kankamagus. A number of Indian prisoners were brutally murdered by the successful party; but two old squaws were
left to deliver a message to their own people that Captain
Church had been there, and with him many Indians, formerly adherents of King Philip; and to report further, as
a warning, what great success he had met with in the war
against the great sachem. Word was also left that if the
fugitives "had a mind to see their wives and children, they
should come to Wells' garrison." With respect to the massacre of prisoners on this occasion, we are left to infer that
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a portion of them, at least, consisted of women and children.
The old narrative here as elsewhere is rather blind, and
deficient in detail, but if the facts were as above suggested,
the whole history of these Indian wars does not present
a more revolting instance of cold-blooded barbarity. That
the act was done by Church's orders, or that it was countenanced by him, seems utterly incredible when compared
with his usual course towards prisoners. Of one man,
who was captured in the taking of Warombo's fort, it is
said: "The soldiers being very rude, would hardly spare
the Indian's life while in examination;" and it is possible
that they might have committed the wanton butchery
above mentioned without their commander's concurrence.
We would not, however, endeavor to screen the guilty;
and if Church is to be held responsible for the murder,
it certainly must leave a black and indelible stain upon his
character.
From the plundered fort Church proceeded to Casco,
where he engaged the enemy, and beat them off, but not
without the loss of about thirty of his own men in killed
and wounded.
In August, 1692, Church was again commissioned by
Sir William Phipps to undertake an expedition against
the Indians at Penobscot; and, although he failed to surprise the enemy, who escaped in their canoes, he destroyed
a quantity of their provision, and brought away a conlsiderable amount of plunder.
A force, sent into Maine, in 1693, under Major Convers,
was opposed by none of the natives, and, within a short
time after, these miserable people were glad to conclude a
treaty of peace with the English at Pemmaquid, where a
strong fort had been erected in 1690. At this negotiation
the hostile tribes delivered hostages as a security that they
would cease depredations and renounce their allegiance to
the French. Many of them were, notwithstanding, in
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duced to join the invasion under MI. de Villiere, in the
following year.
In this campaign, the first object was the destruction of
the settlement on Oyster river, near Dover, New Hampshire, where twelve houses had been garrisoned and put
in a state of defence. Five of these were forced, and
nearly one hundred persons were killed or taken prisoners;
the other strongholds made a successful defence, but fifteen
unprotected houses were burned.   Nothing of special
interest occurred in connection with the Eastern Indians
from this time until 1696. During the summer of that
year, some blood was shed by the savages at Portsmouth
and Dover; but the most important occurrence of the
season was the reduction of the strong fort at Pemmaquid
by the enemy. Church was also engaged in another eastern campaign in the months of August and September,
but owing to orders received firom the colonial authorities,
he was impeded in the prosecution of his plans, and nothing of special moment was effected.
In January, 1699, the war with the French being at an
end, the Indians of Maine and New Hampshire entered
into a treaty of peace with the English colonies - acknowledging, by their principal sachems, allegiance to the King
of England.
When war was again declared, in May, 1702, the old
difficulties with the Indians were speedily renewed.  Governor Dudley, of Massachusetts, endeavored to preserve
peace with these tribes, and concluded a negotiation with
many of their chiefs, at Casco, in June of the following
year. This appears to have been a mere blind on the part
of the savages, then, as ever, favorable to the French; for
only a few weeks subsequent to the treaty, a simultaneous
attack was made upon the eastern English settlements.
Every thing fell before the enemy; houses were burned,
property of every kind was destroyed or plundered, and
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one hundred and thirty of the inhabitants were slain or
captured.
The news of the terrible calamities attendant on the
destruction of Deerfield, in the winter of 1  03-4, combined
with what he had himself witnessed of Indian cruelties,
incited Major Church to volunteer his further services
against the enemy.   " His blood boiled within him, making such impulses on his mind that he forgot all former
treatments, which were enough to hinder any man, especially the said Major Church, from doing any fuirther service." His offers were gladly accepted, and a very considerable force was put under his command, with a good
supply of whale-boats, the necessity for which he had seen
in former campaigns along the irregular and indented coast
of Maine.
This was the last military duty undertaken by the old
soldier, and it was performed with his usual skill and
energy.  The Indian towns of Miinas and Chignecto were
taken, and the enemy was successfully engaged at other
points. The most noted event 6of the expedition was the
night attack at Passamaquoddy.   In the midst of the confusion incident to the marshalling of disorderly and undisciplined troops, in order was issued by Church for the
destruction of a house, and of its inhabitants, who had
refused to surrender.   In his own words   " I hastily bid
thenm pull it down, and knock them on the head, never asking whether they were French or Indians - they being all
enemies alike to me." In a note to this transaction, MAr.
Drake says: "It does not appear, from a long career of
useful services, that Church was ever rash or cruel. From
the extraordinary situation of his men, rendered doubly
critical by the darkness of the night, and the almost certain intelligence that a great army of the enemy were at
hand, is thought to be sufficient excuse for the measure."
The major, in his own account, adds: "I most certainly
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know that I was in an exceeding great passion, but not
with those poor miserable enemies; for I took no notice
of a half a dozen of the enemy, when at the same time I
expected to be engaged with some hundreds of them.
* * In this heat of action, every word that I then spoke
I cannot give an account of; and I presume it is impossible."  Quarter was shown to all who came out and submitted, upon requisition.
From the close of the war, and the conclusion of peace
with France, in 1713, until 172, there was little to disturb
the eastern frontier, further than some contentions between
the colonists and Indians arising out of disputed titles to
land. A Frenchman named Ralle, of the order of Jesuits,
resided, in 1721, among the Indians at Norridgewock, and
being suspected by the English of exerting a pernicious
influence over his flock, a party was sent, by the Massachusetts government, to seize upon his person. Ralle
escaped, and the undertaking only hastened hostilities.
Indian depredations soon commenced, and war was regularly declared by Massachusetts. For three years the
frontier settlements suffered severely.  The English succeeded in breaking up the principal head-quarters of the
enemy, viz: at the Indian castle some distance up the
Penobscot, and at the village of Norridgewock.
At the taking of the latter place, Ralle, with from fifty
to a hundred of his Indian comrades, perished.
One of the most noted among the English campaigners
during this war, was the famous Captain John Lovewell,
of Dunstable. His adventures, and particularly the fight
at Pigwacket, on the Saco, in which he lost his life, were
widely celebrated in the rude verse of the times.
This engagement was the last important event of the
war; the Indians were greatly reduced in numbers, and,
when no longer stimulated and supported by the French,
were incapable of any systematic warlike operations.
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CHAPTER I.
GENERAL OUTLINES OF CHARACTER, ETC. -IMPRESSIONS OF THE IN  HABITANTS OF NEW ENGLAND RESPECTING THE IROQUOIS.-GA RANGULA: H11S SPEECH TO M. DE LA BARRE.
NONEr of the Indian nations of the United States have
occupied a more important place in our national history,
than the renowned confederacy which forms the subject of
our present consideration.
Various New England tribes were reduced to a disgraceful tribute to the imperious Mohags, Mawhawks, Mohawks
or Maquas; the great nation of Powhatan stood in awe of
the warlike Massawomekes; and those associated in this
powerful league had become a terror to all against whom
they had lifted up their arms. They were called Iroquois
by the French, who found their head-quarters on the St.
Lawrence, where Montreal now stands, at the beginning
of the seventeenth century. Their native appellation was
Aganuschioni (variously spelt and translated), and they
were divided originally into five tribes. These were the
Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Cayugas, the Onondagas and
the Senecas. The Tuscaroras, from the south, were afterwards united with them, and formed the sixth nation.
Each tribe was subdivided into classes, distinguished by
the "totems," or symbols of the tortoise, the bear, the wolf,
the beaver, the deer, the falcon, the plover, and the crane.
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Some very singular usages were connected with this classification. Among other things, marriage was prohibited
between individuals bearing the same totem, a restriction
which operated strongly to extend the ties of family connection. Each of the nations was divided in the same
manner, and the distinctive badge gave its bearer peculiar
privileges among those of his own class, when away fiom
home.
The first military exploits recorded of the Iroquois, with
the exception of native tradition, are their battles with
the Adirondacks, in which they were engaged when first
known by the French. Becoming skilled in war, and being of a bold, adventurous spirit, after finally defeating
the Adirondacks, the five nations extended their conquests
to the south and west. The Mohawks, although not the
most numerous portion of the united tribes, furnished the
fiercest and most redoubted warriors. To give an idea of
the estimation in which they were held by the Indians of
New  England, we  cite the following account, given by
Gookin, in his historical collections, written in 1674, of
the first of the tribe with whom the eastern colonists held
any intercourse.
"These Maquas are given to rapine and spoil; and had
for several years been in hostility with our neighbor Indians, as the Massachusetts, Pautuckets, &c., &c.  And,
in truth, they were, in time of war, so great a terror to all
the Indians before named, though ours were far more in
number than they, the appearance of four or five Maquas
in the woods, would frighten them from their habitations
and cornfields, and reduce many of them to get together
in forts."  In September, of 1665, " there were five Mawhawks or Maquas, all stout and lusty young men, and well
armed, that came into one John Taylor's house, in Cainbridge, in the afternoon. They were seen to come out
from a swamp not far from the house." Each had a guln,
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pistol, hatchet, and long knife, and "the people of the
house perceived that their speech was different from our
neighbor Indians; for these Maquas speak hollow and
through the throat, more than our Indians; and their language is understood but by very few of our neighbor
Indians."
It seems these Mohawks came with the intention of
being apprehended, that they might see the ways of the
English, and display, at the same time, their own courage
and daring. They made no resistance when a party came
to seize them, but, "at their being imprisoned, and their
being loaden with irons, they did not appear daunted or
dejected: but as the manner of those Indians is, they sang
night and day, when they were awake."
On being brought before the court at Boston, they disavowed any evil intent towards the English, saying that
they were come to avenge themselves upon their Indian
enemies.  "They were told that it was inhumanity, and
more like wolves than men to travel and wander so far
from home merely to kill and destroy men, women, and
children, -for they could get no riches of our Indians,
who were very poor, - and to do this in a secret skulking
manner, lying in ambushment, thickets, and swamps, by
the way side, and so killing people in a base and ignoble
manger," &c. -" To these things they made answer shortly:' It was their trade of life: they were bred up by their
ancestors to act in this way towards their enemies."
All the Indians, in the vicinity of Boston, were eager
that these captives should be put to death, but the court
adopted the wiser policy of sending them home in safety,
with presents and a letter to their sachem, cautioning him
against allowing any of his people to make war against
the peaceable Indians under the protection of the English.
About the middle of the seventeenth century, the Iroquois, having annihilated the powerful nation of the Eries,
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occupied no small portion of that vast extent of country,
lying between the St. Lawrence and the great lakes, and
the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.   They even extended
their hostile incursions far south and west of these great
boundaries. The present state of New York contained
their principal establishments, and the picturesque river
and lakes upon which they dwelt, still perpetuate the names
of the confederate tribes. These people held intercourse
with the whites, of a very different nature from that which
characterized the reduction and humiliation of the unfortunate natives of New England.  Placed as they were between powerful colonies of contending European nations;
their favor courted upon terms of equality by emissaries
from either party; the authority of their chiefs acknowledged, and the solemnity of their councils respected by
the whites; and conscious of proud superiority over all
surrounding native tribes, it might well be expected that
they would entertain the highest sense of their national
importance. 
No American tribe ever produced such an array of renowned warriors and orators as those immortalized in the
history of the Six Nations.   Such a regular system of
federal goverment, where the chief-men of each member
of the league met in one grand council, to sustain the interests of their tribe, or enforce the views of their constituenlts upon subjects of state policy, in matters of vital
importance to the whole nation, elicited all the powers of
rude native eloquence. Never in the history of the world
has the stirring effect of accomplished oratory been more
strikingly displayed than in the councils of these untaught
sages. The speeches of Logan, Red-Jacket, and others,
fortunately preserved, have been long considered masterpieces of forcible declamation.
The address of Garangula, or Grand Gueule, to the
Canadian governor, M. de la Barre, has been often tran
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
scribed, but is so strikingly characteristic of Indian style,
that we must find place for at least a portion of it. About
the year 1684, the French, being at peace with the Iroquois, took the opportunity to strengthen and enlarge their
dominions by fortifying and adding to their posts upon the
western waters. In carrying out this purpose, they sent
large supplies of ammunition to their Indian allies; tribes
hostile to the confederacy.   The Iroquois  took prompt
measures to check this transfer of means for their destruction, and the French governor, angry at their interference,
determined to humble them by a decisive campaign.   He
collected a strong force at Cadaraqui fort; but, a sickness
breaking out among his troops, he was obliged to give
over, or delay the prosecution of his purpose. He therefore procured a meeting with the old Onondaga sachem,
and other Indian deputies at Kaihoage, on Lake Ontario,
for a conference.   He  ccmmenced by  recapitulating the
injuries received from the Five Nations, by the plunder of
French traders? and, after demanding ample satisfaction,
threatened the destruction of the nation, if his claims were
disregarded. He also falsely asserted that the governor of
New York had received orders firolom the English court to
assist the French army in the proposed invasion.
The old chief, undisturbed by these  menaces, having
taken two or three turns about the apartment, stood before
the governor, and, after a courteous and formal prologue,
addressed him as follows: (we cite from Drake's Book of
the North American Indians) " Yonondio; you must have
believed, when you left Quebeck, that the sun had burnt up
all the forests which render our country inaccessible to the
French, or that the lakes had so far overflown the banks,
that they had surrounded our castles, and that it was impossible for us to get out of them.   Yes, surely you must
have dreamt so, and the curiosity of seeing so great a
wonder has brought you so far. Now you are undeceived,
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since that I, and the warriors here present, are come to assure you that the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas,
and Mohawks are yet alive. I thank you in their name, for
bringing back into their country the calumet which your
predecessor received from their hands.  It was happy for
you that you left under ground that murdering hatchet
that has been so often dyed in the blood of tl* French.
"Hear, Yonondio; I do not sleep; I have my eyes
open; and the sun which enlightens me, discovers to me
a great captain, at the head of a company of soldiers, who
speaks as if he were dreaming. He says that he only came
to the lake to smoke on the great calumet with the Onondagas. But Grangula says, that he sees the contrary; that
it was to knock them on the head if sickness had not weakened the arms of the French. I see Yonondio raving in a
camp of sick men, whose lives the Great Spirit has saved
by inflicting this sickness upon them.
"Hear, Yonondio; our women had taken their clubs,
our children and old men had carried their bows and
arrows into the heart of your camp, if our warriors had not
disarmed them, and kept them back when your messenger,
Akouessan, came to our castles.  It is done, and I have
said it.
"Hear, Yonondio; we plundered none of the French,
but those that carried arms, powder and ball to the
Twightwies and Chictaghicks, because those arms might
have cost us our lives. Herein we follow the example of
the Jesuits, who break all the kegs of rum brought to our
castles, lest the drunken Indians should knock them on the
head. Our warriors have not beaver enough to pay for all
those arms that they have taken, and our old men are not
afraid of the war. This belt preserves my words."
The orator continued in the same strain, asserting the
independence and freedom of his nation, and giving substantial reasons for knocking the Twightwies and Chic
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taghicks on the head. He concluded by magnanimously
offering a present of beaver to the governor, and by inviting
all the company present to an entertainment. At the end
of each important section of a speech, it was usual for the
speaker to proffer a belt of wampum, to be kept in perpetual
memory of that portion of his oration, a circumstance explanatory ofrthe concluding words of the above quotation.
CHAPTER II.
IROQUOIS TRADITIONS RELATIVE TO THEIR FORMER HISTORY.- A
BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFERENT TRIBES BELONGING TO TIlE
CONFEDERACY, AND THE MANNER OF THEIR UNION.- INCIDENTS OF
EARLY WARFARE.
SOmE fanciful tales of a supernatural origin from the
heart of a mountain; of a migration to the eastern seaboard; and of a subsequent return to the country of lakes
and rivers where they finally settled, comprise most that
is noticeable in the native traditions of the Six Nations,
prior to the grand confederation. Many of the ancient
fortifications, the remains of which are still visible through
the state of New York, were said to have been built for
defence while the tribes were disjoined, and hostile to each
other.
The period when it was finally concluded to adjust all
differences, and to enter into a league of mutual protection
and defence, is altogether uncertain. The most distinguished authors who have given the subject their attention,
incline to the opinion that this took place within less than
a century anterior to the English colonization in the east.
Whatever may have been the precise time of the new
organization, its results were, as we have seen, brilliant in
the extreme.   None  of the ruder nations of Eastern
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America have ever displayed such a combination of qualities that command respect as those of whom we are now
treating. The nature of the league was decidedly democratic; arbitrary power was lodged in the hands of no
ruler, nor was any tribe allowed to exercise discretional
authority over another. A singular unanimity was generally observable in their councils; the rights and opinions
of minorities were respected; and, in no instance, were
measures adopted which met the sanction of but a bare
majority.
We are told that for a long period before the revolution,
the Iroquois chiefs and orators held up their own confederation as an example for the imitation of the English
colonies.
Each tribe had one principal sachem, who, with an undefined number of associates, took his post in the great councils of the nation. A grave and decent deliberation was
seen in all their assemblies, forming a striking contrast to
the trickery and chicane, or noisy misrule too often visible
in the legislative halls of enlightened modern nations.
The Mohawks were esteemed the oldest of the tribes,
and, as they were always the most noted in warlike transactions, one of their sachems usually occupied the position
of commander-in-chief of the active forces of the united
people.  The settlement of this tribe was in eastern New
York, upon the Mohawk river, and along the shores of the
Hudson. From their villages, in these districts, their warparties ravaged or subdued the feebler nations at the east
and south, and their favor was only obtained by tribute and
submission.
Next in order, proceeding westward, dwelt the Oneidas,
whose central locality, supplying the place of a state capital
for the national council, was the celebrated Oneida stone.
This mass of rock, crowning the summit of a hill which
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
out in the town of Stockbridge, about fifteen or twenty
miles south-east of the Oneida lake. This tribe is supposed
to have been the last of the Five Nations to have adopted
a separate name and government, in early ages, prior to the
grand union. It produced bold and enterprising warriors,
who extended their excursions far to the south, and by
some of whom the sixth tribe - the Tuscaroras - was first
conducted northward.
The Onondagas occupied the country between the Oneida
and Cayuga lakes.  According to some theories, all the
other tribes were derived from this, and certain it is that
the civil ruler of the confederacy was always from Onondaga, and here was ever the grand central council-fire. MIonarchs of the tribe were said to have reigned, in regular
succession, from the first period of its nationality to the
time of European colonization.
In near proximity to each other, upon the beautiful lakes
which still bear their name, were settled the Cayugas and
Senecas.  The last-mentioned tribe has always been by far
the most numerous of those united by the league.
The Tuscaroras were, by their own account, a branch
firom the original stock of the Iroquois.   Migrating first
to the west, and thence south-easterly, they had finally settled upon the Neuse and Tar rivers, in North Carolina.
Surrounded by hostile Indians, who provedr unable to cope
with the interlopers, these warlike people maintained their
position until early in the eighteenth century. They then
endeavored to exterminate the English colonists of their
vicinity.   On an appointed day, (September  22, 1711,)
divided in small parties, they entered the villages of the
whites, in a manner intended to ward off suspicion, and
attempted a general massacre.  Other coast Indians were
involved in the conspiracy.
One hundred and thirty whites are said to have perished
on that day; but so far from being a successful blow against
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the advance of the colonies, the plot only arouse a spirit
of retaliation, which resulted in the expulsion of the tribe.
With the assistance of forces from South Carolina and Virginia, the war was carried on vigorously; and in March of
1713, the main fort of the Tuscaroras, upon Tar river, to
which they had retreated, was stormed by Colonel Moore,
and eight hundred prisoners were taken.
Being now reduced to submission, such of the tribe as
remained in Carolina yielded to the requirements and
regulations of their conquerors. The major portion moved
to New York, and formed the sixth nation of the Iroquois.
They were established in the immediate neighborhood of
the Oneidas.
Many strange legends of early warfare between the Iroquois and distant tribes at the south and west have been
preserved. The particulars of some of these narratives can
be relied upon, while others are evidently exaggerated and
distorted in the tradition. At the south, the most famous
of their opponents were the great nation of the Delawares,
the Cherokees, and the ancient tribe from whom our principal chain of mountains derive a name. They always
claimed that the Lenni Lenape, or Delawares, were a conquered people, and assumed the haughtiness of superiors in
all their conferences and dealings-with them. No hostilities
took place between the two nations after European settlements were established in the country.
The Cherokee war gave rather an opportunity for displays of individual energy and daring, than for any decisive
exhibition of national power. The distance to be traversed
was so great, that it was never undertaken by any large
body of warriors.   Small parties, who could make their
way unperceived into the heart of the enemies' country, and
retire as stealthily with their trophies of scalps, frequently
sought such opportunity of proving their hardihood. One
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of the stories told of these early exploits, is that of the
Seneca warrior, Hiadeoni.   He is said to have started alone
on a war-path, and to have penetrated the country of the
Cherokees, supported by such provisions as he could procure on the route, and a little parched corn which he carried with him when hlie set out.
Prowling about the enemies' villages, he managed to
despatch two men and to secure their scalps. He then
started on his return, and, late in the evening, killed and
scalped a young man whom he saw coming out of a retired
wigwam. The hut appeared to be empty, and he could
not resist the temptation to enter it in search of plunder;
especially that he might satisfy his craving for tobacco.
While there, the young man's mother entered the wigwam, and, mistaking Hiadeoni, who had thrown himself
upon the bed, for her son, told him that she was going away
for the night. The weary Seneca, seduced by the ease of
a long unaccustomed couch, fell into a sound slumber, from
which he was only awakened by the old woman's return in
the morning. Taking advantage of a moment when she had
left the hut, to slip out, he made the best of his way northward, but the alarm had been given, and it was only by
his great swiftness that he escaped. He carried the three
scalps in triumph to his own people.
Many similar legends are preserved among the Indians,
of the bravery and determined spirit of revenge in which
their forefathers gloried.   One of those which has been
given with the greatest particularity, is the noted expedition of the Adirondack chief Piskaret and his four associates.  In the long and bloody war between that tribe and
the Five Nations, the latter had attained the ascendency
by a series of victories, and the five warriors alluded to
undertook to wipe away the disgrace of defeat.  Proceeding up the Sorel,'in a single canoe, they fell in with five
boat-loads of the enemy, and immediately commenced their
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
death-song, as if escape were impossible and resistance
useless. As the Iroquois approached, a sudden discharge
from the Adirondack muskets, which were loaded with
small chain-shot, destroyed the frail birch-bark canoes of
their opponents.  At such a disadvantage, the Iroquois
were easily knocked on the head as they floundered in the
water: as many as could be safely secured were taken
alive, and tortured to death at their captors' leisure.  None
of Piskaret's companions would accompany himn upon a
second war-path which he proposed. They had acquired
glory enough, and were content to remain in the enjoyment of a well-earned reputation, without undergoing
further hardships and danger. The bold chief therefore
started alone for the heart of the enemies' country. Using
every precaution for concealment and deception known to
savages; reversing his snow-shoes to mislead a pursuing
party as to the direction he had taken; and carefully
choosing a route where it would be difficult to track him,
he reached one of the Iroquois towns. Lying closely concealed during the day, he stole into the wigwams of his
enemies on two successive nights, and murdered and scalped
the sleeping occupants. The third night a guard was stationed at every lodge, but Piskaret, stealthily waiting an
opportunity, knocked one of the watchmen on the head,
and fled, hotly pursued by a party from the village. His
speed was superior to that of any Indian of his time,
and, through the whole day, he kept just sufficiently in advance of his pursuers to excite them to their utmost exertions. At night, they lay down to rest, and, wearied with
the day's toil, the whole party fell asleep. Piskaret, perceiving this, silently killed and scalped every man of them,
and carried home his trophies in safety.
The Iroquois were generally at enmity with the French:
and, within a few years after the futile attempt on the part
of De la Barre, which we have  entioned in a preceding
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chapter, scenes of frightful cruelty and bloodshed were
enacted on both sides. The confederacy was then, as long
afterwards, in the English interest, and the conquered
Hurons, or Wyandots, whom they had driven far westward, naturally espoused the cause of the French. Having, however, no cause for ill-will against the English,
except as being allies of their foes, the Hurons were not
unwilling to hold intercourse with them for purposes of
profitable traffic.
A strange piece of duplicity, conducted with true Indian cunning by Adario, or the Rat, sachem of the Dinondadies, a WVyandot tribe, was the immediate cause of hostilities. He left his head-quarters, at Mlichlilimackinac,
with one hundred warriors, whether with intent to mlake an
incursion upon the Iroquois, or merely upon a sort of scout,
to keep himself informed of the movements of the contending parties, does not appear.   He  stopped  at the
French fort of Cadaraqui, and learned from the officer in
command that a peace was about to be concluded between
the French and Iroquois; deputies foil which purpose were
even then on their way fiom the Six Nations to Montreal.
Nothing could be more distasteful to the Rat than a
treaty of this character, and he promptly determined to
create a breach between the negotiating parties. He therefore lay in wait for the ambassadors; fell upon them; and
took all who were not slain in the conflict prisoners. He
,pretended, in discourse with these captives, that he was
acting under the direction of the French authorities, and
when the astonished deputies made answer that they were
bound upon peaceful embassy, in accordance with the invitation of the French, he assumed all the appearance of
astonishment and indignation at being made an instrument
for so treacherous an act. Hie immediately set his prisoners at liberty, gave them arms, and advised them to rouse
up their people to avenge such foul injustice.
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
Bv this, and other equally artful management, Adario
stirred up the most uncontrollable rage in the minds of the
Iroquois against the French, and a long and disastrous
war followed. It was in vain that the Canadian governor
attempted to explain the true state of affairs. The Iroquois
ever held the French in suspicion, and would not be disabused. They invaded Canada withl an irresistible force.
We have no record of any period in the history of America in which the arms of the natives were so successful.
Twelve hundred warriors passed over to the island upon
which Montreal is situated, and laid waste the country.
Nearly a thousand of the French are said to have been
slain or reserved for death by fire and torture. Neither
age nor sex proved any protection, and the scenes described
surpass in horror any thing before or since experienced by
the whites at the hands of the Indians.
The war continued for years, and the name of Black
Kattle, the most noted war-chief of the leagued nations,
became a word of terror. He fought successfully against
superior numbers of the French; and it is astonishing to
read of the trifling loss which his bands sustained in many
of their most desperate engagements.
The great orator of the nation, at this period, was named
Decanisora; he appeared more pree'minently than any other
in all the public negotiations of the tribe, and was one of
the deputies who were duped by the subtle contrivance of
Adario.
We  have already mentioned that the Six Nations generally favored the English, and that between them and the
French, feelings of the bitterest animosity prevailed. The
recollection of the scenes which attended the sack of Montreal must constantly have strengthened this hatred on the
part of the Canadians, while, on the other hand, the Indians could point to acts of equal atrocity and cold-blooded
cruelty exercised towards some of their own number when
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taken captive.  Mfeanwhile, the English agents were assiduous in cultivating the firiendship of the powerful confederacy whose sagacity and good faith in council, and
whose strength in battle, had been so thoroughly tested.
In the year 1710, three Iroquois and two Mohegan sachems
were invited to visit the English court, and they sailed
for England accordingly. The greatest interest was felt
by high and low in their appearance and demeanor. They
were royally accoutred, and presented to Queen Anne with
courtly ceremony. The authenticity of the set speeches
recorded as having been delivered by them on this occasion, has been shrewdly called in question.  The Spectator, of April 27th, 1711, in a letter written to show how
the absurdities of English society might strike a foreigner,
gives a sort of diary as having been written by one of
these sachems. The article opens thus: " When the four
Indian IKings were in this country, about a twelvemolth
ago, I often mixed with the rabble, and followed them a
whole day together, being wonderfully struck with the sight
of every thing that is new or unrcommon."  The writer
particularizes "our good brother E. Tow O. Koam, king
of the Rivers," and speaks of "the kings  of Granajah
(Canajoharie) and of the Six Nations." This latter appellation, as observed by Mr. Drake, seems to call in question the correctness of the date usually assigned to the
event of the annexation of the Tuscaroras.
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
CHAPTER III.
IMPORTANT CHARACTERS AND EVENTS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CEN    TURY. -BRANT. -CRESAP'S WAR, AND HISTORY OF LOGAN.
DURING the long and bloody wars between the English
and French, the Six Nations were continually involved in
hostilities, occupying, as they did, a position between the
contending parties.  To describe all the part they took in
these transactions, would be to give a history of the war.
This is far from our purpose to undertake, and, in bringing down  events to the period of the American revolution,
we shall bestow but a passing notice upon some of the
more prominent incidents in which the Iroquois, as a nlation, or distinguished individuals of their tribe, bore a conspicuous part.
Joseph Brant, - Thayendanagea, (as he usually signed
himself;) was born in the year 1742.  It has been a matter
much disputed whether he was a half-breed, or of pure Indian descent, and also whether he was entitled to the dignity of a chief by birth, or rose to it by his own exertions.
His biographer, Stone, pronounces him to have been the
son of "Tehowaghwengaraghkwin,  a full-blooded Mohawk, of the Wolf tribe."  His parents resided in the
valley of the Mohawk, but were upon an expedition to the
Ohio river when  Joseph was born.  Young Brant was
early taken under the patronage of Sir William Johnson,
the English colonial agent for Indian affairs, under whose
command he gained his first knowledge and experience of
military affairs.  Many have expressed the opinion that
Brant was a son of Sir William; but we can account for
their mutual interest in each other's welfare upon other
grounds than those of natural affection. Sir William
Johnson was idolized by the whole Mohawk tribe for the
favor and respect which he had shown them, and for his
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
princely hospitality. With the family of Brant he was
more closely connected by a union with MIolly, a sister of
Joseph's, who lived with him as a mistress until his death.
In the year 1755, Brant, then but thirteen years of age,
took part with his tribe in the battle at Lake George,
where the French, under Baron Dieskaru, were defeated
by Sir William Johnson and his forces. Old king Hendrick or Soi-en-ga-rah-ta, the noted sachem of the MIohawks, perished on this occasion.  Hendrick was nearly
seventy years of age, but years had not diminished his
energy or courage.  Historians vie with each other in the
praises which they bestow upon the eloquence, bravery,
and integrity of this old chief.  tie was intimate with his
distinguished English commander, and it was between
them that the amusing contention of dreams occurred, that
has been so often narrated.  With the Iroquois a dream
was held to import verity, insomuch that it must be fulfilled
if practicable.  Sir William (then general) Johnson had
displayed some splendid and costly uniforms' before the
eyes of his admiring guests, at one of his munificent entertainments. Old Hendrick came to him one mlorning,
shortly afterwards,  and  gravely affirmed that he  had
dreamed of receiving one of these gorgeous suits as a
present. The general instantly presented it to him, but
took the opportunity to retaliate by dreaming of the cession
of three thousand acres of valuable land. The sachem
was not backward in carrying out his own principles, but
at the same time avowed his intention of dreaming no more
with one whose dreams were so hard.
To return to young Brant: after accompanying his patron
in further campaigns of the bloody French war, he was
placed by him, together with several other young Indians,
at an institution in Lebanon, Connecticut, called the Moor
School, after its founder, to receive an English education.
This was about the year 1760. After attaining some pro
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ficiency in the first rudiments of literatures which he afterwards turned to good account, Brant left the seminary, and
again engaged in a life of active warfare. He was employed in the war with Pontiac and the Ottawas, but the
particulars of his services are not handed down to us. In
1765, we find hiln married, and settled in his own house
at the Mohawk valley. Here he spent a quiet and peaceful life for some years, acting as interpreter in negotiations
between his people and the whites, and lending his aid to
the efforts of the missionaries who were engaged in the
work of teaching and converting the Indians.  Those who
visited his house spoke in high terms of his kindness and
hospitality.
On the death of Sir William Johnson, in June, 1774,
his son-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson, held  his office as
Indian agent; while his son and heir, Sir John Johnson,
succeeded to the paternal estates. Colonel Guy continued
the favor shown by his father to Brant, and appointed him
his secretary.
In the spring of this same year a war commenced, the
causes of which have been variously represented, but
whose consequences were truly disastrous. We allude to
the scenes in western Virginia and Pennsylvania, so intimately connected with the names of Logan and Cresap.
Colonel Michael Cresap has been, for many years, held up
to public odium by nearly every historian, as the cruel and
wanton murderer, whose unscrupulous conduct was the sole
or principal cause of the bloody Indian war of which we
are now to speak, and which is still spoken of as Cresap's
war. On the other hand, some recent investigations,
made public by Mr. Brantz Mayer, of Baltimore, in an
address delivered before the Maryland Historical Society,
seems to remove no little portion of this responsibility
from the shoulders of Cresap, or at least prove that the
acts with which his name has been so long associated were
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
not directly attributable to him. He is shown to have
been a prudent and cautious man, who exerted his influence to restrain the reckless adventurers under his command from wanton outrages upon the Indians.  We shall
not attempt to decide upon the question as to how far he
was blamable, but give, in. few words, the circumstances
which brought about hostilities.
Logan was the son of Shikellimus, a Cayuga chief, who
had removed to the banks of the Susquehanna, and ruled
over those of the Iroquois who had settled in that vicinity. Logan himself had attained authority farther to the
westward, upon the Ohio, in the Shawanese country.  He
had ever been of a peaceful disposition, and friendly to the
whites.
A  party of land-hunters, who  had chosen  Cresap as
their leader, are said to have committed the first direct
acts of hostility, in retaliation for a supposed theft of some
of their horses.  We are told that they fell upon and
treacherously murdered several of a party of Indians whom
they fell in with, onl the bank of the Ohio, below the spot
where Wheeling now  stands, and that among the slain
were some relatives of Logan.   With the next rupture,
Cresap had certainly no connection.  It occurred at a white
settlement, thirty or forty miles farther up the river. Two
men, named Greathouse and Tomlinson, were the principal leaders ill the affair. They had ascertained that the
Indians, then encamped on the other side of the river,
intended an attack upon the place, in retaliation for the
murders committed by Cresap's men. Finding, on examination, that the Indians were too numerous to be safely
assaulted in their camp, Greathouse opened a communication with them, and invited them to come and drink and
feast at his house. A party of armed whites lay concealed
in a separate apartment, and when the Indians became intoxicated, slaughtered the whole number, of both sexes,
332 
THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
sparing only one child. A brother and sister of Logan
were  among the slain.  Mr. Mayer's account (in which
the scene is laid at the house of "Baker," instead of
Greathouse,) is as follows:
"The evening before the tragedy, a squaw came over to
Baker's, and aroused the attention of the inmates by her
tears and manifest distress. For a long time she refused
to disclose the cause of her sorrow, but at last, when left
alone with Baker's wife, confessed that the Indians had
resolved to kill the white woman and her family the next
day; but as she loved her, and did not wish to see her
slain, she had crossed the river to divulge the plot, so as to
enable her friend to escape." Next day four unarmed
Indians, with three squaws and a child, came over to
Baker's house, where twenty-one men were concealed, in
anticipation of attack, as above mentioned.  The party
became intoxicated, and Logan's brother was insulting and
abusive: at the same time canoes filled with painted and
armed warriors were seen starting from the opposite shore;
upon which the massacre commenced  as above  stated.
After this savage murder of women and unarmed men, the
whites left the house, and, firing upon the canoes, prevented their landing.
These occurrences, with the death of the old Delaware
chief, Bald Eagle, who was causelessly murdered, scalped,
and set adrift down the river in his canoe, and the murder
of the Shawanees sachem, Silver Heels, brought down the
vengeance of the aggrieved parties upon the devoted settlements.
The ensuing summer witnessed terrible scenes of surprise and massacre, the chief mover in which was the injured Logan. Stirred as he was by revenge, the natural
kindness of his heart was shown in his disposition towards
captives, whom, in various instances, he favored and saved
from Indian cruelties.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
The hostile tribes were those of the Iroquois who dwelt
in the western country, the Shawanees, the Delawares, the
Iowas, and other nations of the west. Indecisive skirmishes occupied the summer, and not until the 10th of
October was any general engagement brought about. On
that day a battle was fought at Point Pleasant, where the
Great Kanawha empties into the Ohio, between the con'bined forces of the Indians, and the Virginia troops, under
Colonel Andrew Lewis. Lord Dunmore, governor of
Virginia, was to cooperate by a movement upon the other
bank of the river, but did not actually take any part in the
contest.
The Indians numbered probably over a thousand, and
were led by Logan and the great warrior Cornstock.
Never had the natives fought more desperately, or made a
stand against European troops with more determined firmness. They had prepared a sort of breast-work, behind
which they maintained their position, in spite of the repeated charges of the whites, until night. They were at
last driven from their works by a company detached to fall
upon their rear, and, crossing the Ohio, the survivors retreated westward.
At Chilicothe, on the Sciota, the chiefs held a grand
consultation; and their principal warrior, Cornstock, seeing
that the rest were determined upon no certain plan of proceeding, expressed his own intention of concluding a peace.
He accordingly sought Lord Dunmore, who was approaching the camp on the Sciota, and brought about a series
of conferences, whereby hostilities were for the time
stayed.
Logan would take no part in these negotiations; he is
reported to have said that "he was yet like a mad  do,g;
his bristles were up, and were not yet quite fallen; but
the good talk then going forward might allay them." A
messenger was sent by Lord Dunmore to, strive to ap
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
pease him, and it was upon that occasion that the Indian
chief delivered himself of those eloquent expressions that
have attained such a world-wide celebrity.  He walked
into the woods with Gibson, who had been sent to visit
him, and, seating himself upon a log, "burst into tears," and
gave utterance to his feelings in these words, as they were
written down and reported at the time
"I appeal to any white man to say if ever he 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 camp, an advocate for peace. Such was
my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as I
passed, and said,' Logan is the friend of the white man!'
I had even thought to have lived 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 a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never
felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life.
Who is there to mourn for Logan?  Not one!"
The subsequent history of this renowned warrior is soon
told. He led a wandering, intemperate life for several
years, and took part in the wars at the west in 1779 and
1780. He is described as having become melancholy and
wretched in the extreme, and as being deprived of the full
use of his reason by the pernicious habit of indulging in
strong drink. He came to his death in the latter year
under singular circumstances.  He had, as he supposed,
killed his wife during a fit of intoxication, and fled from
Detroit, where he had been present at an Indian council,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
to evade the punishment awarded by the native code. On
his way towards Sandusky, he fell in with a large party of
Indians, among whom was a relative of his, named Todkah-dohs, and whom he took to be the one appointed to
avenge the murder.  According to Mr. Mayer's account,
"rashly bursting forth into frantic passion, he exclaimed,
that the whole party should fall beneath his weapons.
Tod-kah-dohs, seeing their danger, and observing that
Logan was well armed, told his companions that their only
safety was in getting the advantage of the desperate man
by prompt action.  Whilst leaping from his horse, to execute his dreadful threat, Tod-kah-dohs levelled a shotgun within a few feet of the savage, and killed him on the
spot."
It may well be supposed the whole of the Iroquois tribe
should have been roused to indignation by the occurrence
which we have described, and in which some of their own
brethren had borne so conspicuous a part. We are told
that this was the case with all of them except the Oneidas,
and that disaffection towards the colonies had become general among the western tribes.
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORY OF BRANT CONTINUED: CONNECTION OF THE SIX NATIONS
WITH THE WAR OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION.
IN the year 1775, when difficulties between the American colonies and the old country were rife, and the prospect of a long and desperate contention kept the minds of
all in fear and anxiety, it was felt to be necessary on the
part of the Americans, and politic on the part of the English,
to use every endeavor to secure the services of the Six
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THiE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
Nations. The remembrance of their noble patron, Sir
WVilliam Johnson, caused the Mohawks and many others
of the confederacy to adhere firmly to his son-in-law and
successor, Guy Johnson, and when he fled westward to the
lakes, to avoid the danger of capture by the Americans,
Brant and the principal warriors of the tribe accompanied
him. A great meeting was held by them, to discuss the
policy which they should pursue; after which, Johnson
and his chiefs proceeded to Montreal, followed by a strong
body of Indian warriors. Sir Guy Carleton encouraged
the Iroquois sachems to accept commissions under the king,
and, what with his promises, their attachment to the Johnson family, and. the remembrance of old pledges, they were
thoroughly confirmed in their purpose of taking a decided,
stand in favor of the royal cause.
The efforts of the Americans proved less successful. By
the aid of a Mr. Kirkland, missionary to the Oneidas, the
favor of that tribe was greatly conciliated.  His efforts
were assisted by the influence of the Indians of Stockbridge, a town in western Massachusetts. These were the
remains of various celebrated tribes which had long ceased
to maintain a separate national existence. The principal
portion of them were descendants of the ancient Moheakannuk, Mohicans, or River Indians, who dwelt on the
banks of the Hudson in the early times of American colonization; but with them were associated many of the Narragansetts and Pequots, from Rhode Island and Connecticut.
They were entirely under the influence of the Americans,
and favorable to their cause.
A very touching incident of private history, connected
with this collection of dismembered tribes after their removal westward, has been immortalized in the beautiful
poetical legend by Bryant, entitled " Monument Mountain."
The mountain stands in Great Barrington, (western Massachusetts,) overlooking the rich and picturesque valley of
337 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
the Housatonic.  The following note is appended to the
poem.  "Until within a few years past, small parties of
that tribe used to arrive, from their settlement, in the
western part of the state of New York, on visits to Stockbridge, the place of their nativity and former residence.
A young woman, belonging to one of these parties, related
to a friend of the author the story on which the poem of
Monument Mountain is founded.   An Indian girl had
formed an attachment for her cousin, which, according to
the customs of the tribe, was unlawful. She was, in consequence, seized with a deep melancholy, and resolved to
destroy herself. In company with a female friiend, she
repaired to the mountain, decked out for the occasion in
all her ornaments, and after passing the day on the summit, in singing, with her companion, the traditional songs
of her nation, she threw herself headlong from the rock,
and was killed."
"*  *  *  Here the friends sat them down,
And sang all day old songs of love and death,
And decked the poor wan victim's hair with flowers,
And prayed that safe and swift might be her way
To the calm world of sunshine, where no grief
Makes the heart heavy, and the eyelids red."
A conical pile of stones marks the spot where she was
buried, on the southern slope of the mountain.
The regular successor to old king Hendric, among the
\Iohawks, was Little Abraham, a chief well disposed towards the Americans, and who remained in the Mohawk
valley when Johnson and his followers fled to Canada.
Ile appears to have possessed but little authority during
the subsequent difficulties, and Brant, by a sort of universal consent among those in the English interest, obtained
the position of principal chief. Hie was commissioned as
a captain in the British army, and, in the fall of 1775,
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
sailed to England, to hold personal conference with the
officers of government.
He was an object of much curiosity at London, and attracted the attention of persons of high rank and great
celebrity. His court dress was a brilliant equipment modelled upon the fashions of his own race; but ordinarily he
appeared in the usual citizen's dress of the time.
Confirmed in his loyalty to the English crown, Brant
returned to America in the ensuing spring. He was secretly landed at some spot near New York, and made the
best of his way to Canada. The journey was fraught with
danger to such a traveller, through a disturbed and excited
community, but the native sagacity and watchfulness of the
Indian enabled our chief to avoid them.
Brant was gladly received, and the services of his warlike Mohawks were promptly called into requisition. He
led his people at the affair of "the Cedars," which terminated so disastrously for the American interests. We cannot minutely follow his movements, nor those of the several
Iroquois tribes, for a considerable period subsequent to
these events. Those were stirring times, and in the momentous detail of the birth of American independence, it
is not always easy to follow out any private history.
Colonel Stone, in his life of Brant, gives us the following speech, as coming, at the beginning of the ensuing
year, from the chiefs of the Oneidas to Colonel Elmore,
commandant at fort Schuyler. He does not attempt to explain the full import of it:
"FORT SCHUYLER, Jan. 19th, 1777.
" Speech of the Oneida Chiefs to Colonel Elmore.
" BROTIIER: We are sent here by the Oneida chiefs, in
conjunction with the Onondagas.   They arrived at our
village yesterday. They gave us the melancholy news
that the grand council-fire at Onondaga was extinguished.
We have lost, out of their town, by death, ninety, among
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
whom are three principal sachems. We, the remaining
part of the Onondagas, do now inform our brethren that
there is no longer a council-fire at the capital of the Six
Nations. However, we are determined to use our feeble
endeavors to support peace through the confederate nations. But let this be kept in mind, that the council-fire
is extinguished. It is of importance to our well-being,
that this be immediately communicated to General Schuyler, and also to our brothers the Mohawks.   In order to
effect this, we deposit this belt with Tekeyanedonhotte,
Colonel Elmore, commander at Fort Schuyler, who is sent
here by General Schuyler to transact all matters relative
to peace. We therefore request him to forward this intelligenlce, in the first place to General Herkimer, desiring
him to communicate it to the Mohawk Castle near to him,
and then to MIajor Fonda, requesting him to immediately
communicate it to the lower castle of the Mohawks. Let
the belt then be forwarded to General Schuyler, that he
may know that our council-fire is extinguished, and can no
longer burn."
Towards the close of the winter of 1777, it was found
that the Indians were collecting in force at Oghkwaga, on
the Susquehanna, and the fears of the colonial population
of the vicinity were justly excited, although no open demonstrations of hostility had been made by them.   In the
course of the spring, Brant and his followers proceeded
across the country, from Canada to Oghkwaga. He had
disagreed with his superior, Guy Johnson. The whites
were in great doubt as to what course this renowned chief
would take in the struggle then going forward, but he
seemed only to occupy himself in collecting and disciplining his warriors. It was afterwards ascertained that he
was the leader of a party of Indians who threatened the
little fortification at Cherry-Valley, in the month of May.
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
The only blood shed upon the occasion was that of Lieutenant Wormwood, a young officer whom the Indians
waylaid and shot, as he was leaving the place, accompanied by a single companion, bearing despatches. Brant is
said to have scalped him with his own hand. The Indian
chief was deceived as to the strength of the place, by the
duplicity of the despatches, and by the circumstance that
a number of boys were going through military evolutions
at the settlement, whom he mistook, in the distance, for
soldiers. He therefore retired without making any further
demonstration.
In June, he visited Unadilla, on the small river of the
same name, which empties into the Susquehanna, forming
the boundary between Otsego and Chenango counties.
His purpose was to procure provisions, which were perforce furnished him; as he avowed his intention to take
them by violence, if necessary.  At a conference held, at
this time, with some of the authorities, Brant expressed
himself decidedly in favor of the royal cause, alluding to
the old covenants and treaties which his nation had in former times entered into with the king, and complaining of
ill-treatment received at the hands of the colonists.
Shortly after, during this same month, General HIerkimer, of the American militia, took a strong force with him,
and started for Brant's head-quarters, whether with intention of attacking him, or merely to treat upon terms of
equality, hardly appears.
Brant was very cautious of trusting himself in the enemies' hands. He did not show himself for a week after
Herkimer's arrival, and when he finally appeared, and
consented to a conference, he was accompanied and defended by five hundred Indian warriors. Every precaution was taken against treachery; the meeting was held at
a temporary building erected midway between the two
encampments, and the respective parties were to assemble
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
at the spot unarmed. The Indian chief took with him a
guard of about forty warriors, and was accompanied by
one Captain Bull, of the English party, and by his nephew,
William Johnson, a son of Molly Brant by Sir William.
General Herkimer had long been on terms of friendship
with Brant, before the troubles arose between England and
the American colonies, and he vainly hoped to be able to
influence and persuade him into complaisance towards the
new government.   Thayendanegea was  suspicious,  and
looked with an evil eye upon the hostile array of troops,
shrewdly questioning the necessity for such preparations
for a mere meeting of conference. He fuilly confirmed the
supposition that he was determined to support the king,
and evinced a proud dependence upon the power and
courage of his own tribe.
The parley terminated most unsatisfactorily, and another
appointment was made. We are sorry to record an instance of such unpardonable treachery as Herkimer is said
to have planned at this juncture. One of his men, Joseph
Waggoner, affirmed that the general  privately exhorted
him to arrange matters so that Brant and his three principal associates might be assassinated when they should
present themselves at the place of meeting. The Indian
chief, when he came to the council, kept a large body of
his warriors within call, so that the design, even if it had
been seriously entertained by Waggoner, could not be
safely carried out.
Brant counselled the general to go quietly home, as he
could not but perceive how much he was out-numbered if
his intent was hostile. He disavowed any present inimical design.   Herkimer accordingly took his departure,
and Brant, not long after, marched his warriors to the
British place of rendezvous, at Oswego. Here a great
council was held with the Indian tribes by English emissaries, who enlarged upon the ingratitude and rebellious
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spirit of the provinces, and compared the power and wealth
of their own monarch with the poverty of the Americans.
Abundance of finery and warlike implements were
spread before the greedy eyes of the warriors, and they
were told that "the king was rich and powerful, both in
money and subjects. His rum was as plenty as the water
in Lake Ontario, and his men as numerous as the sands
upon its shore; and the Indians were assured that, if they
would assist in the war, and persevere in their friendship
for the king until its close, they should never want for
goods or money."
The bargain was struck accordingly, and each warrior
who pledged himself to the royal cause received, as earnest of future favors, a suit of clothes, a brass kettle, a
tomahawk, a scalping-knife, and a supply of ammunition,
besides a small present in money. The sagacity and
enterprise of the chief, whose power was now almost
universally submitted to by those of the Six Nations that
favored the cause of the king, rendered the alliance a
formidable one.
The gloomy prospects of the colonies, disheartened as
they were by reverses and pecuniary distress, grew tenfold
darker at the apprehension of such a bloody and cruel
border warfare as they might now anticipate. Exaggerated
tales were every where circulated of the extent of Indian
depredations and cruelties. There was, indeed, sufficient
foundation in truth for the greatest apprehension and distress. It is due to many of the British commanding
officers to say that they bitterly regretted the association
of their party with a horde of murderous savages, over
whose acts they could exercise no control, when out of
their immediate influence. Burgoyne refused to pay the
expected bounty for scalps, to the intense disgust of his
Indian forces; and, to the remonstrance on the part of
the American general, against the permission of the bloody
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
scenes which were continually enacting, he returned an
eloquent disclaimer of participation in or encouragement
of such acts.
A large population of those who resided in the districts
more immediately exposed, were driven from their dwellings by the fear of Indian cruelties. During Burgoyne's
advance, an incident occurred which excited the strongest
emotions of horror and indignation throughout the country.
We allude to the well-known tale of the murder of Miss
Jane McCrea. Few incidents have attracted more notice
in the whole course of Indian warfare than this, and few
have been reported in so variant and distorted a style.
Miss McCrea was the daughter of a gentleman of New
Jersey, and was residing, at the period of our present
narrative, with her brother John, near Fort Edward, upon
the Hudson, within a few miles of Saratoga. Her family
was of the royal party, and she was herself engaged to
marry a young officer by the name of Jones, then on duty
in Burgoyne's army.
The promised husband commissioned a few Indians to
go to the young lady's dwelling, and escort her thence to
the British camp. Against the urgent entreaties of her
friends, she put herself under the protection of these uncertain messengers, and started for the encampment. Her
lover, anxious that his errand should be faithfully performed, despatched a second party to join the convoy. The
two companies met a short distance from Fort Edward,
and were proceeding together when they were attacked
by a party of Americans.  "At the close of the skirmish,"
says Stone, "the body of Miss McCrea was found among
the slain- tomahawked, scalped, and tied to a pine-tree,
yet standing by the side of the spring, as a monument of
the bloody transaction. The name of the young lady is
inscribed on the tree, the trunk of which is thickly scarred
with the bullets it received in the skirmish. It also bears
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
the date 1777."  He cites further from Silliman: "Tradition reports that the Indians divided the scalp, and that
each party carried half of it to the agonized lover."
The account usually received of the manner in which
her death was brought about is, that the chiefs of the two
Indian companies, quarrelling as to which should receive
the reward (a barrel of rum) promised by Jones, one of
them, to end the dispute, buried his tomahawk in the head
of their charge.
During this month, (July,) General Barry St. Leger
marched from Oswego, with nearly two thousand whites
and Indians -  the latter led by Thayendanegea -  to the
investiture of Fort Stanwix. This stronghold of the provincial party occupied the spot where Rome now stands,
in Oneida county, near the head-waters of the Mohawk.
The post was afterwards called Fort Schuyler. The forces
of St. Leger beset the fort on the 3d of August.
The most interesting event connected with the part
taken by the Indians in this siege, is the bloody battle of
Oriskany. The brave old soldier, General Herkimer, with
from eight hundred to a thousand militia and volunteers,
hastened to relieve the garrison as soon as the news of St.
Leger's design was brought. Unfortunately, the English
commander obtained information of the approach of reenforcements in sufficient season to prepare an ambuscade at
a spot the most disadvantageous possible for the advancing
troops. Where a marshy ravine, over which the path of
the American army was carried by a causeway, partially
enclosed a dry and level tract, Brant and his warriors, with
a body of English troops, lay concealed. Before Herkimer
and his men were aware of danger, the main portion of
their number was completely surrounded, and cut off from
the baggage and rear-guard.
Broken and disordered by the murderous and unexpected fire of the enemy, the Americans met with terrible
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loss.  Retreat was out of the question, and gradually, encouraged by the exhortations of their brave commander,
who, although severely wounded, sat supported by a tree,
coolly issuing his orders, they formed defensive circles.
Such scenes of desperate hand to hand fighting as ensued
have seldom been recorded.   The  destruction on both
sides was great, more than two hundred of the Americans
being killed on the spot. Both parties laid claim to a victory; but it appears sufficiently certain that the Indians
were dispersed, while the provincial militia held their
ground.  The purpose of the advance was, indeed, defeated,
except so far as it gave opportunity for a successful sally
from the fort, in which the British were driven from their
encampment, and a great quantity of valuable booty was
obtained.
One who passed the spot where the battle of Oriskany
was fought, a few days afterwards, writes: "I beheld the
most shocking sight I had ever witnessed. The Indians
and white men were mingled with one another, just as
they had been left when death had first completed his
work. MIany bodies had also been torn to pieces by wild
beasts." The veteran commander of the provincials died
in consequence of the wound he had received. The loss
experienced by the Mohawks and others of the Six
Nations who took part in the engagement, was long remembered and lamented by their tribes.
Notwithstanding the reverses that followed; the discomfiture of the English; the growing power and confidence
of the Americans; and the long and eloquent appeal of
mingled warning and conciliation communicated to them
by Congress, all of the Six Nations except the Oneidas
and the Tuscaroras remained, at the close of the year, fast
friends of the king. The poverty of the colonies prohibited that display of rewards which the loyalists could
proffer, and constant intimacy enabled the politic officers
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
of the crown to sway the ignorant minds of the Indians,
and to teach them to look upon their white countrymen as
an unprincipled people, engaged in a hopeless as well as
causeless rebellion.
CHAPTER V.
CONTINUATION OF REVOLUTIONARY INCIDENTS.
THE year 1778 opened unfavorably for American influence over the border savages. Johnson and Butler,
aided by Joseph Brant, in behalf of the crown, had been
unwearied in their efforts to win over the Indians of the
west to their master's cause. In vain was a council called
by the provincial congress for the purpose of making one
more effort to induce the Six Nations to adopt a neutral
policy. An incomplete deputation, from all the tribes
except the Senecas, did indeed assemble at Johnstown, in
Tryon county, during the month of March, the result of
which meeting only strengthened the conviction that nothing but enmity was to be looked for on the part of the
great body of the nation.  There was too great reason to
fear that the Indians of the far west were successfully
dealt with by emissaries on the part of the loyalists.
Brant returned to his old quarters at Oghkwaga, and its
vicinity, and lent himself heart and soul to the work of
harassing and plundering the colonists.   Although, as
the chief of his nation, no small portion of the enormities
committed by the Indian predatory bands, was attributed
to his direct influence, it is due to Brant to say, that few
among his companions-in-arms showed an equal regard for
the laws of humanity. Many an instance is recorded of
his interference, even in the heat of conflict, to stay the
hand uplifted against the feeble and helpless. He was, it
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
is true, a fierce partisan warrior, and, ill one of his letters,
avowed his intent to "fight the cruel rebels," as well as he
could; but he seldom, if ever, evinced that savage cruelty
towards a conquered foe which disgraced his Indian and
white associates.
While the war lasted, there was no rest or safety for the
inhabitants of that extensive district bordering on the
enemies' country -from Saratoga, south-westward to the
Susquehanna.   Brant commenced operations in person, by
an attack on Springfield, a small place at the head of Otsego lake. He drove off or took prisoners all the men, and
assemlbling the women and children for safety, burned all
the town except the house where they were collected. He
then retired, offering them no injury.
In the latter part of June, a descent was planned upon
the settlements in the valley of Wyoming, upon the Susquehanlna, in the north-eastern part of Pennsylvania.
Some three hundred British regulars and tory volunteers,
accompanied by about five hundred of their Indian allies,
marched from Niagara.  They were led by Colonel John
Butler. It has been a commonly received opinion that
Brant was the chief under whom the Indian portion of the
army was mustered, but it is now believed that he had as little share in this campaign as in many other scenes of blood
long coupled with his name. There is no proof that he was
present at any of the scenes that we are about to relate.
No portion of the whole history of the revolution has
been so distorted in the narration as that connected with
the laying waste of the valley of Wyoming. No two accounts seem to agree, and historians have striven to outdo
each other in the violence of their expressions of indignation at cruelties and horrors which existed only in their
own imaginations, or which came to them embellished
with all the exaggeration incident to reports arising amid
scenes of excitement and bloodshed.
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Wyoming had, for many years, been the scene of the
bitterest hostility between the settlers under the Connecticut grant and those from Pennsylvania. Although these
warlike operations were upon a small scale, they were conducted with great vindictiveness and treachery.   Blood
was frequently shed; and, as either party obtained the ascendency, small favor was shown to their opponents, who
were generally driven from their homes in hopeless destitution. We cannot go into a history of these early transactions, and only mention them as explanatory of the
feelings of savage animosity which were exhibited between
neighbors, and even members of the same families, who
had espoused opposite interests in the revolutionary contest.
As John Butler and his forces entered the north-western portion of the valley, having descended the Susquehanna upon rafts, the inhabitants of the several towns
made the best preparations in their power to resist the invasion. Colonel Zebulon Butler was in command of a
company of regular continental troops, and with about
three hundred of the militia, collected in the valley, he
marched on the 3d of July, to check, and, if possible, disperse the invaders. It was intended to take the enemy
by surprise at their encampment, (at Fort Wintermoot,)
but the vigilance of the Indian sentinels betrayed the advancing forces. They found the royalists drawn up, and
ready to give them battle. Their line was extended from
the river, on their left, to a marsh, beyond which rose the
mountain range which bounded the valley. The Indian
warriors were stationed at the right by the borders of the
swamp.
The whole line was simultaneously attacked by the provincials, as they came up. Colonel Dennison, who commanded the left wing of the American army, perceiving
that a strong body of the Indians had forced their way
through the marsh, and were about to attack him in the
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
rear, gave an order to fall back, that his troops might not
be surrounded. This command was mistaken for an order
to retreat, and the result was a complete rout and a disor derly flight. The Indians, now completely in their element, -fell upon the helpless stragglers with tomahawk and
knife. About fifty of the Americans are said to have
escaped by swimming the river, or by clambering the
mountains, and concealing themselves in the forest: the
rest all perished upon the field.
Most of the inhabitants of the valley sought safety from
the victorious army in flight. Those who remained betook
themselves to Fort Wyoming. On the next day, July 4th,
the British colonel approached the fort, and demanded an
unconditional surrender. A capitulation was finally agreed
upon, by the terms of which the occupiers of lands in the
valley were to be protected in the peaceable enjoyment of
their property. Colonel Zebulon Butler and the remnant
of his regulars had made their escape, and it was agreed,
by the officer remaining in command, that the fort should
be demolished. The result, however, was the almost entire destruction of the settlement. The rapacity of the
undisciplined Indian forces, tempted by the opportunity
for plunder, could not be restrained; and the long-cherished
rancor of partisan enmity between fellow-countrymen had
full opportunity to satiate itself.
The rich and highly-cultivated farms were laid waste,
and their unfortunate proprietors, flying from their burning
homes, were reduced to the greatest extremities. Many
are said to have perished in the wilderness, whither they
had fled for safety. From the tales of the wretched outcasts who were dispersed over the country, as published
at the time, many incidents have been copied into modern
histories, which we know to be false or grossly exaggerated. War is every way an enormous evil, and when
carried on by an ignorant and barbarous people, to whom
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
the refinements of so-called civilized warfare are unknown,
must necessarily involve scenes of terror and desolation;
but at the time of which we are now speaking, the greatest
atrocities appear to have been committed by whites. We
will give a single incident as illustrative of the spirit of
the times. Several of the loyalists had pursued some fugitives of the provincial militia to an island in the river.
One of these being ferreted out from his place of concealment, recognized his own brother among the enemy, and,
falling upon his knees, begged humbly for his life. The
greeting and response of the unnatural brother are thus recorded: "So it is you, is it? " - ",, All this is mighty fine,
but you are a damned rebel." -Saying which, he deliberately levelled his rifle, and shot him dead upon the spot.
At the north, Brant and his Indians continued to be a
source of terror and annoyance.   Besides many  minor
depredations, they burned and plundered the rich and
thriving settlement of the German Flatts, upon the upper
waters of the Mohawk. The inhabitants had sufficient
notice of the attack to be able to secure themselves in the
neighboring forts, but they could do nothing to preserve
their homes, or to save the fruits of a summer's toil from
plunder or destruction. This injury was retaliated by the
invasion of the noted establishments of the Indian chief
at Oghkwaga and UTnadilla. A party of friendly Oneidas
lent themselves to this service, and succeeded in bringing
off some booty and prisoners. A more important inroad
was made by Colonel William Butler, with a Pennsylvania
regiment.  He entered the towns of Unadilla and Oghkwaga, and, finding them deserted by the Indians, burned
and destroyed the buildings, together with large stores of
provision intended for winter use.
The Indians were greatly exasperated at this heavy loss,
and it was not difficult for the English to excite them to
prompt exertions for revenge. The Senecas were discoy
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
ered to be in arms, and assuming a hostile attitude very
shortly after these events; and one of their chiefs, "The
Great Tree," who had been spending the summer with the
Americans, and had associated during that time upon
friendly terms with General Washington, had now returned to his people with altered demeanor and purposes.
Reports had been circulated among the Indians of this and
other tribes that the Americans were planning an invasion
of their country.
Early in November, (1778,) the younger Butler, Walter,
led a force of seven hundred men from Niagara to attack
the settlement at Cherry-Valley. The majority of the
party consisted of Indians under the command of Thayendanegea. The place of their destination, a beautiful and
prosperous village, not far from Otsego lake, was defended
by a fortification garrisoned by troops under Colonel Ichabod Alden. The commander received intimation, from an
Oneida messenger, of the dangerous position of the place,
but, being incredulous, or supposing that there was abundance of time for preparation, he was in no condition for
resistance when the blow fell. The inhabitants, instead of
seeking the protection of the fort, were scattered among
their several habitations.
The Indian savages made the first onslaught, and throwing aside all restraint, massacred men, women and children
indiscriminately.   Many  of the tories belonging to the
party are said to have shown a spirit of ferocity equal to
that of the worst of barbarians. The officer in command,
Walter N. Butler, repeatedly asserted, in after communications, that he used his best endeavors to stay the destruction of the helpless children and females, and there is no
doubt but that Brant's inclinations turned in the same
direction.   Specific instances are reported in which the
Mohawk chief interfered, and successfully, to arrest the
murderous tomahawk. According to their account, the
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
Indians were exasperated at their losses at Oghkwaga and
Unadilla, and, becoming heated with the excitement of the
attack, were in complete disorder, and in no degree amenable to discipline. Wherever the blame lay, the result
was terrible: about fifty soldiers and inhabitants fell by
the tomahawk, among the latter of whom the larger portion
consisted of women and children. The whole village was
burned to the ground, and the rich stores of provisions
were destroyed.   Thirty or forty prisoners were taken,
but of these, the women and children, with a few exceptions, were shortly after set at liberty, as unable to endure
the march.
Mrs. Campbell, one of those who was retained as a
hostage, because of the prominent part taken by her husband in the American cause, has given very interesting
descriptions of Indian ceremonies and manner of life.
The Onondagas, throughout these campaigns, while, as
a tribe, they did not openly profess themselves inimical to
the Americans, were individually concerned in no small
number of the forays and scalping expeditions whereby
the border country was harassed. In April, of 1779, it
was determined to destroy their settlements, and Colonel
Van Schaick, with a sufficient force, was despatched for
the purpose.  He  was ordered utterly to lay waste the
whole of their towns; to destroy all their cattle and property; and to take as many prisoners as possible. He
did not succeed in surprising the Indians, as he had purposed; their scouts carried intelligence of his advance in
season for most of them to escape to the woods; but their
improvements and dwellings were left undefended, at the
mercy of the assailants. The colonel obeyed his orders to
the letter, and left nothing but blackened ruins behind
him in his progress through the Indian villages. The
dwellings, the horses, cattle, and stored provisions of the
unfortunate tribe were all destroyed, and the Americans
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returned to their quarters, without the loss of a man, taking
with them thirty-three prisoners.   About twelve of the
Onondagas were killed during the expedition.
The friendly Oneidas were closely connected with this
tribe, and they felt and expressed a natural sympathy with
their misfortunes. The Onondagas were greatly exasperated, and their war-parties continued to hover around the
border settlements, ever ready to take advantage of any
unwariness on the part of the whites.
In the months of July and August, of this year, (1779,)
Brant signalized himself by various successful expeditions.
He plundered and destroyed the little town of Minisink,
near the Delaware river, in Orange county, New York,
and defeated a body of the militia who undertook to follow
his trail, in hopes of recovering the booty he had secured,
and of avenging the ruin he had caused. Some interesting incidents are recorded as connected with this battle.
So skilfully did the Mohawk chief anticipate and oppose
the movements of his pur'suers, that he secured an advantage in position which gave him a signal victory. A large
proportion of the whites were slain. We are told that,
after the battle, Brant saw a wounded officer lying upon
the field, in a hopeless condition, but retaining sufficient
strength to converse. Unwilling to leave the unfortunate
man to be torn in pieces by wolves, who would be sure to
collect as night came on, he determined, from motives of
humanity, to despatch him. He therefore commenced a
conversation with him, and, watching his opportunity,
put an end to his sufferings unawares, by a blow of the
tomahawk.
On this, as on most other occasions in which the Mohawk chief was engaged in active hostilities, the most
contradictory reports have been recorded concerning his
conduct and demeanor. The leader is generally compelled
to bear the blame of all the excesses committed by his
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followers, and it is no easy task, at this distance of time,
to decide upon the truth of many tales reported under circumstances of confusion and excitement.
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE IROQUOIS. - SUBSE        QUENT WARLIKE OPERATIONS OF TIHE NATION.
WHILE the events which we have just described were
transpiring, preparations were going on for a more formidable invasion of the Indian territory than had before been
attempted by the Americans.   The annoyance of an uncertain border warfare had become so intolerable that it
was deemed necessary to put a stop to it by the entire
destruction of the Iroquois towns and settlements.   In
pursuance of a resolution of Congress, the commander-inchief, General Washington, made  arrangements,  in the
spring of 1779, to send a large force into the heart of the
enemies' country, with directions to burn and destroy all
their towns; to lay waste their fields and orchards; to take
as many prisoners as practicable; and, in a word, to do
the enemy all the injury possible.  The command of the
expedition was bestowed upon General Sullivan, who was
directed to ascend the Susquehanna, with troops from
Pennsylvania, and to form a junction with the northern
forces at Tioga, near the mouth of the Chemung. The
detachment from the north, under General Clinton, consisting of fifteen hundred men, marched from Canajoharie,
on the Mohawk, for Otsego Lake, (from which flows the
Susquehanna) about the middle of June.   They carried
with them, over-land, two hundred bateaux, in which to
descend the river to Tioga.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
It was intended that Clinton should take with him a
body of Oneida warriors, but this purpose was frustrated
by the efforts of General Haldimand, on behalf of the king
of Great Britain. This officer sent a letter, written in their
own tongue, to the Oneidas, upbraiding them with the
breach of ancient treaties, and threatening, if they presumed
to engage in open warfare against the royalists, to let loose
upon them such a horde of his Indian allies as should utterly
destrov them. The effect of this epistle was-to keep the
Oneida warriors, with very few exceptions, at home, that
they might be in readiness to guard their families and homesteads from the threatened invasion.
Owing to delays at the south, Clinton did not receive
orders to remove from Otsego until August. He had, in the
mean time, dammed the outlet of the lake, so that a great
body of water had accumulated. When his troops were
embarked, the obstruction was removed, and, aided by the
unusual flow, the flotilla swept rapidly and smoothly down
the stream. On the 22d of August the meeting at Tioga
was effected. Five thousand men, well armed and provisioned, were now concentrated, and ready to pour upon the
devoted towns of the hostile Iroquois.
The attempt to keep the expedition a secret from the
enemy would have been utterly useless, from the length
of time required for the preparatory movements.   The
campaign was anticipated, but no adequate force was provided to resist the American army. The only battle which
took place was at Newtown on the bank of the Chemung,
near the present town of Elmira.  Here a force, variously
estimated at from eight to fifteen hundred, and consisting
of Indians under Thayendanegea, and whites commanded
by the two Butlers, and by Sir John and Guy Johnson,
was advantageously intrenched.
A brave and obstinate resistance was made to the advance of the Americans, but superior numbers prevailed,
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
and the enemy was driven across the river, after suffering
considerable loss.  This was the only attempt of any importance that was made to defend the country from ravage
and destruction. Pursuing his course westward, General
Sullivan obeyed his orders to the letter.   Every where
the well-built towns and flourishing corn-fields of the confederate nations were reduced to utter ruin. These Indian
tribes had made no little advance in the arts of civilization.
The Mohawks had mostly fled to Canada in the early times
of the revolution, but others of the Iroquois, particularly
the Cayugas and Senecas, had continued to cultivate their
fields and maintain possession of the homes of their forefathers.  Immense orchards of apple and other fruit-trees
were growing luxuriantly around their habitations, but all
fell beneath the axe of the destroyers. The movement of
so large a body of troops was necessarily slow, and as no
precautions were taken to conceal their operations, the Indians were every where enabled to escape to the woods.
It must have been with feelings of the bitterest rage and
despair that they saw, the labor of so many years rendered
useless, and thought of the coming winter, which must overtake them, a wandering and destitute people, who, must
perish, or rely for aid upon their Canadian allies.
The whole month of September was spent in the workl
of destruction.  The course of the march, after the. battle
of Newtorn, was first to Catharine's Town, near the head
of Seneca lake; thence to Kanadaseagea, the principal town
of the Senecas; to Canandagua; and to Genesee, which
was the farthest point reached at the westward.   From
Sullivan's account: "The town of Genesee contained one
hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly large and very
elegant.  It was beautifully situated, almost encircled with
a clear flat extending a number of miles; over which, extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind
of vegetable that could be conceived."
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"The entire army," says Stone, "was immediately engaged in destroying it, and the axe and the torch soon
transformed the whole of that beautiful region firom the
character of a garden to a scene of drear and sickeniing
desolation.   Forty Indian towns were destroyed.  Corn,
gathered and ungathered, to the amount of one hundred
and sixty thousand bushels, shared the same fate; their
fruit trees were cut down; and the Indians were hunted
like wild beasts, till neither house, nor fruit tree, nor field
of corn, nor inhabitant, remained in the whole country."
In a suffering and destitute condition, the scattered tribes
of the Iroquois were driven to seek protection and sup port during the hard winter that succeeded their overthrow
'rom the English at their posts in the vicinity of Niagara.
Nothing could now be expected at their hands, by the
Americans, but acts of vindictive retaliation.  Brant led
his warriors, in pursuance of IHaldimand's ominous predic tion, against the settlements of the Oneidas, and reduced
them to a condition as desolate as that of the habitations
of his allies. The whole tribe was compelled to fly to the
eastward, and seek shelter and support from the provincials.
Thayendanegea was ever ready and watchful for oppor tunity to harass  and weaken the American posts, or to
plunder  their  unprotected villages.   Passing over  his
minor exploits and adventures, of which many strikingly
characteristic anecdotes  are preserved,  we  come to  his
irruption into the Mohawk valley, in August of 1780.  lie
managed, at this time, to circulate a report among  the
settlers in the valley, that he was meditating an attack upon
Forts Plain and Schuyler, for the purpose of getting pos session of the stores collected at those posts. The militia
of the valley hastened to defend the threatened points,
leaving their villages a prey to the cunning Mohawk. iHe
carefully avoided the reeinforcements on their way to the
forts, and fell upon Canajoharie.
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His course was marked by the entire destruction of
houses, provisions, and crops; of every thing indeed that
could not be profitably carried away. No barbarities were
permitted upon the persons of the defenceless women and
children, but a large number of them were borne away
into captivity.   Brant effected his retreat unmolested;
his men laden with plunder, and driving before them the
valuable herds of the white settlers. Accounts, published
shortly after the transaction, represent that the whole number of houses and barns burnt in this invasion, at Canajoharie, Schoharie, and Normnan's IKill, was one hundred
and forty; and that twenty-four persons were killed, and
seventy-three made captives. The mind is little impressed
by such  bare enumeration, unless  the  imagination be
excited to fill up the outline. No language could express
the amount of misery and terrible anxiety which such an
inroad must have caused. To the distracting uncertainty
respecting the fate of their wives and children, prisoners
in the hands of a barbarous and exasperated enemy, was
added the mortification of a consciousness, on the part of
the provincial militia, that they had been duped. They
had left their defenceless homes to be ravaged by the
enemy, while they were busying themselves inll the defence
of a fortified post, against which  no attack had been
meditated.
The invasion of the Mohawk valley by Sir John Johnson, in October of this year (1780), was productive of
results still more extensively disastrous.  The Indians connected with the expedition were led by Brant, and by the
great Seneca warrior, Corn-Planter. This chief was a halfbreed, being a son of a white trader, named O'Bail, and a
Seneca squaw. During this campaign, he took old O'Bail
prisoner.   Making himself known to his father, CornPlanter enlarged upon his own position and consequence,
offering the old man his choice, whether he would live in
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ease and plenty among his son's followers, or return to the
settlements of the whites. O'Bail preferred the latter course,
and was escorted accordingly to a place of safety. We
shall speak further of this noted warrior, in describing his
successful rival, the great orator Red-Jacket.
The usual horrors attendant upon Indianl warfare marked
this campaign of Johnson's: but we are not without evidence that the principal leader of the savages was inclined
to no cruelty further than that necessarily incident to the
Indian mnode of conducting hostilities.  On one occasion,
he sent one of his runners to return a young infant that had
been carried off with other captives and plunder.  The messenger delivered a letter from Brant, directed " to the commanding officer of the rebel army," in which. the Mohawk
chief avers that "whatever others might do," he made no
war upon women and children.  I-e mentioned the two
Butlers, and other tory partisans, as being "more  savage
than the savages themselves."
The Indians of the Six Nations, engaged in the royal
cause, made Niagara their winter head-quarters. Thence
their scouts and war-parties continued to molest the border country through the ensuing spring and summer, but
no very important engagement took place until October
(1781).  On the 24th of that month, the inhabitants of
the country south of the Mohawk, near the mouth of Schoharie creek, were astonished by the unexpected inroad of
an overwhelming force of the enemy.  The army, under
the command of Major Ross, amounted to nearly a thousanld men, including Indians.  They had. made their way
from Buck's Island, in the St. Lawrence, to Oswego, and
thence, by Oneida lake, to the Mohawk valley, so suddenly and secretly, that no news of their approach had preceded them.
The invaders commenced the usual course of ravage
and destruction, but their success was but of short dura
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tion. They were disastrously routed and put to flight by
the provincials, under Colonel Willet, aided by a body of
Oneida warriors.  The notorious Walter N. Butler perished
during the last engagement with the Americans. Hie was 
shot and scalped by an Oneida Indian.
This was the last important procedure connected with
the war of the revolution, in which the Iroquois bore a
part. They proved, throughout the contest, most dangerous and efficient allies, rendering an immense extent of the
richest and most beautiful portion of the state of New
York unsafe for the Americans.
CHIAPTER VII.
CONDITION OF THE SIX NATIONS SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLU  TION. - CONCLUSION OF B&RANT'S HISTORY. - RED-JACKET AND
CORN-PLANTER.
AFTER the conclusion of peace and the recognition of
the independence of the United States, arrangements were
made between the British government and those of the
Six Nations who still wished to reside under the jurisdiction of the parent country, to secure them an asylum in
Canada. Thayenlidanegea was the principal negotiator on
the part of the Indians, and, at his instance, the country
bordering on Grand River, which empties into Lake Erie,
about thirty miles westward firom Buffalo, was granted by
the crown to "the Mohawks, and others of the Six Nations, who had either lost their possessions in the war, or
wished to retire from them to the British." They were
to be secured in the possession of a tract extending six
miles in breadth, on each side of the river, firom its mouth
to its source.
The course to be taken by the United States respecting
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the Iroquois resident within their limits, was  a subject
which led to much discussion and dissension. A conference was finally held at Fort Stanwix, between deputies
firom all the six tribes and United'States commissioners;
and, after much violent debate, in which the celebrated
Red-Jacket took a prominent part, it was settled that the
Indians should cede to the government all jurisdiction over
lands in eastern New York, and confine themselves to a district specified at the west. All prisoners were to be delivered up, and several hostages were given to secure performance of their stipulations on the part of the Six Nations.
Many of the Indians were greatly dissatisfied with this
treaty. PRed-Jacket (in opposition to Corn-Planter) strenuously advocated a continuance of hostilities. His speech
at Fort Stanwix upon the subject gained him a wide reputation for oratory. Brant, who was then about starting for
England to push the claims of his tribe for remuneration
for their losses in the war, postponed his embarkation, and
wrote a letter of remonstrance to Colonel Monroe, complaining especially of the retention of one of his relatives,
a Captain Aaron Hill, as one of the hostages.
The Mohawk chief did not lay aside his purpose of visiting the royal court in his people's behalf. IHe arrived in
England in the inonth of December, 1785, and never was
ambassador received with more flattering attention. His
intelligence and dignity, together with the remembrance of
his long and faithful services, commended him to all. He
was feted by the nobility and gentry; his acquaintance
was sought by the most learned and celebrated dignitaries
of the age; and the native shrewdness evinced in his
speeches and remarks drew forth universal applause. His
attempt to awaken an interest at court, in favor of the
claims of his nation, was successful; and a royal order was
obtained for the indemnity of those whose losses had been
specified, and for an examination Of further demands.
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In the United States, Indian affairs continued unsettled,
and ominous prospects of future disturbance on the western
frontier called for wise and cautious action. A great
council was held in December,  1S86, by many tribes.of
Indians, amonga whom the Six Nations were the most
prominent, at Huron village, not far from the mouth of
Detroit river.  The object was to concert some  general
plan of resistance to encroachments upon their lands by
the inhabitants of the United States.  It is said that an
unfriendly feeling towards the new government was promoted by English offitcials in their communications with
the Indians, in reference to thle retention, bv the crown, of
Oswego, Detroit, Niagara, and other posts.
For many years, subsequent to the peace with England,
bloody skirmishes, and scenes of plunder and rapine, kept
the western border in continual distress; and when the
United States undertook the reduction of the hostile tribes
in 1790 and 91, it was found that the feeling of disaffection on the part of the red men was indeed extensive.
Upon the occasion of St. Clair's disastrous defeat by the
Miamis and their associates, under the renowned chief,
Little Turtle, it is asserted by the biographer of Brant
that the old Mohawk warrior and the warlike tribe to
which he belonged bore a conspicuous part.
No man, born of a savage stock, has ever associated
with the enlightened and intelligent upon terms of greater
equality than did Thayendanegea.  While he retained all
his partiality for his own people, and never lost sight of
their interests, he fully appreciated the advantages of education and civilization. A long life, spent for the most
part amid scenes of strife and danger, in which the whole
powers of his active mind and body seemed called forth
by the stirring scenes in which he mingled, did not unfit
him for the pursuits of literature and the arts of peace.
He was indefatigable in his endeavors to elevate the social
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position of his tribe, and devoted no little time and attention to the translation of scriptural and other works into
the Mohawk tongue, for their benefit. His earlier specimens of composition, which have been preserved, are, as
might be expected, rudely and imperfectly expressed, but
they evince great shrewdness and intelligence. The productions of his latter years are strikingly forcible and
elegant.
We cannot go into a detail of the tedious and somewhat obscure negotiations with the American government
in which the chief of the Six Nations took part in behalf
of his people, nor chronicle the events of private interest
and domestic troubles which disturbed his declining years.
The old warrior died in November, 1807, at the age of
sixty-four.
In the war of 1812, the Mohawks, under John Brant,
son and successor of Thayenldanegea, took the part of their
old friends and allies, the English, and did good service
in various engagements upon the northern frontier.
In the early part of the nineteenth century, few names
stand more prominent in Indian annals than that of the
Seneca chief and orator, Saguoaha, or Red-Jacket.- We
hear of him, indeed, in much earlier times, as opposed to
Brant, at the time of Sullivan's campaign.   The Mohawk
chief always regarded him with contempt and dislike,
speaking of him as an arrant coward, and a man of words
merely. Sag,uoaha held the whites generally in suspicion,
and his great effort appears ever to have been for the preservation of his nation's independence and individualitv.
We have already mentioned the part which he took at
the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and his opposition to the
cession by his nation of their eastern lands. Corn-Planter
or O'Bail, who favored the proposal, was high in authority
at that time among the Senecas; but Red-Jacket, more by
his eloquence and sagacity in council than by any warlike
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
achievements,  was  gradually  supplanting  him.   CornPla,nter was a veteran warrior, and had fought in former
times against the English, in behalf of the French. He
is said to have been attached to the French and Indian
army, upon the occasion of Braddock's defeat, in 1755.
He could ill brook the rivalry of a young man, noted for
no warlike achievements, and only prominent among his
people by  virtue of his natural gift of eloquence.   To
check, therefore, this advance of the young orator, O'Bail
endeavored to work upon the credulity of his people by
announcing his brother as a prophet, and, for a time, succeeded in exciting their reverence and superstitious fears.
Red-Jacket, however, in open council, eloquently proclaimed him an impostor, and harangued the tribe with
such power and effect as to create a complete diversion in
his own favor. He-was chosen chief of his tribe, and exercised, from that time forth, a control over his numerous
followers seldom surpassed by any Indian ruler. He was
a steady opposer of Christianity, holding the missionaries
who endeavored to effect the conversion of the Six Nations, in great suspicion.  As a specimen of his style of
oratory, we will give some extracts of Saguoaha's speeches
upon these religious questions, as they are to be found in
Thatcher's Indian Biography. It must be observed that,
with characteristic obstinacy, the speaker would never use
the English language, but communicated his remarks by
means of an interpreter, so that due allowance must be
made for the change in style and loss of force almost always attendant upon a translation.
At  a Seneca council in May,  1811, held at Buffalo
Creek, he answered a missionary from New York, substantially as follows: "Brother! - we listened to the talk
you delivered us from the Council of Black-Coats in New
York. We have fully considered your talk, and the offers
you have made us. We now return our answer, which
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,INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
we wish you also to understand.  In making up our minds,
we have looked back to remember what has been done in
our days, and what our fathers have told us was done in
old times.
"Brother! -Great numbers of Black-Coats have been
among the Indians.'With sweet voices and smiling faces,
they offered to teach them the religion of the white people.
Our brethren in the East listened to them. They turned
fiom the religion of their fathers, and took up the religion
of the white people.  What good has it done?  Are they
more friendly one to another than we are?  No, brother!
They are a divided people; - we are united.  They quarrel
about religion;- we live in love and friendship.  Besides,
they drink strong waters. And they have learned how to
cheat, and how to practise all the other vices of the white
people, without imitating their virtues. B3rother! - If you
wish us well, keep away; do not disturb us.
"Brother! —We do not worship the Great Spirit as the
white people do, but we believe that the forms of worship
are indifferent to the Great Spirit. It is the homage of
sincere hearts that pleases him, and we worship him in that
manner."
After arguing the matter a little more at length, and
expressing a decided preference for the "talk" of Mr.
Granger, an Indian agent, and for that of the emissaries
of the Society of Friends, the orator concluded:
"Brother! -  For these reasons we cannot receive your
offers. We have other things to do, and beg you to make
your mind easy, without troubling us, lest our heads should
be too much loaded, and by and by burst." Red-Jacket
remained, through life, consistent with the ground first
taken by him upon religious and political questions. To
the clergy he was ever courteous and civil, and appears
to have been ready to hold argument with them upon
their creed. In conversation with one of the cloth, he is
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
said to have strenuously denied any responsibility on the
part of the red men for the death of Christ.  "Brother,"
said he, "if you white people murdered'the Saviour,'
make it up yourselves. We had nothing to do with it.
If he had come among us, we should have treated him
better."
In the war of 1812, the Senecas espoused the American
interests, and, Brant's assertions to the contrary notwithstanding,' their chief, with his subordinates - Farmer's
Brother, Little Billy, Pollard, Black Snake, Young O'Bail,
(a son of Corn-Planter,) and others- gained honorable
notice for courage and activity from the  commandilng
officers of the army to which they were attached.  It is
still more pleasing to reflect that these Indians readily
conformed to the more human usages. of modern warfare.
General Boyd reported that, "the bravery and humanity
of the Indians were equally conspicuous."
In his old age, Red-Jacket became very intemperate,
and in so many instances conducted himself in a manner
unbecoming the dignity of a chief, that his opponents, the
Christian portion of the tribe, succeeded in passing a resolution, in council, for his deposition.  This was effected in
September, of the year 182,7, and a formal written proclamation of the charges said to be substantiated against him,
was promulgated.   The old chief immediately bestirred
himself to obtain a revocation of this decree. He caused a
grand council of the Six Nations to be held, and, with all
his former fire and energy, made answer to his accusers.
After enumerating and ridiculing the charges against him,
(many of them really trifling,) he proceeded to speak of his
long-continued services and care for his people:" I feel
sorry for my nation," said he; "when I am gone to the
other worlds, - when the Great Spirit calls me away, -
who among my people can take my place?  Many years
have I guided the nation."
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The eloquence of the speaker, and a remembrance of
his faithful zeal for the welfare of his tribe, produced their
due effect: he was fiully restored to his former position and
authority.  During the latter years of his life, Red-Jacket
resided at the Seneca settlement, in the vicinity of Buffalo.
He made several visits to the Eastern cities, where his ap pearanlce always attracted much interest and attention.
A traveller who visited the Seneca country a few years
before the death of the old chief (which took place in
January, 1830,) speaks of his residence and appearance in
the following terms: "My path grew more and more  indistinct, until its windings were only intimated by the
smoothness of the turf, which often left me in perplexity,
till it at last brought me to the view of the abode of the
chief.   He  had penetrated,  like a wild beast, into the
deepest recesses of the forest, almost beyond the power of
a white man to trace him. A wild beast! but I found him
in a calm, contemplative mood, and surrounded by a cheerful family. Old and young, collected about the door of
the log hut where he was seated, seemed to regard him
with affection; and an infant, which one of the females
held in her arms, received his caresses with smiles. It
was a striking scene - a chief! Yet some of his inferiors,
who cultivate the soil in other parts of the Seneca lands,
had abundant fields and well-filled store-houses, while he
was poor, but bore his privations with apparent equanimity. If he had power, he did not exert it; if he had passions, they were quiescent; if he had suffered injuries, they
were buried in his breast. - His lookls, his motions, his attitudes, had that cast of superiority which convinced me that,
whether justly or not, he considered no man his superior
in understanding.- He appeared to regard himself as the
only one of his nation who retained the feelings and opinions of his ancestors, and to pride himself in preserving
them."  Halleck's address to "Red-Jacket, on looking  at
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
his portrait, by Wier," although not in all respects strictly
accordant with facts, contains a beautiful summary of Indian characteristics. The poem concludes as follows:
"The monarch mind, the mystery of commanding,
The birth-hour gift, the art Napoleon,
Of winning, fettering, moulding, wielding, banding
The hearts of millions, till they move as one;
Thou hast it. At thy bidding men have crowded
The road to death as to a festival;
And minstrels, at their sepulchres, have shrouded
With banner-folds of glory the dark pall.
Who will believe? Not I - for in deceiving
Lies the dear charm of life's delightful dream;
I cannot spare the luxury of believing
That all things beautiful are what they seem.
Who will believe that, with a smile whose blessing
Would, like the patriarch's, soothe a dying hour,
With voice as low, as gentle and caressing,
As e'er won maiden's lip in moonlit bower;
With look like patient Job's, eschewing evil;
With motions graceful as a bird's in air;
Thou art, in sober truth, the veriest devil
That e'er clinched fingers in a captive's hair!
That in thy breast there springs a poison fountain,
Deadlier than that where bathes the Upas-tree;
And in thy wrath, a nursing cat-o'-mountain
Is calm as a babe's sleep, compared with thee!
And underneath that face, like Summer Ocean's,
Its lip as moveless, and its cheek as clear,
Slumbers a whirlwind of the heart's emotionsLove, hatred, pride, hope, sorrow,- all save fear.
Love, for thy land, as if she were thy daughter,
Her pipe in peace, her tomahawk in wars;
Hatred -of missionaries and cold water:
Pride- in thy rifle-trophies, and thy scars;
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Hope- that thy wrongs may be by the Great Spirit
Remembered and revenged when thou art gone;
Sorrow -that none are left thee to inherit
Thy name, thy fame, thy passions, and thy throne!"
CHAPTER VIII.
PRESENT CONDITION OF THE SIX NATIONS.
THEI information contained in this chapter is drawn from
M1r. Schoolci-aft's abstracts and statistics, presented in his
"Notes on the Iroquois."
In taking the census, ordered by the New York  legislature in 1815, and  procuring statistics of the agricultural
operations of the Iroquois, the author informs us that great
objection was made by the Indians to what they considered
an officious intermeddliug in their affairs. Their suspicions
were excited by the novelty of the requisition, and the,
matter was discussed at great length in their councils.
They could not persuade -themselves that the government
should take such a step from any of the motives urged by
those to whom thie business was intrusted.  It appeared to
them most probable that, the measure was but a preliminary step to the laying a tax upon their prqperty, and
they consequently opposed continual obstacles to a satisfactory completion of the duty assigned. The entire population of the Six Nations, about the middle of the eighteenth
century, was computed at six or eight thousand. By
other calculations, made a few years later, at the period of
the American Revolution, it was supposed to exceed nine
thousand.
Conscidus as we are of the many causes constantly operating to reduce the numbers of the Indian population, it
is a matter of no less surprise than satisfaction to learn
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that there has been no very material decrease in the Iroquois nation since the extension of civilization over their
ancient country. It is pleasing to reflect that some portion of the strange race that formerly held undisturbed
possession of the wilds of America, should be preserved to
show what advance they are, as a people, capable of making, when aided by the light of civilization.
The tribes of the ancient confederacy are widely scattered. The larger portion of the Oneidas are settled upon
a reservation in the vicinity of Green Bay, Wisconsin:
smaller villages of the tribe are situated farther southward,
near Winnebago Lake. The number of these emigrants
was stated in 1844 to be seven hundred and twenty-two.
The Senecas who have moved westward, were put down
at about two hundred and thirty. Fifty-one of the lastmentioned tribe, were resident at Corn-Planter's settlement
in Pennsylvania.
The Mohawks, Cayugas, and others on Grand River, in
Canada, probably number over two thousand. We now
come to the more certain statistics of the New York census, given as follows, by Mr. Schoolcraft:
"Senecas,....
Onondagas,...
Tuscaroras,...
Oneidas,...
Cayugas,...
Mohawks,...
St. Regis Canton,..
He estimates the whole nation, in Canada and the Unitedl
States,  at nearly seven thousand.   He supposes, and it
would  seem very justly, that there has been a period, within
the last century, at which their numbers were reduced much
below those presented by recent returns; "and that, for
some years past, and since they have been well lodged and
clothed, and subsisted by their own labor, and been ex
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398
281
210
.. 123
20
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
empted fi-om the diseases and casualties incident to savage
life, and the empire of the forest, their population has recovered, and is now on the increase."
Many satisfactory evidences of thrift and good management, in the shape of saw-mills, school-houses, public
buildings, and well-kept farms, appear in the Indian settlements of New York. Nothing seems so conducive to
the welfare of this species of our population as a dependence upon their own resources, where the means of advantageous labor are supplied them. The evils of the annuity
system, and of the custom of farming out their lands to
the whites by the Indians, have been fully and eloquently
set forth. The first of these practices has the effect to
bring a horde of unprincipled sharpers about the place
where the yearly payment is made, who, by the temptations of useless finery, and, far worse, by the offer of the
red-man's greatest bane, intoxicating liquors, render the
assistance of the government oft-times rather a curse than
a blessing. The latter usage is productive of evil by its
encouragement of idleness, and by strengthening that sense
of pride and self-importance which distinguishes the race.
Where the change in the face of the country, and the introduction of domestic animals have rendered the chase no
longer necessary or profitable, the Indian still prefers ranging the woods with his dog and gun, to the endurance of
what he esteems servile labor.
Striking exceptions to the above remarks are to be seen
in the conduct and employments of many inhabitants of
Indian villages in New York. Good husbandry is evident
in the management of their farms, and artisans of no mean
skill are frequently met with. Some of these Indians, who
have turned their attention to the art of working in silver,
are said to produce very beautiful specimens of ornamental
work, especially in the in-laying of gun-stocks, handles to
tomahawks, &c.
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THE IROQUOIS, OR SIX NATIONS.
A portion of the Senecas, settled upon the Alleghany,
occupied themselves in rafting and boating upon the river,
and others are engaged in the lake navigation. There
seems, indeed, to be no want of bodily or mental capacity
in the North American Indian, for the successful pursuit
of nearly every trade, profession, and occupation, followed
by the whites.
One most beneficial reformation has taken place among
some of the Iroquois, in a movement which, if universally
encouraged, would do more to regenerate the red-men, than
all other influences combined. We allude to the introduc tion and formation of temperance societies.
The returns of agricultural products given, at the time
of taking the census before-mentioned, in 1845, are extremely gratifying, and may well convince us of the steady
and hopeful advance made by the New York Indians in
self-reliance and honest industry.
Communications from the missionaries, engaged in the
instruction and religious guidance of the Indians dwelling
on the different reservations, bear witness to the docility
and aptness of their pupils. The Rev. Asher Bliss, in a
letter, published in the appendix to Mr. Schoolcraft's notes,
observes: "As to the capacity of Indian children for improvement, my own impression is, that there is no essential difference between them and white children." Of the,
influence of the Christian religion upon the worldly prosperity of the people among whom he was stationed, (the
Senecas of the Cataraugus reservation,) Mr. Bliss speaks
enthusiastically.   He  contrasts "the framed houses and.
barns, the horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, the acres of improved land; the wagons, buggies and sleighs; the clocks,
watches, and various productions of agriculture," with the
destitution and poverty of former times, and exclaims, naturally enough, "What an astonishing change!"
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CHAPTER I.
FRENCH INFLUENCE OVER THIE INDIANS. -BRITISH OCCUPATION OF
THE WESTERN POSTS.- PONTIAC AND HIS PLANS FOR EXTERM[ NATING THE ENGLISH.
EARLY in the eighteenth century the French had commenced extending their influence among the tribes who
inhabited the country bordering on the great western lakes.
Always more successful than the other European settlers
in conciliating the affections of the savages among whom
they lived, they had obtained the hearty good-will of nations little known to the English. The cordial familiarity
of the race, and the terms of easy equality upon which
they were content to share the rude huts of the Indians, ingratiated them more readily with their hosts, than a course
of English reserve and formality could have done. The
most marked instances of the contrast between the two
great parties of colonists may be seen in the different
measure of success met with in their respective religious
operations. While the stern doctrines of New England
divines, as a general rule, were nleglected or contemned
by their rude hearers, the Jesuits met with signal success
in acquiring a spiritual influence over the aborigines.
Whether it was owing to the more attractive form in
which they promulgated their creed and worship, or
whether it was due to their personal readiness to adapt
themselves to the habits, and to sympathize with the feelings
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PONTIAC'S WAR.
of their proselytes, certain it is that they maintained a
strong hold upon the affections, and a powerful influence
over the conduct of their adopted brethren.
Adair, writing with natural prejudice, says that, "instead
of reforming the Indians, the monks and friars corrupted
their morals: for in the place of inculcating love, peace,
and good-will to their red pupils, as became messengers of
the divine author of peace, they only impressed their flexible minds with an implacable hatred against every British
subject, without any distinction. Our people will soon discover the bad policy of the late Quebec act, and it is to be
hoped that Great Britain will, in due time, send those black
croaking clerical frogs of Canada home to their infallible
Mufti of Rome." The Ottawas, Chippewas, and Pottawatomies, who dwelt on the Great Lakes, proved as stanch
adherents to the French interests as were the Six Nations
to those of the English, and the bitterest hostility prevailed between these two great divisions of the aboriginal
population.
When English troops, in accordance with the treaty of
1760, were put in possession of the French stations on the
lakes, they found the Indians little disposed to assent to
the change. The great sachem who stood at the head of
the confederate western tribes was the celebrated Ottawa
chief Pontiac.
The first detachment, under Major Rogers, which entered
the western country on the way to Detroit, the most important post on the lakes, was favorably received by the
Indian chief, but not without a proud assertion of his own
rights and authority. He sent a formal embassy to meet
the English, and to announce his intention of giving an
audience to their commander. Rogers describes him as a
chief of noble appearance and dignified address. At the
conference he inquired by what right the English entered
his country; and upon the major's disavowing all hostile
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intent towards the Indians, seemed more placable, but
checked any further advance, until his pleasure should be
made known, with the pithy observation: "I stand in the
path you travel until to-morrow morning." He finally
allowed the forces to proceed, and even furnished men to
protect them and their stores.'
Pontiac assisted and protected this garrison for a period,
but probably even then was pondering in his mind the
great scheme of restoring his French allies and extermnlinating the intruders. He has been frequently compared
to Philip, the great Wampanoag  sachem, both for his
kingly spirit and for the similarity of their plans to crush
the encroachments of the English. Pontiac had an immense force under his control, and could well afford to distribute it in as many different detachments as there were
strongholds of the enemy to be overthrown. It was in
the year 1763 that his arrangements were completed, and
the month of June was fixed upon for a simultaneous onslaught upon every British post. The eloquent and sagacious Ottowa chief had drawn into his conspiracy, not only
the people of his own nation, with the Chippewas and Pottawatomies, but large numbers from other western tribes,
as the Miamies, the Sacs and Foxes, the Hurons and the
Shawanees. He even secured the alliance of a portion of
the Delawares and of the Six Nations.
In vain were the officers of the garrisons at Michilimackinac and other distant forts warned by traders, who
had ventured among the Indians, that a general disaffection
was observable. They felt secure, and no special means
were taken to avert the coming storm.
So well concerted were the arrangements for attack, and
such consummate duplicity and deception were used in
carrying them out, that nearly all the English forts at the
west were, within a few days from the first demonstration,
in the hands of the savages, the garrisons having been
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PONTIAC'S WAR.
massacred or enslaved. No less than nine trading and
military posts were destroyed. Of the seizure of Michilimackinac, next to Detroit the most important station on
the lakes, we have the most particular account.
Hundreds of Indians, mostly Chippewas and Sacs, had
been loitering about the place for some days previous, and
on the 4th of June they proceeded to celebrate the king's
birthday by a great game at ball. This sport, carried on,
as usual, with noise and tumult, threw the garrison off their
guard, at the same time that it afforded a pretext for clamberilng into the fort. The ball was several times, as if by
accident, knocked within the pickets, the whole gang rushing in pursuit of it with shouts. At a favorable moment
they fell upon the English, dispersed and unsuspicious of
intended harm, and before any effectual resistance could
be made, murdered and scalped seventy of the number.
The remainder, being twenty men, were taken captive. A
Mr. Henry, who, by the good offices of a Pawnee woman,
was concealed in the house of a Frenchman, gives a minute detail of the terrible scene.  From his account, all
the fury of the savage seems to have been aroused in the
bosoms of the assailants. He avers that he saw them
drinking the blood of their mangled victims in a transport
of exulting rage.
Over an immense district of country, from the Ohio to
the lakes, the outbreak of the combined nations spread
desolation and dismay.
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CHAPTER II.
SIEGE OF DETROIT. - BATTLE OF BLOODY BRIDGE.
PONTIAC himself turned his attention to the reduction
of Detroit. He well knew that a rich booty awaited him
if he could possess himself of this important place, and
laid his plans with caution and care suitable to the magnitude of the enterprise. The town was fortified by pickets
and block-houses, and contained a garrison of one hundred and thirty men. The other inhabitants consisted of
only a few traders.
Pontiac's intention was to demand a conference with
Major Gladwyn, the commandant, taking with him as many
of his warriors as could obtain admittance; and at a given
signal to fall upon and kill the officers of the garrison.
The work of destruction was to be completed by the aid
of his followers from without the fort. Those whom he
had chosen to share with him the danger of the first onslaught, were each furnished with a rifle, having the barrel
so shortened that it could be concealed under the blanket
usually worn by an Indian as his outer garment.
The account generally received of the manner in which
Major Gladwyn became acquainted with the plot, and of
the means resorted to by him to ward off the danger, is
as follows: Pontiac, with several hundred warriors, presented himself without the camp, and requested an audience. On the evening of the same day, a squaw came
to deliver to the major a pair of moccasins which he had
engaged her to make from an elk-skin. After he had
praised her work, paid her handsomely, and dismissed her,
with directions to convert the rest of the skin into similar
articles, she continued to linger about the premises, apparently in an unsatisfied frame of mind.   Her answers to
those who questioned her were so singular, particularly a
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hint that she dropped respecting the difficulty she should
have in "bringing the skin back," that the major examined her closely, and succeeded in obtaining full particulars of the impending danger. The poor woman, affected
by his kindness, had been unwilling to see her patron murdered, but fear of the vengeance of her own people, or a
natural feeling of interest in their success, had restrained
her from sooner betraying their deadly purpose.
Through the night, and previous to the morning's conference, the Indians were distinctly heard performing their
war-songs and dances; but no intimation was given them
of any suspicion, and the party deputed for the grand talk
was admitted within the pickets. Pontiac saw that the
garrison was under arms, and he at once asked the reason
for such precautions. The major represented that it was
merely to discipline his soldiers.
The Ottawa chief opened the council with a haughty
and threatening speech, and was about to give the signal
for attack - by some peculiar mode of delivering a wampum belt to the commandant - when a sudden change in
the demeanor of the English quelled and discomposed him.
He heard the drums beat, and saw every soldier's musket
levelled, and the swords of the officers drawn and ready for
use. Major Gladwyn, stepping to the warrior nearest him,
lifted his blanket, and disclosed the shortened rifle. He
then upbraided the sachem for his intended vrillany, and,
taking no advantage of the opportunity for securing him,
gave proof of his own high-minded sense of honor by
dismissing the whole party unharmed. The premeditated
treachery of Pontiac would have fully justified the commandant in taking his life, had he deemed it necessary for
the protection of himself and people.
Immediately subsequent to the failure of this undertaking, the Indians began openly to attack the town. They
barbarously murdered a Mrs. Turnbell and her two sons,
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who lived a short distance from the fort; and killed or
took prisoners the occupants of an establishment belonging
to a Mr. James Fisher, still farther up the river.
From five hundred to a thousand Indians were -now
seen collected to lay siege to the town. The condition of
the garrison appeared perilous in the extreme, not only
from the insufficient  supply of provisions, but from the
necessity for keeping constant watch throughout the whole
extent of the stockade.   The soldiers were wearied by
being continually on duty, by the loss of their natural
rest; but their courage and spirit appeared to be unsubdued, and the commandant abandoned his first intention
of evacuating the place. The French who were residing
in Detroit brought about a negotiation, but Pontiac insisted
upon the surrender of the town, and of all the valuable
goods stored there, as the only condition upon which he
would  discontinue hostilities.   The  major  was  equally
determined in his intention of maintaining his position.
The siege commenced early in May, and no succor or
supplies reached the garrison for more than a month.
About the end of May an attempt had been made to land
forces and provisions by boats sent from Niagara, but the
vigilance of the Indians rendered it abortive. Many of
the English were slain, and many more were reserved to
glut the vengeance of the savages at the stake.
In the month of June, a vessel, also from Niagara, made
her way up the river, in spite of the attacks of the Indians,
who exposed their lives with the utmost temerity in attempts to board her. Fifty soldiers were landed at the
fort, and a timely supply of provision gave new courage
to the weary garrison.  Mr. Thatcher, in his "Indian
Biography," gives extracts from various letters, written
from the fort during the siege, which quaintly enough
portray the condition of its inmates. We quote the following from a letter of July 9th (1763):
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PONTIAC'S WAR.
"You have long ago heard of our pleasant situation, but
the storm has blown over. Was it not very agreeable to
hear every day of their cutting, carving, boiling, and eating our companions?   To  see every  day dead bodies
floating down the river, mangled and disfigured?  But
Britons, you know, never shrink; we always appeared
gay to spite the rascals.  They boiled and ate Sir Robert
Devers; and we are informed by IMr. Pauly, who escaped,
the other day, from one of the stations surprised at the
breaking out of the war, and commanded by himself, that
he had seen an Indian have the skin of Captain Robertson's arm for a tobacco-pouch! "
A reenforcement of some three hundred men, under
Captain Dalyell, reached Detloit the last of July.  Thus
strengthened, the commander deemed it advisable to make
an immediate sally, and, if possible, break up the Indian
encampment. Pontiac heard of the intended movement,
and was well prepared for the English when they made
their sortie in the evening. So deadly and unexpected
was the fire of the Indians, who lay concealed on either
side of the path, near the bridge over Bloody Run, that
more than one hundred of the troops were said to have
been killed or wounded.
Subsequent to this period we have no reliable history of
the acts of the great sachem of the Ottawas. His people
hung round Detroit until the ensuing spring, keeping the
inhabitants in continual alarm. The strong force which
was led into the western country by General Bradstreet in
the early part of the summer of 1764, effectually overawed
and quieted the hostile Indians.
Pontiac is said to have been assassinated by a Peoria
Indian, in the English interest, while attending a council
in 1767. Considerable uncertainty, however, attends the
recital of the latter events of his life, and of the causes
which led to his death.
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AND OTHER TRIBES OF THE MIDDLE AND WESTERN STATES.
CHAPTER I.
TIlE DELAWARES. - WILLIAM PENN.- ST. TAMMANY.-THE  MORA VIANS.- THE SIIAWANEES.-FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. -BRAD DOCK'S DEFEAT. - MASSACRE OF THE  CANESTOGA  INDIANS. DANIEL BOONE.
"A noble race! but they are gone
WYith their old forests wide and deep,
And we have built our homes upon
Fields where their generations sleep."
BRYANT.
ASSOCIATED with the early history of the Delawares are
thoughts of William Penn, and of his peaceful intercourse
with, and powerful influence over, the wild natives with
whom he treated. At the first settlement of the country
by Europeans, the tribes of this nation occupied no small
portion of the present state of Pennsylvania, but their
principal settlements lay between the Potomac and the
Hudson. Situated between the great northern and southern confederacies, they were in turn at enmity and engaged
in wars with either party; but, at an early day, they were
in a measure subdued and reduced to a state of inferiority
by the Six Nations.
The conduct of Penn towards the Indians has ever been
spoken of with high admiration; and we are assured that
his care for their interests, and anxiety to secure their
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rights, and to protect them from wrongs and aggression,
caused his name to be idolized among the Delawares.
Upon obtaining the immense grant from the crown, named
Pennsylvania at the time of its bestowment, his first
thought was to draw up a table of "conditions and concessions," for the government of those who should adventure with him in the settlement of the wilderness. He
expressly stipulated, in behalf of the Indians, that their
persons and property should be protected by the same
laws and penalties as those of the whites; that overreaching
in trade should be avoided by the conduct of all sales in
market overt; that a jury of six whites and six Indians
should pass upon matters in dispute between individuals
of the different races; and that the interest of the Indian
should be made the special care of every magistrate.
In the autumn of 1682, Penn came over from England
to regulate his new colony, and especially to confirm the
firiendly relations existing with the Indians inhabiting his
territory. Ill Clarkson's Memoirs of Penn, the following
mention is made of his grand treaty with these native proprietors. From religious scruples, he did not consider his
claim, by virtue of the king's grant, to be valid without
the assent of the occupants, and he determined to make
honorable purchases of all that he should require. Arrangements had been made, by commissioners, previous
to Penn's arrival, for a great meeting, for the purpose of
ratifying the proposed sale.  "He  proceeded, therefore,
(at the appointed time,) accompanied by his friends, consisting of men, women, and young persons of both sexes,
to Coaquannoc, the Indian name for the place where
Philadelphia now stands. On his arrival there he found
the sachems and their tribes assembling. They were seen
in the woods, as far as the eye could carry, and looked
frightful, both on account of their number and their arms.
The Quakers are reported to have been but a handful in
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
comparison, and these without any weapon - so that dis may and terror had come upon them, had they not con fided in the righteousness of their cause."
The conference took place upon the site afterwards
occupied by the town of Kensington, a few miles above
Philadelphia, and called, by the Indians, Shackermaxon.
"There was, at Shackermaxon, an elm-tree of prodigious
size. To this the leaders, on both sides, repaired, approaching each other under its widely-spreading branches."
Penn wore no ornament, or symbol of authority, except a
blue sash. Standing up before the assembly, he directed
the articles of merchandise brought for the purchase, to be
spread before him, and, displaying the engrossed copy of
the treaty, awaited the movements of the Indian chiefs.
"One of the sachems, who was chief among them, put 
upon his own head a kind of chaplet, in which there appeared a small horn.  This, as among the primitive Eastern
nations, and, according to scripture language, was an emblem of kingly power.           L Upon putting on this horn,
the Indians threw down their bows and arrows, and seated
themselves round their chiefs, in the form of a half-moon
upon the ground."
The interpreter now announced the readiness of the
chiefs to listen, and Penn proceeded to read and explain
the provisions of the treaty. He premised that he and his
people used no warlike implements, but that all their
desire was for peace and concord. By the articles of
agreement, the Indians were to be allowed to retain possession, for all needful purposes, even of the land sold,
and particular specifications were inserted, touching the
manner in which their rights should be enforced.
He then made the stipulated payments; distributed additional presents; and, laying the parchment on the ground,
proceeded to say that "he would not do as the Marylanders did, that is, call them children or brothers only; for
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often parents were apt to whip their children too severely,
and brothers sometimes would differ: neither would he
compare the friendship between him and them to a chain,
for the rain might sometimes rust it, or a tree might fall
and break it; but he should consider them as the same
flesh and blood with the Christians, and the same as if one
man's body were to be divided into two parts." Handing
the parchment to the chief sachem, Penn then desired him
and his associates "to preserve it carefully for three generations, that their children might know what had passed
between them, just as if he had remained himself with
them to repeat it.  *  *'This,' says Voltaire,'was the
only treaty between those people and the Christians that
was not ratified by an oath, and that never was broken.'"
After-accounts of the Indians, as given by Penn and his
associates, in which the estimable points of native character
are pleasingly portrayed, contrast strangely with the maledictions and bitter expressions of hatred which too many
of the early chroniclers heap upon their Indian enemies.
Never was a truer saying than the Spanish proverb, "he
who has injured you will never forgive you."
The name by which these Indians have ever been designated, was bestowed upon them by the English, firom Lord
De la War: in their own tongue they were called the
Lenni Lenape, (Original People,) as the chief and principal
stock from which mankind in general had sprung.
Conspicuous among the traditions of the Delawares appears the name of their old chief Tamanend, or Tammany.
We have no very specific accounts of the history of this
renowned sachem, but the veneration with which the Indians recounted his wisdom and virtues served to raise his
character so high with the colonists that he was, in a manner, canonized. The " Home Journal," of June 12th,
1852, makes the following mention of the singular respect
paid to his memory:
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INDIAN -RACES OF AMERICA.
"St. Tammany is, we believe, our only American saint.
He was the chief of an Indian tribe which inhabited Pennsylvania, while that state was still a colony, and excited so
much respect by his virtues and exploits, both among the
white and red men, that, after his death, he was canonized,
and the day of his birth, the first of May, regarded as a
holiday.
" All Christian countries,' says the Savannah Republican,' have their tutelar saint. England has her St. George;
Scotland her St. Andrew; Ireland her St. Patrick; France
her St. Crispan; and Spain her St. Jago. In this country
we  have  St. Tammany.   Throughout the revolutionary
war, the natal-day of this saint was observed with great
respect, by the army as well as by the people. It was not
till Mr. Jefferson's administration, when General Dearborn
was secretary of war, that the observance of it by the army
was dispensed with, and the change was made then only
with the view of carrying out the system of retrenchment
which the president sought to introduce in the administration of the government. The first fort built at St. Mary's,
Camden county, and perhaps the first fort in the state, was
called Fort St. Tammany. A gentleman now residing in
this city was present, while a boy, at a celebration, by the
officers and soldiers stationed at the fort, of St. Tammany'sday.  The May-pole used on this occasion was a tree, with
its branches and bark removed; and around that the soldiers danced and celebrated the day.'"
It was among the Delawares that one of the most interesting communities of Christian Indians ever existing in
America, was established by the efforts of the Moravian
mission. The venerable Count Zinzendorf, David Zeisberger, and John HIeckewelder, were zealous and prominent partakers in the work of converting and instructing
the Indians. From Heckewelder we have received much
minute and interesting detail of the habits of the people
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among whom he labored, and the humanizing and enduring influence of Christian doctrine, enforced by good example on the part of its preachers.
The circumstances under which the missionary work was
carried on were extremely adverse. During the long and
bloody French and Indian wars, every tale of border cruelties and massacre, committed by the savages, would instantly arouse a spirit of retaliation against the whole race,
which frequently resulted in the most brutal outrages
against the peaceful Moravian Indians. A population of
lawless whites inhabited the border country, whom Heckewelder mildly rebukes in the following terms:
"I have yet to notice a class of people generally known
to us by the name of' backwoods-men,' many of whom,
acting up to a pretended belief, that'an Indian has no
more soul than a buffalo;' and that to kill either is the
same thing; have, from time to time, by their conduct,
brought great trouble and bloodshed on the country. Such
then I wish to caution, not to sport in that manner with
the lives of God's creatures. * * * * Believe that a time
will come when you must account for such vile deeds-!
When those who have fallen a sacrifice to your wickedness
will be called forth in judgment against you! nay, when
your own descendants will testify against you."
The Shawanees were a very extensive and warlike tribe.
They were, according to Indian tradition, originally from
the south, having inhabited the country in the vicinity of
Savannah, in Georgia, and a portion of West Florida.
Being engaged in continual war with the Creeks and other
southern nations, and being of an adventurous and roving
disposition, they finally emigrated northward, and were received upon terms of friendship by the Delawares. They
settled in Western Pennsylvania, extending themselves
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gradually farther west, and mingling with other neighboring nations. Their head-quarters were, in early times, not
far from Pittsburgh. In their new homes they prospered
and increased, and long remained one of the most formidable nations of the west. They united with the Delawares in hostilities against the southern tribes.
In after-times, thrilling legends of war and massacre in
"the dark and bloody ground," and throughout the western border, attest the active and dangerous spirit of this
warlike and implacable tribe. In the French and Indian
wars, and in the long struggle which resulted in our national independence, they were so mingled with other
western tribes, that we shall not attempt to distinguish
them, nor shall we devote that space to the biography of
many of their chiefs and warriors which their prowess
might demand in a more extended work. We shall give,
in their order, some of the more celebrated Indian campaigns at the west, with various incidents connected with
the first settlement of the western states.
About the middle of the eighteenth century, the French,
as already mentioned, had, in strengthening their cordon
of posts between their settlements in Canada and Louisiana, formed alliance with many Indian tribes to whom
they were brought in proximity. Their nearest and most
dangerous approach to the English establishments, was in
the erection of the military stronghold called Fort Duquesne, at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela. In the attempt to dislodge them from this post the
military talents of George Washington were first exhibited.
After distinguishing himself by his bravery and prudence
in contests with the Indians and French, which, owming to
an insufficiency of force, resulted in nothing decisive or
materially advantageous, he was attached to the powerful
army under General Braddock, in the capacity of aid-decamp to the commanding officer.
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With a force of more than two thousand men, besides
some Indian allies, the British general set systematically
about the reduction of the French fort. Leaving a large
body of troops under Colonel Dunbar, at Great Meadows,
he marched in compact military array to the attack. No
one doubts the courage of General Braddock, or his capacity to have conducted a campaign in an open and inhabited country, but his dogmatic obstinacy and adherence to
established tactics proved, upon this occasion, the destruction of himself and his army.
When Washington, then only twenty-two years of age,
respectfully represented to his superior the danger of an
exposed march through a country like that they were traversing, and suggested the necessity for providing a sufficient party of scouts acquainted with the locality to guard
against surprise, he was insultingly checked by the ejaculation: "High times! high times! when a young Buckskin teaches a British general how to fight."
It was on the 9th of July, 1755, that the engagement
took place. Captain Contracccur, who had command of
the fort, had obtained information of the advance upon the.
previous day, and despatched M. de Beaujeu, with all the
troops he could muster, to meet the enemy.  His wholeavailable force consisted of from five hundred to one, thou-,
sand men, of whom the majority were Indians, but a.
knowledge of the ground, and the gross error of the Eng —
lish commander, more than compensated for the disparity
in numbers and discipline. An ambush was formed where
a ravine led from a plain into a high wooded piece of
ground.  the advancing column had no sooner penetrated
into this defile than the attack commenced.
A most appalling carnage ensued: the Indians, firing
from covert upon the closely marshalledi ranks of the regulars, soon threw them into utter confusion. M. Beaujeu.
was, indeed, killed at the first onset,, but: his. lieutenant,,
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Dumas, continued to inspire his troops, and cheer them on
to their now easy victory. A complete rout ensued, and
the Indians, rushing from their places of concealment, fell
upon the panic-stricken fugitives with their deadly tomahawks. The Virginians alone proved in any degree effective in resisting the enemy  and covering the disorderly
retreat. The loss, on the part of the British, in killed,
wounded and prisoners, was not far from eight hundred.
All the artillery and baggage fell into the hands of the
French, who, with their Indian allies, remained in undisputed possession of the field.
Falling back upon Colonel Dunbar's reserve, instead of
making a renewed stand, the whole army continued a precipitate retreat into Virginia. In this action most of the
Virginia troops, who, adopting the Indian manner of warfare, betook themselves to sheltered positions when the
fight commenced, fell victims to their constancy and bravery. Colonel Washington had not fully recovered from
a severe attack of illness at the time, and was with great
difficulty able to undergo the fatigues incident to his position. He had two horses shot under him, and received
four bullets through his coat, but escaped from the conflict
unwounded.  General Braddock died a few days after, of
a wound in the lungs.
The Delawares, and more especially the Shawanees, were
implicated in the extensive conspiracy excited by the renowned Pontiac, in the year 1763. It was in this year
that a cruel and disgraceful outrage was perpetrated upon
a peaceful community of Indians at Canestoga, near Lancaster. No sooner had news of Indian murders and ravages been spread among the white settlements, than a determination was evinced by certain miscreants to destroy
these harmless people, upon suspicion or pretence that they
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were concerned, in some way, in the recent border outrages.
The Canestoga Indians were few in number, and perfectly peaceful and inoffensive.  They had inhabited the
same little settlement for more than a century, and, according, to Heckewelder, "their ancestors had been among
those who had welcomed William Penn, on his first arrival
in this country; presenting him, at the time, with venison, &c."
In the month of November, (1763,) fifty-seven white
savages started from Paxton to destroy this establishment.
They murdered all whom they could find, to the number
of fourteen, of every age and sex: the remainder (fifteen
or twenty) escaped to Lancaster, and were locked up, for
safety, in the jail.  Hither the "Paxton boys," as they
were termed, pursued the poor creatures, and, breaking
into the enclosure, brutally massacred the whole of them.
The following is extracted from the letter of an eye-witness
to this transaction.
"* * I ran into the prison-yard, and there, O what a
horrid sight presented itself to my view!! -    Near the
back door of the prison, lay an old Indian and his squaw,
(wife,) particularly well known and esteemed by the people
of the town, on account of his placid and friendly conduct.
His name was Will Sock; across him  and his squaw lay
two children of about the age of three years, whose heads
were split with the tomahawk, and their scalps all taken
off. Towards the middle of the jail-yard, along the west
side of the wall, lay a stout Indian, whom I particularly
noticed to have been shot in the breast; his legs were
chopped with the tomahawk, his hands cut off, and finally
a rifle-ball discharged in his mouth; so that his head was
blown to atoms, and the brains were splashed against, and
yet hanging to the wall, for three or four feet around. * *
In this manner lay the whole of them, men, women and
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children, spread about the prison-yard: shot - scalpedhacked- and cut to pieces."
The events of Cresap's war, in which the Shawanees
and Delawares were so largely concerned, have been already briefly described, in connection with the history of
the Iroquois. After the great battle at Point Pleasant, in
which they and their allies were defeated, a short cessation
of hostilities between them and the colonists ensued. The
breaking out of the revolutionary war revived old animosities, and  suggested new  motives  for contention.   The
Shawanees were early won over to espouse the British interests: the division of the Delawares upon the question
will be hereafter explained.
The best information handed down to us concerning the
Shawanees, at this period, is to be found in the adventures
of the bold pioneer, Daniel Boone. Impatient of the restraints or competitions of an inhabited country, and led
by a roving, adventurous spirit, and by an enthusiastic admiration of the beauties and grandeur of the unsettled
western wilderness, he forced his way into the trackless
solitudes of Kentucky, and laid the foundation of a settlement whose growth and prosperity are almost unparalleled.
On the 8th of February, 1778, Boone was taken prisoner by a strong force of these Indians, then on their
march against the settlement at Boonesborough. He was
carried to their principal town, Old Chilicothe, on the Little
Miami, and there had abundant opportunity for observing
their native peculiarities and usages. His character, somewhat analogous to that of Captain John Smith, Benjamin
Church, and others, noted for their successes with the Indians, was bold, frank, and fearless.  Men of such nature
and disposition, however rude and uncultivated, are always
the best able to conciliate the affections, as well as exercise
control over the minds of savages.
Boone's captors took such a liking to him that they
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positively refused to deliver him up to the English, at
Detroit, whither he was conveyed with his companions.
Leaving the rest of their prisoners at that post, they took
him back to Chilicothe, refusing the governor's offer of one
hundred pounds if they would part with their favorite.
The king of the tribe treated Boone with great courtesy
and respect, and he had no reason to complain of his accommodations, as he enjoyed whatever comforts were within the reach of his masters. He was adopted into a family,
according to the usual Indian custom; in which position he
says: "I became a son, and had a great share in the affection of my new parents, brothers, sisters, and friends.  I
was exceedingly familiar and friendly with them, always
appearing as cheerful and satisfied as possible, and they
put great confidence in me."
His captivity lasted until the month of June, when, returning, from a salt-making excursion, on the Scioto, he
found four hundred and fifty Shawanee warriors, collected
with arms and war-paint, and bound on an expedition
against Boonesborough. This incited him to attempt an
escape, that he might forewarn the settlement of the intent.
He fled a little before day, on the 16th, and made the journey, of one hundred and sixty miles, supported by a single
meal.
The bold and astonishing defence of the little fort at
Boonesborough, in the month of August, against a large
force of Indians, accompanied by certain Frenchmen, is
simply and unostentatiously described in the auto-biography of this redoubted pioneer. The enemy, after a siege
of twelve days, in which every expedient of force and
treachery failed to dislodge the garrison, were forced to retire without effecting their purpose. One of their stratagems was as follows: A treaty was proposed by the assailants, and after the articles were drawn up, in front of the
fort, and formally signed, in the words of the narrative:
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" the Indians told us it was customary with them on such
occasions for two Indians to shake hands with every white
man on the treaty, as an evidence of entire friendship.
We agreed to this, but were soon convinced their policy
was to take us prisoners. They immediately grappled us;
but, though surrounded by hundreds of savages, we extricated ourselves from them, and escaped all safe into the
garrison, except one that was wounded, through a heavy
fire firom their army."
Boone took a prominent part in many of the contests
which preceded the quiet occupation of the land of his
choice, and underwent toils, dangers, and privations seldom awarded to any one man; but he lived to enjoy the
fruits of his labors. An old Indian, upon the occasion of
one of the more important treaties of cession, after signing
the articles, tools Boone by the hand, saying: "Brother,
we have given you a fine land, but I believe you will have
much trouble in settling it." The old settler adds, speaking of the former appellation bestowed on this "debatable
ground ": "My  footsteps have often been marked with
blood, and therefore I can truly subscribe to its original
name. Two darling sons and a brother have I lost by
savage hands.  M  *   Many  dark and sleepless nights
have I been a companion for owls, separated from the
cheerful society of men, scorched by the summer's sun,
and pinched by the winter's cold -an instrument ordained
to settle the wilderness. But now the scene is changed:
peace crowns the sylvan shade."
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CHAPTER II.
DIVISION OF THE DELAWARES. - WHITE-EYES, AND PIPE. - INDIAN
CONFEDERACY OF 1781. - ATTACK ON BRYANT'S STATION, AND
BATTLE NEAR THE BLUE LICKS. - GENERAL CLARKE'S EXPEDI- 
TION. - DISASTROUS CAMPAIGNS OF HARMAR AND ST. CLAIR.  MILITARY OPERATIONS OF GENERAL WAYNE. -DECISIVE BATTLE
NEAR THE MAUMEE RAPIDS, AND SUBSEQUENT TREATY OF PEACE.
" They waste us -  ay- like April snow
In the warm noon, we shrink away;
And fast they follow as we go
Towards the setting dayTill they shall fill the land, and we
Are driven into the western sea."
BRYANT.
As the settlements of the Europeans continued to increase, the Delawares gradually removed from their old
quarters, on the river and bay which bear their name, to
the wilderness of the west. No small portion of the tribe
was, at the breaking out of the revolutionary war, settled
in Ohio, on the banks of the Muskingum, and in the adjacent country.
Every influence was brought to bear, by the English
emissaries among the Delawares, to induce them to take
up the hatchet against the rebellious Americans. The effort was, in part, successful: a large party, headed by the
celebrated Captain Pipe, a chief of the Wolf tribe, declared for the king, while those inclined to peace and
neutrality, or whose sympathies were on the side of the
colonies, remained under the guidance of Koguethagechton
- Anglice, Captain White-Eyes. The disasters and perplexities in which the nation was involved by such a division might readily be foreseen. Both the opposing leaders
403 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
were men of talent, energy, and boldness, and each was
heart and soul enlisted in the cause to which he had united
himself.
It is recorded of White-Eyes that, early in the war, he
met with a deputation of the Senecas, (then, as we have
seen, in the English interest,) and boldly avowed his own
opinion. In reply to the old taunt, thrown out by one
of the Iroquois, of former subjection and humiliation, the
chief broke forth indignantly:  "I know well that you
consider us a conquered nation- as women - as your inferiors. You have, say you, shortened our legs, and put
petticoats on us! You say you have given us a hoe and
a corn-pounder, and told us to plant and pound for you -
you men, you warriors! But look at me. Am I not fullgrown, and have I not a warrior's dress?  Ay, I am  a
man, and these are the arms of a man, -and all that
country (pointing towards the Alleghany) on the other side
of the water is mine!"   White-Eyes was signally successful in his efforts to undeceive the Indians within his influence, who had been tampered with and imposed upon by
English agents, or excited-by sympathy with the war-party.
His death, which took place at Tuscarawas, in the winter
of 1779-80, was a very unfortunate event for the Americans. He died of that great scourge of the Indian races,
the small-pox.
The spring of 1781 was a terrible season for the white
settlements in Kentucky and the whole border country.
The savages who surrounded them had never shown so
constant and systematic a determination for murder and
mischief.  Early in the summer, a great meeting of Indian deputies from the Shawanees, Delawares, Cherokees,
Wyandots, Tawas, Pottawatomies, and divers other tribes
from the north-western lakes, met in grand council of war
at Old Chilicothe. The persuasions and influence of two
infamous whites, one McKee, and the notorious Simon
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THE DELWARES SHWANEES ETC.
THE DELAWARES, SHAWANEES, ETC.        0
Girty, "inflamed their savage minds to mischief, and led
them to execute every diabolical scheme."
Bryant's station, a post five miles from Lexington, was
fixed upon, by the advice of Girty, as a favorable point for
the first attack. About five hundred Indians and whites
encompassed the place accordingly, on the 15th of August.
Stratagem and assault alike failed to effect an entrance: a
small reeinforcement firom Lexington managed to join the
garrison, and the besiegers were compelled to retire on the
third day, having lost thirty of their number. When
Girty came forward, on one occasion during the siege,
bearing a flag of truce, and proposing a surrender, he was
received with every expression of disgust and contempt.
His offers were spurned, and he retired " cursing and
cursed," to his followers.
The enemy were pursued, on their return, by Colonels
Todd and Trigg, Daniel Boone, and Major Harland, with
one hundred and seventy-six men. The rashness of some
individuals of this party, who were unwilling to listen to
the prudent advice of Boone, that an engagement should
be avoided until a large expected reeinforcement should
arrive, led to their utter discomfiture. They came up
with the Indians at a bend in Licking river, beyond the
Blue Licks, and had hardly forded the stream when they
were attacked by an overpowering force. The enemy
had cut off all escape, except by recrossing the river,
in the attempt to accomplish which, multitudes were
destroyed. Sixty-seven of the Americans were killed;
among the number, the three principal officers and a son
of Boone.
The outrages of the savages were, soon after this, signally punished. General Clarke, at the head of a thousand
men, rendezvousing at Fort Washington, where Cincinnati
now stands, invaded the Indian territory. The inhabitants
fled, in terror, at the approach of so formidable an arnly,
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4INDIAN RAES OF AMERICA.
INDIAN RACES oF AMERICA.
leaving their towns to be destroyed. "We continued our
pursuit," says Boone, who was with the army, "through
five towns on the Miami river -Old Chilicothe, Pecaway,
New Chilicothe, Willis' Towns, and Chilicothe - burnt
them all to ashes, entirely destroyed their corn, and other
fruits, and every where spread a scene of desolation in the
country."
After hostilities between England and America had
ceased, these western tribes of Indians still continued to
molest the border inhabitants of the colonies. Attempts
to bring about conferences failed signally in producing any
marked or permanent benefit, and it was determined by
the government to humble them by the force of arms.
In the autumn of 1791, General Harmar marched into
the Indian territories, at the head of nearly fifteen hundred
men. The campaign was signally unsuccessful. The army
returned to Fort Washington, dispirited and broken down,
having sustained a heavy loss in men and officers, and with
the mortifying consciousness of an utter failure in the accomplishment of the end in view.
Major-General Arthur St. Clair was appointed to the
command of the next expedition. With a force of more
than two thousand meni, he marched towards the Indian
settlements, and on the 3d of November, (1791,) encamped
within fifteen miles of the Miami villages. On his way
from Fort Washington to this point, he had built and garrisoned Forts Hamilton and Jefferson. By this reduction
of his troops, and by a more extensive loss from the desertion of some hundreds of cowardly militia, he had, at the
time of which we are speaking, but about fourteen hundred
effective soldiers.
The confederate Indian tribes kept themselves perfectly
informed, by their scouting parties, of all the enemy's
movements, and, emboldened by recent success, prepared
to give the advancing army a warm reception. The prin
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THE DELAWARES, SHAWANEES, ETC.
cipal leader of the united nations, was the celebrated
Miami chief, Michikinaqua, or Little Turtle. He was one
of the greatest warriors and most sagacious rulers ever
known among the red men, and he had now an opportunity for the full display of his abilities.  An immense
horde of fierce savages, impatient for war, was under his
control, and his movements were seconded by able subordinates. Among these, the most noted were Buckonga
helas, now war chief of the Delawares, and Blue-Jacket,
the Shawanee. According to Colonel Stone, the great
Mohawk chief, Joseph Brant, Thayendanegea, was also
present, lending the assistance of his counsel and arms.
Hurons or Wyandots, Iroquois, Ottawas, Pottawatomies,
Chippewas, Mliamies, Delawares, and Shawanees, with a
host of minor tribes, were collected to repel the common
enemy. The number of their warriors assembled on the
present occasion is estimated to have been about fifteen
hundred, although some have set it down at twice that force.
Before the rising of the sun, on the following day, (November 4th,) the savages fell upon the camp of the whites.
Never was a more decisive victory obtained. In vaini did
the American general and his officers exert themselves to
maintain order, and to rally the bewildered troops. The
Indians, firing from covert, thinned the ranks and picked
off the officers by a continuous and murderous discharge.
A disorderly retreat was the result. Artillery, baggage,
and no small portion of the small arms of the militia, fell
into the hands of the exultant pursuers. Fort Jefferson
was nearly thirty miles distant, and thither the defeated
army directed its flilght. The Indians followed close upon
the fugitives, cutting down and destroying at will, until,
as is reported, one of their chiefs called out to them to
"stop, as they had killed enough!"
The temptation offered by the plunder to be obtained at
the camp induced the Indians to return, and the remnant
t
409 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
of the invading army reached Fort Jefferson about sunset.
The loss, in this battle, on the part of the whites, was no
less than eight hundred and ninety-four! in killed, wounded,
or missing. Thirty-eight officers, and five hundred and
ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates were
slain or missing. The Indians lost but few of their men,
judging from a comparison of the different accounts, not
much over fifty.
At the deserted camp the victorious tribes took up their
quarters, and delivered themselves up to riot and exultation. General Scott, with a regiment of mounted Kentucky
volunteers, drove them from the spot a few weeks later,
with the loss of their plunder and of some two hundred of
their warriors.
No further important movement was made to overthrow
the power of the Indians for nearly three years from this
period. Negotiation proved utterly fruitless with a race
of savages inflated by their recent brilliant successes, and
consequently exorbitant in their demands. When it was
finally evident that nothing but force could check the
continuance of border murders and robbery, an army was
collected, and put under the command of General Wayne,
sometimes called "Mad Anthony," in a rude style of compliment to his energy and courage, not uncommon in those
times.  The Indians denominated him the "Black-Snake."
The winter of 1793-4 was spent in fortifying a military
post at Greenville, on the Miami, and another, named Fort
Recovery, upon the field of St. Clair's defeat. The lastmentioned station was furiously attacked by the Indians,
assisted by certain Canadians and English, on the 30th of
the following June, but without success. It was not until
August, (1794,) that General Wayne felt himself sufficiently
reenforced, and his military posts sufficiently strengthened
and supplied, to justify active operations in the enemy's
country.
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When the army was once put in motion, important and
decisive events rapidly succeeded.   The  march  was  directed into the heart of the Indian settlements on the
Miami, now called Maumee, a river emptying into the
western extremity of Lake Erie. Where the beautiful
stream Au Glaise empties into this river, a fort was immediately erected, and named Fort Defiance.   From this post
General Wayne sent emissaries to invite the hostile nations to negotiation; but the pride and rancor of the Indians  prevented  any  favorable results.   Little Turtle,
indeed, seemed to forebode the impending storm, and advised the acceptance of the terms offered.  "The Americans," said he, " are now led by a chief who never sleeps:
the night and the day are alike to him. * * Think well
of it. There is something whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace."
The British, at this time, in defiance of their treaties
with the United States, still maintained possession of various military posts at the west. A strong fort and garrison was established by them near the Miami rapids, and
in that vicinity the main body of the Indian warriors was
encamped. Above, and below the American camp, the
Miami, and Au Glaise, according to Wayne's despatches,
presented, for miles, the appearance of a single village,
and rich corn-fields spread on either side.  "I have never
seen," says the writer, " such immense fields of corn in
any part of America, from Canada to Florida."
Negotiations proved futile: the Indians were evidently
bent on war, and only favored delay for the purpose of
collecting  their full  force.   General  Wayne  therefore
marched upon them, and, on the 20th of the month, a terrible battle was fought, in which the allied tribes were
totally defeated and dispersed. The Indians greatly outnumbered their opponents, and had taken their usual precautions in selecting a favorable spot for defence. They
411 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
could not, however, resist the attack of brave and disciplined troops, directed by so experienced and skilful a
leader as Wayne. The fight terminated - in the words of
the official despatch -" under the guns of the British garrison. * * The woods were strewed, for a considerable distance, with the dead bodies of Indians and their white
auxiliaries; the latter armed with British muskets and
bayonets."
Some days were now spent in laying waste the fields
and villages of the miserable savages, whose spirit seemed
to be completely broken by this reverse. By the first of
January following, the influence of Little Turtle and Buckongahelas, both of whom saw the folly of further quarrels
with the United States, and the hopelessness of reliance
upon England, negotiations for peace were commenced,
and, in August, (1795,) a grand treaty was concluded at
Greenville.
CHAPTER III.
CONDITION OF TIIE INDIANS SUBSEQUENT TO THE PEACE. - TIIE
PROPHET ELSKWATAWA.- TECUMSEH: HIS PLANS AND INTRIGUES.
- GENERAL HARRISON'S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE PROPHET'S
TOWN. - DEFEAT OF TIlE INDIANS AT TIPPEGANOE. - WAR OF 1812.
- HARRISON'S INVASION OF CANADA. - BATTLE OF THE THAMES,
AND DEATH OF TECUMSEH.
NEARLY  ten years of peace succeeded the treaty of
Greenville, an interval which proved little less destructive
to the tribes of the north-west than the desolations of their
last calamitous war. The devastating influence of intemperance was never more fearfully felt than in the experience of these Indian nations at the period- whose history
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we are now recording. General Harrison, then commis sioner for Indian affairs, reported their condition in the
following terms: "So destructive has been the progress
of intemperance among them, that whole villages have
been swept away. A miserable remnant is all that remains
to mark the names and situation of many numerous and
warlike tribes. In the energetic language of one of their
orators, it is a dreadful conflagration, which spreads misery
and desolation through their country, and threatens the
annihilation of the whole race."
While this deadly evil was constantly increasing, in the
year 1804, a distinguished Indian orator began to excite a
wide-spread discontent among the nations of the former
north-western confederacy. This was the self-styled prophet, Elskwatawa, Olliwayshila, or Olliwachaca. About the
year 1770, a woman of one of the southern tribes, domesticated with the Shawanees, according to report, became
mother to three children at a single birth, who received
the names of TECUMSEH, Elskwatawa, and Kumshakathe last being unknown to fame. Their father, a Shawanee warrior, perished in the great battle at Point Pleasant.
By the time that Tecumseh had attained the age of manhood, he had already become noted as a bold and sagacious
warrior. For years before the overthrow of the Indian
power by General Wayne, he had been foremost in the
incursions which spread desolation throughout the western
settlements; and when the peace, concluded at Greenville,
deprived him of a field for warlike enterprise, he only
retired to brood over new mischief, and, in conjunction
with his brother, the Prophet, to excite a more extensive
conspiracy than had ever before been perfected.
With consummate art, Elskwatawa exposed the evils
attendant on the white man's encroachments, exhorting to
sobriety and a universal union for resistance. He proclaimed himself especially commissioned by the Great
24
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Spirit to foretell, and to hasten, by his own efforts, the destruction of the intruders, and by various appeals to the
vanity, the superstition, and the spirit of revenge, of his
auditors, he acquired a strong and enduring influence.
The chiefs who opposed or ridiculed his pretensions were
denounced as wizards or sorcerers, and proofs, satisfactory
to the minds of the Indians, being adduced in support of
the accusation, numbers perished at the stake, leaving a
clear field for the operations of the impostor.
Tecumseh, meanwhile, was not idle. It is said that the
noted Seneca chief, Red-Jacket, first counselled him to set
about the work to which he devoted his life, holding out
to him the tempting prospect of a recovery of the rich
and extensive valley of the Mississippi from the possession of the whites. Whatever originated the idea in his
mind, he lent all the powerful energy of his character to
its accomplishment. The tribes concerned in the proposed
outbreak were mostly the same that had in earlier times
been aroused by Pontiac, and had again united, under
MIichikinaqua, as we have seen in the preceding chapter.
The undertaking of Tecumseh and his brother was not of
easy or speedy accomplishment, but their unwearied efforts
and high natural endowments gradually gave them both
an unprecedented ascendency over the minds of the Indians.
In 1807, the new movement among the Western Indians
called for attention on the part of the United States, and
General, then Governor, Harrison despatched a message of
warning and reproach to the leading men of the Shawanee tribe. The Prophet dictated, in reply, a letter, in which
he denied the charges circulated against him, and strenuously asserted that nothing was farther from his thoughts
than any design of creating a disturbance. In the summer of the following year this subtle intriguer established
himself on the Tippecanoe river, a tributary of the Wabash, in the northern part of the state of Indiana.
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THE DELAWARES, SHAWANEES, ETC.
From this place, where he lived surrounded by a crowd
of admiring followers, the Prophet proceeded shortly after
to Vincennes, and spent some time in communication with
Governor Harrison, for the purpose of disarming suspicion.
He continually insisted that the whole object of his preach ing, to the Indians was to persuade them to relinquish their
vices, and lead sober and peaceable lives; and to this effect
he often exhorted his people in the presence of the United
States' government officials.
In September, of 1809, while Tecumseh was pushing
his intrigues among various distant tribes, Governor Harrison obtained a cession, for certain stipulated annuities,
of a large tract of land on the lower portion of the
Wabash, from the tribes of the Miamis, Delawares, Pottawatomies, and Kickapoos.  On Tecumseh's return in the
following year, he, with his brother, made vehement remonstrances against  this proceeding, and  a somewhat
stormy interview took place between the great chief and
Governor Harrison, each party being attended by a powerful armed force.   Upon this occasion, Tecumseh first
openly avowed his design of forming an universal coalition of the Indian nations, by which the progress of the
whites westward should be arrested, but he still insisted
that it was not his intention to make war. One great
principle which he endeavored to enforce was that no Indian lands should be sold, except by consent of all the confederate tribes. Two days after this conference he started
for the south, with a few attendant warriors, to spread disaffection among the Creeks, Cherokees, and other tribes of
the southern states.
In the following year, (1811,) during the prolonged
absence of Tecumseh, and contrary, as is supposed, to his
express instructions, bold and audacious depredations and
murders were committed by the horde of savages gathered
at the Prophet's town.   Representations were forwarded
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
to Washington of the necessity for active measures in restraint of these outrages, and a regiment, under Colonel
Boyd, was promptly marched from Pittsburg to Vincennes,
and placed under the command of Harrison. With this
force, and a body of militia and volunteers, the whole
amounting to about nine hundred men, the governor
marched from Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, for the
Prophet's town, on the 28th of October. He had previously made various attempts, through the intervention of
some friendly Delaware and Miami chiefs, to bring about
a negotiation, a restoration of the stolen property, and a
delivery up of the murderers; but his emissaries were
treated with contempt, and his proposals spurned.
The march was conducted with the greatest military
skill. A feint was made of taking up the line of march
on the south bank of the river; after which, the whole
army crossed the stream, and hastened towards the hostile
settlement through the extensive prairies, stretching farther
than the eye could reach towards the west. Onl the 5th
of November, having met with no opposition on the route,
Harrison encamped within nine miles of the Prophet's
town. Approaching the town on the ensuing day, various
futile attempts were made to open a conference.   Menaces
and insults were the only reply to these overtures. Before
the troops reached the town, however, messengers from
Elskwatawa came forward, proposing a truce, and the arrangement for a conference upon the following day. The
chief averred that he had sent a pacific embassy to the governor, but that those charged with the mission had gone
down the river on the opposite bank, and thus missed him.
Harrison assented to a cessation of hostilities until the next
day, but took wise precautions for security against a treacherous night attack.
The suspicions of the prudent general proved to be wellfounded. The darkness of the night favored the designs
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of the Indians, and, before day-break, about four o'clock,
the alarm of an attack was given. In the words of one of
Harrison's biographers: "The treacherous Indians  had
stealthily crept up near our sentries, with the intention of
rushing upon them and killing them before they could
give the alarm. But fortunately one of the sentries discovered an Indian creeping towards him through the grass,
and fired at him. This was immediately followed by the
Indian yell, and a furious charge upon the left flank."
The onset of the Indians, stimulated as they were by
the assurances of their prophet, that certain success awaited
them, was unprecedented for fury and determination.
They numbered from five hundred to a thousand, and
were led by White Loon, Stone-Eater, and a treacherous
Pottawatomie chief named Winnemac. The Prophet took,
personally, no share in the engagement.   The struggle
continued until day-light, when the assailants were driven
off and  dispersed.   Great  praise has been deservedly
awarded to the commanding officer of the whites for his
steady courage and generalship during the trying scenes
of this night's encounter. The troops, although no small
number of them were now, for the first time, in active
service, displayed great firmness and bravery. The Indians immediately abandoned their town, which the army
proceeded to destroy, tearing down the fortifications and
burning the buildings.  The object of the expedition being
thus fully accomplished, the troops were marched back to
Vincennes.
In the battle at Tippecanoe, the loss of the victors was
probably greater than that of the savages. Thirty-eight
of the latter were left dead upon the field: of the whites,
fifty were killed, and nearly one hundred wounded. It
is not to be supposed that the Prophet's influence maintained its former hold upon his followers after this defeat.
He takes, indeed, from this time forward, a place in his
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
tory entirely subordinate to his warlike and powerful
brother.
An interval of comparative quiet succeeded this over throw of the Prophet's concentrated forces, a quiet destined to be broken by a far more extensive and disastrous
war. When open hostilities commenced between England
and the United States, in 1812, it was at once evident that
the former country had pursued her old policy of rousing
up the savages to ravage our defenceless frontier, with unprecedented success. Tecumseh proved a more valuable
coadjutor, if possible, than Brant had been during the
Revolution, in uniting the different nations against the
American interests.
To particularize the part taken by this great warrior
and statesman in the war, would involve too prolonged a
description of the various incidents of the western campaig,ns. By counsel and persuasion; by courage in battle;
and by the energy of a powerful mind devoted to the
cause he had espoused, he continued until his death to aid
his English allies. A strong British fortress at Malden,
on the eastern or Canada shore of Detroit river, proved a
rendezvous for the hostile Indians, of the utmost danger to
the inhabitants of the north-western frontier. The place
was under the command of the British General Proctor;
the officer whose infamous neglect or countenance led to
the massacre of a body of wounded prisoners at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, in January, 1813. This post
was abandoned by the British and Indians, about the time
of the invasion of Canada, in September, of the above year,
by the American troops under Harrison. The invading
army encamped at the deserted and dismantled fortress,
"from which had issued, for years past, those ruthless
bands of savages, which had swept so fiercely over our
extended frontier, leaving death and destruction only in
their path."
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General Harrison hastened in pursuit of the enemy up
the Thames river, and, on the 4th of October, encamped a
few miles above the forks of the river, and erected a slight
fortification. On the 5th, the memorable battle of the
Thames was fought.   General Proctor awaited the approach of the American forces at a place chosen by himself, near Moravian town, as presenting a favorable position
for a stand. His forces, in regulars and Indians, rather
outnumbered those of his opponents, being set down at
two thousand eight hundred; the Americans numbered
twenty-five hundred, mostly militia and volunteers. The
British army "was flanked, on the left, by the river Thames,
and supported by artillery, and on the right by two extensive swamps, running nearly parallel to the river, and occupied by a strong body of Indians. * * The Indians
were commanded by Tecumseh in person."
The British line was broken by the first charge of Colonel
Johnson's mounted regiment, and being thrown into irretrievable disorder, the troops were unable to rally, or oppose any further effective resistance.   Nearly the whole
army surrendered at discretion. Proctor, with a few companions, effected his escape. The Indians, protected by
the covert where they were posted, were not so easily dislodged. They maintained their position until after the
defeat of their English associates and the death of their
brave leader. By whose hand Tecumseh fell, does not
appear to be decisively settled; but, according to the ordinarily received account, he was rushing upon Colonel
Johnson with his tomahawk, when the latter shot him dead
with a pistol.
This battle was, in effect, the conclusion of the northwestern Indian war.   Deputations from various tribes
appeared suing for peace; and during this and the ensuing year, when Generals Harrison and Cass, with Governor Shelby, were appointed commissioners to treat
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
with the North-western tribes, important treaties were
effected.
Tecumseh was buried near the field of battle, and a
mound still marks his grave. The British government,
not unmindful of his services, granted a pension to his
widow and family, as well as to the Prophet Elskwatawa.
CHAPTER IV.
ACQUISITION AND SALE, BY THE UNITED STATES, OF INDIAN LANDS
IN ILLINOIS.-BLACK-HAWK.-THE SACS REMOVED WEST OF THE
MISSISSIPPI.-RETIJRN OF BLACK-IIAWK AND IlIS FOLLOWERS. DEFEAT OF MAJOR STILLMAN.-TIIE HOSTILE INDIANS PURSUED
BY ATKINSON AND DODGE. -THEIR DEFEAT ON THE BANK OF TIIE
MISSISSIPPI. - BLACK.HAWK'S SURRENDER.- HE IS TAKEN TO WASH INGTON. - HIS SUBSEQUENT CAREER.
WITHI the rapid increase of a white population between
the Lakes and the Mississippi, which followed the conclusion of hostilities with England and her Indian allies,
new difficulties began to arise between the natives and
the settlers. Illinois and Wisconsin were inhabited by
various tribes of Indians, upon terms of bitter hostility
among themselves, but united in their suspicions and apprehensions at the unprecedented inroads of emigrants
from the east.
The Winnebagos, dwelling in Wisconsin; the Pottawatomies, situated around the southern extremity of Lake
Michigan; and the Sacs, (afterwards mingled with the
Foxes, and usually coupled with that tribe,) of Illinois,
principally located upon Rock river, were the most considerable of these north-western tribes. By various cessions, the United States acquired, in the early part of the
present century, a title to extensive tracts of country, lying
east of the Mississippi, and included in the present state of
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Illinois. The tribes who sold the land were divided in
opinion; great numbers of the occupants of the soil were
utterly opposed to its alienation, and denied the authority
of the chiefs, by whose negotiation the sales or cessions
were effected; and upon the parcelling out and the sale
by the United States government of this public property
to private individuals, conflicting claims soon led to serious
disturbances.
In July, of 1830, a treaty was formed at Prairie du
Chien, between United States commissioners and the tribes
of the Iowas, Sioux, Omawhas, Sacs and Foxes, &c., for the
purpose of finally arranging the terms upon which the
lands east of the Mississippi should be yielded up. The
Sac chief, Keokuk, was present, and assenting to the arrangement in behalf of his people; but a strong party,
headed by the celebrated Black-Hawk, utterly refused to
abide by it. This chief was then between sixty and seventy
years of age, and had been, from early youth, a noted warrior. He was born at some Indian settlement upon the
Rock river, and retained through life a strong attachment
to the place of his nativity and the stream upon whose banks
he so long resided.  He was a Pottawatomie, but his whole
life was spent among the Sacs.
To enforce the removal of the Sacs from their villages,
on Rock river, General Gaines visited that locality in
June, 1831. He proceeded up the river in a steamer, with
several pieces of artillery and two companies of infantry.
The general spoke of his visit as follows: "Their village
is immediately on Rock river, and so situated that I could,
from the steamboat, destroy all their bark houses, (the
only kind of houses they have,) in a few minutes, with the
force now with me, probably without the loss of a man.
But I am resolved to abstain from firing a shot without
some bloodshed, or some manifest attempt to shed blood,
on the part of the Indians. I have already induced nearly
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
one-third of them to cross the Mississippi to their own land.
The residue, however, say, as the friendly chiefs report,
that they never will move; and, what is very uncommon,
the women urge their hostile husbands to fight rather than
to move, and thus abandon their homes."
Before the close of the month the forces of the United
States and the state militia took possession of the settlement.
The Indians made no attempt at resistance, and betook
themselves to the western bank of the Mississippi. In the
spring of the following year, the Sacs began to straggle
back to their old towns in Illinois; and Black-Hawk, with
a considerable force of his warriors, marched up Rock
river, with the avowed intent of spending the summer, and
raising a supply of corn among the Pottawatomies, in
accordance with an invitation from that tribe.   He  proceeded quietly and peaceably up the river, offering no violence to either the persons or property of the white inhabitants. A body of mounted militia, under Major Stillman,
set out in pursuit of the Indians about the middle of May.
On their approach to his temporary quarters, Black-Hawk
sent a number of his followers to meet and confer with the
commanding officer; but it so happened, either through
mistake as to their intentions, or from a reckless depravity
on the part of certain of the whites, that several of these
emissaries were killed.
Roused by this injurious treatment, the Indian chief prepared to fall upon his pursuers at a point where an ambuscade could be rendered most effective.   It is said that
when the militia came up, he had but about forty warriors
with him, (the rest of his men being off in pursuit of game,)
while the whites numbered no less than two hundred and
seventy!  As  these undisciplined troops were  crossing
Sycamore creek, in entire disorder, and without any precaution against a surprise, they were fiercely attacked by
the Indians.  The rout was complete: unable to form, or
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THE DELAWARES, SHAWANEES, ETC.
to offer any effectual resistance, the whites were driven off,
leaving eleven of their number dead upon the field. As
they again rendezvoused at Dixon's Ferry, thirty miles
below, they gave the most extravagant accounts of the numbers of the enemy.
Great excitement was produced by the skirmish, and a
large army of militia was called into service by Governor
Reynolds, and ordered to meet by the 10th of June, at
Hiennepin, in Putnam county, on the Illinois. Agents
were sent to confirm the good will of the Winnebagos,
and other tribes, and the services of several hundred of the
Menomonies and Sioux were enlisted against the dangerous
intruders.
Black-Hawk and his party, feeling themselves now fully
committed, were not slow in following up the advantage
gained by the terror inspired by the engagement at Sycamore Creek.
Between the breaking out of the war and the beginning
of the month of August the Indians committed many murders, and various skirmishes took place between them and
the troops sent in pursuit.  On the 20th of May, a little
settlement on Indian Creek was plundered. Fifteen of the
inhabitants were killed, and two young girls, by the name
of Hall, one sixteen and the other eighteen years of age,
were carried into captivity. According to the almost universal custom of the North American Indians, these female
prisoners were not exposed to the slightest insult or outrag,e, but were as well cared for as circumstances would
allow. They were afterwards ransomed, at a large price,
and returned to their friends.
Little mercy was shown to any of Black-Hawk's followers upon any occasion of success on the part of the whites.
Five persons were killed near Galena on the 14th of June,
and, shortly after, twelve Indians, supposed to be connected
with the attacking party, were pursued and driven into a
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
neighboring  swamp.   When  overtaken,  although they
made no resistance, they were every one killed and scalped
by the whites.
The condition of Black-Hawk and his band grew daily
more miserable, from destitution, exposure, and starvation.
An end would speedily have been put to their operations,
but for that terrible disease, the cholera, by which the
United States troops, on their route from the east to the
scene of action, were almost wholly disabled.
Driven firom this encampment at the Four Lakes by the
approach of General Atkinson, Black-Hawk retreated
down the Wisconsin, expecting to find provisions and assistance among the Indians in that direction.   General
Dodge, with a strong force of militia, followed close on his
trail. He came up with the fugitives on the 21st of July.
The Indians were about crossing the river when they were
attacked, and, but for the coming on of night, could hardly
have escaped entire destruction or capture. They lost in
the encounter not far from forty men.
The discomfited savages continued their flight down
the river in their boats, beset on every side by enemies,
and with an overwhelming force - Dodge's army having
been joined by Atkinson and his troops in hot pursuit.
"Some of the boats," says Drake, "conveying these poor
wretches, were overset, and many of those in them drowned;
the greater number, however, fell into the hands of their
enemies in their passage.   Many of the children were
found to be in such a famished state that they could not
be revived."
Having reached the mouth of the river, on the first of
August, Black-Hawk prepared to cross the Mississippi, but
was prevented by a force on board the steamboat Warrior.
He  "did not wish to fight, but to escape; and when the
steamboat fell in with him, he used every means to give
the captain of her to understand that he desired to surren
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der. He displayed two white flags, and about one hundred
and fifty of his men approached the river without arms,
and made signs of submission." The only reply was a
discharge of canister and musketry firom the boat, which
was returned from  the shore.   After about an hour's
firing, which resulted in the destruction of more than
twenty of the Indians, the boat moved off to procure a
supply of wood.
Next morning General Atkinson, with the whole force
in pursuit, (sixteen hundred men) came up with the remnant of the enemy.   Retreat was cut off on every side,
and the half-starved and dispirited savages were shot and
cut down at the pleasure of the irresistible numbers who
surrounded them.   The following is extracted from  an
account published shortly after this decisive and final engagement. "The battle lasted upwards of three hours.
About fifty of the enemy's women and children were taken
prisoners, and many, by accident, in the battle, were
killed. When the Indians were driven to the bank of the
Mississippi, some hundreds of men, women, and children
plunged into the river, and hoped, by diving, &c., to escape
the bullets of our guns; very few, however, escaped our
sharp-shooters."
Historians generally speak of an action in which the
Indians prove successful as a "massacre," but the abovedescribed proceeding is dignified by the name of a battle!
Black-Hawk, who, with a few followers, managed to effect
his escape, afterwards declared that, upon the approach
of the American army, he and his warriors made no
attempt at resistance, offering to surrender themselves unconditionally, and that they only used their arms when it
was apparent that the successful pursuers had no intention
of showing quarter. It is hard to decide upon the true
state of the case.
His cause now being palpably hopeless, and most of his
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
remaining warriors having yielded themselves prisoners,
or been taken by the various bands of Indians friendly to
the whites, Black-Hawk surrendered himself at Prairie du
Chien, on the 27th of August. With several other chiefs
he was taken to Washington, and after holding conference
with President Jackson, was confined, for a period, at Fort
Monroe, on an island near Old Point Comfort, on the Chesapeake. Here the captive warriors were well and kindly
treated, and in June, of the ensuing year (1833), there
being no longer any necessity for detaining them as hostages, they were set at liberty.
Before returning to the west, these chiefs visited several
of the principal eastern cities, and were every where received with the greatest enthusiasm and interest. They
were shown the fortifications, navy yards, &c., and every
effort was made to impress them with the irresistible power
of the government. They were afterwards escorted back
to their homes at the west, and dismissed with valuable
presents and tokens of good will.
Black-Hawk lived thenceforth in peace with the whites.
He settled upon the Des Moines river, where he died in
1838. The body of the old warrior, in accordance with his
own wishes, expressed shortly before his death, was disposed in Indian style.  According to Drake: "No grave
was made; but his body was placed in a sitting position,
with his cane between his knees and grasped in his hands;
slabs or rails were then piled up about him.  Such was the
end of Black-Hawk. Here, however, his bones did not
long rest in peace, but they were stolen from their place of
deposit some time in the following winter; but about a year
after, it was discovered that they were in possession of a
surgeon, of Quincy, Illinois, to whom some person had sent
them to be wired together. When Governor Lucas, of
Iowa, became acquainted with the facts, they were, by his
requisition, restored to his friends."
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY LOCATION, NUMBERS, CHARACTER, ETC., OF THE CATAWBAS;
OF THE UPPER AND LOWER ChEROKEES; OF THE MUSCOGEES OR
CREEKS; OF THE CHOCTAWS; OF THE CHICKASAWS.-FRENCH
WAR WITH THE NATCHEZ AND CHIICKASAWS.
WE shall not undertake to assign definite boundaries to
the several tracts of country occupied by the extensive tribes
of the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Catawbas,
Uchees, &c., nor to pursue their history, separately. There
are no sufficient distinctions in their general habits and
character to render such a detail necessary, and as they
were nearly all more or less affected by the same political
events and changes, they can be best considered collectively.  The name of Creeks, (an English term, taken
from the character of the country they inhabited,) has been
applied to all the tribes above mentioned.
James Adair, a trader and resident among the Southern
Indians for forty years, in his History of the American
Indians, published in 1775, gives the most complete account of these races to be found in the early writers. The
principal portion of his book is devoted to a labored disquisition upon the origin of the red men, and arguments
to prove their descent from the Jews: the rest consists of
separate details of the manners and history of the southern
tribes, with observations and anecdotes connected with the
race in general.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
He commences with the Catawbas, who then dwelt between the Carolinas and the country of the Cherokees.
By intercourse with the whites, they had become more
degraded than the other nations of which we are now to
speak, and drunkenness, indolence, and poverty were obviously prevalent. They were a numerous and warlike
people when South Carolina was first settled, mustering
about fifteen hundred warriors; but small-pox and the use
of ardent spirits had, at this time, reduced them to less
than one-tenth of their former numbers.
They were old enemies of the Iroquois, with whom they
had waged long and savage wars: with the English they
had generally been upon good terms. Adair describes an
old waste field, seven miles in extent, as one of the evidences of their former prosperity, when they could "cultivate so much land with their dull stone-axes." Of these,
as of other Indians, he says: "By some fatality they are
much addicted to excessive drinking; and spirituous liquors distract them so exceedingly, that they will even eat
live coals of fire."
The Upper Cherokees inhabited the high and mountainous region of the Appalachian range, and that upon the
upper portions of the Tennessee. The Lower tribe occupied the country around the head waters of the Savannah
and Chatahoochee, to the northward of the Muscogees or
Creeks proper.  When Adair first became acquainted with
the Cherokees, about the year 1735, they were computed
by old traders to number six thousand fighting men.  They
had sixty-four populous towns. In 1738, nearly half of
them perished by the small-pox.
Like all the other untaught nations of America, they
were driven to perfect desperation by the ravages of this
disease. The cause to which they ascribed it, and the
strange remedies and enchantments used to stay its progress, are alike remarkable. One course was to plunge the
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
patients into cold running water - (it is elsewhere men tioned that those afflicted will frequently leap into the
river themselves to allay the fever and torment) -the re sult of which operation was speedily fatal.  "A  great
many killed themselves; for, being naturally proud, they
are always peeping into their looking-glasses. - By which
means, seeing themselves disfigured, without hope of re gaining their former beauty, some shot themselves, others
cut their throats, some stabbed themselves with knives, and
others with sharp-pointed canes; many threw themselves
with sullen madness into the fire, and there slowly expired, as if they had been utterly divested of the native
power of feeling pain." One of them, when his friends
had restrained these frantic efforts, and deprived him of
his weapons, went out, and taking "a thick and round hoehelve, fixed one end of it in the ground, and repeatedly
threw himself on it till he forced it down his throat! when
he immediately expired."
These tribes were formerly continually at war with the
Six -Nations, at the north, and with the Muscogees at the
south; but previous to their war with the English colonies
they had been for some time comparatively at peace, and
were in a thriving and prosperous condition. They were
excellently well supplied with horses, and were "skilful
jockies, and nice in their choice."
The lower settlement of the Muscogees or Creeks, was
in the country watered by the Chatahoochee and Flint;
the upper Creeks dwelt about the head waters of the
Mobile and Alabama rivers. Their neighbors, on the west,
were the Choctaws and Chickasaws.
The Creeks were a nation formed by the union of a
number of minor tribes with the Muscogees, who constituted the nucleus of the combination. About the middle
of the eighteenth century, they were computed to number
no less than three thousand five hundred men capable of
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
bearing arms. They had learned the necessity of secluding those infected with the small-pox, so as to avoid the
spread of the contagion, and their general habits and
usages were such that they were fast increasing, instead of
diminishing, like all the surrounding tribes.
While the Floridas were in the possession of Spain, the
Creeks were surrounded by belligerent powers, both native
and European, and they appear to have adopted a very
shrewd and artful policy in their intercourse with each.
There was a French garrison in their country; the English
settlements lay to the north and east, and those of the
Spaniards to the south; and the old sages of the tribe
"being long informed by the opposite parties of the different views and intrigues of those foreign powers, who
paid them annual tribute under the vague appellation of
presents, were become surprisingly crafty in every turn of
low politics." The French were very successful in their
efforts to conciliate the good-will of the Muscogees, and in
alienating them from the English.
The country of the Choctawvs extended from that of the
Muscogees to the Mississippi, reaching northward to the
boundaries of the Chickasaws: their lower towns on the
river were about two hundred miles north of New Orleans.
Adair gives these people a very bad character, as being
treacherous, dishonest, ungrateful, and unscrupulous; but
he bears witness to their admirable readiness of speech.
They were "ready-witted, and endued with a surprising
flow of smooth, artful language on every subject within the
reach of their ideas."
The strange custom of flattening the head, prevalent
among some other American tribes, obtained with the
Choctaws. The operation was performed by the weight
of a bag of sand kept upon the foreheads of the infants
before the skull had hardened. This process not improbably affected the powers of the mind: at all events, Adair
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
says:  "their features and  mind exactly correspond to  gether; for, except the intense love they bear to their na  tive country, and their utter contempt of any kind of
danger in defence of it, I know no other virtue they are
possessed of: the general observation of the traders among
them is just, who affirm them to be divested of every prop erty of a human being, except shape and language."
The French had acquired great influence over the Choc-'
taws, as, indeed, over nearly every tribe in North Amer ica with whom they had maintained friendly intercourse.
Adair enlarges upon the artful policy with which they con ciliated and bribed the leaders and orators of the nation.
Besides this, he says: "the masterly skill of the French
enabled them to do more with those savages, with trifles,
than all our experienced managers of Indian affairs have
been able to effect by the great quantities of valuable
goods they gave them with a very profuse hand. The
former bestowed their small favors with exquisite wisdom,;
and their value was exceedingly enhanced by the external
kindly behavior and well-adapted smooth address of the
giver."
The nation of the Chickasaws, at the time of which we
are speaking, was settled near the sources of the Tombigbee,
a few miles eastward of the head waters of the Tallahache.
They numbered about four hundred and fifty warriors, but
were greatly reduced since their ancient emigration from
the west. They were said to have formerly constituted one
family with the Choctaws, and to have been able to bring
one thousand men into the field at the time of their remnioval. Due allowance must of course be made for mistake
and exaggeration in these early traditions.
The Chickasaws were ever inimical to the French and
friendly to the English colonists. It was by their efforts
that the neighboring tribe of the Natchez was stirred up
to attack the French settlements, in 1729. The French
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had, unadvisedly, imposed a species of tax upon the
Natchez, demanding a dressed buck-skin from each man of
the tribe, without rendering any return; but, as some of
that people afterwards reported to Adair, "the warriors'
hearts grew very cross, and loved the deer-skins."
The Chickasaws were not slow to foment a disturbance
upon intelligence of this proceeding, and sent messengers,
with presents of pipes and tobacco, to counsel an attack
upon the exercisers of such tyranny. Nothing so strongly
excites an Indian's indignation as any attempt at taxation,
and the Natchez were easily persuaded that the French had
resolved to crush and enslave them. It took about a year to
ripen the plot, as the Indians are " slow in their councils on
things of great importance, though equally close and intent."
It was in the month of November, (1729,) that the Indians fell upon the French settlement. The commandant
had received some intimation of the intended attack from
a woman of the tribe, but did not place sufficient dependence upon it to take any efficient steps for the protection
of his charge. The whole colony was massacred: men,
women, and children, to the number of over seven hundred - Adair says fifteen hundred -  perished by the weapons of the savages. The triumph of the Natchez was,
however, but of short duration. The French came upon
them in the following summer with a large army, consisting
of two thousand of their own soldiers and a great array of
their Choctaw allies. The Natchez were posted at a strong
fort near a lake communicating with the Bayou D'Argent,
and received the assailants with great resolution and courage.  they made a vigorous sally, as the enemy approached, but were driven within their defences, and "bombarded
with three mortars, which forced them to fly off different
ways." The Choctaws took many prisoners, some of whom
were tortured to death, and the rest shipped to the West
Indies as slaves.
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The remnant of the Natchez fled for safety to the Chickasaws. This brought' about a war between the French and
the last-mentioned tribe, in which, if we may believe Adair,
the Indians had decidedly the advantage.   He  tells of
one engagement, in which the French and their Indian
allies had surrounded the Chickasaw settlements in the
night, with the exception of one, which stood at some distance from the rest, called Amalahta. The besiegers beset
every house, and killed all who came out: "but at the
dawn of day, when they were capering and using those
flourishes that are peculiar to that volatile nation, the other
town drew round them, stark naked, and painted all over
red and black; thus they attacked them, killed numbers
on the spot, released their brethren, who joined them like
enraged lions."   The  Indians belonging to the French
party fled, but the whites were all killed except two, "an
officer, and a negro, who faithfully held his horse till he
mounted, and then ran along side of him. A couple of
swift runners were sent after them, who soon came up
with them, and told them to live and go home, and inform
their people, that as the Chickasaw hogs had now a plenty
of ugly French carcasses to feed on till next year, they
hoped then to have another visit from them and their red
friends; and that, as messengers, they wished them safe
home."
On another occasion, the same historian informs us that
the French approached the Chickasaw stockade, strangely
disguised, and protected from the balls of the enemy by
paddings of wool. The Indians were to the last degree
astonished both at their appearance and invulnerability,
and were about to desist from active resistance, and resort
to the skill of their own necromancers to oppose what
they thought must be "wizards, or old Frenchmen carrying the ark of war against them."   As the enemy approached, and began to throw hand-grenades into the fort,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
they were quickly undeceived, and set in earnest about
the work of defence. They pulled the matches out of the
grenades, or threw them back among the French; and,
sallying forth, directed an effective fire at the legs of the
enemy, who were speedily driven off. "I have two of
these shells," says Adair, "which I keep with veneration,
as speaking trophies over the boasting Monsieurs and
their bloody schemes."
CHAPTER I'I.
COLONIZATION OF GEORGIA.- EARLY INTERCOURSE WITH THIE NA  TIVES.- TOMOCHICHI.- INTRIGUES OF TIlE REVEREND THOMAS
BOSOMWORTHI.-CHEROKEE WAR OF 1759.-ATTAKULLAKULLA AND
OCCONOSTOTA.-MIURDER OF INDIAN IIOSTAGES. - COLONEL MIONT GOMNIERYS EXPEDITION.- DESTRUCT[ON OF TIlE EASTERN C[IERO  KEE TOWNS.- BATTLE NEAR ETCHOE. - CAPITULATION AT FORT
LOUDON.- INDIAN TREACHERY. - CAMPAIGN OF COLONEL GRANT,
AND COMPLETE REDUCTION OF TIlE CIIEROKEES.
WHEN the little colony of one hundred and fourteen
souls, under the guidance of James Edward Oglethorpe,
commenced the settlement of Georgia, in the winter of
1733, the upper and lower Creeks laid claim to the whole
territory south-west of the Savannah. The only natives
residing in the vicinity - at Yamacraw —  were peaceably
disposed towards the settlers, but the governor of the infant colony thought it advisable to put himself upon safe
grounds as respected the Indian claims.   He  therefore
secured the services of a half-breed woman, named Mary
Musgrove, who could speak English, and, by her mediation, brought about a conference with the chiefs of the
tribe at Savannah, the seat of the new settlement.
Mary had formerly married a white trader from Caro
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lina.   Besides her usefulness as an interpreter, she had
such influence over her tribe, that Oglethorpe thought it
worth his while to purchase her services at the rate of one
hundred pounds a year. She became afterwards, as we
shall see, a source of no little danger and annoyance to the
English.
Fifty chiefs of the Creek nation were assembled at the
place of conference, and Tomochichi, the most noted
among those then known to the settlers, made an amicable
speech, proffering at the same time a present of a buffaloskin, adorned with eagles' feathers. A treaty was concluded, subject to the ratification of the English crown,
by virtue of which the Indians were to consider themselves the subjects of the king, and to live in peace and
friendship with his white colonists. The lands lying between the Savannah and Altamaha, were made over to
the English, with all the islands on that coast, except
St. Catharine's and two others, which were reserved for
the use of the Indians as bathing and fishing stations.
A tract was also set apart for them to encamp upon when
they visited their white friends, a little above the Yamacraw bluff, where Savannah now stands. Various other
stipulations, respecting terms of trade, the punishment of
offences, &c., were entered into, to the satisfaction of both
parties.
In April, 1734, Oglethorpe took Tomochichi, his queen,
and several other Indians with him  to England.  They
were presented to the king, and every pains was taken to
produce a strong impression upon their minds of the English power and magnificence. All the Indians with whom
the first governor of Georgia held intercourse seem to have
formed a great attachment for him, styling him their "beloved mall." If others in authority among the English
colonies had pursued as honest a course towards the natives,
much bloodshed would doubtless have been averted.
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When difficulties arose in 1738, connected with the conflicting claims of England and Spain to jurisdiction over
the new country, Spanish agents were  despatched to win
over the Creeks. They decoyed a body of them to Augustine, by pretences that Oglethorpe was there, and that
he was desirous of seeing them. On their arrival, the Indians were told that the English governor was sick on
board one of the ships; but they had begun to suspect
deception, and, refusing to go out to the vessel, left the
town in' great disgust. Their suspicions were confirmed
when they reached home, and the transaction only strengthened their dislike to the Spaniards.
In the following year, Oglethorpe attended a great assembly of Creeks, Cherokees, and Chickasaws, at the
Coweta town, several hundred miles from Frederica, and
confirmed their good-will towards the English by presents,
and friendly communion. He smoked the calumet with
the chiefs, and solemnly renewed the original treaty of
amity and mutual protection. This year old Tomochichi
died, not far from Yamacraw, expressing to the last his
love for his first English patron, and  urging upon his
people the policy of maintaining their place in his goodwill.  The chief was nearly ninety-seven years of age.
The year 1749 was memorable for a most audacious
attempt on the part of one Thomas Bosomworth to aggrandize himself by attaining a supremacy over the Creeks.
He had been formerly a chaplain in Oglethorpe's regiment,
and had married Mary Musgrove, his half-breed interpreter. In December, of 1747, this man fell in with a company of chiefs, belonging to the nation, then on a visit to
Frederica; and persuaded them to sign certain articles,
acknowledging one of their number, named Malatche
Opiya Meco, as rightful king over the whole Creek nation.
Bosomworth then procured from Malatche a conveyance,
for certain considerations -among other things, a large
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
quantity of ammunition and clothing, - of the islands formerly reserved by the Indians, to himself and his wife
Mary, their heirs and assigns, "as long as the sun shall
shine, or the waters run in the rivers, forever." This deed
was regularly witnessed, proved before a justice of the
peace, and recorded in due form. Bosomworth made some
efforts to stock and improve these islands, but, his ambition becoming aroused by success in his first intrigue, he
entered upon one much more extensive. By his persuasions, his wife now made the extraordinary claim that she
was Malatche's elder sister, and entitled to regal authority
over the whole Creek territory.
A great meeting of the tribe was procured, and, whatever of truth Mary's claims might be founded upon, she
appears to have succeeded in persuading large numbers of
the Creeks to espouse her cause, and acknowledge her as
an independent queen. Accompanied by a strong force of
her adherents, she proceeded incontinently to Savannah,
sending emissaries before her to demand a surrender of all
lands south of the Savannah river, and to make known
her intention of enforcing her claim by the entire destruction of the colony, should her demands be resisted.
The militia were called out by the president and council,
and the Indians were kept quiet by a display of confidence
and firmness, that matters might be fully discussed by
their leaders and the colonial authorities.  "Bosomworth,"
says McCall, "in his canonical robes, with his queen by
his side, followed by the kings and chiefs, according to
rank, marched into the town on the 20th of July, making
a most formidable appearance. - The inhabitants were
struck with terror at the sight of this ferocious tribe of
savages."
Lengthy discussions ensued, between Bosomworth and
Mary on the one hand, and the president and council
on the other.  The fickle and impressible savages leaned
447 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
alternately to either opinion according as they were harangued by their new leaders, or listened to the explanations of the other party.   They were told that Mary's
claims to royal descent were entirely false; that she was
the daughter of a white man by a squaw of no note, and
that the mad ambition of her reprobate husband had led
to the whole movement. They expressed themselves convinced, but no sooner had Mary obtained another opportunity to communicate with them, than she succeeded in
inflaming and bewildering their minds. It was found
necessary to confine her and her husband before the savages could be quietly dispersed.
Before this was accomplished, the town was in a situation of the most imminent danger, as the Indians vastly
outnumbered the whites; and a very slight matter might
have so roused their fury that the whole colony would have
been annihilated. The intriguing chaplain had a brother,
Adam Bosomworth, agent for Indian affairs in Carolina,
who afterwards espoused his interests, so far as the claim
to the islands of St. Catharine, Ossabaw, and Sapelo was
concerned. This coadjutor visited the Creek nation, procured a new conveyance, and prosecuted the claim before
the courts of Great Britain.   The  case proved almost as
tedious and complex as that of the celebrated Mohegan
land question ill Connecticut. Bosomworth and his wife
obtained a decision in their favor, in 1759, by virtue of
which they took possession of St. Catharine's island, and
resided upon it the remainder of their lives. Ossabaw and
Sapelo were decreed to be sold for the benefit of the successful parties, but further litigation arose from the claims
of one Isaac Levy, to whom they had sold, as was asserted,
a moiety of that portion of the grant.
The breaking out of the Cherokee war, in the winter of
this year, (1759,) is the next event of special interest, connected with the affairs of the Southern Indians. They
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
seen generally to have been peaceably disposed, and honest in the fulfilment of their national engagements, and
probably would have continued so, had they met with fair
treatment at the hands of the English colonists. Parties
of Cherokees, under British commanders, had been engaged
with the English in campaigns against the French fortifications at the west. Upon the evacuation of Fort Duquesne, numbers of these Indian warriors, whose services
were no longer required, set out upon their return home.
Having been ill-supplied with provisions, and having lost
their horses, some of them caught and availed themselves
of such of those animals as they found loose in the woods.
In revenge for this theft, the German settlers of Virginia
fell upon them, and murdered and scalped a considerable
number. They even imitated, in several instances, the
horrible cruelties of the savages in the manner of butchery - at least, so says Adair, who further reports, that
"those murderers were so audacious as to impose the
scalps on the government for those of French Indians;
and that they actually obtained the premium allowed at
that time by law in such a case."
The Cherokees did not, for a long time, attempt any
retaliation for this act, but made peaceable applications to
the authorities of Virginia and the Carolinas; but all was
in vain, and fresh insults and. injuries, received from certain officers at Fort St. George, finally excited the nation
to fury.  Adair says truly: "When  the Indians find no
redress of grievances, they never fail to redress themselves,
either sooner or later. But when they begin they do not
know where to end. Their thirst for the blood of their
reputed enemies is not to be quenched with a few drops.
The more they drink, the more it inflames their thirst.
When they dip their finger in human blood, they are restless till they plunge themselves in it."
The French, and, at their instance, the Muscogees, were
449 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
not slow in availing themselves of the above circumstances
to stir up a war against the English. The Cherokees
determined upon direct retaliation for the massacres by
the Germans. A party, bound on this errand, first killed
two soldiers near Fort Loudon, on the south bank of Tennessee river, and afterwards spread themselves among the
western settlements of North Carolina, killing such of the
whites as fell in their power. It was their first intention
to take scalps only equal in number to that of their murdered kinsmen, but once having their hand in, they could
not resist the temptation of going much farther.  "Soon
after they returned home, they killed a reprobate old
trader."
The young, warriors, now thoroughly roused and excited,
would listen to no proposals of restraint: "Nothing but
war-songs and war-dances could please them, during this
flattering period of becoming great warriors,'by killing
swarms of white dung-hill fowls, in the corn-fields, and
asleep,' according to their war-phrase."
William H. Lyttleton, governor of South Carolina, set
himself strenuously both to prepare for the defence of
the colonies, and to bring about an adjustment of difficulties. At Fort St. George, on the Savannah, he held a conference with six Cherokee chiefs, on the 26th of December
(1759), and formed a treaty of peace, secured by the delivery of thirty-two Indian hostages. These were placed
in close confinement in a small and miserable hut, and the
governor returned to Charleston.
According to the usual course of events, the Cherokees
denied the authority of the chiefs who had concluded the
above treaty, and hostilities broke out afresh. The two
most celebrated chiefs and leaders among them, at this
time, were old Attakullakulla, a promoter of peace, and
long the fast friend of the English, and Occonostota, a
noted war-chief. Captain Coytmore, commandant at Fort
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
George, was an object of the bitterest hatred on the part
of the Indians, and a large body of them, led by Occonostota, besieged the fort in February of 1760.
The place was too strong to be taken by assault, but the
Indian chief managed to entice Coytmore out of the defences into an ambush, where he was shot dead, and lieutenants Bell and Foster, who accompanied him, were
wounded. The hostages who were confined within the
works, shouted to encourage their friends without, and
when an attempt was made to put them in irons, resisted
manfully, stabbing one soldier, and wounding two others.
Upon this, a hole was cut in the roof over their heads, and
the cowardly garrison butchered them by shooting down
from above.
This war now commenced in earnest, and Indian ravages
extended far and wide upon the frontier.  Troops were
ordered from New York by General Amherst, commanderin-chief of the British forces in America; and the neighboring colonies appropriated liberal sums for the purpose
of buying the aid of the Creeks, Chickasaws, and Catawbas.
Colonel Montgomery reached Carolina in April, (1760,)
and hastened, in command of the regulars and provincials,
to make an effective inroad upon the hostile Indians. His
progress through the lower Cherokee country was marked
by the entire destruction of the Indian towns. The first
place attacked, called Keowee, was surrounded, and the
men of the town were put to the sword. Estatoe, containing two hundred houses, with great quantities of provisions, was entirely destroyed; but the inhabitants were
saved by a timely flight. " Every other settlement east of
the Blue Ridge," says McCall, " afterwards shared the
same fate."
The army made some stay at Fort Prince George, and
useless endeavors were put forth to bring about a pacification with the upper portion of the Cherokees. In the
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
month of June the troops were again on their advance
into the wilderness of the interior. Near the Indian town
of Etchoe, the native warriors prepared a most skilful ambuscade to check the advancing forces. It was in a deep
valley, through which ran a muddy stream, with steep
banks; on either side of which the way was completely
choked  with tangled brushwood.   Some  hard  fighting
took place at this spot, in which twenty of the whites
were killed and seventy-six wounded. The loss on the
side of the Indians was much less, and, although driven
from the spot where the first stand was made, they entrenched themselves a little farther on. Under these circumstances, Montgomery determined to secure the safety
of his troops, and to provide for the requisite attention to
his wounded men, by a retreat. He soon after sailed for
New York, leaving four companies of regulars, under
Major Hamilton, for the protection of the frontier.
The garrison at the isolated Fort Loudon was now in a
state of imminent peril. The provisions of the place were
nearly exhausted, and the redoubtable Occonostota was
laying close siege to it with his fierce and enraged warriors.
After suffering great extremes of privation, and experiencing disappointment in all their hopes of relief, the two
hundred men stationed at this place were obliged to capitulate, and trust to the honor of their savage enemy.
Captain Steuart, an officer greatly in favor with all the
friendly Indians, arranged the terms upon which the fort
should be evacuated. The troops were to be allowed a
free and unmolested passage to Virginia, or Fort Prince
George, and a detachment of Indians was to accompany
them for the purpose of supplying provisions by hunting.
The garrison marched out on the 7th of August (1760).
Occonostota himself, with a number of other natives, kept
company with the whites, during the first day's march of
fifteen miles; but these all disappeared when they reached
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
the place of encampment, near an Indian town called
Taliquo.  On the next morning, just before day, (the time
generally selected by Indians for a surprise, as men sleep
more soundly then than at any other hour,) a large body
of armed savages in war-paint, were seen by a sentinel,
creeping through the bushes, and gathering about the
camp. Hardly was the alarm given when the attack was
made: twenty-six of the feeble and half-starved soldiers
were killed outright, and the rest were pinioned and
marched back to the fort.
Captain Steuart was among the prisoners, but his evil
fortune was alleviated by the staunch friendship of the
benevolent Attakullakulla. This chief, as soon as he heard
of Steuart's situation, hastened to Fort Loudon, "and purchased him of the Indian who took him, giving him his
rifle, clothes, and all that he could command by way of
ransom: he then took possession of Captain Demere's house,
where he kept his prisoner as one of his falllily, and humanely shared with him the little provisions his table
afforded, until an opportunity should offer of rescuing him."
A quantity of ammunition was discovered by the Indians buried in the fort, and Occonostota determined to
proceed at once to lay siege to Fort Prince George. Captain
Steuart was informed that the assistance of himself and
his men would be required in the management of the great
guns, and that, furthermore, if the garrison should refuse
to capitulate, all the prisoners now in the hands of the
Indians should, one by one, be burned in sight of the fort.
Perceiving the difficulty of his situation, the captain begged
his kind old proprietor to assist him in effecting an escape,
and Attakullakulla readily lent his aid.  Upon pretence
of taking his prisoner out for a hunt, he left Fort Loudon,
with his wife and brother, and two English soldiers, and
took a direct course for the Virginia frontier. After a
most toilsome and dangerous march, they fell in with a
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
party of three hundred men, sent out for the relief of such
of the garrison at Fort Loudon as might have effected their
escape. Being now in safety, Captain Steuart dismissed
his Indian friends with handsome rewards, to return and
attend to the welfare of his former fellow-prisoners. Such
of them as had survived were afterwards ransomed and
delivered up at Fort Prince George.
This post was immediately supplied with provisions in
anticipation of the siege; and care was taken, through the
mediation of Attakullakulla, to impress the Cherokees with
the idea that it was totally impregnable.
Miatters appeared now to be, in some manner, at rest;
but the majority of the Cherokee nation remained thoroughly inimical, and emissaries from the French colonies
were busy in their midst. A French officer, of the name
of Latinac, was especially successful in rousing up their
hostile feelings. As an instance of his style of proceeding,
it is related that, at a great conclave of the tribe, he
stepped out, and drove his hatchet into a log, calling out:
"' Who is the man that will take this up for the king of
France?' SalouS, a young warrior of Estatoe, laid hold of
it, and cried out,' I am for war! the spirits of our brothers
who have been slain still call upon us to revenge their
death - he is no better than a woman who refuses to follow me.'"
In the following spring, Colonel James Grant, who had
succeeded to the command of the Highlanders employed
in British service in America, commenced active operations
against the belligerent nation. What with the aid of the
provincials and friendly Indians, he was at the head of
about twenty-six hundred  men.   The  Chickasaws  and
Catawbas lent some assistance to the English; but the
Creeks are said to have alternately inclined to the French
or English, according as they received or hoped for favors
and presents.
454 
INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
The army reached Fort Prince George on the 27th of
May, (1761,) and there old Attakullakulla mnade his appearance, deprecating the proposed vengeance of the whites
upon his people. He was told that the English still felt
the strongest regard for him individually, but that the illwill and misconduct of the majority of the nation were too
palpable and gross to be suffered to go longer unpunished.
Colonel Grant marched from the fort in the month of June,
and advanced nearly to the spot where Montgomery's
progress had been arrested, before coming to an engagement. Here the Cherokees, on the 10th, made a desperate
but unavailing stand; they were routed and dispersed, leaving their towns and villages of the interior to be destroyed
by the invaders. Etchoe was burned on the day following
the battle; and, according to McCall, "all the other towns
in the middle settlement, fourteen in number, shared the
same fate: the corn, cattle, and other stores of the enemy,
were likewise destroyed, and those miserable savages, with
their families, were driven to seek shelter and subsistence
among the barren mountains."
Upon the return of the army to Fort Prince George,
after this campaign, Attakullakulla again visited the camp,
bringing with him a number of other Cherokee chiefs.
Broken down by their disastrous losses, and disgusted with
the deceitful promises of the French, they gladly acceded
to such terms as Colonel Grant thought fit to impose, and
a treaty of peace was formally concluded.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
CHAPTER III.
CAPTAIN STEUART'S AGENCY. - DISTURBANCE IN 1767. - VISIT OF TE CUMSEIH TO THE SOUTHIERN TRIBES. -WEATHERFORD. -SACK OF
FORT MIMMS.-WAR OF 1813.-GENERAL JACKSON'S CAMPAIGN.  BATTLES ON THE TALLUSAHATCIEE; AT TALLADEGA, AUTOSSEE,
ETC. - THIE HALLIBEES. - DEFEAT OF THE INDIANS AT HORSE-SHOE
BEND.-END OF THE WAR.
IN the year 1762, it was thought advisable by the English government to appoint a general agent and superintendent of Indian affairs at the south.  Partly through the
earnest intervention of Attakullakulla, but especially because of his known sagacity and influence over the native
tribes, this office was conferred upon Captain John Steuart.
Upon entering on the duties of his appointment, he called
a great council of deputies, from all the southern tribes, at
Mobile. Addressing the assembled chiefs in their own
style of oratory, he explained to them the relations then
existing between France and England, impressing upon
them the idea that all residing east of the Mississippi, must
now look to the English for supplies and protection.  He
directed his harangue to the several nations in separate
succession, promising entire amnesty to all who had taken
up the hatchet in behalf of the French; commending those
who had remained faithful to the English; and excusing
those who had sided with the enemy, as the victims of
deception.
It was proposed to adopt, at this time, a more just and
equable policy towards the Indians than had heretofore
been used, and to take the necessary steps to secure them
against the deception of unprincipled speculators. Affairs,
accordingly, looked peaceful and prosperous for some
years. The natives made over a large additional tract of
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land to the growing colony of Georgia, to be sold, and the
avails applied to the discharge of the heavy debts they
had incurred for supplies of ammunition, clothing, &c.
The following circumstance sufficiently evinces the policy
of mild measures towards the Indians: In 1767, the whites
having made encroachments upon the Indian lands, some
of the Creek warriors began to retaliate by stealing horses
which they found upon their own territory. A party of
them also attacked a store at Trader's Hill, on the St.
Mary's, belonging to one Lemmons, and after plundering
it of its contents, burned the buildings.   Some  of the
whites pursued these marauders; recovered the stolen
horses; laid hands upon what valuable goods they could
discover, and destroyed the villages of the offenders. Far
less important affairs have often led to long and bloody
wars with the natives; but, in this instance, Governor
Wright, at Savannah, restored perfect quiet by decreeing
mutual restorations and compensation.
No events of very striking interest connected with the
Indians of the Southern States, call for our attention from
this period to that of the wars with the western tribes in
the early part of the present century. Until they became,
to a oertain extent, involved in those hostilities, they remained in comparative peace with the American whites.
After the termination of the Revolutionary War, and the
establishment of the independence of the United States, the
intrigues of opposing parties no longer operated to foment
disturbance, or to tempt the unfortunate savages to engage
in quarrels where they had nothing to gain, and which ever
resulted in their final discomfiture.
By a steady increase of numbers, and the adventurous
spirit of pioneers, the white settlers every where made advances upon the Indian territory. Sometimes large acquisitions would be made by a government purchase; but to
no small extent, the opinion that the occupation of a few
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
roving savages could give no natural title to lands, as opposed to the claims of those who had reclaimed, enclosed,
and improved the wilderness, satisfied the consciences of
the encroachers. The argument in favor of this conclusion
is by no means without force; but who can take upon himself to draw the line of demarcation which shall decide,
upon any principle of universal application, the bounds of
so artificial a right as the ownership of land?
In the autumn of 1811, the great Shawanee chief Tecumseh, in pursuance of his bold and extensive plans for
a universal association of the Indians against the whites,
made a tour among the southern tribes. His eloquent
appeals, and the overpowering energy which distinguished
this truly great man, proved successful in the winning
over to his views of no small number of the Indian warriors, even among those who had long maintained a friendly
intercourse with the Americans and the government of the
United States.
At the time of the declaration of war with England,
(June 18th, 181~,) the whole western border of the United
States was in a position of the greatest danger and insecurity. The machinations of Tecumseh and the Prophet
had roused an extensive flame of vindictive ferocity
throughout the Indian nations, while British agents, it is
said, were widely dispersed, and, by munificent promises
and artful persuasions, had still farther widened the breach
between the savages and their white countrymen. Frightful scenes of depredation and murder called for a prompt
and decisive check. Many minor forays are recorded, but
the destruction of Fort Mimms in the Tensau settlement
of Mississippi, in the summer of the year following, may
be considered the first important part taken by the southern tribes in the wars of this period. We shall not undertake, in our brief account of the Indian campaign of 1813,
to keep up a distinction between the different tribes of
458 
INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Cherokees, &c., who were
drawn into hostilities.
Prominent among the chiefs and leaders of the southern
confederacy, was the celebrated Weatherford. His mother
was said to have been a Seminole, but he was born among
the Creeks. He was, beyond question, possessed of many
noble and commanding qualities, but these were combined
with cruelty, avarice, and degrading vices. A party of
about one thousand warriors, led by this popular chief,
fell upon the devoted Fort Mimms, on the 30th of August, 1813. The post was garrisoned by one hundred and
sixty efficient soldiers; the rest of its occupants, to the
number of one hundred and fifteen, consisted of old men,
women and children. The forces were under the command of Major Beasly. No regular preparations had been
made for the reception of so powerful an enemy, and although the soldiers did their duty manfully, they were
overpowered, and all slain except seventeen. The women
and children having ensconced themselves in several blockhouses, met with a more terrible fate.  The savages set
fire to the buildings, and consumed them, together with
their inmates.
The  settlers inhabiting exposed  districts were  now
obliged to fly for safety to places of protection, and the
hostile hordes of Indians were collecting their warriors for
further inroads upon the frontier. To resist them, a large
force was called into requisition in Tennessee, and the command bestowed upon General Andrew Jackson. Colonel
Coffee, at the head of a considerable body of troops, and
such volunteers as could be immediately collected, hastened
forward to defend the country in the vicinity of Huntsville.
General Jackson, although disabled at this time, by a
broken arm, determined to take the field in person, and
pushed on the necessary preparations with all that zeal and
energy which marked his character through life.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
News was brought by some runners from the establishment of the firiendly old Creek chief Chinnaby, that the
enemy was approaching Huntsville, or Fort Hampton, in
full force. The report was erroneous, but, as other rumors
seemed, at the time, to confirm it, the general hurried his
army on to relieve the post. This was on the 10th of October (1813). From Huntsville, Jackson, with his forces,
crossed the Tennessee, and joined Colonel Coffee, who was
posted upon a high bluff on the south bank of the river.
From this place, Colonel Coffee was despatched, with
seven hundred men, to beat up the enemies' quarters on
the Black Warrior river, while the commander of the
army turned all his attention to securing some supplies of
provision for his famishing troops.   Encamped  in the
enemies' country, whither they had arrived by forced
marches, the troops were necessarily exposed to great hardship and want.  While awaiting supplies at this encampment, General Jackson had an interview with Shelocta, a
son of Chinnaby, who had come to request assistance for
his father and firiends, blockaded in their fort by the hostile Creeks.   He  said that a considerable force of the
enemy was now in the vicinity of the Ten Islands, on the
Coosa.
The news was confirmed by other messengers, and the
commander proceeded towards the Coosa, to protect his
Indian allies, notwithstanding the straits to which his men
were reduced from want of provisions. The troops reached
the Islands without encountering an enemy. On the route,.
Colonel Dyer was detached, with two hundred mounted
men, to fall upon Littafutchee, at the head of Canoe Creek,
a western tributary of the Coosa. He accomplished the
service, destroyed the town, and brought back to the camp
twenty-nine prisoners.
While encamped at the Ten Islands, the general ascertained the real rendezvous of the enemy to be upon the
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
Tallussahatchee Creek, emptying into the Ccosa about
thirteen miles below the encampment. Colonel Coffee,
with nine hundred men, was promptly ordered upon the
duty of engaging them. He forded the Coosa at the FishDams, and approaching the Indian camp, so disposed his
forces as to partially surround it, while several companies,
under Captain Hammond and Lieutenant Patterson, were
marched in to beat up the enemies' quarters. The savages
fought boldly and desperately, but were overpowered and
driven into their buildings, where one hundred and eightysix of their number perished, fighting hand to hand.
Eighty-four women and children were taken prisoners, and
a number were killed, as is said, by accident, during the
melee. This battle was fought on the 3d of November
(1813).
A species of fortification was now prepared at the islands,
and named Fort Strother. On the 7th of the month, information was received that the enemy was collecting in
force to attack Talladega,- a post about thirty miles below, occupied by friendly Indians, - and General Jackson,
with nearly his whole army, consisting of twelve hundred
infantry and eight hundred mounted men, hastened to its
relief. The baggage, the sick, and the wounded, were left,
under a guard of protection, at Fort Strother.
The river was forded by the mounted men, each carrying
one of the infantry behind him, a process which was continued till the whole army was safely landed on the opposite shore. It was about midnight when the march commenced, and on the evening of the ensuing day, a spot
only six miles from Talladega was reached. By four
o'clock, on the following morning, the troops were again in
motion; and, acting upon intelligence obtained by reconnoitring during the night, General Jackson was enabled
so to dispose his troops as partially to surround the camp
before the action commenced. It is unnecessary to give
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
the details of this battle. The Indians displayed both
courage and firmness, and by the impetuosity of their
attack, broke through the line of the advancing forces at a
point occupied by General Roberts' brigade. They were
driven in again by a body of reserved troops, but succeeded
in making their escape to the mountains, three miles distant, through an opening left by some miscalculation in the
direction of the Americans' advance.  "In this battle,"
according to Cobbett, "the force of the enemy was one
thousand and eighty, of whom two hundred and ninetynine were left dead on the ground; and it is believed that
many were killed in the flight, who were not found when
the estimate was made. Their loss, on this occasion, as
stated since by themselves, was not less than six hundred.
That of the Americans was fifteen killed and eighty
wounded, several of whom afterwards died."
The friiendly Indians, who had been besieged in their
fort at this place, deprived even of water, expressed the
liveliest gratitude and exultation at their release. The
fatigue, exposure, and want which the army were compelled
to undergo, now began to arouse a spirit of discontent and
mutiny. Few men have ever possessed that self-devotion
and noble spirit of endurance, combined with an inflexibility of purpose never surpassed, which enabled Jackson to
quell the disturbances which arose, and to preserve the
forces under his charge in a condition for active and useful
service.
After the battle at Talladega, the Hallibee Indians, who
were largely concerned in that transaction, sued for peace.
They were told by the American general that this should
be accorded, upon condition of the restoration of plundered
property, and the delivering up of those who had taken
part in the  massacre  at Fort Mimms.  Unfortunately,
while these negotiations were pending, General White,
acting under orders independent of General Jackson,
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-INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
attacked the towns of these Indians, destroyed many of
their warriors, and carried off several hundred captives.
Supposing that this was by Jackson's orders, they expected
no further favor, and fought thereafter with the desperation
of men to whom no quarter was to be given.
The result of this Indian campaign was the entire reduction of the hostile nations. We need not recount the various battles in which they were defeated and destroyed.
The most noted of these were at Autossee, where some
two hundred were massacred, on the 29th of November,
and that of the great bend in the Tallapoosie, known as
Horse-Shoe Bend. At this latter point, the Indians fortified themselves for a last and desperate stand.
They were supposed to be about one thousand in number, and had been, for some time, strengthening their position by every means within their reach. This was in the
month of March, 1814. On the 27th, General Jackson,
with a force of whites and friendly Indians, three times
the number of the enemy, commenced operations against
the fort. General Coffee, with most of the cavalry and
Indian allies, was directed to surround the bend, in order
to cut off all retreat across the river. The place was then
carried by storm, under a heavy fire from within. More
than half the Indians were killed at the fort, and an unknown number perished in their endeavors to escape by
crossing the river, beset as it was by the assailants. Some
have asserted that probably not more than twenty ever
reached a place of safety. At a time when it was evident
that the fortune of the day was decided, General Jackson
sent a messenger, with a flag of truce, to invite a surrender,
but, from ignorance or desperation, the savages fired upon
the bearer of the flag. After this, no mercy was shown:
until night put an end to the work of destruction, they
were shot or cut down wherever they could be found, and
even on the following morning, a considerable number were
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
ferreted out from the "caves and reeds," where they had
sought concealment, and remorselessly put to death. Several hundred women  and children were mIade captives.
The loss of the attacking army in this battle was fifty-five
killed, and one hundred and forty-six wounded.
In the ensuing month, (April,) General Jackson having
effected a junction with the troops from Georgia, under
Colonel Milton, received a deputation from the principal
hostile tribes, expressing a wish for peace. The general
demanded, as one condition upon which he would treat,
and as a test of the sincerity of the proposal, that tlhe
great but notorious Weatherford should be delivered up
for punishment. This chief, hearing of the requisition,
and hopeless of further success in resistance, came voluntarily to the American camp, and presenting himself before
the commander, with characteristic dignity and composure,
requested peace for his people, and announced his own submission to his fate, whatever it might be.
His speech on this occasion is given as follows: "I am
in your power - do with me as you please- I am a soldier.  I have done the whites all the harm  I could.   I
have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an
army, I would yet fight - I would contend to the last:
but I have none. My people are all gone. I can only
weep over the misfortunes of my nation."
On being told that he was still at liberty to depart, and
that no favor would be shown to him or his nation unless
they should submit to whatever terms the whites should see
fit to impose, he replied: "You can safely address me in
such terms now. There was a time when I could have
answered you - there was a time when I had a choice - I
have none now. I have not even a hope. I could once
animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the
dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their
bones are at Talladega, Tallusshatchee, Emuckfaw, and
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Tohopeka. *  * *.You are a brave man;  I rely upon
your generosity.  You will exact no terms of a conquered
people but such as they should accede to."
This was the last important incident of the campaign.
The Indians submitted to the dictation of the whites, and
retired to the districts assigned them, eastward of the Coosa.
CHAPTER IV.
THE REMOVAL OF THE CHEROKEES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. - PRES
ENT LOCATION AND CONDITION OF THE OTHER TRIBES OF THE
SOUTHERN STATES.
"Bearing a people with all its household gods into exile,
Exile without an end, and without an example in story."
LONGFELLOWNV.
BUT a few years have passed since the Cherokees were
in the peaceful occupation of an immense and fertile territory in the northern part of Georgia.  They numbered not
far from eighteen thousand, and were increasing in a ratio
which attested their power of self-support and improvement. They had made advances far beyond most of their
red brethren in the arts of agriculture and manufactures.
A system of legislation adapted to their capacities and
wants had been established, and, generally speaking, the
nation exhibited a praiseworthy spectacle of sobriety, industry, and good order. They were in possession of about
eight millions of acres of land, and their ability and inclination to cultivate it may appear from the statistics of their
stock and agricultural implements. In 1826, they were
the owners of seven thousand six hundred horses, twentytwo thousand cattle, forty-six thousand swine, and two
thousand five hundred sheep. There were in use among
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
them two thousand nine hundred and forty-three ploughs,
and one hundred and seventy-two wagons. They occupied
their territory under the treaties entered into, and within
the bounds assigned, at the negotiations between the confederate states and the Indian tribes of the south, at the
close of the revolutionary war.
In the year 1802, when the long-vexed question of the
boundaries of the state of Georgia was finally settled, the
United  States stipulated to extinguish the title of the
Cherokees to the lands then in their possession, "as early
as the same could be peaceably obtained, upon reasonable
terms."
As the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi
increased in power and population, they became more and
more  impatient of the existence of self-governing and
independent tribes within their boundaries, and began to
exert a control over them in some instances exceedingly
unjust and oppressive. Strong efforts were made to induce
an emigration of these Indians to the west, which were in
some measure successful, and, prior to 1829, a cession or
sale of a very large district had been obtained from the
Cherokees. The members of this tribe, naturally attached
to the beautiful country in which they had passed their
lives, finally determined to retain possession of what remained of their lands, and to allow of no further sales
to whites.
In December, of the above year, the state of Georgia
passed a series of acts which justly aroused the fears and
indignation of the Indians, and excited a feeling of sympathy in their behalf, as powerful as extensive. The laws
of the state were declared to be in full force over all the
Aborigines within its limits; the regulations and provisions of the Cherokee council were declared invalid and
void; heavy penalties (amounting to years of imprisonment at hard labor) were awarded against any Cherokee
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INDIANS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES.
who should "endeavor" to oppose emigration; and it was
even enacted, by the fifteenth section, "that no Indian, or
descendant of an Indian, within the Cherokee nation of
Indians, shall be a competent witness in any court of
Georgia, in a suit in which a white man is a party, unless
such white man resides within said nation."
Notwithstanding the adverse opinions of many of the
ablest jurists in the country, as to the constitutionality or
validity of these and other provisions of the Georgia legislature, and even a decision against them in the Supreme
Court of the United States, they were, to a certain extent,
enforced. The situation of the Indians became, in consequence, so precarious and uncomfortable, that a considerable party was formed among them of those favorable
to migration. At the head of this faction was Major
Ridge, while the celebrated John Ross was the leader of
those opposed to the movement - a very large majority
of the nation.
Matters continued in a disturbed and unquiet state, until
1835. At this time, the Rev. J. T. Schermerhorn was deputed by the United States executive to bring about a treaty
whereby the Cherokees should remove peaceably, receiving
a reasonable compensation for the improvements which
they should leave behind them.
The negotiation appears to have been conducted as most
Indian treaties have been, wherever a specific object was to
be gained. Notice was given of a council to be held, and
a collection of those favorable to the proposed emigration
ratified a treaty by which the whole tribe was bound to
remove within two years. Notwithstanding the obvious
want of authority on the part of those individuals to bind
the nation, and a remonstrance signed by the thousands
who opposed the treaty, it was ratified by Congress. An
appropriation was made for the indemnification of those
who should suffer loss by being torn from their homes, and
469 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
for the other expenses attending the iniquitous transaction,
and nothing was left to the unhappy Cherokees but sub mission.
'No resistance was made, as, indeed, any opposition
would have been utterly fruitless. The United States'
forces, sent to overawe the Indians and enforce compliance
with the cruel edict, found no call for their services.  With
a commendable spirit of energy and perseverance, the
Cherokees, with their brethren of the neighboring tribes
of the south, have pursued the arts and refinements of
civilization in their new homes at the west. They are now
set down as numbering not far from twenty-six thousand,
of whom by far the larger portion is located west of the
Mississippi. A considerable settlement, however, is still
existing in North Carolina.
The Creeks or Muscogees have been continually emigrating westward since the era of the difficulties between
the southern states and the Indians within their limits, in
1828-9, et seq. They enjoy a tolerably systematic form of
government, and are in many respects prosperous.
Without going into a particular description of the condition of the other emigrating nations, we will conclude
this subject with the remarks of Mr. Schoolcraft, upon
"The problem of civilization," to be solved in the future
history of these races. "Whatever doubts have existed,
heretofore, in regard to the satisfactory solution of this
question, they must now give way before the cheering results that have attended the philanthropic efforts that have,
from time to time, been made, and are at present going on
among the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Creeks.
These tribes yielded their country east of the Mississippi,
rendered dear to them by the associations of youth, their
traditions, and the graves of their fathers. They had
learned the great truths of Christianity, and the arts
of agriculture, and of civilized life; yet they gave up
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all, and sought a new home in the far-off wilderness, and
have made in that wilderness fruitful and rich farms, and
flourishing villages. Some of their schools are of a high
order. The gospel ministry is well attended. Some of
their constitutions are purely republican. The people are
increasing in numbers. Peace dwells within their limits,
and plenteousness within their borders; civilization upon
Christian principles; agriculture and the mechanic arts;
and schools.   With these primary and fundamental principles of human happiness, civilization among them is no
longer problematical."
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CHAPTER I.
THE ESQUIMAUX; THEIR MANNERS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE. ACCOUNTS OF EARLY VOYAGERS.- ESQUIMAUX HABITATIONS, FOOD,
ETC. - THE KAIAK OR CANOE.- SEALING.- THE REINDEER. - USES
OF THE DOG.- PATRIARCHAL GOVERNMENT. - EFFECTS OF FOREIGN
INTERCOURSE.
"Semper hyems; semper spirantes frigorla Cauri."
VIRGIL.
THERE is little, besides some analogies in language, to
connect the uncouth race which forms the subject of this
chapter with the inhabitants of the more genial climates
of North America. The Esquimaux are spread over a
vast region at the north, dwelling principally upon the
sea-coast, and upon the numberless inlets and sounds with
which the country is intersected. There is a striking similarity in the language, habits and appearance of all the
tribes of the extreme north, from Greenland to Bhering's
Straits.
Charlevoix gives a very uninviting description of their
personal aspect. He tells us that there are none of the
American races who approach so nearly to the idea usually entertained in Europe of "savages" as do the Esquimaux. In striking contrast to the thin beard (for the
most part artificially eradicated) of other American aborigines, these people have that excrescence " si epaisse
jusq'aux yeux, qu'on a peine a decouvrir quelques traits
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NORTHERN RACES.
de leur visage." It covers their faces nearly to the eyes;
so that one can scarcely distinguish some features of their
countenance. They have, moreover, he says, something
hideous in their general aspect and demeanor - small, wildlooking, eyes, large and very foul teeth, the hair generally
black, but sometimes fair, and always in extreme disorder,
and their whole exterior rough and brutish. Their manners and character do not falsify this unprepossessing
physiognomy. They are savage, rude, suspicious, unquiet,
and always evil-disposed towards strangers.   He considers
their fair hair and skin, with the slight general resemblance
they bear towards, and the limited intercourse they carry
on with, the neighboring natives, as indisputable evidence
of a separate origin.
Prichard says, that "the description given by Crantz of
the Greenlanders, may well apply to the whole race. They
are, for the most part, under five feet in stature. They have
well-shaped and proportioned limbs. Their face is commonly broad and flat, with high cheek-bones, but round
and plump cheeks; their eyes are little and black, but devoid of sparkling fire; their nose is not flat, but small, and
projecting but little; their mouth is little and round, and
the under lip somewhat  thicker than the other.  They
have universally coal-black, straight, strong and long hair
on their heads, but no beards, because they root it out." -
These last particulars will be seen to be variant from the
description given above by Charlevoix, of the race in
general. - Crantz proceeds: "Their hands and feet are
little and soft, but their head and the rest of their limbs
are large. They have high breasts and broad shoulders;
their whole body is fat." 
The  descriptions handed  down  by the most ancient
voyagers to Greenland of the Skrallings or natives whom
they encountered, corresponds very nearly with the general
outline above given. They speak of them as a dwarfish
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
people -'seldom more than four feet four inches in height;
suspicious and hostile towards strangers; subsisting upon
the products of the sea; clothed in the same style, and using
the same weapons, boats and implements, as those still inhabiting the country.   The inhospitable nature of their
climate, their slender resources, and the deterioration of the
race consequent upon such a mode of life as theirs, seem to
preclude the probability of much improvement ever taking
place in their condition.
The Esquimaux received little better treatment, at the
hands of the early European discoverers, than did their
brethren farther south. It is strange to read of the coolness with which those adventurers speak of the enormities
committed not unfrequently against the unoffending and
ignorant natives.  The meeting with several "wild men,"
and the killing one of them "to make the rest tractable,"
is mentioned as a passing and ordinary event.
In Frobisher's expedition, after a skirmish in which
many of the Indians were killed, two prisoners were taken.
One of them, an old woman, was so disgustingly hideous
in her whole appearance that suspicions were entertained
lest she should be the devil himself; and the captors proceeded to pluck off her buskins, in order to satisfy themselves as to whether the cloven hoof was not concealed by
them. The other captive, a young woman, with a wounded
child in her arms, was retained, but the old hag was dismissed as being too revolting an object to be endured.
When attempts were made to apply remedies to the wound
of the child, the mother "licked off with her tongue the
dressings and salves, and cured it in her own way."
John Davis was disposed to treat them more kindly
than most of his predecessors, but his indignation was
finally excited by their "practising their devilish nature,"
and he allowed his men to retaliate upon them in some
measure.
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NORTHERN RACES.
Notwithstanding the bad character given of this people,
it appears that, after their first suspicions are allayed, they
prove gentle and tractable associates; and are by no means
wanting in urbanity and kindliness.   How readily their
suspicions are allayed, will appear from the account of
Captain Back's first meeting with a small party of Esquimaux. They were seen at a short distance, gathering in
excited groups, or running about at their wits-end with
astonishment at the appearance of these "Kabloonds" or
Europeans, being the first they had ever seen. When the
English began to advance towards them, they were at first
repelled by wild outcries, and gesticulations, and by hostile
demonstrations with the spears, which formed the weapons
of the Indians. The uncouth group stood in a semi-circle,
"yelling out some unintelligible word," as the captain
boldly and composedly walked up to them, and made signs
of peace, throwing up his hands, as he observed them to do,
and calling out "Tima " - (peace).   "In an instant their
spears were flung to the ground; and, putting their hands
on their breasts, they also called out Tima, with much
more, doubtless greatly to the purpose."
Any attempt to give a connected history of the Esqai,
maux, from the time of their first intercourse with Europeans would necessarily resolve itself into a narrative of
the various polar expeditions.   The progress of the Christian missions upon the coast, could we afford space to
enter upon it, might throw some light upon the natural
endowments of the race; but we must content ourselves
with, a few general descriptions, cited indiscriminately from.
different authors.
The dwellings of the Esquimaux consist either of movable tents, constructed of poles and skins, in the style of
an ordinary Indian wigwam, or of regularly arched domes;
of snow and ice. The precision, rapidity, and geometrical
accuracy which they display in shaping the blocks of which
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICAK
these snow huts are composed, excite the admiration of the
beholder. An art which the architects of the ancient nations of Europe never acquired - the formation of the arch
-has from time immemorial been in use among this untutored race. The snow houses prove as tight, warm, and
comfortable as could be desired; but the habits of the occupants render them insufferably offensive to the whites.
Crowded with dogs, defiled with oil, blubber, and offal;
and blackened by smoke and filth, they are said to nauseate
even those whose lives are passed amid the impurities of a
whale-ship. A person entering one of these huts is obliged
to creep through a low arched passage into the principal
apartment, which, like those leading from it, presents the
appearance of a perfectly-formned dome, lighted by a window
of transparent ice let into the roof.
The tents, used upon the migratory expeditions in search
of game, consist of skins, supported by a circle of poles
bent together at the top, and in severe weather, thickly
lined within with reindeer skins. During the long dark
night of winter, when food is exceedingly scarce, shut up
in these dismal abodes, and enduring extremes of cold
ald privation elsewhere unknown, the condition of the
Esquimaux seems most deplorable to one who has lived in
the enjoyment of the comforts of civilization. Far, however, from complaining of their lot, they exhibit a singular
cheerfulness and equanimity, even when in the greatest
straits. Parry speaks, in the following words, of the miserable condition of a few Esquimaux who inhabited a hut
in a deserted village, after the rest of the tribe had moved
westward at the approach of spring.   "The remaining
tenants of each hut had combined to occupy one of the
apartments; a great part of the bed-places were still bare,
and the wind and drift blowilng in through the holes which
they had not yet taken the trouble to stop up.   The old
man Hlikkeiera and his wife occupied a hut by themselves,
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NORTHERN RACES.
without any lamp, or a single ounce of meat belonging to
them; while three small skins, on which the former was
lying, were all that they possessed in the way of blankets.
Upon the whole, I never beheld a more miserable spectacle, and it seemed a charity to hope that a violent and constant cough with which the old man was afflicted, would
speedily combine with his age and infirmities to release
him from his present sufferings. Yet, in the midst of all
this, he was even cheerful, nor was there a gloomy countenance to be seen at the village."
The flesh of the reindeer, musk-ox, walrus, and seal,
with fish, water-fowl, and occasionally the carcass of a
stranded whale, forms the chief nourishment of the Esquimlaux.  Nothing that has life comes amiss to them, and,
although they prefer cooked meat to raw, this preparation
is by no means deemed essential. The only vegetable diet
procurable at the extreme north, except at those places
where the natives can obtain foreign articles, consists of
the leaves of sorrel, ground-willow, &c., with a few berries
and roots.
"In eating their meals," according to Parry's account,
"the mistress of the family, having previously cooked the
meat, takes a large luminp out of the pot with her fingers,
and hands it to her husband, who, placing a part of it between his teeth, cuts it off with a large knife in that positionl, and then passes the knife and meat together to his
next neighbor. In cutting off a mouthful of meat the
knife passes so close to their lips, that nothing but constant
habit could insure them from the danger of the most terrible gashes; and it would make an English mother shudder to see the manner in which children five or six years
old, are at all times freely trusted with a knife to be used
in this way."
Most of the birds and quadrupeds upon which they rely
are migratory, and only to be taken between the months
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
of May and October. In March, April and May, the dif ficult and dangerous hunting of the seal and walrus is their
only resource, and success in the pursuit their only refuge
from starvation.  The "kaiak" or canoe, constructed of
skins, and capable of containing but a single person, is all essential in seal-hunting. Great dexterity is required in
its management, and how the operation of throwing the
dart or harpoon, and of securing the bulky prey, can be
carried on in safety in such a slender and unsteady con veyance, seems incomprehensible to the unpractised eye.
The frail boat is built with great elegance and lightness. A
frame of slender beams of fir is constructed, twenty or'
twenty-five feet in length, a little less than two feet in
breadth, and about one foot deep. This is entirely covered
with the skin of the neitiek, or small seal, so neatly and
strongly sewed as to be perfectly water-tight. A circular
hole is then cut in the deck, wherein sits the solitary navigator, urging the kaiak forward by means of a paddle having a blade at each end. Hie cannot founder so long as he
can maintain an upright position. An upset would be inevitable destruction to one unacquainted with the nature of
the craft, but the Esquimaux readily rights the kaiak under
such circumstances, by a dexterous use of his paddle. A
float is attached to the harpoon, used in striking the seal,
which prevents him from escape by diving. As he reappears, after a momentary submersion, his pursuers press
upon and speedily despatch him.
When  the prey is brought to land, the duty of flaying,
separating, and preparing it for preservation, devolves
upon the women. Nothing is allowed to be wasted, but
every portion of the carcass is applied to some useful purpose; the fastidiousness of the whites, touching the portions
suitable for food, being utterly unknown. The lean meat
of the seal and other animals is preserved in various ways.
Much of it is cut in thin slices, and dried in the warm and
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NORTHERN RACES.
smoky atmosphere of the huts, and a concentrated article
of food, called "Pemmican," is prepared by pounding it
with fat.
The welcome event of a wounded or dead whale being
driven on shore, brings down the whole neighboring population to share in the spoil. Nothing could be more
valuable to these people than the various substances obtaimed from the enormous carcass. The blubber is separated and preserved for oil; the coarse muscular tissue
forms to them a palatable article of food; the sinews serve
for lines and cordage; and the whale-bone is made available by traffic with Europeans.
Of the reindeer, two species furnish food and clothing
to the inhabitants of the cold regions of northern America,
although, singularly enough, none of them have succeeded
in domesticating the animal. They are accustomed to
discard no portion of the flesh, and even devour the contents of the stomach. Perhaps in no instance has the service of an animal proved of more signal aid and comfort
to any race than that of the dog to the Esquimaux. The
principal use to which he is applied is that of drawing the
sledge, but, upon hunting excursions, in the summer, he is
loaded with a weight, it is said, of some thirty pounds.
The sledges in which winter journeys are performed, are
drawn by a number of dogs proportionate to the weight to
be transported, the distance to be traversed, and perhaps
the possessions of the owner. The animals are separately
connected with the sledge, at unequal distances, by single
thongs of leather or hide. The most sagacious and welltrained of the pack is placed at the end of the longest
tether, some twenty feet from the vehicle, to act as leader,
and the intelligence and certainty with which he obeys the
signal of command from the driver is very striking.
The whip with which the movements of the team are
guided, and with which the refractory or stupid are disei
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
plined, consists of a short stock - only eighteen inches in
length - to which a lash, long enough to reach the leading
dog, is attached, and allowed to trail beside the sledge.
This lash is rendered pliable by a process resorted to for
preparing leather for various purposes, viz.: that of chew ing.  The operation is performed by the women, and to its
constant exercise, some travellers attribute the bad condi tion of their teeth, before noticed. The sledge is composed
of two runners, of wood or bone, — sometimes of the jaw bones of a whale,- connected by cross-pieces and lashings.
Moss is packed closely between these, and skins are laid
upon the top.  The runners are preserved from wear, and
made to slide easily over the surface of the snow by coating them with smooth ice.
The Esquimaux perform journeys of sixty miles a day,
with a single pack of dogs, and stories, at first glance almost incredible, are told of the distances accomplished, and
the weights transported by particularly fine specimens of
the breed. Besides serving as a beast of burden and
draught, the Esquimaux dog is a bold and active assistant
in the hunt for reindeer, bears, &c.; but, singularly
enough, while he will rush upon an animal, so much his
superior in size and strength as the bear, he is terrorstricken at the sight of the wolf, to whom he bears a striking resemblance, and with whom he would seem more
equally matchd.
F    aithful al docile, a nd subsisting upon the coarsest
refuse, the dog supplies to the Esquimaux the place of the
reindeer, in other high latitudes, for all laborious service.
He meets with nothing but rough treatment and scanty
fare: his master never caresses or makes much of him;
but this does not prevent him from forming the strong attachments peculiar to the race.
No where do we find a system of patriarchal government
maintained in more primeval simplicity than among the
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NORTHERN RACES.
Esquimaux, and no where is that authority more mildly
administered.  Families and communities live together in
the greatest harmony, and no one arrogates to himself a
control over those about him beyond the circle of his own
family. Dexterity and success in fishing and hunting form
almost the only claim for admiration or distinction in the
eyes of this unsophisticated people. So peaceful and contented a life, amid the eternal snows of the north, with
such few means of comfort and enjoyment, stands forth in
striking contrast with the private discontent and public,
animosity of more privileged nations.
Where the natives of Greenland and other countries at
the north have held free intercourse with Europeans, instances have been found, among them, of much higher intelligence than is usually attributed to the race. Captain
Parry, in his second voyage, particularly describes a female
named Iligliuk. Her correct ear for music, and appreciation of its beauties, were very remarkable; and the interest and attention which all the novel mechanical arts exercised on board the ship excited in her mind, gave evidence
of no little capacity for improvement.
WVe cannot give a better idea of the effect which intercourse with foreigners has produced upon some of the Esquimaux, in changing their original quiet and unobtrusive
demeanor, than by the following quotation from Captain
Lyon:
"I could not but compare the boisterous, noisy, fat fellows, who were along-side, in excellent canoes, with wellfurnished, iron-headed weapons, and handsome clothing,
with the poor people we had seen at Southampton Island;
the latter with their spear-heads, arrows, and even knives
of chipped flint, without canoes, wood, or iron, and with
their tents and clothes full of holes, yet of mild manners,
quiet in speech, and as grateful for kindness as they were
anxious to return it, while those now along-side had, per
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
haps, scarcely a virtue left, owing to the roguery they had
learned from their annual visit to the Hudson's Bay ships.
An air of saucy independence, a most clamorous demand
for presents, and several attempts at theft, some of which
were successful, were their leading characteristics.   Yet I
saw not why I should constitute myself the censor of these
poor savages; and our barter was accordingly conducted
in such a manner as to enrich them very considerably."
CHAPTER II.
THE ESQUIMAUX OF MELVILLE PENINSULA. - TIhEIR STATURE AND
COSTUME. - SNOW HUTS AND THEIR FURNITURE. - IMPLEMENTS
FOR HUNTING AND SEALING. - MIENTAL TRAITS.
THE most complete picture ever yet given of Esquimaux
life and peculiarities, is to be found in "Parry's Second
Voyage in search of a North-west Passage;" particularly
in that portion of the work, at the end of the narrative,
devoted to an "account of the Esquimnaux of Melville Penihsula and the adjoining Islands." It is our purpose, in
this chapter, to give a brief outline of the statistics and
details there collected.
Respecting their general appearance, Parry's description of the natives does not vary materially from that
which we have already given. He represents their stature
as follows: the "average height of the men, five feet, five
and one-third inches; of the women, five feet and one-half
inch." The women appear shorter than this standard, from
a stoop acquired by carrying their infants in a "hood,"
and from the great bulk of their clothing. They are not
an ill-formed race, and, among the tribe, were "three or
four grown-up people, of each sex, who, when divested of
their skin dresses, their tattooing, and, above all, of their
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dirt, might have been considered pleasing-looking, if not
handsome people, in any town in Europe."
They wear their hair generally long; the men allowing it to flow carelessly, while the women dispose it in
two plaits or queues, which hang down on each side of
the face.
Their dress bears marks of no little skill and nicety of
finish, and is admirably calculated to defend them from
the terrible severity of the winter season. A double outfit
of jackets, breeches, and boots, made of deer and sealskins; the inner suit having the hair turned inward, while
the outer garment exhibits a hairy defence against the
snow or rain, is essential upon all occasions of exposure
to the open air. Water-proof boots and shoes, made of
seal-skin, form a complete protection firom the wet when
the men are engaged in fishing and sealing. A warm
and comfortable hood of furs covers the head and neck,
and surrounds the face. The most absurd and ungainly
portion of the dress of either sex is the boot worn by the
women. This is enormously enlarged, for the purpose of
furnishing a convenient pocket or general receptacle for
whatever may be carried upon the person. The cavity is
even large enough to admit of a child being stowed in ita common custom in Labrador.
All their clothing is strongly and neatly stitched, and
no little pains is taken to render it ornamental by a judicious arrangement of light and dark furs.
The true Indian taste for beads and showy ornaments
prevails, and is satisfied, when other materials are wanting,
by affixing numberless strings of the teeth of wild animals
to the borders of their garments.  In one instance, "a row
of foxes' noses" was seen "attached to the forepart of a
woman's jacket like a tier of black buttons."
All the women of this tribe were thoroughly tattooed.
The manner of performing this operation was by passing
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
a needle and thread through the outer skin, the thread
being saturated with oil and lampblack.
The internal arrangements of the circular snow-huts in
which the winter is passed, are as follows: Around each
room, next the wall, a bank of snow is built to the height
of two or three feet, upon which are placed, first a coating
of pebbles, then a row of tent-poles, paddles, and whalebone, and above all a layer of birch twigs. Upon these
are spread the skins and furs which constitute the bedding
of the inmates. It is evident that quite a low temperature
must be maintained in order to preserve both house and
furniture. The only means of warming the huts is by a
sort of lamp, consisting of a shallow dish wrought of stone
(lapis ollaris), "its form being the lesser segment of a
circle. The wick, consisting of dry moss rubbed between
the hands till it is quite inflammable, is disposed along
the edge of the lamp on the straight side, and a greater
or smaller quantity lighted according to the heat required
or the fuel that can be afforded." The flame is fed by
the drippings of a slice of fat or blubber, suspended within reach of the blaze. The stone pots for cooking are
hung over this lamp, and, above all, is a net, stretched
upon a hoop, whereon wet boots and other garments are
placed to dry.
The general atmosphere of the apartment is kept a little
below the freezing point. Parry observed the thermometer, at a time when it fell to twenty-five degrees below
zero in the open air, to stand at thirty-two degrees within
a few feet of the fire; and this when the hut was filled
with Indians and dogs. To increase the warmth, occasions
a troublesome dripping froi'm the roof, an inconvenience
to which the inhabitants are obliged to submit during
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some of the spring months, before the season has become
mild enough for dwelling in tents.
The principal household utensils are the lamps and pots
above mentioned, certain cups of the horn of the musk-ox,
vessels of whalebone, and the ivory or iron knife. The
latter, or at least the material of which it is composed, is
obtained by commerce with the whites. They manufacture
themselves a knife, having a thin iron edge let into the
bone which forms the blade. To a limited extent some of
the Esquimaux obtain and manufacture iron from the iron
pyrites found in certain localities, and which serves them
for flint and steel in lighting fires.
The implements for hunting, in use among these Esquimaux, are simple but effective.   The "siatko," which
serves the purpose of a harpoon in taking seals, walruses,
and even whales, is a particularly ingenious contrivance.
It consists of a short piece of bone, pointed with iron, and
attached by the centre to the "allek," or long thong of
leather. The blunt end of the siatko is fitted to the end
of the dart, and is attached by a line, that it can be disengaged the instant the dart strikes the prey.   From  the
manner in which it is slung, it instantly turns at right
angles to the direction of its entrance, and will endure a
very severe strain before it can be drawn out.  At the
other end of the "allek" is tied an inflated seal-skin, which
serves to bring the animal quickly to the surface of the
water.
For their bows, they are obliged to use the wood of the
fir-tree, and, in order to give them the requisite strength
and elasticity, they are very artfully and neatly served
with lines constructed of sinews. At each end of the bow,
is a knob of bone, and to these the strengthening lines
are attached and drawn tight, while the bow is bent backward. They pass from end to end, on the back of the
bow, and are secured and assisted by other shorter cords
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
fastened by hitches round the wood. The above descrip tion applies to the best weapons of the sort. -" A bow in
one piece," says the narrative, "is very rare: they gen erally consist of from two to five pieces of bone, of unie qual lengths, secured together by rivets and tree-nails."
The arrows are of wood and bone united, and have heads
of iron or slate. They will inflict a mortal wound at a
distance of forty or fifty yards.
In the construction of all these implements, a knife and
drill are the principal tools used. The latter operates with
a bow, like that in common use among us.
It is evident that intellectual advancement is entirely
incompatible with such a life as we have described. The
ideas of the supernatural entertained by the Esquimaux
are vague in the extreme.  "They do not appear," says
the description in Parry, "to have any idea of the existence of One Supreme Being, nor, indeed, can they be said
to entertain any notions on this subject which may be dignified with the name of religion."
Of certain games, consisting mostly in fantastic distortions of the body, and comical ejaculations, they are never
weary; and a strange monotonous song, of which the
words and music are given by Parry, furnishes amusement
until the performers desist from sheer weariness.
Their moral character is probably upon a par with that
of most savages. They do not possess the high, indomitable spirit, the scorn of suffering, the clannish fury of
patriotism, nor the fondness for war, so commonly considered the nobler traits of the American aborigines; but, on
the other hand, they are more kindly domestic in their feelings, and less cruel and revengeful than their brethren at
the south.
They exhibit little gratitude for favors, and when exposed to the strong temptation presented them by the presence of such a magazine of treasure as a foreign ship, they
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NORTHERN RACES.
will generally indulge in pilfering. Those travellers who
have been most familiar with the strange race, accord to
them many pleasing qualities: while their vices are such as
must naturally result from their destitute and hopeless condition. Their whole history might prove unspeakably valuable to us did we wisely gather from it a lesson of content.
CHAPTER III.
THE KNISTENEAUX, CHIPPEWAS, ETC.
THE Knisteneaux, or Crees, are a nation materially different from the Esquimaux.  They have a much nearer
resemblance than that people to the other North American
tribes, and, firom close analogies in language, are considered
as a branch of the great Algonquin stock, which, centring
in the Canadas, spread over such an extent of the North
American continent.
The country formerly occupied by the Knisteneauxfor the ravages of the small-pox have in late years miserably reduced their numbers -is of vast extent; lying between the United States and the Esquimaux region, and
extending westward to the Rocky Mountains. The line of
their occupation is thus given by Mackenzie.: commencing
with the coast of Labrador, it extends along the north bank
of the St. Lawrence, to Montreal.  "The line then follows
the Utawas river to its source; and continues from thence
nearly west along the high lands which divide the waters
that fall into Lake Superior and Hudson's Bay. It then
proceeds till it strikes the middle part of the river Winipic, following that water through the Lake Winipic, to the -
discharge of the Saskatchawan into it; from thence it accompanies the latter to Fort George, when the line striking
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by the head of the Beaver river, to the Elk river, runs
along its banks to its discharge in the Lake of the Hills;
from which it may be carried back east to the Isle a la
Crosse, and so on to Churchill by the Mississippi. The
whole of the tract between this line and Hudson's Bay
and Straits, (except that of the Esquimaux in the latter,)
may be said to be exclusively the country of the Knisteneaux." They were also to be found upon Red river,
(which, after uniting with the Assinaboin, empties into
Lake Winlipic,) and upon the south branch of the Saskatchawan.
These people possess all the ordinary characteristics of
the American Indian; the copper complexion, black flowing hair, well-proportioned limbs, and keen black eyes.
Travellers speak of the women as being far more attractive
in personal appearance than the generality of squaws.
Upon them devolves all the drudgery of domestic life, while
the men devote their exclusive attention to hunting or war.
We notice no very material variation, except so far as
climate and the nature of their country have affected their
habits, between the dress, habitations, luxuries, ceremonies,
and general usages of the Knisteneaux, and the great body
of our western Indians. They are spoken of as of a friendly and hospitable disposition, and no more dishonest in
their dealings than other savages, although some have given
them the reputation of being arrant thieves.
Little of distinctive character attaches to the various
minor tribes of the north, until we reach the Esquimaux,
with whom little or no commerce is held by these nations,
and with whom, from time immemorial, they have waged a
desultory warfare. Mackenzie describes individuals and villages of the Red-Knives, Beavers Indians, Dog-Ribs, Hares,
Slaves, Duguthee Dines (quarrellers), and many others;
but they have no history, and few noticeable peculiarities.
Those farthest north are of rather a lighter complex
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NORTHERN RACES.
ion than the inhabitants of more temperate climes, and exhibit the deteriorating influence of a life in a cold and
desolate country.
Some interesting details of the habits and character of
the Dog-Ribs, are given in the account of Sir John Rich'ardson's Arctic Searching Expedition. They are rather a
low order of the race, and have held sufficient intercourse
with the whites to be aware of their own deficiencies and
wants.   They are nevertheless cheerful, and even hilarious, and exhibit little or none of that proud and stoical
spirit which marks the more celebrated Indian nations.
They are grossly improvident, although warned by repeated and terrible experience of famine and suffering.
When game is plenty, a scene of general waste and repletion is presented, to be followed by'the utmost misery and
want. In a country where the animals upon which the
natives depend for subsistence are migratory and uncertain
in their habits, such changes of condition must be of frequent occurrence.
When accounts are brought of success on the part of the
hunting parties, the whole population of a village put
themselves at once en route to share the spoil. If the deer
should have shifted their quarters before the arrival of the
troop, and the place of rendezvous be far from home, the
return is accompanied with the greatest danger and distress. Many of the aged and infirm are frequently left to
perish under such circumstances.
Of several families of this nation, with whom Mackenzie
held some intercourse, he says: "They are a meagre, ugly,
ill-made people, particularly about the legs, which are very
clumsy, and covered with scabs. The latter circumstance
proceeds, probably, from their habitually roasting them before the fire. Many of them appeared to be in a very unhealthy state, which is owing, as I imagine, to their natural
filthiness."
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
The Chippewas are spread over a vast region at the
north, the limits of which it would, perhaps, be impossible
accurately to define. Mackenzie, writing about the year
1790, lays down the tract occupied by tribes who speak
substantially the same language, as follows: "It begins at
Churchill, and runs along the lines of separation between
them and the Knisteneaux, up the Mississippi, to the Isle
a la Crosse, passing on through the Buffalo Lake, River
Lake, and Portage la Loche: from thence it proceeds by
the Elk River, to the Lake of the Hills, and goes directly
west to the Peace River; and up that river to its source
and tributary waters; from whence it proceeds to the
waters of the River Columbia; and follows that river to
latitude fifty-two degrees twenty-four minutes north, and
longitude one hundred and twenty-two degrees fifty-four
minutes west, where the Chepewyans have the Atnah or
Chin nation for their neighbors. It then takes a due line
west to the sea-coast."
The coast Indians, on the Pacific, differ from those of
whom we are now treating. In the vicinity of Behring's
Straits, they are Esquimaux, but as we proceed southward,
we find distinct and separate races.
The Chippewas, according to the writer above-quoted,
are a quiet peaceable race, of a timorous disposition and
wandering habits. They take great pains to prepare their
dress so as to resist the extreme cold, and so well are they
protected in this respect, that when arrayed in the warm
furs and skins which form the winter attire, one of the
tribe "will lay himself down on the ice in the middle of a
lake, and repose in comfort; though he will sometimes find
a difficulty in the morning to disencumber himself of the
snow drifted on him during the night." The women are not
bad-looking, but the hard service of drawing loaded sledges,
and the continued necessity of wearing the bulky and ponderous snow-shoe, give them a shuffling and awkward gait.
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NORTHERN RACES.
Great ingenuity and skill are displayed by the Chippewas, particularly by those dwelling upon the head-waters
of the Mississippi, in the construction of their birch-bark
canoes.  Probably in no other part of the world are boats
to be found so light and portable, and yet capable of carrying an equal burden. They are commonly made of a
single roll of the bark, neatly and strongly sewed, and so
shaped, by the adaptation of light thwarts or braces, as to
be both graceful and swift. It requires, however, no little
adroitness to manage one of these light crafts, as the weight
of the canoe is so trifling as to aid very little in the preservation of equilibrium.   Sketches of Chippewa canoes
are given by Mr. Catlin, and contrasted with the awkward
tubs of the Mandans.
Mackenzie says that these people are not like the Knisteneaux and most other North Amrerican Indians, reserved
and distant in their communications with strangers or with
each other after a long separation; and that they do not
exhibit those extremes of alternate energy and indolence
so noticeable in other races.
In such a country as they inhabit their food must, of
course, be almost entirely animal. They are more skilled
in fishing, and in snaring deer, beaver, &c., than in the
more active methods of securing game. Like the Esquimaux, although they prefer their meat cooked, they can
well make a shift to eat it without any preparation, when
unable to procure fuel.  On their journeys they are supported by the nutritious and portable preparation called
pemmican, which we have before mentioned as in use
among the Esquimaux. It is made in the following manner: thin slices of lean meat are dried over a fire, or by
alternate exposure to sun and frost, and then pounded
between stones. A quantity of boiling fat, equal to the
mass of meat, is then poured upon it, and the whole is
closely packed in bags or basket. No salt or other con
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
diment is used in the operation, but, in some instances,
the pemmican is made savory by the addition of marrow
and dried berries.
Some of the men are observed to be furnished with a
thick bushy beard; but, generally speaking, the custom
of eradicating this appendage is common to the Chippewas, as to most other of the Indian nations. Tattooing is
common among both sexes, and serves as a distinguishing
mark of the different tribes.
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VARIOUS NATIONS AND TRIBES
BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE PACIFIC OCEAN,
CHAPTER I.
TIlE SIOUX, OR DAHCOTAS, AND OTHER TRIBES OF THE SAME RACE:
CLASSIFICATION. - THE MANDANS: THEIR NUMBER, SITUATION,
VILLAGES, ETC. - THEIR CEMETERIES. - AFFECTIONATE REMEM  BRANCE OF THE DEAD.
AN accurate classification of the American Indians, either
founded upon dissimilarities in the language of different
tribes, or upon differences in physical peculiarities, is impossible, particularly in treating of the scattered and wandering people of the far west. The races vary by such
slight shades of distinction, and such analogies exist between their languages, that even where the distinction is
perfectly evident in the nation at large, the line of demarcation can with difficulty be drawn. In other instances,
the same nation, when divided into separate clans, inhabiting districts of dissimilar nature, and resorting to different
modes of life, will be found, in the course of one or two
generations, to present the appearance of distinct races.
Perhaps it would be wiser to accept the popular divisions,
whether derived directly from the natives, or established
by those most familiar with them, than to attempt any
refined distinctions. In an essay upon natural history,
or in researches into historical antiquities) a particularity
might be useful or necessary, which in an outline of history and description would be but perplexing and, tedious.
(495)
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A vast wilderness at the west, upon the Missouri and the
upper western tributaries of the Mississippi, is inhabited
by the various tribes allied to the Sioux or Dahcotas. One
of the earliest accounts given of these people, then known
as the Naudowessies, is to be found in the Travels of Captain Jonathan Carver, who spent the winter of 1766-7
among them. Of later observations and descriptions, by
far the most interesting and complete are contained in the
published letters of Mr. George Catlin, accompanied as they
are by spirited and artistic portraits and sketches of scenery.
Those of this race known as the proper Sioux, soi disant
Dahcotas, are mostly established upon the river of St. Peter
and in the country adjacent.  Some of the eastern tribes
are more or less agricultural, but the others are wild hunters like their brethren of the far west. The Sioux were
divided, a century since, into the following eight tribes: the
Wawpeentowas, the Tintons, the Afracootans, the Mawhaws (Omawhas), and the Schians, all of whom dwelt in
the prairie country, upon the St. Peter, and three other
clans of the then unexplored region to the westward.  The
Assinaboins anciently belonged to the same stock.
By Mr. Gallatin the race is divided as follows: "1. The
:lVinnebagos, of Wisconsin; 2. The Sioux proper, or Dahcotas, and the Assinaboins; 3. The Minetari and tribes
allied to them; 4. The Osages, and other kindred tribes,"
farther south.-(Pritchard's Natural History ofMan). The
Minetari are held to include the Crows and the Mandans.
To a description of this last people, now, as a separate
race, entirely extinct, Mr. Catlin has devoted no small
portion of his interesting descriptions of western adventure.
They differed widely from all other American Indians in
several particulars. The most noticeable of these were the
great diversity in complexion and in the color and texture
of the hair. When visited by this traveller, in 1832, the
Mandans were established at two villages, only two miles
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asunder, upon the left bank of the Missouri, about two
hundred miles below the mouth of the Yellowstone.
There were then not far from two thousand of the tribe,
but, from their own traditions, and from the extensive
ruins of their former settlement - some distance below - it
was evident that their numbers had greatly decreased.
The principal town was strongly fortified upon the precipitous river bank, on two sides defended by the winding
stream, and on the other by picketing of heavy timber,
and by a ditch. The houses within were so closely set as
to allow of little space for locomotion. They were partially sunk in the ground, and the roofs were covered
with earth and clay to such a depth and of such consistency that they afforded the favorite lounging places for
the occupants.
"One is surprised," says Catlin, "when he enters them,
to see the neatness, comfort, and spacious dimensions of
these earth-covered dwellings. They all have a circular
form, and are from forty to sixty feet in diameter. Their
foundations are prepared by digging some two feet in the
ground, and forming the floor of earth, by levelling the
requisite size for the lodge." The building consisted of a
row of perpendicular stakes or timbers, six feet or thereabout in height, supporting long rafters for the roof. A
hole was left in the centre for air, light, and the escape of
smoke. The rafters were supported in the middle by
beams and posts: over them was laid a thick coating of
willow brush, and over all the covering of earth and clay.
An excavation in the centre of the hut was used as a fireplace. Each of these houses served for a single family, or
for a whole circle of connections, according to its dimensions. The furniture consisted of little more than a rude
sort of bedsteads, with sacking of buffalo skin, and sometimes an ornamental curtain'of the same material. Posts
were set in the ground, between the beds, provided with
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
pegs, from which depended the arms and acoutrements of
the warriors.
"' This arrangement of beds, of arms, &c.," continues our
author, "combining the most vivid display and arrangement of colors, of furs, of trinkets - of barbed and glistening points and steel - of mysteries and hocus pocus,
together with the sombre and smoked color of the roof
and sides of the lodge; and the wild, and rude, and redthe graceful (though uncivil) conversational, garrulous,
story-telling, and happy, though ignorant and untutored
groups, that are smoking their pipes-  wooing their sweethearts, and embracing their little ones about their peaceful and endeared firesides; together with their pots and
kettles, spoons, and other culinary articles of their own
manufacture, around them; present, altogether, one of the
most picturesque scenes to the eye of a stranger that can
be possibly seen; and far more wild and vivid than could
ever be imagined."
If the sight within the dwellings was novel and striking,
much more so was that which occupied the painter's attention as he surveyed, from the roof of one of these domes,
the motley scene of busy life without.  In the centre of
the village an open court was left for purposes of recreation and for the performances of the national religious
ceremonies.   Upon  the rounded roofs of the  domicils
numerous busy or indolent groups were sitting or lounging in every possible attitude, while in the central area
some were exercising their wild horses, or training and
playing with their dogs.  Such a variety of brilliant and
fanciful costume, ornamented with plumes and porcupine
quills, with the picturesque throng of Indians and animals,
the closely crowded village, the green plain, the river, and
the blue hills in the distance, formed a happy subject for
the artist.
Without the picket of defence, the only objects visible,
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TRIBES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
of man's construction, were the scaffoldings upon which
the dead were exposed. The manner in which the funeral
rites of the Mandans were conducted, with the subsequent
details, constitutes the most touching portion of the author's narrative. i The body of the dead person was tightly
wrapped and bound up in fresh or soaked buffalo skins,
together with the arms and acoutrements used in life, and
the usual provision of tobacco, flint and steel, knife, and
food.  A  slight scaffold is then prepared, of sufficient
height to serve as protection from the wolves and dogs,
and there the body is deposited to decay in the open air.
Day after day those who had lost firiends would come
out from the village to this strange cemetery, to weep and
bewail over their loss. Such genuine and long-continued
grief as was exhibited by the afflicted relatives puts to
shame the cold-heartedness of too many among the cultivated and enlightened. When, after the lapse of years,
the scaffolds had fallen, and nothing was left but bleached
and mouldering bones, the remains were buried, with the
exception of the skulls. These were placed in circles upon
the plain, with the faces  turned inward, each  resting
upon a bunch of wild sage; and in the centre, upon two
slight mounds, "medicine-poles " were erected, at the foot
of which were the heads and horns of a male and a female
buffalo. To these new places of deposit, each of which
contained not far from one hundred  skulls, "do  these
people," says Catlin, "again resort, to evince their further
affection for the dead- not in groans and lamentations,
however, for several years have cured the anguish;  but
fond affections and endearments are here renewed, and
conversations are here held, and cherished, with the
dead."
The wife or mother would sit for hours by the side of
the white relic of the loved and lost, addressing the skull
with the most affectionate and loving tones, or, perchance
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
lying down and falling asleep with her arms around it.
Food would be nightly set before many of these skulls,
and, with the most tender care, the aromatic bed upon
which they reposed would be renewed as it withered and
decayed.
CHAPTER II.
PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND PECULIARITIES OF THE MANDANS. THEIR HOSPITALITY AND URBANITY.-THEIER CLEANLINESS OF
PERSON.-THEIR DRESS.-PORTRAITS OF MANDAN CIUEFS.-CON TRAST BETWEEN THE WILD TRIBES AND THOSE OF THE FRON TIER.- MANDAN  DOMESTIC USAGES. - GAMES AND  DANCES. -
TRAINING OF THE YOUTII.-THE GREAT ANNUAL RELIGIOUS CER EMONY.-THE MAANDANS SUPPOSED TO BE OF WELSH DESCENT. ANNIHILATION OF THE TRIBE BY THE SMALL-POX.
UNLIKE the other Indian tribes of the west, the MIandans, instead of presenting a perfect uniformity in complexion, and in the color of the eyes and hair, exhibited
as great diversity in these respects as will be noticed in a
mixed population of Europeans. Their hair was, for the
most part, very fine and soft, but in a number of instances a strange anomaly was observable, both in old
and young, and in either sex, viz.: a profusion of coarse
locks of "a bright silvery gray," approaching sometimes
to white.
Some of the women were quite fair, with blue eyes, and
the most symmetrical features, combined with a very attractive and agreeable expression. It does not appear
probable that sufficient intermixture with European races
had ever taken place to account for these peculiarities, and
some authors appear quite convinced that these Mandans
are the remains of a great people, entirely distinct from the
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TRIBES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
nations around them.  Of Mr. Catlin's researches and conclusions respecting their origin, we shall take occasion to
speak hereafter.
In their disposition the Mandans were hospitable and
friendly; affectionate and kind in their treatment of each
other; and mindful of the convenience and comfort of the
stranger. Their figures were beautifully proportioned, and
their movements and attitudes graceful and easy. Instead
of the closely-shorn locks of some other races, they wore
their hair long. The men were particularly proud of this
appendage, and were at no small pains to arrange it in
what they esteemed a becoming manner. It was thrown
backward from the forehead, and divided into a number
of plaits. These were kept in their position by glue and
some red-tinted earth, with which they were  matted  at
intervals. The women oiled and braided their hair, parting it in the middle; the place of parting was universally
painted red.
A greater degree of cleanliness was observable in their
persons than is common among savages. A particular
location was assigned, at some distance from the village,
up the river, where the women could resort undisturbed
for their morning ablutions. A guard was stationed, at
intervals, upon a surrounding circle of rising ground, to
prevent intrusion. Those of both sexes and all ages were
excellent swimmers; scarcely was one to be found who
could not with ease cross the Missouri in this manner.
Their only boats were round tubs made by stretching buffalo-skins over a light frame-work. The form and capacity
of these clumsy water-craft, were strikingly similar to that
of the coracles used in Wales and upon other portions of
the coast of Great Britain.
As an additional means of luxury, and as an efficient
remedy in case of sickness, a hut was devoted to the purpose of a steam-bath. This was effected by pouring water
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
upon heated stones, over which the patient was placed,
wrapped in buffalo-robes, in a wicker-basket. The operation was always followed up by. a plunge into the river,
and a subsequent rubbing and oiling of the body. Such
a mode of treatment produced terrible effects, in after times,
when the small-pox spread through the tribe.
The dress of the Mandan warriors, although in its general fashion similar to that of the neighboring tribes, was
singularly rich and elaborate. It was formed entirely. of
skins: a coat or hunting-shirt of buck-skin; leggins and
moccasins of the same material, beautifully fringed, and
embroidered with porcupine quills; and an outer mantle
of the fur of a young buffalo, formed the principal equipment. The covering for the head was more elaborate, and
was constructed, by all who could obtain the materials, of
ermine skins, and feathers of the war-eagle. So high a
value was set upon these head-dresses, that Mr. Catlin, after
having bargained for the entire suit of a chief, whose portrait he had just painted, was obliged to give two horses,
of the value of twenty-five dollars each, for the crowning
ornament. Some few chiefs had attained a height of authority and renown which entitled them to add to their
head-dress a pair of buffalo-horns, reduced in size and
weight, and arranged as they grew upon the animal. The
custom was not confined to the Mandans, but a similar
ornament is widely considered as symbolic of power and
warlike achievements among the western Indians.
Nothing could exceed the pride and delight of the chiefs
of the tribe, after their first apprehensions at the novelty
of the proceeding were allayed, at the sight of their own
portraits, for which they were induced to sit by our author.
He was constituted and proclaimed from the moment of
the first exhibition, a "great medicine-man," and old and
young thronged to see and to touch the worker of such a
miracle. All declared that the pictures were, at least par
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tially, alive: for from whatsoever side they were beheld,
still the eyes were seen fixed upon the beholder. An idea
was started, and obtained a temporary credence, that some
portion of the life of the person represented must have
been abstracted by the painter, and that consequently his
term of existence must be shortened.   It was moreover
feared, lest, by the picture's living after the death of the
original, the quiet rest of the grave should be troubled.
By a most ingenious and judicious policy in adopting a
mode of explanation suited to the capacity of his hearers,
and by wisely ingratiating himself with the chiefs and
medicine-men, Mr. Catlin succeeded in stilling the commotion excited by such suggestions and suspicions. He was
held in high estimation, and feasted by the principal men
of the tribe, whose portraits he obtained for his invaluable
collection.
It is only among such remote tribes as the one which
forms the subject of our present consideration, that any
adequate idea can be formed of the true Indian character.
The gluttony, drunkenness, surliness, and "shiftlessness"
of the degraded race, that has caught the vices of the
white man, without aiming at his civilization, are strongly
contrasted with the abstemiousness, self-respect, and native
dignity of the uncontaminated.  "Amongst the wild Indians in this country," says Catlin, "there are no beggarsno drunkards -and every man, from a beautiful natural
precept, studies to keep his body and mind ill such a
healthy shape and condition as will at all times enable
him to use his weapons in self-defence, or struggle for the
prize in their manly games."
The usual custom of polygamy was universally practised
among the Mandans, by all whose rank, position and
means enabled them to make the necessary arrangements,
and pay the stipulated price for their wives. The girls
were generally sold by their parents at a very early age,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
and, as among most barbarous nations, their fate was a life
of toil and drudgery. Their time must be almost con stantly employed in getting fuel, cultivating corn and
squashes, preparing pemmican and other dried stores for
winter, and in dressing and embroidering the buffalo-robes
which their lord and master accumulated for trade with the
whites.
Notwithstanding this apparently degraded position, we
are informed that the women were seemingly contented
with their lot, that they were modest in their deportment,
and that "amongst the respectable families, virtue" was
" as highly cherished, and as inapproachable as in any
society whatever."
White traders among the extreme western tribes are
said to be almost universally in the custom, from motives
of policy, and perhaps from inclination, of allying themselves to one, at least, of the principal chiefs, by a temporary espousal of his daughter. In many instances they
indulge in a plurality. This is a position greatly sought
after by the young women, as they are enabled by it to
indulge their native fondness for display, and are freed
from the toil usually incident to their existence.
The men and boys, leading a life of ease, except when
engaged upon a hunt, practised a great variety of games
and athletic sports, some of them very curious and original. Horse-racing, ball-playing, archery, &c., never failed
to excite and delight them. An endless variety of dances,
with vocal and instrumental accompaniments, served for
recreation and religious ceremonials.   Every word and
step had some particular and occult signification, for the
most part known only to those initiated in the mysteries
of "medicine."
In times of scarcity, when the buffalo herds had wandered away from the vicinity, so far that the hunters dared
not pursue them, for fear of enemies, the "buffalo dance"
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TRIBES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
was performed in the central court of the village. Every
man of the tribe possessed a mask made from the skin
of a buffalo's head, including the horns, and dried as nearly
as possible in the natural shape, to be worn on these occasions. When the wise men of the nation determined upon
their invocations to attract the buffalo herds, watchers were
stationed upon the eminences surrounding the village, and
the  dance  commenced.   With  extravagant action, and
strange ejaculations, the crowd performed the prescribed
manceuvres: as fast as those engaged became weary, they
would signify it by crouching down, when those without
the circle would go through the pantomime of severally
shooting, flaying, and dressing them, while new performers took their place. Night and day the mad scene was
kept up, sometimes for weeks together! until the signal
was given of the approach of buffalo, when all prepared
with joy and hilarity for a grand hunt, fully convinced
that their own exertions had secured the prize.
No less singular was the ceremonial resorted to when
the crops were suffering for want of rain. A knot of the
wisest medicine-men would collect in a hut, where they
held their session with closed doors, burning aromatic herbs
and going through with an unknown series of incantations. Some tyro was then sent up to take his stand on
the roof, in sight of the people, and spend the day in invocations for a shower. If the sky continued clear, he retired in disgrace, as one who need not hope ever to arrive
at the dignity of a medicine-man. Day after day the performance continued, until a cloud overspread the skies,
when the young Indian on the lodge discharged an arrow
towards it, to let out the rain. From their earliest youth,
the boys were trained to the mimic exercises of war and
the chase. It was a beautiful sight to witness the spirit
with which they would enact a sham fight upon the open
prairie. A tuft of grass supplied the place of the scalp
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
lock, and blunt arrows of grass or reeds, with wooden
scalping-knives, formed their innocuous weapons.  "If any
one," says Catlin, "is struck with an arrow on any vital
part of his body, he is obliged to fall, and his adversary
rushes up to him, places his foot upon him, and snatching
from his belt his wooden knife, grasps hold of his victim's
scalp-lock of grass, and making a feint at it with his wooden
knife, snatches it off and puts it into his belt, and enters
again into the ranks and front of battle."
This was the true mode of forming warriors. The youth
grew to manhood with the one idea that true dignity and
glory awaited him alone who could fringe his garments
with the scalps of his enemies. Some of the Mandan
braves, even of their last generation, performed feats of
daring, and engaged in chivalrous combats, which will
almost compare with the deeds of Piskaret or Hiadeoni
in the early history of the Iroquois.
At the risk of seeming to linger too long over the history and customs of a single tribe, few in numbers, and
now extinct, we will give some description of the strange
religious ceremony which occupied four days of each returning year. The religious belief of the Mandans was, in the
main, not unlike that of most North American aborigines;
but some of their self-torturing modes of adoration and
propitiation of their deity were perfectly unique.   The
grand four days' ceremony had, according to Catlin, three
distinct objects; a festival of thanksgiving for the escape
of their ancestors from the flood! of which they had a
distinct tradition, strikingly conformable to scriptural
history; for the grand "bull-dance," to draw the buffalo
herds towards the settlement; and to initiate the young
men, by terrible trials and tortures, into the order of warriors, and to allow those whose fortitude had been fully
tested to give renewed proofs of their capacity of endurance, and their claim to the position of chiefs and leaders
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The period for the ceremony was that in which the
leaves of the willow on the river bank were first fully
opened; "for, according to their tradition," says Catlin,
"' the twig that the bird brought home was a willow bough,
and had  full-grown leaves upon  it,' and  the bird to
which they allude is the mourning or turtle-dove, which
they took great pains to point out to me," as a med  icine-bird. The first performances bore reference to the
deluge, in commemoration of which a sort of "curb or
hogshead" stood in the centre of the village court, sym bolical of the "big canoe," in which the human race was
preserved.
No intimation was given by the wise men, under whose
secret management the whole affair was conducted, of the
precise day when the grand celebration should commence;
but at sunrise, one morning, Mr. Catlin and his white com panions were aroused by a terrible tumult throughout the
village. All seemed to be in a state of the greatest ex citement and alarm, the cause of which was unexplainable,
as the object at which all were gazing, was a single figure,
approaching the village, from a bluff, about a mile distant.
This personage soon entered within the enclosed space of
the town: he was painted with white clay, and carried a
lage pipe in his hand.  He was saluted by the principal
men of the tribe as " Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah, (the first or
only man," - in fact, none other than Noah himself,)- who
had come to open the great lodge reserved exclusively for
the annual religious rites.
Having superintended the preparation of the medicinehouse, and leaving men busy in adorning it with willow
boughs and sage, and in the arrangement of divers skulls,
both of men and buffaloes, which were essential in the
coming mysteries, Nu-mohk-muck-a-nah made the rounds
of the village, repeating before every lodge the tale of the
great deluge, and telling how he alone had been saved in
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his ark, and left by the retiring waters upon the summit
of a western mountain!
At every hut he was presented with some cutting instrument, (such as was supposed to have been used in the
construction of the ark,) to be thrown into the river as a
sacrifice to the waters.
Next day, having ushered the young men who were to
go through the fearful ordeal of self-inflicted torture into
the sacred lodge, and appointed an old medicine-man to the
office of "O-kee-pah Ka-se-kah, (keeper or conductor of
the ceremonies,") he took up his march into the prairie,
promising to appear again on the return of the season in
the ensuing year.
The young warriors, preparatory to undergoing the torture, were obliged, until the fourth day from their entry
into the lodge, to abstain from food, drink, or sleep!Meanwhile, various  strange scenes were enacted in the
central area before the house. The grand buffalo-dance,
a performance combining every thing conceivable of the
grotesque and extravagant, was solemnly performed to insure a fayorable season for the chase.
On the fourth day commenced the more horrible portion
of the exercises. Mr. Catlin, as a great medicine-man, was
admitted within the lodge throughout the performances,
and had full opportunity to portray, with pen and pencil,
the scenes therein enacted. Coming forward, in turn, the
victims allowed the flesh of their breasts or backs to be
pierced with a rough two-edged knife, and splinters of
wood  to be thrust through the holes.   Enough of the
skin and flesh were taken up to be more than sufficient
for the support of the weight of the body. To these
splints cords let down from the roof were attached, and
the subject of these inflictions was hoisted from the
ground.   Similar splints were then thrust through the
arms and legs, to which the warrior's arms, and, in some
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TRIBES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
cases, as additional weights, several heavy buffalo heads,
were hung.
Thus far the fortitude of the Indian sufficed to restrain
all exhibition of pain; while the flesh was torn with the
rude knife, and the wooden skewers were thrust in, a
pleasant smile was firequently observable on the young
warrior's countenance; but when in the horrible position
above described, with his flesh stretched by the splints till
it appeared about to give way, a number of attendants
commenced turning him round and round with poles, he
would "burst out in the most lamentable and heart-rending
cries that the human voice is capable of.producing, crying
forth to the Great Spirit to support and protect him in this
dreadful trial."
After hanging until total insensibility brought a temporary relief to his sufferings, he was lowered to the floor,
the main supporting skewers were withdrawn, and he was
left to crawl off, dragging the weights after him. The first
movement, with returning consciousness, was to sacrifice tc
the Great Spirit one or more of the fingers of the left
hand, after which the miserable wretch was taken out of'
the lodge. WVithin the court a new trial awaited him; the
last, but most terrible of all. An active man took his poesition on each side of the weak and mutilated sufferer, and,.
passing a thong about his wrist, urged him forward at the
top of his speed in a circle round the arena.  When, faint
and weary, he sank on the ground, the tormentors, draggedr
him furiously around the ring until the splints were torn.
out by the weights attached, and he lay motionless and
apparently lifeless. If the splint should have beern so deeply
inserted that no force-  even that of the weight of individuals in the crowd, thrown upon the trailing skulls —could
break the integuments, nothing remained but to crawl off to
the prairie, and wait until it should give way by suppuration.
To draw the skewer out would be unpardonable sacrilege.
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It is told of one man that he suspended himself from
the precipitous river bank by two of these skewers, thrust
through his arms, until, at the end of several days! he
dropped into the iwater, and swam ashore.  Throughout
the whole ordeal, the chiefs and sages of the tribe critically
observed the comparative fortitude and endurance of the
candidates, and formed their conclusions thereupon as to
which would be the worthiest to command in after time.
With all these frightful and hideous sights before his
eyes, or fresh in his recollection, our author still maintains,
and apparently upon good grounds, and in honest sincerity, his former eulogium upon the virtues and natural, noble endowments of these singular people. We
have given, above, but a brief outline of the mysterious
conjurations attendant upon the great annual  festival:
many of these lack interest from our ignorance of their
signification.
A favorite theme for theorists, ever since the early ages
of American colonization, has been found in the endeavor
to trace a descent from the followers of the Welsh voyager,
Prince Madoc, to sundry Indian tribes of the west.  Vague
accounts of Indians of light complexion, who could speak
and understand the Welsh language, are given by various
early writers. They were generally located by the narrator in some indeterminate region west of the Mississippi,
at a considerable distance above New Orleans, but nowhere near the Missouri.
It is to be regretted that these an'cient accounts are so
loose and uncertain, as there can be no doubt but that they
are founded upon striking and important facts. A list of
Mandan words, compared with Welsh of the same signification, has been made public by Mr. Catlin, in which the
resemblance is so clear, that almost any theory would be
mdre credible than that such affinity was accidental. This
author traced remains of the peculiar villages of the Man
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dans nearly to the mouth of the Missouri, and describes
others of similar character to the northward of Cincinnati.
He supposes that the adventurers, who sailed from Wales
in the year 1170, and were never thenceforth heard from,
after landing at Florida, pr near the mduth of the Mississippi, made their way to Ohio; that they there became
involved in hostilities with the natives, and were eventually
all cut off with the exception of the half-breeds, who had
sprung up from connection with the women of the country;
that these half-breeds had at one time formed a powerful
tribe, but had gradually been reduced to those whom we
have described, and had removed or been driven farther
and frlther up the Missouri.  The arguments upon which
this hypothesis is based are drawn from a careful examination of ancient western fortifications; from physical peculiarities, and the analogies in language above referred to;
from certain arts of working in pottery, &c.; and from the
remarkable and isolated position occupied by the tribe in
question among hostile nations of indubitable aboriginal
characteristics. The theory is, to say the least, plausible,
and ably supported.
In the summer of 1838, the small-pox was communicated to the Mandans from some infected persons on board
one of the steamers belonging to a company of fur-traders.
So virulent was the disease, that in a few weeks it swept
off the whole tribe, except a few who fell into the hands
of their enemies, the Ricarees. One principal reason for
the excessive mortality is said to have been, that hostile
bands of Indians had beset the village, and the inhabitants
were consequently unable to separate, or to place the infected in an isolated position.
The scene of death, lamentation, and terror is said by
those who witnessed it to have been frightful in the extreme. Great numbers perished by leaping into the river,
in the paroxysm of fever, being too weak to swim out.
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Those who died in the village lay in heaps upon the floors
of the huts. Of the few secured by the'Ricarees who
took possession of the depopulated village, nearly all were
said to have been killed during some subsequent hostilities,
so that now scarce a vestige of the tribe can be supposed
to remain.
The Mandans were probably all congregated at their
principal village at the time of the great calamity: the
other village was situated two miles below, was a small
settlement, and was used, as we are led to infer, merely for
a temporary "summer residence for a few of the noted
families."
Mr. Catlin'adds the following items to his account of the
annihilation of this interesting tribe: "There is yet a melancholy part of the tale to be told, relating to the ravages
of this frightful disease in that country on the same occasion, as it spread to other contiguous tribes, the Minatarrees, the Knisteneaux, the Blackfeet, the Chayennles, and
the Crows, amongst whom twenty-five thousand perished
in the course of four or five months, which most appalling
facts I got from Major Pilcher, superintendent of Indian
affairs at St. Louis, firom Mr. McKenzie, and others."
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CHAPTER III.
THE SIOUX CONTINUED. - THEIR MODE OF LIFE. - MATERNAL AFFEC  TION. - EXPOSURE OF THE AGED. - THE FAMOUS QUARRY OF RED
PIPE-STONE.- NATURE OF THIS MATERIAL. -INDIAN SUPERSTITIONS
RESPECTING IT. - THE BISON OR BUFFALO. - HORSES OF THE IN  DIANS. - VARIOUS MODES OF HUNTING THE BUFFALO. - WASTEFUL
DESTRUCTION OF THE HERDS.
TIEX Sioux proper, known among themselves and by
other Indian tribes as Dahcotas, are one of the most extensively diffused nations of the west. From the Upper
Mississippi, where they mingle with the northern race of
Chippewas, to the Missouri, and far in the north-west
towards the country of the Blackfeet, the tribes of this
family occupy the boundless prairie.
Those living on the Mississippi and St. Peter's rely partially, as we have mentioned, upon agriculture, and their
proximity to the white settlements has changed, and too
often degraded their native character. The more distant
tribes, subsisting almost entirely upon the flesh of the buffalo, clothed with skins, and using the native weapons of
their race, still remain in a state of rude freedom and independence. Graphic descriptions of their wild life, their
skill and dexterity in the chase, and innumerable amusing
and striking incidents of travel, and portraitures of private
and natural character, are to be found scattered through
the pages of Catlin's interesting narrative.
One of the most remarkable and touching traits of character described by this author, as observable among the
Sioux, is the strength of maternal affection. Infant children, according to the common custom of western Indians,
are carried, for the first six or seven months of their existence, strapped immovably to a board, the hands and
arms being generally left at liberty. A hoop protects the
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child's face from injury in case of a fall, and the whole
apparatus is often highly ornamented with fringe and em  broidery.  This pack or cradle is provided with a broad
band, which is passed round the forehead of the mother,
sustaining the weight of the child pendent at her back.
Those who have been most familiar with this mode of
treatment generally approve of it as best suited to the life
led by the Indian, and as in no way cruel to the child.
After the infant has in some degree acquired the use of its
limbs, it is freed from these encumbrances, and borne in the
fold of the mother's blanket.
"If the infant dies during the time that is allotted to it
to be carried in this cradle, it is buried, and the disconso  late mother fills the cradle with black quills and feathers,
in the parts which  the  child's body had occupied, and
in this way carries it around with her wherever she'goes
for a year or more, with as much care as if her infant
were alive and in it; and she often lays or stands it against
the side of the wigwam, where she is all day engaged with
her needle-work, and chatting and talking to it as famil  iarly and affectionately as if it were her loved infant,
instead of its shell, that she was talking to.  So lasting
and so strong is the affection of these women for the lost
child, that it matters not how heavy or cruel their load, or
how rugged the route they have to pass over, they will
faithfully carry this, and carefully, from day-to day, and
even more strictly perform their duties to it, than if the
child were alive and in it."- (Letters and Notes of
George Catlin.)
What appears, at first glance, to be one of the most
revolting and cruel customs of the migratory Sioux tribes,
(a custom common to other western nations,) is the expo sure of the old and infirm to perish, after they have become
: unable to keep up with the tribe. We are told, however,
that dire necessity compels them to this course, unless they
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TRIBES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
would - more humanely, it is true - at once put an end
to the lives of such unfortunates. The old sufferer not
only assents to the proceeding, but generally suggests it,
when conscious that he is too weak to travel, or to be of
any further. service among his people. With some slight
protection over him, and a little food by his side, he is left
to die, and be devoured by the wolves.
Certain tribes of this nation, far up the Missouri, are in
the habit of performing various ceremonies of self-torture
in their religious exercises, somewhat analogous to those
of the Mandans, but seldom, if ever, are they carried to such
an extent as we have described in treating of that tribe.
In the Sioux country, at the southern extremity of the
high ridge, called the Coteau des Prairies, which separates
the head-waters of the St. Peter's from the Missouri, is
situated the, far-famed quarry of red pipe-stone. Pipes of
this formation are seen throughout the whole of the west,
no other material being considered suitable. The district
was formerly considered as a sort of neutral ground, where
hostile tribes from far and near might harmoniously resort
to supply the all-essential want of the Indian. Those
versed in the mysteries of Indian heraldry have deciphered
the distinguishing marks and escutcheons of a great number of western nations, inscribed upon adjacent rocks. Of
late years the Sioux have affected a monopoly in the products of this quarry, and it was not without the most vehement opposition that Mr. Catlin and his companions, led
by curiosity to visit the remote and celebrated place, were
enabled to make their way through the Indian settlements
fallen in with on the route.
Throngs of dusky warriors, at these  stopping-places,
would assemble to discuss, with great heat and'excitement,
the true motives of the strangers. The general impression seemed to be that the travellers were government
agents, sent to survey the locality for the purpose of appro
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priation, and one and all expressed a determination to
perish rather than relinquish their rights to this, their most
valued place of resort.
The stone is obtained by digging to a depth of several
feet in the prairie, at the foot of a precipitous wall of
quartz rocks. The whole geological formation of that district is described as exceedingly singular, and the pipestone formation is, itself, entirely unique. This material
is "harder than gypsum, and softer than carbonate of
lime;" it is asserted that a precisely similar formation has
been found at no other spot upon the globe. The component materials, accor'ding to the analysis of Mr. Catlin's
specimens, by Dr. Jackson, of Boston, are as follows:
"water, 8.4; silica, 48.2; alumina, 28.2; magnesia, 6.0;
carbonate of lime, 2.6; peroxide of iron, 5.0; oxide of
manganese, 0.6."
The Indians use the stone only in the manufacture of
pipes; to apply it to any other use they esteem the most
unheard-of sacrilege. From the affinity of its color to that
of their own skins they draw some fanciful legend of its
formation, at the time of the great deluge, out of the flesh
of the perishing red men. They esteem it one of the
choicest gifts of the Great Spirit.
The following extracts from the speeches of some Sioux
chiefs, through whose village Mr. Catlin passed on his way
to the quarry, may serve to exemplify the veneration with
which the stone was regarded.
"You set said one, (holding a red pipe to the side of
his naked arm,) "that this pipe is a part of our flesh.
The red men are a part of the red stone.  (' How, how!')"
an expression of strong approbation from the auditors.
"If the white men take away a piece of the red pipestone, it is a hole made in our flesh, and the blood will
always run. We cannot stop the blood from running.
(' How, how!')  The Great Spirit has told us that the red
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stone is only to be used for pipes, and through them we
are to smoke to him.  ('How!')"
The next speaker pronounced the stone to be priceless,
as it was medicine. Another, after a preliminary vaunt of
his own prowess, and worthiness to be listened to, proceeded: "We  love to go to the Pipe-Stone, and get a
piece for our pipes; but we ask the Great Spirit first. If
the white men go to it, they will take it out, and not fill
up the holes again, and the Great Spirit will be offended.
('How, how, how!')"
Another -" My friends, listen to me! what I am to say
will be truth. ('How!') I bought a large piece of the
pipe-stone, and gave it to a white man to make a pipe; he
was our trader, and I wished him to' have a good pipe.
The next time I went to his store, I was unhappy when I
saw that stone made into a dish!  (' Eugh!')
"This is the way the white men would use the red pipe
stone if they could get it.  Such conduct would offend the
Great Spirit, and make a red man's heart sick. (' How,
how!')"
Many of the pipes in use among the Sioux, and formed
of this material, are shaped with great labor and nicety,
and often in very ingenious figures. Those intended for
calumets or pipes of peace, are gorgeously decorated, but
even those in ordinary use are generally made as ornamental as practicable. The cavityis drilled by means of a
hard stick, with sand and water; the outer form, with the
carvings and grotesque figures, is worked with a knife.
Various narcotic herbs and leaves, where tobacco is not
to be obtained, are used for smoking, under the name of
"knick-knick;" the same term is used among some southern Indians to denote a mixture of tobacco and sumach
leaves.
In the far west, both among the Sioux and other wild
tribes, as the hunt of the buffalo is by far the most impor
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
tant occupation of the men, we will devote some little space
to a description of the habits of the animal, and the native
modes of pursuing and destroying it. The buffalo, or
bison of America, is found at the present day throughout
no small portion of the vast unsettled country between our
western frontier and the Rocky Mountains, from the southern parts of Texas to the cold and desolate regions of the
north, even to latitude fifty-five degrees. Nowhere are these
animals more abundant, or in a situation more congenial
to their increase, and the development of their powers,
than in the western country of the Sioux. During, certain
seasons of the year, they congregate in immense herds, but
are generally distributed over the country in small companies, wandering about in search of the best pasturage.
They have no certain routine of migration,  although
those whose occupation leads to a study of their movements can in some localities point out the general course
of their trail; and this uncertainty renders the mode of
subsistence depended upon by extensive western tribes of
Indians exceedingly precarious.
The most valuable possessions of these races, and the
most essential in the pursuit of the buffalo, are their horses.
These useful auxiliaries are of the wild prairib breed, extensively spread over the western territory, the descendants
of those originally brought over by the Spaniards in the
sixteenth century. They are small, but strong and hardy,
and superior in speed to any other of the wild animals of
the prairie. Numbers of them are kept about the encampment of the Indians, hobbled so as to prevent their straying
away. Upon the open prairie the bison is generally pursued upon horseback, with the lance and bow and arrow.
The short stiff bow is little calculated for accurate marksmanship, or for' a distant shot: riding at full speed, the
Indian generally waits till he has overtaken his prey, and
discharges his arrow from the distance of a few feet.
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The admirable training of the horse, to whom the rider
is obliged to give loose rein- as he approaches his object
and prepares to inflict the deadly woulid, is no less noticeable than the spirit and energy of the rider.
Such is the force with which the arrow is thrown, that
repeated instances are related of its complete passage
through the huge body of the buffalo, and its exit upon
the opposite side. This near approach to the powerful and
infuriated animal is by no means without danger. Although the horse, from instinctive fear of the buffalo's
horns, sheers off immediately upon passing him, it is not
always done with sufficient quickness to avoid his stroke.
The hunter is said to be so carried away by the excitement
and exhilaration of pursuit, as to be apparently perfectly
reckless of his own safety; trusting entirely to the sagacity
and quickness of his horse to take him out of the danger
into which he is rushing.
The noose, or lasso, used in catching wild horses, is
often left trailing upon the ground during the chase, to
afford the hunter an easy means of securing and remounting his horse in case he should be dismounted, by the
attack of the buffalo or otherwise.
In the winter season it is common for the Indians of the
northern latitudes to drive the buffalo herds from the
bare ridges, where they collect to feed upon the exposed
herbage, into the snow-covered valleys. The unwieldy
beasts, as they flounder through the drifts, are easily overtaken by the hunters, supported by their snow-shoes, and
killed with the lance or bow. Another method, adopted
by the Indians, is to put on the disguise of a white wolfskin, and steal unsuspected among the herd, where they can
select their prey at leisure. Packs of wolves frequently
follow the herds, to feed upon the carcasses of those that
perish, or the remains left by the hunters. They dare not
attack them in a body, and are consequently no objects of
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terror to the buffaloes; but, should an old or wounded
animal be separated from the company, they collect around
him, and gradually weary him out and devour him.
When buffalo are plenty, and the Indians have fair op portunity, the most astonishing and wasteful slaughter
ensues.  Besides the ordinary methods of destruction, the
custom of driving immense herds over some precipitous
ledge, where those behind trample down and thrust over
the foremost, until hundreds and thousands are destroyed,
has been often described.
Even at seasons in which the fur is valueless, and little
besides a present supply of food can be obtained by de stroying the animal which constitutes their sole resource,
no spirit of forethought or providence restrains the wild
hunters of the prairie. Mr. Catlin, when at the mouth of
Teton river, Upper Missouri, in 1832, was told that a few
days previous to his arrival, a party of Sioux had returned
from a hunt, bringing fourteen hundred buffalo tongues,
all that they had secured of their booty, and that these
were immediately traded away for a few gallons of whiskey.
The author goes, at considerable length, into a calculation of the causes now at work, which must, in his opinion,
necessarily result in the entire extinction of these animals,
and the consequent destitution of the numerous tribes that
derive support from their pursuit. According to his representations, we "draw from that country one hundred and
fifty or two hundred thousand of their robes annually, the
greater part of which are taken from animals that are
killed expressly for the robe, at a season when the meat is
not cured and preserved, and for each of which skins the
Indian has received but a pint of whiskey!
Such is the fact, and that number, or near it, are annually destroyed, in addition to the number that is necessarily
killed for the subsistence of three hundred thousand Indians, who live entirely upon them."
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When this extermination shall have taken place, if, indeed, it should take place before other causes shall have
annihilated the Indian nations of the west, it is difficult to
conceive to what these will resort for subsistence. Will
they gradually perish from sheer destitution, or, as has
been predicted, will they be driven to violence and plunder
upon our western frontier?
CHAPTER IV.
INDIANS OF THE GREAT WESTERN PRAIRIES. - THEIR SUMMER AND
WINTER LODGES. -THE MEDICINE-BAG. -THE CROWS AND BLACK FEET. -RACES HOSTILE TO THE LATTER TRIBE. -FORTITUDE OF
A BLACKFOOT WARRIOR.-THE CROW CHIEF ARAPOOISH AND HIS
GUEST.-INDIAN CONCEPTIONS OF A PERFECT COUNTRY.- STORY
OF LORETTO AND HIS INDIAN WIFE. -ADVENTURES OF KOSATO,
A BLACKFOOT WARRIOR.
UPoN the Yellowstone, and about the head-waters of
the Missouri, the most noted tribes are the Crows and
Blackfeet.  Bordering upon them at the north and northeast, are their enemies, the Ojibbeways, Knisteneaux, and
Assinaboins, of some of whom brief mention has been
made in former chapters. In 1834 the Blackfeet were
computed to number over thirty thousand, but when the
small-pox swept over the western country, in 1838, they
were frightfully reduced. By the returns of 1850, they
were represented as amounting to about thirteen thousand.
As these Indians are among the farthest removed from
the contaminating  influence of the whites,  and  as the
prairie abounds in all-that is requisite for their subsistence,
viz., horses and buffalo, they present fine specimens of the
aboriginal race. They are of manly proportions, active,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
and capable of great endurance: their dress is particularly
comfortable and ornamental, bedecked with all the embroidery and fringes characteristic of savage finery.
The style of dress, dwellings, means of subsistence, &c.,
among the Indians of the western prairies, is in many
respects so similar, that we shall only avoid wearisome
repetition by omitting minute descriptions in speaking of
the different tribes.
The summer lodge, necessarily made movable to suit
their migratory habits, is a tent of buffalo-skins, supported
by pine poles brought from the distant mountains. These
skins are neatly and substantially stitched together, and
often highly painted and ornamented.  The tent is transported by tying the poles in two bundles, the small ends
of which, bound together, are hung over the shoulders of
a horse, while the butts trail upon the ground, loaded with
the weight of the skins and other paraphernalia of the
lodge. The dogs are also pressed into the same service,
and loaded, in much the same manner, with as large a load
as they can carry.
The cold winter is passed in some spot protected by
high bluffs or heavy timber, either in these skin lodges, or
in rude wigwams of logs.
It is among these remote races that we may still see
many of the ancient superstitious observances (formerly,
with slight variation, common to nearly the whole population of the west,) retained with all their original solemnity. One of the most singular and universal is the
preparation df a "medicine-bag," which every man carries
with him upon all occasions, as being intricately involved
with his own safety and success in war, hunting, or any of
the occupations of life. At about the age of puberty the
Indian boy bethinks himself of taking the necessary steps
for the preparation of this mysterious amulet or charm.
He retires to some solitary spot, where he spends several
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days, lying upon the ground, talking-no nourishment, dnd
employed in continual fervent- invocations  to the Great
Spirit. Falling asleep in this condition, he notes particu larly what bird or animal first occurred to his mind in
dreams. He then returns home, and, after recruiting his
strength, busies himself in the pursuit of the creature un til he has secnred a specimen.   This accomplished, he
dresses the skin, stuffs it with moss or some other light
substance, and devotes his attention to bedecking it with
the most elaborate ornament.
This medicine-bag can be procured at no price, and the
loss of it, even in the heat of battle, is a signal disgrace,
only to be wiped out by the seizure of a similar charm
from a slaughtered enemy.  "These curious appendages,"
says Catlin, " o the persons or wardrobe of an Indian, are
sometimes made of the skin of an otter, a beaver, a musk rat, a weasel, a raccoon, a pole cat, a snake, a frog, a toad,
a bat, a mouse, a mole, a hawk, an eagle, a magpie, or a
sparrow; -sometimes of the skin of an animal so large as
a wolf; and at others, of the skins of the-lesser animals,
so small that they are hidden under the dress, and vey
difficult to be found, even if searched for."
The strange and hideous conjurations of the medicinemen or necromancers, who perform their ceremoties labout
the sick or dying with- a view to their relief, may be here
seen in their utmost extravagance.
The Crows are far inferior in numbers to the Blackfeet,
with whom they are engaged in perpetual warfare.  They
inhabit the country adjacent to the Yellowstone, as far
westward as the foot of the Rocky Mountains. They are
a fine race, physically speaking; their average height is
greatly beyond that of any of the neighboring tribes, and
they are models of activity and strength. - They have been
characterized as a lawless thieving horde of savages; but
those best acquainted with their character and disposition,
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speak of them as honest and trustworthy, and excuse the
depredations of which they have firom time to time been
guilty, as having generally resulted from gross provocation.
From whatever cause, and whichever race may have been
the most in fault, it is certain that the two wild tribes of
which we are now speaking have been, from the earliest
periods in which Europeans have penetrated their territory,
objects of terror to traders and trappers.
One distinguishing peculiarity of these Indians, is the
extraordinary length of their hair, which is cherished and
cultivated as an ornament, until it sweeps the ground after
them. This profusion is to be seen in no tribe except the
Crows, although some of their neighbors endeavor to imitate it, by gluing an additional length to their natural hair.
The Crows speak a different language from the Blackfeet, and, as we have mentioned, are continually at war
with that tribe. They only number about four thousand,
and are consequently at great disadvantage in these hostilities.
The smaller Minitari tribes, between the mouth of the
Yellowstone and the site of the Mandan villages, and the
extensive nation of the Gros Ventres, inhabiting the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, speak the same language with the Crows, or one very nearly allied to it. The
Arapahoes, numbering some three thousand, and dwelling
about the sources of the Platte and Arkansas rivers, belong
to the race of the Blackfeet.
The latter nation, besides their enemies at the East, have
had, from an indefinite period, to contend with the Flathead and other tribes still farther westward. The descent
of these remote bands upon the plains in pursuit of buffalo,
has ever been deemed by the Blackfeet a signal infringement of their rights, and fierce battles often result from
the conflicting claims  of the rival nations.   Although
other game abounds in the mountain districts inhabited
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by some of these tribes, nothing possesses such attractions
for them as the-buffalo hunt, and they are ready to incur
any peril rather than relinquish this favorite pursuit.
The Nez-Percds or Pierced-Nose Indians, the Flat heads, and the Pends Oreilles or Hanging Ears, of the
Rocky Mountains and their western slopes, and of the
plains drained by the sources of the Columbia, are at continual and deadly feud with the Blackfeet. These latter
seem, indeed, to have their hands against every man, with
the exception of their kindred Arapahoes, to whom they
make periodical visits of friendship.
Of the skirmishes between war-parties of these hostile
tribes, their forays into each other's territory, and the exploits of their most redoubted warriors, many striking tales
are told by the traders and trappers who visit these remote
regions.   In Mr.  Irving's admirable publication, "The
Adventures of Captain Bonneville, U. S. A., in the Rocky
Mountains and the Far West," arranged in the form of
interesting and pleasing narrative, from the captain's manuscripts and other sources, are details of various incidents
illustrative of the character and habits of these tribes, so
told as to attract the attention of the reader, and to leave
a vivid impression upon the mind.
In Cox's "Adventures on the Columbia River," frightful descriptions are given of the cruelties practised by the
Flat-heads upon some Blackfoot prisoners who had fallen
into their hands. Such proceedings appeared utterly variant from the natural disposition of those Indians, and
only serve to show to what lengths usage, a spirit of retaliation, and natural antipathy, may carry a people whose
general character is gentle and kindly.
The author particularly describes the endurance of one
of the Blackfoot braves, upon whom every species of torture was tried in vain attempts to overcome his fortitude.
He exulted over his tormentors, vaunting his own deeds
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in the following language: "' My heart is strong. -  You
do not hurt me. - You can't hurt me. - You are fools.
You do not know how to torture. - Try it again.- I don't
feel any pain yet. - We torture your relations a great deal
better, because we make them cry out loud, like little children. -  You are not brave; you have small hearts, and
you are always afraid to fight.' Then, addressing one in
particular, he said,'It was by my arrow you lost your
eye;' upon which the Flat-head darted at him, and with a
knife, in a moment, scooped out one of his eyes; at the
same time cutting the bridge of his nose nearly in two.
This did not stop him: with the remaining eye he looked
sternly at another, and said,' I killed your brother, and I
scalped your old fool of a father.' The warrior to whom
this was addressed instantly sprung at him, and severed
the scalp from his head."
The chief restrained this enraged warrior from terminating the sufferings of the victim by a blow; but was,
himself, immediately afterwards so exasperated by his
taunts and insults, that he could not withhold his own
hand, and shot the mangled wretch through the heart.
Of the Crow character, a very singular trait is exhibited.
in an adventure of a noted trapper, Mr. Robert Campbell,
as given in Mr. Irving's work, above mentioned. This
!traveller was upon one occasion hospitably entertained by
the celebrated Crow chief, Arapooish, in whose tent he had
deposited a large bundle of valuable furs.  The greater
part of his stores was buried in the ground for safety.
The old chief ascertained, during Campbell's stay, that
his guest had made a " cache," (the French term applied
to such places of concealment,) and that some of his own
,tribe had discovered and plundered it. The number of
beaver-skins stolen was one hundred and fifty.
Arapooish immediately assembled all the men of the
village, and after making a speech, in which he vehemently
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declaimed against their bad faith towards the stranger,
vowed that he would neither touch food nor drink until
complete restoration should be made. He then took his
sea; with the trapper in his wigwam, and awaited the result, desiring his companion to make no remarks if the
skins were brought, but simply to keep account of them.
More than a hundred of the stolen articles were brought
in —before night, but notwithstanding Campbell's expressions
of satisfaction, the old Indian would neither eat nor drink
throughout that night and the next day. The skins'slowly
made their appearance, "one and two at a time throughout the day; until but a few were wanting to make the
number complete. Campbell was now anxious to put an
end to this fasting of the old chief, and again declared
that he was perfectly satisfied. Arapooish demanded what
number of skins were yet wanting. On being told, he
whispered to some of his people, who disappeared. After
a time the number were brought in, though it was evident
they were not any of the skins that had been stolen, but
others gleaned in the village."
Arapooish then broke his fast, and gave his guest much
wholesome advice, charging him always, when he visited
a Crow village to put himself and his goods under protection of the chief.  Of Campbell's conclusions upon  the
character of the race, Mr. Irving says: "He has ever since
maintained that the Crows are not so black as they have
been painted.' Trust to their honor,' says he,' and you
are safe; trust to their honesty, and they will steal the
hair off your head.'"
The manner in which old Arapooish enlarged upon the
natural advantages of the Crow country in conversation
with Mr. Campbell is too quaint to be passed over. He
averred that it was located in precisely the right spot for
the security of all that was desirable in life, and the avoidance of its usual trials and wants. He enlarged upon the
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cold of the north, where dogs must take the place of horses;
and upon the barren and arid plains of the south, replete with
pestilential vapors. At the west, he said: "On the Columbia, they are poor and dirty, paddle about in canoes, and
eat fish. Their teeth are worn out; they are always taking fish-bones out of their mouths. Fish is poor food.
"To the east, they dwell in villages; they live well;
but they drink the muddy water of the Missouri -that is
bad. A Crow's dog would not drink such water.
"About the forks of the Missouri is a fine country; good
water; good grass; plenty of buffalo.  In summer it is
almost as good as the Crow country; but in winter it is
cold; the grass is gone; and there is no salt-weed for the
horses." -  (Bonneville's Adventures.)
Then followed an enthusiastic enumeration of the blessings enjoyed by the Crows; the variety of climate; the
abundance of game; the winter resources for man and
beast; and the relief from the heat of summer afforded by
the cool breezes and fresh springs of the mountains.
In a former chapter, we have devoted some little space
to illustrations, firom Mr. Catlin's letters, of the strength of
parental affection among the Western Indians, particularly
the Sioux: in the work last cited are numerous anecdotes
exemplifying, in a manner equally forcible, the enduring
and powerful attachment often noticeable between the
sexes; and this not only among the Indians alone, but
where they have intermarried with whites.
One of these instances was as follows: "Among the free
trappers in the Rocky Mountain band was a spirited young
Mexican, named Loretto; who, in the course of his wanderings, had ransomed a beautiful Blackfoot girl from a
band of Crows, by whom she had been captured. He made
her his wife, after tl Indian style, and she had followed
his fortunes ever since with the most devoted affection."
The company, one day, fell in with a numerous party
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of Blackfoot warriors, and the preliminary steps were taken
for a parley, and for smoking the calumet, in token of
peace. At this moment, Loretto's Indian wife perceived
her own brother among the band.  "Leaving her infant
with Loretto, she rushed forward and threw herself upon
her brother's neck; who clasped his long-lost sister to his
heart, with a warmth of affection but little compatible with
the reputed stoicism of the savage."
Meanwhile, Bridger, one of the trapper leaders, approaching the Blackfeet, from an imprudent excess of caution, cocked his rifle just as he come up with them. The
Indian chief, who was in the act of proffering a friendly
salutation, heard the click of the lock, and all his native
fury and suspicion were instantly aroused.   He sprang
upon Bridger, forced the muzzle of the rifle into the ground,
where it was discharged, knocked him  down, seized his
horse, and rode off. A general, but disorderly fight ensued, during which Loretto's wife was hurried away by her
relations.
The noble young Mexican saw her in their power, vainly
entreating permission to return, and, regardless of the danger incurred, at once hastened to her side, and restored
the child to its mother. The Blackfoot braves admired his
boldness, and respected the confidence which he.ad reposed in them by thus venturing in their midst, but they
were deaf to all the prayers of himself and his wife that
they might remain together. He was dismissed unharmed,
but the woman and child were detained.
Not many months afterwards the faithful Loretto procured his discharge from the company in whose service he
was enlisted, and followed his wife to her own country. A
happy reunion took place, and the loving pair took up
their residence at a trading-house among the Blackfeet,
where the husband served as interpreter between the Indians and white traders.
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Another tale of Indian love and rivalry is that of a Blackfoot warrior, named Kosato, residing among the Nez-Perc6s
when that tribe was visited by Bonneville.
He had fallen in love with the wife of a chief of his own
tribe, and his affection was returned. According to his
own positive asseverations, although they "talked together
-laughed together -  and were always seeking each other's
society," they were "as innocent as children."
The jealousy of the husband was at last completely
aroused, and he visited his vengeance upon both the offending parties. The wife was cruelly beaten, and sternly bid
not even to bestow a look upon Kosato, while the youth
himself suffered the loss of all his horses, upon which the
chief had seized. Maddened with love and revenge, Kosato waited his opportunity; slew the object of his hate;
and hastened to entreat his mistress to fly with him. At
first she only wept bitterly, but finally, overcome by his
persuasions, and the promptings of her own affection, she
forsook her people, and sought, with her lover, an asylum
among the peaceful and kindly Nez-Percds.
Kosato was foremost in rousing up a warlike and manly
spirit among the tribe of his adoption, but he found the
disposition of his new allies far different from that of the
hot-blooded Blackfeet and Crows.  "They are good and
kind," said he to Bonneville; "they are honest; but their
hearts are the hearts of women."
From these and numberless similar tales, it is sufficiently
evident that the cloak of reserve in which the Indian wraps
himself from the scrutiny of strangers, covers passions and
affections as fiery and impetuous as are to be witnessed in
more demonstrative races.
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CHAPTER V.
TRIBES ON THE COLUMBIA AND ITS TRIBUTARIES. - THE NEZ-PERCES. -
THEIR RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. - THE WALLA-WALLAS. - THE CHI NOOKS. - MODE OF FLATTENING THE HEAD. - THE BOTOQUE. - CA NOES OF THE TRIBES ON THE LOWER WATERS OF THE COLUMBIA.
-FISHING. -HOUSES OF TIlE FLAT-HEADS.
THE principal tribe dwelling within the vast amphitheatre
drained by the Kooskooske, westward from the Blackfoot
country, and across the Rocky Mountains, is that of the
Nez-Percds or Pierced-Nose Indians. Proceeding down
the river, we find numerous tribes, known, collectively, as
Flat-heads, although the physical peculiarity from which
they derive their name is by no means universal.
Upon the main southern branch, the Lewis Fork of the
Columbia, or Snake river, dwell the Shoshonees, or Snake
Indians, a race perhaps more widely disseminated than any
other of the prsent descendants of the North American
aborigines.
The Nez-Percds are, as mentioned in a preceding chapter, a quiet, inoffensive people, although, when fairly
aroused, they are not wanting in courage and efficiency.
Their susceptibility to religious impressions is remarkable,
and their patient reliance upon and sincere invocations to
the Great Spirit, in times of want or danger, might shame
the most enlightened nation.
In a time of great scarcity Captain Bonneville fell in
with a party of these Indians, in a state of the utmost destitution.  They were subsisting upon wild rose-buds, roots,
and other crude and innutritious food, and their only
weapon was a single spear. With this they finally set out,
on horseback, upon what appeared to the whites an utterly hopeless expedition in search of game. They rode
off, however, with cheerful confidence that their prayers
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would now be heard by the Great Spirit. The undertaking was successful, and the poor Indians freely shared
the meat which they had secured among  the hungry
whites.
The kind-hearted captain, from long observation of their
character, became more and more enthusiastic in his admiration of the simplicity, benevolence, and piety of the tribe.
Some rude conceptions of Christian doctrines and observances had, in earlier times, been disseminated among them,
and they eagerly listened to such instruction upon these
topics as Captain Bonneville was enabled to convey. In
his own words:  "Simply to call these people religious,
would convey but a faint idea of the deep hue of piety and
devotion which pervades their whole conduct. Their honesty is immaculate, and their purity of purpose, and their
observance of the rites of their religion, are most uniform
and remarkable. They are certainly more like a nation of
saints than a horde of savages."
There are two tribes of the Pierced-Nose Indians, the
upper and the lower: the first of these is that to which
particular allusion has heretofore been made in connection
with Blackfoot hostilities. The Indians of the lower tribe
subsist upon fish, and upon ~deer, elk, and other game of
their own country.
Bonneville gives them almost as good a character as their
brethren, the upper tribe, pronouncing them "one of the
purest-hearted people on the face of the earth." Other
traveller      s and traders,  who,   probably in consequence    of
their own unscrupulous villany, have experienced different
treatment at the hands of these Indians, naturally enough
set them down as dishonest and inhospitable. As one
instance of their generosity and kind-heartedness: the
captain's horse was recognized by one of the tribe as having formerly been stolen from himself. He proved ownership incontestably, but voluntarily relinquished his claim,
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saying: "You got him in fair trade- you are more in
want of horses than I am: keep him; he is yours he
is a good horse; use him well."
Farther westward, upon  the banks of the Columbia,
below the mouth of the Lewis Fork, are found the Walla wallas; they are not unlike the Pierced-Noses in general
appearance, language, and habits.  They are kind towards
strangers, and in their deportment exhibit great decency
and decorum. They have plenty of horses, and maintain
the same border warfare with the Shoshonecs that their
neighbors farther up the river are constantly waging with
the Blackfeet.  The cause of hostility is similar, viz: a claim
of right of hunting within the hostile territory; in the one
case, for the buffalo; in the other, for the black-tailed deer.
Passing over the Spokans, Cootonais, Chaudieres, Pointed Hearts, &c., &c., we will describe a little more at large
the. Chinooks, Flat-heads in reality, as in name, who dwell
about the lower portions of the Columbia. The horrible
deformity of the skull, which constitutes their chief physical peculiarity, is produced by pressure upon the forehead
of the infant while the bone is soft and pliable. The child
is stretched upon its back, after the usual Indian fashion,
and a bit of board or bark is so secured by strings that it
can be tightened at pleasure, creating a steady pressure
until the head is so flattened that a straight line can be
drawn from the tip of the nose to the unnatural apex. The
operation occupies from a few weeks to a year, or more, at
the end of which time the skull is hardened, and never
thereafter resumes its natural shape. The thickness of the
broad ridge at the back of the head is little over an inch.
This extensive displacement of the brain does not, as far
as travellers have observed, effect any noticeable change
in the faculties of the mind. It is an unaccountable custom, and is persisted in as being an improvement upon
nature; perhaps from the same ideal that suggested the
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retreating forehead characteristic of the ancient sculptures
of Egypt and Central America. Various tribes and nations
of America were formerly in the habit of flattening the
head, who have long since ceased so to mar their fair proportions. Even in South America, asfwe shall see hereafter, skulls are still found bearing evident marks of this
hideous distortion.
Exclusive of the head, there is little particularly noticeable about the personal appearance of the Indians of the
lower Columbia. The description given of them, particularly of their women, is by no means attractive. It would
seem, from one of Alr. Catlin's illustrations, that a singular
custom, generally considered as peculiar to the Brazilian
Botocudos, is occasionally observable among them. He
gives a sketch of a woman whose under-lip is pierced, and
the aperture filled with a large wooden plug or button
(termed the "botoque" in South America).
Their most successful advance in the arts, is seen in the
manufacture of their canoes. These, according to the description given in the history of Lewis and Clarke's travels,
are often "upwards of fifty feet long, and will carry from
eight to ten thousand pounds weight, or from twenty to
thirty persons.  ~  ~  They are cut out of a single trunk
of a tree, which is generally white cedar, though the fir
is sometimes used.  ~  ~  When they embark, one Indian sits in the stern, and steers with a paddle; the others
kneel in pairs in the bottom of the canoe, and, sitting
on their heels, paddle over the gunwale next to them. In
this way they ride with perfect' safety the highest waves,
and venture without the least concern in seas where other
boats and seamen could not live an instant. They sit
quietly and paddle, with no other movement, except when
any large wave throws the- boat on her side, and to the
eye of the spectator she seems lost: the man to windward then steadies her by throwing his body towards
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the upper side, and, sinking his paddle deep into the waves,
appears to catch the water, and force it under the boat,
which the same stroke pushes on with great velocity."
They subsist principally upon fish, in taking which they
are very expert. Their nets are made of silk-grass, or of
the fibrous bark of the white cedar, as are also the lines
used for angling. The hooks are procured from white
traders, but in earlier times were manufactured from bone.
Their houses are described as large and commodious: some
of them are said by Cox to be "upwards of ninety feet
long, and thirty to forty broad." The size of the beams
used in the construction of these edifices, as well as that of
the trunks of trees worked into canoes, is almost incredible, considering the miserable tools and implements in
their possession previous to European intercourse.
Their household furniture and utensils are rude and
simple; in their primitive condition they boiled their fish
in kettles of cedar wood, by means of heated stones thrown
into the water. The fire-place is a hole sunk in the floor,
to the depth of about twelve inches, under the aperture in
the roof left for the escape of smoke.
CHAPTER VI.
THE SHOSHONEES, OR SNAKE INDIANS.-THE SHOSHOKOES, OR ROOT  DIGGERS. - EXTENT OF COUNTRY OCCUPIED BY THE SNAKES.  THE CAMANCHES: THEIR HORSEMANSHIP, MODE OF LIFE, DWELL  INGS, ETC.-THE PAWNEE PICTS.-THE NABAJOS AND MOQUES.
UTNDER various names, and presenting a great variety
in habits and appearance, according to the nature of the
country they inhabit, the great race of Shoshonees is found
scattered over the boundless wilderness, from Texas to the
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Columbia.  Their territory is bounded on the north and
west by that of their hereditary enemies, the Blackfeet
and Crows, the tribes allied to the great Dacotah or Sioux
family, and the  Indians removed westward  from  the
United States.
Those who dwell amid the rugged and inhospitable regions of the great Rocky Mountain chain, known as Shoshokoes or Root-Diggers, are the most destitute and miserable portion of all the North American tribes. They have
no horses, and nothing but the rudest' native implements
for securing game. They are harmless, and exceedingly
timid and shy, choosing for their dwellings the most remote and unexplored retreats of the mountains, whither
they fly in terror at the approach of strangers, whether
whites or Indians.  "These forlorn beings," says Irving,
"forming a mere link between human nature and the
brute, have been looked down upon with pity and contempt by the Creole trappers, who have given them the
appellation of' les dignes de pitie,' or' the objects of pity.'
They appear more worthy to be called the wild men of the
mountains."
Although living in a climate where they experience
great severity of cold, these miserable people are very
insufficiently protected either by clothing or comfortable
huts. Of a party seen by Bonneville upon the plain below Powder River, that traveller remarks: "They live
without any further protection from the inclemency of the
season, than a sort of break-weather, about three feet high,
composed of sage, (or wormwood,) and erected around
them in the shape of a half-moon." This material also
furnishes them with fuel. Many were seen carrying about
with them a slow match, made of twisted bark.  "Whenever they wished to warm themselves, they would gather
together a little wormwood, apply the match, and in an
instant produce a cheering blaze."
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They live principally, as their name implies, upon roots
and a preparation of certain wild seeds; but by the aid of
their dogs -  a lean and miserable breed- they catch rabbits
and other small animals. They occasionally take antelopes by tlhe following singular  contrivance: An  enclosure of several acres in extent is formed by piling up a
row of wormwood brush, only about three feet in height.
Into this the game is decoyed or driven and the entrance
closed. The men then pursue the animals on foot, round
and round the confined space, (fresh recruits entering upon
the duty as the first become weary), until they are completely tired down, and can be killed with clubs. The
antelopes never attempt to leap over the frail barrier.
Those Shoshokoes who live in the vicinity of streams,
add to their supplies by fishing, and some of them are
sufficiently skilful and provident to cure stores of fish for
winter; but in general the season of scarcity finds them
wretchedly unprovided. "They were destitute," says Bonneville, of a party encountered by him, "of the necessary
covering to protect them from the weather; and seemed
to be in unsophisticated ignorance of any other propriety
or advantage in the use of clothing. One old dame had
absolutely nothing on her person but a thread round her
neck, from which was pendent a solitary bead."
The Shoshonees, as distinct from the Root-Diggers,
although their condition varies greatly with their locality,
are a free, bold, and wandering race of hunters. In the
buffalo plains their life is much like that of the Sioux,
Blackfeet, Crows, &c.; while in the less favored districts,'
among the mountains and deserts, they approach more
nearly to their kindred Shoshokoes. The country inhabited by them is of such vast extent, and has been so imperfectly explored, that material for accurate classification of
the Snake tribes is entirely wanting. Very interesting
descriptions and anecdotes of these' Indians are to be
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found in Colonel Fr4mont's notes of, travel and explorations; in Mr. Schoolcraft's valuable compend of Indian
historical and statistical information; and in the entertaining adventures of Captain Bonneville.
The whole region tenanted by the roving tribes who are
included under the general title of Snakes, is thus laid
down in Schoolcraft's above-mentioned publication: exclusive of those residing upon the Snake river, "they embrace all the territory of the Great South Pass, between
the Mississippi valley and the waters of the Columbia, by
which the land or caravan communication with Oregon
and California is now, or is destined hereafter, to be maintained.  *  *  Under the name of Yampatick-ara, or RootEaters, and Bonacks, they occupy, with the Utahs, the vast
elevated basin of the Great Salt Lake, extending: south
and west to the borders of New Mexico and California.
Information recently received denotes that the language
is spoken by bands in the gold-mine region of the Sacramento."
The most noted branch of the whole family is that of the
Camanches, "who have descended eastwardly into the Texan plains at unknown periods of their history." Analogy
in language is all that attests the former unity of this
nation with the Shoshonees.
The Camanches inhabit a country where bisons and
wild horses abound, and their general habits and mode of
life are consequently very similar to those of the western
Sioux and other races of the prairies. As bold and skilful riders, they are said to have no equals, at least in North
America; some of their feats of horsemanship appear
almost supernatural to a stranger. One of the most singular of these is that of throwing the whole body upon
one side of the horse, so as to be entirely shielded from
the missile of an enemy, with:the exception of the heel, by
which- they still maintain their hold, and are enabled to
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regain their seat in an instant. The manner in which this
seemingly impossible position is retained, was ascertained
by Mr. Catlin to be as follows: "I found," says he, "on
examination, that a short hair halter was passed around
under the neck of the horse, and both ends tightly braided
into the mane, on the withers, leaving a loop to hang under the neck, and against the breast, which, being caught
up in the hand, makes a sling into which the elbow falls,
taking the weight of the body on the middle of the upper
arm. Into this loop the rider drops suddenly and fearlessly, leaving his heel to hang over the back of the horse,
to steady him, and also to restore him when he wishes to
regain his upright position on the horse's back."
The Indian rider, as he sweeps, at fill speed, past his
enemy, in this unnatural attitude, is said to manage his
long lance, and his bow and arrow, with nearly the same
facility as if fairly mounted. He will discharge his arrow
over the back of the horse, or even his neck! The Camanches, from constant horseback exercise, have lost that
agility and grace which characterize the North American
Indian in his natural state.  They are awkward and ungainly in their movements when on foot, but when mounted
upon the animals that have become almost a part of themselves, nothing can exceed the lightness and freedom of
their posture and movements. The wild horses are taken,
as usual, by the lasso, and are at first disabled by being
"choked down," as it is termed. When the hunter has
thus conquered and enfeebled his prize, he proceeds to tie
his fore feet together, and, loosening the noose about his
neck, takes a turn with it about the lower jaw, and completes the subjection of the animal by closing his eyes
with his hand and breathing in his nostrils. After this, little
difficulty is experienced; the horse submits to be mounted,
and is soon entirely under the control of his tormentor.
The Indians are severe and cruel riders, and the ease of
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supplying the loss of a horse prevents that regard for his
safety and care for his welfare elsewhere furnished by selfinterest.
The Camanches are essentially a warlike race, and the
whole history of the settlement and occupation of Texas
is replete with tales of their courage and prowess.   There
seems to be reason to fear that difficulties will still continue to arise between them and the white settlers of the
country until the whole tribe, like so many in the older
states, shall be driven from their territory or exterminated.
Almost the only man who has ever been able to command
their enduring admiration and respect, and to exercise a
parental control over these wild rovers of the west, is the
redoubted champion of Texan independence, General
Houston. Numberless tales are told of the influence of
his presence, or even his name, in quieting border troubles between whites and Indians. No one knows the
Camanches better than Houston, and he gives abundant
testimony to many excellent traits in their character.
According to his representations, the generality of disturbances which have arisen upon their borders are attributable rather to injustice and violence, on the part of the
white settlers, than to the native ferocity or treachery of
the Indians.
The dwellings of the Camanches, like those of other
prairie tribes, consist of tents of buffalo-skins, and are
transported from place to place in the manner described
in a former chapter. The tribe next adjoining them, the
Pawnee Picts, living about the extreme head-waters of the
Red River, on the borders of the Rocky Mountains, inhabit wigwams of poles thatched with prairie grass, of
very picturesque form and arrangement.   These  people
are said to be entirely distinct from the Pawnees on the
Platte river; they are in a state of friendly' alliance with the
Camanches. Unlike the latter tribe, they cultivate large
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quantities of maize, beans, pumpkins, &c., and, what with
their abundant supply of game, enjoy no little prosperity.
In New Mexico, besides the Utahs, Apaches, and other
Indian tribes heretofore mentioned, are two very singular
communities: the Nabajos and Moques. The first of these
lead a pastoral life between the rivers San Juan and Gila.
They are spoken of in a communication of Governor
Charles Bent, in 1846, as "an industrious, intelligent, and
warlike tribe of Indians, who cultivate the soil, and raise
sufficient grain and fruits of various kinds for their own
consumption. They are the owners of large flocks and
herds of cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and asses.  It is estimated, that the tribe possesses 30,000 head of horned
cattle, 500,000 head of sheep, and 10,000 head of horses,
mules, and asses. * * They manufacture excellent coarse
blankets, and coarse woollen goods for wearing apparel.
* *  *  They have in their possession many men, women
and children, taken from the settlements of this territory,
whom they hold and treat as slaves.  *  *  The Moques
are neighbors of the Nabajos, and live in permanent villages, cultivate grain and fruits, and raise all the varieties
of stock." - (Schoolcraft's Historical and Statistical Information concerning the Indian Tribes.)
The Nabajos number from seven to fourteen thousand
souls; the Moques between two and three thousand. The
two tribes are at enmity with each other, and the Moques
have been, by this cause, much reduced.
The following description of the personal appearance
of these Indians, (their names being corrupted into "Nabbehoes," and "Mawkeys,") is cited by McIntosh, in his
" Origin of the North American Indians," from the Western Democrat: we cannot undertake to vouch for its accuracy. After describing the location of the smaller tribes,
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the article proceeds: "Not far distant from the Mawkeys,
and in the same range of country, is another band of the
same description, called Nabbehoes, a description of either
of these tribes, will answer for both. They have been
described to the writer by two men in whose veracity the
fullest confidence may be placed: they say the men are
of the common stature, with light flaxen hair, light-blue
eyes, and that their skin is of the most delicate whitenless."
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OF TIHE
UNITED STATES AND TERRITORY.
ACCORDING to the census taken, under the agency of
Mr. Henry R. Schoolcraft, in pursuance of the act of Congress passed in March, 1847, the following returns were
made of the numbers of the Indian tribes subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States.
The grand total was set down at 388,229, and about
30,000 more was considered a probable estimate of tribes.
inhabiting districts yet unexplored.  The "Ultimate Consolidated Tables of the Indian Population of the United:
States," containing the results of the proposed investigation, are given substantially as follows, in Schoolcrafts
"History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes
of the United States:"
1. "Tribes whose vital and industrial statistics have been taken
by Bands and Families, under the direction of the act of
Congress," including Iroquois, Algonquins, Appalachians,.and
Eastern Sioux................    34,70i
2. "Tribes of the new States and Territories, South and West,
including the acquisitions from Mexico, under the treaty of
Guadalupe Hidalgo," viz.: of Texas, New Mexico, Californila,
Oregon, Utah, and Florida, and consisting of Camanches,
Apaches, Utahs, Shoshonees or Snake Indians, &c...          183,042
(553)
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3. Tribes between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, to the
northward of Texas and New Mexico, viz.:
Assinaboins, south of lat. 49 deg..  1,000
Arapahoes,....           3,500
Absarokes, or Crows,... 4,000
Aurickarees,......         1,500
Blackfeet,.........13,000
Blood Indians (few reach the Missouri), 500
Brothertons,........          609
Cherokees........         26,000 
Creeks,.......... 25,000 
Chickasaws,....            5,000 
Choctaws,....16,000 
Cheyennes,......            22,500
Caddoes,..........          2,000
Chippewas,west,and Red River, north,l 1,500
Cayugas and Iroquois, west,.       30
Delawares,.........            1,500
Foxes and Sacs,.....        2,400
Gros Ventres,........        3,000
Kiowas,........          2,000
Kickapoos,........          600
Kaiizas,.........          1,600
Kaskask ias,........          200
Menomonies,......           2,500
Mandans, (?)........          300 
Minitarees,........          2,500 
Within the old States are the following remnants of ancient tribes:
Maine,........... 956  Virginia - Nottoways, mixed with
Massachusetts,....   847 t  the African race,....  40
Rhode Island - Narragansetts,.. 420  South Carolina - Catawbas,..   200
Connecticut - Mohegans,..   400  North Carolina - Catawbas,.. 250
New York, besides the Iroquois, be-      Together with Cherokees included in for fore enumerated,....   40  mer table.
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Miamies,                           500
Missouris,                         500
Munsees,                           200
Ottawas, West, 300
Otoes,                              500
Omahas, 2,000
Ogellalis                         1,500
Pawnees: 17,000
Poncas,                             %00
Pottawatomies,                    3,200
Peorias,                            150
Piankeshaws, 200
CLuappas, 400
Sliawanees, 1,600
S'oux of the Mississippi (not enume rated in No. 1), 9,000
Sioux of the Missouri (not enume rated in No. 1),                5,500
Stotkbridges, 400
Seminoles, 1,500
Swan Creek and Black River Chip pewas (not enumerated in the Al gonquin group), 200
Tetans,                           3,000
Weas, 250
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TRIBES OF THE WEST INDIES,
AND THE NORTHERN PROVINCES OF SOUTH AMERICA.
CHAPTER I.
INDIANS FIRST SEEN BY COLUMBUS. - LANDING AT GUANAHANI.-NA TIVES OF CUBA. -EMBASSY TO THE GRAND KHAN! -DISCOVERY OF
HAYTI, AND INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES.-GUACANAGARI. WRECK OF THE ADMIRAL'S VESSEL. - HONESTY AND HOSPITALITY
OF THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. - TRADE FOR GOLD. - BUILDING OF
TIlE FORTRESS OF LA NAVIDAD. - DEPARTURE OF TIlE NINA. - THE
CIGUAYANS. - DISORDERS AND DESTRUCTION OF THE GARRISON AT
LA NAVIDAD.- FORT OF ST. THIOMAS.
AT the time of the discovery of the New World by
Columbus, the larger West India islands and the Bahamas were, for the most part, inhabited by a kindly and
simple-hearted race. Although living in the most primitive state of nature, unclothed, and possessed of only the
rudest weapons and implements, they do not appear to
have been deficient in intellectual capacity. The delightful climate of their country, and the spontaneous fruitfulness of the soil, removed the ordinary incentives to labor
and ingenuity. The rudest huts of branches, reeds, and
palm-leaf thatch, with hammocks, (originally the Indian
word "hamacs ")slung between the posts, fully sufficed
for their dwellings. Protection from the rain was alone
necessary.
(555) 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
They were of good figure and proportion, their foreheads
were high and well formed, and the general cast of their
countenance and conformation of their features agreeable
and regular.
The great admiral landed, for the first time since the
days of "the Northmen" that any European had visited
the Western World, at Guanahani, San Salvador, or Cat
Island, on the 12th of October, 1492. The shore was
lined with naked savages, who fled at the approach of the
boats; but watching from a distance the incomprehensible
ceremony of taking possession, and the religious exercises
of thanksgiving, performed by the strangers, fear soon
gave place to reverential curiosity. If any thing could
excite their wonder in a higher degree than the majestic
approach of the ships, it might well be the splendor of
the Spanish dress and arms, the strange complexion, and
the thick beards of the strangers who arrived in them.
The Indians soon began to gather round the little band,
throwing themselves upon the earth in token of submission and respect, and worshipping the Spaniards as gods
or divine messengers. As nothing but kindness appeared
in the demeanor of the strangers, the natives grew more
familiar, and, with unbounded admiration, touched and
examined their dress and beards.
Columbus still further won the good-will of the islanders by a judicious distribution of such brilliant beads and
toys as ever attract the eye of the savage. Nothing delighted them so much as hawks'-bells, of whose pleasant
tinkling, when suspended from their arms and necks, they
were never weary. The next day, laying aside all fear,
the Indians came out to the ships, swimming or paddling
in their canoes. They brought such little articles of trade
as they possessed; balls of cotton yarn, parrots, and cassava bread (made from the yuca root); eager to traffic,
upon any terms, for European commodities. Golden orna
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TRIBES OF THE WEST INDIES, ETC.
ments worn in the noses of some of them at once aroused
the cupidity of the Spaniards, who eagerly bought them
up, and made inquiry, by signs, as to whence the material
was brought. This was explained to be at the southward.
In his further cruise among the Bahamas, in the vain
search for gold, Columbus pursued the most humane and
gentle policy towards the natives, and their gratitude and
delight at his caresses and presents knew no bounds.
Equally generous, they were ever ready to proffer to the
Spaniards all their little wealth of cotton, fruits, and tame
parrots. Seven of the natives of Guanahani were taken
on board the vessels upon the departure from that island.
The admiral had no doubt but that he had reached the
islands of the Asiatic coast, and, in accordance with this
mistake, bestowed the epithet of Indians upon the inhabitants. As he came in sight of Cuba, he supposed that he
had at least reached Cipango.  This opinion was finally
changed, from a misapprehension of communications firom
the natives on board, to a firm belief that this was the
main land of the continent of Asia, an error of which
Columbus was never disabused.
The inhabitants appeared rather more advanced in the
arts than those before seen, but, to the intense disappointment of all on board the vessels, none of them were possessed of any gold.   Two  ambassadors were  sent by
Columbus to explore the interior, and to visit the court of
the prince of the country, whom his imagination led him
to conclude must be none other than the Grand Khan! A
rude Indian village, of about one thousand inhabitants,
naked savwes, like those of the coast, was all that was
discovered by these emissaries. They were received and
entertained with the greatest kindness and reverence, but
were unable to communicate with the natives otherwise
than by signs. The most interesting report made by them
upon their return, was of a custom then unknown to the
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whites, viz.: that of smoking. The name of tobacco,
given by the natives to the cigars which they used, was
ever after applied to the plant.
From Cuba, Columbus took several Indians, men and
women, on board, at his departure, that they might be
taught Spanish, and thereafter serve as interpreters. In
December, he discovered the island of Hayti, named by
him Hispaniola, and landing on the 12th of the month,
he raised a cross in token of taking possession. All the
inhabitants had fled into the interior; but a young female
was taken by some roving sailors, and brought on board.
She was sent on shore with abundant presents of ornaments
and clothing, to give a favorable report of the whites to
her own people. Next day a party was sent to visit the
Indian town upon the bank of the river of Three Rivers.
The town consisted of about one thousand houses, from
which the occupants fled at the sight of the Spaniards.
They were finally reassured, and induced to return. Some
two thousand of them made their appearance, advancing
slowly, with every gesture and expression of humiliation
and                 respect.
The woman whom  the Spaniards had the day before
entertained, had not failed to report magnificent descriptions of her captors and their vessels. The tokens which
she brought back, in the shape of beads, hawks'-bells, &c.,
were yet more convincing evidence of the beneficence and
wealth of the Spaniards. She now came forward, with her
husband, at the head of a throng of Indians, and every
expression of gratitude and good-will was lavished by
them  upon their  guests.   Every thing that the poor
natives possessed was freely at the Spaniards' service.
Columbus writes of these islanders: "True it is that
after they felt confidence and lost their fear of us, they
were so liberal with what they possessed that it would not
be believed by those who had not seen it. If any thing
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TRIBES OF THE WEST INDIES, ETC.
was asked of them, they never said no; but rather gave it
cheerfully, and showed as much amity as if they gave their
- very hearts."
The early voyagers, and all contemporary writers, agree
that this was the character of nearly all the inhabitants of
the West India Islands, with the exception of the Caribs. A
more guileless, innocent, contented race has never existed,
and never were strangers welcomed to a foreign shore with
more genuine and kindly hospitality; but what a return
did they receive for their friendliness and submission!
Coasting along towards the east, Columbus landed at
Acul, and held friendly communion with the inhabitants,
whose first fears were easily dispelled. The same scenes
of mutual presents and hospitalities that characterized the
former landings were here repeated. The whole of that
region of country was under the command of a great
cacique, named Guacanagari, from whom the Spaniards
now, for the first time, received messengers, inviting them
to visit him, and offering various curious presents. Among
these articles were some specimens of rude work in gold.
While pursuing his course eastward, with the intention
of anchoring in a harbor described as near the residence
of the cacique, Columbus had the misfortune to be cast
away upon a sand-bar.   No  shipwrecked mariners ever
received more prompt and efficient relief than was immediately extended by Guacanagari and his subjects. Every
thing was brought to land from the wreck, and guarded
with the most scrupulous honesty. The cacique himself,
with tears in his eyes, came on board the caravel Nina,
whither the admiral and his crew had been obliged to betake themselves, and offered every assistance in his power.
With respect to the goods brought on shore in the
natives' canoes, "there seemed," says Mr. Irving, "even
among the common people, no disposition to take advantage of the misfortune of the strangers. Although they
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beheld what must, in their eyes, have been inestimable
treasures, cast as it were upon their shores, and open to
depredation, yet there was not the least attempt to pilfer,
nor, in transporting the effects from the ship, had they
appropriated the most trifling article; on the contrary, a
general sympathy was visible in their countenances and
actions; and, to have witnessed their concern, one would
have supposed the misfortune had happened to themselves."
The Spaniards, wearied with long and profitless voyaging, now revelled in the enjoyment of true Indian hospitality.  The cacique, who was regarded with the utmost
love and reverence by his subjects, continued his kind
offices, and the people were not behind-hand in following
his example. What delighted the shipwrecked mariners
more than any other circumstance, was the number of gold
ornaments possessed by the natives, and which they were
eager to dispart for any trifle of European manufacture.
Hawks'-bells, above all other articles of use or ornament,
were universally in demand.   "On one' occasion," says
Irving, "an Indian gave half-a-handful of gold dust in exchange for one of these toys, and no sooner was in possession of it, than he bounded away to the woods, looking often
behind him, and fearful that the Spaniard would repent of
having parted so cheaply with such an inestimable jewel."'
The natives  described  th     e  m oun tains of Cibao as the
principal source whence gold was to be obtained. Valuable mines were, indeed, afterwards discovered in that region, although their yield fell far short of the extravagant
anticipations of the Spaniards.
A portion of the crew of the wrecked vessel expressed
a strong desire to remain at Hispaniola until another expedition could be fitted out from Spain, upon the return
of the Nina, and Columbus was not displeased with the
proposition. The Indians were overjoyed at the prospect
of retaining some of the powerful strangers in their island,
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as a protection against the invasions of the dreaded Caribs,
and as security for a future visit from European vessels.
They had seen, with wonder and awe, the terrible effect of
the discharge of artillery, and the admiral had promised
the assistance of his men and weapons in case of any inroad
from an enemy's country.
The little fortress of La Navidad was speedily constructed out of the materials of the stranded vessel, and
fortified with her cannon. The Indians eagerly lent their
assistance in the labor of transportation and building.
Thirty-nine men were chosen, from the numerous volunteers for that service, as a garrison for the fort: to these
Columbus addressed the most earnest exhortations to discretion and kindness in their intercourse with the natives.
His heart might well be touched by the continued courtesy
and affection of Guacanagari, who could not refrain from
tears at parting with his venerated friend.   The  Nina
sailed on the 4th of January, 1493.  Coasting eastward,
the caravel joined company with the Pinta, under Pinzon,
of which no accounts had been for some time received, and
the two vessels passed cape Caboon, and came to anchor in
the bay beyond. Here was seen a tribe of Indians very
different from those of the west end of the island. From
their bold and warlike appearance, their bows and arrows,
clubs, and wooden swords, the Spaniards took them for
Caribs, and, unfortunately, before coming to a friendly
understanding with them, a skirmish took place, in which
two of the Indians were wounded.   Reconciliation and
friendly intercourse succeeded. The tribe proved to be
that of the Ciguayans, a hardy race of mountaineers.  Columbus was particularly struck with the noble demeanor
of the cacique, supposed to be the same afterwards prominent in history as Mayonabex.
Not long after the departure of the admiral from La
Navidad, the Spaniards left at the fort began to give them
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selves up to the most unbounded and dissolute license.
Their savage quarrels among themselves, and the gross
sensuality which characterized their intercourse with the
natives, soon disabused the latter of the sublime conceptions formed by them of the virtues and wisdom of their
guests. With all this mnisrule, the precautions of a military post were utterly neglected, and full opportunity was
given for an attack. The destruction of the fort by the
Carib chief Caonabo, will be found described in a subsequent chapter.
When Columbus returned to Hispaniola, upon his second
voyage, nothing but dismantled ruins marked the spot of
the settlement. Guacanagari and his people described the
attack of Caonabo and his warriors, their own futile attempts to assist the garrison, and the slaughter of the
Spaniards.  Notwithstanding the apparent good  faith of
the cacique, many of the Spaniards began to mistrust his
accounts, and to suspect him of having acted a treacherous part. This suspicion was strengthened by his sudden
departure with several of the female captives brought
away by the admiral from the Caribbee Islands.
The hope of procuring rich treasures of the precious
metals, and the desire of holding in check the warlike
Caonabo, induced Columbus to establish the fortress of St.
Thomas in the province of Cibao. Those stationed at this
remote interior position, in the midst of more hardy and
proud-spirited tribes than those of the coast, collected and
transmitted much curious information concerning native
superstitions, customs, and nationalities. Some crude notions of supernatural influences, apparitions, necromancy,
&c., were entertained by these islanders, in common with
most savage nations. They had also an idea of a future
state of happiness for the good, in which all earthly pleasures should be enjoyed in unalloyed perfection.
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CHAPTER II.
INDIANS OF JAMAICA. - CRUISE ALONG THE SOUTHERN COAST OF
CUBA.- SPEECH OF AN INDIAN COUNSELLOR. -DIFFICULTIES AT
THE FORTRESS OF ST. THOMAS.-ITS SIEGE BY CAONABO.-EF FORTS OF COLUMBUS TO RESTORE ORDER.-GREAT RISING OF THE
INDIANS OF HISPANIOLA. - THEIR DEFEAT. - TRIBUTE IMPOSED. VISIT OF BARTHOLOMEW TO XARAGUA. -FURTHER INSURRECTION
IN THE VEGA.-BOBADILLA AS VICEROY. -CRUELTIES PRACTISED
ON THE INDIANS. -LAS CASAS. -INCIDENTS RELATED BY PURCHAS.
-ADMINISTRATION OF OVANDO.-EXPEDITION AGAINST XARAGUA.
-REDUCTION OF HIGUEY.
IN the month of May, 1494, the island of Jamaica was
first discovered by Columbus.   The  native inhabitants
appeared to be of a very different character from the timid
and gentle islanders with whom former intercourse had
been held. A crowd of canoes, filled with savages gaudily adorned with plumes and paint, opposed the landing
of the Spaniards. These were pacified by the Indian interpreters on board; but upon landing, the next day, the
throng of natives on shore exhibited such decidedly
hostile intentions, that it became necessary to intimidate
them. A few discharges from the Spanish cross-bows
sufficed to put them to flight. The ferocity of a savage
dog, brought on shore by the whites, added greatly to
their terror.
There was no difficulty in allaying the apprehensions
of these Indians, and the usual friendly intercourse was
soon established.   During a cruise along the southern
coast of Cuba, which occupied the succeeding months of
June and July, the islanders seen were as gentle and tractable as those upon the northern shores of the island. The
means of communication now afforded by the Indian interpreters gave new interest to every conference.   The
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
wondering crowd of natives would gather with the most
eager interest around these their fellow-countrymen, to
listen to the tales of gorgeous spectacles and unheard-of
wonders witnessed by themselves in the distant country
of the whites. There was enough of the novel and wonderful before the eyes of the ignorant islanders, in the.
ships, appearance, conduct, and costume of the Spaniards,
to prevent incredulity, as they listened to the narrations
of the interpreters.  The performance of the religious services of the Catholic church, struck the natives with awe,
particularly when the purport of these  ceremonials was
explained to them.   In testimony of their natural intelligence and perceptions of right and wrong, Mr. Irving
gives us, from Herrera, the following speech of an aged
counsellor of one of the Cuban caciques, after witnessing
the celebration of the mass
"When the service was ended, the old man of fourscore,
who had contemplated it with profound attention, approached Columbus, and made him an oration in the Indian manner.
"' This which thou hast been doing,' said he,' is well; for
it appears to be thy manner of giving thanks to God. I
am told that thou hast lately come to these lands with a
mighty force, and hast subdued many countries, spreading
great fear among the people; but be not therefore vainglorious. Know that, according to our belief, the souls
of men have two journeys to perform after they have departed from the body; one to a place dismal and foul, and
covered with darkness, prepared for those who have been
unjust and cruel to their fellow-men; the other pleasant
and full of delight, for such who have promoted peace on
earth. If then thou art mortal, and dost expect to die,
and dost believe that each one shall be rewarded according
to his deeds, beware that thou wrongfully hurt no man, nor
do harm to those who have done no harm to thee.'"
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From Cuba the admiral visited the southern shores of
Jamaica. All the first distrust and opposition of the inhabitants had vanished, and nothing but gentleness and
kindness characterized their demeanor. At one place a
cacique came out to the ship with his whole fanmily, "consisting of his wife, two daughters, two sons, and five brothers. One of the daughters was eighteen years of age,
beautiful in form and countenance; her sister was somewhat younger; both were naked, according to the custom
of the islands, but were of modest demeanor."
This chief professed himself ready to go, with all his
train, in the Spanish vessels, to visit the king and queen
of Spain, and acknowledge himself their vassal, if by so
doing he could preserve his kingdom.
During the absence of Columbus, the dissolute and unprincipled Spaniards at the fortress of St. Thomas, so
grossly abused their power among the natives, that an extensive spirit of hostility was roused up against them.
Caonabo was unwearied in his efforts to excite the other
island caciques to a union against the intruders, and the
faithful Guacanagari alone seems to have been proof against
his persuasions, in revenge for which non-compliance, the
Carib and his brother-in-law, Behechio, committed numberless indignities and injuries upon him and his people.
Serious difficulties soon arose; a number of Spaniards were
put to death by Guatiguana, a subordinate cacique under
the celebrated Guarionex, in punishment for outrages committed upon his people; and Caonabo besieged the garrison at St. Thomas with a force of many thousands of his
warriors. After thirty days of ineffectual attempts to reduce the place, he gave up the undertaking, and drew off
his army. The stratagem by which the person of this
noted chief and warrior was secured by the commandant
at St. Thomas's, will be detailed hereafter. Columbus,
upon his return to Hispaniola, made use of every effort to
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INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
check the ruinous disorders which had become prevalent.
He punished Guatiguana by an invasion of his dominions
and the destruction of no small number of his people. An
interview was then brought about with his superior, Guarionex, a peaceable and well-disposed chief, who readily consented to the establishment of a Spanish fort in the very
heart of his domains.
The crushing system of oppression had now fairly commenced, and was promptly followed up by the shipment
of five hundred Indians to be sold as slaves in Spain.
This was directly the act of Columbus himself, and historians only offer, as his excuse, the argument that such was
the ordinary custom of his age in all wars with savages or
infidels. The interposition of the kind-hearted Isabella,
prevented the consummation of this proposed sale. By
her orders, the prisoners were sent back to their homes,
but, unfortunately, not until the state of affairs upon the
islands was such that the poor Indians might have been
better situated as slaves in Spain.
A general combination of the island chieftains against
the Spaniards finally induced Columbus to commence an
active campaign against them. In the dominions of the
captive, Caonabo, his brother, M1anicaotex, his brother-inlaw, Behechio, and his beautiful wife, Anacaona, were the
most prominent in authority, and the most active in rousing
up hostilities. The Spanish force,consisted of a little over
two hundred men, twenty of whom were mounted, and
twenty blood-hounds, an enemy as novel as terrible to the
naked savages. Guacanagari lent his feeble aid, with that
of his followers. Of the number of the hostile Indians in
the district of the Vega, the historians of the time gave
exaggerated accounts. They speak of an array of one
hundred thousand hostile savages.  Manicaotex was leader
of the united tribes. Near the site of the present town of
St. Jago, a decisive battle was fought, in which the vast
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army of the Indians was utterly routed. The Spanish
commander did not hesitate to divide his little battalion
into several detachments, which fell upon the enemy simultaneously, from different quarters. Torn to pieces by the
savage dogs, trampled down by the cavalry, and unable to
effect any thing in turn against the mail-clad whites, the
poor Indians were overwhelmed with confusion and terror.
The rout was as complete, although the massacre was not
so cruel, as when Pizarro attacked the Peruvian Inca, with
an almost equally disproportionate force.
"The Indians," says Mr. Irving, "fled in every direction, with yells and howlings; some clambered to the top
of rocks and precipices, from whence they made piteous
supplications and offers of complete submission; many
were killed, many made prisoners, and the confederacy
was, for the time, completely broken up and dispersed."
Nearly the whole of Hispaniola was speedily reduced to,
subjection; Behechio and his sister, Anacaona, alone af all
the natives in authority, secluded themselves among the
unsettled wilds at the western extremity of the; island.
All the other caciques made conciliatory overtures, and
submitted to the imposition of a heavy and grievous tribute upon them and their subjects. A hawks'-bell filled
with gold-dust, or twenty-five pounds of cotton, was quarterly required at the hands of every Indian over the age
of fourteen; from the chiefs a vastly larger amount was
collected. The contrast between the former easy and luxurious life of the islanders, their gayety and content, their
simple pleasures, and unfettered liberty, with the galling
servitude and wearisome tasks now imposed, is most touchingly and eloquently described by Irving. Unable to endure the unwonted toil and hopeless labor, the Indians
vainly endeavored to escape to the mountains, and, subsisting upon the crude products of the forest, to evade the
cruelty of their enslavers.  They were hunted out, and
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compelled to return to their homes and to their labors.
The unfortunate Guacanagari, receiving no favor from the
suspicious Spaniards, and being an object of the deepest
hatred to his countrymen for the part he had taken in their
struggle for freedom, died in neglect and wretchedness
among the mountains.
In 1496, Bartholomew, a brother of Columbus, then
exercising the office of adelantado at Hispaniola, visited
Behechio at his remote wester         n     province of Xaraguay.
He was received with hospitality and kindness by this chief
and his sister Anacaona, and entertained in the best manner the country could afford. The object of the expedition was to induce the cacique to comply peaceably with
the Spanish requisitions of tribute. Behechio had learned
by sad experience the power of the European arms, and,
as the adelantado agreed to receive the tribute in such articles as his country produced, instead of gold, he readily
consented. Bartholomew's judicious policy towards these
illustrious islanders gained him their highest esteem. Behechio and his sister paid the tribute required cheerfully
and promptly; and upon the occasion of a visit from the
adelantado to receive it, they both took occasion to visit
the caravel in which he had arrived. Anacaona, especially,
was filled with delight at the sight of the vessel, and at
witnessing the ease and certainty with which its movements
were controlled.
The females of Xaraguay were of most remarkable
beauty, but pree/minent among them was the widow of Caonabo. Her queenly demeanor, grace, and courtesy, won
the admiration of the Spaniards.
In the following year (1497) another insurrection broke
out among tribes of the Vega and the vicinity. The immediate cause of this outbreak was the execution, at the
stake, in accordance with the barbarity and bigotry of the
age, of a number of Indians, for the offence of sacrilege.
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Guarionex, the principal cacique, had been an object of
special interest with the ecclesiastics to whom was comminitted the work of converting the islanders. His easy
and pliable disposition caused him to listen patiently to
their instructions, and to comply with numerous forms of
their enjoining. Some one of the Spaniards having committed an outrage upon his wife, Guarionex refused to listen further to the doctrines of a religion whose professors
were guilty of such villanies. Shortly after this, a chapel
was broken open, and images enshrined within it were destroyed by a number of the natives. For this offence,
those implicated were burned alive, as above mentioned.
The adelantado suppressed the consequent uprising by a
prompt and energetic seizure of the leading chiefs. Two
of these were put to death, but Guarionex and the others
were pardoned.
By the persuasions and influence of the rebellious Roldan, the unfortunate cacique was, in 1498, drawn into a
second conspiracy of the natives. The plot was prematurely developed, and Guarionex fled from the plains of
the Vega into the mountains of Ciguay, and joined his
fortunes to those of the cacique -Iayonabex. This generous and noble chief received him, with his family and a
few followers, under his protection.
From this retreat, with the assistance of Ciguayan warriors, the fugitive was enabled to molest the Spanish settlements of the low country with impunity, until the Adelantado Bartholomew invaded the mountain district, dispersed
the armies of Mayonabex, and took both him and his guest
prisoners. The conqueror was more placable towards a
fallen foe than most of his countrymen, and, upon the sub
mission of the Ciguayans, was ready to accord them protection and favor. Guarionex perished, in 1502, on his
passage for Spain, in the same vessel with Bobadilla and
Roldan.  The ship foundered at sea in a terrible hurricane,
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which arose immediately after the departure from His paniola.
It was under the administration of Bobadilla that the
Indians of Hispaniola were reduced to a more complete
and systematic condition of slavery than before.  They
were regularly parcelled out to the Spanish proprietors
of the mines, by whom they were compelled to labor far
beyond their powers of endurance, and whose wanton cruelties excited the strongest indignation in the mind of the
benevolent Las Casas- one of the few historians of his
age and nation, who possessed the inclination or courage
to paint the cruelties of his countrymen in their true
colors.  This truly benevolent man devoted  the greater
portion of his life to efforts for ameliorating the condition
of the natives of the New World, but in his sympathy
with their sufferings and oppressions, he unfortunately lost
sight of what was due to another scarcely less unfortunate
race. He was among the earliest to advocate the substitution of negro slavery for that of the Indians, under the
impression -doubtless in itself just- that a state of servitude was less intolerable to the one than the other. It
is to Las Casas that we are indebted for the most frightful
detail of wrong and cruelty in the settlement of the West
Indies, that ever disgraced human nature. His descriptions
of the manner in which the native population was annihilated to minister to the luxury and avarice -,nay, far
worse, to the depraved and wanton cruelty of the Spaniards - are frightful in the extreme. We can share in the
honest indignation of old Purchas, from whose " Pilgrimage" we cite the following items
"In the Island Hispaniola the Spaniards had their first
Indian habitations, where their cruelties drove the Indians
to their shifts, and to their weak defence, which caused
those enraged lions to spare neither man, woman, nor
child. -They set up gibbets, and in honor of Christ
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and his twelve apostles (as they said, and could the devil
say worse?) they would both hang and burn them. ~ 
The nobles and commanders they broiled on gridirons,
*'*  they had dogs to hunt them out of their coverts,
which devoured the poor souls: and because sometimes
the Indians, thus provoked, would kill a Spaniard, if they
found opportunity, they made a law that an hundred of
them should for one Spaniard be slain."
He elsewhere remarks:
"Here [ill Cuba] was a cacique named Hathuey, which
called his subjects about him, and showing them a box of
gold, said that was the Spaniards' God, and made them
dance about it very solemnly; and lest the Spaniards
should have it, he hurled it into the river. Being taken
and condemned to the fire, when he was bound to the
stake, a firiar came and preached heaven to him, and the
terrors of hell. Hathuey asked if there were any Spaniards in ieaven; the friar answered, yea, such as were
good. Hathuey replied, he would rather go to hell than
go where any of that cruel nation were. I was once
present, saith Casas, when the inhabitants of one town
brought us forth victuals, and met us with great kindness,
and the Spaniards without any cause slew three thousand
of them, of every age and sex. I, by their counsel, sent
to other towns to meet us, with promise of good dealing;
and two and twenty caciques met us, which the captain,
against all faith, caused to be burned."
In Hispaniola, under the administration of Ovando, successor to Bobadilla, the sufferings and oppressions of the
overtasked natives reached their climax. It would be but
a wearisome repetition of barbarities to enumerate the
wrongs perpetrated against the submissive inhabitants in
the vicinity of the principal Spanish settlements, but the
expedition against the province of Xaraguay merits a more
particular attention. This was in the year 1503. Behe
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chio was dead, but his sister Anacaona still maintained her
influence over the natives of that district.  Upon pretence
of an intended insurrection, Ovando determined to reduce
Xaraguay to a condition as miserable and hopeless as that
of the eastern districts.  He started upon this expedition
with three hundred well-armed infantry, and seventy
mounted men. The army entered the dominions of Anacaona with the appearance of friendship, and the queen,
with her associate caciques, was not backward in rendering
to her visitors all the hospitalities of the country. Troops
of young girls, dancing and waving branches of palm,
ushered them into the principal village, where they were
received and entertained with every token of kindness and
good-will.
It is impossible to conceive of any adequate motion on
the part of the ferocious Ovando for the treacherous cruelty
of his conduct towards his hosts. He affected to believe
that a conspiracy was on foot among the natives, to massacre him and his followers, but, judging from what we
c        an learn of the transaction, there  existed  no possible
g round for such a suspicion.  The course  taken to  avert
the supposed danger was as follows.  All the caciques
were invited to attend, with their people, at a grand festival or exhibition of Spanish martial exercises. When the
unsuspecting Xaraguans had gathered in eager curiosity to
behold the scene, at a given signal, the armed Spaniards
fell upon the crowd, and a scene of horrible carnage ensued. Forty of the chiefs, it is said, were taken prisoners,
and after being subjected to the most cruel torments to
extort from them a confession of guilt, the house where
they were confined was set on fire, and the whole number
perished in the flames.
Anacaona was carried to St. Domingo, tried, adjudged
guilty of an attempt at insurrection, and hanged! Her
subjects were remorselessly persecuted; hunted from their
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retreats among the mountains, slain like wild beasts, or
brought into the most servile and hopeless bondage, they
attempted no resistance, and submitted to the cruel yoke
of their tyrants.
The reduction of the eastern province of Higuey, and
the execution of its noble and gigantic chief CotuLbanama,
completed the Spanish conquests on the island of Hispaniola. The details of the barbarities attendant upon this
last warfare, as given by Las Casas, are too horrible and
disgusting for minute recital. It is sufficient that, not content with the destruction of the conquered people, without
regard to age and sex, the Spaniards tasked their ingenuity,
to devise the most cruel and lingering torments in the murder of their prisoners.
By such a course of atrocities were the West India islands depopulated of their original inhabitants. The summmary with which Purchas concludes his enumeration of
various scenes of Spanish cruelty, is too quaint and forcible
to be omitted.  "But why do I longer trace them in their
bloody steps; seeing our author that relates much more
than I, yet protests that it was a thousand times worse.
*   *  How  may we admire that long-suffering of God,
that rained not a flood of waters, as in Noah's time, or of
fire, as in Lot's, or of stones, as in Joshua's, or some vengeance from heaven upon these models of hell? And how
could hell forbear swallowing such prepared morsels, exceeding the beastliness of beasts, inhumanity of wonted
tyrants, and devilishness, if it were possible, of the devils."
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CHAPTER III.
THE CARIBS. - THEIR ISLANDS FIRST VISITED BY COLUMBUS. - ORI GIN AND LOCATION OF THE RACE. - TOKENS OF CANNIBALISM SEEN
BY THE SPANIARDS. - CRUISE AMONG THE ISLANDS. - DEMEANOR
OF PRISONERS TAKEN. -RETURN TO HISPANIOLA.- DESTRUCTION
OF THE FORTRESS AT THAT ISLAND.-CAPTURE OF CAONABO: HIS
DEATH. -EXPULSION OF THE NATIVES FROM THE CARIBBEE ISL ANDS.
AT the time of the discovery of America by Christopher
Columbus, the fierce and celebrated race of cannibals, which
forms the subject of the present chapter, was principally
located upon the beautiful tropical islands, extending from
Porto Rico to the main land of South America. The terror of their invasions, felt by the more gentle and peaceable natives of the greater Antilles, inspired no little curiosity and interest in the minds of the early voyagers, and
Columbus had promised the assistance of the Spanish power
to check their ravages. Upon his second voyage, in 1493,
the first land made was one of the Caribbean islands, and on
the following day, (November 4th,) a landing was effected
at Guadaloupe. Here the first intercourse took place with
the terrible Caribs.
This singular race of savages, according to tradition,
had its origin upon the continent of North America, among
the mountain districts of the central United States. Perhaps they might have sprung from the same stock as the
warlike Monacans and other savage tribes of the interior,
spoken of by early historians.   "They are said to have
migrated," says Mr. Irving, "from the remote valleys embosomed  in the Appalachian  mountains.   The  earliest
notices we have of them represent them with their weapons in their hands; continually engaged in wars; winning
their way and shifting their abode, until in the course
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of time they found themselves on the extreme end of Florida." Hence they made their way from one island to
another to the southern continent.  "The archipelago extending from Porto Rico to Tobago, was their strong-hold,
and the island of Guadaloupe in a manner their citadel."
Whether the foregoing account of the original derivation of the race be the correct one, it would be difficult to
decide at this distance of time. When first known to Europeans the different nations of Caribs were widely diffused
upon the continent of South America. They were to be
found upon the banks of the Orinoco, where their descendants are living at this day, and, still farther south, in Brazil.
They were every where noted for the same fierce and warlike spirit. Something of the physical characteristics of
the inhabitants of eastern Asia has been observed in the
Caribs and the Guarani tribes who inhabited the country
north of the Amazon. As described by D'Orbigny, the
following peculiarities are noticeable in most of them.
"Complexion yellowish; stature middle; forehead not so
much arched as in other races; eyes obliquely placed, and
raised at the outer angle."
To return to the experience of the discoverer of the New
World at the Caribbee islands. At the landing of the
Spaniards, the  nati ves fled fiom a neighboring village i nto
nird, the interir  order to conciiate them, the visitors fastened hawks'-bells and attractive ornaments to the arms of
some children who had been left behind in the hurry of
flight. The sight of human remains, among other things,
"the head of a young man, recently killed, which was yet
bleeding; and some parts of his body boiling with the
flesh of geese and parrots, and others roasting before the
fire," at once suggested the thought that this must be the
country of the Caribs. Columbus took a number of the
natives prisoners, and carried off several women who had
been held in captivity by the islanders. It appeared that
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most of the men of the island were away upon some warlike excursion.
Pursuing his course towards Hispaniola, or Hiayti, where
the first colony had been planted upon his preceding voyage, Columbus sailed by numerous islands of the Caribbean
group. He landed at Santa Cruz, called Ayay by the Indians, and secured a further number of prisoners. Some
of these were in a canoe, and offered a fierce resistance
when they saw their retreat intercepted by one of the Spanish boats. There were two women of the party, one of
them apparently a female cacique, and these showed no
less valor than the men. They were taken by upsetting
their canoe; but, even in the water, they resisted stoutly
to the last, availing themselves of every point of sunken
rock, where they could obtain a foothold, to discharge their
arrows. One of the men was a son of the queen, and his
"terrible frowning brow, and lion's face," excited the admiration of his captors. The demeanor of the whole party
reminds one strongly of the early descriptions of the Maquas or Mohawks when in captivity.
"When on board," says Irving, "the Spaniards could
not but admire their untamed spirit and fierce demeanor.
Their hair was long and coarse, their eyes encircled with
paint, so as to give, them a hideous expression; they had
bands of cotton bound firmly above and below the muscular parts of the arms and legs, so as to cause them to swell
to a disproportionate size, which was regarded by them as
a great beauty, a custom which prevailed among various
tribes of the new world. Though captives, in chains, and
in the power of their enemies, they still retained a frowning brow and an air of defiance."
Arriving at Hayti, Columbus found the settlement at
La Navidad laid waste and abandoned. Its destruction
was owing to a Carib chief named Caonabo, whose warlike
and commanding nature had gained him unbounded au
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thority over the natives of the island. The fact of his
uniting himself with another race by which his own nation was' regarded with the utmost detestation and dread,
and his attainment of rank and influence under such
circumstances, are suftlicient proofs of his enterprise and
capacity.
The friendly Indian chief Guacanagari had in vain extended his assistance to the little band of Spanish colonists.
Caonabo had heard at his establishment among the mountains of Cibao, of the outrages and excesses committed by
the whites, and during the absence of the admiral, he made
a descent upon the fort. All of the Spaniards perished,
and Guacainagari was wounded in the encounter. As a
further punishment for his espousal of the cause of the detested strangers, his village was destroyed by the revengeful Carib.
Guacanagari and other Hiaytian Indians were taken on
board the Spanish vessels, and, among other proofs of superiority and power, were shown the Carib prisoners, confined in chains. This seemed to affect them more powerfully
than any thing else that they witnessed. These captives
were afterwards sent over to Spain for instruction in the
Spanish language and in the true religion, it being intended
that they should thereafter act as missionaries among their
own savage countrymen.
The circumstances attending the capture of the Spaniards' most dreaded enemy, Caonabo, are too singular and
well attested to be passed over. This was accomplished
by the celebrated Alonzo de Ojeda, commandant of the
fortress of St. Thomas. The Carib chief was able, it is
asserted, to bring no less than ten thousand warriors into
the field, and his personal strength and courage rendered
him no despicable foe in open combat. Ojeda had recourse
to the following stratagem to secure his enemy: He proceeded, accompanied by only ten mounted companions,
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direct to the chiefs encampment, upon pretence of a friend ly mission from the admiral.
The cacique was, after great persuasion, induced to
undertake an expedition to Isabella for the purpose of
peaceful negotiations with Columbus.   Among other in ducements, Ojeda promised him the chapel-bell, as a pres ent.  Accompanied  by a large body of armed warriors,
the party set out for the Spanish settlement. Near the
river Yagui, in the words of Mr. Irving, "Ojeda one day
produced a set of manacles of polished steel, so highly
burnished that they looked like silver. Those he assured
Caonabo were royal ornaments which had come from
heaven, or the Turey of Biscay," (the location of certain
extensive iron manufactories); "that they were worn by
the monarchs of Castile in solemn dances, and other high
festivities, and were intended as presents to the cacique.
He proposed that Caonoba should go to the river and
bathe, after which he should be decorated with these
ornaments, mounted on the horse of Ojeda, and should
return in the state of a Spanish monarch, to astonish his
subjects."
The bold device was completely successful. Caonabo,
en croupe behind Ojeda, for a short time exulted in his
proud position, curvetting among his amazed warriors; but
suddenly the little cavalcade dashed into the forest with
a rapidity that defied pursuit. The cacique was safely carried a distance of fifty or sixty leagues to Isabella, and
delivered to the admiral.  He  ever after expressed great
admiration at the skill and courage with which his captor
had duped him, and manifbsted a reverence and respect
towards Ojeda which his proud and haughty spirit forbade
him to exhibit in any other presence, even that of Columbus himself.
Upon the occasion of the admiral's second return to
Spain, in 1497, Caonabo, with several of his relatives, and
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a number of other Indians, was taken on board.  Baffled
by contrary winds, the vessels were a long time delayed at
the very commencement of the voyage. A landing was
effected at Guadaloupe, for the purpose of procuring fresh
provisions.
The inhabitants exhibited their natural hostility of
disposition, and it was especially observed, as upon a
former occasion, that the women were as warlike and efficient as the men. A number of these females were made
prisoners, among the rest, one who was wife of a chief. of
the island, a woman of most remarkable agility and strength.
On setting sail, the admiral, desirous of conciliating the
good-will of the natives, set his prisoners free, and gave
them divers presents in pay for the provisions and stores
plundered by his crew. The cacique's wife was allowed
to remain on board, with her daughter, at her own request, she having become enamoured of the captive Caonabo.
This distinguished chieftain died before the vessels reached
Spain.
The Carib tribes who occupied the islands where the
race was first encountered by Europeans, maintained possession of their homes as long as courage and desperation
could avail against the superior skill and weapons of the
whites. Spanish cupidity, and love of novelty and adventure led to the gradual occupation of the Caribbee
islands. In some of them, bloody battles were fought: "At
St. Christopher's," according to the Rev. W. H. Brett, "in
1625, two thousand Caribs perished in battle, whilst their
European invaders lost one hundred men. In the other
islands their losses were equally great. These calamities
would cause a migration of the natives when they found it
useless to fight any more.  Some of the islands, as Martinico, were suddenly abandoned by them, after a fierce
but unavailing struggle.
Those of the Caribs who chose to forsake the islands
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entirely, would naturally take refuge with their brethren
already settled in Guiana, and by their valor secure to
themselves such portions of the country as they might
think proper to occupy; as few tribes would be able, or
indeed dare, to oppose them. A remnant of the Caribs
still remained at St. Vincent, and they were transported,
about the end of the last century, to the island of Ruattan,
in the bay of Honduras."
This once terrible and dreaded race- so dreaded by the
Spaniards that vague reports of the approach of an army
of Caribs could terrify the conquerors of Peru in the midst
of their successes - is now reduced to a few insignificant
tribes. They are scattered in the wilderness of Guiana,
and mingled with other nations of the interior. About
the upper waters of the Pomeroon is one of their most
considerable establishments, and the tribe there located
numbers but a few hundred savages, living in almost as
primitive a state as when Columbus first coasted along
these tropical shores.
I
CHAPTER IV.
INDIANS OF GUIANA AND VENEZUELA. -CLASSIFICATION.-TIIE ARA WAKS. - FIRST SEEN BY COLUMBUS.- ENTRY INTO THE GUIJLF OF
PARIA. - HOSPITALITY OF THE NATIVES. - RALEIGH'S VISIT TO TIlE
ORINOCO. - EARLY WARS OF THE ARAWAKS. - VICTORY OVER TIlE
CARIBS.-I-MAROON NEGROES.- PRESENT CONDITION OF THE ARA WAKS. - OTHER TRIBES OF THE INTERIOR. - GENERAL DESCRIP  TION.
THE tribes who inhabit the wilderness between the
Amazon and the sea-coast settlements at the north, upon
the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, have been classified as
belonging to the same family with the aboriginal inhabit
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.M i'1  U.  R] 1) D.N'cF,  IN            7' f J     L1  0 tI  E lt    D I S T  R I C  T    (
Trii ac  arri is a whip  m,~do of silk- wr,as, with   which tho (erformors give each other se~
Ltaa  nto sigi of phril or (lisconposimte shouldl  be exhiblitet by the recipient
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TRIBES OF THE WEST INDIE,S, ETO.
ants of Brazil.  The race has been denominated the "Bra silio Guaarani," and has been divided into the nations of
Guarani, Caribs, Tupi, and Botocudos.
In Guiana one of the most prominent tribes is that of
the Arawaks.   These people inhabit a great extent of
country directly back of the narrow strip of cultivated
sea-coast. Nearly the whole of their territory is a savage
wilderness, in which the traveller in vain seeks for any
evidence of progress, or any tokens of former civilization
and prosperity.  A  few rude  figures, marked  upon the
rocks in certain localities, are the only records of the num berless generations which have passed away, leaving their
descendants precisely in the situation of those who  preceded them, and as hopeless or careless of improvement.
The Arawaks were the first natives seen by Columbus,
upon the occasion of his discovery of the continent of
South America, in the summer of 1498.
The first land made was the island of Trinidad, at the
mouth of the great river Orinoco.   No Indians were seen
upon the island by a party sent on shore, although unmistakable tokens of a recent and hasty retreat were visible.
As the vessels approached the Serpent's Mouth, (the southern entrance to the gulf of Paria,) twenty-five of the
natives made their appearance in a canoe. To the astolnishment of the admiral, who had expected, from the reports
at Hispaniola, to find a race of negroes in these southern
latitudes, they were of lighter complexion than any with
whom he had before held intercourse.  Their figures were
well proportioned and graceful; their only clothing was a
sort of turban, and a waistband of colored cotton; and
their arms were bows and arrows.  When an attempt was
made to conciliate these wild voyagers by dancing and
music, it was mistaken for a sign of hostility, and the supposed war-dance was summarily stopped by a flight of
arrows.   The  suspicions  of the natives prevented the
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
opening of any communication with them until after the
entry of the ships into the gulf. Several of them were
then taken by upsetting their canoe, and, after being kindly
entreated and encouraged, were dismissed with the usual
presents of trinkets and hawks'-bells.  When the fears of
the inhabitants were dissipated by this procedure, they
were eager to crowd about the vessels in their canoes.
These latter were of excellent construction and large size;
some of them were even furnished with a cabin.
The cacique of the county received the Spaniards at his
house with the greatest respect and hospitality, and feasted
them upon whatever luxuries the fruitful soil produced.
"Nothing," says Irving, "could exceed the kindness and
amity of this people, heightened as it was by an intelligent
demeanor and a martial frankness. They seemed worthy
of the beautiful country they inhabited. It was a cause of
great concern, both to them and to the Spaniards, that they
could not understand each other's language."
Sir Walter Raleigh entered the Orinoco in the year 1595,
and brought home some account of the natives seen there.
As recorded by Purchas: "The inhabitants on the northern branches are the Tiuitiuas, a goodly and valiant people,
which have the most manly speech and most deliberate
(saith Sir Walter) that ever I heard of whatever nation
soever. In the summer they have houses on the ground,
eKing Abibeia as in other places: in the winter they dwelt
awelt on a tree upon the trees,e where they built very arin the  country tificial towns  and  villages; for  between
of Darien.
Pet. Martyr: May and September the river of Orinoco
Dec. 3. lib. 6. rises thirty feet upright, and then are those
islands overflown twenty feet high, except in some few
raised grounds in the middle. This watery store, when
the clouds are so prodigal of more than the rivers' storehouse can hold, whereby they became violent intruders
and encroachers upon the land, and not the violence of
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TRIBES OF THE WEST INDIES, ETC.
cold, gives this time the title of winter. These Tiuitiuas
never eat of any thing that is set or sown; Nature's nurslings, that neither at home nor abroad, will be beholden
to the art or labor of husbandry.  They  use the tops
of palmettos for bread, and kill deer, fish, and pork, for
the rest of their sustenance. They which dwell upon
the branches of the Orinoco, called Capuri and Macureo,
are for the most part carpenters of canoes, which they
sell into Guiana for gold, and into Trinidad for tobacco,
in the excessive taking whereof, they exceed all nations.
When a commander dies, they use great lamentation, and
when they think the flesh of their bodies is putrefied and
fallen from the bones, they take up the carcass again,
and hang it up in the house, where he had dwelt, decking
his skull with feathers of all colors, and hanging his goldplates about the bones of his arms, thighs, and legs.
The Arwacas, which dwell on the south of the Orinoco,
beat the bones of their lords into powder, which their
wives and friends drink."
In early times the Arawaks were engaged in perpetual
wars with the Caribs.  Those of the latter race, who inhabited the nearest Caribbean islands, made continual descents
upon the main, but are said, finally, to have been worsted.
The Rev. W. H. Brett recounts some of the traditions stillt
handed down among the Arawaks of these wars.  "They
have," says he, "an indistinct idea of cruelties perpetrated'
by the Spaniards. Tradition has preserved the remembrance of white  men clothed with'seperari' or iron,
who drove their fathers before them, and, as some say,
hunted them with dogs through the forest. But by far
the greater number of their traditions relate to engagements between themselves and the Caribs on the main
land." WVith peculiar exultation they detail' the particulars of a victory obtained over a great body of these
invaders by means of a judicious ambush,  The Arawaks
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
had fled from their approach to the low mnarshy country
upon the Waini, and laid their ambuscade upon either
side of the narrow channel through which the enemy were
expected to pass.  "The  Caribs are said to have had a
great number of canoes of large size, which followed each
other, in line, through the mazy channels of the Savannah.
As they rounded a certain island, their painted warriors
in the first canoe were transfixed by a shower of arrows
from an unseen enemy on both sides of them, and totally,
disabled. Those in the second canoe shared the same fate;
the others, who could not see what had happened, hurried
forward to ascertain the cause of the cries, but each canoe,
as it reached the fatal spot, was saluted by a deadly shower
of arrows. The Arawaks then rushed forward, and fought
till the victory was completed. It is said that only two
Caribs survived, and they were dismissed by the Arawak
chieftain, on promise of a ransom to be paid in cottdn
hammocks, for the manufacture of which their nation is
noted."
After the settlement of difficulties between the European
colonists of Guiana and the neighboring Indian tribes, the
introduction of negro slaves by the former proved a terrible scourge to the natives. Great numbers of the Africans escaped fiom their masters, into the wilderness, and
there forming predatory bands, were long a terror to both
whites and Indians.  "The accounts which the Arawaks
have received from their ancestors, represent these negroes
as equally ferocious with the Caribs, and more to be dreaded
on account of their superior bodily strength."
The Arawaks of the present day are, like their forefathers, a more mild and peaceable race than many of their
neighbors. In their domestic relations and general manner of life, they do not differ materially firom the generality of the North American savages. Together with the
rude clubs, bows and arrows, &c., so universal among bar
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barous nations, they have the more efficient weapons of
the European. The Indian is every where quick to perceive the advantage of fire-arms, and apt in acquiring their
use. Christian missionaries have devoted themselves with
great zeal and perseverance to the instruction and improvement of this tribe, and the natural kindly disposition of
the race seems to favor the undertaking.
Besides the Caribs and Arawaks, the principal Indian
tribes of Guiana are the Waraus, and the Wacawoios; in
addition to these are the minor nations of the Arecunas,
Zaparas, Soerikongs, Woyawais, Pianoghottos, &c., &c.
Most of these are barbarous tribes, not sufficiently variant
from each other to render a distinct consideration valuable
or interesting.
The vast wilderness which they inhabit is little visited
by whites. From the coast settlements the only available
routes into the interior are by means of the numerous rivers, upon whose banks missionary enterprise has here and
there established a little settlement as a nucleus for future
operations among the natives at large. From Mr. Brett's
narrative of his own observation and experience in these
wilds, we quote the following items of general description:
"The appearance of the Indian in his natural state is
not unpleasing when the eye has become accustomed to
his scanty attire. He is smaller in size than either the
European or the negro, nor does he possess the bodily
strength of either of these. Few of his race exceed five
feet five inches in height, and the greater number are
much shorter. They are generally well made; many are
rather stout in proportion to their height, and it is very
rare to see a deformed person among them."
In respect to dress, which, both for men and women, is
of the most scanty proportions, (consisting only of a bandage about the loins, with perhaps a few ornamental articles
of feather-work for state occasions,) the efforts of the
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missionaries have effected some change in those brought
under their influence. In a burning tropical clime, the
propriety or policy of such fancied improvement is very
questionable. If no immodesty is connected with nakedness in the eyes of the unsophisticated natives, it would
seem hardly worth while to enlighten them upon such a
subject, for the purpose of establishing a conformity to
European customs.
Our author continues: "Their color is a copper tint,
pleasing to the eye, and the skin, where constantly covered
firom the sun, is little darker than that of the natives of
Southern Europe. Their hair is straight and coarse, and
continues perfectly black till an advanced period of life.
The general expression of the face is pleasing, though it
varies with the tribe and the disposition of each person.
Their eyes are black and piercing, and generally slant
upwards a little towards the temple, which would give an
unpleasant expression to the face, were it not relieved by
the sweet expression of the mouth. The forehead generally recedes, though in a less degree than in the African;
there is, however, much difference in this respect, and in
some individuals it is well formed and prominent."
The usual division of labor among savage nations is
observed in Guiana.  The daily drudgery of the household
belongs to the women, who also cultivate the small fields
in which the yuca, (the root from which they.make their
bread,) and the other cultivated crops are raised. The
men pursue their hunting and fishing, and undertake the
more severe labors attendant upon the building their huts,
the clearing of new ground, &c.
The native dwelling is generally little more than a roof
of palm-leaf thatch supported upon posts, between which
hang the cotton hammocks in which the occupants sleep.
Some few implements of iron-ware, and articles of pottery
of a more substantial and practical form than that mnanu
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factured by themselves, are generally procured by trade
with the coast, but these are all of the simplest description.
Maize, with cassava, yams, potatoes, and other roots,
constitutes their principal vegetable food. The cassava is
prepared by grating, or scraping, and subsequent pressure
in a receptacle of basket-,work. This strainer is constructed
in the form of a " long tube, open at the top and closed at
the bottom, to which a strong loop is attached. The pulpy
mass of cassava is placed in this, and it is suspended from
a beam.  One end of a large staff is then placed through
the loop at the bottom, the woman sits upon the centre of
the staff, or attaches a heavy stone to the end, and the
weight stretches the elastic tube, which presses the cassava
inside, causing the juice to flow through the interstices of
the plaited material of which it is made.  This liquor is
carefully collected in a vessel placed beneath. It is a most
deadly poison; but after being boiled, it becomes perfectly
wholesome, and is the nutritious sauce, called casareep,
which forms the principal ingredient in the pepper-pot, a
favorite dish of the country."
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THE ABORIGINES OF PERU.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES OF THE QUICHUAS, AYMARAS, ATACAMAS,
AND CHANGOS. - NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. - PERUVIAN WORKS OF
ART, ETC. - FIRST RUMORS OF THE WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY. -
EXPEDITION OF PASCUAL DE ANDAGOYA. -FRANCISCO PIZARRO:
HIS FIRST VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY.-ALMAGRO'S VOYAGE.-CON TRACT OF PIZARRO, ALMAGRO, AND LUQUE. -THE SECOND EXPE DITION. -PIZARRO AND HIS COMPANIONS UPON THE ISLE OF GOR GONA. - CONTINUATION OF THE VOYAGE. - TUMBEZ. - RETURN TO
PANAMA.
THE Peruvian and Araucanian races alone, among the
South American aborigines, present subjects of interest to
the historian. The other tribes of that great portion of
the western continent are at an infinite remove from these
in the scale of civilization, and can scarce be said to have
any separate national history. We shall describe their
habits and physical appearance, much as we should enter
upon the duties of the writer upon natural history: an
attempt to arrange a serial narrative of events, as connected with them would be useless.
Widely contrasted with the wild and savage tribes of
the interior, and of the eastern coast, the Peruvians offer,
in their character and history, a fruitful theme for the
attention and research of the historian and the philosopher.  As a nation, they were, when discovered by Europeans, perfectly unique. Such refinements in government,
(592)
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'ER PERFFORiI.NVG IlIS CEREJf.N0'XIES OVER FTIIE  SICK.
:mot~es ill nearly every tribe upon tihe Aterickii. Conitinet, except those whose lhabits haive beens
}oVw-w\ow$," Its thty,were, tevlrIIt  ill New  ].]tll, who    inea ntati ons were  usei to rl'iev ta
t         V.4,,i i It wYll-;t!t1 ott.ler pub)lic 74l!,(Irlakil Ls,  
SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
such unity of purpose, and such perfect system, as were
observable in all their customs and usages, have never been
even attempted, much less accomplished, by any other
community throughout the globe.
The  physical conformation of the  Quichua race, the
most prominent among the ancient inhabitants of Peru, is
somewhat singular. The effects of living at such an immense elevation as that of many of their cities, and of the
great plateaus which they inhabit among the Andes, cause
a remarkable development of the chest. The rarity of the
air in mountainous districts render a much greater volume
of it necessary in respiration. The Quichuas liave therefore, according to M.  d'Orbigny, "very large, square
shoulders, a broad chest, very voluminous, highly arched,
and longer than usual, which increases the size of the
trunk.'' The extremities are nevertheless, very muscular, and bespeak great strength; the head is larger than
usual in proportion to the rest of the body; the hands and
feet are always small."
The Quichuas differ, in a marked manner, from most of
the other South American nations, in the features of the
countenance. These are said in some degree to approach
the Mexican type. A prominent aquiline nose, large nostrils, the forehead somewhat retreating, a moderately full
cerebral development, rather a large mouth, adorned with
fine teeth, and a short but well defined chin, may be given
as generally characteristic of the race.
The Quichuas have beautifully soft, thick, and flowing
hair, but are almost destitute of beards. Their complexion is a brown olive, entirely distinct from the reddish or
copper hue of most of the North American Indians. It
approaches that of the mulatto more nearly than that of
the other American aborigines, and is spoken of as singularly uniform. They are of low stature, particularly those
who live in the more elevated regions. Their general
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physiognomy, in the words of the author above cited, "is,
upon the whole, uniform, serious, reflective, melancholy,
without, however, showing indifference: it denotes rather
penetration without frankness.  *  * Their features altogether retain a mediocrity of expression. The women
are seldom very handsome; their noses are not so prominent or curved as those of the men: the latter, although
they have no beard, have a masculine expression, derived
from their strongly-marked features. An ancient vase,
which represents with striking fidelity, the features of the
present race of Quichuas convinces us that for four and
five centuries their physiognomy has undergone no sensible
alteration."
The Aymaras, the second in the grand division of the
Peruvian races, bear a close resemblance to those just
described. In early times the strange and unnatural custom of flattening the head obtained among them, as is
fully proved by the contour of many skulls found in their
ancient places of burial or deposit.
No material variation from the Quichuan bodily formation is noticeable in the Atacamas, who inhabit the western
slope of the Andes; but the Changos, dwelling upon the
hot levels of the sea-coast, "are of darker hue: their
color is a tawny, approaching to black."
The country inhabited by these three races, although
lying within the tropics, and in certain localities luxuriantly rich and fertile, presents obstacles to the agriculturalist, which would seem almost insurmountable. Nothing
but the whole industry of a great nation, directed systematically to the  work of reclamation  and improvement,
could ever have made Peru what it was in the days of
the Incas.
A flat and sterile plain, washed by the Pacific, forms the
western boundary of the ancient empire. On this district
rain never falls; at least, the few drops which at certain
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seasons sprinkle the surface, are insufficient to avail in the
slightest degree for the promotion of fertility. From the
stupendous mountain ranges which extend in an unbroken
course throughout the western sea-board of South America, impetuous torrents pour down through the plains
towards the sea, and, by a laborious and ingenious diversion, these streams were led by the ancient Peruvians in
long and massive aqueducts to irrigate the plain or the
terraces wrought upon the steep sides of the mountains.
Some mention has been made, in a former chapter, of the
ruins which still remain to attest the advancement and enterprise of the ancient Peruvians, particularly of the great
roads by which ready communication was opened over the
most rugged and naturally impassable country in the world.
A further description of some of these relics will be given
hereafter, as connected with their wonderful system of
government, and its effects in the accomplishment of public works.
i
Mexico had already fallen into the hands of the Spaniards, and their settlements had long been established upon
the Isthmus, before the world obtained any knowledge
of the western coast of South America.  The national
thirst for gold, only the more excited by the successes in
contest with the Aztecs, was roused anew by reports gathered from the natives of the Isthmus, of a far richer and
more magnificentempire at the South.
The first attempt to explore the coast to the southward
had been made in 1522, by Pascual de Andagoya, but
he proceeded no further than the Puerto de Pinas, near
the mouth of the small river Biru. Two years passed
away without any further discoveries, at the end of which
time, the matter was taken in hand by a man whose character leaves us at a loss whether we should the more
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admire his courage, fortitude, and indomitable energy, or
execrate his cruelty and unscrupulous rapacity. This man
was Francisco Pizarro. He was, at this time, about fifty
years of age, the last ten of whlich, at least, he had passed
amid the stirring scenes of discovery and conquest in the
New World.  He  had, among other adventures, shared
the dangers and the exultation of Vasco Nugnez de Balboa, in his first passage of the Isthmus, and his discovery of the Western Ocean. He was now residing near
Panama, and is said to have accumulated but a small
landed property as the reward of his long labors and
privations.
Pizarro was the illegitimate son of a colonel of infantry,
named Gonzalo Pizarro, and a woman of low rank, residing at Truxillo, in Spain, in which city the future conqueror was born. In the great enterprise of the conquest
of Peru, he was associated with one Diego de Almagro, a
man of more uncertain origin, and less favored by worldly
prosperity, even than himself.  This companion in arms
was, at all events, a brave and gallant soldier. Fortunately
for the two adventurers, they succeeded in securing the
assistance of Hernando de Luque, an ecclesiastic occupied
in the duties of his profession at Panama.   With such
funds as could be raised by these three, a vessel was procured, and about one hundred men were enlisted to share
the danger and profits of the expedition. Pedrarias, the
Spanish governor, sanctioned the proceeding, stipulating,
at the same time, for a proportion of the gold that should
be brought home.
In November, 1524, Pizarro set sail, leaving Almagro
to prepare another vessel which they had purchased, and
to follow as soon as possible.  Nothing but disaster marked
this first voyage.  Storms at sea; conflicts with natives on
shore; sickness, exposure, and starvation, thinned the
numbers and broke down the spirit of the party. Pizarro
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alone appears to have maintained an unskaken fortitude
and determination.
No provisions could be procured at the spots where the
voyagers landed, and it became necessary to send the vessel back for supplies. About half the company, under one
Montenegro, was despatched for this purpose, leaving the
rest of the adventurers upon the swampy, unwholesome
coast, not far from the mouth of the Biru, to support themselves as best they could amid an almost impenetrable
wilderness of rank tropical vegetation.  Nearly half their
number perished before any relief was obtained. When
at the extremity of distress, the sight of a distant light
amid the forest awakened their hopes, and Pizarro, with
a small scouting party, led by this token of human habitation, penetrated the thicket to an Indian village. His
hungry followers seized on whatever offered. As the natives, who had at first fled in terror, gradually approached
and held communication with them, their hopes were again
revived by the sight of rude ornaments in gold, and by the
confirmation of the reports concerning a rich empire at the
south.
It was six weeks from the time of his departure before
Montenegro returned to rescue his remaining companions.
With renewed hope and zeal, the party reembarked, and
continued to coast along the shore. After landing at other
places, and experiencing severe encounters with the warlike natives, it was found necessary to return to Panama
to rqfit.
Almagro, in the mean time, had followed in the same
course, with the second vessel, and landed at most of the
places visited by Pizarro. He was more successful in his
engagements with the natives than the first party had
proved; and succeeded in extending his voyage as far
south as the river of San Juan. At this place unmistakable tokens of approach to a well-cultivated and inhab
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ited country presented themselves. Finding no further
traces of Pizarro and his companions, and supposing that
they must have perished or have been compelled to return,
AlmagrQ now turned his course towards Panama. He
brought home more gold and more favorable reports than
his partner; but the disasters, losses, and miserable condition of the first voyagers tended to throw almost insurmountable obstacles in the way of a second attempt.
The three confederates - Pizarro, Almagro, and Father
Luque- continued as sanguine as ever. The necessary
funds were obtained by the latter, as is said, of one Gaspar de Espinosa, in whose name he acted, and in whose
behalf he stipulated for one-third of all returns which
should result from a successful completion of the immense
undertaking. A solemn contract was entered into between
the parties, strengthened by all the ceremonials of oaths
and religious services. Neither of the two soldiers could
write, and their signatures were executed in their presence,
by the witnesses to the instrument of contract.
Pedrarias had been succeeded by Don Pedro de los Rios,
and the new governor assented to the second expedition.
This was undertaken with two vessels, carrying about one
hundred and sixty men and a few horses. The services
of Bartholomew Ruiz, a skilful pilot, were secured. The
adventurers steered direct for the mouth of the San Juan,
and, landing at an Indian village on the river, obtained
some plunder in gold, and seized upon the persons of a
few of the natives. The. country appeared too populous
to offer much chance of success to such a small band of
invaders. Almagro was therefore sent back to enlist more
men at home, while Ruiz, with the other vessel, explored
the coast further to the south, and Pizarro remained near
the river, with a portion of the crew.  The latter endured
much from famine, exposure, and fatigue, during the absence of Ruiz. Attempting to penetrate into the interior,
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in hopes of finding a more open country, they were completely worn down and dispirited.
The pilot, in the mean time, had made his way far southward. He had crossed the equator, and touched at several
places, where the dense population and well-built dwelliilgs gave proofs of no little advancement in civilization.
He brought with him several Indian prisoners, taken at
sea, upon one of the rude boats, or rather rafts, called
"balsas," in which they were voyaging.  Some of these
were from the port of Tumbez, and their marvellous accounts of the quantities of gold and silver used by their
monarch, roused anew the cupidity of the Spaniards.
Almagro soon after arrived with numerous fresh recruits, and, what with the glowing reports of Ruiz, and
this addition to their force, the weakened and despairing
followers of Pizarro regained their former hopes and courage.  The whole company again set sail for the land of
promise.  At Tacames, near the mouth of the Santiago,
where the present town of Esmeraldas is situated, the
flourishing appearance of the country invited the voyagers
to land; but they were opposed by thousands of armed
natives, who attacked them with great fury.  It was supposed that all the Christians must have perished in this
onslaught, but for a strange mistake on the part of the
Indians.  A  few of the Spaniards were  mounted upon
horses   a sight never before witnessed in Peru- and one
of the cavaliers happening to fall from his horse, the Indians supposed that a single enemy had become two.  The
horse and his rider were taken for but one animal, and the
confusion and amazement caused by the sight of such a
prodigious separation, gave the Spaniards an opportunity
to retreat.
It was plain that a greater force was necessary to make
any advantageous progress in the new empire, and again
was one of the little vessels sent back to Panama for ree/n
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forcements, while Pizarro and a portion of his forces took
up their quarters upon the little island of Gallo. They
suffered every extremity before supplies reached them firom
the north, and when two vessels loaded with stores made
their appearance, there was a general cry for return.
Pizarro, fortified in his determination by encouraging
letters from his allies, harangued his followers, and gave
them their free choice whether to go forward in search of
fame and wealth, or to return in poverty and disgrace to
Panama. Thirteen only had the resolution to proffer their
further services. The commander of the store-ships, who
was instructed by the governor to bring back the party,
refused to leave either of his vessels for the use of these
few valorous spirits, and, grudgingly bestowing upon them
a portion of his provisions, set sail, leaving them, as was
supposed, to certain destruction.,
Upon this island, and upon that of Gorgona, twenty-five
leagues to the northward, (whither they migrated on a raft,
f6r better quarters, the little party spent seven miserable
and solitary months.   By great exertions, Almagro and
Luque procured another vessel, and the governor's permission to relieve their associates; but this was not obtained without a positive injunction to Pizarro to return
within six months. No recruits were taken on board, beyond the necessary crew of the vessel. Ruiz had charge
of the craft, and the sight of his approach soon gladdened
the desponding hearts of the destitute and half-famished
expectants at Gorgona.
Without hesitation the little band stood once more for
the south, leaving two of their number ill on the island,
in charge of some of the friendly natives, who were still
detained in their company. After twenty days' sail, in
which they passed, without landing, the spots of former
exploration, the vessel entered the unknown gulf of
Guayaquil.
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As the Spaniards directed their course towards the city
of Tumbez, the residence of the Indian captives, they en countered many natives, in the balsas which served them
for boats. These strange craft were made of logs of light
wood, secured together, and fitted with masts and sails.
The crews of these rafts, in the midst of their amazement
at the prodigy before their eyes, recognized the Indians on
board, and learning from them that the strangers were
bound merely upon exploration, returned to satisfy the
curiosity of the eager crowds gathered upon the shore.
A peaceful communication was soon established, and the
sea-wearied Spaniards were refreshed by bountiful supplies
of the tropical luxuries furnished by the kindly natives.
Llamas, or Peruvian camels, as they were called, were now
for the first time exhibited and offered to the visitors. A
great noble, of the royal race of the Incas, came on board,
and was courteously entertained by Pizarro, who pointed
out and explained the mysteries of the vessel and its
accoutrements.
Thb officers of the Spanish company were, in turn,
feasted at the house of the curaca, or governor of the
province, and were shown the royal temple and fortresses.
Some of the apartments were adorned with such a rich
profusion of massive golden ornaments and plating, that
the dazzled Spaniards now trusted in the speedy realization of their long-deferred hopes.
From Tumbez, Pizarro coasted southward as far as the
island and port of Santa, some distance beyond the site of
the present Truxillo, stopping at various towns and settlements on his route.   The strangers were every where
received with hospitality, kindness, and the most lively
curiosity, and enough was seen fully to convince them of
the richness, civilization, and prosperity of the thickly
populated empire.
Returning to Panama, they again stopped at Tumbez and
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other important ports, and thence brought away specimens
of the productions of the country; among other things, a
number of llamas. At their own request, several of the
Spaniards were left at Tumbez, to enjoy the luxury and
ease which seemed to be offered by a life among the kindly
natives. A young Peruvian, named Felipillo, with one or
two companions, was taken on board the vessel, that he
might be instructed in the Spanish language, and that his
appearance might satisfy the incredulous, at home, as to
the character of the inhabitants of Peru.
The troubles of the enterprising trio to whom these discoveries were owing were not yet at an end. The derision
and contumely which had tended so long to damp their
spirits, was, indeed, changed to congratulations and eager
astonishment at the return and reports of Pizarro; but the
governor frowned upon the prosecution of the enterprise.
" He did not wish," says Herrera, "to depopulate his own
district in order to people new countries" -the gold, silver,
and sheep which had been exhibited, seemed to him but
a paltry return for the expenditure of such an amount of
lives and money, and the endurance of such hardships and
suffering as were the fruits of the first expeditions.
Before continuing the account of the steps by which the
great work of conquest was finally achieved, it will be well
to take a brief view of the condition of the devoted country
at the period of its discovery.
The two great monarchies of Mexico and Peru, both of
them in a state of semi-civilization at the period of Spanish discoveries and conquests, are closely associated in our
iwinds.  The thoughts of one naturally suggest that of the
other. We shall, however, find, upon an examination of
history, that these nations were widely dissimilar: neither,
in all human probability, had any knowledge of the other's
existence, and no intercourse could have been maintained
between them from a period of the most remote antiquity.
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Without going into a direct comparison between these
countries, their respective governments, religion, and national customs, we shall enter sufficiently into particulars
in treating the present subject, to give the reader such a
general idea of its details that he can himself perceive the
contrasts and dissimilarities above mentioned.
CHAPTER II.
MYTHOLOGICAL TRADITIONS.- TOPA INCA YUPANQUI, AND HIS SON
HUAYNA CAPAC. - THE PERUVIAN CAPITAL. - RELIGIOUS SYSTEM.
- GOVERNMENT. - AGRARIAN LAW. - LLAMAS. - PUBLIC RECORDS:
THE "QUIPU." —AGRICULTURE. -MARRIAGES.-WARLIKE POLICY
OF THE INCAS. - THE GREAT ROADS. - CONTENTMENT OF THIE NA TIVES.-DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE.-HUASCAR AND ATAHUALLPA.
-CONTEST FOR SUPREMACY.
i
ACCORDING to Peruvian mythology, the whole country
was, in early times, as savage and barbarous as the neighboring nations of the East. Manco Capac, and his sister
and wife, Mama Oello Huaco, two children of the Sun,
settling in the valley of Cuzco, began the work of regeneration. They taught the arts of civilized life, and from
them sprang the long line of the Incas whose glorious
kingdom was at the height of its prosperity when discovered by the Spaniards. Other traditions, more worthy of
study and reflection, speak of"  bearded white men," to whose
immigration the commencement of improvement was due.
We gather little of connected or reliable tradition earlier
than the reign of Topa Inca Yupanqui. This monarch's
victories widely extended the domains bequeathed him by
his ancestors. By his warlike achievements, and those of
his son, Huayna Capac, the Peruvian empire was extended
from the southern portion of Chili to the, boundaries of the
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present republic of New Grenada. The centre of government, and site of the royal palace, the great temple of the
sun, and the most celebrated fortification, were at Cuzco, in
the interior. The town was situated in a valley of the
table-land, at an immense height above the level of the
sea, an altitude which secured to it a delightful climate in
those tropical regions.
The principal buildings of the capital were of hewn
stone, wrought entirely by instruments of copper, hardened by an alloy of tin; for, like the Mexicans, the people
of Peru were entirely ignorant of the use of iron. A certain perfection of workmanship, seldom attempted in more
advanced nations, and only elsewhere observable in the
casings of the great Egyptian pyramids, is described as
peculiar to the laying of the courses of stone in these ancient buildings. For the most part no cement was used,
but the blocks were so accurately fitted that "it was impossible to introduce even the blade of a knife between
them." Mr. Prescott, giving, as his authority, the measurements and descriptions of Acosta and Garcilasso, says:
,Many of these stones were of vast size; some of them
being full thirty-eight feet long, by eighteen broad, and
six feet thick. * * These enormous masses were hewn
from their native bed, and fashioned into shape by a people ignorant of the use of iron; they were brought from
quarries, from four to fifteen leagues distant, without the
aid of beasts of burden; were transported across rivers
and ravines, raised to their elevated position on the sierra,
and finally adjusted there with the nicest accuracy, with out the knowledge of tools and machinery familiar to the
European."
At Cuzco stood the great temple of the sun, by far the
most resplendent with gold and ornament of all the pub lic edifices of Peru. The description of this central point
of the religious system of the country vies with those of
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fairy palaces in Arabian tales. It was built of stone, but,
by a strange contrast of magnificence with rudeness, was
thatched with straw. The most striking object in the in terior was a huge golden sun, represented by the figure of
a human face, surrounded with rays. This was so placed
as to receive the first beams of the rising sun. The whole
building sparkled with golden ornament; even upon the
outside a heavy belt of gold is said to have been let into
the stone wall around the whole extent of the edifice.
Great vases of the precious metals stood in the open space
of the interior, filled with offerings of maize, and no less
valuable material was used for the various tools and im plements connected with the establishment.
This profusion of gold and silver, which, although in
inferior degree, was noticeable in the royal palaces and
temples throughout the empire, resulted from the circumstance that the mines were a government monopoly. No
money was used, and consequently the whole product of
the country, in this line, was collected in the coffers of the
Inca, or displayed in the gorgeous ornaments which
adorned the temples. The mines were worked by bodies
of laborers systematically drafted from the common people, to serve for specified periods.
The Peruvians  had some idea of an invisible  deity,
whose supremacy they acknowledged, and to whom homage was rendered, but the sun was their chief object of
worship.  The moon and stars took the place of subordi
nate divinities. By virtue of his office, the Inca was the
head of the visible church, and high-priest of the sun;
all the other religious functionaries were of the nobility,
viz.: descendants in the male line of the royal family.
One lawful wife gave birth to the successor to the throne,
but from the innumerable concubines kept by the emperor sprang the race of Inca nobility, distinguished by dress
and occupation from the body of the people.
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A most singular resemblance to the ancient order of the
vestal virgins existed in that of the Peruvian Virgins of
the Sun.  These were set apart, at an early age, for the
services of the temple, the preparations of its tapestry and
ornaments, and especially for the preservation of the sacred fire.  Terrible penalties followed the violation of
chastity by either of these devotees, always excepting the
privileges of the Inlca, to whom they were subservient as
"brides," or concubines.  The office did not necessarily
continue during life: many of these "Virgins" were dismissed to their paternal homes from time to time, and
were ever thereafter held in great honor and veneration.
The religious ceremonies and festivals familiar to the nation were singularly numerous and complicated: an enumeration of them would be, for the most part, wearisome
and devoid of interest.
The Peruvian system of government merits a more
particular attention. Here, for the first time in the history
of the world, we see the results of a paternal despotism
carried to its most extravagant extent, yet meeting the
apparent wants of the people, and universally acquiesced
in and approved by them. From generation to generation
the whole mass of the commonalty was shut out from
any possibility of change or improvement, and subjected to
immutable rules in every employment or privilege of life.
The whole empire was minutely divided and subdivided
into districts, according to population, and over each of
these departments a curaca or governor was set to maintain law.   The  penal code was  sufficiently severe, and
rigidly enforced; in all matters of private right there was
no room for contention among the citizens, as the state
prescribed every man's place of residence, the amount and
nature of his employment, and the provision necessary for
his support.
The government assumed the entire ownership of the
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soil, which was divided into three parts for the following
uses: The first was set apart to support the whole extensive system of religion; the second sustained the royal
court, and furnished the "civil list" for the accomplishment of all public works, and to defray the current expenses of the empire; and the third was yearly divided
among the people. The apportionment was made to each
family, according to its numbers, and, unless some good
cause should appear to the contrary, it is supposed that the
same spot was continued in the possession of its proprietor
from year to year. The public domains were cultivated
by the people in mass, and, in the management of the
private allotments, vigilant care was taken, by the appropriate officers, that no one should be idle, no one overburdened with labor, and no one in a state of suffering
from want.
The only beast of burden in Peru was the llama. The
immense herds of this animal were, without exception,
the property of the state, and under the management of
government officials. The wool and hair of the llama furnished the most important material for the clothing of the
whole population, but before it reached its ultimate' destination it must pass through the hands of appointed agents,
and, after the separation and preparation of the portion
devoted to religious and royal purposes, be equitably parcelled out and distributed among the private families. The
manufacture of cloth was more especially the business of
women and children.  No  man had the power to choose
his own employment. A select nuimnber of artisans were
set apart and instructed in such mechanical sciences as
were known to the age and country, while the mass of the
population were employed in agricultural labors, or, by a
systematic apportionment among the different districts, were
engaged upon the vast works of public utility or magnificence which astonished the eyes of the Spanish invaders.
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The most exact accounts were kept, by certain appointed
officers, of the entire population and resources of the empire. No birth, marriage, or death, was suffered to pass
unchronicled, and an immense amount of statistical matter,
relative to the condition of the people, the productions of
the soil, the extent of manufactures, &c., was regularly and
systematically returned to the proper department. The
substitute for writing, by which these results, and even
much more abstract particulars (as of dates and historical
events) were perpetuated, was exceedingly ingenious and
unique. It consisted of the" quipu," viz.: a cord of strands
varying in color, from which depended numerous short
threads at regular distances. A series of knots in these
appendages (which were, like the strands of the main cord,
of various colors) served to express any amount in numbers, and the difference in hue designated the subject to
which they were applied. The endless combinations which
could be effected in this system of knots might, as we can
readily perceive, be extended to the expression of a very
wide range of ideas.  In the words of Mr. Prescott: "The
peculiar knot, or color, in this way (by association) suggested what it could not venture to represent; in the same
manner -to borrow the homely illustration of an old
writer - as the number of the Commandment calls to
mind the Commandment itself. *  * The narrative
thus concocted could be communicated only by oral tradition; but the quipus served the chronicler to arrange the
incidents with method, and to refresh his memory."
In some of the sciences, particularly in astronomy, the
Peruvians were far behind the Aztecs. A few simple observations of the movements of the planets; and the measurement of shadows to mark the solstices, equinoxes, &c.,
formed the limit of their speculations or experiments. In
the more practical and necessary arts of husbandry and
agriculture, not even the laborious and patient population
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of China could excel the subjects of the Incas. The extent of the aqueducts, to conduct the mountain-streams
through the arid fields where rain never fell; the immense
excavations made to reach a moist soil, fifteen or twenty
feet below the surface; and other mighty undertakings
which individual enterprise could never have accomplished,
evince the effects that a complete centralization of power
can produce. Were it not for the ruins, of which modern
travellers give us measurement and description, we should
be tempted to throw aside the early histories of Peruvian
achievements as gross exaggerations. The use of guano
for manure was common, and the gathering and application
of it were in accordance with rigid and careful regulations.
The destruction, or even the disturbance of the birds to
whom the formation is owing, was punished by death. A
plough was used in the cultivation of the land, but it
was rudely and simply constructed of wood, and was
forced through the earth by human thews and sinews.
The unequalled diversity in soil and climate provided suitable localities for a variety in vegetable productions seldom
seen within the same limits'. Bananas, Indian corn, potatoes, a grain called quinoa, and many other well-known
crops, were successfully cultivated. The desire for stimulants and narcotics, so universal to mankind, was satisfied
by a liquor brewed from maize, by tobacco, and by the
coca or cuca, whose leaves possess something of the sedative qualities of the latter plant.
We have mentioned the control exercised by the government over the private affairs of every citizen; this
extended even to the ties of affinity. Every person was
required to marry at an appointed age, (eighteen in females,
and twenty-four in males,) and, although a certain degree
of choice was left to the individual in the selection of a
partner, it must be confined within a specified district or
community. The Inca always married his sister, that the
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purity of the royal blood might not be contaminated, but
such-a connection was forbidden between any of lower rank.
Although the mass of the people were constantly employed in the operations of peaceful husbandry, the policy
of the Inca dynasty towards neighboring nations was essentially warlike. The youth of the nobility, and especially
the presumptive heir to the throne, were instructed in the
arts of war, and subjected to a routine of bodily exercise
and trials of fortitude not unlike that practised by the
ruder nations of North America, in the initiation of their
future warriors.
An extensive militia system was enforced, and, in time
of war, troops were drafted from the different districts in
some proportion to the population; regard being had to
the hardihood and energy of the various races, in making
the levy. Axes, lances, darts, bows and arrows, and slings,
formed the principal weapons of offence.   The soldiers
were also supplied with the quilted coats of such common
use in past ages, to ward off arrows and sword-thrust, and
with helmets of skins or wood.
The great roads, led along the mountain ridges, or by
the level plain of the sea-coast, furnished ready means of
transit to the royal armies throughout the extent of the
empire. Enough of these yet remains to excite the admiration of every traveller.   Of the principal of these
roads, Mr. Prescott speaks as follows: "It was conducted
over pathless sierras buried in snow; galleries were cut
for leagues through the living rock; rivers were crossed
by means of bridges that hung suspended in the air; precipices were scaled by stairways hewn out of' the native
bed; ravines of hideous depth were filled up with solid
masonry; in short, all the difficulties that beset a wild and
mountainous region, and which might appall the most
courageous engineer of modern times, were encountered
and successfully overcome. The length of the road, of
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which scattered fragments only remain, is variously estimated from fifteen hundred to two thousand miles." No
celebrated conqueror of the old world ever pursued such
perfect system and method in the conduct of a campaign
as did the Incas. Stations for couriers were built at regular intervals throughout the main routes, by means of which
messages or light burdens could be conveyed with incredible celerity to any required distance. Granaries and storehouses filled with supplies for the army stood, under care
of appointed officers, at convenient intervals, and all these
provisions and supplies being furnished from the state
funds, no man felt them as an extraordinary burden.
A strange but sagacious policy was observed towards a
conquered nation. The Peruvian worship of the sun was
immediately introduced; all the laws of the empire were
enforced, and its customs established; but, that the yoke
might not be too galling, the privileges as well as the
duties of a subject were extended to the conquered people.
The former nobles and governors were not uncommonly
continued in office, and a paternal care was taken of the
necessities and interests of the whole populace. With all
this, no steps were omitted which would tend to completely
denationalize the newly-acquired country. Large colonies
of Peruvians were transplanted from their own country to
the new, and their places supplied by an equal number of
those whose habitations they occupied. The language of
the conquerors was every where introduced, and its use
encouraged until, with the lapse of years, a complete assimilation was brought about.
All this complete course of despotism was said by the
Spanish historians, who wrote from observation, and before the old order of things was entirely overturned, to be
precisely that which was best adapted to the Peruvian
race, and to the country and climate which they inhabited.
The people were contented with their lot, and looked upon
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their priests and rulers with the utmost reverence. "No
man could be rich," says Prescott, "no man could be poor,
in Peru; but all might enjoy, and did enjoy, a competence.
Ambition, avarice, the love of change, the morbid spirit of
discontent, those passions which most agitate the minds of
men, found no place in the bosom of the Peruvian. ~ 
He moved on in the same unbroken circle in which his
fathers had moved before him, and in which his children
were to follow."
We cannot help a feeling of natural regret that the ruthless invasion of the Spaniards should have uprooted all
these ancient and venerated customs. There was not, as
with the Aztecs, a bloody system of religion, whose annihilation could reconcile us to almost any violence on the part
of those who came to overturn it. There were, indeed,
occasional scenes of human sacrifice at the great religious
solemnities; but these were the exception, not the rule.
The people at large lived on in peace and quietness, contented with the government and institutions under whose
influence they lived, and by whose care they were secured
in the possession of the competencies of life.
We have already mentioned the successes and conquests
of Tupac Yupanqui, and his son Huayna Capac. The
latter prince, having reduced the kingdom of Quito, the
modern Equador, took up his residence at its capital, and
devoted his attention to beautifying his acquisition, and
establishing the Peruvian policy upon a firm basis throughout its limits.
The first expeditions of the Spaniards to the Peruvian
coast, took place during the latter years of this monarch,
and the accounts are said to have filled his mind with
gloomy forebodings of the overthrow of his empire. His
sagacious perception readily recognized the vast superiority over his own nation, evident in the vessels, arms,
intelligence, and enterprise of the strangers.   Huayna
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Capac died about the year 1525, leaving his only legitimate
son, Huascar, the regular successor to his throne. Instead
of confirming the old order of descent, the king's fondness
for another son, namled Atahuallpa, (Atabalipa, as spelt by
many old writers) led him, upon his death-bed, to bestow
upon his favorite a portion of his kingdom.  Upon the sub
version of the ancient dynasty at Quito, Huayna Capac had
taken the daughter of the last native prince as one of his
concubines. From this union sprung the prince of whom
we are speaking. The share of empire bequeathed to
Atahuallpa was that of his maternal ancestors, in which
his father had so long resided, and to whose improvement
he had devoted his declining years. The rest of the wide
domains of Peru were left in possession of Huascar.
This new order of things produced no evil effects'for
about five years. Hiuascar maintained his court at the
old capital, Cuzco, while Atahuallpa remained at Quito;
neither interfering with the other's rights of jurisdiction.
Their respective subjects readily acquiesced in the new
arrangement.
Different accounts are given of the first causes of rupture between the brothers; but whatever occasioned it,
the contest which ensued was bloody and disastrous in the
extreme. But for the disturbed and distracted state of the
empire consequent upon this civil war, it would have been
utterly impossible for the Spaniards, with the insignificant
force which they finally brought into the field, to have
overcome and subverted such an immense and powerful
empire.
The first important engagement between the armies of
the contending princes took place at Hambata, about
sixty leagues south from Quito. In this battle, Huascar's
forces were utterly defeated, and his victorious brother
pressed onward to Tumebamba, no great distance from
Tumbez.  This city belonged to Atahuallpa's kingdom,
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but the inhabitants had taken up arms in favor of Huas car. In vain did they sue for mercy from the conqueror:
the whole district was ravaged, and all male adults were
put to death.   Proceeding on  his  march,  Atahuallpa
reached Caxamalca, where he took up his quarters, and
sent forward the chief portion of his army to meet the
forces prepared for the protection of the ancient capital
of Peru.
A bloody and desperate battle was fought near the city,
in which the invader was again completely victorious.
Huascar was taken prisoner, and placed in close confinement, but his brother had enough of natural humanity to
order that all respect should be shown him in his fallen
fortunes. If we are to believe some accounts, Atahuallpa
sullied the fame which his successes might have acquired
him, by acts of the most unheard-of barbarity. It is said
that he put to death, and that too by lingering tortures, all
of the royal family upon whom he could lay his hands,
including the female branches of the family, that he might
cut off all possibility of a rival appearing to contest his
right to the throne. Modern historians have pointed out
so many discrepancies and improbabilities in the details
of this transaction, that they must be now considered as
grossly exaggerated, if not utterly false.
Atahuallpa, now claiming the title of Inca, and rejoicing
in the possession of the whole of the immense empire of
his father, held his court at Caxamalca. In the midst of
his exultation and triumph, news was brought of a fresh
arrival of Spanish ships upon the coast.
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CHAPTER III.
PIZARRO'S VISIT TO SPAIN AND APPLICATION TO THE EMPEROR.-HIS
FOUR BROTHERS.- FUNDS PROCURED FOR A NEW EXPEDITION TO
PERU. - VESSELS AGAIN FITTED OUT AT PANAMA. - LANDING OF
THE SPANIARDS UPON THE PERUVIAN COAST.- PLUNDER AT COA QUE.-THE MARCH TOWARDS TUMBEZ. -BATTLES ON THE ISLE
OF PUNA. - TUMBEZ DESERTED. - SETTLEMENT OF SAN MIGUEL. MARCH INTO THE INTERIOR. - PASSAGE OF THE ANDES. - MESSAGES
FROM ATAHUALLPA. -ENTRY INTO CAXAMALCA.
As Pizarro, Almagro, and Luque, received no encouragement from the governor, at Panama, in the prosecution
of their plans; and as their funds were exhausted by the
first expeditions, it became necessary to seek the assistance
of some powerful patron, or to abandon the enterprise. In
this emergency, Luque advised an immediate application
to the Spanish court. In the discussion of the question as
to who should undertake this duty, Almagro strongly
urged the expediency of trusting the whole matter to the
prudence and soldierly intrepidity of his unlettered companion-in-arms, Pizarro. He was the man who had seen
and experienced more than any other of the nature of the
land of promise, and his unflinching determination and
perseverance seemed to qualify him as well to press his
suit at court, as to undergo the disappointments and physical hardships of the conquest itself.
Pizarro consented to the proposal, and sailed for Spain,
where he arrived early in the summer of 1528, carrying
with him specimens of Peruvian art and wealth, together
with natives of the country, and several of the beasts of
burden peculiar to Peru. He was favorably received, and
his accounts were credited by the Emperor Charles the
Fifth; and the royal consent was obtained to the prosecution of the mighty undertaking of conquest. No pecu
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niary assistance, however, was rendered or promised. Prospective honors and emoluments were bestowed upon
Pizarro and his two associates, contingent upon their success, and the latter to be drawn entirely from the conquered
nation. Pizarro was to be governor, adelantado and alguacil mayor of Peru, which office he was to fill for life,
and to which a large salary was to be attached. Almagro
was placed in altogether an inferior position, as commander
at Tumbez; and Father Luque was declared bishop of that
district, now to be converted into a see of the church.
One-fifth of the gold and silver to be obtained by plunder,
and one-tenth of all gained by mining was reserved as a
royal perquisite.
Pizarro immediately set himself to raise funds and enlist
men for the proposed conquest. He was joined by his
four brothers, one of whom, Hernando Pizarro, was a legitimate son of Gonzalo. The other three, Gonzalo and
Juan Pizarro, and Francisco de Alcontara were illegitimate
children, and connected with the hero of our narrative,
the two first on the father's side, the latter on that of the
mother.
It was no easy matter to provide money for the necessary expenses of so hazardous an exploit as that proposed; but fortunately for Pizarro, Hernando Cortez, the
renowned conqueror of Mexico, was at this time in Spain,
and, after seeing and conferring with him, furnished, from
his own ample stores, what was needed to complete an
outfit.
Upon Pizarro's return to America, serious quarrels ensued between him and Almagro, who, as appears justly,
thought himself grossly neglected in the arrangements
entered into with the Spanish government. Luque also
distrusted the good faith of his emissary, and it seemed
too evident to both of these parties to the old contract,
that Pizarro would readily throw them aside, should occa
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sion offer, and advance his own relations in their stead.
These difficulties were, by Pizarro's representations, prom  ises, and concessions, for the time smoothed over, and
three vessels were fitted out at Panama for the grand ex  pedition. Those in which the recruits had been brought
over from Spain, were necessarily left upon the other side
of the Isthmus.
It was not until January, of 1531, that the adventurers
set sail. The company consisted of less than two hundred
men, twenty-seven of whom were provided with horses;
the advantage of even a small body of cavalry in fights
with the Indians having been so strikingly apparent in the
proceedings at Mexico. Tumbez, on the southern shore
of the gulf of Guayaquil, was the port for which the little
fleet steered its course, but, owing to head winds and other
difficulties in navigation, a landing was made at the bay
of St. Matthew's. Pizarro, with the armed force, went on
shore at this place, not far from where Esmeraldas now
stands, and marched southward, while the vessels coasted
along the shore. Feeling himself strong enough to commence  serious operations, the unprincipled invader no
longer put on the cloak of friendship, but without warning
fell upon the first Indian town in his route. This was in
the district of Coaque.   The natives fled, leaving their
treasures to be seized and plundered by the Spaniards.
A considerable quantity of gold, and a great number of
the largest and most valuable emeralds fell into the hands
of the rapacious adventurers. The spoil was collected,
and publicly distributed, according to regulated portions,
among the company, it being death to secrete any private
plunder. The royal fifth was deducted previous to the
division.
The vessels were sent back to Panama to excite, by the
display of these treasures, the cupidity of new recruits,
while the little army continued its march towards Tumbez.
35
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The natives of the villages through which they passed,
learning, in advance of the Spaniards' approach, the course
pursued at Coaque, abandoned their homes, bearing all
their valuables with them. Privation and suffering ensued. The tropical heat of the country, famine and fatigue, began to dishearten the troops. Worse than all, a
singular and malignant cutaneous disease began to spread
among them. Large warts or vascular excrescences broke
out upon those attacked, which, if opened, bled so profusely as to cause death.  "The epidemic," says Prescott,
"which made its first appearance during this invasion, and
which did not long survive it, spread over the whole country, sparing neither native nor white man."
The distresses of the Spaniards were somewhat relieved
by the arrival of a vessel from Panama, in which came a
number of new state officers, appointed by the Emperor
Charles since Pizarro's departure from Spain, bringing
with them a quantity of provision.  With some slight further reenforcement, the commander brought his troops
to the gulf of Guayaquil, and, by invitation from the islanders, who had never been reduced by the Peruvian
monarchs, and still maintained a desultory warfare with
their forces, he took up his quarters upon the isle of Puna.
The inhabitants of Tumbez, (lying, as we have mentioned,
upon the southern shore of the gulf, and opposite the
island,) came over, in large numbers, to welcome the
whites, trusting to their friendly demonstrations at the
time of the early expeditions. Difficulties soon arose from
the bringing of these hostile Indian races in contact. Pizarro was told that a conspiracy had been formed by
some of the island chiefs, to massacre him and his followers.  Without  delay, he  seized upon'the accused, and
delivered them over to their old enemies of Tumbez for
destruction. The consequence was a furious attack by the
islanders. The thousands of dusky warriors who sur
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rounded the little encampment, were dispersed and driven
into the thickets, with very small loss to the well-armed
and mail-clad Europeans. The discharge of musketry,
and the rush of mounted men, glistening with defensive
armor, seldom failed to break the lines, and confuse the
movements even of the bravest and most determined
savages.
After their victory Pizarro found his situation extremely
precarious, for the enemies whom he had driven into the
forest continued to harass and weary his army by night
attacks, and the difficulty of procuring provisions daily
increased. He became desirous of passing over to the
main as speedily as possible, and his good fortune sent him,
at this period, such assistance as rendered the continuance
of his enterprise more hopeful. This was afforded by the
arrival of the celebrated Hernando de Soto, whose romantic adventures in after-life, have been briefly chronicled in
the early part of this volume, under the title of the Florida Indians. De Soto brought out one hundred men and
a considerable number of horses. Thus reenforced, the
commander of the expedition at once undertook the tranasportation of his men and stores across to Tumbez.
Instead of rejoicing their eyes with the splendor of this
celebrated city, and luxuriating in its wealth, the Spaniards found the whole place dilapidated and deserted.
Such of the Indians as appeared, manifested a dbcidedly
hostile disposition, and several of the party engaged in
transporting the baggage and provisions, upon balsas or
rafts, were seized and slain. Most of the!i houses of the
city were found to be destroyed, and the costly ornaments
and decorations were all stripped from the temple. It cannot be certainly known, at this day, what were the causes
for this conduct on the part of the people of Tumbez. The
curaca of the place was taken prisoner by some of Pizarro's
men, and his explanation of the matter was) that the war
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with the Puna islanders hhd resulted in this demolition of
the city. No certain intelligence was ever obtained of the
fate of those whites who had been left at Tumbez at the
time of the former expedition of discovery.
It now became evident to Pizarro that he should have
some fixed place of settlement, where his troops might
encamp and live in safety until a proper opportunity presented itself for more active operations. He therefore set
himself to explore the country to the southward. In conducting this examination, he made use of a more'conciliatory policy than heretofore, in his intercourse with the
natives, and took pains to restrain, for the time, the rapacity of his followers. The result was that the Indians
were in turn friendly and hospitable. A settlement was
made, and the foundation of a town, called San Miguel,
commenced on the river Piura. Numbers of the natives
were reduced to vassalage, and distributed among the
Spaniards to aid in the labor of improving and extending
the village.
Pizarro had gathered information, by means of the interpreters in his company    the natives formerly taken by
him to Spain —  of the political state of the country, and
of the present location of Atahuallpa, at or near Caxamalca. He had secured a considerable amount of gold,
which was sent back to Panama, by consent of the company,
and applied, after deducting the perquisites of the crown,
to defray the expense of fitting out the expedition.
The whole summer was spent in these operations, and
it was not until the 24th of September, 1532, that the
commander was prepared to lead his small army into the
interior. His whole force was less than two hundred
men, from whom it was necessary to deduct a portion for
the purpose of garrisoning San Miguel. On the march
towards the enormous range of mountains which they were
to cross, the Spaniards refrained from rapine and plunder.
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They were therefore received with kindly curiosity by the
inhabitants, and in their progress availed themselves without molestation of the public fortresses and sheltered
stopping-places prepared upon the high roads for the use
of the royal armies. They were delighted with the rich
and highly-cultivated appearance of many of the beautiful
valleys passed upon the route.
The company consisted of one hundred and seventyseven men, of whom sixty-seven were mounted. From
this number, nine malecontents were suffered by the prudent leader to return to San Miguel, upon pretence that
the garrison left there was too weak, but in reality to prevent the spread of discontent among the troops.
In a hopeful spirit, and with strengthened confidence in
their commander, the little cavalcade pressed on to Xaran,
a fertile settlement amid the mountains. A few leagues
south of this place, at Caxas, a garrison of the Inca's
troops were said to be stationed, and thither Pizarro sent
an embassy, under the direction of De Soto, to open a
communication with the prince.  The messengers were
absent no less than a week; but they finally returned in
safety, accompanied by one of the officers of the Inca,
bearing rich presents and messages of welcome and invitation from the monarch in person. Pizarro received this
noble with the respect due to his rank and position, bestowing upon him such gifts as would be most attractive in
the eyes of a person ignorant of European arts. At his
departure, the envoy was charged to tell his sovereign that
the band of whites was subject to a great emperor of a
distant country; that they had heard of the Inca's greatness and conquests, and had come t6 proffer their aid in
his wars.
Continuing their march, the Spaniards reached the foot
of the Andes. Nothing but the fiercest courage and the
most undaunted resolution, both excited to the utmost by
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the hope of boundless riches and rewards, could have
stimulated such a handful of adventurers to undertake the
ascent of this enormous range of mountains, where nothing could save them from utter destruction, should the
forbearance of the natives cease. The main mountain
road, stretching off to the southward towards the ancient
Peruvian capital, tempted them to take their course in that
direction, while across the mountains a narrow and difficult
pass led towards the encampment of the Inca. It was
determined to push on in the originally proposed direction.
The vast and rugged elevations, rising one beyond another,
must have appeared to the unpractised eye totally insurmountable.
"*  *  *  Those everlastinge clouds,
Seedtime and harvest, morning, noon, and nigh,
Still where they were, steadfast, immovable -
So massive, yet so shadowy, so ethereal,
As to belong rather to Heaven than Earth -
* * They seemed the barriers of a World,
Saying, Thus far, no farther!"
The accounts of modern travellers have familiarized us
with the details of the dangers attendant upon a passage
of the Andes. What then must have been the attempt by
these pioneers, totally ignorant of the route, and momentarily expecting an attack from the natives in passes where
an army could be effectually checked by a handful of resolute men. Their fears of Indian treachery proved, however, groundless; they reached the summit in safety, and,
while encamped about the fires rendered necessary by the
sharp air of those elevated regions, messengers again appeared, sent by Atahuallpa to meet them. A present of
llamas proved most acceptable to the wearied and suffering
troops, and, from all that could be gathered by communion
with the ambassadors, it did not appear probable that they
would be molested upon their route.
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Little doubt was entertained by Pizarro that the Inca
fully intended to entrap and seize him as soon as he
should-be completely in his power, and surrounded by
an irresistible force of his subjects. It was ascertained
that Atahuallpa was encamped with a large army only
three miles from Caxamalca, and that the city was abandoned by its inhabitants. This had a threatening appearance, but the Inca continued to send friendly messages, and as it was too late to think of retreat, even
had their hearts now failed them, the Spaniards descended
the eastern slope of the Andes, and entered the valley of
Caxamalca. Every thing now seen gave tokens of prosperity, industry, and skill.   "Below the adventurers,"
says Prescott, "with its white houses glittering in the sun,
lay the little city of Caxamalca, like a sparkling gem on
the dark skirts of the sierra." Farther on, the immense
encampment of the Inca was seen in the distance, spotting the rising ground with countless tents. Marching
through the valley, the troops entered the vacant city
upon the 15th of November (1532).
CHAPTER IV.
FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE INCA. - PLANS FOR HIS CAPTURE. - EN TRY OF ATAHUALLPA INTO CAXAMALCA. -ADDRESS OF THE CHAP LAIN. -ATTACK BY THE SPANIARDS: FEARFUL MASSACRE OF THE
NATIVES, AND SEIZURE OF THE INCA. -PRISONERS AND PLUNDER
OBTAINED.- THE PROMISED RANSOM. - HERNANDO PIZARRO'S VISIT
TO PACHACAMACA. - CHALLCUCHIMA. - MESSENGERS SENT TO CUZ CO. - IMMENSE TREASURE COLLECTED AT CAXAMALCA. - TRIAL AND
MURDER OF ATAHUALLPA.
A SMALL party of horse, led by Hernando Pizarro and
by the brave and chivalrous De Soto, was at once despatched to report to the Inca the arrival of the Spaniards.
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Dashing boldly up, upon their spirited horses, the Spaniards entered the space occupied by the Peruvian camp,
and soon stood in the royal presence. Atahuallpa, distinguished by the "borla," or crimson fringe bound around
the forehead, an ornament peculiar to the Incas, sat expecting their arrival, surrounded by his officers of state.
He did not so far unbend his dignity as to pay the least
attention to the novel appearance of the steel-clad cavalcade, but kept his eyes immovably fixed upon the ground.
Without  dismounting, Hernando  saluted the monarch,
and, through Felipillo's interpretation, made known his
general's avowed purposes, and earnestly requested the
king to visit the Spanish camp in person. One of the
attendants, speaking in behalf of his master, briefly replied, "It is well."
Hernando still persisted in requesting the monarch to
make known his pleasure, and to speak to them personally;
whereupon Atahuallpa, turning his head, and looking upon
him with a smile, announced that he was then in the observance of a fast, but would visit the Spanish quarters on
the ensuing day. He further directed that the troops
should confine themselves to the buildings situated upon
the plaza or public square.
De Soto is said to have been mounted upon a noble
charger, and, to excite the admiration of the Inca, he put
his horse to his full speed, and wheeling suddenly, drew
him short up immediately in front of the monarch. Atahuallpa's nerves were proof against this display, and he
gave no signs whatever of any emotion. It was afterwards
reported that he caused several of his attendants to be put
to death for exhibiting alarm, upon this occasion, at the
fury and spirit of the war-horse.
Some of the women of the royal household now offered
the Spaniards the fermented drink of the country, "chicha," in golden goblets. This they drank in their saddles,
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and then spurred back to the encampment at Caxamalca.
Their report of the power of the Peruvian force tended
greatly to discourage the little band of adventurers, but
only served to nerve their bold and unscrupulous leader
to a more determined purpose. Recollecting the success
of Cortez in securing the person of Montezuma, and
through him, for the time, controlling the officers of the
capital, Pizarro determined upon the same policy.  He
made known his resolution to his officers, and then proceeded to distribute sentinels at points where they could
command a view of the approaches to the city, and of the
Peruvian camp.
At day-break on the following morning, Pizarro comminenced his arrangements for the surprise and capture of
the Inca. The great square (more properly, in this instance, a triangle) was surrounded with low buildings,
with large entrances on the same level with the enclosed
space. They were built partly of stone, but mostly of
unburnt brick or clay. The Spanish cavalry, in two separate bodies, respectively under command of Hernando
Pizarro and De Soto, was concealed in large halls, from
which a sally could be made at a moment's warning. The
foot soldiers were stationed in another quarter, where they
could most promptly second the efforts of the horse; and
two small falconets, constituting the only artillery, were
placed under charge of an officer called Pedro de Candia,
from the place of his birth.
The Peruvian monarch, on his part, made preparations
to appear in the utmost state, and to impress the eyes of
the strangers with his power and magnificence. So much
time was occupied in the movements of the immense army,
that it was after noon before the Inca arrived at the city.
He was about to pitch his camp without the walls, and
postpone his visit till the following morning, had not
Pizarro sent a message, earnestly requesting him not to
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delay his coming, as all was ready for his entertainment.
Entirely unsuspicious of the perfidious intention of the
Spaniards, Atahuallpa complied with the request. It was
nearly sunset when he entered the town, accompanied by
thousands upon thousands of obsequious but unarmed
attendants. He was borne by numbers of his people upon
a high palanquin, on a seat of massive gold, hung about
and adorned with the most brilliant feathered work. His
dress was equally magnificent, and sparkled with the rarest
gems.
Arriving at the middle of the great square, with his
people, to the number, as was computed, of from five
to six thousand, ranged in respectful silence around him,
Atahuallpa was surprised to see nothing of the Europeans. Presently, however, the chaplain, Vicente de Valverde, made his appearance, and, addressing the Inca,
commenced a long-winded oration upon the religion of
the Spaniards, the authority of their monarch and of the
Pope, and the purposes of the expedition; and concluded
by exhorting him to discard his idolatrous worship, to
receive that now proffered, and to acknowledge himself
the subject of the emperor! Old Purchas gives the following outline of the ecclesiastic's oration:  "Excellent
lord, it behoves you to know, that God in trinity and
unity made the world of nothing, and formed a man of
the earth whom he called Adam, of whom we all have
beginning. Adam sinned against his Creator by disobedience, and in him all his posterity, except Jesus Christ,
who, being God, came down from heaven and took flesh
of the Virgin Mary; and to redeem mankind, died on
a cross like to this (for which cause we worship it); rose
again the third day, and after forty days, ascended into
heaven, leaving for his vicar in earth Saint Peter, and
successors, which we call popes; who have given to the
most puissant King of Spain, Emperor of the Romans,
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the monarchy of the world. Obey the Pope, and receive
the faith of Christ; and if ye shall believe it most holy,
and that most false which ye have, ye shall do well;
and know that, doing the contrary, we will make  war
on you, and will take away and break your idols; therefore leave the deceivable religion of your false gods."
All this (to him) tedious and incomprehensible jargon
was interpreted to the Inca - according to report, with
some rather ludicrous errors, in the explanation of the
religious dogmas. He listened in silence until he heard
the arrogant and insolent conclusion, when not even the
apathy or self-control of the Indian was sufficient to enable him to conceal his indignation. He replied in language befitting a king, that no man could claim superiority
over him, and that he would never abjure the religion of
his country.  "For the emperor," he said;, according to
Purchas, "he could be pleased to be the friend of so great
a prince, and to know him; but for the Pope, he would
not obey him, which gave away that which was not his
own, and took a kingdom from him whom he had never
seen; as for religion, he liked well his own, and neither
would nor ought to call it in question, being so ancient
and approved, especially seeing Christ died, which never
befell the sun or moon." Then taking from the priest's
hand the Bible or breviary which he held forth as the
authority for his unheard-of assumption, the Inca threw it
upon the ground, angrily announcing his determination
of calling the Spaniards to a speedy account for their presumption, and for the wrongs already inflicted upon his
nation.
The friar sought out Pizarro, and urged him to make
an immediate attack, offering him absolution for any sin
he might commit in so doing.  The fierce Spaniard and
his impatient troops were but too ready to accept this
advice. All day had they kept their stations in a condi
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tion of the most trying suspense, ready every moment to
be called to action. The appointed signal was instantly
given, and in the midst of a discharge from the falconets
and muskets, the whole force rushed furiously upon the
unarmed crowd of natives. Never, in the history of the
world, was a more bloody and remorseless massacre committed. In the short space intervening between sunset
and darkness, several thousand of the miserable wretches
were slain unresistingly. In vain did the nobles throng
round their monarch, with noble self-devotion throwing
away their lives for their master, and opposing their bodies
to shield him from the weapons whose force they had no
means to avert. The unhappy prince was taken prisoner,
and securely confined in an adjoining building.   The
Spaniards were greatly struck with the appearance and
noble demeanor of their royal captive.  He is represented
as not far from thirty years of age, of a well-built and
commanding figure, with regular features and a singular
majesty of expression-" his countenance might have been
called handsome, but that his eyes, which were blood-shot,
gave a fierce expression to his features."
The only Spaniard wounded during this bloody and
horrible transaction was Pizarro himself, who received a
wound in the hand from one of his own men, while
endeavoring to ward off a blow aimed at the person of
the Inca.
Next day the Indian prisoners were set at work to bury
the heaps of their slaughtered companions, and detachments of troops were sent over to Atahuallpa's former
place of encampment. These returned in a few hours,
driving in great numbers of prisoners of both sexes, many
of the women being those belonging to the Inca's household.   The Spaniards reserved as many slaves as their
need or pride required; the rest of the prisoners were set
free, contrary to the advice of some in the army, who
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were strenuous that they should be maimed or massacred.
The victors were now at liberty to plunder at will, and
their extravagance and waste had full scope. The vast
flocks of llamas, so long the pride and support of the
country, and over which such a systematic and watchful
care had been exercised for ages, were slaughtered without
stint, or left to roam neglected among the mountains. The
stores of beautiful fabrics of wool and cotton, with which
the city was stored, were open to the depredation of all;
and no small amount of plunder, in gold, silver, and emeralds, was secured at the Peruvian camp, or taken from the
bodies of the slain, and laid by for future division.
The Inca was, meanwhile, treated with a certain respect,
but his person was most carefully guarded. He was allowed the services of his attendants, who, throughout his
captivity, showed no diminution of obsequiousness and
respect, but bowed as humbly before their revered monarch
in his fallen fortunes, as when he sat upon his throne of
state, the arbiter of life and death to all around him.
Atahuallpa could not fail to perceive what was the master motive to all acts of his captors.  Appealing to this,
he promised Pizarro that, if he would engage to set him
at liberty, the floor of the room where they then stood,
should be covered with gold for his ransom. The size of
the apartment is variously stated, but it was at least seventeen feet broad, and twenty or thirty in length. As the
Spaniards appeared to look upon this promise as an idle
boast, the Inca raised his hand against the wall, and added
that "he would not merely cover the floor, but would fill
the room with gold as high as he could reach."
Pizarro accepted the offer, and a line was drawn around
the room at the agreed height.  The gold, whether in the
form of bars and plates, or of vases and statuary, was to
be piled without being broken up or reduced in bulk.
Besides this undertaking, which was to be accomplished
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within two months, a smaller room was to be filled "twice
full of silver, in like manner." Messengers were immedi ately commissioned to order gold from every quarter of the
kingdom, to be brought as speedily as possible for the ransom of the monarch.
Hiuascar, hearing, in his place of confinement, of the
reverse which had befallen his brother, at once opened a
communication with Pizarro, and made offers still more
magnificent than those of Atahuallpa, if the Spaniards
would espouse his cause. Pizarro expressed his determination to hear the claims of both parties, and to decide, from
the evidence that should be adduced, as to their respective
rights. Huascar was, very shortly after this, put to death
by his keepers, as was generally believed, in accordance
with secret instructions from Atahuallpa.
The royal mandate, commanding the desecration of the
magnificent temples and palaces, by stripping them of their
wealth of precious metals, was obeyed as speedily as practicable. Gold came in to Caxamalca in large quantities,
but the difficulty of conveyance caused no little delay.
W~hile waiting the completion of his captive's undertaking,
Pizarro sent emissaries to Cuzco to examine the condition and wealth of the country, and despatched his brother
Hiernando, with a small party of horsemen, to visit the
city of Pachacamac, three hundred miles distant, upon the
sea-coast. Hernando returned to Caxamalca with glowing reports of the beauty and fertility of the country
through which he had passed on this expedition. He had
visited the city for which he had directed his course, and
had destroyed the great idol upon the temple, the former
object of worship to the inhabitants, and which had been
allowed to maintain its place by the Peruvian conquerors,
and to receive joint homage with the sun. In crossing the
rocky and rugged mountains, the shoes of the horses gave
out, and, as no iron was to be procured, it was necessary
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to replace them with silver! or, as some say, with a mixture of silver and copper.
Hernando brought back with him Challcuchima, a veteran officer of the Inca's, and the most esteemed and trustworthy of his generals. He voluntarily accompanied the
Spanish cavalcade, having been told by its leader that his
monarch desired to see him.  When the old soldier came
into his master's presence, (barefoot, and carrying, according to custom, a small burden, in token of inferiority,) he
lamented audibly that he had been absent at the time of
his capture; and, weeping bitterly, kissed the hands and
feet of the fallen prince. Atahuallpa preserved the calm,
unbending dignity which he ever assumed in communications with his subjects.
The messengers sent to Cuzco demeaned themselves
with the utmost pride and insolence. The whole of the
long journey was accomplished in litters or sedan-chairs,
borne by the natives. At the royal city these emissaries
superintended the stripping of the great temple of its
golden plates and ornaments, of which a vast weight was
prepared for transportationto Caxamalca.
At the latter place of encampment, the Spanish army
was very considerably reenforced in the succeeding month
of February, (1533,) by the arrival of Pizarro's old comrade Almagro.  He brought with him, from the Spanish
settlements on the Isthmus, two hundred well-armed soldiers, fifty of whom were cavalry. Thus recruited, Pizarro was eager to extend his conquests and acquisitions.
The promises of the Inca were not, as yet, wholly fulfilled,
although such piles of treasure were accumulated as might
well astonish and satisfy even the eyes of the rapacious
Spaniards. The beauty and finish of many of the massive vases and figures were long after admired by the
artists of Europe. Among the representations of natural
objects wrought in the precious metals, was the ear of
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maize. Of this, the leaves and tassel were perfectly imi,
tated in silver work, the yellow kernel within glistening
with the purest gold.
It was determined to acquit the Inca of any further ful filment of his promise, but to retain him a prisoner, and
at once to break up and divide the treasure.  Some of the
more beautiful specimens of art were reserved to be sent to
Spain; the rest was melted into ingots by the native artisans.  "The total amount of the gold," as stated and computed by Mr. Prescott, "was found to be one million, three
hundred and twenty-six thousand, five hundred and thirtynine pesos de oro, which, allowing for the greater value of
money in the sixteenth century, would be equivalent,
probably, at the present time, to near three millions and a
half ofpounds sterling, or somewhat less thanfifteen millions
and a half of dollars. The quantity of silver was estimated at fifty-one thousand six hundred and ten marks."
The gold, as above estimated, is, indeed, more than thrice
the sum that the same weight of the precious metal would
be worth at the present day. The peso de oro is said to
have been, specifically, about equal to three dollars and
seven cents.
Of all this booty, the crown had its fifth, and the rest
was distributed in various proportions among the numerous claimants. But a small allowance was made to the
new recruits, and still less to the settlers at San Miguel.
Certain sums were devoted to the establishment of the
Catholic religion in the new country.
Having now obtained all that was to be expected
through the Inca's intervention, at least without such delays as their impatient spirits could not brook, the unprincipled horde of freebooters whose proceedings we are now
recording, determined to rid themselves of a captive who
had become an incumbrance.
The ridiculous farce of a trial was gone through, at
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
maize. Of this, the leaves and tassel were perfectly imi
tated in silver work, the yellow kernel within glistening
with the purest gold.
It was determined to acquit the Inca of any further ful filment of his promise, but to retain him a prisoner, and
at once to break up and divide the treasure.  Some of the
more beautiful specimens of art were reserved to be sent to
Spain; the rest was melted into ingots by the native artisans.  "The total amount of the gold," as stated and computed by Mr. Prescott, "was found to be one million, three
hundred and twenty-six thousand, five hundred and thirtynine pesos de oro, which, allowing for the greater value of
money in the sixteenth century, would be equivalent,
probably, at the present titme, to near three millions and a
half ofpounds sterling, or somewhat less thanfifteen millions
and a half of dollars. The quantity of silver was estimated at fifty-one thousand six hundred and tenl marks."
The gold, as above estimated, is, indeed, more than thrice
the sum that the same weight of the precious metal would
be worth at the present day. The peso de oro is said to
have been, specifically, about equal to three dollars and
seven cents.
Of all this booty, the crown had its fifth, and the rest
was distributed in various proportions among the numerous claimants. But a small allowance was made to the
new recruits, and still less to the settlers at San Miguel.
Certain sums were devoted to the establishment of the
Catholic religion in the new country.
Having now obtained all that was to be expected
through the Inca's intervention, at least without such delays as their impatient spirits could not brook, the unprincipled horde of freebooters whose proceedings we are now
recording, determined to rid themselves of a captive who
had become an incumbrance.
The ridiculous farce of a trial was gone through, at
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which such accusations as the following were made, and
pretended to be sustained: He had been guilty of polyga my;  ofl"'squandering  the public's revenues since the
conquest;" of idolatry [!]; of the murder of his brother
Huascar; and of striving to excite a rebellion against the
Spanish  authorities!   This  last charge,  the  only one
brought before the self-constituted court which is worthy
of comment, was utterly unsustained. The country was
perfectly quiet, and even the ingenuity of the prejudiced
judges failed to connect the royal captive with any attempt
at insurrection. It is said that the malice of the interpre ter Felipillo induced him to distort the testimony adduced.
This fellow had been engaged, as is said, in an intrigue
with one of the Inca's women.   The usefulness of the
interpreter protected him from punishment, but the ex pressed indignation of the prince, excited the permanent
rancor and ill-will of his inferior.
The  unhappy Atahuallpa was sentenced to be buried
alive in the public square that very night.   When  his
doom was made  known  to him, he at first resorted to
every entreaty and expostulation to move his murderers
from their diabolical purpose.   With tears he reminded
Pizarro of the treasures he had lavished on the Spaniards,
aand the good faith which he had always shown, and promised a ransom far greater than that before brought in, if he
could but have time to procure it, and if his life were spared.
Seeing that entreaties and supplications availed nothing,
the dignity and firm spirit of endurance of the monarch
returned, and he calmly awaited his terrible fate.  By the
light of torches he was brought out and chained to the
stake, and, at the last moment, submitted to the disgraceful mockery of an administration of the sacraments, and
a formal profession of Christianity, that a speedier form of
death might be awarded him.   He perished by the infamous garotte.
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which such accusations as the following were made, and
pretended to be sustained: He had been guilty of polyga my; of " squandering the public's revenues since the
conquest;" of idolatry [!]; of the murder of his brother
Huascar; and of striving to excite a rebellion against the
Spanish authorities!   This  last charge, the only one
brought before the self-constituted court which is worthy
of comment, was utterly unsustained. The country was
perfectly quiet, and even the ingenuity of the prejudiced
judges failed to connect the royal captive with any attempt
at insurrection. It is said that the malice of the interpre ter Felipillo induced him to distort the testimony adduced.
This fellow had been engaged, as is said, in an intrigue
with one of the Inca's women. The usefulness of the
interpreter protected him from punishment, but the expressed indignation of the prince, excited the permanent
rancor and ill-will of his inferior.
The unhappy Atahuallpa was sentenced to be buried
alive in the public square that very night. When his
doom was made known to him, he at first resorted to
every entreaty and expostulation to move his murderers
from their diabolical purpose. With tears he reminded
Pizarro of the treasures he had lavished on the Spaniards,
and the good faith which he had always shown, and promised a ransom far greater than that before brought in, if he
could but have time to procure it, and if his life were spared.
Seeing that entreaties and supplications availed nothing,
the dignity and firm spirit of endurance of the monarch
returned, and he calmly awaited his terrible fate. By the
light of torches he was brought out and chained to the
stake, and, at the last moment, submitted to the disgraceful mockery of an administration of the sacraments, and
a formal profession of Christianity, that a speedier form of
death might be awarded him. He perished by the infamous garotte.
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Hernando de Soto, a man who, with the faults of his
age and nation, was vastly superior to the merciless villains
with whom he was associated, was absent at the time of
this transaction, and on his return condemned the proceeding in strong terms   A small proportion of the company
thought the same with De Soto, concerning the murder,
but by far the greater number were but too glad to be rid
of a troublesome captive, to trouble themselves about the
means of accomplishing their purpose. Those chiefly concerned, felt sufficiently the disgrace attendant upon their
acts, to endeavor to shift the responsibility upon each other.
In "Purchas, his Pilgrimage," is the following summary
of the end of the principal agents in the murder of Atahuallpa: "Howbeit they killed him notwithstanding, and
in a night strangled him.  But God, the righteous  Judge,
seeing this villanous act, suffered none of those Spaniards
to die by the course of nature, but brought them to cruel
and shameful ends.'' Almagro was executed by Pizarro, and he slain by young Almagro; and him Vacca de
Castra did likewise put to death. John Pizarro was slain
by the Indians. Martin, another of the brethren, was
slain with Francis. Ferdinandus was imprisoned in Spain,
and his end unknown; Gonzales was done to death by
Gasca. Soto died of thought in Florida; and civil wars
ate up the rest in Peru."
A condition of anarchy and intestine disturbance succeeded the death of the Inca, and the rude shock given
by the Spanish invasion to the old system of arbitrary,
but fixed and unchangeable laws. Seeing the value attached to the precious metals, the natives in many instances
followed the example of the conquerors in plundering and
destroying the public edifices of their own country. The
quantity of gold and silver conveyed away and concealed
for ever from the covetous eyes of the Europeans was said
to have infinitely surpassed that which they had secured.
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CHAPTER V.
MARCH TOWARDS CUZCO. -OPPOSITION OF THE NATIVES.-DEATH
OF TOPARCA, AND MURDER OF CHALLCUCIIIMA.-MANCO CAPAC. ENTRY INTO THE CAPITAL. - BOOTY OBTAINED. - ESCAPE OF MAN CO, AND GENERAL INSURRECTION. - SIEGE OF CUZCO. - REVERSES
OF THE SPANIARDS. - CIVIL WARS. - FURTHER HOSTILITIES OF
MANCO CAPAC. - CRUEL TREATMENT OF THE NATIVES. - DEATH OF
MANCO CAPAC. - REFORMS UNDER PEDRO DE LA GASCA. - TUPAC
AMARU. - lNSURRECTION OF 1781. - PRESENT CONDITION OF THE
PERUVIAN INDIANS.
PIZARRO now declared the sovereignty of Peru to be
vested in a brother of Atahuallpa named Toparco, and the
ceremony of coronation was duly performed. Further
stay at Caxamalca was deemed unadvisable, and, with the
new Inca in company, the Spanish army pushed on towards
the ancient capital of Peru, over the magnificent road of
the Incas. The ascent of the mountain ridges was, indeed,,
arduous and perilous, as the voad was intended only for
foot passengers and the agile Peruvian sheep or "camel,"
as the animal was designated by early writers. As in,
former progresses, the granaries and halting-places prepared for the royal armies supplied abundant food and
shelter.
The first attempt upon the part of the natives to arrest
the progress of the cavalcade, was at Xauxa, where they
collected to oppose the passage of a considerable stream.
Resistance proved unavailing: the cavalry dashed through
the river, and dispersed the crowd. Pizarro encamped at
Xauxa, and commissioned De Soto, with sixty mounted
men, to go forward, and see that all was safe for a further
advance. As that cavalier approached Cuzco,. after crossing the Apurimac, a tributary of the Amazon,. his command was beset by a hostile force of Indimns among the
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dangerous passes of the mountain which he must cross to
reach the capital. By superhuman efforts, the little party
managed to force a way against the enemy until an elevated plateau was gained, where there was room for the
movements of the horses. The natives, becoming more
familiar with the arms and mode of fighting adopted by
the Spaniards, fought with their natural courage and resolution, but could accomplish little after the cavalry had
attained an advantageous position.
During the night, De Soto and his men were gladdened
by the arrival of Almagro upon the field, with most of the
cavalry left at Xauxa. Pizarro had received advices of
the danger to which his advance was exposed, and
promptly forwarded assistance. The whole Spanish force
finally assembled at Xaquixaguana, but a few miles from
Cuzco.   In this delightful valley, a favorite resort of
the Inca nobility, whose country-seats were every where
scattered over its surface, the army encamped for rest and
refreshment. At this place various charges were brought
up against the noble old warrior, Challcuchima. The
new Inca, Toparca, had died during the halt at Xauxa,
and it was thought convenient to attribute his death, as
well as the recent hostile movements, to the machinations
of this dangerous prisoner. He was tried, condemned,
and burned alive- the usual method of execution adopted
by the Spaniards in the case of an Indian victim. It is to
be trusted that another generation will look upon the barbarities still persisted in among the most enlightened
nations of the present age, with the same sensations that
are now aroused by the remembrance of the cruelties so
universal in former times.
A new claimant to the throne of the Incas had now
arisen in the person of Manco Capac, a brother of the ill fated Huascar.  The young  prince, splendidly attended,
came boldly to the Spanish camp, explained the grounds
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Pizarro now bethought himself of establishing a capital
for the new country in a more convenient location than
either Cuzco or Quito, and in January, 1535, the foundations of the city of Lima were laid.  Hernando Pizarro
had been previously sent to Spain, with substantial specimens of the newly-acquired treasures. His appearance at
court, and his details of strange adventure, excited an unprecedented enthusiasm and astonishment. Large additional emoluments and authorities were conferred upon the
principal actors in the conquest; and Hernando returned
to America, accompanied by numerous adventurers eager
for fame and fortune in the new world. Almagro received,
by royal grant, authority to conquer and possess an immense district, southward of Peru; and thither he took up
his march, after a long series of bickerings and quarrels with
Juan and Gonlzalo, respecting conflicting claims at Cuzco.
The conquerors of the empire of the Incas became careless and secure: they little dreamed that there yet existed
a warlike and determined spirit among the down-trodden
natives, fated soon to raise a storm on every side, which
not even Spanish valor and dogged determination could
readily allay.
The young Inca, Manco Capac, indignant at the conduct
of the rulers at Cuzco, and disgusted with the shadow of
authority which he was himself allowed to exercise, made
his escape from the surveillance of the Pizarros, and, rousing the whole country to arms, intrenched himself beyond
the Yucay. Juan Pizarro in vain undertook his recapture.
With a small body of cavalry, he did, indeed, gain a temporary advantage, but the effect of superstitious fears no
longer operated to dismay the Indian warriors, and it was
only by virtue of hard knocks, and by actual superiority
in skill, weapons, and endurance, that they could be conquered. The numbers of the enemy were so great, and so
fast increasing, that Juan was obliged, in a few days, to
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return to Cuzco, which, as he was informed by a messenger,
was now besieged by the Indians in still more overwhelming force.
In the elegant language of Mr. Prescott: "The extensive environs, as far as the eye could reach, were occupied
by a mighty host, which an indefinite computation swelled
to the number of two hundred thousand warriors. The
dusky lines of the Indian battalions stretched out to the
very verge of the mountains; while, all around, the eye
saw only the crests and waving banners of chieftains,
mingled with rich panoplies of feather-work, which reminded some few who had served under Cortez of the
military costume of the Aztecs. Above all rose a forest
of long lances and battle-axes edged with copper, which,
tossed to and fro in wild confusion, glistened in the rays
of the setting sun, like light playing on the surface of a
dark and troubled ocean. It was the first time that the
Spaniards had beheld an Indian army in all its terrors;
such an army as the Incas led to battle, when the banner
of the Sun was borne triumphant over the land."
It is almost inconceivable that such a handful of men
as were gathered within the city-walls, should have been
able to repel the force now gathered about them, and to
maintain their position until the enemy, wearied with
hopeless encounters, and suffering from want of provision,
should be obliged to draw off.
The buildings of Cuzco were nearly all covered with a
neatly arranged thatch, and this the assailants easily ignited by means of burning arrows. The whole city was
wrapt in flames, and the Spaniards, encamped in the great
plaza, nearly perished from the- heat and smoke. When
the flames subsided, after several days of terrible conflagration, one half of the proud capital was a heap of ruins.
Fierce battles and desperate hand-to-hand encounters
succeeded: the Spaniards, with their accustomed bravery,
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again and again charged the enemy in the field, but their
numbers were so great, that success in these skirmishes
was eventually useless. The sallies from the city were
met and resisted with the most determined valor. As at
the siege of Mexico, the Indians seemed to be careless of
their own loss, so long as they could lessen the numbers
of the whites, in however inferior degrees. They no
longer fled in terror at the approach of the horse. They
had even availed themselves of such of these useful an imals as fell into their hands. Several of them were seen
mounted, and the Inca himself, "accoutred in the European
fashion, rode a war-horse which he managed with considerable address, and, with a long lance in his hand, led on his
followers to the attack." There are bounds to the physical endurance of man and beast, and the Spaniards were
obliged to submit to the siege, and to wait until assistance
should arrive from without, or until the enemy should be
weary of keeping watch upon them. The greatest annoyance was in the possession, by the Indians, of the great
fortress, from the high towers of which their missiles were
hurled with deadly effect upon all within reach.
It was determined to storm this intrenchment, and the
service was most gallantly performed. Juan Pizarro, a
cavalier spoken of as superior to either of his brothers in
humanity, lost his life in its accomplishment. The Peruvian commander, after defending his post in person, with the
most desperate valor, scorning to be taken prisoner, threw
himself headlong from the highest tower, and perished.
The siege, which had commenced in the spring, continued until August, when, after months of anxiety and suffering, the little band of Spaniards were rejoiced to see the
Inca's forces taking their departure. They had been dismissed by their leader to go home and attend to the necessary duties of husbandry. Manco intrenched himself at
Tambo, south of the Yucay.
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The rising among the Peruvians was very extensive and
well concerted. Great numbers of detached plantations
and settlements were destroyed,, and their Spanish occupants slain. Pizarro made several ineffectual attempts to
send relief to the garrison at Cuzco, which only resulted
in heavy loss to his own people. A general feeling of
gloom, apprehension, and discontent prevailed, and not a
few of the settlers, at Lima and elsewhere, were anxious
to abandon the country.
Upon the return of Almagro from his disastrous expedition to Chili, and his seizure of Cuzco, he succeeded in
driving the Inca from Tambo into the mountains, where he
sought out a solitary place of concealment until opportunity
should offer for again arousing his people to resistance.
In the desolating civil wars which ensued among the
rival Spanish claimants of the country, the rights and
prosperity of the native inhabitants were utterly disregarded.  They were unscrupulously enslaved and maltreated wherever the power of the Spaniards extended.
In the distracted state of the country, the young Inca
again renewed his efforts at resistance to his subjects' oppressors. Sallying from time to time from an encampment
among the mountains, between Cuzco and the sea-coast, he
did no little injury to the Spanish settlements, and rendered
travelling unsafe, except in large and well-armed companies. Although frequently defeated by Pizarro's troops,
he would only retire to meditate fresh attacks, and the
Spanish commander finally thought it advisable to open a
negotiation with him. A meeting was accordingly apo inted in the valley of the Yucay, but the attempts at
pa fication were rendered abortive by mutual outrages.
A negro messenger, sent by Pizarro to the Inca with a
propitiatory offering, was robbed and murdered by some of
the natives. The Spanish commander chose to attribute
the act to Manco's orders, and proceeded to retaliate by
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the dastardly and cruel murder of a young and beautiful
wife of the Inca, who was a prisoner in his power. She
was stripped naked, beaten, and afterwards shot with arrows. This cruelty was endured, on the part of the victim,
with true Indian fortitude. What a strange contradiction
it appears, that a man like this, with his dying lips (he
was assassinated in 1541) should have pronounced the
name of Him whose whole teaching and example breathed
the spirit of gentleness and mercy, and that his last effort
should have been to kiss the figure of the cross, drawn by
his finger, in his own blood, upon the floor.
As the Spanish population of the country increased, the
condition of the Indians became more and more wretched
and deplorable. The old scenes at the West India Islands
were reenacted, and the brutal populace seemed to make
cruelty and wanton outrage a matter of emulation. It
was not enough to enslave the helpless natives, and to
compel them upon insufficient nourishment, and scantily
clothed, to undergo the killing labors of the mines and
plantations; but the most capricious outrages were every
where committed.   They were hunted with  dogs, for
the sake of sport; all that they esteemed sacred was
desecrated; their women were violated in the most shameless manner; and cruel tortures and death awaited him
who should resist the oppressor, or invade his rights of
property!
One of the most notorious abuses in the system of
Spanish government, and which was maintained until after
the insurrection of 1781, was called the "Repartimiento."
This was a compulsory distribution of European goods,
which the natives were compelled to purchase at enormous
prices.  "The law was doubtless intended," it is said by
Tschudi, "in its origin, for the advantage and convenience
of the native Indians, by supplying them with necessaries
at a reasonable price. But subsequently the Repartimiento
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became a source of oppression and fraud, in the hands of
the provincial authorities."
The system- which regulated the services of laborers in
the mines or on the plantations went by the name of the
"Mita." Those Indians who were placed, by the operation
of this species of conscription, under the power of the proprietors of the soil, were in a far more miserable condition
than slaves in whom the master has a property, and whose
health and lives he has an interest in preserving. Such a
miserable pittance as was doled out for their support, and
so severe and unceasing was the labor required at their
hands, that an almost incredible number perished.  "Some
writers estimate at nine millions the number of Indians
sacrificed in the mines in the course of three centuries."
When, by the intervention of Las Casas, the wrongs of
the Indians received attention from the Spanish court, and
extensive provisions were made for their freedom and
protection, all Peru was in a state of tumultuous excitement. It was the general determination not to submit to
such an infringement of the luxuries and profits of life in
the New World, as that of placing the serfs under the care
of the laws. In the midst of this turmoil, in 1544, the
brave and patriotic Inca was slain by a party of Spaniards, who had fled to his camp during the factious disturbances by which the European settlements were convulsed.
They paid the forfeit for this act with their lives.
The first effectual steps taken in behalf of the wasted
and oppressed Peruvians, were under the viceroyalty of
Pedro de la Gasca, between 1547 and 1550. By his efforts, a careful inquiry was instituted into the condition
of the slaves; their arbitrary removal from their native
districts was prohibited; and, above all, strict regulations
were made, and- not without strong opposition-enforced,
by which the kind and amount of their labor was precisely
laid down.
649 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Tupac Amaru, a son of Manco Capac, who had resided
among the remote mountain districts of the interior since
his father's death, was taken prisoner and put to death
during the period that Francisco de Toledo was viceroy
of Peru. One of his descendants, Jose Gabriel Condor canqui, known as Tupac Amaru the Second, in after-times
fearfully revenged the injuries of his family and country men. The insurrection which he headed broke out in
1781. The lapse of two centuries of oppression had thinned the teeming population of Peru in a ratio scarcely
precedented, but, on the other hand, European weapons,
and military skill, both of which they had, to a certain
extent, adopted, rendered them dangerous enemies, and
enough of the old patriotic spirit and tradition of former
glory remained to afford material for a fearful outbreak.
The long depressed and humiliated natives rallied
around the descendant of their ancient line of Incas with
the greatest enthusiasm, and, in their successful attacks
upon various provinces where Spanish authority had been
established, proved as merciless as their former oppressors.
Great numbers of Spaniards perished during this rebellion,
but it was finally crushed; and the Inca, with a number of
his family, falling into the hands of the Spanish authorities, was  barbarously  put  to death.  "They  were  all
quartered," says Bonnycastle, "in the city of Cuzco, excepting Diego, (a brother of Tupac,) who had escaped.
So great was the veneration of the Peruvians for Tupac
Amaru, that when he was led to execution, they prostrated
themselves in the streets, though surrounded by soldiers,
and uttered piercing cries and exclamations as they beheld
the last of the Children of the Sun torn to pieces."
Diego also perished by the hands of the executioner,
twenty years afterwards, upon the accusation of having
instigated a revolt which occurred in Quito. It is said
that the insurrection of the Indians under Tupac Amaru
650 
SOUTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
the last important effort made by them to reestablish their
ancient independence - cost more than one hundred thousand lives.
Since the great revolutions in South America, and the
establishment of the independence of the Republics, the
Indian population of Peru have made no trifling advance.
According to the account of Dr. Tschudi, a late traveller
in the country, they "have made immense progress.   During the civil war, which was kept up uninterruptedly for
the space of twenty years, they were taught military manceuvres and the use of fire-arms. After every lost battle,
the retreating Indians carried with them, in their flight,
their muskets, which they still keep carefully concealed.
They are also acquainted with the manufacture of gunpowder, of which, in all their festivals, they use great
quantities for squibs and rockets."
The same writer describes the present character of the
race as gloomy and distrustful. The Christian religion
has been, at least in name, almost universally diffused, but
the observance of its rites is mingled with many relics of
the ancient superstitions of the country, while the bigotry,
errors, and evil example of too many of those who have
acted as its ministers could hardly result in the inculcation
of the true spirit of their faith. During the whole period
of Spanish authority, from the time of the first landing,
the Catholic ecclesiastics were unwearied in endeavors to
promulgate their religion. Their success in effecting at
least an outward acceptation of its doctrines, has been no
where more signal than in South America.
651 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
CHAPTER I.
THEIR LOCATION, APPEARANCE, ETC. - PURCHAS' DESCRIPTION OF
CHILI. - DIVISION OF THE TRIBES. - PERUVIAN CONQUESTS. - AG RICULTURE, ARTS, ETC., AMONG THE NATIVES.-ALMAGRO'S INVA SION. - EXPEDITION OF PEDRO DE VALD1VIA.- FOUNDING OF ST.
JAGO.-BATTLES WITH THE MAPOCHINIANS. -DESTRUCTION OF
SPANISH MINERS.- PEACE WITH THE PROMAUCIANS.
THE different tribes belonging to this bold and warlike
race inhabit Chili and western Patagonia, commencing
about latitude thirty degrees, and extending to Terra del
Fuego. The Pecherais of that island have also been classed
in the same family, and their general conformation of figure and features, except so far as the withering influence
of cold and squalid destitution has deteriorated the race,
would seem to warrant the conclusion that the two nations
were of identical origin.
The mountaineers of Chili are of a much lighter complexion than the aboriginal nations either north or south
of them; the tribe of Boroanos in particular have been
described as being little, if any, darker than Europeans.
The men are tall, hardy, and vigorous, with exceedingly
muscular limbs: their faces are broad, and their features
rather heavy and coarse, but without the appearance of
stupidity or dulness: they have the bright eye and coarse
black hair of the Indian. Some of them are noticed with
heavy beards, but generally this appendage is thin and
(652) 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
scanty, and the common barbarous custom of eradicating
it with some substitute for tweezer is resorted to.
Although a considerable difference is observable between
the inhabitants of the mountains and the plains, in size,
complexion, &c., yet the similarity in language and general appearance is considered sufficient to warrant the conclusion that all originally sprung from the same stock.
In "Purchas his Pilgrimage," we find the following
quaint description of the physical aspect of the country:
"It is called Chili of the chilling cold, for so the word
is said to signify. The hills with their high looks, cold
blasts, and covetous encroachings, drive it almost into the
sea: only a narrow valley upon lowly submission to her
swelling adversaries, obtaincth room for five and twenty
leagues of breadth, where it is most, to extend her spacious length of two hundred leagues on that shore: and
to withstand the ocean's fury, she pays a large tribute
of many streams, which yet in the night time she can
hardly perform; the miserable hills, in their frozen charity, not imparting that natural bounty and duty, till that
great arbiter the sun ariseth, and sendeth day with his
light-horse troop of sunbeams to break up those icy
dungeons and snowy turrets, wherein night, the mountains' jailer, had locked the innocent waters. Once, the
poor valley is so hampered betwixt the tyrannical meteors
and elements, as that she often quaketh with fear,
and in these chill fevers shaketh off and loseth her best
ornaments.
' * "And sometimes the neighbor hills are infected
with this pestilent fever, and tumble down as dead in the
plain, thereby so amazing the fearful rivers, that they run
quite out of their channels to seek new, or else stand still
with wonder;  and the motive heat failing, fall into an
uncouth tympany, their bellies swelling into spacious and
standing lakes."
653 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
When the western coast of South America was first
visited by Europeans, a portion of Chili was, as beforementioned, subject to the Peruvian monarchy. The Chilian tribes, according to Molina, were fifteen in number,
each independent, and governed by its Ulmen, or cacique.
"These tribes, beginning at the north, and proceeding to
the south, were called Copiapins, Coquimbanes, Quillotanes, Mapochinians, Promaucians, Cures, Cauques, Pencones, Araucanians, Cunches, Chilotes, Chinquilanians,
Pehuenches, Puelches, and Huilliches." The first four of
these, about the middle of the fifteenth century, were reduced by the Inca Yupanqui, without much opposition,
but the Promaucians opposed so vigorous a resistance that
the progress of the Peruvian arms was effectually stayed.
The conquered provinces were allowed to retain their national government and customs, upon payment of tribute
to the Inca.
The Chilians were, at this early period, not only bold
and skilful in war, but had made much greater advances
in the arts of civilization than any other South American
race except the Peruvians. The country was too populous to be sustained by the precarious pursuits of hunting,
fishing, &c., and a rude but systematic cultivation of the
soil had become universal. The vegetable productions
brought under cultivation were mostly the same with those
used in Peru, and the native sheep or "camel," was domesticated, as in that country. This animal furnished the
wool for the garments of those who inhabited the western
valleys- the wilder races of the east and south were clothed
in skins, principally of the guanaco, a species of wild goat.
Their houses were generally square, built of brick, or
of wood plastered with clay, and thatched with rushes.
Culinary utensils were formed of stone, wood, or earthenware. They wrought, with some skill, in the usual metallic
productions of the country, using,, like the Peruvians, a
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THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
hardened alloy of copper, with other metals, as a substitute
for iron. In common with the latter nation, a system of
recording events or statistics by the "quipu," was all that
was observable as analogous to the art of writing.
The Promaucians, whose courage and patriotism had a
century before checked the advance of the royal forces of
the Inca, were found no less formidable by the first Spanish invaders. Almagro, after his frightful passage of the
Cordilleras, in which, as is said, he lost one hundred and
fifty Spaniards, and some ten thousand Indian allies, was
well received by the tributary provinces of Chili. He collected no small booty in gold, which he distributed among
his followers, and continued his march to Coquimbo. Here
he was guilty of an act of barbarity too common wherever
the Spaniards of that time were successful in their Indian
campaigns. Two of his soldiers had been put to death at
Guasco, in consequence of some acts of rapacity or violence, and in revenge, Almagro seized and burned alive
the chief of the district, with his brother and twenty other
of the native inhabitants.
Marching into the province of the Promaucians, the
Spaniards found an enemy superior to any before encountered. Not even the terrors of the cavalry and weapons
of the Europeans could daunt the brave mountaineers, who
rallied under the banners of their chiefs for the protection
of home and country. A single battle was sufficient to
satisfy the invaders that little was to be gained by any
further advance, and Almagro, with his troops, returned
to Peru, as heretofore related, to seize upon Cuzco as
being contained within the grant made to him by the
crown.
In 1540, Pedro de Valdivia, a bold and active Spanish
soldier, and high in the confidence of Pizarro, was commissioned to lead the second expedition against the provinces of Chili.  He took with him two hundred Spaniards
37
-657 
INDIAN RACES OF AMIERICA.
and a large body of Peruvians, with the intent of forming
a colony and commencing a permanent settlement. Some
of the domestic animals of Europe were taken for use of
the new colony, and a number of women and ecclesiastics
were added to the conipany.
Crossing the mountains during the favorable season of
summer, Valdivia entered Chili, but found on his arrival
that the northern tribes, freed from the yoke of the Incas,
were disposed to reassert their former independence. The
want of union, however, prevented them from being able
to stem the progress of the Spaniards. The invader pressed
on, crushing all opposition, to Mapocho, the province where
he founded the city of St. Jago.
While the new capital was in progress of construction,
the natives of the district fell boldly upon the intruders,
burned their buildings, and drove them into a fort which
they had constructed in the centre of the town. The Spaniards were eventually victorious; but the spirit of the
Mapochonians was not broken, and for years afterwards
they continued to harass the settlers in every possible
manner.  The opening of the rich mines of the valley of
Quillota reconciled the colonists to every danger and privation; and, for convenient communication with Peru, a
vessel was built in the river Chile, which flows through
that district.
Valdivia now sent emissaries to Peru, under convoy of
thirty mounted men, to beat up for recruits.  These mes
sengers were eight in number, and, as a bait to new adventurers, their "spurs, bits, and stirrups he directed to be
made of gold.", A body of Copiapans attacked this party
on their route, and slew all except two, named Alonzo
Monroy and Pedro Miranda, whom they carried to their
ulmen or cacique. B3y the intervention of the chief's
wife their lives were spared, and they were engaged to
teach the young prince, her son, the art of riding The
I
-658
II
I 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
ungrateful Spaniards took  advantage of the confidence
placed in them, to murder their charge and escape on the
horses. They succeeded in reaching Peru, and procured a
considerable number of adventurers to try their fortunes
in the new and promising regions of the south.
The Chilians did not quietly submit to Spanish encroachments. The inhabitants of Quillota, by an artful
stratagem, drew the Spaniards connected with the mines
into an ambuscade, and murdered nearly the whole number; they followed up their advantage by burning the
military stores and the vessel which had been built at the
river Chile. Valdivia had the good fortune or skill to
overawe or conciliate the Promaucians, and an alliance
was formed between the Spaniards and that tribe.
i,
1'
rI
II
CHAPTER II.
THE ARAUCANIANS PROPER.- CHARACTER AND HIIABITS OFTHE TRIBE.
-HOUSES AND DRESS. -SECTIONAL DIVISIONS AND, GOVERNMENT.
- SYSTEM OF WARFARE. - COURAGE AND MILITARY SKILL. - RE LIGIOUS BELIEF AND SUPERSTITIONS. -PATRIOTISM AND PUBLIC
SPIRIT OF THE NATIVES. - MOLINA'S EULOGIUM.
PUSHING his conquests and acquisitions further to the
southward, the Spanish commander, in 1550,. founded the
city of Conception, but as the occupation of this spot led
to the important events connected with the Araucanian
war, we will follow the order of Molina, and give a brief
account of the warlike people with whom the Spaniards
were now to contend.
This author speaks enthusiastically of the noble character of the Araucanians, their physical perfection, and
their powers of endurance.   He  says "they are intrepid,
I
659 
INDIAN PACES OF AMERICA.
animated, ardent, patient in enduring fatigue, ever ready
to sacrifice their lives in the service of their country, enthusiastic lovers of liberty, which they consider as an
essential constituent of their existence, jealous of their
honor, courteous, hospitable, faithful to their engagements,
grateful for services rendered them, and generous and humane  towards the vanquished."  Their failings, on the
other hand, are "drunkenness, debauchery, presumption,
and a haughty contempt for all other nations."
The district of Arauco, from which the nation takes
its name, is but a small province of the country inhabited by the race. This lies in the beautiful region between Conception and Valdivia, extending back among
the mountains. The inhabitants dwelt, in primitive simplicity, congregated in no large towns, but thickly scattered over the country in small rural villages. Their
domestic and household arrangements were little more
refilled than we have described as common in Chili. Polygamy was generally practised, and "the size of their
houses proportioned to the number of women they could
maintain."
They wore woollen clothing, woven from the fleece of
the native sheep, and consisting of close fitting under garments, and over all the national Poncho, a most convenient and easily-constructed cloak, especially adapted to
the use of horsemen. The women wore long dresses, with
a short cloak, both fastened with ornamental brooches of
silver.
The Araucanian system of government is described by
Molina as being an hereditary aristocracy.  The country
was divided from north to south into four sections, the
mountainous region at the east, the high land at the base
of the Andes, the adjoining plain, and the sea-coast.  Each
division was under the nominal sway of a Toqui, or supreme cacique, but the real power was in the body of the
i
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i
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660
0
11, 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
nobility or IUlmenes, who  presided over the various subdivisions of the state, and who decided in grand council
upon public matters.   Our author does not speak very
highly of the judicial institutions of the country. Much
trouble ensued from a system of retaliation by which minor
offences were allowed to be punished.   The capital crimes
were "treachery, intentional homicide, adultery, the robbery of any valuable article, and witchcraft. Nevertheless, those found guilty of homicide can screen themselves
from punishment by a composition with the relations of
the murdered."  Each father of a family assumed and exercised absolute power over his wives and children, and,
by the custom of the country, he was not responsible even
for taking their lives.
In war, as among the ruder North American tribes, the
direction and command of the armies was not conferred
upon the supreme civil potentate, unless from his known
skill and bravery he was deemed fully competent. A warchief was not unusually appointed from among the inferior
officers, and, when this was done, an absolute dictatorship
was vested in the chosen leader.
Soon after the arrival of the Spaniards in Chili, the
Araucanians began to supply themselves with horses.
Those which they obtained in battle multiplied to an immense extent, and the native inhabitants speedily acquired
a remarkable degree of skill in their training and management. Swords, lances, slings, bows, pikes, and clubs were
the national weapons.
Such skill in the arts of war, in fortifications, in military
regularity and discipline, and such bravery and efficiency
in the open field, as was evinced by the Araucanians in
their long contests with the Spaniards, entirely exceed any
thing recorded of the other American races.
The terrific destruction caused by artillery failed to confuse or appall them. In the words of Molina: "As soon
I
661
0 
0
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
as the first line is cut down, the second occupies its place,
and then the third, until they finally succeed in breaking
the front ranks of the enemy.   In the midst of their fury,
they nevertheless preserve the strictest order, and perform
all the evolutions directed by their officers. The most
terrible of them are the club-bearers, who, like so many
Herculeses, destroy with their iron-pointed maces all they
meet in their way."  
After a battle, the prisoners taken were held as slaves
until ransomed or exchanged: in sofne  rare instances a
single captive would be sacrificed. This was done, (without torture,) after the performance of a singular preliminary ceremonial.   The victim was brought forward "upon
a horse deprived of his ears and tail -as a mark of ignominy." The proper officers then handed him a pointed
stake, and a number of small sticks. He was compelled
to dig a hole in the earth with the stake; and to throw the
sticks severally into it; naming, at each cast, one of the
most renowned chiefs of his own country, "while, at the
same time, the surrounding soldiers loaded these abhorred
names with the bitterest execrations." After he had been
forced to cover the hole "as if to bury therein the reputation and valor of their enemies," some one of the principal chiefs destroyed the captive by the blow of a war-club.
His heart, it is said, was then taken out, and a little blood
sucked from it by the  officers standing around; after
which, the body was dismembered, the bones were used
for flutes, and the skull, (if not cracked,) served for a
drinking vessel.
All this sounds excessively barbarous, but Molina tells
us that only one or two instances of the kind occurred
during a period of nearly two hundred years.
The religious belief of the Araucanians appears to have
borne a strong resemblance to that of many North American tribes.  The idea of a supreme being; of good and
662 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
evil spirits, especially one great demon named Guecubu;
of a future state of rewards and punishments, and the immortality of the soul, were universal. A vast number of
superstitious signs and omens, some of them singularly
analogous to those of ancient European nations, were drawn
from earthquakes, storms, the flight of birds, and other
natural phenomena.
Each person believed himself under the special care of
a guardian angel, or familiar spirit, to whose aid and influence success in any pursuit was generally inferred.  The
Catholic missionaries were received with respect and kindness, but owing to a natural phlegm or indifference to such
abstractions, they met with but little success in their efforts
at promulgating their doctrines.
The tradition of a deluge, so universally spread throughout the world, was current among these Indians, and in
many other respects analogies, whether casual or not, could
be. traced between their belief and observances and those
of the old world.  The ceremonies and fanciful conceptions
connected with the sepulture of the dead, if correctly reported, are not unlike  many  of those recorded of the
ancients.
Besides the compound of sorcerer and physician, whose
services were required by the sick, as in every other part
of America when the country was first discovered, the
Araucanians had medical professors who made no pitetensions to supernatural powers. - These are said to have
possessed considerable skill in the diagnosis of diseases,
and in the administration of simple remedies. Others devoted their attention to the treatment of broken limbs and
ulcers, which they accomplished with no small success.
Among the peculiarities of national character observable
in the race the most prominent has ever been an indomitable spirit of patriotism, and a pride in their own country
and usages, leading to a supreme contempt for all other
i
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4
663
I
PI, 
4
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
nations. They regard their own race as one vast brotherhood, every member of which is bound to assist and befriend
his neighbor. MIolina says: "The benevolence and kindness with which these people treat each other is really surprising. * * From the mutual affection which subsists
between them, proceeds their solicitude reciprocally to assist each other in their necessities.  Not a beggar or an
indigent person is to be found throughout the whole Araucanian territory; even the most infirm and incapable of
subsisting themselves are decently clothed.
"This benevolence is not, however, confined wholly to
their own countrymen; they conduct with the greatest
hospitality towards all strangers, of whatever nation, and a
traveller may live in any part of their country without the
least expense."
The above account is probably rather highly colored; indeed, this author has been accused of no little exaggeration
in his comments upon Araucanian civilization. Nothing is
more common than for a writer to be carried away by'his
subject; the biographer almost universally deifies his hero,
and the historian of a particular nation is but too apt to fall
into a similar error.
In their houses and persons, the Araucanians have been
described as standing in agreeable contrast with most of
the aboriginal Americans, by a most remarkable cleanliness. In this respect they might well rival, if not surpass,
the most polished society of Europe.
I
664 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
CHAPTER III.
ARMY SENT TO OPPOSE THE PROGRESS OF THE SPANIARDS.- BATTLE
ON THE ANDALIEN. - LINCOTAN'S CAMPAIGN. - VALDIVIA'S MARCH
SOUTHWARD. -FOUNDATION OF VALDIVIA, AND ESTABLISHMENT
OF FORTS IN TIlE ARAUCANIAN TERRITORY. - THE NATIVES ROUSED
BY COLOCOLO. - CAUPOLICAN MADE TOQUI. - HIS SUCCESSES. GREAT VICTORY OVER THE SPANIARDS. - DEATH OF VALDIVIA. INVASION OF ARAUCO BY VILLAGRAN.- HIS DEFEAT. - DESTRUC TION OF CONCEPTION. - LAUTARO'S FATAL EXPEDITION AGAINST
SANTIAGO.
IN order to check the advance of the Spaniards, the
Araucanians determined not to await an actual invasion
of their own territory, but to cross the river Bio-bio, which
formed the boundary of their country, and attack them in
force at their quarters in the adjoining province of Penco.
The great cacique or Toqui, Aillavilu, with several thousand warriors, was commissioned  for this service.  The
Spanish army was encountered on the banks of the Andalien, and, for the first time in the history of American
conquest, experienced the power of an enemy little inferior in skill, and fully equal in courage and determination
to the trained soldiery of Europe.
The Indians fought with desperate valor, regardless of
the murderous effect of the Spanish fire-arms; but their
leader Aillavilu, rashly exposing himself in the hottest of
the engagement, was slain, and his followers made an orderly retreat, unpursued by the Spaniards. To secure himself against future danger, Valdivia at once erected a strong
fort near his newly-founded city of Conception. This was
in 1551, and in the following year the bold mountaineers
of the south determined upon another great effort to dislodge the dangerous colony.
7
665
I 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
One Lincoyan, an Ulmen of huge stature and imposing
appearance, was created commander of the armies. In
three bodies the Araucanians fell upon the Spaniards, and
drove them within the fort. Hopeless of effecting any
thing against this stronghold, Lincoyan drew off his forces:
he is, indeed, accused by historians of a degree of irresolution and timidity unworthy of his race.
Valdivia, left in undisturbed possession of his new territories, went on with the work of building his city, and
strengthening his position. Iln 1552 he felt sufficient confidence in the number of his followers, augmented by fresh
arrivals from Peru, to undertake active operations against
the Araucanians. Lincoyan was still in command, and his
efforts failed to arrest the progress of the invaders, who
pressed on to the river Cauten, in the heart of the hostile
territory. Here Valdivia laid the first foundations of the
future city Imperial, and sent Alderete, one of his officers,
to commence the formation of a settlement by the lake of
Lauquen.
From this point the Spanish commander made his way
to the southern border of the Araucanian territory, where
the river Caliacalla divided it from that of the Cunches,
experiencing little opposition from the vacillating and cautious Lincoyan.  The Cunches, in great force, were prepared to oppose his entry into their domains; but, according to the accounts handed down to us, they were persuaded
to lay aside their purpose, by a native woman, named Recloma.  Valdivia was therefore enabled to cross the river
in safety, and to found a city upon its southern bank, upon
which he bestowed his own family name.
On his return, in 1553, he erected forts in the provinces
of Puren, Tucapel and Arauco.  These operations were
not carried on without hostilities with the natives; but, in
consequence, as is said, of the inefficiency of the military
chief at their head, all their efforts were unsuccessful, and
666 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
the Spaniards were beginning to despise the power of an
enemy who was in after-times to prove invincible.
Valdivia retired to Conception, firom which town he
sent forth expeditions in various directions, forming magnificent plans for the entire occupation of the surrounding
country. He anticipated little further resistance on the
part of the inhabitants, but while he was indulging these
hopes, and pondering new schemes of conquest, an influence was at work to counteract his efforts and restore the
native independence.   Colocolo, an old cacique of Arauco,
set himself in earnest to rouse up the whole nation to
resistance. He visited province after province, pointing
out the dangers of the supine course of Lincoyan, and
urging the appointment of some more capable and energetic leader.
A meeting of the Ulmenes was called, after the usual
manner, in an open plain, and the merits of various rival
candidates for the office of Toqui were stormily discussed.
It was at last concluded to leave the decision with Colocolo,
who fixed upon a chief not before brought forward; Caupolican, Ulmen of Pilmayquen.
The new general commenced operations against the
Spanish fort in Arauco. Having taken prisoners a body
of eighty Indians, who had been sent out by the garrison
to gather forage, he put an equal number of his own warriors in charge of the supplies, with their arms concealed
among the bundles of grass or hay.  These were admitted
without  suspicion into the fort, when,  grasping  their
weapons, they attacked the Spaniards with inconceivable
fury.  Caupolican did not arrive quite soon enough, with
his army, to take advantage of the confusion which ensued.
As he came up, his brave company was driven out, the
draw-bridge was raised, and the garrison stationed to defend the walls.  He therefore invested the place, and, cutting off all supplies, compelled the Spaniards to evacuate
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it. This was accomplished without loss, by taking their
departure under cover of night: "at midnight they mounted their horses, and, suddenly opening the gate, rushed out
at full speed, and escaped through the midst of their enemies; the Araucanians, who supposed it to be one of their
customary sallies, taking no measures to obstruct their
flight."
Following up his advantage Caupolican reduced the fort
at Tucapel, and encamped at that place to await the approach of the Spanish army.  Valdivia, according to the
expectation of the Toqui, promptly collected his forces
for a grand struggle with the natives.  The numbers of
the respective armies are not certainly known; but it appears probable that there were several hundred Spaniards,
accompanied by ten times their number of Indian auxiliaries, while the Araucanian forces are set down at nine or
ten thousand. As he neared the enemies' camp, the Spanish general sent forward ten mounted men under Diego del
Oro, on a scout. These were surrounded and cut off by
the Indians, and their heads were hung upon trees in sight
of the advancing troops.
It was upon the 3d of T)ecember, 1553, that the grand
engagement took place. It was no ordinary Indian skirmish, in which, if the natives could be dislodged from
covert, their discomfiture was certain, but a pitched battle,
depending no less upon military skill in the manceuvres
of the different battalions than upon individual courage
and determination.  The Spaniards were, it is true, greatly
outnumbered, but they had, on the other hand, the immense advantage of fire-arms and other European weapons, with which they had so long been accustomed to
scatter the hordes of rudely-equipped savages who opposed
them.
The Araucanians appeared utterly reckless of life: line
after line would be swept away by cannon and musketry,
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THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
but fresh bodies were ready, at the word of command, to
rush into the dangerous breach. Molina describes the re suit as follows  "Three times they retired in good order
beyond the reach of the musketry, and, as often, resuming
new vigor, returned to the attack. At length, after the
loss of a great number of their men, they were thrown
into disorder, and began to give way. Caupolican, Tucapel (one of the most distinguished of their generals), and
the old, intrepid Colocolo, who was present in the action,
in vain attempted to prevent their flight and reanimate
their courage. The Spaniards shouted victory, and furiously pressed upon the fugitives.
"At this momentous crisis, a young Araucanian, of but
sixteen years of age, called Lautaro, whom Valdivia, in
one of his incursions, had taken prisoner, baptized and
made his page, quitted the victorious party, began loudly
to reproach his countrymen with their cowardice, and
exhorted them to continue the contest, as the Spaniards,
wounded and spent with fatigue, were no longer able to resist them.   At the same time, grasping a lance, he turned
against his late master, crying out,' Follow me, my countrymen! victory courts us with open arms.'"
Such resolution and courage on the part of a boy roused
the fugitives to new exertions, and turned the scale of
battle. The Spanish force was entirely destroyed - of the
whole army, it is said that only two Indians escaped.
Valdivia was taken alive, and brought into the presence
of the Toqui. Caupolican seemed disposed to favor the
captive general, but an old officer, standing by," enraged
to hear them talk of sparing his life, despatched the unfortunate prisoner with a blow of his club."
A  more fanciful tale of the manner of Valdivia's death
obtained some credence: Purchas makes mention of it as follows in his synopsis of Chilianl conquests and colonization:
"In six and thirty degrees is that famous valley of
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Arauco, which defend their persons and freedom, maugre
all the force and fury of the Spaniards. * * They have
destroyed many of the Spaniards: they took the city
Baldivia in the year 1599, and slew the Spaniards.
Twice before, if not oftener, they had burnt and spoiled it.
Yea, Baldivia himself, the first conqueror of Chili (for
Almagro staid not), and of whom that city received
name, was'taken -by these Indians, his horse being slain
under him. They bid him fear nothing, he should have
gold enough: and making a great banquet for him, brought
in the last service, which was a cup full of molten gold,
which they forced him to drink, saying, Now glut thyself with gold. This Baldivia had entered Chili with four
hundred horse, and easily conquered that part which had
been subject to the kings'of Peru; but the other, which
was the richer part, held out."
To proceed with the more authentic narrative, Lautaro
was immediately raised to the highest subordinate rank in
the'army, being made "lieutenant-general extraordinary,"
and the whole country resounded with his praise.
When news of, the fatal overthrow of Valdivia reached
the Spanish settlements, the inhabitants abandoned Villarica, Puren, and other minor establishments, retreating
for safety within the walls of Valdivia and Imperial.
These two places were invested by Caupolican in force,
while the gallant. young Lautaro was intrusted with the
defence of thle mountain pass by which succors from the
north would probably arrive.
In accordance with directions left by Valdivia for the
conduct of the government in the event of his death, the
office of governor devolved upon Francis Villagran. Immediately upon assuming command, this officer made arrangements for another invasion of Arauco.
He found Lautaro with his division prepared to oppose
hIis entrance into the province. An advanced body of
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natives was driven in by the Spaniards, after some hours
of hard fighliting, and the invaders pressed up the mountain path to the spot where the young commander was
posted.  "This mountain," says Molina, "which  on several occasions has proved fatal to the Spaniards, has on
its summit a large plain, interspersed with shady trees.
Its sides are full of clefts and precipices, on the part
towards the west the sea beats, with great violence, and
the east is secured by impenetrable thickets. A winding
by-path on the north was the only road that led to the
summit of the mountain."
Villagran had six pieces of artillery, which he succeeded
in bringing to bear, with effect, upon the Indians, while his
musketeers poured continual volleys among their crowded
ranks. By the orders of Lautaro, a select body of warriors charged the battery, and took possession of every'
cannon. This decided the fortune of the day; the Spaniards and their allies were driven down the mountain in
hopeless confusion, pursued by the victorious natives. To
add to their difficulties, they found their retreat cut off by
a barricade of logs. But a handful of the number survived
to carry the heavy news to Conception.
The city was  immediately  deserted, as incapable of
defence; the women, children, and old men, were shipped
on board the vessels in the harbor, to be carried to Valparaiso and Imperial, while Villagran, with the able-bodied
men, took up his march for, Santiago.
The Araucanians plundered and destroyed the abandoned city without opposition. The hurried departure of
the Spaniards, and their insufficient means of conveyance,
prevented the removal of much accumulated treasure, which
consequently fell into the hands of the Indians.
Villagran, as soon as practicable, sent reenforcements to
the besieged cities of Valdivia and Imperial, upon which
Caupolican drew off his forces, leaving the Spaniards to
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
lay waste the surrounding country. A worse enemy than
the European invaders, at this time, desolated the Indian
territories: that terrible disease the small-pox was communicated to the natives by some infected Spanish soldiers,
and, as usual among a people unacquainted with its peculiarities, spread far and wide, producing a fearful mortality.
In the year 1555, the Court of the Royal Audience, at
Lima, in settling various disputed questions connected
with Spanish government in Chili, directed Villagran to
rebuild the city of Conception.   A colony was accordingly
transported thither, and a strong fott was erected. This
spot, it will be remembered, was to be northward of the
Bio-bio, and without the Araucanian territory; but, at the
request of the native inhabitants, an army of about two
thousand men, under Lautaro, was sent to annihilate the
growing settlement.
The young chieftain was a second time completely successful. The Spaniards were slain, or driven to seek safety
in their vessels, or by flight through the wilderness, and
the buildings were again plundered and razed.
Flushed with success, Lautaro now determined, with
only six hundred warriors, to march a distance of some
three hundred miles, and attack the town of Santiago.
At the same time, Caupolican again laid siege to Valdivia
and Imperial.    Lautaro pursued his march  peaceably
until he reached Promaucia, where he revenged his country upon the treacherous allies of the Spaniards by ravaging and laying waste the district. This course of proceeding has been pronounced grossly impolitic, as by conciliation and kindness he might have secured friends where he
now left behind him implacable enemies.
Instead of making an instantaneous attack upon the
city, Lautaro deemed it more prudent to erect a fort to
which he might retreat, and where he might, at his leisure,
reconnoitre the enemy's strongholds, and choose his own
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time for assault or surprise. He therefore posted himself
on the banks of the Claro. Repeated attempts were made
by the Spaniards to dislodge him, but again and again they
were repulsed with heavy loss. The conduct of these
sorties were intrusted to Pedro Villagran, son of the governor, the old chief himself being at the time disabled by
sickness.
Upon his recovery, the veteran took with him an army
of about two hundred Spaniards, with a thousand Indians,
and marched, with great secrecy and caution, for Lautaro's
camp. He succeeded in surprising the enemy, and gained
a complete victory. The attack was made just at the
dawn of day, when the Indians were totally unprepared:
they fought with their usual desperation, and, after all
hope of resistance was at an end, sternly refused to surrender.  "In vain," says Molina, "the Spanish commander
repeatedly offered them quarter. * * The Araucanians
perished to the last man, and fought with such obstinacy
that they sought for death by throwing themselves on the
lances of their enemies."
Lautaro was slain by a dart in the very first of the meele.
This was in 1556, and the brave and celebrated chief was
consequently but nineteen years of age. His death was
universally lamented; even the Spaniards, while exulting in the prospect of fuiture safety, opened to them by his
death, both felt and expressed the most enthusiastic admiration for his noble character and distinguished talents.
Caupolican, hearing of the melancholy issue of Lautaro's
expedition, raised the siege of Imperial, and repaired to
the northern frontiers.
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CHAPTER IV.
DON GARCIA DE MENDOZA; HIS ESTABLISHMENT AT QUIRIQUINA.  FORT ON MOUNT PINTO ATTACKED BY CAUPOLICAN.-DON GARCIA'5
INVASION OF ARAUCO; HIS CRUELTIES. -EXPEDITION TO CHILOE.
- ARTFUL MANAGEMENT OF TIlE CUNCHES. -SEIZURE AND CRUEL
DEATH OF CAUPOLICAN. -SUBSEQUENT SUCCESSES OF THE SPAN  IARDS. -RETREAT OF THE NATIVES TO THE MARSHES OF LUMACO.
-INDIAN VICTORY AT MOUNT MARIGUENU. -GENERAL SUMMARY
OF SUCCEEDING HOSTILITIES.
IN the month of April, 1557, Don Garcia de Mendoza,
upon whom had been conferred the office of Spanish viceroy at Chili, arrived at the harbor of Conception, with a
large force of infantry and abundant muniments of war.
He first established himself upon the island of Quiriquina,
and sent messages to the Araucanian authorities expressing a desire for the establishment of a permanent peace.
Caupolican, with the concurrence of his council, sent one
Millalauco to confer with the Spanish commandant, especially charging him to note with great accuracy the numbers and resources of the troops. Nothing but general
expressions of amity and desire for tranquillity resulted
from the conference, and Millalauco returned with full
reports to Caupolican. The Toqui was immediately upon
the alert, and made every preparation for obtaining instant
information of the enemy's movements, and for opposing
any establishment upon the main land.
In the month of August, Don Garcia landed a detachment in the night, and secured the position of Mount
Pinto, overlooking the plain and harbor. Here a fort was
constructed, surrounded by a ditch, and defended by artillery. Only four days from the time of landing, the Araucanian chief, with a large army, attacked the fort.
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THE ARAUCANfAN RACE.
Filling the ditch with logs and fascines, the assailants,
in the face of a murderous fire, made desperate efforts to
scale the walls.  Many succeeded, and threw themselves
into the enclosure, willing to meet certain destruction that
they might have a brief opportunity for wreaking their
long-cherished vengeance upon the Spaniards.   Prodigies
are related of the personal exploits of Tucapel, who en couraged this audacity by his own example, but who,
unlike his companions, succeeded in forcing his way back.
After killing, as is said, "four of his enemies with his
formidable mace, he escaped by leaping over a precipice,
amidst a shower of balls."
Reenforcements were sent over from the island, and
Caupolican was obliged to draw off his forces, leaving his
purpose unaccomplished.   The arrival, shortly after, of a
great force of Spanish cavalry and Indian auxiliaries, by
sea, rendered a repetition of the attempt hopeless.
Thus strengthened, Don Garcia soon commenced offensive operations. He crossed the Bio-bio unopposed, and
engaged the Araucanian army, a short distance beyond.
The natives, notwithstanding every exertion, and the display of a rash valor never surpassed, were driven off with
terrible loss.
Cruelty and barbarity unlike any thing before known in
Chili, now marked the success of the conqueror. lie cut
off the hands of a prisoner named Galverino, who had
been a noted warrior, and sent him to his friends as a
warning of what was in store for them: other captives he
subjected to cruel tortures in order to extort information as
to their general's plans and places of retreat, but their for'
titude was proof against all the suffering he could inflict.
Caupolican soon rallied his forces for another battle,
which was more obstinately contested even than the first;
but the result was the same -the superiority in weapons,
and the efficiency of the cavalry securing success to the
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Spaniards. The mutilated Galverino, again taken prisoner,
was hanged, with twelve of the native Ulmenes.
Marching into the district of Tucapel, Don Garcia
founded the city of Canete upon the spot of Valdivia's
former discomfiture. A strong fort was there built and
garrisoned, and the command intrusted to one Alonzo
Reynoso, after which the conqueror returned in triumph to
Imperial.   From this town he sent large numbers  of
Spaniards to assist in the defence and establishment of the
new city. On the route, these settlers were furiously attacked by the natives, but after suffering some loss in men
and stores, they effected an entrance into the fortification.
Caupolican then set himself systematically to reduce the
place. In the attempt to secure an advantage by the introduction of a spy within the walls, he was himself completely overreached by the cunning of one of the Indian
allies of the Spaniards. This man, discovering the errand
of the spy, secured his confidence by pretending hatred
against the invaders, and by promising his aid in admitting
the besiegers within the walls. Caupolican was regularly
entrapped: a gate was left open to give opportunity for an
entrance into the fort, but when such a number had entered
as could safely be mastered, the passage was closed, and
by a sudden and unexpected attack, those within the walls
werle cut to pieces, and those without completely routed.
Caupolican escaped to the mountains, but three of his
officers were taken prisoners, and blownf from the muzzles
of cannon.
The years 1558 and 1559 were memorable among the
Spanish settlers of Chili, for the expedition of Don Garcia
to the archipelago of Chiloe. By an artful policy, adopted
in accordance with the advice of an Araucanian, the
Cunches averted the usual terrors of European invasion.
They pretended extreme poverty, sending to the general a
present of "roasted lizards and wild fruits," and carefully
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concealing every sign of wealth, particularly in the precious
metals. A guide furnished by them to the Spaniards was
instructed to lead the army southward by the most desolate
and dangerous routes, the more effectually to discourage
any plans of settlement and colonization.
Arriving, at last, after unheard-of toil and privation, at
the beautiful archipelago, the Spaniards were kindly and
generously entertained by the natives.   On his return,
through the level country of the Huilliches, Don Garcia
founded the city of Orsino. 
It was during this absence of the viceroy that the brave
Caupolicanl fell into the hands of his enemies. Alonzo
Reynoso extorted, by torture of a prisoner, the disclosure
of his place of retreat, and sent a corps of mounted men to
surprise him. By order of the cruel commandant, this
brave and venerated ruler was impaled, and in that position despatched with arrows.
The office of Toqui was conferred upon a son of the
old chief, Caupolican the younger, and the redoubted
Tucapel was made second in command. An army of
Araucanians, led by the new commander, was immediately
upon the march for the city of Conception. Alonzo Reynoso followed, with five hundred men, to attack this body
in the rear; but was signally defeated in an engagement
north of the river Bio-bio, which he hardly succeeded in
recrossing with a remnant of his followers. Instead of
following out his original design against Conception, young
Caupolican transferred his forces to Imperial, where Don
Garcia had fortified himself. Ile was unable to take the
city, although he besieged it closely for a long time, making many furious and desperate attacks. The Spaniards
were strengthened by constant arrivals of military adventurers from Spain and Peru, and as their defences were
good, their loss in these engagements was small, as compared with that of the Indian besiegers. An attempt to
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
rouse a rebellion among the Indian allies at the Spanish
camp, was discovered, and all concerned were put to death.
Two of the emissaries of the Toqui were "impaled in the
sight of the Araucanian army, to whom they recommended
with their last breath to die in defence of the liberties of
their country. One hundred and twenty of the auxiliaries
were also hung on the ramparts, exhorting the others to
favor the enterprise of their countrymen."
Caupolican withdrew from the city, and established himself at a place called Quipeo, between Conception and the
fortress of Canete, the nature of which was such that it
could easily be defended.   Here  he stoutly resisted all
efforts to dislodge him for a long time; but was finally
worsted in an incautious sally.   His army  was mostly
destroyed; Tucapel, Colocolo, Lincoyan, and others of his
bravest officers, had fallen; and, seeing escape impossible,
the young chief put an end to his own life.
Every thing now seemed to favor the Spaniards: they
little thought that after such a reverse, and the experience
of the misery and horrors of a long and bloody war, the
natives would again make head against them. The interval of peace was occupied in restoring the old fortifications
and settlements, and in the establishment of new posts. It
was at this time that the city of Mendoza, east of the
Andes, was founded.
Nearly all the Araucanian officers, and a large proportion of the young men of the tribe, had perished in the
last disastrous campaigns, but the indomitable spirit of the
nation survived.  A  brave chief, named Antiguenu, was
chosen Toqui, and the shattered forces of the nation were
assembled in the gloomy and almost impenetrable marshes
of Lumaco.   Here Antiguenu "caused high scaffoldings to
be erected to secure his men from the extreme moisture,"
and devoted himself to training and instructing such new
recruits as could be collected.
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THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
Don Garcia had, in the mean time, been superseded in
his office of Spanish viceroy, by the former incumbent,
Francis Villagran; who, hearing of the late defeat of the
natives, supposed that he now occupied an easy and secure
position. He was undeceived by the intelligence that the
new Toqui was beginning to give his army some practical
lessons in the art of war by various predatory visits to the
Spanish settlements.
The first serious engagement,  in this campaign, took
place at the summit of Mount Mariguenu, the scene of
former disaster to the Spaniards.   Antiguenu, familiar
with the advantages of the locality, was posted at this spot,
and Villagran sent one of his solns, with the most efficient
force at his disposal, to attack the enemy in their quarters.
The result of the attempt was as fatal as upon former occasions: the leader of the assailants was slain, and nearly
the entire Spanish army destroyed. The Toqui followed
up his advantage by the seizure and destruction of the fortress at Canete.
About this time Pedro Villagran, by the death of Francis,
his father, succeeded to the office of governor. Antiguenu
had now at his disposal an army of not far firom four thousand men, and felt sufficiently strong to divide his forces,
and make a simultaneous attack upon the city of Conception and the fortress at Arauco.
The city resisted all the attempts of the natives, although
close siege was laid to it for two months; but the detachment led into Arauco by Antiguenu in person was more
successfill.  The commandant, Lorenzo Bernal, defended
his post with great bravery, holding out against all the assaults of the enemy until reduced by famine to evacuate the
fort. The Spaniards were not disturbed in their retreat, the
business of destroying the buildings and fortifications, so
long a harbor for the enemy in the heart of their own
country, fully occupying the attention of the Araucanians.
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Several interesting incidents are recorded connected with
this siege: upon one occasion, Antiguenu challenged the
Spanish commandant to a private personal encounter, and
the duel was accordingly fought in sight of both armies.
"The battle between these two champions," says the historian, "was continued for two hours without either obtaining
any advantage, or injuring the other, till they were at
length separated by their men." Such trials of strength
and skill between renowned warriors of either party were
not uncommon during the protracted wars of Chili.
Not long after the reduction of Canete and the fort at
Arauco, a general engagement took place between the Indians and Spaniards at the junction of the Vergosa and
Bio-bio, in which the former were totally routed. Antiguenu with many of his followers fell, or was forced, from
a steep bank into the stream, and there perished. A terrible havoc was committed among  the discomfited army,
not, however, without great loss to the victors, and the
Araucanian power seemed, a second time, to be effectually
crushed. This was in the year 1564.
The sagacious and prudent Paillataru, a relative of the
lamented Lautaro, was the next Toqui, and, like his predecessor, he set himself, at first, to recruit his forces and
repair the disasters of war. For years he hazarded no
open battle with the whites, but inured his warriors to service by flying incursions.
In 1565 a new Spanish viceroy, Rodrigo de Quiroga,
restored the posts at Canete and Arauco, and built a new
fort at Quipeo. With little opposition, he laid waste those
portions of the Araucanian territory that were within his
reach, and, despatched a body of troops to the southward,
to bring into subjection the islands of the Chiloan archipelago. The mild and gentle inhabitants of that group
submitted without an effort to the dictation of the Spaniards, offering no resistance to the burdens of personal
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service, &c., imposed upon them by their new masters. In
after-times they proved equally tractable in adopting the
religion of their conquerors.
For thirty years from the installation of Paillataru,
bloody and desolating wars were, at intervals, waged between the Spaniards and Araucanians. The former, from
the steady increase of their numbers, acquired a stronger
foothold in the country, and the result of hostilities was
generally in their favor. Occasionally some terrible reverse
would serve to remind them that the enemy was not yet
conquered, but that the old spirit still burned with undiminished energy. The Araucanians acquired the use of
horses, thereby gaining great facilities for flying incursions.
To a certain extent they had, moreover, learned to avail
themselves of such fire-arms as were secured in battle.
Paillataru defeated the Spaniards yet again upon Mount
Mariguenu, and, as well as his successor, the mustee or
half-breed Paynenancu, proved a thorn in the sides of the
colonists. The Ulman of Mariguenu, Cayancaru, was
made Toqui in 1585, after the seizure and execution of
Paynenancu. This ruler, disappointed in various bold but
unsuccessful campaigns, resigned office in favor of his son
Nangoniel, who was soon after slain in battle. A noted
warrior, named Cadeguala, succeeded him.
The new Toqui, after various other warlike operations,
laid siege to the Spanish fort at Puren. Becoming weary
of delay, his chivalrous spirit led him to challenge the
commandant, Garcia Ramon, to single combat, thereby
to decide the fate of the fortress. The two leaders accordingly fought on horseback, with lances, and Cadeguala fell
transfixed by his adversary's weapon at the first tilt.
Guanoalca, the next in authority, continued to wage war
with the Spaniards, and gained many advantages. He
reduced and took possession of the fortresses at Puren,
Trinidad, and Spirito Santo. During this administration,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
flourished a celebrated female warrior, named Janequeo, who in 1590, with a horde of the wild and roving
Puelches of the eastern districts, harassed the Spanish
settlements.
The young chief Quintuguenu, succeeded Guanoalca,
upon the death of that Toqui in 1591, and although a
brave and noble warrior, was doomed to defeat and death
at the spot most famous for his countrymen's victories.
He fell on the heights of Mariguenu, where his army was
destroyed or dispersed. One Paillaeco was elected in his
place, but with reduced forces he could effect little against
the Spaniards, encouraged as they were by recent success.
The old forts and posts destroyed under the sway of preceding rulers were rebuilt and fortified in the years 1591
and 1592.
CHAPTER V.
VICEROYALTY OF MARTIN LOYOLA. -PAILLAMACIIU. -RENEWAL OF
THE WAR.- LOYOLA SLAIN. - GENERAL INSURRECTION OF THE NA TIVES. -THE SPANIARDS DRIVEN FROM THE COUNTRY SOUTH OF
THE BIO-BIO. - BLOODY CAMAPAIGNS UNDER SEVERAL SUCCESSIVE
TOQUIS. - PEACE OF 1640.- TEN YEARS' WAR. - SUBSEQUENT TREA TIES AND HOSTILITIES. -PRESENT POSITION OF THE ARAUCA NIANS.
IN 1593 Don Martin Loyola, nephew of Ignatius, the
originator of the order of Jesuits, arrived at Chili, invested with the office of governor under the Spanish monarchy. During the period of his authority arose the renowned Paillamachu, next in regular succession to Paillaeco.  He was an old man, but endowed with singular energy
and activity. For two years he kept aloof, recruiting
and disciplining his forces at the old retreat among the
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THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
Lumacan morasses, while the Spaniards had opportunity,
unmolested, to restore their ruined cities, to work the rich
mines of the mountains, and to strengthen their positions
as they would. The Toqui, by an ambassador, gave Loy ola distinctly to understand that he and his followers were,
as firmly as their forefathers, determined never to be
brought into subjection.
Paillamaclihu's first attempt against his enemies was by
sending a detachment (in 1595) to destroy a fortification
erected by Loyola at the southward of the Bio-Bio. From
this time he continued to attack and plunder the Spanish
settlements wherever opportunity offered, avoiding general
engagements, and retreating with his booty to his inacces sible fastnesses. On the night of November 22d, 1598,
he succeeded in surprising and slaying the Spanish gov ernor, at his encampment (with a slender retinue) in the
vale of Caralva.  "I t would seem," (by Molina's account)
"that the Araucanian general had formed confident hopes
of the success of this bold enterprise, since, in consequence
of his previous instructions, in less than forty-eight hours
after this event, not only the Araucanian provinces, but
those of the Cunches and Huilliches, were in arms, and
the whole of the country to the archipelago of Chiloe."
The native armies met with unprecedented success;
town after town fell before them, reduced by siege or carried by storm. Conception, Chillan, Canete, the Araucan
fort, Valdivia, and other settlements, were destroyed, and
the inhabitants slain, driven off, or carried away captives.
Villarica, Osorno, and Imperial were conquered, in 1602,
after protracted siege, in which the miserable citizens suffered every extremity from famine and terror.  "Thus, in
a period of little more than three years were destroyed all
the settlements which Valdivia and his successors had established and preserved, at the expense of so much blood,
in the extensive country between the Bio-Bio and the
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
archipelago of Chiloe, none of which have been since rebuilt, as what is at present called Valdivia is no more than
a fort or garrison."-(llolina's Civil History of Chili,
written about the close of the eighteenth century.)
Great numbers of Spanish prisoners were carried home
by the Indians, and experienced great diversity of treatment. Many intermarried with the natives, giving origin
to a race of half-breeds, who proved as inimical towards
the Spaniards as their dusky ancestors.
The brave and sagacious Paillamachu died in 1603.
Repeated, but futile attempts were made by the Spaniards
for several years ensuing, to recover their lost territory
south of the Bio-bio. The Indians, fortunate in having
brave and sagacious rulers, and with all their ancient pride
and patriotic enthusiasm fully aroused, successfully resisted
every invasion. About the year 1612, a movement was
made by a Jesuit, named Louis Valdivia, to put an end to
this hopeless warfare, that an opening might be made for
the spread of the Christian religion among the independent
tribes. The Spanish monarch, Philip the Third, highly
approved of the plan, and proposals  were forwarded to the
Toqui and his council, by means of certain liberated pris
oners.
While the treaty of peace was under negotiation, and
flattering prospects of quiet appeared to the settlers, an
event occurred which put a speedy end to all peaceful intercourse. Ancanamon, the Toqui, had a Spanish woman
as one of his wives, who made her escape from his power,
and sought protection from the Spanish viceroy. Two
other wives of the Toqui, and two of his daughters, won
over by her persuasions to embrace her religion, accompanied her in her flight.
The Spaniards refused to deliver up these refugees, with
the exception of one who-had not professed Christianity,
and Ancanamon, enraged at the supposed injury, slew a
684 
THE ARAUCANIAN RACE.
number of missionaries who had been conducted into his
dominions, and with renewed energy continued the prosecution of the war.
About the year 1618, a most fierce and dangerous enemy
of the Spaniards had the dictatorship of the Araucanian
tribes. This was the celebrated Toqui Lientur. A chain
of military posts and strong fortifications had been erected
by the Spanish authorities upon the Bio-bio, to prevent
Indian incursions, but they availed nothing against the
rapid and energetic movements of the native commander.
Until his resignation, in 1625, he not only preserved his
own country from Spanish occupation, but made continual
inroads into the enemy's territory, plundering their villages and destroying the forces brought to oppose him. In
his very first expedition, he is said to have seized and carried off no less than four hundred horses.
His successor, the young warrior Putapichion, who had
been formerly a slave among the whites, proved a no less
formidable adversary. He continued in authority until
slain in battle about eight years from the time of his accession; a period marked by many extensive and bloody campaigns, in which the Spaniards, although more successful
than during former administrations, could obtain no permanent footing upon Araucanian soil. At the last grand
engagement, which, in consequence of his death, resulted
favorably for the Spaniards, the manner in which this chief
marshalled and brought his forces to action excited the admiration of his enemies.
The obstinacy with which these wars were carried on
during a peiod,of little less than a century, until the peace
concluded in 1640, is almost without parallel. The history
of the times does not record a series of petty skirmishes,
but a succession of desperate campaigns, in which the
known valor and obstinacy of the Spaniard were no less
conspicuous than the utter carelessness of life and enthusi
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
astic self-devotion of the Indian. The success of either
party would, from time to time, seem to threaten the utter
extermination of their rivals, but defeat only compelled a
retreat, on the one hand within the fortified towns, and on
the other into the impenetrable wilderness, until new forces
could be raised and new plans of assault concocted.
In the year last mentioned the Marquis of Baydes, Francisco Zuniga, came out to Chili as governor, and exerted
himself successfully to obtain an interview with the Toqui
Lincopichion, and to conclude terms for a lasting peace.
An immense concourse of both races attended at the
time and place appointed for the solemn ratification of the
treaty, and days were passed in feats and congratulatory
ceremonials. Prisoners were exchanged, trade was established, and free scope was given to the exertions of the
devout ecclesiastics who assumed the duty of converting
the Indians. These missionaries were well and respectfully treated, but met with no marked success in the propagation of their doctrines.
The peace lasted until about 1655, when it was succeeded by a ten years' war, the particulars of which are
only recorded in the most general terms.  It is certain that
during this season of hostility the Spanish colonists met
with such terrible losses, and were, upon many occasions,
so signally defeated by the Araucanians, that the preserva
tion of a true history of events would be little flattering
to their national pride.
A new treaty was brought about in 1665, by the governor, Francisco Meneses, and the country was comparatively at rest for more than half a century., The Spaniards
began to settle in the Araucanian territory, and, in'consequence of their naturally overbearing disposition, became
objects of dislike and suspicion to the native inhabitants.
Certain Spanish officials denominated the "Captains of the
Friends," whose nominal duty was the protection of the
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THE ARAUCANIAN RACES.
missionaries, but who assumed unwarranted powers, were
especially odious.
In 1722 the discontent of the Indians led them to a
renewal of hostilities. They appointed one Villumilla, a
bold and ambitious man, to the office of Toqui. This
chief exerted himself to rouse up an insurrection throughout Chili, but, failing in this, with undiminished resolution,
he collected what forces could be mustered, and fell upon
the Spanish settlements. He met with no little success,
gaining possession of the fortresses of Tucapel, Arauco,
and Puren.  In the words of the historian, "The  war
afterwards became reduced to skirmishes of but little importance, which were finally terminated by the celebrated
peace of Negrete, a place situated at the confluence of the
rivers Bio-bio and Lara." The more important grievances
complained of by the natives were redressed at the settlement of the terms of treaty.
Further difficulties arose under the administration of
Don Antonio Gonzago, in consequence of an absurd and
futile attempt by that officer to induce or compel the
Araucanians to build and inhabit cities in certain prescribed
localities. A war ensued in which some bloody battles
were fought, and in which the roving Pehuenches were
involved, first in behalf of the Spaniards, but afterwards
as firm allies of their own countrymen.   Peace was concluded in 1773; and among the articles of stipulation, it
was agreed that a native minister should be stationed at
St. Jago to keep watch over his nation's interests.
This pacification produced the happiest results. Relieved
from the danger of hostile incursions, the Spanish settlements north of that natural boundary, the Bio-bio, increased
and prospered, while the free tribes at the south were left
to the exercise of their own system of government and the
enjoyment of their well-earned liberty.
The proud distinction of being the only aboriginal
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Americans who have maintained their independence when
brought directly in, contact with Europeans, still belongs
to the Araucanians.   They  occupy  much  of their old
territory within the modern republic of Chili, a district set
down as covering an area of twenty-eight thousand square
miles.
It may well be doubted whether the world has ever produced a race of men, who, with no greater advantages, from
numbers, and advancement in the arts, have accomplished
military exploits worthy to be compared with those recorded in Araucanian history. The different aims and purposes
of the contending parties throughout the long and terrible
contest with the colonists, enlist our warmest sympathies
with the natives. On the one hand, the insatiable thirst
for gold, the pride of conquest, or the scarcely less detestable spirit of intolerant bigotry, were the ruling motivesand how powerful they have proved, let the history of
Spanish America portray- while, on the other, the whole
end and aim of the rightful owners of the soil, individually
and collectively, seem to have been directed with unflinching self-devotion towards the one object of the preservation
of liberty and independence.
The principal benefit derived by the modern Araucanians from intercourse with foreigners is in the introduction
of horses and cattle. These, with the vicuna and guanaco,
constitute their principal riches: they still live in a state
of primeval simplicity, and freedom from most of the artificial wants of civilization.
688 
INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. - PINZON'S DISCOVERIES. - LANDING OF
PEDRO ALVAREZ CABRAL UPON THE BRAZILIAN COAST. - EXPEDI TION UNDER VESPUCIUS. - CANNIBALISM. - COLONIZATION OF THE
COUNTRY, AND WARS WITH THE NATIVES.-FATE OF JUAN DE SOLIS,
AT THE ESTUARY OF LA PLATA. - SETTLEMENT OF BAHIA DE TODOS
SANTOS BY DIOGO ALVAREZ. - THE JESUITS. - PARTICULARS OF THE
CANNIBAL PROPENSITIES OF THE NATIVES.- THE BOTOCUDOS.
THIIERE is a certain degree of resemblance in form and
feature between the Guarani tribes of Brazil with those
of other provinces farther south, and the races north of
the Amazon, described in a former chapter. The obliquity
of the eye, and the yellowish tinge of the complexion, with
other peculiarities, give them somewhat the appearance of
the Eastern Asiatic races.  "The Eastern Guarani," according to Prichard, "are the Tupi, or native inhabitants
of the Brazils.'The general language of Brazil,' says
Hervas,'called Tupi, from the name of the first Indians
who were converted to the holy faith, is not more different
from the Guarani, viz: of Paraguay, than the Portuguese
from the Spanish.' The same writer enumerates, from information derived from ecclesiastics, the following tribes
who speak the Tupi, with little variety of dialect, viz: the
Cariyi, southward of the Tupi proper, reaching as far
towards the south as the Rio Grande del Sud or S. Pietro,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
the Tamoyi, Tupinaqui, Timmiminos,  Tobayari, Tupinambi, Apanti, Tapigoas, and several other tribes, occupying all the maritime countries as far north as the river
Maragnon."
The first information obtained by Europeans concerning
Brazil and its inhabitants, was from the report of Vicente
Pinzon, the associate of Columbus upon his first voyage
to America. On the 26th of January, 1500, Pinzon, who,
with several vessels, was bound upon an exploring expedition, made the present Cape St. Augustine, at the eastern
extremity of the southern continent. He took formal possession of the country, and coasted thence as far north as
the mouth of the Amazon, of which he was the discoverer.
The voyage was in some respects disastrous, as three of the
vessels were lost, and several men perished in encounters
with the ferocious natives. Upon one occasion, a single
Spaniard was sent forward to conciliate and parley with a
group of Indians who stood upon a hill watching the movements of the strangers.  "The Spaniard," says Southey,
in his history of Brazil, "made all the friendly signs he
could devise, and threw to them a hawks'-bell, for which
they threw down something which was supposed to be a
piece of gold; he stooped for it, and they sprang forward
to seize him."  He defended himself with great valor and
skill, until his comrades hastened to his assistance.  "The
savages, with their deadly archery, slew eight, wounded
many more, and pursued them to their boats.  i       They'
rushed on like wild beasts, despising wounds and death;
followed the boats even when they had put off, dived after
them, and fairly won one of them, having slain its captain
and driven out the crew."
From this incident it will plainly appear that the Spanish adventurers had an enemy to deal with very different
from the gentle and luxurious natives of the islands. That
the aborigines of some portions of Brazil were a warlike
690 
INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
and fierce race of cannibals, cannot be doubted from the
accounts given by early voyagers, although some have
affected to doubt whether they were actually accustomed to
devour human flesh.
During the spring following Pinzon's discovery, Pedro
Alvarez Cabral accidentally came upon the Brazilian coast,
as he was steering westward to avoid the terrible calms
which prevail west of the tropical regions of Africa. He
landed at the spot afterwards the site of Cabralia, about
seventeen degrees south of Cape St. Augustine. Cabral
was much more successful than his predecessor in gaining
the confidence of the natives. The tribe with whom he
first held intercourse was, indeed, of a more tractable and
kindly disposition than those met with by Pinzon: the
usual expedient of securing a prisoner, and then dismissing
him with caresses and presents, brought the natives in ad miring crowds about the vessel.
Cabral took possession, in behalf of the crown of Portugal, and, erecting a crucifix, ordered the ceremonials of
the church to be performed, the Indians joining readily in,
the attitude of devotion assumed by the company.
The next Portuguese expedition, under Amerigo Vespucci, sailed from Europe in May, 1501. Land was made
somewhere in the vicinity of Cape St. Roque, in five degrees south latitude, where the voyagers were horrorstricken at the discovery of the cannibal propensities of
the native inhabitants. Two sailors were missing, who
had been allowed to go on shore to reconnoitre, and- the
crew landed in the boats to ascertain their fate. A young
Portuguese imprudently went forward alone to communicate with'the natives, when, in plain sight of his comrades,
he was set upon by the women, knockedi down with a.
club from behind, and dragged off.' An attack upon the
boats immediately followed, and, although the savages
were easily driven off by the firearms, they only retiredl to
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
dismember, broil, and feast upon the body of the man
they had secured. By unmistakable gestures, they made
known to the crew that the other two Portuguese had met
with the same fate.
No settlement in the country was attempted until the
year 1503, when twenty-four men were left at the port of
All Saints. Private adventurers commenced colonies at
various points upon the coast during the ensuing years,
making the collection of the wood from which the country
derives its name, the principal object of their efforts. A
most bloody and savage warfare soon broke out between
these settlers and the native inhabitants, in which either
party seemed to strive for preeminence in cruelty. A system of transporting criminals from the old country to
Brazil served to debase the character of the colonies. In
warfare with the Indians, on the one hand, the prisoners
were slain and eaten; and on the other, all were put to
death except such as would be valuable for slaves.
Meantime, the rage for discovery brought out divers
adventurers from the Old World. In 1509, Don Juan de
Solis, accompanied by Vicente Pinzon, and commissioned
by the king of Castile, coasted as far south as the mouth
of the La Plata, entering upon his route the magnificent
harbor of Rio Janeiro.  The tragic fate of this commander
is thus described by Southey: While in the immense
estuary of the river, "the natives invited him to shore,
and he landed with a boat's-crew, intending to catch one
of them and carry him to Spain. Their intention was
worse than his, and better executed. They had stationed
a party in ambush, who rose suddenly upon the crew,
seized the boat, broke it to pieces in an instant, and slew
every man with clubs; then they took the bodies upon
their shoulders, carried them to a spot which was out of
the reach of the Spaniards, but within sight, and there dismembered, roasted, and devoured them.   The scene of
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INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
this tragedy was on the north shore, between Monte Video
and Maldonado, near a rivulet, which still bears the name
of Solis."
The circumstances connected with the first settlement
of Bahia de Todos Santos, the province of which St. Salvador was afterwards the capital, are singularly striking.
A  young man, from Viana, named Diogo Alvarez, was
one of a ship's company who had been cast away upon
the neighboring shoals. Of those who reached the shore
in safety, Diogo was the only one fortunate enough to
escape being devoured. He managed to gain the good-will
of the Indians by his services, and more especially commanded their respect and reverence by his management
of a musket, which, with a store of ammunition, he had
saved from the wreck. They denominated him Caramuru,
"the mall of fire," and exalted him to the rank of a great
chief and captain.   In wars against the nation of the
Tapuyas, the terror of Diogo's wonderful weapon gained
the most signal victories for his associates: in reward for
his services, the principal men of the country gave him
their daughters for wives, and he lived like a sovereign surrounded by reverential attendants. According to Southey,
"He fixed his abode where Villa Velha was afterwards
erected; and soon saw as numerous a progeny as an old
patriarch's rising around him. The best families in Bahia
trace their origin to him."
Diogo took advantage of the arrival of a French vessel
upon the coast to return to Europe, taking with him one
of his wives, named Paraguaza. As the ship got under
weigh, several of his other consorts gave proof of their
affection by swimming after it, and one of them persisted
in the hopeless endeavor to follow until so exhausted that
she perished before being able to return to shore. The
king and queen of France showed great attention to Diogo
and his wife, and by their directions the latter was bap
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
tized with much ceremony, and joined to her husband by
a legal marriage according to the rules of the church.
By the assistance of a rich merchant, Diogo afterwards
returned to Bahia with many conveniences for establishing
himself in security and comfort, and for the arrangement
of a regular system of traffic in the productions of the
country. He proved of inestimable service, in after years,
when an extensive colonization of that region took place,
in keeping up friendly relations with the Indians. From
this central point, where St. Salvador was built, commenced
that wonderful influence exerted by the Jesuit missionaries over the native population.
These enthusiastic devotees found their proselytes not
unapt in acquiring the Portuguese language, and by the
attractions of music, of which they were passionately fond,
together with kind treatment and virtuous example, they
won over great numbers to a conformation to the outward
requisitions of their faith, if not to an understanding of its
abstractions. One thing, however, seemed almost impracticable, and that was to eradicate the inordinate propensity
to cannibalism, so universally diffused among the Brazilian
aborigines. An anecdote upon this point, related by Mr.
Southey, has been often told, but will bear repetition: " A
Jesuit one day found a Brazilian woman in extreme old
age, and almost at the point of death. Having catechized
her, instructed her, as he conceived, in the nature of Christianity, and completely taken care of her soul, he began to
inquire whether there was any kind of food which she
could take?' Grandam,' said he,' if I were to get you a
little sugar now, or a mouthful of some of our nice things
which we bring from beyond sea, do you think you could
eat it?'' Ah, my grandson,' said the old convert,' my
stomach goes against every thing. There is but one thing
which I fancy I could touch. If I had the little hand of
a little tender Tapuya boy, I think I could pick the
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INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
little bones; but, woe is me, there is nobody to go out
and shoot one for me!'"
In addition to the instructions and persuasions of the
Jesuits, the Portuguese colonial authorities lent their aid
to enforce the regulations prohibiting this unnatural custom, but it was long a bone of contention between them and
their Indian dependants, who were willing to give up any
other of their national usages rather than this. Purchas
gives the following description of some of the ceremonies
attendant upon the disposal of prisoners taken in battle:
"Their captives they convey in the midst of their army
home to their territories, and thereunto the men will not
stick to give their sisters or daughters to perform all the
duties of a wife, and feed them with the best till they redemand the same out of their flesh. * * When that dismal day approacheth, knowledge is given, and the men,
women, and children assemble to the place appointed, and
there pass the morning in drinking, and the captive (although he knoweth the dreadful issue) danceth, drinketh,
and frolics it with the best."
They then lead him about the town by a rope: "Neither
doth he, for all this, hang down his head, as men here
going to be hanged, but with incredible courage emblazonleth his own worthiness." Like the North American
Indians, the victim boasts of his former exploits against
his captors, with every species of taunt and provocation.
He recounts those whom he has assisted to devour, and
predicts a terrible retribution for his own destruction.
"Then they bring him stones, and bid him revenge his
death.   He  hurleth them  at  those  that stand  about
him, whereof there are some four thousand, and hurteth
divers."
When he is finally despatched, his temporary wife
"comes to the carcass, and spends a little time and passion in mourning; but her crocodile's tears are soon dried,
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
and the humor falls into her teeth, which water for the
first morsel." The whole process of dressing and devour
ing is minutely described.
Bahia was settled about the year 1550, and ten years
later Rio Janeiro was founded by the Portuguese governor,
after the expulsion of the French, who had attempted to
gain possession of that region of country.  The coast settlements were steadily increasing in stability and power,
but not without further contests with the native inhabitants. Of these, the most savage and dangerous were the
Botocudos, dwelling in the interior, and between the rivers
Doce and Pardo, from the fifteenth to the twentieth degree
of south latitude. They have always been considered as
being among the most repulsive and brutish of the human race. They are supposed to be the same race as the
Aymores, once the most dangerous enemies of the Portuguese settlers. Their natural figure and the conformation of
their features seem, from most accounts, to be by no means
unpleasing. Dwelling in a forest country, their complexion is fairer than that of many of the South American
Indians; it is of a light yellowish copper color, and sufficiently transparent for a blush to be perfectly obvious.
The stories of their frightful and hideous appearance may
all be referred to one most barbarous custom of mutilation
and deformity, prevalent among them from the earliest
times. This is the insertion of a large wooden plug or
button, called the " botoque," into a slit in the under lip:
similar appendages are worn at the ears.
This botoque is of such a size that its pressure generally
causes the lower teeth eventually to fall out, and its projection gives the most hideously uncouth and brutish appearance to the countenance. The slit is made and the
plug is inserted during childhood, and as the opening
enlarges with time, the size of the botoque is increased
until it has reached the full measure of deformity and
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inconvenience. It interferes with mastication, and is every
way disgusting and troublesome, but, like many scarcely
less irrational and absurd customs among enlightened communities, it retains its hold to the present day.
When the botoque is removed, which operation is as
easily effected as the unbuttoning a coat, a disgusting aperture is disclosed, through which the loosened and distorted
teeth distinctly appear. Purchas says of some of those
wild tribes of the interior, generally called Tapuyas, that
on their travels, "they do carry great store of tobacco with
them; and continually they have a leaf laid along their
mouth, between the lip and the teeth; and, as they go,
the same runneth out of the hole that they have in their
lips."
The Botocudos are of an indolent disposition, but withal
capable of enduring the greatest fatigue when occasion
requires. Their muscular development is remarkably fine,
and a life of exposure so hardens their skin that, without
clothing, they can with perfect ease make their way through
tangled brakes which would effectually impede the progress of a European. Their huts, implements, and manner of life are not unlike those of the other Eastern nations
of the tropical portion of South America, with the exception of their sleeping accommodations. The hammock is
not in use among them, but rude couches of bark, &c.,
laid upon the ground, are all that they require. They
have no boats or canoes, and it has been said of them that
they were entirely ignorant of the art of swimming. This
appears to be an error.
The character of the Botocudos as cannibals, combined
with the repulsive appearance caused by the botoque, has
given them a worse reputation perhaps than they deserve.
Many desirable traits are observable in their natural character, and their intellectual capacity does not seem to be
inferior to the generality of South American Indians.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Their aversion to labor does not result in apathy, nor do
we perceive in them that gloomy, morose, and reserved
demeanor common among some of the Western Aborigines.
They are spoken of as "gay, facetious, and ready to converse."
Some praiseworthy efforts have been made for the improvement and civilization of this race, the effects of which
have been very satisfactory. Mr. Pritchard quotes as follows, from the records of the "Society for the Protection
of the Aborigines: "
"By the exertions of Guido Marliere, to whom communications were made on the part of this society, ilmost at
the commencement, Guido Procrane, a Botocudo Indian of
great native talent, was introduced to the blessings of civilization and Christianity, and his new acquirements were
directed to the amelioration of his countrymen. His exertions have been crowned with signal success, and four sections of the barbarous tribes have been brought under the
influence of civilization, and taught to cultivate their soil,
from which they have raised not only enough for their own
support, but a surplus, which has been the means of rescuing even a portion of the white Brazilians from famine
and starvation. Useful laws have been introduced among
them, and Guido Procrane, in the criminal code which he
has established, has set an example which legislators, the
hereditary professors of Christianity, would do well to
imitate, in the total exclusion of capital punishment."
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INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
CHAPTER II.
SUCCESS OF THE PORTUGUESE AGAINST THE NATIVES. -THEIR CON TESTS WITH SETTLERS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. -
ENGLISH COLONY AT PARAIBA. - EXPULSION OF GUARANI TRIBES
FROM THEIR COUNTRY ON LA PLATA. - DIVISION OF BRAZILIAN
NATIONS.- DAILY ROUTINE OF INDIAN LIFE IN THE FORESTS. -
REFLECTIONS.
To continue our narrative of Portuguese settlement and
colonization, the efforts of the viceroy Mem da Sa, resulted
in the reduction of the savage and turbulent Botocudos.
In the desultory warfare of the time, the aid of such Indian
allies as were attached to the royal cause was of signal
advantage. 
The immense extent of fruitful sea-coast along the eastern shores of Brazil, invited adventurers from various
European nations. The French, as we have seen, were
repelled in their efforts to colonize the region of the La
Plata, and the Portuguese were no less successful in expelling intruders from other quarters. An English settlement
had been commenced at Paraiba, to the northward of Pernambuco.  The colonists at this place, says Southey, "connected themselves with the native women; and in another
generation the Anglo-Tupi Mamalucos might have been
found dangerous neighbors, if the governor of St. Sebastians, steadily pursuing the system of his court, had not,
in the fifth year of their abode, attacked and exterminated
them. They who escaped from the merciless war which
the Portuguese waged against all interlopers, fled into the
interior, and either they were eaten by the savages, as was
believed, or lived and died among them, becoming savages
themselves."
Long and wearisome details of struggles for empire in
the New World between the Portuguese, Spanish, and
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Dutch, occupy the history of Brazil until the establishment in that country of the royal family of Portugal, in
1808. Few, except the Jesuits, seemed to have any care
for the rights of the native population, or interest in their
improvement. These missionaries- zealous and devoted
in whatever cause, whether for good or ill, that they espoused - drew upon themselves no trifling persecution by
their efforts in behalf of the Indians. Upon a settlement
of the limits of jurisdiction on the La Plata, in 1750, between the Spanish and Portuguese governments, thirty
thousand of the Guarani tribe were compelled to abandon
their homes. These Indians had been objects of especial
care to the Jesuit missionaries, and in the resistance which
they naturally made to so summary a removal, they involved their spiritual guides in difficulties.
"The Indians," says Conlder, "rose in all directions to
oppose the mandate; but the short though vigorous resistance which they made, only left them more than ever in
the power of their enemies. Great numbers were slaughtered, and those who refused to submit were compelled to
leave the country. * ~ In the year 1761, when Carlos
III. acceded to the throne of Spain, the treaty of limits
was annulled; the Guaranies who had been so wantonly
and cruelly expelled were instructed to return to their
dilapidated town and wasted country, and the Jesuits,
resuming their benignant administration, exerted themselves to repair, as far as possible, the evils that had been
done."
The effects of the Catholic mission in Brazil are still
visible among no small portion of the aboriginal inhabitants. Unfortunately in too many instances the religion
which they now profess is but a graft upon their old superstitions.
The Indians of Brazil are divided into a great number
of tribes, differing more in language than in general ap
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pearance and characteristics. The Tupis, who were the
most extensively diffused over the coast country at the period of the first European discovery, are greatly reduced in
numbers. The tribes of the far interior, where little or no
intercourse is held with the whites, have changed but little
from the habits and appearance of their ancestors.  Dr.
Von Martius has enumerated no less than two hundred and
fifty distinct tribes or nations within the limits of Brazil;
many of them, to be sure, consisting of but few families
or individuals, and not sufficiently distinct one from another to render a classification useful or interesting. This
traveller has given a very lively picture of the life and
daily routine of these denizens of the forest. The following sketch is selected from his "Travels," and transcribed
in an article upon the Brazilian Indians, to be found in
that invaluable periodical, the "Penny Magazine: "
"As soon as the first rays of the sun beam on the hut
of the Indian, he awakes, rises immediately, and goes to
the door, where he generally spends some time in rubbing
and stretching his limbs. Returning into the hut, he looks
for the still live embers of the fire of the day before, or
lights it afresh by means of two dry sticks, one of which
he sets upon the other, twirling it like a mill till it kindles, and then he adds dry grass or straw. All the male
inhabitants then take part in the business; some  drag
wood out of the forest; others heap up the fire between
several large stones, and all of them seat themselves round
it in a squatting attitude. Without looking at or speaking to each other, they often remain for hours together
in this position, solely engaged in keeping in the fire,
or roasting Spanish potatoes, bananas, ears of maize,
&c., in the ashes for breakfast. A tame monkey, or some
other of their numerous domestic animals with which they
play, serves to amuse them. The first employment of the
women, on leaving their hammocks, is to paint themselves
701 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
and their children, on which each goes to her domestic
occupation, stripping the threads from the palm-trees,
manufacturing nets, mniaking earthen-ware, rubbing mandioca, and pounding maize, from which they make a cooling beverage.  Others go to their little plantations to fetch
maize, mandioca, and beans; or into the forest to look
for wild fruits and roots. When the men have finished
their frugal breakfast, they prepare their bows, arrows,
strings, &c."
As the heat of the day increases, the Indian takes his
bath, and then systematically sets about his day's hunt;
"the tapir, monkeys, pigs, armadilloes, pascas, and agoutis, are his favorite dishes, but he readily eats deer, birds,
turtles, and fish, and in case of need, contents himself with
serpents, toads, and larva of large insects roasted."
The general tenor of this savage life, as well as the construction of dwellings, implements, boats, &c., is not unlike
what has already been described relating to the Indians of
Guiana. The same rude huts of palm, open or closed
upon the most exposed quarter by thatch or wicker-work,
the hammocks, the simplest'form of pottery and wooden
vessels, and the almost invariable arms and weapons of
the savage, suffice for their necessities, and for what they
know of luxury and comfort.
Some of the remote tribes are said to be still addicted
to the old national propensity for cannibalism.  "Infanticide is still more common; and many tribes put the aged
and infirm to death. Dr. Von Martius states that the
Guaicuru women  never rear any  children before their
thirtieth year; the Guanas often bury their female children alive, and even the mothers expose their new-born
infants; and parental affection is a thing unknown on the
father's side."
Can we indulge any rational hope that these barbarous
nations will ever be brought, as a distinct race, within the
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INDIAN TRIBES OF BRAZIL.
pale of civilization; or must the usual course of extinction or amalgamation be the only means by which the
immense and luxuriantly fertile regions which they inhabit
shall eventually be improved for the support of the millions that they are capable of sustaining? The Iroquois
within the state of New York, and the Cherokee settlements west of the Mississippi, are almost the only prosperous and civilized districts inhabited by American Indians.
It will be a most gratifying result if the next generation
shall witness the original proprietors of this vast country
taking, in the persons of their representatives, an equal
place among its European occupants. A right state of
feeling, upon the subject of what is due to the Indian,
seems to be upon the ascendant in the United States,
except in those districts where there is still a conflict of
interest between the different races.
703
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THE PAMPAS INDIANS.
THEIR HORSEMANSIHIP. - THEIR MODE OF LIFE. - SIR FRANCIS HEAD'S
DESCRIPTIONS OF THE RACE.-FEMALE CAPTIVES AMONG THE IN  DIANS.- TRADING VISITS TO EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS.- CLASSI  FICATION OF TRIBES. -CHANGE IN THEIR CONDITION BY THE IN  TRODUCTION OF EUROPEAN DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
THE vast plains or pampas of Buenos Ayres are inhabited-where European settlements have not yet extended
- by a wild and singular race of Indians. To them the
horse is all that the reindeer is to the Laplanders, constituting their chief support, and almost their only enjoyment.
Nearly destitute of clothing, and careless of the ordinary
conveniences and comforts of life, they are trained from
infancy to scour the plains, often without saddles, upon
the wild horses who roam at will over the boundless expanse of meadow. The world has never produced such
magnificent horsemen: "The Gauchos," says Sir Francis
Head, "who themselves ride so beautifully, all declare that
it is impossible to ride with an Indian; for that the Indian's
horses are better than theirs, and also that they have such
a way of urging on their horses by their cries, and by a
peculiar motion of their bodies, that even if they were to
change horses, the Indians would beat them. The Gauchos all seemed to dread very much the Indians' spears.
They said that some of the Indians charged without either
saddle or bridle, and that in some instances they were hanging almost under the bellies of their horses, and shrieking
so that the horses were afraid to face them."
(704)
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The whole lives of these singular people are spent upon
horseback, a natural result of which is an incapacity for
other species of exertion. Walking is intolerable to them:
the fatigue and tediousness of such a mode of travelling
over an unlimited level, would be disheartening to any,
more particularly to those who  have continually availed
themselves of the services of the horse.
Something of the ordinary system of Indian government
exists among the numerous tribes, but they are all of unsettled and roving habits, shifting their quarters continually
in search of better pasturage, and subsisting chiefly upon
mares' flesh.   Wherever  they betake themselves, they
drive before them great herds of horses, and the skill
with which they will catch, mount, and manage  a fresh
animal, when the one they have been riding is wearied, is
unequalled.
The author above quoted, whose characteristically graphic
description of a gallop across the pampas has won so extensive a reputation, observes of the Indians: "The occupation of their lives is war, which they consider is their
noble and most natural employment; and they declare
that the proudest attitude of the human figure is when,
bending over his horse, man is riding at his enemy. The
principal weapon which they use is a spear eighteen feet
long; they manage it with great dexterity, and are able
to give it a tremulous motion which has often shaken the
sword from the hand of their European adversaries." In
addition to the spear, they make use, both in war and
hunting, of a most effective instrument called the ballos.
This is a species of slung-shot, consisting of a stout leathern
thong with a ball of lead attached to either end. A terrible
blow can be struck with this weapon, and, as a missile,
the Indians use it with great dexterity and effect within a
moderate range. The lasso or long noose attached to the
saddle, is also an effective implement.
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
Between them and the Gauchos, a scarcely less wild race
of cavaliers, principally of Spanish descent, the most deadly
hostility constantly prevails. Ill the exposed districts, rude
fortifications are erected for the protection of the white
inhabitants against Indian incursions. The principal defence of these fortresses is said to be a narrow ditch, over
which the Indian horses, accustomed to the unobstructed
level of the prairie, refuse to leap, and nothing could induce their rider to attempt any thing upon foot. Upon
occasion of a successful assault, the savages show little
mercy. All the unfortunate whites are murdered, except
such of the young women as appear sufficiently attractive
to make desirable wives. "Whether the poor girls can
ride or not," says Head, "they are instantly placed upon
horses, and when the hasty plunder of the hut is concluded,
they are driven away from its smoking ruins and from the
horrid scene which surrounds it."
"At a pace which in Europe is unknown, they gallop
over the trackless regions before them, fed upon mares'
flesh, sleeping on the ground, until they arrive in the Indian's territory, when they have instantly to adopt the
wild life of their captors.
"I was informed by a very intelligent French officer, who
was of high rank in the Peruvian army, that on friendly
terms, he had once passed through part of the territory of
these Pampas Indians, in order to attack a tribe who were
at war with them, and that he had met several of the
young women who had been thus carried off by the Indians.
" He told me that he had offered to obtain permission for
them to return to their country, and that he had, in addition, offered them large sums of money if they would, in
the mean while, act as interpreters; but they all replied
that no inducement in the world should ever make them
leave their husbands, or their children, and that they were
quite delighted with the life they led."
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THlE PAMIPAS INDIANS.
There is certainly something strangely fascinating in the
idea of a wild life, unfettered by the artificial restraints
of society, and the constant call for exertion and care inci dent to civilized existence. We see that in a majority of
cases the inhabitants of even the most desolate and inhos pitable regions of the earth, after experiencing the com forts of civilization, are still glad to return to the scenes
and habits to which they were early inured. It is easier
for the educated and enlightened European to discard the
advantages which he has inherited, and to adopt the hab its and life of the savage, especially in a genial and spon taneously productive clime, than for the latter to give up
his wild freedom for the responsibilities and cares of civil ization.
In times of peace the free rovers of the South American
pampas make occasional visits to the European towns and
settlements for the purpose of trade. They bring in such
few articles of peltry, &c., as they deal in, to barter for
sugar, "knives, spurs, and liquor."   Delivering  up all
their dangerous weapons to their chief, they devote themselves, at first, to a regular drinking-bout, after recovering
from which, they offer their goods to the trades-people.
They will have nothing to do with money, or the ordinary
rules of weight and measure, but designate, by some mark
of their own, the quantity of the commodity they require
in exchange for their own stock.
The Pampas Indians are classified as belonging to the
g-eat Patagonian or Pampean group, which is divided into
the following nations: the Tehuelche, Puelche, Charrua,
Mbocobi or Toba, Mataguayo, Abipones, and Lengua.
That portion of which we have been speaking in this chapter, consists principally of the Puelche: their ancestors
were found further north, bordering upon the tribes of
Paraguay and upon the first arrival and settlement of Euro,
peans upon the La Plata, provedcl most formidable enemies
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
They also inhabited the eastern mountainous regions of
Chili, where they were allied to and classed with the noble
and warlike Araucanians. Molina, in his account of that
race, says of the Puelches: "These, although they conform to the general customs of the nation, always discover
a greater rudeness and savageness of manners.   Their
name signifies Eastern-men.   ~  *  The Araucanians hold
these mountaineers in high estimation for the important
services which they occasionally render them, and for the
fidelity which they have always observed in their alliance
with them."
The first town built upon the site of the present city of
Buenos Ayres, in 1534, was destroyed by the Indians;
and their bold attack repelled the Spanish adventurers in
this quarter until 1580. Even then they renewed their
hostilities, but the fall of their chief cacique in battle, and
the more efficient fortification of the new town, baffled
them and caused their entire defeat.
In these early times their habits were of course different
from what we may now notice, as horses and cattle were
not introduced until the arrival of Europeans. The emu
or American ostrich, still an inhabitaht of the Pampas, the
deer, sloth, and small game, supplied them with food.
The unprecedented natural increase of cattle and horses,
turned free to roam over the rich grassy savannahs, supplied them with entirely new resources.
Those Indians of Buenos Ayres, Paraguay, and other
southern provinces, who  live in the midst of the whine
settlements, are mostly Christian converts, at least in name
and the observance of religious formula.
The extent to which the different nations of Europe,
Africa, and America have become mixed in most of the
South American provinces, renders any thing like accurate
enumeration of the amount of the present Indian popula tion difficult, if not impossible.
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THE PATAGONIANS.
EARLY EXAGGERATED REPORTS CONCERNING TIIEM. - RACE TO WHICH
THEY BELONG. -NATURE OF THE COUNTRY. -TERRA DEL FUEGO.
-GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND CLASSIFICATION OF THE INHAB ITANTS.-CAPTAIN  FITZROY'S NARRATIVE. -PHYSICAL CONFOR MATION OF THE NATIVES. -SCANTINESS OF THEIR CLOTHING. THEIR HUTS, RESOURCES FOR FOOD, ETC. - FUEGIANS CARRIED TO
ENGLAND BY FITZROY. -ATTEMPT AT TIlE INTRODUCTION OF
AGRICULTURE ON THE ISLAND. - PECHERAIS DESCRIBED IN WILKES'
NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES' EXPLORING EXPEDITION.
Most extravagant reports were circulated, in early times,
of the gigantic size of the natives of the southern extremity
of the American continent. These were not wholly fabulous, but merely exaggerations, as from recent travellers
we have accurate descriptions of various tribes, among
which the average height of the men greatly exceeds that
of mankind in general. The Tehuelches in particulars
although less warlike and dangerous than many other
nations, are noted for their gigantic proportions. They
are said to be more than six feet in height, upon an average, and some of them considerably exceed that measure.
They are muscular, and athletic in proportion.
The Patagonian tribes are included under the same
general classification with the Puelches of the pampas, and
the numerous nations further north, spread over the vast
and indeterminate region denominated Chaco, between
Paraguay and Chili. Over the extensive plains, and tableland between the Andes and the eastern sea-board, the
(709) 
INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
wild tribes of Patagonia wander in undisturbed freedom.
Their manner of life is similar to that of the Pampas Indians of Southern Buenos Ayres, as wild horses and cattle
have spread over the northern parts of their country in
almost equal abundance.   The  same  fierce, untamable
spirit, and the same carelessness of the comforts of life,
with ability to endure the extremes of exposure and fatigue, characterize all these races of centaurs. Even in
the colder regions of the extreme south, little in the way
of clothing is worn, and the naked body of the savage is
exposed to snows and storms, against which the covering
of the European would afford incomplete protection.
"These men," says Purchas, speaking of those near the
straits of Magellan, "both giants and others, went either
wholly naked, or so clothed, as they seemed not to dread
the cold, which is yet there so violent, that besides the
mountain-tops, always covered with snow, their very summers, in the midst thereof, freeth them not from ice."
A great portion of Patagonia is sterile and barren, destitute of timber, and covered only with a kind of coarse grass,
or with thorny shrubs. The country rises in a series of
terraces from the low eastern sea-coast to the range of the
Andes. The northern districts are in many parts fertile
and heavily timbered.
Crossing the straits of Magellan, we find one of the most
miserable and desolate countries on the globe. Terra del
Fuego, the land of fire, so called because of the numerous
fires seen upon its coast by the early navigators, is a cold
and barren island. The surface of the country is either
rocky and mountainous, or of such a cold and miry soil
as to obstruct travel and improvement. The forests are
rendered nearly impassable by under-growth. The inhabitants are partly, as would appear, of the same race with
the Patagonians, but as a body they are generally classed
with the Andian Group, and considered to have some
710 
THE PATAGONIANS.
affinity to the Araucanians.   "One  description,"  says
Pritchard, "is applicable to both nations.  Their heads are
proportionably large, their faces round, with projecting
cheek-bones, large mouths, thick lips, short flattened noses,
with wide nostrils; their eyes are horizontally placed, and
not inclined; otherwise their countenance would approximate greatly to that of the nomadic Tartars: they have
little beard; their foreheads are narrow, and falling back;
their chins broad and short."
Among the most interesting accounts of these Indians is
that given by Captain Fitzroy, in the "Narrative of the
Voyages of the Adventure and the Beagle." Lieutenant
Charles Wilkes, commander of the United States' exploring
expedition, has also very graphically described the appearance and peculiarities of the people and country.
Fitzroy estimates the whole population at about three
thousand adults. They are divided into five different tribes
or nations, viz: the Yacanas, Tekeenicas, Alikhoolip, Pecherais, and Huemuls.  The name of Pecherais was bestowed by Bougainville (as descriptive of their mode of subsistence) upon those coast Indians who have been considered
as belonging to the Araucanian family. The Yacanas appear to be the same with the neighboring Patagonians.
The separate tribes differ considerably in their physical
development, but the generality of these islanders present
a wretched and miserable aspect of deformity.   Their
withered and emaciated limbs are in strong contrast to the
breadth of the chest and the size of the abdomen, and the
squatting position always assumed by them when at rest,
causes the skin of the knee-joint to become stretched and
loose: when standing, it hangs in unsightly folds. Their
eyes are almost universally inflamed and sore, from the effects of the smoke in their wigwams. There are few races
upon the globe who bear so strongly the marks of want
and destitution.
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INDIAN RACES OP AMERICA.
Unlike the natives of the cold climes of Northern America, the Fuegians totally neglect the precaution of fortifying themselves against the severities of winter by warm
and comfortable clothing.   The majority of the men go
almost entirely naked.  A  single skin of the guanaco (a
southern quadruped of the genus of the llama), or of the
different species of seal, thrown over the shoulders, and,
in a few instances, reduced to the semblance of a garment,
by a girdle, is all that is seen in the way of clothing.
Some slight fillets are worn about the head, rather from a
fancy for ornament than as a covering. The females usually wear an entire guanaco skin, in the loose fold of which,
above the belt, they carry their infants: a more convenient
method than that adopted in some northern climes, of stowthe child in the huge boot.
The huts which they inhabit are built much after the
fashion of the ordinary Indian wigwam, of poles bent together at the top, or of stiff stakes placed in the form of a
cone. - These rude dwellings are neither tight nor comfortable: they are generally intended merely for temporary domniciles, as the necessity for constant migration in search of
the products of the sea and coast, renders any permanent
settlement impracticable. The arts of agriculture are entirely unknown or disregarded. Sundry attempts have been
made to introduce the cultivation of such vegetables as the
soil is adapted to producing, but the ignorance and barbarity of the inhabitants prevented their appreciation of the
advantages which would result from the operation, and the
experiments utterly failed.
Most of the Fuegians are supplied with roughly-constructed bark canoes. In the centre of these a fire is always
kept burning upon a bed of sand or clay. Fire is obtained
by striking sparks from the iron pyrites upon a tinder prepared from some dried fungus, or moss, which materials are
always kept at hand; but the difficulty of obtaining a flame
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THE PATAGONIANS.
by these means is the probable reason for their care in preserving the embers in their canoes.
As we have mentioned, they raise no vegetable food, and
the natural products of the country are exceedingly scanty.
All that the inhabitants can procure to vary their animal
diet of fish, seals, shell-fish, &c., consists of "a few berries,
as the cranberry, and the berry of the arbutus; also a fungus like the oak-apple, which grows on the birch-tree.
With the exception of these spontaneous productions, and
dead whales thrown occasionally upon the coast, the rest
of their food must be obtained by their own perseverance,
activity, and sagacity."
A race of dogs is domesticated among the Fuegians, by
the assistance of which the labor and difficulty of hunting
the guanaco, otter, &c., is materially alleviated. The weapons used in war or for the chase are bows and arrows, short
bone-headed lances, clubs, and slings. The Fuegians are
adepts in the use of the last-mentioned implement, and
hurl stones with great force and accuracy.
They have no means of preserving a store of provision
in times of plenty, and are consequently liable to suffer
greatly from famine when storms or other causes cut them
off from the usual resources of the sea. They will some times bury a quantity of whale's blubber in the sand, and
devour it in an offensive condition, when pressed by hun ger. "In Captain Fitzroy's narrative there is an account
of a party of the natives who were in a famishing state,
on which some of the tribe departed, observing that they
would return in four'sleeps' with a supply of food. On
the fifth day they arrived in a state of great exhaustion,
each man carrying two or three pieces of whale-blubber,
in a half-putrid state, and which appeared as if it had been
buried in the sand. A hole was made in each piece, through
which the man carrying it inserted his head and neck."
Report says that, as a last resource, when other food can
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
not be obtained, the Fuegians kill and feed upon the older
and more unserviceable members of their own community.
The benevolent Fitzroy, deeply interested in the welfare
of these unfortunate islanders, made an attempt, in 1830,
to effect some improvement in their condition. He took
four of them with him to England, one of whom died of
the small-pox shortly after landing. The others were
maintained and instructed, at the captain's own expense,
until October of the following year, when he took them on
board the Beagle to return to their homes, and use their
influence in introducing the arts and comforts of civiliza tion. One Matthews accompanied them from England,
with the purpose of assisting their efforts among their
countrymen.
Arriving at Terra del Fuego, wigwams were built, and
a garden was laid out and planted with various European
esculents.  Curiosity and astonishment were the first feelings excited by these operations; but after the departure
of the captain, the rude natives, unable to comprehend the
motives for the experiment, and incapable of appreciating
the advantages in store for them, destroyed the little plantation. Jemmy Button, the one most particularly described
of those carried to England, when seen, a few years afterwards, by Captain Fitzroy, had nearly relapsed into his
original state of squalid barbarity.   Matthews  left the
island upon the first failure of the attempt at agriculture.
Could there be found men of sufficient self-devotion to
be willing to take up their abode in such a dreary country,
there seems to be reason to believe that the Fuegians might
be reclaimed. They do not lack sagacity or intelligence,
and their memories are remarkably retentive. It is said
that "they could repeat with perfect correctness each word
in any sentence addressed to them, and they remembered
such words for some time."
The Fuegians described by Commander Wilkes, as seen
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THE PATAGONIANS.
at Orange Harbor, were of the Pecherais tribe. His descriptions correspond with those of former voyagers, but
their interest is greatly heightened by the illustrations
which  accompany his valuable narrative.  "They  are,"
he says, " an ill-shapen and ugly race. They have little
or no idea of the relative value of articles, even of those
that one would suppose were of the utmost use to them,
such as iron and glass-ware. A glass bottle broken into
pieces is valued as much as a knife. Red flannel torn into
stripes, pleases them more than in the piece; they wound
it round their heads, as a kind of turban, and it was amusing to see their satisfaction at this small acquisition."
The Indians of this party wore no other clothing than
a small piece of seal-skin appended to the shoulder and
reaching to the waist. This was shifted firom side to side
according to the direction of the wind, serving rather as
a shelter than a covering. Their bark canoes were of
exceedingly slight construction, "sewed with shreds of
whale-bone, seal-skin, and twigs." Their navigation was
mostly confined to the limits of the kelp or sea-weed,
where the water was calm, and they could assist the operation of their small and inefficient paddles by laying hold
of the marine plants.
Those natives who were taken on board the vessels, exhibited little or no astonishment at what they saw around
them. This did not proceed from surliness or apathy, for
they were vivacious and cheerful, and apparently happy
and contented. A most uncontrollable propensity to mimicry prevented the establishment of any kind of communication, as, instead of replying to signs and gestures, they
would invariably imitate them with ludicrous exactness.
"Their imitations of sounds were truly astonishing.  One
of them ascended and descended the octave perfectly, following the sounds of the violin correctly.  It was then
found he could sound the common chords, and follow
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INDIAN RACES OF AMERICA.
through the semitone scale, with scarcely an error. * * *
Although they have been heard to shout quite loud, yet
they cannot endure a noise. When the drum beat, or a
gun was fired, they invariably stopped their ears. They
always speak to each other in a whisper. Their cautious
manner and movements prove them to be a timid race.
The men are exceedingly jealous of their women, and
will not allow any one, if they can help it, to enter their
huts, particularly boys."
When, after some hesitation, admittance was gained to
the huts on shore: "The men creeping in first, squatted
themselves directly in front of the women, all holding out
the small piece of seal-skin, to allow the heat to reach their
bodies. The women were squatted three deep behind the
men, the oldest in front, nestling the infants." Mlost
writers speak of the condition of the Fuegian women, particularly of this race of Pecherais, as being subjected to the
most severe and toilsome drudgery.  "In a word," says
one, " the Pecherais women are, perhaps, of all the savage women of America, those whose lot is the hardest."
Those, however, seen at Orange Harbor had small and
well-shaped hands and feet, "and, from appearance, they
are not accustomed to do any hard work."
Some vague superstitious belief in dreams, omens, &c.,
with the idea of an evil spirit in the embodiment of "a
great black man, supposed to be always wandering about
the woods and mountains, who is certain of knowing
every word and every action, who cannot be escaped, and
who influences the-weather according to men's conduct,"
is all that is observable of religious conceptions on the part
of the natives. They have, connected with each tribe or
casual group, a man whom their fancy invests with the
power of sorcerer and physician;  occupying precisely
the same position with that of the "powwows" of North
America.
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
BY J. T. HEADLEY.
CHAPTER I.
CONDITION OF THE TRIBE PREVIOUS TO THE OUTBREAK. -A
WARLIKE TRIBE. - CIVILIZATION COMMENCED. - CHURCHES
AND SCHOOLS. - CAUSES OF THE OUTBREAK. - INJUSTICE OF
OUR GOVERNMENT. - BEGINNING OF THE MASSACRE. - INHAB  ITANTS CALLING FOR HELP. - LITTLE CROW. - ATTACK ON
THE LOWER AGENCY. - ESCAPE OF REV. MR. HINDMAN.- A
NOBLE FEItYMAN. - CUT NOSE. -TWENTY-FIVE MASSACRED. HEART-RENDING SIGHT.- FLIGHT AND DEATH OF DR. HUM PHREYS.- WHOLE FAMILY BURNED.- DESTRUCTION OF CAPT.
MIARSH'S COMPANY.
THE massacre of the whites in Minnesota by the Sioux
IndianIs, in August, 1862, is one of the bloodiest that has
ever occurred in the history of the Indian races in North
America. Ill the earlier periods of the country, the frontier settlements were constantly exposed to Indian depredations, and their destruction at any time seemed probable from their comparative feebleness and remoteness
from succor; but that the savage tribes should rise against
the whites almost within sight of our populous cities, our
railroads and steamboats, was not dreamed of by any one.
The Sioux massacre, had it occurred in a time of peace,
would have moved the nation more profoundly than any
event in our history, but coming as it did in the midst of
one of the most fearful civil wars the world has ever seen,
it lost half its horrors. When our fathers, brothers and
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
sons were falling by the tens of thousands in our very
midst, the slaughter of a few hundred settlers on our
frontier seemed comparatively a small evil.
The Sioux, or Dacotah Indians, as they have been
known from time immemorial, have always been a warlike
tribe, but as civilization advanced and encroached upon
them, their savage character gradually changed, and fori
years they had lived at peace with their white neighbors.
They had step by step receded before the tide of emigration, selling their lands to the government, until by the
last treaties, especially the one ratified in 1860, they
yielded all their possessions in Iowa, Dakota and MIinnesota, except a tract a hundred and fifty miles long, on the
Minnesota river. In accordance with these treaties, a
large amount of money and goods was annually delivered
to them, and an agent of the government resided among
them to superintend the transaction of all public business.
For the sake of convenience two stations were estal)lished
for this purpose, one fourteen miles above Fort Ridgely, on
the Minnesota river, called the "Lower," or "Redwood
Agency," and the other at the mouth of the Yellow Medicine river, known as the "Upper," or "Yellow Medicine
Agency." A part of the nation, perhaps a hundred families, had adopted civilized customs, lived ill frame-houses,
dressed in coats and pantaloons, attended churches and
schools, had plows, harrows, and all the agricultural implemenlts, and seemed fast merging into civilization. The
other portion, however, lived in huts on the prairie, and
retained their savage customs and habits.
A few miles above the Yellow Medicine were churches
and schools in charge of Rev. S. R. Riggs and Dr. Williamson, who for a long time had been missionaries among
them. At Lac qui Parle was another school under the
care of Rev. Mr. Huggins, while trading posts were established at various points. Besides the whites and Indians,
I
718 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
a numerous race of half-breeds had sprung ulp.  A good
road ran through the reservation, with eighteen well-coiln structed bridges.  Some three thousand acres of this fertile region had been fenced and planted, while saw and
corn-mills and brick-yards were established at the agencies.
But although matters seemed in this thriving, prosperous condition, there had been at various times, indications
of an outbreak. The large annuities paid them by the
government furnished a tempting bait to unscrupulous
traders and adventurers, who managed from time to time
to make large fortunes at the expense of the Indian. On
two different occasions $2,900 that had been placed on a
table in payment to some of the chiefs, was picked up by
a half-breed and given to a white man, and that was the
last ever seen of it. Receipts were obtained on the promise of furnishing horses, guns, &c. which were never paid.
Once a man by the name of Hugh Tyler, took $55,000 as
pay due him, as he alleged, for getting a treaty through
the Senate. The $166,000 which the Indians were to
receive for ceding their lands north of the Minnesota, they
never saw or received a penny of for four years, or until
the very year of the massacre, and then but $1,500 worth
of goods were sent, and even this was deducted from the
money due them under a former treaty. The Indians,
indignant at the fraud, refused for a long time to receive
them, and finally did so only after the government had
agreed to make it right with them.
Things had gone on in this way until at the outbreak
the annuities amounted to scarcely fifteen dollars a piece
of the 6,200 that composed the tribe. This was not sufficient to keep them from starvation, and the winter previous to the massacre numbers actually died from want, and
many others only lived by eating their horses and dogs.
Other and slighter causes, but such as an Indian keenly
feels, incensed them against the whites, and nothing but
719 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
their powerlessness kept them from violence long before.
The outbreak of civil war among us naturally excited in
their hearts the belief that their day of revenge was at
hand. Said a famous Cherokee chief, many years ago,
when speaking of the wrongs done his nation, "One of
these days you will be at war among yourselves, and then
when you are weakened, we will come down on you like
the mountain wolf on the fold, and tear you in pieces."
Such thoughts stirred the hearts of the Sioux braves.
Besides, they did not escape the war excitement that filled
the land. Recruiting stations were in their midst, and
companies of half-breeds were organized for the army.
This also showed to them the desperate straits of the gov ernment for men, and its weakness. Added to all, the
wildest rumors spread among them of the sacking of our
cities by the south, the capture of Washington, and even
the President. All these things tended to kindle the
sullen desire for revenge which for a long time had smoul dered in their breasts, into a belief that their time for
action had come.
About the first of July the young men of the nation
formed a secret association, called the "Soldier's Lodge,"
the object of which was to control matters when any thing
of great importance to the nation occurred.  Yet all this
did not alarm the whites, and the traders who had come
to despise the Indians, would tell them as Foulon did the
mob of Paris when they said they were starving, to "EAT
HAY."  The very night before the outbreak, a large coun cil was held only fifteen miles from the lower agency, in
which it was determined to go the next day to the Agency
and demand the money due them, thence to Fort Ridgely,
if refused, to St. Paul; and if necessary, to resort to violence to secure their rights. It will thus be seen that the
whole nation was resting on the bosom of a volcano, which
at any moment might burst forth in a deluge of fire.
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
Yet strange as it may seem, the whites reposed in perfect
security; the wholesome fear which kept the early settlers
on the alert, had been laid to rest so long that it seemed
impossible to rouse it. So complete was this delusion that
the government agent, Mr. Galbraith; who visited the
entire reservation just before the outbreak, spoke on his
return with great satisfaction of the prosperous condition
of affairs in the tribe.
Still, notwithstanding this apparent preparation of a
sudden uprising, the time and manner of its occurrence
seemed purely accidental.
On the first of August a party of twenty Indians went
to the "Big Woods," an extensive forest about eighty
miles above the falls of St. Anthony, to hunt and get a
wagon which a chief had left the previous winter with
Captain Whitcomb.  They separated on the way, some
of them going towards Acton. These got into a quarrel
a few days after, accusing each other of cowardice for
being afraid of the whites. They finally separated, the
larger number saying to four who went off by themselves,
" You will see whether we are brave or not, for we are
going to kill a white man." Soon after, the four heard
the others firing, and supposing they were shooting down
whites, said they must kill some too, to show that they
were equally brave. While they were debating the project, they came to Acton. Here they got into an altercation with three men named Jones, Baker and Webster.
At length one of the Indians proposed they should go out
and shoot at a mark, for the purpose of getting the guns
of the whites discharged. They did so, when the Indians,
after firing, carefully reloaded their guns, and consulting
a moment together, appeared about to go away, when they
suddenly turned and fired, shooting down Jones and his
wife, and Baker and Webster. They then broke open
Jones' house, shot a young lady in it named Miss Wilson,
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
and departed. Mrs. Webster, who was in a covered wagon
near by, and Mrs. Baker, who in her fright fell down cellar
and was not noticed, escaped. This was the beginning of
the massacre. The two women crawled forth to find their
families weltering in blood.  Hastening to the house of a
Norwegian a few miles distant, they told their horrible
story, and no man being at home, a boy was despatched
to Ripley, a distance of twelve miles, where a meeting was
being held to raise a company of volunteers for the war.
Seventy-five men were speedily assembled at the spot, and
hearing that the other Indians were still in the neighborhood, threatening violence, sent immediately to St. Paul,
to the governor, for help.
The four Indians who had begun the massacre, hastened
to the house of a Mr. Eckland, and stealing two horses,
mounted them, two on each horse, and rode at a breakneck pace to Shliakopee's village, into which they broke
before daylight with a savage shout. The aroused natives
were thrown into a state of the wildest excitement at the
story they told. One thing they knew at once; these murderers must be given up, or the tribe held responsible;
and the question arose what should be done, surrender
them or fight, for there was no alternative. Al excited,
angry discussion arose in the council that was immediately
called, but the relatives of the men declared they should
not be given up. It was finally agreed, that as it had
been decided in council the night previous, to go to Fort
Ridgeley, and if necessary to St. Paul, and demand their
annuity, they would start before daylight, and taking
"Little Crow" in their way, consult with him respecting
their future action.  This was one of the most eloquent
and crafty chieftains of the tribe.  He had been to Washington, had become civilized, dressing like a white man,
and living in a brick house, and regarded himself as a
respectable citizen.
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
This wild delegation, mounted on horseback, started
before daylight, and passing down the river, roused the
Indian settlers onl the way with their shouts and war cries.
It needed but a spark to fire the tinder, and all along the
way, other Indians jumped on their horses, and joined the
wild cavalcade, that kept increasing as it advanced, till a
hundred and fifty shouting, yelling madmen streamed
along the road. They reached Crow's house before he
was up, and the astonished chieftain, roused by the war
cries that had so often stirred him in his youth, sat up in
his bed.  The next moment his room was filled with
Indians, and wrapping himself in his blanket hlie asked
the meaning of this strange gathering. Their story was
soon told. They had now reached a pitch of excitement
where counsel was useless. They did not want advice;
they demanded that Crow should be their leader in a
war against the whites.  HIe saw at once that he must,or
part forever with his tribe. Still, knowing the hazards
hlie run, the struggle within him for a few minutes was
terrible.  But his mind was soon made up, and exclaiming, "I am with you," leaped from his bed. Sending off
swift couriers to other bands, lie mounted his horse and
led on the throng. It was agreed to fall on the Agency
at once. But to make the blow sudden and overwhelming, they decided to enter the village quietly and in
squads, as though nothing unusual was on foot, and stationing themselves at different points, wait a given signal,
which was to be the discharge of a single gun from near
the flag-staff, and then dash in and commence their work
of blood. When all was ready the signal gull was fired,
and in an instant the air was filled with war whoops, and
the street with painted demons. The startled inhabitants
ran to the doors of their houses and shops and stores, only
to be shot down. The love of plunder soon drew them
away from the work of slaughter, and many of the citi
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
n escaping.  Among these was the Rev.
ho'lived in the lower part of the town.
lhat he saw on this morning which ushof blood.  "I arose early, expecting to
, had just finished breakfast, and was
noking a pipe, and talking with a mason
ch he had just finished upon the new
as building.  Presently I saw a iumber
g down, nearly naked, and armed with
n exclaimed,' I guess they are going to
No,' said Dr. Humphlrey's son, who was
I,' they have guns and are not going to
noticed, that instead of going by, they
g down onl the steps of various buildings.
heard the guns in the upper town.  A
of Whipple said, he guessed the Chipe over, and they were having a battle.
the road to his boarding-house.  I soon
neople at the boarding-house, (who could
tores,) were running down the bluff.
s came down the street.  One of them
a went into the Indian farmer Prescott's
immediately out.  Frank Robertson, a
he employ of the government, followed
very pale.  I asked him what was the
he did not know, but that the Indian
ay in the house.  He told me he thought
to be trouble, and started for Beaver
s above, where his mother lived.
Dog,' formerly president of the'Farmer
t, very much frightened.  I asked him
was, and he said there was awful work,
oing to see Waboshaw about it.  Then
er Indian, went by the gate, and I asked
te matter.  Hle was usually very polite,
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1 what the matter
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
but now he made no answer, and regarding me with a
savage look, went on towards the stable, the next building below.
"Just before, Wagner ran by, and I asked him also
what the trouble was. He said the Indians were going
to the stables to steal horses, and that he was going there
to stop them. I told him he had better not, as I was
afraid there was trouble.  Hle paid no attention to what
I said.  The next I saw was the Indians leading away
the horses, and Wagner, and John Lamb and another
person trying to prevent them. By this time Crow had
reached there, and I heard him say to the Indians,'What
are you doing?  Why don't you shoot these men?  What
are you waiting for?'  Immediately the Indians fired,
wounding Wagner, who escaped across the river to die,
and killing Lamb and the other man.
"Then I found Miss West, and we started for the ferry.
After we got about half way, she ran into a house, and I
lost sight of her.
"Just as I got to Dickerson's house, I came across a
German who was wounded. I managed to get him down
the hill and put him into a skiff, and we passed safely
over and arrived at Fort Ridgeley about three o'clock.
The people were crossing the ferry rapidly, and flying in
every direction."
The ferryman, Manley, a Frenchman, of low origin and
among the most common and illiterate of the settlers,
now showed himself to possess the elements of a true
hero. Instead of flying with the rest, as he might have
done and saved his life, lie stayed manfully at his post,
and unmoved amid the terror and panic around him,
calmly passed backward and forward, carrying the fugitives over as fast as he could. This humble man, whom
no one cared for, suddenly seemed to care for every body
but himself. He arose to that loftiest point of self-sacri
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726              THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
fice ever reached by man, to give his life for others. The
firing steadily drew nearer, and the shots began to fall
around him, yet as long as a fugitive stood oln the shore,
pleading for help, he kept returning until no more was
to be saved. When the last man was over, and only infuriated Indians darkened the bank, a shot struck him,
and he fell a true hero, though no poet ever sings his
fame. The Indians, enraged that he had snatched so
many from their grasp, swam across, and tearing out his
bowels, cut off his head, hands and feet, and crammed
them into the body and thus left him.
A few miles from the Agency several settlers with their
families had gathered together previous to taking their
flight. The Indians coming suddenly upon them poured
a volley into their midst, which killed most of the men.
The frightened women and children immediately huddled
together in the wagons, and bending down drew their
shawls and blankets over their heads to shut out the terrible doom that awaited them.  "Cut Nose" then came
up, and while two Indians sprang to the horses' heads to
prevent them from starting off, drove his tomahawk deliberately into the head of each. A smothered skriek
from the survivors, followed each dull, crushing blow of
the weapon, as they, powerless with terror, awaited their
turn. Taking an infant from its mother's arms, Cut Nose
handed it to the Indians, who drawing a bolt from the
wagon, drove it through the body and pinned it to the
fence.  There, before the mother's eyes, they left it to
writhe and die in agony.  For a little while they stood and
gloated over the mother's speechless misery at the awful
spectacle, and then chopped off her arms and legs and left
her to bleed to death. Twenty-five were thus massacred.
When all had been disposed of, the savages kicked the mutilated bodies out of the wagons, and filling them with plunder sent them back to be added to the other spoils, and then 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
pushed on to other deeds of blood. Coming up to a
farmer's house in which were a husband and wife and
two children, the father fired at them from the window.
Before hlie could reload, they broke in with a yell. Finding no one within, the family having escaped by a back
way, they pursued after and butchered the father, mother
and son. The daughter, left alone, threw herself on the
ground, pretending to be dead. The savages, after hackilg the dead bodies, seized her by the feet to drag her
off, when she instinctively moved to adjust her clothes.
She was saved for a worse fate.
Dr. Humplhreys, the physician, with three little children, the oldest only twelve years old, got off, and when
two miles distant stopped at a house to rest. Being exhausted and thirsty, he sent his little boy a short distance
for some water.  While he was gone the Indians came up,
and shooting his father, set fire to the house, and burned
his mother and little brother alive.  Frightened half to
death he hid in some bushes. When the Indians left, he
crept forth and found his father lying on the ground with
his throat cut. Stupefied with fear he crawled back to
his hiding place, where he remained till he was picked
up in the afternoon by a band of soldiers sent from St.
Peters. The Indians, having killed, captured or driven
away all the whites, and filled the street with plunder,
applied the torch to the buildings, and soon the summer
sky was red with the conflagration. Couriers in the
mean time had been dispatched to other bands, bearing
the war cry.
Having finished the work of destruction at the Agency,
the savages streamed down the river, slaughtering and
burning as they went. As the fearful tidings spread, the
terrified inhabitants fled from their homes, carrying away
what household stuff they could collect, but in most cases
they were met or overtaken and shot down. The plead
727 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
ing cries of women and children were unheeded, even
when made to those whom they knew and had often be frienlded. Frenzied by their own deeds, and with all the
long slumbering fires of their savage nature fully aroused,
they committed every act of atrocity that a devilish inge nuity could suggest.  A farmer and his two soils were
engaged in stacking wheat. Twelve Indians approached
unseen to the fence, and from behind it shot all three.
They then entered the farmer's house and killed two of
the young children in the presence of their mother, who
was ill withl consumption, and dragged the mother and
daughter miles away to their camp.  There, in the pres ence of the dying mother, they stripped off the daughter's
clothes, fastened her back to the ground, and one by one
violated her person, till death came to her relief. One
Indian went into a house where a woman was making
bread.  Her small child was in the cradle.  Hle split the
mother's head open with a tomahawk, and then placed
the babe in the hot oven, where he kept it until nearly
dead, when he took it out and beat out its brains against
the wall.
Children were nailed living to tables and doors, and
knives and tomahawks thrown at them till they were
killed.  The womb of the pregnant mother was ripped
open, the palpitating infant torn forth, cut into bits and
thrown into the face of the mother.  Whole families were
burned alive in their homes. Such and similar deeds of
horrid barbarity are recorded by Mr. Heard, who has
published a book on the massacre, and by the newspapers
of the times, all of which were verified. By noon
the news reached Fort Ridgely, and Captain Marsh, of
the Minnesota Volunteers, immediately started with fortyeight men in wagons, for the scene of destruction. On the
way he met terrified fugitives, who told him to turn back,
for the Indians outnumbered him three to one, and he was
728 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
sure to be killed. He however kept resolutely on, and
reached the ferry opposite the Agency, at sundown. The
Indians came down to the opposite side of the river, and
a parley was held through an interpreter. Marsh said lihe
wished to come across and investigate matters.  They
declared he should not. The banks of the river were
lined with bushes, and while the discussion was going on
a large number of Indians secretly crossed and surrounded him, in concealed positions.  Marsh, at first, was determined to cross at all hazards, but at length, at the
earnest solicitations of friends, who declared it was certain death to make the attempt, he desisted. But the
order to his men to wheel had hardly escaped his lips,
when a sudden yell rose all around him, and the next
moment a tremendous volley at close range, was poured
into his little band. Nearly twenty fell at the first fire.
With the survivors he stood his ground and returned the
fire. But resistance was vain; his men dropped like
leaves beside him, and seeing it was hopeless to continue
the fight, he gathered nine men around him and fought
his way out of the circle of fire. But after going two
miles down the river, he found his way to the fort cut
off, and seeing a spot where he thought the river could
be forded, he ordered his men to plunge in, himself leading the way, with his sword and revolver lifted above his
head. But he soon got beyond his depth, and sunk to
rise no more. His nine followers reached the fort in
safety, with the sad tidings of their loss.
729 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
CHAPTER II.
ESCAPE OF REV. MR. RIGGS AND DR. WILLIAMSON. - CHASKAI
PAUL AND ENOS, FAITHFUL INDIANS AIDING RIGGS AND
DR. WILLIAMSON IN THEIR ESCAPE. -ARRIVAL AT BIRCH
COOLEY.-BURNING WOMEN ALIVE.-EXCITEMENT OF  THE
PEOPLE. -ATTACK ON NEW ULM. -BOARDMAN AND JUDGE
FLANDERAN DEFEND NEW ULM.- ATTACK ON FORT RIDGE
tY. - DEFENDED BY SERGEANT JONES. - INDIANS DISPERSED
BY SHELLS. - TERRIBLE THUNDER  STORM. - LITTLE CROW
RENEWING THE ATTACK.- SLAUGHTERING OF MEN, WOMEN
AND CHILDREN. -LITTLE CROW RE-ENFORCED, MAKING THE
SECOND ATTACK.-EVACUATION OF NEW ULM.
THE couriers which Little Crow had despatched to the
various bands, had but to tell their story, and the savages
were ready for action. At the Upper Agency, on the
Yellow Medicine, there was some hesitation at first,
whether they should kill the whites or send them away
and seize their property. In the council that immediately
assembled, "Other Day," a civilized Indian, opposed all
violence, and told them they were bringing ruin on the
whole tribe. But when the news of Marshl's overthrow
was received, all debate ended, and the war cry sounded.
Other Day, seeing that the storm would soon burst on the
Agency, secretly informed the whites, who were in profound ignorance of what occurred, and assembling them,
sixty-two in all, crossed the river, and conducted them in
safety to the settlements.  But for his bravery and devotion they would have shared the fate of the inhabitants
of the Lower Agency. On the same night some Indians
brought the news to the missionary and school station of
Rev. Mr. Riggs and Dr. Williamson, six miles above the
Agency.
730 
THIE SIOUX MASSACRE.
Although Little Crow in his message had urged the
chiefs to massacre the whites, they hesitated at first what
course to take. Like those at the Yellow Medicine, they
were more Christianized than the great majority of the
tribe. Many of them were members of the church, and
all had been treated with uniform kindness by the missionaries. In sickness they had been attended by them,
and when in want had been fed and clothed. The missionary houses were to them like taverns, where they
came and went as they wished, and were never turned
away empty. Hence, they and their families, in total
ignorance of what was going on, went about their usual
avocations in perfect security. On Sunday, when the
massacre had commenced, they had religious services as
usual, and it being the regular communion Sabbath, the
Lord's supper was administered to the Indians who composed the church.  Though the missionaries knew nothimg of what was on foot, they noticed that the Indians
acted strangely. Their usual meek and quiet demeanor
was wanting, and a certain brusqueness and defiant manner was observed. Still, nothing serious was apprehend-.
ed. But after service, an old squaw strode roughly in
Mr. Riggs' house, and demanded payment for the injury
one of his hogs had done her potato patch.  When asked
what she wanted, she replied a calf. It being refused
her, she went away, muttering that she would have it
any way before long. Soon after, some Indians quietly
walked in Dr. Williamson's barn, and led out two of his
horses; and when the Dr. called after them, they only
laughed and galloped off.  Two others, following their
example, were about to take away those that remained,
when he stepped up to them and demanded what they
meant by treating him in this manner, asking if he had
not always been kind to them, giving them clothes when
they needed them, and feeding them whenever they came
731, 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
to him hungry.  They said yes, and that they did not
wish to harm him, but the horses would soon be taken,
and they might as well have them as any body else. All
this looked very strange; still the missionaries thought
it was only a passing mnood of some discontented individ uals, and retired to rest with a feeling of entire security.
The next morning, while the flames were wrapping the
dwellings of the Lower Agency, and the inhabitants were
falling or flying before the yelling, infuriated savages, the
various members of their families went about their ordinary avocations. Some went into the hay-field, some into
the woods hunting, others fishing, and some of the ladies
went out to sketch. In the mean time, those who remained at home, began to feel the greatest alarm.  Some
friendly Indians had told them of fearful rumors of the
rising of the Indians down the river, and that the work
of destruction had already commenced.  The farmer
Indians, instead of being at work, gathered in groups
around the missionary house, and talked over tile flying
reports that kept reaching them.   When  the family
assembled again that evening, the news of the day was
eagerly discussed, and they were forced to admit that imminent danger threatened them. None felt like retiring,
and the next tidings from below were anxiously waited
for. Some of the Indians watched with them, declaring,
come what would, they would stand by them to the last.
Of these, however, Chaska, Paul, Ma-za-ku-ta-ma-ni and
Enos, alone remained faithful. Towards morning, a messenger arrived, announcing that the massacre had actually commenced, and that the tide of destruction was
rapidly sweeping towards them.  The greatest alarm now
prevailed, and some proposed immediate flight to the fort.
Others, however, thought it was a mere "scare," such as
had occurred a year before when a warehouse was broken
open by the Indians; and said it would blow over id - few
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
hours.  It did not seem possible that the Indians would
dare to come into serious collision with the whites. But
with daylight, evidences of hostile feelings multiplied;
the Indians grew bolder; some of the squaws began to
roam over the house, and seize such articles as they falncied, paying no heed to the questions asked them, what
it all meant.  At length they brought c)ut the sugar barrel, and after helping tlemselves to what they wanted,
distributed the rest to those around. Others, catching
the contagion, pulled off the feather beds and ripping
them open, scattered the feathers on the floor and ground,
and sticking their heads through the ticking, walked
away with them, laughing insolently at the wonderstricken whites.
It was now plainly time to leave, for there was no mistaking these hostile signs.  Mischief was afoot, and there
was no telling how soon the storm might burst upon
them.  A wagon of hay was standing by the barn, and
quickly unloading this, they got in, and guided by Chaska,
were driven to a ford of the river but little known. Dr.
Williamson, however, with his wife and sister, determined
to stay behind a little longer. In the mean time, M1r.
Riggs had also taken the alarm, and with his party had
crossed the river, and lay concealed in a thicket ab6ut a
mile distant.  The Indians had discovered their flight,
and taken their wagon away from them, compelling them
to travel on foot.  These, after much search were discovered, and the two parties joining, commenced their sad
march over the prairie. The nearest place which could
afford them protection, was Fort Ridgely, and thither
they directed their steps. But fearful of meeting warlike
Indians on the main route, they turned off, and wandered
hither and thither, keeping only the main direction.
Dr. Williamson, with his wife and sister, soon became
convinced that it would be certain death to remain longer,
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733 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
and taking an ox-cart, followed after. Two friendly
Indians, Lorenzo and Chaska, accompanied them, driving
the team, and telling all whom they met, and who inquired
what was in the cart, that they were carrying away their
own goods. On one occasion a war party met them, and
being suspicious that they had something besides goods
under the buffalo robe with which they had covered the
three fugitives, advanced as if to lift it, when Lorenzo
stepped in between, and bringing his gun to his side,
declared that he would shoot the first man that touched
the covering. The Indians, not liking an encounter with
him, left, and soon after struck the trail of the first party.
Supposing that all had fled together, they exclaimed,
"Ah! the tracks of Dr. Williamson and Mr. Riggs! they
can't be far off; we will catch and kill them." Wheel
ing, they dashed off on the open trail, and it seemed for
a moment that the fate of these missionaries was sealed.
But just then a heavy thunder storm broke along the
river; and the rain came down in torrents, completely
washing out all traces of their march. Thinking that
better plunder was behind, which could be secured with
less trouble than to follow the blind trail of the poor missionaries, the Indians turned back towards the Big Woods.
Coming upon a farm-house in which were two men, they
entered it and killed one and sent a bullet through the
thigh of the other. The wounded man immediately made
for the window, but as he was in the act of jumping out,
they stabbed him in the back with a butcher knife. He,
however, succeeded in reaching the ground, and made
off with the energy of despair. The Indians chased him
till exhausted with the loss of blood, he fell. Supposing
he was dead, they turned back for the plunder. The
wounded man, finding himself no longer pursued, got up
and limping forward, succeeded in reaching the party
which the Indians had left pursuing but a little while
734 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
before. Hils wounds were at once bound up, and hlie was
laid in the wagon and covered with a shawl. All that
night, a cold, drizzling rain soaked the suffering women
and children, yet they did not permit a complaint to
escape them. The next day they resumed their desolate
journey, and when night again came on, the only provisions they had left, was a small piece of raw pork. Again
the pitiless rain came down, and these women and clfildren, who all their lives had been accustomed to the
comforts of civilization, lay the whole night on the wet,
dark prairie, watching for the day, which they still dreaded
to see. The next morning they started off, and seeing a
thicket in the distance, made towards it through the wet
and mud, in the hopes that they could there find some
sticks with which to cook a breakfast, for they were now
entirely out of provisions, except they killed one of the
cattle they took the precaution to bring with them. But
they soon discovered that several marshy creeks lay
between them aid it, over one of which they had to
draw the wagon and cart by hand, after making a sort of
bridge by bending down the reeds and grass. There
were only six men in the whole party of forty, and they
had to carry over the women and children as they
best could. But alas, as they approached the thicket,
they found that a marsh three miles wide lay between
them and it. The prospect of a breakfast looked dim
enough, but some of the women joined the men, and
passing for the whole three. miles over the springy, and
at times almost floating sod, brought back on their
shoulders, sufficient wood to build a fire. They then
killed a calf, and roasting some of the meat, assuaged
the pangs of hunger. It was three o'clock in the' afternoon, however, before this hard-earned breakfast was
ready to be eaten.
The next day, Friday, about noon, they reached a spot
735 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
known as Birch Cooley, about twenty miles from Fort
Ridgely.  Here, Dr. Williamson, with his wife and sister,
in the ox-cart, overtook them. Here, too, they came on
the track of the destroyer. Beside the fence near them,
lay a mother and three children, dead, their bodies gashed
and mutilated by the tomahawk. A little further on,
stood a solitary house in which a sick woman lay when
the tidings came  that the Indians were approaching.
Unable to leave her bed, her two sons took up the straw
mattress on which she lay, and putting it into a wagon,
drove off as fast as they could, but all too slowly for
their pursuers.  The shouts and yells of the Indians were
borne to the ears of those two sons and though escape
was hopeless, they refused to leave their sick mother.
The Indians dashing up, murdered them both, and then
pulling the mattress on to the ground, piled some brush
around it, and setting it on fire, burned the poor woman
alive.*
Never were a people so suddenly awakened from a
dream of security, and plunged into such hopeless terror,
as the inhabitants along the Minnesota, and throughout
the adjoining country, during the three or four days after
the massacre at the Lower A,genlcy. Down towards New
Ulmn, a large village of 1,500 inhabitants, situated only
about thirty miles above St. Peters, and towards Fort
Ridgely, the Indians streamed in crowds. When the
news reached St. Peters, the alarm bells were rung, and
the people assembled in the most intense excitement to
consult on what course to pursue.
In the mean time, Little Crow, the next morning after
the destruction of the Lower Agency, assembled three
hundred warriors in the neighborhood of Fort Ridgely,
preparatory to an attack upon it. Hiad he advanced at
* One of the party has given a full account of this perilous journey in
Harper's Magazine of June, 1863.
I
736   
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
once, it must have fallen, for it had a garrison of only
thirty men, and was totally unprepared for a sudden
assault. Bult that night, Galbraith, with a company of
men from St. Peter's, and Lieut. Shehan, with a squad
who had been turned back on their way to Fort Ripley,
succeeded in getting into the fort, thus giving it a suffi cient force to offer a stout resistance.
About one hundred warriors only stayed with Little
Crow, near the fort, while the others roamed over the
country, plundering and slaying. About four hundred
gathered around New Ulm, and began to burn the build ings in the suburbs, and sent their shots into the streets
of the place, killing several of the citizens. The utmost
consternation prevailed, for the place was full of women
and children, nearly five hundred fugitives having arrived
from the surrounding country. The utter want of organization and proper leadership, showed, that at the first
bold dash, that crowded population would be at the
mercy of the savages. The sun was stooping to the
western horizon, and when darkness should envelope the
town, its terrible doom would be sealed. But at this
critical moment, a Mr. Boardman from St. Peters, broke
on a wild gallop into the place with fifteen mounted men.
Moving instantly outside of the mere apology for a barricade which the terrified inhabitants had thrown up, they
boldly attacked the Indians, and by their steady and
deliberate firing, at dark drove them back, and saved the
town. About nine o'clock, Judge Flandrean, from St.
Peter's, arrived with a hundred more men, and the people
took courage. The savages, baffled here, went to reinforce Little Crow, who now thinking himself strong
enough, boldly attacked Fort Ridgely.  The  shouting,
yelling, painted horde, swarmed like demons around it, and
would doubtless have swept over its frail defences with a
bound had it not been for two howitzers, commanded by
42
737
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TtE SIOUX MASSACRE.
Sergeant Jones. As the shells of these began to burst
among them, they grew cautious, for they had the terror
common to all savages, of the big guns. But from behind
bushes and trees, and log-houses in the vicinity, they kept
up a perfect hail-storm of bullets, at those working the
guns, which steadily thinned the garrison. At length,
heaven seemed to interfere in their behalf, for a heavy
August thunder-storm arose, and broke with terrible fury
over the fort. The successive peals crashed louder than
the cannon, while the rain came down in a perfect deluge.
The savages, alarmed for their ammunition, wrapped their
blankets around their guns, and uttering yells of rage,
scampered off for the shelter of the woods. This was the
same storm that saved Mr. Riggs and Dr. Williamson.
This respite gave the garrison time to get the women and
children more thoroughly protected, and to throw up
stronger barricades.  The next day, Little Crow renewed
the attack, but with diminished numbers, as many had
gone away on the pleasanter and safer business of plundering and massacring helpless women and children, and
ravishing such as suited their lusts. They scattered up
and down the Minnesota for a hundred miles, committing
every act of fiendish atrocity which their diabolical
niatures were capable of conceiving. The family at Red
Wood, hearing that the Indians were coming that way,
fled in two wagons, taking different directions. The
Indians, meeting one party, killed them all, and leaving
them dead in the road, drove back to the house. Finding it deserted, they applied the torch to it, and started
off after the party in the other wagon, which consisted
of three girls and a hired man.  Overtaking them, they
butchered the man and one of the girls, and struck m
knife into the breast of another. They then drew lots
how many should have each of the girls. The wounded
one died from the alternate abuse of sixteen. Seven little
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.                739
children, huddled together in one bed, were all ruthlessly
murdered.   Not content with killing, they horribly mu tilated the bodies.  They cut off one farmer's head after
they had killed him, and laid it onl a table, and bracing
open the mouth, filled it with milk. They shut up
another dead body with a hlog, which devoured all but
the bones.
On Thursday night, after the second attack on Fort
Ridgely, Crow returned to the Agency, where he found
arrived a large body of Indiails from up the river, who
had answered his summonils. Strengthened with these,
four hundred and fifty in all, he set out next morning to
renew his attack on the fort. But this time the garrison 
was prepared for them.  The savages commenced the 
attack with great fury, and kept to their work with unflinching tenacity.  Half the resolution two days before 
would have captured it.  They fired all the buildings
around it, shot fire-arrows on to the roofs of the buildings
within, climbed up the walls, poured in their destructive
volleys wherever a head appeared, but all in vain. But
since Monday the garrison had had no communication
with the outside world.  They were getting worn out,
and it began to be a serious question how long they could
stand this siege.
The utmost anxiety was felt all over the country for
their safety, and every day the people of the state expected
to hear of its overthrow, and the massacre of all within.
But discouraged by the failure of his prolonged and desperate attack on Friday, in which hle had lost many war,
riors, and narrowly escaped death himself, Crow drew off
his bands towards New Ulm, thinking it would be an
easier prize.  Since the arrival of Flandrean, the Indians
had left this place unmolested.
This sudden abandonment of Fort Ridgely, was most
providential for Rev. Mr. Riggs and Dr. Williamson, and
I 
740              THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
their party of forty from above the Yellow Medicine.
Pushing out from Biich Cooley, they had on Friday night
arrived near the fort, wholly unconscious of the siege,
and rejoicing that their dangers and toils were almost
over. Just after dark, they saw a rocket go up from the
fort, and ignorant that it was a signal of distress to any
force that might be approaching, they rejoiced ill the fond
belief that it was to light them in.  One of the party crept
on his hands and knees, through the line of fire, into the
fort.  The commander of the garrison, surprised to see
him, told him to hurry back, and tell the rest not to
attempt to enter the fort, for it would be certain death.
Their hearts sunk in despair at the message, and rather
than turn away to the open prairie again, filled with Ill dians, they at first resolved to make the attempt to get in.
But at last they gave it up, and moved sadly off into the
night, feeling that a horrible death menaced them at
every step. Behind them the sky was red with the burin ing buildings around the fort, and they pushed onl into
the gloom, not knowing what was before them. Reach ing a creek, a prolonged scream ill the bushes, sent the
blood curdling back to every heart.  However, there was
no other course left them but to keep moving forward,
for worse evils were behind them. Crossing the creek,
they went on a little way,when the exhausted teams gave
out entirely.  Their journey had come to an end for the
present, and placing a guard they sank down in the wet
grass and slept.  At daybreak they started on, and though
the appearance of two Indians, who narrowly watched
them, showed that they had been discovered, the sudden
departure of the main body for New Ulm, prevented pur  suit.  The vast booty at that place was a more tempting
prize than the little they carried.
Early that morning the people of New Ulm saw huge
I columns of smoke ascending along the banks of the river. 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
One after another they shot up into the air, each one
nearer the town than. the other, showing that the Indians
were approaching, burning the farm-houses and barns as
they came on.  Judge Flandrean, thinking he could fight
them to more advantage on the open prairie, led his two
hundred and fifty menl out and awaited the attack. About
ten o'clock, the savages, several hundred strong, appeared
in view, moving slowly over the plain, and well packed
together. When they came within a mile, they began to
spread out swiftly, and increasing their speed as they
advanced, at length gave a wild yell, and came down like
a whirlwind. The assault, so sudden and bold, and accompanied with such unearthly yells, unnerved the raw
volunteers at first, and they fell rapidly back beyond the
outer houses of the town. Thley, however, soon rallied,
but they had given a great advantage to the Indians, in
leaving behind, the houses as a cover to their approach.
It now became a regular Indian fight, and those western
men having got their mettle fairly roused, effectually
resisted every attempt of the savages to get into the town.
The battle raged for several hours, without any decisive
result, when the Indians made a desperate charge.  The
whites received them with a cheer, and charging in turn,
drove them hglter skelter to cover. The fighting, hlowever, was kept up till dark, when the savages withdrew.
The next morning they renewed the attack, but not with
the same determination as before, and at noon abandoned
it altogether.
While these struggles with large bodies of the enemy
were going on, detached parties and single Indians were
roaming through the settlements, murdering men, women
and children, and committing atrocities of the most diabolical kind. Pregnant women were violated again and
again, and even little girls abused till they lay lifeless on
the earth. One young woman was ravished by sixteen
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
in succession, who then sharpened a stake and drove it into
her body, leaving her to die in the most horrible agony.
Multitudes were taken prisoners and hurried away into
captivity.
Though New Ulm at present was saved, the people did
not know how soon the Indians might return, and being
nearly out of ammunition, and the dead carcases around,
under the hot August sun, filling the air with disease, it
was thought best to abandon the place; and the two thousand inhabitants left in a body, and with a train of a
hundred and fifteen wagons, safely reached Mankato.
CHAPTER III.
COL. SIBLEY MARCHES TO THE RELIEF OF FORT RIDGELY AND
NEW ULM. - FIGHT AT BIRCH COOLEY. - CROW ASKS FOR
PEACE. - DEACON PAUL PLEADS WITH  HIS TRIBE. - COL.
SIBLEY ADVANCES TO THE YELLOW MEDICINES.- DEFEATS
THE INDIANS. -PRISONERS RESCUED. - CAMP  RELEASE. -
GUILTY INDIANS. - MARVELOUS ESCAPES. - WOMEN OF NEW
ULM  ATTACK THE PRISONERS. -THEIR EXAMINATION. -
THIRTY-EIGHT TRIED AND EXECUTED. -THEIR BEHAVIOUR
MOUNTING THE SCAFFOLD.               6
IN the mean time Governor Ramsay had been rousing
the state to arms.  Luckily, several regiments of volunteers were in the state, nearly ready to depart for the
war, so that in a few days 1,400 men had assembled at St.
Peters.  Col. Sibley was put at the head of these, and
marched at once to the relief of New Ulm and Fort
Ridgely. The former, we have seen, was evacuated
before he reached it.  Moving without opposition over
the silent, desolated country, he reached the fort on the
28th of the month, much to the ioy of the garrison.
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742 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
Scattered over the prairie around, lay a vast number of
black and decaying corpses, on which hogs and prairie
foxes were rioting, and to bury these, and also to ascertain in what direction the Indians had gone, Col. Sibley
sent out a detacl-hment composed of a company of infantry
and cavalry, commanded by Major Brown. This was the
last day of August, Sunday.  That day and the inext they
buried over two hundred bodies, and encamped at night
at Birch Cooley, a place admirably adapted for a surprise.
But water being convenient there, and not anticipating
an attack, the command pitched their tents without fear.
But Little Crow, who had moved with the Indian families
up the river to the Yellow Medicine Agency, for greater
safety, had been informed by his scouts that New Ulm
was abandoned. A war party was immediately organized,
with a long train of wagons, to go and secure the plunder.
On their way down, the scouts discovered this detachment
on the march. Watching its progress, to ascertain its
destination, they saw with unbounded delight, it quietly
camp at Birch Cooley. The unsuspecting whites coralled
their horses, lit their camp fires, and lay down to rest.
Just as the morning began to dawn, as the officer with
the new relief was going the rounds, one of the sentinels
saw, in the dim uncertain light, the tall grass waving in
irregular lines up the ravine. He called the officer back
to notice it. Just as he did so, an unearthly yell suddenly arose on every side, and the next moment a tempest of musket balls swept the encampment. Almost the
entire guard fell at the first fire, and nearly a hundred
horses dropped in their tracks. Had the Indians then
charged, none would have been left to tell the tale of
blood, for the whole camp was thrown into sudden confusion. But fortunately, they held back, and the men
rallying, crawled forward, and sheltering themselves as
best they could, behind the living and dead horses and
743
0 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
wagons, poured in a destructive fire. They lay two
together, and while one was firing, the other, with the
point of his bayonet, dug a hole in fthe earth, ladling out
the soil with his tin cup.  Thus fighting and digging, they
at last got well covered, and made their shots tell onl the
savages. They lay and fought inll this way all day, but
with their numbers steadily diminishing. That morning
in the camp of Sibley, near the fort, ithe firing, though
some twenty miles distant, was distinctly heard.  Know ing at once that the detachment had been attacked, Sibley
immediately despatched a hundred and sixty mien, with a
six pound howitzer, to its relief.  Sweeping rapidly over
the prairies, they in the afternoon approached the scene
of conflict.  The Indians, hearing through scouts of their
approach, left a few men at Birch Cooley, and hastened
forward to attack them, before they could form a junction
with their comrades.  Colonel M. Phlaill, in command,
saw with great uneasiness, apparently more than a thllousand Indians swarming down on his little band.  Hle immediately opened on them with his howitzer, which kept
them at bay, and despatched a courier to Sibley for help.
But this commander was already on the march.  As the
heavy boom of the cannon came rolling over the prairie,
he ordered the tents to be struck and carried into the
fort, and just at sunset put his whole force in motion.
That night, at midnight, they came up to AI. Phaill, and
in the morning the whole moved forward.  The Indians,
ignorant of the arrival of the main army, came forth to
meet them, when to their amazement they saw in the early
sunlight, long lines of dazzling steel, moving over the
prairie.  "Oh! oh!" they cried, "there are five miles of
white men coming,'.' and kept prudently out of range of
our guns.  Shaking their blankets and brandishing their
guns, they scurried hither and thither, with loud warwhoops. The motley throng presented a picturesque
744 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
appearance on the open prairie, in the early sunlight.
Advancing in line of battle, firing as they went, the troops
moved forward, and at last came in sight of the beleaguered
camp, though not a living soul could be seen.  Silent
tents and slaughtered horses were all that was visible.
As they came near, the survivors arose from their hiding
places, and gazing a moment at the proud array, sent up a
wild shout of delight, and leaped into the air. Exhausted,
without water, and rapidly diminishing, a few more hours
of delay would have left them at the mercy of the savages.
Thirteen lay dead amid the tents, and sixty more were
wounded. The former were buried on the spot, and the
wounded placed on a bedding of grass pulled from the
prairie, and carried to Fort Ridgely. Little Crow was
not with this party, though he started with them.  With
a smaller banid, hle went to Acton, where he had a fight
with another party of whites. When he returned to
Yellow Medicine,. and learned what a large force was
assembled against him at the fort, he and his warriors
became alarmed, and a meeting of the Soldier's Lodge
was called. At this it was determined to enter into
negotiations for peace, and so on Sunday, two half-breeds
with a flag of truce, rode into camp in a buggy drawn by
a mule they had stolen from that very spot a few days
before. They bore a letter from Little Crow, asking for
peace. This chief, though a great liar, was not naturally
cruel, and had opposed from the outset the murder of
peaceable settlers, and women and children. The traders
he killed ruthlessly, as his worst foes. Besides, there was
no real harmony between the upper and lower Indians,
and had not been for a long time. This breach had been
widened by the unwillingness of the latter to make an
equal distribution of the plunder taken the first day at
the Lower Agency.  Chief among the disaffected, though
not for this reason, was Paul, a civilized Indian, and head
745 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
deacon of M3r. Riggs' church, a brave and eloquent man.
From the first, he had told the Indians that they were
rushing on destruction, for the result of their action
would be the extinction of the tribe. He and his friends
were strenuous for peace.
Little Crow, in his letter,.stated that they had been
fighting because they could not get their rights, but
were now willing to enter into negotiations for peace.
But Sibley replied that he would listen to no terms until
the prisoners were restored. But Crow saw, if this were
done, he would lose the last hold on the whites. Still,
the upper Indians advised it should be done. Council
after council was held, in which the debates grew stormy,
and for a while the two parties threatened to come in
collision. Some, even advised to kill Paul, the boldest
advocate of the measure, but he openly defied them, saying that if they killed him they would have to kill three
hundred more Indians at his back.
Nothing came of the negotiations, and the Indians
remained at the Yellow Medicine, and Sibley at Fort
Ridgely making preparations to move against them.
Mlore than a fortnight was consumed in getting ready,
which occasioned great impatience and loud complaints
throughout the country. Hle, however, was determined
not to move till he was sure of success. In the mean
time several letters were clandestinely received from the
friendly Indians, promising their friendship, and quite a
number of prisoners, through their agency, succeeded in
escaping.
At length, on the 18th of September, Sibley took up
his line of march, and sweeping over the once fair, but
now blackened and desolate country, arrived in four days
within sight of the ruined and charred building of the
Yellow Medicine Agency.  The Indians had destroyed
the bridges along the road, but these were easily rebuilt,
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THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
with the exception of an important one near the Yellow
Medicine Ravine. When the pioneers advanced to reconstruct this, the Indians fired upon them. A fight ensued
in regular Indian fashion, which lasted for some time, but
was finally ended by a gallant charge of Lieut.-Colonel
Marshall, at the head of the seventh regiment, who drove
them like sheep before him. Had Sibley been furnished,
as hlie ought to have been, with a large body of cavalry,
he would have finished the war with a blow. As it was,
this victory broke the spirit of the tribe. Little Crow,
with two hundred men, fled into Dakotah territory and
scattered. The remainder, with the Mission Indians,
retained the captives, and immediately sent a flag of truce
to Col. Sibley, requesting him to come and take them
before Little Crow could attack them and carry off or kill
the prisoners. The army at once took up its line of
march, and the next day about noon, came in sight of the
Indian camp, composed of about a hundred wigwams.
An Indian on a pony, and carrying a bed-sheet tied on a
pole as a flag of truce, approached, while a white cloth
floated from the top of almost every hut. The column,
marching slowly around them, encamped near the river.
The painted warriors, fresh from their carnival of blood,
at once came forward, smiling and offering to shake hands
with every one, and expressing the most profound gratification at seeing their dear friends, the whites, once more.
A demand was instantly made for the captives, when over
two hundred sad, wan looking beings, some of the women
and children half naked, were led out. Tears railled down
their faces as with clasped hands they raised their eyes to
their deliverers. The soldiers were jubilant, and unbounded joy reigned throughout the camp. Other captives, day
after day, were brought in, and the tales they told of hope
deferred, suffering and abuse, were heart-rending. Death
had incessantly stared them in the face, and often a fate
I
747 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
worse than death was offered them. Some had been
treated kindly, and among them was the wife of Mr.
Huggins, the missionary at Lac qui Parle. Wholly un conscious of danger, she was sitting in her house, surrounded with all the comforts of civilized life, when three
Indians, each carrying a gun, entered. They sat down,
and appeared to be much interested in watching the
operations of a sewing machine, which a young lady was
working.  Soon after, Mr. Huggins came to the door
from the field, where he had been at work. The Indians
immediately went out, and the next moment Mrs.  luggins heard the report of two guns.  She had barely time
to look up,when the Indians rushed in, exclaiming, "Go
out; go out; yout shall live; but go out; take nothing
with you." She hastened out, and there lay her husband, a corpse on the ground. Providentially she fell
into the hands of Walking Spirit, an old chief, and friend
of her husband, in whose house she remained, treated
with constant kindness by himself and family, until her
release. Some of the escapes were most marvelous, and
could not be credited were they not substantiated by the
most unimpeachable testimony. Among thlese,nonle were
more remarkable than that of a boy named Burtoni Eastlick, only ten years of age. Left alone with a little
brother, only five years old, he started for Fort Ridgely,
eighty miles. iHe did not know the way thither; he only
knew it was somewhere down the river, and he set out to
reach it. The spectacle of those two mere infants, on that
far desolate prairie, linked hand in hand, and turning
their little faces southward for protection, might well
move the pity of the great Father of us all. With a cunling beyond his years, the eldest took every precaution
not to be seen by the Indians. When his little brother
became foot-sore and weary, he would take him in his
arms and carry him till he himself was tired out, and then
.I
748
4 
THE SIOUX MASSACRE.
they would rest together. Living oh berries and such
fruit as they could find, they traveled during the day,
and when night came, would lie down in each other's
arms, under the open sky. Thus the brave little fellow
kept on, and encouraging his infant brother with all
kinds of promises, actually made the eighty miles in
safety, and reached the fort to tell lis marvellous story.
If all the incidents of this wonderful journey-the shifts
resorted to, and the innocent prattle by the way could be
known and related in all their touching details, it would
equal the strangest creations of fiction.
In another case a woman succeeded in getting out of
her house with her three children, undiscovered by the
Indians.  The youngest was an infant, and carrying this
in her arms, with two little girls hanging on to her dress,
she plunged into a thicket; she got off, and struck out
into the prairie, not knowing whither she went.  All day
this sad group traveled on, uncertain whether each step
was taking them nearer to, or farther from, safety. When
night came, the trembling mother laid down under a bush,
and pulling some grass and leaves for the two little girls,
committed herself to Him who hears the young ravens
when they cry. With the morning, she resumed her disconsolate journey, oppressed with the fear that she might
be going farther and farther from home.  Wild plums
and berries kept them -from starvation, and thus they
traveled day after day, directing their steps at random,
and looking in vain for some familiar object, or sign of
human habitation. Between the miserable food she was
compelled to eat, and her fatigue, she could not furnish
her babe nourishment, and it gradually sickened and
died. The anguish of her heart as she bore the little
sufferer in her arms, and her utter desolation as she laid
it at last dead on the prairie, can never be told. Gathering some leaves and grass, she covered it carefully from
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sight, and placing some sticks across the heap so that the
wind should not uncover its delicate form, she left it with
its God, and with the remaining two, hurried away. She
wandered thus, lost on the p rairie, till the summer verdure was gone, and the frosts of autumn robbed her of the
berries and plums, and she had to dig roots to keep herself and little girl% alive. For seven weeks she roamed
about in this way, hoping each day would bring her on
the track of some white man, before she was discovered
and saved. In many cases, the women lost their reason,
and wandered around, unfettered lunatics, in the thickets,
until by accident they were found. Others still, strolled
into the hands of the Indians, and were murdered or subjected to a still more cruel doom. Many a heart-rending
tale will never be told, for the tongue that could have
related it is still in death.
Col. Sibley named his camp "Camp Release," and as
soon as the captives had been cared for, he built in it a
huge log-pen for a jail.  When it was finished, a force
uaider Col. Crooks was dispatched by night, which quietly
surrounded the Indian camp, and took all the men prisoners, except those known to be true friends, and locked
them up, and the next day secured them with fetters.
The camp itself, now consisting mostly of women and
children, was removed to the Lower Agency, and finally
to Fort Snelling.  In the mean timne, Lieutenlant-Colonel
Marshall, with two hundred men, was sent on an expedition into the Dakotah territory. As he was advancing
in the direction of James river, he heard that a part of
Little Crow's band was encamped at Wild Goose Nest
Lake. Approaching them stealthily by night, he succeeded in capturing the whole. On his return, it being
now late in the season, it was determined to return; so
October 23d, tihe camp was broken up, and with four
hundred prisoners, loaded twelve or fifteen together, in
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each wagon, the column took up its line of march southward, towards Mankato.  As it passed through New Ulm,
oni Sabbath morning, the inhabitants, most of whom had
returned, sallied forth with pitchforks, hoes, rakes, knives,
guns, and brickbats, in fact with every missile they could
lay their hands on, and fell with fierce imprecations on
the wagons containing the prisoners, determined to save
the government the trouble of hanging them. Even the
women, with their aprons full of stones, danced in a perfect frenzy round the wagons, clamorous for a chance at
the "red devils," as they called them. One woman actually pounded an Indian brave on his head till he fell out
of the wagon. The mob, however, was soon dispersed,
and the column moved on and encamped about two miles
from Manlkato, at Camp Lincoln. Ini the mean time a
military commission had set at the Lower Agency, to try
the prisoners. The scene at the trial and execution was
a strange mixture of the revolting, the sad and the ludicrous. The childish subterfuges and falsehoods of some
of these braves, whose sagacity in the field was a match
for the white man, were laughable, while the brutish indifference and stolid depravity of others were painful to
witness.  The trial was hurried through, and three hundred and three were condemned to be hung, and eighteen
to be imprisoned for life.  The proceedings were sent to
Washington for ratification.   A  rumor spreading that
mercy was to be shown tothecriminals,it aroused the deepest feelings in the west, and threats were even uttered to
take them out of the hands of the authorities, and give
them over to popular vengeance. A mob did attack the
jail, but was dispersed by the decision of Col. Miller, then
in command of the camp at that place. Mr. Riggs visited
the prisoners constantly, and every kindness was shown
them. A very few, however, seemed to be moved by it,
receiving their fate with the accustomed indifference of
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the Indian. Some complained that they had been deceived by the promise of mercy if they surrendered themselves, and laid the blame of the whole difficulty on the
whites, who by their injustice had forced them to seek
redress by violence.
After several weeks delay the decision was received
from Washilngton, ordering that only thirty-eight of the
whole number should be executed.  The 26thl day of February was fixed for the execution. These were immediately separated from the rest, and their fate announced
to them.  Thley received itwith total indifference-smoking
all the time, some even relighting their pipes, while the
sentence was being read.
The morning they were to be led out, they put on extra
paint to decorate themselves for the occasion, and then
commenced their death song.  The melancholy chant,
now sinking inlto a low wail, and again rising to a shlrill,
exultant cry, rang with strange power through their rude
prison. At ten o'clock they were brought forth, and
marched in procession to the scaffold. They showed no
signs of fear; on the contrary, they "went eagerly and
cheerfully, eveni crowding anild jostling eachl other, to be
ahead, just like a lot of hungry boarders rushing to dinner in a hotel." As they began to ascend the scaffold,
they again raised their weird death song, and when they
reached the top, broke out into unearthly shouts. A vast
crowd had assembled, but all angry feelings were laid to
rest by the painful spectacle, and a death-like silence
reigned throughout.  When all was ready, three slow,
measured beats of the drum broke the stillness, and with
a single blow, the rope was cut, and the whole were
launched into eternity together.
The execution of this small number, seemed wholly
inadequate to satisfy the demands of justice, for six hktndred and fortyfour whites had been massacred in cold
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blood, and ninety-three soldiers had fallen in the efforts
to repel the outbreak. Perhaps the government thought
this inequality in the number of sufferers, fairly represented the amount of actual guilt onl both sides. To say
that massacres must be avenged, in order to justify our
slaughter of Indians, is a logic that will not stand before
the great tribunal of heaven. The amount of injustice
and wroilg-doing that provoked the savage to the only
means of redress left open to him, will be reviewed in the
final adjustment there. This is but the beginning of
troubles, if the nation persists in the policy it has pursued
for the last thirty years.  The Chippeways are nearly
three times as strong as the Sioux, numbering some
four thousand warriors in the United States, and about
as many more in Canada, and they have been more than
once on the point of an outbreak, growing out of the action at Washington. It becomes the people to inquire
why it is that we are scarcely ever without an Indian war
on our borders, while Canada has never been cursed with
one. This single fact shows that there is a radical wrong
in our system.
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CHAPTER IV.
BISHOP WHIPPLE ON THE OUTBREAK AND THE NATION'S DUTY
TO THE RED MEN. -FRESH MAN(EUVERS IN THE SPRING.  DEATH OF LITTLE CROW.- SIBLEY'S EXPEDITION INTO DA  COTAH. - DEFEAT OF THE INDIANS AT BIG MOUND. -CAY  ALRY CHARGE AVERTED BY A STROKE OF LIGHTNING.  FIGHT AT BUFFALO LAKE. -THE ARMY REACHES THE MIS  SOURI. - ESCAPE OF THE INDIANS. - RETURN OF THE EXPE  DITION. - FINAL RESULTS.
BISHOP WHIPPLE, of Minnesota, who foretold this very
outbreak, and who obtained the names of all the bishops
in the Northern States to a petition to the government to
have justice done to the red man, has issued a noble a)peal in their behalf, in which he tells some humiliating
truths. In speaking of this massacre, he says, " The nation has heard of the most fearful Indian massacre in
history; but those who live remote from the border can
have no idea of the awful horrors which have accompanied
the desolation of two hundred miles of the fairest country on the earth. Many of these victims of savage ferocity were my friends. They had mingled their voices
with mine in prayer; they had given me such hospitality
as can only be found in the log cabin of the frontier. It
fills my heart with grief, and blinds my eyes with tears,
whenever I think of their nameless graves." * * *
And yet he adds, "There is not a man in America who
ever gave an hlour's calm reflection to this subject, who
does not know that our Indian system is anl organized
system of robbery, and has been for years a disgrace to
the nation. * * * It was under this Indian system
that the fierce, warlike Sioux were fitted and trained to
be actors in this bloody drama, and the same causes are
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to-day slowly but surely preparing the way for a Chippeway war. * * * The people here on the borders, and
the rulers at Washington know how that faith has been
broken. The constant irritation of such a system would
in time have secured an Indian massacre. It was hastened by the sale of nearly 800,000 acres of land, for
which they never received one farthing, for it was all
absorbed in claims. Then came the story (and it was
true,) that half their annuity money had also been taken
for claims. They waited two months, mad, exasperated,
hungry-the agent utterly powerless to undo the wrong
committed at Washington-and they resolved on savage
vengeance. For every dollar of which they have been
defrauded, we shall pay ten dollars in the cost of this
war. It has been so for fifty years; it will be so again.
God's retributive justice always has compelled a people
to reap exactly what they have permitted to be sown.
* * * Deeply as our people feel on the question of
slavery, they may here see, on the border, a system which
in curses to body and soul, in the loss of manhood, home
and heaven, has worked out a degradation to red men
which slavery has never done for the African race."
But though the massacre had ended with the flight of
Little Crow, not so the war.  This chieftain made his
way to near Devil Lake, in the Dakotah territory, some
five hundred miles north-west of St. Paul. Here, too,
collected the fugitives who had fled from the avenging
whites, numbering in all over four thousand. He spent 
the winter in trying to induce the neighboring tribes to
join him, so that in the spring he could take the field
again against the whites. He also sent to the British
forts for ammunition, but they refused to listen to his
solicitations.
General Pope, after his defeat in front of Washingtoll,
had been assigned to the North-Western Department, and
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spent the winter in organizing a large force to penetrate
into the Indian territory, and make an utter end of the
hostile tribes.  But before it was ready to march, the
Indians were again on the war path, and small bands
hovered along the frontier of Minnesota, killing every
unarmed emigrant or settler they could come across.
Knowing they could not keep the open field, they avoided
assembling in force. Small squads, by the secresy and
rapidity of their movements, were able to elude the
armed bodies of whites, that now lined the border. They
thus succeeded, during the spring, in murdering some
thirty whites, though not always with impunity.  With
all his cunning the Indian could not always escape the
keen eye of the western man, and here and there a painted
corpse became the prey of the prairie fox. The worst
massacre during this spring, was that of the family of
Mr. Dustin, consisting of the father and mother, two
children, and their grandmother. They were traveling
in a common lumber box wagon, when they were suddenly
attacked, and all killed, or left for dead, with the exception of one child, who hid under the seat. They were
not discovered for two days, and when found, the headless trunk of Mr. Dustin was sitting braced up in the
front part of the wagon, an arrow sticking in it, and a
great gaping wound, made by a tomahawk, in his heart.
The grandmother hung head downwards over the side of
the wagon, her long hair clotted with blood, streaming
to the ground. The mother and remaining child lay in
the wagon, still breathing, but unable to move.
But in the fore part of July, Little Crow himself was
killed, without the least suspicion at the time, that it was
he.  Mr. Lampson and his son were passing along the
road, about six miles from HIutchinson, when they saw
two Indians picking berries in a little opening in the
woods, on the prairie. Fortunately, the Indians did not
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ful dash. Thus several hours passed away, when a large
body on ponies, suddenly appeared on the north side of
the camp, and came down like the wind. But their
movement being observed by two companies of cavalry,
they sprang forward to the sound of the bugle, and came
down on a tearing gallop. The Indians did not wait for
the shock, but wheeling their ponies, made off at the top
of their speed, but not fast enough to escape the revolver
and carbine, which rolled several of them over on the
prairie.
The next day the march was resumed, the trail being
plainly marked by the skins and other articles, that cumbering their flight had been thrown away.  The following
morning, as they were winding around a small lake, they
suddenly came upon two thousand warriors, who were
moving rapidly back, as if to get in their rear. The artillery was hurried forward and opened on them, and the
line of battle quickly formed.  The Indians had evidently
intended a surprise, but finding the troops prepared to
receive them, began to hesitate. Then seeing the column
resume its forward march, pressing in the direction of
their camp, they wheeled and passed out of sight. This
day, a boy and an old squaw were taken captive, the only
prisoners that were spared. The remembrance of the
bloody massacres were still fresh in the minds of the soldiers, and they gave no quarter. The cry for mercy was
in every instance hushed by the flashing sabre, cleaving
the suppliant to the earth. A wounded Indian, in one
instance tried to escape, by hanlging on to the tail of his
pony, but a carbine shot striking thile animal, he was overtaken by a trooper, who drew his revolver upon him.
But the piece missing fire, the savage turned and shot
himn. At the same instant, a shot from a scout pierced
the savage, and he fell in the agonies of death.  The dead
trooper's comrade coming up, dismounted and tore the
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scalp of the Indian from his head, while he was still
breathing.
After the last fight, the column kept on unmolested
until it reached, on the 24th, the banks of the Missouri
river. The Indians, during the night had got their families over, but their wagon train, composed of over a
hundred teams, was left on the bank, and fell into our
hands. The army went into camp here for two days, and
then started on its homeward march. It would take two
or three days at least to cross the river, while but fifteen
days' rations were left, and a vast prairie had to be traversed before other supplies could be reached.
Not as much had been accomplished as was anticipated,
and to the public the results seemed but a poor equivalent
for the expense of the expedition. Still, the Indian supplies for the season had been destroyed, together with
their means of transportation, and over a hundred warriors killed. Under the circumstances, it is difficult to
see how more could have been accomplished; the troops
had certainly behaved well, driving the Indians wherever
they found them, and meeting the hardships of the campaign with unflinching fortitude.  They had marched six
hundred miles from St. Paul, and all this distance had
now to be traversed again.
The power of the Sioux tribe is broken, but whether
they will be able to enlist in their favor other powerful
tribes on our frontier, will probably depend very much
on circumstances. Our Indian wars are proverbially long
ones, and unless we change our policy entirely, our
troubles from this source have only as yet begun. As
we drive them back before our advancing civilization, we
concentrate them, and at some future time, a Pontiac or
Tecumseh may band them together, and present a formidable array along our frontier, and another bloody
,iapter in our border history be opened.  That they are
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doomed to extinction is evident, but the stern retributive
justice of heaven, in the mean time, may exact its full
measure of punishment from the nation for its misuse of
power, and its cruel treatment of a barbarous, degraded
race, which providence has placed in our charge..TIhe
trust thus reposed in us must be met in a different spirit
from what it has been, or a day of reckoning will be
required. Proud of our strength, it may seem a matter
of indifference to us, whether we are just or not to the
feeble and helpless, but the Great Father of us all, measures things by a different standard than short-sighted man,
and in the end sets all things even.
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