The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1876-09-20
THE MASSACRE OF WYOMING.
"reminiscences of Indian Cruelty md Amor
lean Brnvery.-The Acadia Of the hey'
stone State. -I...E... =. ..,r.

innocent men, women, and cnllGren, and
blotted out their happy homesteads with
the bighting breath of the devastating
torch. >, The whole world has wept over
the touching tale, and over the horrors
enacted here during that awful month Of
July, in ITS, and as It's centennial an
niversary occurs in less than two years
hence it is but meet that some preparal
tions should be made to commemorate
the event. -..,...' - ..'.- :.-." -
History dwells with loving tenderness
and truth on the pastoral beauty Of this
charming scene prior to the invasion by
the treacherous savages, and the poet
Campbell, in his immortal "Gertrude OF
Wyoming" wreathes garland for it's
fame that shall never fade, as follows:
Delightful Wyoming beneath thy skies -,
The happy shepherd swsins had nausht to
But feed their aocks on green deeliyiies,
Or skim perchance thy lake with light canoe,
From morn till evenings sweeter psstime
grew, .'- ....... - ?
With timbrel, when beneath the forests
Thy lovely maidens would the dance renew;
And aye those sunny mountains halfway
Would echo asgeolet from some romantic
Such was the condition of the place
ere the savages with one swoop fell upon
and massacred it's inhabitants, OF whom
400 perished by fire, food, and fight
through the fearful swamp. which, to
this DAY bears the appropriate name OF
"The Shades of Death. T." The fatal
blow was struck on the third OF July,
ITS, and the thrilling details OF the
bloody business that ensued-the massa-
Gre of men, women and children; the
noble stand taken by the yoemanry with
pixies and sickles and pitchforks, and
such other implements as they could
command !; the flight of the wounded in
canoes down the river the hardships
encountered in the wilderness-sll con-
spire to make up one of the most bar
rowing chapters in the history Of any
land, or any era ancient or modern The
angel of death spread ruin and desola-
tion over the place, and what few short
days before was very paradise seemed
transformed to a hell more awful than
ever presented itself to the lurid imagi-
nation of Dante. 's .... ..sa a-....
We who live in the midst Of security
and surrounded now by the monuments
raised up by the march Of civilization,
can never form morelthan faint idea of
the terrors that flied the valley from
end to end during that horrible tragedy.
Nor can we but family conjure to our
selves picture fof the fugitiyes gray
haired men, feeble women, and helpless
children-who struggled to escape from
the awful scene, those they loved, sons,
husbands and brothers, burning at the
stake or subjected to torture more cruel
while they pursued their journey engi!r'tt
by death. ..,..:.,..:,.!, ,......y., ,I....c
with bitter memorie:. The descendants
of some OF, the sufferers who survived
still reside here, and have conversed
with me since my advent to the valley
of the thrilling stories which their
fathers and mothers often told them,
and I drove to the crude monument
erected by the patriotic women OF Wy
oming and read the following inscrlp-
tion '.;2T'" ',.'' i.'-., ''~'' ..... "j }
Near this spot was fought, on the afternoon
Of Friday, the third day Of July, 1Ta :.
THE BATTLE OF, WYOMING, .,,....
in which small band Of patriotic Americans,
chiefly the undisciplined, the youthful and the
ranks OF the Republic. led by Colonel Zebulon
Butler and Colonel Nathan Denison with .
courspe that deserved success, boldly met and
brayely fought combined British, Tory and
Indian force of thrice their number. hu-
mericsl superiority alone gave suceess to the
invader, and widespread havoc, desolaton and
ruin marked his savage and bloody Footsteps
through the valley. .'..'''..''' q.
THIS MoruN1N1, 80.
Commemorative OF these events
And Of the Actors in them, ...,.
Has been erected
Over tho bones Of the slain
By their descendants and others who greatly
appreciated the services and sacrifices OF their
patriot ancestors.
This monument stands over q pit IN
which the bodies of the slain were
buried by their friends when they re.
turned after the death storm had spent
it's force. The precise location OF thus
pit had not been discovered until 1857,
when by mere accident the bones were
exposed to view. g..
Probably in no nation has there been
such bravery exhibited or such savsgery
practiced as at the battle OF Wyoming,
where. as the monument eloquently at.
tests: "the undisciplned, the youthful
and the aged" displayed such heroism.
Thermopyls has often been cited In
prose and essay as the scene OF true
heroism, but Wyoming deserves q niche
fully as high in the temple of fame, and
an altar as divine at the fame OF bravery.
The fierce Hun was mild when compared
with the savage Indian, and Attila,
" the scourge of God" was meek when
compared with the Mammoth Brandt,
of whom the poet fit]y said:
Aocursed Brandt he left Of sll my tribe
Nor man, nor child, nor thing OF living birth
No not the dog that watched my household
Escaped that night Of blood upon our plains
Wyoming valley teens to-day with
wealth. The grim black breaker lifts
it's towering head along the stately river.
and is eloquent all day with the song o.
labor. Busy steamers ply to and fro or
the Susauehanna, the whistle Of locomo
tiyes awakes the echoes along the neigh
boring mountains, and prosperolu
homesteads peep out from between tht
trees from Plymouth all along the leve
uov to Csn pbell's ledse. Graphic.