The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1871-05-24
And the little blue Bible is treasur-
ed up. as q sacred memento of the
past. -
PONTIAC.
BY JAMES PARroS.

AatT aEf FUN I1AG,si 'r9zz3l
u sa-- i.a2.r -l------l.s iir gtss7ks
|, -t..z.-. By JAMES PARTON /. sSsk
Near enc Of the remote setlsneut
tbf Pennsylvania, there stood. in q Sc
cluded spot, lin 1854, a small, rads
sscheol-house built of logs, such a.
may still be seen in some outlying
districts of the West. a man WIZ
passed this schoolhouse one morning
was struck by the unusual stiffness o
the little building. The voice of. the
schoolmaster was not, heard, and ths
hum of the children coming their les
sons issued not from the open win
dows. The wayfarer pushed open the
door and looked in. A spectacle hor
rible and CHASTITY met his view. Near
the middle of the room, the teacher,
scalped and dead, lay upon the floor
with a bible clasped in one of his
hands. Around. the room were the
bodies of his pupils, nine of them,
scalped and mang1ed, and ali dead bul
one, who still feebly gasped. .,
OF all the Indian massacres record
ed, none seems so horrible as this
and even the Indians themselves, mer.
ciless as they are to the weak and
helpless, spoke of it with disapproyal.
Why this. massacre in Pennsylva
nia? .at -.--,.---.- -...-.-..... -. -
/ The reason was this: In making
the peace of 1853, between Prussia,
England, France and Spain, the nego-
tiators never bestowed a thought upon
the original owners Of North America
the Indians. But the red men,
whose passions had been infamed by
long warfare, could not comprehend
this sudden transfer of their land, at
the bidding OF unknown men in a dis.
tant country. -
Generally speaking, the Indians
liked the French and hated tho Eng
fish. It is a thing to be noted, that
men of the Celtic races get on better
with Indians than men of Saxon blood.
The Frenchnan of the western wilds
built a wigwan, married a squaw, and
took to the Indian mode of life with q
certain relish. The Saxon, on the
contrary, with his austerer morals and
more radical civilization, disdained to
rear a brood of tawny; children, and
held the idle, shiftless savages in q
contempt which he did not care to
conceal. The French would never
have established an empire in North
America. The Romans, the English,
the Germans, who have founded CIV
ilizations in barbarous countries, have
hated barbarisn, and instead of bor-
rowing institutions and usages from
the conquered, have imposed their own
institutions and their customs upon
them.
Then again, as long as the French
and English were fighting, both par
ties had an interest in courting the
Indians. The French and English
governors strove which should make
the Indians the most nc eptable pres
ents, and which should treat them in
the most agreeable and winning man.
ner. The Indians held the balance OF
power. Their unanimous support
might have decided the issue of the
war. But the moment the war was
ended, the Indians ceased to be OF
to either party, and both
treated them with indifference. No
moro guns, powder, hatchets and kniv-
es-which had. now become almost
necessary 10 the existence of some of
the tribes; for they had forgotten the
use of the bow and arrow, and had
lost skill in the use of their ancient
After the war, too, the Indians saw,
with disrnay, the settlements extend
ing more rapidly than ever, and the
pioneer pushing his way westward.
Hence, throughout all the tribes of
the interior there was a deep and
growing discomfort. At such a time,
# there chances to be a gifted and
powerful individual who shares the
passion of the hour, a people become
capable of heroic efforts. There was
such person then among the Indians
Pontiac, the great chief of the OF.
tawas, then fifty years of age-long
m ally of the French, for whom he
had fought during the seven years
war, with all the cunning, and more
han the constancy of his race.
Except Tecumseh, Pontiac was the
,biest Indian of whom We have any
knowledge. Tecumseh, Indeed, took
Pontiac as his model, and endeayored
% carry out the scheme which Pontiac
had derived from the traditions of
King Phillips war in New England.
Pontiac saw that the Indians had but
me chance for the recovery of their
.ncient domain. It was to unite and
Ittack the English posts By surprise
N the same day. When the posts
we're captured, and the garrisons mas
acrsd, then the Indians were. to rush
lpon the settlements, burning and
and drive all the English
nto the sea, who might have escaped
he tomahawk.
From the great lakes to the Gulf of
dexico, from the Alleghanies to be.
'ond the Mississippi, Pontiac, trayers-
d the wilderness, rousing the tribes
y his .eioquence, and communicating
o the chiefs his plans. He found
Wiling listeners everywhere, and the
esult of bis mission was that exteu,
i've combination of the northern and
restern tribes which is known in the
nnais Of the. last century as Pontiac's
ohspfracy.. !
The attacks were not made on pre-
isely the same day. But on a sud- !
en-, simultaneously enough to pre- |
ent the alarm from spreading from
ne post to another, the war broke
ut. Many of the smaller posts were
a aptured. The smoke from a hun /
red burning villages assembled to heav-
n at once. Whole counties were
by the settlers in coIster- :