Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1854-01-25

Q
towards him with tomahawk in hand
His eye was on him and his gun to his
eye, ready, as soon as he approached near
enough to make sure shot to let him
have it. AS soon as the Indian discovered
this, he jumped behind two pretty large
saplings, some small distance apart, nei-
thcr of which were large enough to cover
his body, and to save himself as we'll as he
could he kept springing from one to the
other.
Joe, knowing he had two enemies on
the ground, kept lookout for the other
by quick glance of the eye. He pre-
sently discovered him behind a tree loa-
ding his gun. When in the act of push
ing down his bullet, he exposed pretty
fairly his hips. Joe, in the twinkIing of
an eye, wheeled and let him have his load
in the part exposed. The big Indian then
with mighty "Ugh!' rushed towards him
with his raised tomahawk. Here were
two warriors met, each determined to con-
quer or die-each the Goliah of his nation.
The Indian had rather the advantage in
size of frame, but Joe in weight and mus
cular strength. The Indian made halt at
the distance Of fifteen or twenty feet, and
threw his tomahawk with all his force, but
Joe had his eye upon him and lodged it.
| 1t flew quite out OF reach of either Of them.
Joe then clubbed his gun and made at the
Indian, thinking to knock him down.
The Indian sprang into some bush or sap
lings, to avoid his bIows.-The Indian de-
pended entirely on dodging with the help
Of the saplings. At length Joe, thinking
he had pretty fair chance, made side
blow with such force, that missing the
dodging Indian, the gun now reduced to
the naked barrel, was drawn quite out of
reach. The Indian now gave another ex-
ultiug " Ugh!'' and sprang at him with
all the savage fury he was master Of
Neither Of them had weapon in his
hands, and the Indian siezing Logston
bleeding freely, thought he could throw
him down and dispatch him. In this he
was mistaken. They seized each other
and desperate scutlle cnsued. Joe could
throw him down, but could not hold him
there. The indian being naked, with his
hide oiled had greatly the advantage in
, a ground scufile, and would slip out of
Joc's grasp and rise. After throwing him
| five or six times Joe found, that between
loss ofblood and violent cxcrtiors, his wind
! was leaving him, and that he must change
which he was not yet willing tUsparr. He
; threw the Indian again. and without at
tempting to hold him jumped from him,
and as he rose, aimed Il fist blow at his
head, which caused him to fall back, and
as he would rise, Joe gave him several
/ i'll succession, the Indian rising slower
each time, He at last succeeded in Civ
/ inT him pretty fair blow in the burr of
the car, with all his force, and he fell, as
Joe thought pretty near dead, Joe jump
cd Oh him, and thinking he could dispatch
| him by choking. graspcu his neck with his
left hand, keeping his right one free for
contingencies. Joe soon found the Indi-
an was not so dead as he thought, and
that he was making use of his right arm
which lay across his body, and on casting
his eye down discovered the Indian was
making an effort to unsheath knife that
was hanging at his belt. The knife was
short and SO sunk in the sheath that it was
necessary to force it up by pressing
against the point. This the Indian was
trying to effect, and with good success
Joe kept his eye on it, and let the Indian
work the handle out, when he suddenly
grabbed it, jerked it out of the sheath, and
sunk itup to the handle in the Indians
breast, who gave death groan and cxpi
red.
! Joe now thought of tho other Indian,
and not knowing how far he had succce-
ded in killing or crippling him, sprany to
his feet. He found the crippled Indian
/ had crawled some distance towards them,
and had prOppcd his broken back against
a log and was trying to raise his gun to
shoot him, but in attempting to do which
he would fall forward and had to push
against his gun to raise again. Joe seeing
that he had fought hard enough for heal
thy exercise that day, and not liking to be
killed by a crippled Indian, he made for
the fort. He got in about nightfNll, and a
hard looking case he was-blood and dirt
from the crown of his head to the soul of
his foot, no horse, no hat, no gUn-with
an account Of the battle that some of his
comrades could scarce believe TO be much
: else than one of his big stories in which he
would sometimes indulge. He told them
they must so and judge for themselves.
Next morning q company was made up
to go to Joe's battle e-ground. When they
approached iCJOe's acousers became more
confirmed, as there was no appearance Of
dead Indians, and nothing Joe had talked
of but the dead horse. They, however,
found trail as if some thing had been
dragged away. On pursuing it they found
the big Indian, at little distance, beside
log covered up with leaves. Still pur-
suing the trail though not so plain, some
hundred yards farther they found the bro
ken backed Indian, lying on his back with
his own knife sticking up to the hilt in his
/ body, lust below tho Lrooct hOna ovidanf
~ 10 show that he had not come to his end
0y the hand Of an enemy. They had a
lcng search before they found the knife