Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1851-05-14
III iSC L l. l. A n Y.
raoMTHE cHARLtsToN EVENING sEw
THE OLD INDIAN.

Among the vestiges which darken the
shadows of the past, few are more interest
ing than the Indians character. 1t has been
the fate of this people to display very lofty
traits, nationally and individually, and to
pass from mems eyes like the phantom of "a
dream. They were the progenitors of a
people now rich in intellect and glorious in
civilization, only to retire before that wave
of population which they themselves had
invited. They were plants hourishing only
in the shade-plants which expired in the
full blaze of the sun of improvement.
In viewing the degeneracy of people
who from a lofty condition have fallen into
one Of moral or physical slavery, as is the
case of the Greeks. our pity is mixed up
with contempt; but with the Indian tribes
it is different In their case we see a cour-
ageous and magnanimous nation, full of the
revenge but boldness ofsavage life, stepping
back from before a conquering but not al
ways very just people, submitting reluctant
ly to the fate of war, and giving up their
lands in many instances only with their
lives. 1t is not our purpose to object to the
destiny which made our fathers the instru-
ments of our settlement and prosperity
Doubtless it was for wise purposes in the
advancement of intellectual and moral free
dom. But in the perspective ct the picture
which portrays their early trials, we also
see the Indian. We see wild but happy
people, content amidst their native forests,
suddenly deprived of their heritages, driven
from their homes, the bones Of their ances-
tors dispersed with the plough, and they
forced either to seek new shelter further
in the forest. from which a new invasion
was presently to drive them, or to remain
and dwindle into insignifcance, the victims
of physical, moral, and intellectual deterio-
ration.
The Cherokees were the last to retire to
the West. At ball-play with the Creeks
they won that lovely country Of green val
leys and smilng hills now covered by the
northern sections of Georgia and Alabama.
There they lived contentedly; =; and it was
their boast that they had never shed the
white mans blood. A more noble race
never existed. Manly, generous and brave,
their forms and countenances displayed the
characteristics Of bold but magnanimous
people. 1t was my lot day or two since
to meet one of them, who abandoned by his
people, still fingered in the noble country
where he was born. He impaired to me
scms faint memorials of his race. He
loved to dwell on the history Of his people,
and to point out various scenes where re-
markable events took place. met him at
a romantic spot in Cherokee county, Ala
bama, known as Blue Pond. Blue Pond lies
at the base of Lookout mountain--a ridge
which rises in Middle Alabama, and which,
in northeast direction, runs with greater
or less elevation into the edge of Tennessee.
On the top of it, just above Blue Pond, arc
the Yalloo falls. The little stream of Yal-
loo, which produces these falls, runs along
the mountain IN southern direction, and
Is surrounded with scenery sublime and ro-
mantle enough to rouse the coolest bosom
to love OF Nature. After flowing along,
calm and unrufied as one of those BRIGHT
streams we often see painted on the eastern
sky just before sunrise, we find its course
suddenly interrupted by range of broken
rocks, which stretch across its bosom, break
ing the unity Of its waters into thousand
ripples. The detached steamlets immedi-
atcly below these rocks unite, and pour
down aprecirice ofnearly two hundred feet,
dashing into one Of the widest chasms we
ever beheld---a brosd river of snowy waves
and filling the whole basin below with
spray and smoking mist.
"Do you see,' said the old chief as We
stood on the side of the gull "yonder cav
ern pointing to recess which had been
washed by the steam before new channei
had been worn to the left of it; Il will tell
you about the place. In the old time, long
before the step Of the white man had been
seen in this country, friendly tribe of In
dianS pitched their tents on this mountain.
The chief had rendered himself celebrated
in the wars which used to be waged against