Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-08-26
For the Spirit of the Age.
The American Indian.
BIZ ATLANTA"

Four hundred years ago the Red man roam I
ed fearlessly over this land. The crystal |
steamlet, gushing pure from the bowels of e
earth. supplied the means OF quenching his t
thirst while the richly favored wild fruits
of the forest. the fishes of the transparent
lake. the fowls of the air, and the untamed
deer were his food. The twang of his bow
string was heard in the valleys, and the sound
of his sportiye voice reverberated from hill
top to hilltop, as he sprang from cliff to cliff
In swift pursuit of the nimble- footed stag
His camp-fres spead their enlivening glow
upon the rich foliage of the banks of a thou
sand rivulets while, from Cape Wales to
Patagonia, the calumet of peace passed pleas
antly around, was smoked and handed from
door to door, and from tribe, to tribe as a to-
ken of friendship.
Everywhere, peace and contentment were
seen legibly written upon the brow OF this
wild, untutored race. Knowing nothing,
then, of the tyranny of political despots, the
the American Indian bowed himself before
the majestic shrine of Nature, and paid hon.
age to the Great Spirit unfeignedly.
America, walled in by the fathonless wa
ters of the blue sea, was his ParadSse-his
Eden, in which grew in rich profusion all
the varied fruits of the earth-whose forests
abounaed with every variety Of game, and
whose clear, Empid streams supplied his,
table with the most luscious species Of the
fnny tribe. He was blest-supremeIy blest.
The prolific hand Of Nature had showered
upon him, unasked, every luxury which his
heart could desire-health, peace, and con-
tentment were his.
But alas this happiness, like that prime
val bliss enjoyed by our first parents in the
garden Of Eden, was doomed to have an end.
From the rising sun, across the great deep,
fhn yUhIfo oanon nv nm N = m
hand paper titles to the red mans hunting
grounds, and in the other a bloody sword.
And the white man said unto the Indian, you
must %relinquish unto us your claims to this
fertile country, that we, the favored children
OF the Great Spirit, may cut down It's forests,
cultivate it's soil, and build cities upon It's
fcwery plains. And the Indian, little sus.
pecting the aggressive policy of his p~alefaced
invader, replied: 1T is we'll: you may settle
upon our lands, and build cities upon ouI
plains only give US the forests for our hun
ting grounds, and disturb US not in our forms
of government and the exercise of our Re
ligion.'
Soon the sound Of the woodlands axe was
heard in the forests intermingled with th'
crash of the venerable oak and the majestic
: pine. The foundation of hamlets and towns
and cities were laid, and civilization eterin|
at a bound reared upon the site of the deser
! ted scigecGns temples for the worship of th
: arts and sciences and while schools and col
leges and mills and workshops bedotte
the country over, vasts fields of luXurian
: wheat and corn and tobacco spread then
: selves to view throughout the land. Upo
all these strange innovations upon thier hal
its and customs the red man looked with mil
! gled feelings of wonder and astonishment-
And seeing how fast the immense forests {
% his aountru M oltoa ouuou haHoro +ho odro
the white mans axe, he became awakened
. a sense of his danger, and began to remor
= strate with his palefaced brethren, and
: protest against the dissertation of sacred hui
: ting. grounds.
~ But the white man exulting in his strengt
- tauntingly replied The land is ours-ou
- from Bherrings straits to the golden shor
" of the Southern Ocean-ours from the A
u lantic to the Pacific coasts. We hold roy
grants from the great white chiefs beyour
II the waters for every foot of land on viii
10 ~ you stand nay, ye have not a right to ev
10 somuch as might be covered with your blank
The Indian answered by asking his pal
faced usurpers what right the great Chic
1T beyond the sea had to give away his huntir
~ grounds without his consent. But the viii
49, man would not listen to the Indians pie
- but threatened if he did not %relinquish /
claims peaceably,t to compel him to do it at t
mouth of the cannon and at the point of t
;+o bayonet.
tS Incensed at the cruel exactions of tn
.so ungrateful invaders, the Indians flew to arm
i;o and, Selling their tomahawks and scalpir
cd knives, vowed a VOW Of vengeance again
nd the impious Decorators of their sacred lit
os ting grounds, and swore by their wampr
belts and the sacred name of their gr
= Manitou, to extermlnate their pale-faced
nroccorc n - RI do IN fho ottop1pE ND h
rae terribly did they keep their vow Hundrt
nd and thousand of the natives sacrificed tn
!, i lives in the dread conflict which ensued, a
thousands of the settlers were massacred
+ 9 cold blood, without regard to age or sex,
If this enraged and Justly incensed people
the The smoke of burning villages foated ~
the evening breeze, while the cries of tort
ed babes, and dying mothers broke the 81
ness of the midnight hour. Scalps W
ruthlessly torn from the aged and wrink
brow, and hung upon the walls of the v
49, wan as trophies of victory, and mement
of their horrid deeds.
are And the red mar grew and waxed stro
and bid fair to completely annihilate
usurpers of the land that gave him brit
when 10 the white man changes his m
of warfare-he introduces among his FOE
much more potent engine of destruction t
Dr the tomahawk or the sword! This terri
n Is weapon the red man very appropriately tie
am ed FGrelpater. OF this burning fluid the
dian drank and died.
APPS u trloeS ol tnousanus VI 1nis once nun
and Gus people, scarce one now remains 10 tell
tho dread tale O ftheir fall. The white man
not owns their lands, even from the rising to
stem setting sun-and the enfeebled remnant
this once powerful race dare not assert t
Il a right to, or claim their own. INTEMPERA
yaxy did what the sword and the cannon could
do. Now,
the 'Gloom, silence and solitude rest on the
aaps Where the hopes of the red marSperishe
m to Glover Fork, Stanly CO., N. G.