, 1859-11-30
An Indian Captive Reclaimed after
Thtrty'6ve Fear1A Absenco-.~1ncl-
dents Of His Life

az AAA4AA - FkAto AAFE$AAkk4EN M4eC&
Thtrty-aye fear'a Absenco--~1nci.
dents Of His Life.
lrron.:he Tlnn,toh,o, 1r.bunel
The following narrative of the return and re-
coguition of Matthew Brayton, the long lost
son OF Elijah Braytcn Of this county, who was
stolen By the Indians "a yeas ago, will be read
With interest. Il was kindly furnished By Ar:
0u the Goth Of Sept, 1926, two children Of
Elijah Brayton, then residing near Springville
in this county, we're sent ont afler The cows.
Afler going q short distance from home, the
younger one. Matthew, lad between seven aud
eight years Of age, became fatigued and started
for a neighboriug house, close By, while tie
other continued The search for the cows Since
that time, nothing has been heard Of the child,
until lately. The country was thoroughly
searched. BY all the whites and friendly Indians
that resided near this settlement, and continued
several weeks, but without effect. At the time
be was lost there were TWO scnrs on his person,
the big toe Of his right foot, caused BY . cut
with an &xe.
During the latter part Of last August, it was
ascertained through the medium Of the papers,
that a returned Indian captiye was at Cleveland
searching for hit relatives. Search was made
for this person. hut be was not found uutil Tues
day evening, Nov. Is. when he was discovered
- AlkAtl . 4uAso EEAF k3ukAI 0IufEy " al1Ea
County. p, By Wm. Day ton, who started him
immediately for Adrian, where he arriyed Thurs
day noou-
The news flew like wild6re through the neigh
borhood, and the people hare been visiting him
constantly since his arrival, questioning and
cross-questioning him until be il almost exhaus-
ted. The SCARE corresponding to those on Mat
son. He is u man Of about feet Il inches in
height, and Of light complexion He has some
tattoo marks on his chest, also some scars On
his right leg, caused by wounds received in an
1ndian battle some three years ago. The In
dtans in performing the necessary surgical ope
ration, strapped him 70 a log, aud sewed up the
wound {sore inches in lengthy with buck
s:ars made By the needle antl thong are nearly
as large as that nude By the cut Of the tou1a-
hawk He has with him his Indian dog, called
Nemi. and q large pipe made Of aint, which
weighs nine ounces BE says It took him one
NOON to drill the hule through his pipe, which
he did with piece Of steel, some bears oil aud
water. He was stolen by the Pottawasomie aud
Canada Indians, and was shifted from one Of
these tribes to the other, until he WIS sold By
them to the Papaw indians, who gave st gallons
of whisky for him, and they sold him 70 the
Winnebagoes for II gallons They we're living
At Michigan ut that time. The Chippexas
bought him of The WiDnebasoes, and tep. him
e"V A4QAk4S 2uA u AA+lf AAA kACA StAA W kAG
Sioux for eleren gallons Of the ' fire water"
This be does not recoltect himself. but it was
told to him by the various tribes, Is he traced
himself back to Ohio
Lie remembers back to the time be was owned
ty The Sioux, which he says Was twenty six
years ago.
To use his language. II was then a head
from the Sioux, twenty-five years ago, last
April, ut Cedar Kapids, 1owa.b the Snakes and
Copperheads, with whom be has resided ever
since- He lived ip Iowa two years, then moved
- Minnesota, where he staid six months;
thence to California, where he resided ST years
thence to Oregon, where they stAid two years !;
thence to the Russian Possessions, where be
has resided ever since, except when travelling TO
aud from their trading ponts- lie lived near
behring's Straits, two hundred miles north
west Of "Btg Esquimaux' village. 60 deg. north
lltisude. lie has CROSSED the Straits several
times in the winter season. on the ice.
He was crossing once, few winters ago, on
the back of . large elk, going at a pretty sharp
pace, when the elk stepped into IN air holt.
throwing him over his bead in the water. III
the time this took place the 1amented DR.. knne,
with his expedition vas in that section. After
getting out Of the water be met one Of the crew,
man by the name Of Thomas Hickey. Since
his return to the States. on his arrival at Clere-
Land when be got ott the train. he saw Hickey
*ho recognized him instantly, calling him By
his Indian name.
He was in st. Paul, when it only contained
seren houses About eight years ago, his tribe
being nearly furnished by hunger, went to Uul-
son Bay in search Of provisions, where be hrst
learned that he was pale lace. The whites be.
ing unableto purchase him (the Indians refusing
to part with him. threatened to take him BY
force, but the great disparity Of their nnmters
preventing them from putting their threat in
force They would not visit any white settle
ment for three years after that for fear he would
leave them or be taken uway By the whites.
They then visited Lord Selkirk's settlement on
Led river, where they got into Il skirnish with
the whites. The whites told them there, also,
that he was q white man. lie bud been at st,
Paul seven or eight times on trading expedi-
tons; also at Lord Selkirk's settlement, Hud-
sons Bay and St. Anthony's Falls. The whites
repeatedly told his tribe that if they did not let
lin 70 to the States, to search FOR his reations
they would take him from them by force. He
left his residence September, 1858; left St. Paul
Indian brother, (chief elect last full sl1 Indians
three ponies and fve dogs. They came with
lin to Chicago, where lie was taken sick, and
placed in the hospital for treatment, nud kept
there tilt he recovered. His Indian friends there
left him and returned to their tribe.
lie vent from there to Detroit, Mich; thence
to Oslo; thcuce to Northern Pennsylvania,
where be was found by VIM Braytou Esq. He
was then on his way to some Indians in New
York. He can speak five different Indian lang
,,a2es, viz: Snake, coppefhrad. Grow, Ctah aud
flathead. lie niso speaks the English language
very huent!r and correctly. which lie says came
IL him almost intuitiyeIs on meeting; viii, tic
whites. TIE tribe with which be lived had
compass ind watch enclosed in one copper case,
which they used in travelling. They purchased
it Of the Russians for *l0o.
lie says the Snakes, Coppcrheads, Grows,
souls-,nen, women and children included.
He married the daughter Of lie Grand Chief
seven years ago. lie has two children, son aud
daughter. lis daughter's name is Tefroua
Tame Deer), and is five years old His sons
hame is Tuiloosa, two years old last June. His
own name is Uwahowah kishrnewxh. When be
arrived at Chicago, be was dressed in Indian
costume, daubed and painted, his hair hanging
down to his knees. While in the hospitai, they
cut oil his hair, and scrubbed Li.u viii S-ad,
SOAP and water, until all ressige Of the paint
vas removed. lie eats meat raw, but will not
eat fooi containing salt.