Delaware State journal and statesman., 1866-02-20
A WHITE BOY RECOVERED EBOnI
THE. INDIANS.
He Is identified and Restored 10 his Rc,atires

Lio Is identified md Restored to his Relttiges.
correspondent OF the st. Louis De,na
cTat, writing from Jefferson City, Missouri.
February 4, says
Your readers will remember that some
weeks ago Colonel King, of the Thirteenth
Missouri, arrived from the Plains with his
regiment, bringing with him white boy
twelve years ofage, who one morning came
into his regimental camp far ont into the
wilderness among the savage Sioux. The
boy could give no account of himself and
could only by means of signs, grunts, and
here and there an English word in the bar
barOus language of the Sioux, make known
that the Indians called him 'pale face, " and
the pale faces he knew lived beyond the
= sun rise;' that he had had n "big fight -
with "young buck" (meoning young
lndian,) and got his "scalp;'n and that fear
ing the " old bucks" would kill him, he set
out on his little Indian pony in search of the
tribe of the "pale faces" for whom he in-
stinctively yearned, intuitiveily believing that
they would protect him from the cruel ven
geance of the savages for killing one of their
youths. When asked how long he was in
making his escape, he replied ''iive wakes
and four sleeps, " indicating the number with
the fingers of his hands. He has no knowl.
edge of his parents, his birthplace, or the
circumstances explaining his presence among
the Indians. He only knows that he was a
'pale face" boy.
Immediately on reaching the States, the
Colonel caused the inquiry TO be started in
the papers for the discovery of the boys
parents or relatives, which has resulted sue
cesslully. MIR. j. A. Sylvester, of Quincy,
Illinois, was here yesterday, to see the boy,
and by comparison of his photograph with
an ambrotype taken of him when he was
child, and marks OF resemblance which he
recognized, came TO the conclusion that the
boy was son of his (Sylvester's) brother,
lost on the Plains in the summer of 1860,
while the family were on the way to Oregon.
"Col. King accordingly called together
number of Senators, Representatives and
others in an ante-room of the Senate Cham
ber, who, after careful investigation was
had before them of the evidences of the
identity of the boy with the lost child, wit
messed and approved the transfer from Col
King to Mr. Sylvester When the formalities
of the transfer were over, Mr. Sylvester
turned to Col. King, and with deep emotion
expressed his gratitude TO the Colonel, saw
ing he could ne,er discharge the obligations
under which he had placed the family by
rescuing the boy from the hands of the sava
ges. If money would reward him, the sum
he would name was at his command. Col.
King said he had only performed his duty.
and could not be induced to take pay for il.
lie would not be reimbursed either for ex-
penses he had incurred IN caring for and
clothing him since he came into his custody
lie also insisted that the boy should take
with him his pony. Col. King then took
the boy by the hand, and told him that he
must now leave his ''whitc warrior"
"The boy, who had been watching the
"white cOuncl' with earnest looks of anx.
iety and doubt, now fully comprehended its
meaning, and bluntly refused to go. lie had
become much attached TO the "big warrior. -
as he calls Colonel King, and it was only bv
his Unsuitable love of adventure and the
prospect of new sights and other scenes
among the ''pale faces" that induced him to
go. The conception of mothers love or n
fathers care never enters his mind, and he
possesses all the stoical Indifference of the
Indian to the social relations of civilized
society, lie is a wild fellow, and civilizes
slowly. His parents are now living in Ore