The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-03-16
Il " INDL1N GRE.
A STORY OF FEMALE uERo1sM.

There died in Detroit recently woman
:" little known, even to the people on thc
ock in which she lived, that The grape or
he dnor was the first warning many of
them had that she had l,ecn i'll. II Sa>
lie widow ilutlcy. aad living IN ttc sauir
cottage, and made w iCiOw 1T the same
,ine. was Mrs. Ehberts.
As t!e lIial of John p. Leo brnush:
back tn public recnllc ion The EnitoIs 81
piunrcr Lille in the west, the death of Mrs.
iiuiiey may again uncover that page q.
history on which was written l.,s, i,idiar
massacics Of frontier settlers in Minnesota.
Both widows weie victims uf that brief
aud bloody siiife which de es"iatcd 80 many
cahius on that picket lire of civilization.
History forgot to record their names and
their .ernisin.
When the frontier Troubles began he two
widows were wives and moIieIs, living la
log cabins about Il mile apart. These TWO
cabins we're the only ones fur three or four
miles either way. and when the conduct uf
,he Indians became SO suspicious thai pru
deuce cuunseilUd removal from he frontier.
he Ebberts family left ,heii home and con
~olidatcd with the Hutleys Cor mutual de-
fence. Each family had two children. max
Iug eight persons in tie cabin. The In
clianS had thus far nulested 40 one, bu
,hey wore fierce and suIly looks. siiuiked
and the pioneers were living i'll state al
excitement and apprehension. One day,
when The women had occupied the same
cabin for two weeks, Nj. Iiutley started
for IL settlement seven miles distant Ia pro-
cure provisions, leaving Mr.. EhbcriS 7"
guard the cabin. All outdoor work had
ceased II the pioneer muved outside Of
The barricadrd cabin his life was carried
IN his hand. and his eyes We're on the alert
To detect the u essence oG the expected foe.
The average woman can sewer the :ieS rf
fricndSiiin oi rise superior to lie penis ut
she houi, I" carry her point. Mr.. lluiicN
had NOT been gone an hour wl,cu the chil-
dieU, rendered nervous aud rIirable 10y
their close confinement, engaged in - guar
tel. The eldest child was tive that
great physical damage could have been ia
tlicte,i, but the quarrel angcrcd the moth
rrs harsh woidS passed and HTS. EtbcriS
declared that she would not remain in thc
Huilev cabin an hour. Her husband was
weak-minded enough to share in her feel
ines, and Immediately preparations were
made T., return aid occupy ms own cabin
lie took the bed on his back. and tle eldest
Child Ivy he hand and started for home.
leaving his wife tn follow or with his rifle
and the other child. Anger brought such
II spirit If ieckiessness that the man
longer feared any danger. Mrs. Ehbcrts
did not inincdi ,,eiy follow, having to make
up a bundle Of little a,tclrs. and ihc hus
band had about twenty minutes start of
her, While both women were heart ilv
ashamed of their silly conduct five minutes
after thei hot words had been spoken. yet
neither would be the hrst To- make concili;-
tony advances, and Mrs. iiuiley stood in
her cabin tioor and saw MIS-. EbbeIis aud
Child disappear in the forest
Just as she lost sight of them she heard
tho report OF rifles aud faint yeils in tIIe di-
rec,ion of The other cabin, aud she instant
" divin. q HAT the long expected blow had
fallen. Forgetting everything but the tact
that her neighbors were in peril. size took
down the spare rifle which her husband
had provited, and which she knew bow to
use. warned her children not Ia leave Ire
cabin, ard in two or three minutes she
running through the weeds after Airs.
Ebberts Ii subsequently appeared that
Ebber,s had just reached his home when
he was attacked by Il band of 1T least iifiy
Indians The child WAS shot ut he first
vollry. but the father prolonged Isis life for
n few minutes by doigiug from tree to
tree. His wife WAS within eighty rods of
him when lie was killed. She heard the
firing and whooping. and, while prudence
warned her to retreat. her love Gorcsd her
on to Join her husband. The Indians had
caught sight of her and opened fire when
Mrs. liutley came up.
History will never record y braver decd.
Rendered desperate by the almost certain
knowledge that her husband aud one child
had been murdered, Mrs. Ehbe,ts was like "a
tigress She had her husbands rifle, and
for time the two lore women held the en-
tire band of savages ut bay. Nay. more
than that. they killed three of the redskins
and wounded two more. tie fndidans
af,erward admitted. When they found
That Tie plan was to surround them they
fell back. Between tha, point aud the
cabin TIE child was killed. The w5.,en
carried the body for few rods. iu. the