The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1857-07-11
Poe's Leap.
A RfMINISCENCE OF EORDlR LITE

About the middle of July. l.>2. Wvan,lots
crossed the Ohio few miles above Wheeling.
and committed great dcpredationS upon the
southern shore: killed an old man whom they
found alone in his cabin. and spread terror
throughout the nciyhborhood. Within few
hours after their retreat. eight men a>>cmb-
led from different parts of the settlement. and
pursued the enemy with great expeditions
Among the most active and efficient of the
party. were two brothers. Adam and Andrew
Poe. Adam was particularly popular. In
strength. action and harclihood. h had 40
cqual-bcing finely formed. and Injured to all
the pcrils of the woods. They had not fol
lowed the trai! far. before they became salts
fed that the dcpredator> We're conducted BY
Big Foot. a renowned chief of the Wyaulo.
tribe. who derived his name from the immense
size othis feet. His height considerably y,Ncecd-
cd six feet. and his strength was represented.
as Hcrculcan. He had also five brothers,
but little inferior to himself, in company.-
They were the terror of the whole couu,rv
Adam was ovcrjovcd at the idea Of mca>'ir-
ing his strength with that oi 50 celebrated :;
chief. ar! urged the pursuit vith.a keen
ness which quickly brought him in:o the Vi
cn!iy of the enemy. For the last few miles
the trail had led them up the >ou'hcrn bank
Of the Ohio, where the footprints in the sand
were deep and obvious. but when within .
few hundred yards Of the point At which tn"
whites as well as the Indians were in the hab-
it Of crossing. it suddenly divcrscd from the
stream and stretched along rocky ridge
forming an obtuse angle with its former di-
rccton. Here Adam halted for a moment
and directed his brother and the other Young
men to follow the trail with proper caution
while he himself still adhered to the river
path which led through clusters of willows
directly to the point where he supposed them
to lie. Having examined the printing of his
gun. he crcpt cautiously through the bushes
until he had a view of the point Of embark
alton. Here lay two canoes empty and APP
parently deserted. Being satisfied however
that the Indians were close at hand. he re-
laNed nothing or his vigilance. and quickly
gained a jutting cliff which hung immcdi-
ately over the canoes. Hearing low mur-
mur below, he peered cautiously over the
bank and bchcld the object of his search.
The gigantic Big Foot lay below him in
the shade of willow, and was talking in a
low, deep tone to another warrior, who seem
ed mere pgmy by his side. Adam cautious
ly drew back and cooked his gun. The mark
was tair-the distance did not exceed twenty
feet, and his aim was uncrring Raising his
rifle slowly and cautiously " he took steady aim
at Big Foot's breast, and drew the triy iyger.
His gun flushed. Both Indians sprung to
their feet with deep intcrjcction of surprise
and for a single second they all three stared
upon each other. This inactivity. however,
was soon over. Adam was too much hemp
cred by the bushes to retreat, and setting his
life upon the cast Of die. he sprung over
the bush which sheltered him and summon
ing all his power leapcd boldly down the
precipice; and alighted upon the breast of
Big Foot with shock that bore him to the
earth. At the moment of contact. Adam had
also thrown his right arm around the smaller
Indian, SO all three came down together. At
that moment a sharp firing was heard among
the bushes, above, announcing that the other
parties were engaged, butthe trio below were
too busy to attend to any thing but them
selves
Big Foot was for an instant stunned bv the
violence of the shock, and Adam was enabled
to keep them both down. But the exertion
necessary for the purpose was so great that
he had no leisure to use his knife.
Big Foot quickly recovered. and, without
attempting to rise, wrapped his long arms
around Adams body. and pressed him to his
breast with the crushing force of Boa Con
strictor! Adam, as we have already remark
ed. was powerful man, and had seldom en-
countered his equal, but never had he felt an
embrace like that Of Big Foot. He instant
ly relaxed his hold of the small Indian. who
sprung to his feet. Big Foot then ordered
him to run for his tomahawk, which Law with
in ten steps, and kill the white man while he
held him in his arms. Adam seeing his dan
ger, struggled manfully to extricate himself
from the folds of the giant, but in vain. The
lesser Indian approached with his uplifted
tomahawk, but Adam watched him closely a,
he was about to strike and gave him a kick
so sudden and violent as to knock the toma.
hawk from his hand, and send him stagger-
ing back into the river. Big Foot uttered an
exclamation in tone of deep contempt at the
failure OF his companion, and raising his
voice to the highest pitch, thundered out sew.
eral words in the Indian language which Ad
am could not understand, but supposed to be
a direction for second attack
The lesser Indian now again approached
carefully stunning Adams heels, and max.
ing many motions with his tomallawk. in
order to deceive him as to the point where
the blow would fall. This lasted for several
seconds, until laundering exclamation from