The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-09-06

Kearney demanded the cause of his being
there in that situation. The Indian rising
addressed him as follows:
''Maidenfoot was once Young; he hunted
the elk and the deer on the great mountain
he accompanied the war parties of his tribe
and proved hiInselfa a man he tried to resist
the onward march Of the enemy, the pale
face, toward the setting sun he fought at
LigOnier, at Bushy Run, at SanduslIy, the
Wabash, the Maumee he came 20 the fallen
timber and took his post ou yonder hillock;
his young men stood on his right and on his
left, hut when the pale faces came they fed
like squaws their bodies lie strewn round
in the bushes food for crows and buzzards
Maidenfoot is old aud alone, but he is no
coward he stood his ground like a warrior,
and has become a chief and has laid down
the hatchet and will never lift il again he
wants peace, lac wants rest, he desires to
live i'll the wigwam of the pale face here is
q token of friendship (holding out the hand
kerchieG the innocent dove who once
wore this emblem of peace may still be
alive, and would not deny MaidenfOot the
boon he now asks-hfe, peace, rest"
After the delivery of this harangue by
the son of the forest, Capt. Kearney laid
hold on the handkerchief, and to his sur
prise found On it the name of Mary NJ, the
maiden name of his wife.
He had often heard her relate the Incl
dent of her rescue az Ligonier by young
warrior who had obtained from her a
pocket handkerchief, bearing her name on
its border. The young warrior, old and
forsalzeu, stood here before him entreating
his favor: Could he refuse to grant il;
No He took the old man with him to his
home, where the unexpected meeting be-
tween him and Mrs. Kearney excited not
little interest.
Although the incident which led to their
first acquaintance happened near omar
ter Of a century before, they Immediately
recognized each other, and both shed
tears i'm profusion, Mrs. Kearney had
carefully preserved the beads, which in
early life she had received from Maiden
foot as a present, and which on one occa-
sion had been the means of saving her
from captivity and death. TO Capt. Kear-
ney's inquiry as to what had prompted
him to bestow that present, and how he
had managed for nearly thirty years to
preserve the handkerchief obtained after
wards, Maidenfoot replied, that at the
time he met Miss NJ. in the fort he had
Just lost "a sister about her age, that the
circumstance weighed so heavily upon him
rs to arouse all the finer feelings of his ma
ture, and that under the influence of these
feelings he resolved to adopt the pale face
girl in his sisters stead, and to cherish her
as such during life. The handkerchief he
said he had carried in leathey belt, care
fully wrapped up, and that every thirteenth
moon from the time he received it he had
opened it by way of commemorating the
event which had placed it in his possession,
as well as for the purpose of keeping him
steadfast in the resolution he had then
formed.
Capt. Kearney had the beads and hand
kerchief, which each in turn had been the
means of saving the life of an individual,
carefully preserved during the remainder
of his life-aud they are said to be still in
the hands of one of his family. Maiden
foot, in accordance with his wishes, was
taken into the family of Capt. Kearney,
and no means weEe spared to render his
situation comfortable and agreeable. He
was generally cheerful and very soon ac-
quired a knowledge of and applied him
self to the arts of civilization.
But his constitution began to give way
and he soon sunk under a lingering COIL
sumption. Capt. Kearney had cherished
high regard for him during his life, which
he manifested after his death, by having
him buried with military honors. In
small church-yard in the suburbs of Gin
cinnati, the ancient site of Fort Washing
ton, the curious may see the plain marble
slab which covers the remains of the no
bic hearted Indian with the simple in-
Scription, "In memory of MaidenfoOt, an
Indian chief of the eighteenth century,
who died civilian and Christian"