The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1863-02-04
The Pioneers Last shot.

the following can easily be found The
story was told us, says cotemporary, by
an old and valued friend now residing In
the country, and whose early days were
spent near the scene Of the tragic adven-
ture here recorded. We give the story as
related to us, in the words of our hero:
! II was in the year of 1905, that | settled
| in Virginia. near the Falls of tho Canasho
| The country was at that time an unbroken
! wilderness. But few settlements had
/ been made by the whites. and they wcro 80
far apart, as TO render vain all hopes Of AS
Stance in case of an attack from the hostile
| Indians numbers of whom still infested the
/ neighhorhood.
! | lived here alone with my wife for
several months unmolested and by dint of
untiring perseverance, being then young
and hardy had succeeded in making quite
clearing i'll the forest, which had planted
| with corn, and which promised an abun-
dant yield.
One morning after we had dispatched our
humble meal, and | had Just prepared to
venture forth upon my regular routine ot
labor my attention was arrested by the
tinkling of u cow.bel in the corn-hcd.
There said my wife, " the COW is in
the corn field"
But the ear Of the backwoodsman be.
comes by education very acuate, especially
so from the fact that his safety often de-
pends on the nice cultivation Of that sense.
| was not easily deceived listened-the
sound was repeated.
THAT" said |, in reply to the re-
mark of my wife, was not the tnkls of u
hell upon the neck OF u COW. 1t is decoy
from some Indian who desires to draw me
into ambush"
Believing this to be the case | took down
my muskct Il had no rihe), and seeing that
it was properly loaded. stole cautiously
around the field toward the point from
which the sound seemed to proceed. As |
had expected, there, in cluster of bushes.
crouched an Indian waiting for me to APP
pear in answer to his dccoy bell, that he
might send the fatal bullet TO my heart |
approached without discovering myself un-
til within shooting distance, then raised
my piece ana fired. The bullet sped true
to its mark, and the Indian fell dead
Not knowing but that he might be ac-
companied by others, | returned with all
speed to my cabin, and having firmly barri-
caded the door, | watched all day from the
port-hoie, i'll anticipation of an attack from
the companions of the Indian had killed.
To add to the danger and seeming hopeless
ness of my situation, discovered that |
had but one charge of powder left. !
could make but one shot, aud then if at
tackled by numbers, should he entirely in
their power Determined to do the best
with what | had, lpoured in my last charge
OF powder and put into my muskct fifteen
slugs, and then waited for the approach of
night feeling confident of an attack
Night came on at length. A beautiful
moonlight it was too, and this favored me
greatly, as would be ablc to observe the
movement of the enemy as they approached
my cabin. 1t was two hours after nightfall
and as yet had neither seen nor heard a
sign of the Indians, when suddenly was
startled by the barking of my dog at the
stable. The stable stood little to the west
of the cabin, and between the two was a
patch of clear grouud, upon which the light
of the moon fell unobstructed Judging
from the noise at the stable that they would
advance from that direction posted myself
at the port hole on that side of the cabin.
had previously placed my wife upon
cross pole in the chimney, SO that in case
our enemies effected an entrance to the
cabin, she might climb out through the low
chimney, and effect her escape. For my
self, determined not to be taken alive, and
resolved to sell my life as dearly as possible
With breathess anxiety watched at the
port hole. At length saw them emerge
from the shadow of the stable and advance
across the vacant ground toward the cabin.
One, two, three. Great heavens! six stal.
wart Indians, armed to the teeth, and urged
on by the hope of revenge. And alone to
oppose them, with but one charge of pow
der. My case was desperate indeed. With
quick but stealthy step, in close single file
they approached, and were within few
yards OF the house when slight change of
divergence in the movement of the forward
Indian changed the position of the entire
SIX; so that n portion of the left side of
each WAS uncovered. They were all in
range-ene aim would cover all. Quick as
thought aimed and fired As the smoke
cleared away, | could hardly credit what
my senses showed me was the result of my
shot. The fifteen slugs with which had
loaded my musket had done well-five of
the six Indians lay dead upon the ground /;
the sixth had disappeared.
Though no enemy was now i'll sight. did
not venture forth until morning. There lay
the bodies of five Indians, undisturbed, to-
gether with the rifle of the other. Secur-
ing the arms and ammunition Of the fallen
Indians, followed up the trail OF the miss
ing one, until it reached the river, beyond
which point | could discover no traces
whatever. From the amount of blood
which marked the trail, together with
the unmistakeable evidence that he had
picked his way with difficulty, | was led
TO believe that he was mortaly wounded,
and to prevent his body from falling into
the hands Of his foe, groped his way to
the river and threw himself into the cur
rent which had home him away.
The Indians had killed my COW, and that
you may he assured was no small loss yet
i'll my gratitude for my escape from the
merciless savages, would have been en-
tirely willing to make much greater sacri-
fees. ! was provided (by means of ANU
milton taken from the slain lndians) in case
Of a second attack, but this fortunately
proved to he my last adventure with the
savages Not one of the band escaped to
tell the tale, and incite his brothers to re-
venge the death of his comrades,
"Ah !" exclaimed the old man, while the
tears gushed from his eyes at the memory
of that eventful night, " that was glorious
shot-the best ever made" !"
The hero of this adventure lived to see
the rude wilderness where he had pitched
his lonely cabin transformed into smiling
fields, and peopled by hardy and enterpris-
ing pale faces, among whom he lived in
"peace and plenty" undisturbed by his old
time-foes.
Ar aunnar In Albany there were Dresent