Mineral Point tribune. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1854-1858, 1857-07-28

sites for their homes upon the unoccupiet
land they might find, and by clearing ;
portion OF IL and building n cabin they Oh
tanned preemption right TO the soil, or
ut least, certain portion of il, and Tho
possession of which they have been pro
lected by the government at least. so fal
as no one could dispossess them wi;hou
paying them an equivalent for the i'm
iproVemems, and even then they had 1
PRIOR claim, or privilege of purchasing a
government price over every other pur.
chaser. Such pioneers have been demon.
mated ''Sqnatters."
In an early day a man, who had lef,
the sterile soil of an Eastern State. starr.
ed with his Young and rising family Ia
better his condition In the rich and fertile
| valley OF The West. He was a poor, b,,
honest man; had struggled hard to raise
ms family, and by patient industry was
enabled 10 obtain an outfit of horse and
cart to Journey to the West. Passing
through what was then wilderness. he
at length reached a spot on the Illinois
| River, about two hundred miles from lis
mouth, where he pitched his tent and sub
sequeniy erected his cabin. His family
consisted OF his wife and three children.
/ the eldest boy in his nineteenth, and
the next a girl in her eighteenth wear,
aud the youngest boy of fourteen wears.
! They were all vigorous, the -erv mater
lal suited for the hard and the poor fare
of pioneer life.
/ One day there came to the squatter's
cabin three Indians, protesting 10 be
/ friendly, who invited the father 10 % on
a hunting excursion with them. AS the
family subsisted chiefly on game, he fin
! any concluded 10 accompany them, taking
with hm his eldest son. They expected
( TO be absent about Il week, as they in
( tendcd to take a somewhat extensive
range After three days had passed away.
one OF The Indians returned to the squat
( terS house, and deliberately lighting his
| pipe and taking his seat bv the fire, he
commenced smoking in silence. The wife
was not startled at his appearance, as it
was frequently the case that one. and
sometimes more, of party of Indian
/ hunters, getting discoura@ @cd, would leave,
the rest and return. This was usually the
case when they imagined they saw u bad
sI@n, aud 1t would not only be useless bur
dlsastrcHs tor them To hunt under such
/ circumstances.
The Indian sat for some time IN sullen
silence, and at length. removing the pipe
from his mouth he gave slgniiiran,
grnnt TO awaken attention, and said =
NV hlte man die"
The Squaller'e wife at this said, "yhat's
the mallrr!'
IL S,,l- ,r., II -.
You so see hun"
Her suspicious being somewhat aroused
ut The manner of the savage, she asked
hIm several questions The evasivencss
and evident want tf consistency in the
answers, at length confirmed her suspi-
cIons that something was wrong. She
Judged II best not to 90 herself, but sent
her youngest son, = the eldest, as we
nave seen, having gone on a hunt with
ms father Night came, but it brought
not the son nor the Indian. All its
gloomy hours were spent in that lone ca
bln by the mJther and daughter = but
The morning came without their return
The whole day passed in the same fruit
less lookout for the boy; the mother felt
: grieved that she had sent her child on the
errand, but 1t was now too late. Her
suspicious were now confirmed that the
Indians had decoyed away her husband
and sons. She felt that they would not
stop IN their evil designs, and that, if
they had slain the father and his boys,
they would next attack the mother and
daughter
No time was 10 be lost - and she and
the daughter, as night was approaching,
went TO work to bairicade the door and
WINDOWS OF the cabin In the best way they
could. The rife Of the boy was the only
weapon IN the house, as he did not take
1t with him when he went away This
was taken from It's hangngs, and care
fully examined 10 see that it was well
loaded and pri,ned. To her daughter she
gave the axe, and thus armed they deter
uined to watch all night, and, if attacked
10y the savages 10 fight TO the last.
About midnight they made their ap-
pcarance, expecting to fnd the mother
and daughter asleep, but in this they were
Disappointed. They approached stealth
lily, dud one OF the number knocked loud
ly al the door, crying Mother, Mothcr -
The mothers ear was too acute 10 be
deceived by the willy savage. and she re-
pied, Where are the Indians, my son e
! The answer "Um gone" would not
have satisfied her, if she had not been
/ before aware of the deceit.
/ Come up my son, put your ear to the
Iatch-hole - | want to tell you something,
before | oPei. the door"
The Indian applied his ear to the latch
hole. The crack of rifle followed and
the Indian fell dead.
As soon as she fired, She stepped on
one side of the door, and Immediately
two rIile-bullctS passed through ii. either
of which would have killed her Instantly
Thank God - said the mother in a
whisper TO her daughter, 'rhere are bur
two. They are the three that went ID
hunt with your father, and one of then
is dead. Il we can only kill or cripple
another, we shall be safe. Take courage
my child = God will not forSake Us II