The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-10-10

themselves without covering, on the
deck, and slumber till the steersmau's
call invited them to the morning FL
lee. Notwithstanding this the boat
mans life had charms as irresistible
as those presented by the splendid IL
lusions of the stage Some abandoned
the comfortable farms oftheir fathers,
and the apprentices fed from the SER
vice of their masters. There was a
captivation in the idea of go
ing down the river" and
the youthful boatman who had
pushed a keel" from New Or
leans, felt all the pride of young
merchant after his first voyage to an
English seaport. From an exclusive
association together, they had formed
a kind of slang peculiar to them
selves; and from the constant exer-
else of wit with the squatters'' on
shore, and crews of other boats, they
acquired quickness and smartness
of vulgar retort that was quite anus
ing The frequent battles they were
engaged in with the boatmen of diff
ferent parts of the river, and with the
less civilized inhabitants OF the Lower
Ohio and Mississippi, invested them
with that ferocious reputation which
has made them spoken of through out
Europe. -. si'..,.
On board of the boats thus navi-
gated, our merchants entrusted yalua-
bic -cargoes, without insurance, and
with no other guarantee than the re-
ceipt of the steersman, who possessed
no property but his boat; and the
confidence so reposed was seldom
abused. iaca Is Iafa russ ~ = als5-
Among these men Mike Pink stood
an acknowledged leader for many
years. Endowed by nature with those
qualities of intellect that give the
possessor influence, he would have
been a conspicuous member of any
society in which his lot might have
been cast. An acute observer has
said: Opportunity alone makes the
hero. Change but their situations,
and Caesar would then have been but
the best wrestler on the green"
With figure cast in a mold which
added much of the symmetry of an
Apollo to the limbs of a Hercules, he
possessed gigantic strength; and ac
customed from an early period of life.
to brave the dangers of frontier life,,
his character was noted. for the most
daring intrepidity. At the Court of
Charlemange. he might have been
Roland; with the Crusaders, he
would have = been the fayorite
of the Knights of the Lion
heart; and in our Revolution he
would have ranked with the Morgansi
and Putnams of the day. He was the
hero in a hundred fights, and the
leaderin a thousand daring adven--
lures. From Pittsburg to St. Louis
| and New Orleans, his fame was es-
tablished. Every farmer on the shore
otherwise there was no safety for his
property, Wherever he was an enemy,
like his great pro totype, Rob Roy, he
levied the contribution of Black Mail
for theD use of his boat. Often at
night. when his tired companions
slept, he would take an excursion of
five or six miles, and return before
morning rich in spoil. On the Ohio,
he was known among his companions
by the appellation of the " Swapping
Turtle" and on the Mississippi, he
was called The Snag:" AT the early
age Of seventeen, Mixes character
was displayed, by enlisting himself in
a corps of scouts-a body Of irregular
rangers. which was employed on the
Northwestern frontiers Of PeDnsyl-
vania. to watch the Indians, and to
| give notice of any threatened inroad.
At that time Pittsburgh was on the
extreme verge of white population
and the spies, who were constantly
employed generally extended their ex-
plorations forty or fifty miles to the
west of this post. They went out
singly, lived as did the Indian, and
in every respect became perfectly as
| simulated inhabitants, taste and feel
| ing, with the red men of the desert.
| A kind of border warfare was kept up
and the scout thought it as praise
worthy to bring in the scalp of a
Shawnee, as the skin of panther.
He would remain in the woods for
weeks together, using parched corn
for bread, and depending on his rife
for his meat-and slept at night in
perfect comfort, rolled up in his
blanket.
In. this corps, while yet STRIPPING,
Mike acquired reputation for bold
ness and cunning far beyond his COM
| paniops. A thousand legends illus
trate the fearlessness Of his character.
There was one which he told himself,
with much pride, and which made an
4 indelible impression on my boylsh
memory. He had been out on the
hills Of Mahoning, when, to use his
own words, he saw signs of Indians