Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-08-28
WESTERN ADVENTURE.
The Cruel Murder Of King Corn
saIk and his Son.

The Cruel Murder of King Corn
saIk and his Son.
To the Editer of the Courier Journals:
For some days have sought In vain
for some book of Western records or
history. from which ] could obtain the
exact year of the sad and memorable
event alluded to. Many years since |
saw in some book of Western adventures
an incorrect account of this cruel trans
action. The following account of the
murder of this truly noble chief, and OF
his son, / received from my father,
Alexander McCown, who received 1t
from the lips of the murderer himself,
;hen a refugee from justice, in the house
of my grandfather, Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania:
The noble chief had fought his disas.
trous battle, and had been overwhelmed
with defeat by General Lewis, at the
mouth of the Kanawha. He had borne
himself with most manly courage in the
carnage of the battlefield. His voice
was heard by his warriors and his foes,
animahng the former with courage and
giving unmistakable notification to the
latter that an intrepid chief was con-
fronting them. With his own hand he
cleft the skull of quailing warrior with
a blow of his bloody and unsparing tom
ahawk.
His mind seems to have been as
wisely disposed to a sound policy Tor
peace after hopeless defeat, as his brave
heart sought victory in the carnage OF
the battlefield.
With his son, his only companion, he
had come to the fort to make treaty OF
peace with General Lewis.
The record Of General Lewis honor
is untarnished by the bloody tragedy
that melted out to this noble and pacific
chief and amiabe son death struggle,
weltering in their own blood, shed, alas,
when the olive branch Of peace, beneath
whose protection they deemed them
selves secure, should have guarded them
from the rifle and the tomahawk
In General Lewis army were two cous.
ms. Virginians, named Big Malcom and
Little Malcom MoCown. No ill-fame at
taehed to their rifles or tOmahawks.
They we're brave and fearless men.
Their blood was briskly coursing with
excitement, but no perhdious design was
in their hearts when they proposed to
cross the Kanawha to kill deer. They
were warned and advised to desist from
The undertaking as the Indians we're
lurking in the woods, and would post
pone the safety Of their chief and his
son TO the qualification of a scalp. 10
defiance Of danger, they padded their
canoe 10 the further shore. They
stepped fearlessly from their boat,
safely anchored with a grapevine
cable, into the deep and silent woods.
They agreed 10 proceed somewhat
apart. and, should one have need Of the
other, to give a signal by the shrill
charger. Soon after separating, the
keen crack Of rife was heard in the
direction Of Little Malcolm. Its echo
died away. but no note Of the charger
summoned Big Malcolm TO aid or 70
rescue. He stood with GREATNESS
anxiety. with beating heart, and his
restless foot lifted, as II 10 avoid rustling
the very leaves. No sound or signal
greeting his ear, be pierced the deep aud
silent forest with the sharp signal OF his
charger. The failure Of response aroused
his alarm, and he started with speed 10
the direction Of the rife shot CIrchng
through the woods, after calculating the
distance Of the report Of the rlle, nc
found bic cousin PROSTATE and aylns,
shot by an insidious foe. He bore BIN 20
bic arms 10 the canoe, and there aep1l.
hing biz sacred charge, hurriediJ ne
crossed the stream. end ieaping lf ~
fhe boat with demoniac rage, thai oenee
an lesr. armed With tonahavk ana rue
hs suorc ihss be Would Kill King Corn
siaIk aud bic son. General lssFis or
dered bic arrest, bat amidst the saaaeA