The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1876-07-13
BILL HARRIS; Oh, THE PION-
EER'S RETEHGE.
By E. WENTWORTH.
Golden Hours.l

Golden Hours.l
Within four miles of the head of Lake
George lies fertile valley well known to
the surrounding region as Harris Hollow.
Here. at the close of the struggle for IN
dependence, resided the hardy back
woodsman from whom this delightful
seclusion took its name. He had been a
severe sufferer by the war both in person
and property, and had brought out OF it
a settled hatred for the authors of his
calamities. Though he had signalized
himself for daring, in every part OF the
protracted contest, and had shed much
blood, his revenge was not yet complete.
He had vowed eternal hate toward the
entire race of Indians and Tories, and
nothing but their utter extirpation could
absolve him from the oath.
The circumstances which laid the
foundation for this permanent bitterness
had occurred in the early part of the
strife, and we're briefly these: A scouting
party, of which Harris was one, was sur
prised in the night by company Of
Tories and Indians, and cut of to man.
Struck to the ground in the fray, Harris
rose upon his knees on discovering
Tory neigbbor among the assailants, and
implorcd him, by their former friendship,
to spare his life. CurSing him for an IN
corrigible rebel, the other raised the butt
of his rifle to beat out the brains of his
PROSTATE victim: "For Gods sake,
Parks, don't kill mel" The stock OF the
weapon descended upon his head with
stunning violence, the Indians tore the
scalp from his fractured skull, and he was
left for dead with his murdered compan-
ions. Mangled as he was, he revived
soon after the departure of the enemy,
and, having crawled as far as he was
able from the scene ofconhict, concealed
himself under log, covering himself
with branches and leaves. At daybreak
the party returned to the spot to secure
the remaining booty and dispatch sur
vivors. He was missed from among the
slain, and was fortunate to escape the
diligent but hasty search made for him
by the murderous Parks, who more than
once stumbled over the very place Of his
concealment. For the four days follow
ing, the wounded man crept upon his
hands and knees before he reached set
tlement. 1t was hot weather, and his
wounds were in a horrible state; but by
speedy dressing and constant attention
his life was preserved, and he slowly re-
covered, to become a dreaded scourge
to the willy foes that infested the from
tiers, and to those bitterer internal enc
mics of the State, the Tories of the Rev
olution.
The declaration of peace brought but
a partial cessation of frontier hostilities,
and many dark deed was perpetrated
even after the contending nations had
ceased to shed each others blood. Harris
held it as lawful to shoot an Indian Or
Tory as to kill wildcat, and there were
not wanting opportunities to put his
theory into practice. The first of these
was as follows:
An Indian doctor, in his periodical
peregrinations, was passing Harriss
house on his route to a neighboring
swamp to gather herbs and roots for his
simple ntdterid medicd. Harris's children,
who inherited all their sire's antipathy
for the aborigines, insulted the man Of
medicine with missives and blackguard,
until he lost all patience and threatened
to t5mahawk them. This menace,
though intended only to frighten the
troublesome urchins, was sufficient for
Harris. Selling his rife, he followed
the unsuspecting and unofending dis
ciple of Esculapius to the woods, and,
if tradition may be credited, shot him
through the head and sunk the body in q
deep, sluggish brook, which found its way
through the middle of the morass.
Although no one, at that time, knew
certainly what had become of the Indian
doctor, the report, darkly limited, that
Harris had done his business for him, y
amply confirmed by his welLknowr
antipathy to the red race, reached the
tribe. and, according to their invariablt
custom, a powerful warrior was deputed
to retaliate the injury By the death o
the murderer. Ere this avenger o
blood arrived, Harris had sacrificed an
other victim to his unquenched thirs
J for revenge. This was no less than th.