Carroll free press. [volume] (Carrollton [Ohio]) 1834-1861, 1836-04-22
THE ABORIGlNES.

upOH tu6 SOutN6TU IIOHlIeT, duu Wnlle W6
Consider it the duty Of our government
promptly 10 oppose their aggressions, and
10 project our fellow citizens from inhu-
man butchcry, wecannol but regard those
AborigInes OF this country, SO mysterious
in their origin, so singular and unique il
their habits and mannefs, and apparently
30 doomed by the fiat of fate 10 utter ruin
we cannot we say, but regard those Abo
rigines with sentiments pity. And il is
impossible for an impartial observer to
consider what they now are, without hnd
ing extenuatIng pleas for their conduct.
They we're once, Il must he recOleeled
the sole occupants, and, fpossessiOn from
time immemorIal constitutes a valid char
ter, the only righliuI proprietOIs Of this
vast territory, extending from tho extreme
regions Of frost on the North, II Cape
Horn on the South, and from the Atlantic
70 the Pacific Ocean. Through those al.
most interminabe forest grounds they
roamed without any invader, or an intru
ding foe, TO dispute their domihions
From the centre all round TO the sea,
They we're monarchs of all they slrvey'd.
But civilization came across the big
waters aud made odgment in the will
derness in the midst of The barbarianism
Industry leveled the sturdy veterans OF
the forest, which had, ior ages untold,
stood untouched by the woodman's axe
the sunlight was let in upon the jdskiness
Of the native wild, vegetation sprung up
from she bosom of barrenness, the land
scape Appeared with il rich anu varlega-
ted carpet, ciirs, Villages and hamIels
flashed oul in the cloudless and glorious
. etfuIgpnce oS an unshadowed sky, and the
hum ol a dense and busy p 'Pulation ava
k,ned with the breezes Of the m0rnIng,
and was heard on the evening zephyr.
70 the uni1lored child of nature these
scenes were not familiar; sWch sound rung
not tremendously in his ear. Beller by
Ear did he lovct TO behold the o'ersh Adow-
Inr scenery of The woodlands, end the
bounding antelope, and 10 hear the shri4l
, lwany oi the SoW and listen to the Music
of the wlnds as they whispered through
the leaves, or thundcVed in ma )'sty along
the forest glade. TSe red men shruhk
away therefore froes the borders Of cIViA-
Halion into tho deeper and darker recess.
Ds of the wilderness. But, as they retI-
red, civilization in is onward march APP
preached aud LAID open tbeF retreats
and their hunting grounds, anu their wig
wams Que after another in rapid success
SION 10 the blaze OF day, Until they were
at length provoked to stern resistance. Il
was then that the wonted fury of their sa>
aye nature broke out "a acts OF most bru-
tal Vcngeuuce and retaliation 1t was
then that they seized the tomahawk, tht
scalping knife and hrebrand, and burs
with ihe startling war who"P upon The
population who had dsupplanted lheH', met
womea aud children were seized at the
aiPar Of their homes, and there rulhIess1y
go butchered, while their burning dwelling
as funeral pyre, lighted u? the darkness
of the night. Yet their resistance Was IL
vain,
they quall before The superior skill
and discipline ofth''ir enlightened and II
pidly increasing invaders, aud although
theS have rallied from time 10 umG then
shal,crud forces, and their weakened e.
crgies, under the direction Of Pontian,
Tecvmset, a Black Hawk and uthers, ye
they have gradually faded away like tn
waning splcndor Of departing day, anr
now present the melancholy spectacle {
few broken and enirCbled bands hove
ing on the very outskirts Of a mighty NJ
licn, whose towns, and villages and cite
have sprung up from the soil which The.
once owned, and over which they ono
ruamed in the proud majesty Of unconirv
led mnnarchs. Yet weak and broken an
scattered as they are, occasion lily, n
'' they have in'ihc Seminole war, put fort
in acts Of energy they have ieh, and It
not tuo visionary 10 imagine that they wi
still continue TO perpetrale their brut;
butcheries until they eXasCerate the
more powerful fee 10 level a, them BIO
ottotAl determination; and then, Ie
Years hence perhaps The last band OF dar
warriors shall take their stand, like Il
brave Spartan band, in Some Thermop
lean pass OF the Rocky Mountains, an
shall there hold their aggrcssors at BAY
un'l the last drop Of ladian blood is sht
lfthe annals Of the past be any correC
criterion whereby to form judgement
10 The occurrence Of future events, SUE
seems To he the destiny that awaits Il
aborigines Of this country, "Sic gtor
t-nnsh muadi"
. Now are there no extenualng pie
for their conduct Instead Of bell
nuriurcd in the 'bodcs Of civilizAlio
where from The very nursery we h
been taught 10 regard The red men
a sort of ncarnale demon, if we h
happened 10 have been broughtup
the w;gwams Of the wilderness,