The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-08-08

RRADr-s HEAP.
0ne of the famous characters ol
the border, a hundred years ago, wal
Samuel Brady. He seemed to have
possessed the qualities best caIculat
ed to win and hold the place and
honor of q hero among tia Pioneers
In him were combined Immense
strength, the most astonishing agili
is, nerves steady as steel, and great
endurance. He was brave to reck.
iessness, vigilans as q weasel. and Gun
ming as q fox, gifted with peculiar
tact and fertility Of device, and skill
ed in everything pertaining to from
tier life and warfare. Many times be
outwitted and overmatched the
widest aud ablest of the Indian chief
tains-
To such qualities be united those
that inspire the esteem and conf
dence Of friends !; be was generous
TO a fault, affable and sympathetic,
courteous 10 manners aud entertain
ing in conversation
| Indeed, 20 numerous were the ex-
| celIencies and exploits attributed to
him, that he might be deemed a
mythical parsonage, had be lived a
few centueries farther away in the
lpsst.
But the writer has known so many
relatives and intimate friends of Cap
tain Brady /; has see such positive
and still existing proofs Of bis cour-
age and prowess, and visited the
very spot Of SO many Of his deeds,
some OF which jet bear his name.
that his place among American cele-
l5rilies is fully established. His rela-
hive, Major General Hugh Brady. of
whom General Scott makes such hon.
orable mention ia the battle of Chip
pewa, used to say : Captain Sam
Brady is the bravest Of Americans.
compared with whom the rest of US
are little better than towards"
He reached maturity of body and
mind so early as to have borne a part
in the seige of Boston before be was
eighteen years of age ; and as q lieu
tenant, though not twenty-one, was
the most efficient in escaping and
saving others from the massacre OF
Paoli. Owing to the ~butehery of
his father and a brother by the In.
dams, be had in boyhood registered
a VOW of vengeance, which, perhaps,
NAV in part account for his intrepid
Iity.
The recital of one of his exploits
viii give al idea both Of the meu
and border warfare as waged against
the early inhabitants of regions now
peaceful and prosperous.
Brady had beeL placed in com.
mand OF a small party of scouts
detailed TO watch the movements Of
the Indians and gave warning Of the
approach of hostile bands toward the
settlements. The territory to be Gov.
cred by his operations was. denomi,
mated tie French Greek Country
a wild but beautiful belt of forest
"oil regions" and extending north
and south across the counties Of We
mango and Crawford, Pennsylvania.
One afternoon the scouts struck a
fresh Indian trail in the valley Of a
stream called Slippery Rock Greek.
Calculating from the character o:
the trail that the enemy were no. nu.
merous enough to make it necessary
to spprise the garrisons and settle
ments, Brady decided to follow the
savages and attack them at daybreak
the EEK, morning. Swiftly but war;.
tly the scouts threaded the wilderness,
until, when darkness stopped their
pursuit, they were within a very
short distance of their unsuspecting
foe. Munching a supper of veoison
and corn, and drinking from their
hands the waters of a brook, they
stationed their gusrds, and then lay
down among the dry leaves to wal.
for the dawn.
But while they had been tracking
and preparing TO assail the Indians
in their front, another and larger par
ty of Indians in their rear were trail
ling them, with minds bent
on blood worse trap being bated
for themselves than they had Sc, for
the enemy.
Daybreak came, and as soon as it
was light enough to look through the
sights of a rifle the scouts were un-
der motion. Creeping among the
dense foliage, q few minutes brought
them within range of their victims,
who were sitting 10 q circle eating
breakfast. Each selected his target
when Brady gave the signal to Gre,
which was the imitation of the boot
of an owl, and the crack of their
guns rang but through the woods.
Hardly had the smoke cleared
away, when the other party of red
skins opened FIRE upon TIE whites.
Two of Brady's men fell at his side,
and perceiving from the number of
guns discharged that the enemy was
too strong to be successfully resisted
the wary captain instantly adopted
the motto, Discretion is the better
part of v%alor.,' and gave his party
the word TO save themselves BY
fight.
There are emergencies when true
martial wisdom teaches that
That he who fights and runs away,
May live to fight another day
Brady himself started like a deer
to get GU. of the jaws of bis out
numbering foes. A few steps brought
him out of the thicket, from which
they had discharged their guns, upon
a slope of open woods. OF course