Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1879-04-09
A Noted Frontiersman.

1
''Do you know to whom Holland refer
red in his character, Belcher, in Seven
oaks Z"
''No. Do youl"
Colonel Sam Colt. Holland and were
school-feIlows and friends, always or /
should never have known"
s.How strange,''I / exclaimed. i knew
some of the other characters; Benedict, for
instance"
''Where did you meet himp
''On the Cowlitz river, near its junction
with the Columbia, Washington territory.
He is no less parsonage than the lineal
descendant of Sir William Wallace, the
Scottish chief"
s'Col Colts character think very fairly
represented in Belcher. How about Wal
lace's in Benedict"
Excepting in his excessive modesty, not
at all. l think to-day he is as bashful as
schoolgirl; but no one can make his ac-
qulaintance without being impressed that he
is a fitting representative of his famous an
cestors- powerful in body and mind, brave
and generous"
'.Had he sisteri"
''Yes, highly educated and possessing all
the graces and accomplishments of mind
and person that Mrs. Dillingham; personi-
fed, and was a wealthy widow at the time
referred to- In 1868 | spent some months
in Mr. Wallace's family and learned some
Of his history from the family and neigh
bors. Wallace had an inventive mind At
the age of eighteen he supposed he had dis
covered perpetual motion. He called the
proprietor of an eastern machinery depot at
midnight to witness his triumph, who, on
inspecting his machine, exclaimed: '.By
Jove, you've got it." Wallace laughed
about his early hunt and said that when any
man could hold himself by lifting at his
own boot straps that man had reasonable
hope of discovering perpetual motion
''In 1917 he married a beautiful Scotch
lass and crossed the continent to Fort Walla
Walla, but continued his journey to Oregon
Just in season to escape the Wheatland mas
sacre. He soon took the advantages offered
by the government and became one of the
few who made the settlement of the Cowlitz
river: and soon after became the engineer
of the first steamboat ever run on the
Columbia river, the Bell. Though exposed
at all times to the dangers of a frontier life,
he never courted the friendship of the In
dians, but, on the contrary, treated them
with open, naughty contempt. But short
time previous to the great Indian massacre
of '56 he ordered a chief, who was erecting
a wigwam on his rancho, to leave The
Indian obeyed, but with threats Of speedy
revenge on the Boston man. A few days
after he was warned to flee TO the block
house for safety. He paid no attention to
the warning further than to put his own
house in order.
'''The great massacre commenced, and the
whirlwind of death passed him on either
side, but no band of savages dared mOlest
the Boston chief, who, ensconced in his
own house on the bank of the river, sur
rounded only by his own family, aimed
with weapons of his own invention-the
famous revolver partly perfected-laughed
at all their threats. Two miles east of his
house abruptly terminate the rich bottom
lands of the Columbia and commence the
Cascade Mountains, the most inaccessible
part of the rocky range. Mount ST. Helens
looks down on them shrOuded in everlasting
SHOWS. From these mountain lairs, bears,
mountain lions, catamOunts and other wild
beasts constantly prowl about the fields and
pastures of the settlers. Soon after the
massacre referred to, while Mr. Wallace
was prOstrated with rheumatism, he heard
a neighbor's hunting dog barking in the
edge Of the woods not far from his house.
asking his boy, Leander, to carry his
rifle he took two canes and hObbled out TO
where the supposed bear was treed. The
moss. which on the Columbia bottoms COW
ers trees from limb to limb, prevented his
seeing his game till he arrived Immediately
beneath, when he saw, looking sharply at
the dog, catamOunt of the largest size.
Stepping along q few feet, he took the rifle
from his bows hand and turned to the tree.
The catamount soon changed its position,
presenting q fair mark. He carefully aimed
and fired. The catamOunt sank out Of
: sight in the moss, but did not fall. Drop
+ ping his rifle and drawing his hunting knife,
he turned to his boy and said: ''Leander,
we shall have dead catamount or the big
gest fight you ever saw in less than min
ute" He had a dead catamOunt. | might
talk all night of his adventures, but think
= we had better turn in.
''But the revolverl Did Wallace ever
make anything out of it2'
.'Not up to '63. His wife told me he
was too diifident to approach Col. Colt on
the subject.
"You say this Wallace is the lineal de-
scendant of Sir William Wallace, tAe Scot
tish chiefs'
''Yes. While / was there younger
| brother came from Massachusetts, bringing
the escutcheon or patent Of nobility. 1t
consisted simply of piece of parchment
covered with raised figures representing
feais at arms and deeds of justice. The
only words legible were, TO the name OF
Wallace and the signature of the king.
| The parchment was yellow with the age OF
! ten centuries, and the words almost hero
glyphics. 1t was given the family long
, before Sir William made the family name
immortal This ancient document and the
secret OF its possession are almost equally
well preserved. Ii was received from the
aged father with emotions of awe; and had
| not been an inmate of the house at the
e time | should probably never have known
of its existence or of Mr.. Wallace's famou:
anrestcrc -