Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-02-13

Vic gtt HOlt IeTrlDiC savage, CfOuCu'
ing underneath a bunch of zane OF
from some moss covered oak, might al
any moment send his deadly spear, oil
the twang of the bow might be the
first warning of the severance of all
ties OF home and love.
On one occasion q can't get the
date), the governor brought his wife
with him, intendingto return as usual.
Her woman's love rebelled at the fire.
quent separations, and her woman's
courage, melted by love, failed to yield
to the dictates of caution. Before the
annual return, Mrs. G. MOntebreune
gave birth to a son, "the first male
child born in the vicinity of Nash
vile" When her approaching con
tinement became a positive assurance,
she was conveyed to the cave at the
mouth of Mill Greek, as a place of
safety from Indians, as we'll as protec-
ton from cold. 1t was made with a
strong door and an opening for the
escape of smoke, and there William
D~emonbreun, of Williamson county,
first saw the light. What wonderful
changes are made in names. His
father had already lost voluntarily a
portion of his name, leaving out the
two last es at the end of the last two
syllables, but here was innovation that
landed him, so far as the name went,
out of the family. At an early age he
went to the frontier near College
Grove. No pedagogue had ever in
stllled the alphabet into his mind, and
so his neighbors adopted the name for
him and spelled it as it was pro-
nOunced. And thus two brothers one
in Nashville and the other thirty miles
oft, owned two entirely different names.
The necessary removal of the mother
to the cave deprived the child of the
honor, and gave it to DR.. Robertson.
of being the first white male child
born IN the city Of Nashville"
The next spring, having laid in
new supplies of goods and recruited
their numbers, they returned. and
continued to return thus for man
years, never staying through a winter.
Occasionally, a skeleton is exhumed
in the Sulphur Spring bottom. and
each time great discussions take place
as to the dead. These graves and
several mounds, now leveled by civili-
%ZatiOn, existed there at the rstlanding
of Captain, or rather Governor de
Montebreune, and the oldest " In
dams. were just as ignorant of the
dead occupants as we are now. There
was, beyond question, a great city here
in the age of the mound-builders in
probability, far more populous than
the n here now. Their remains still
exist in large numbers all around. and
1t is reasonable to suppose the Salt
Lick presented the same inducements
to those unknown and vague peoples
as it did in after ages.
Hitherto our settlers had deemed il
an impossibility to endure the hard
ships of a winter in the wilderness.
Now they were, by stern necessity.
forced to do 80; for, before the gov
ernOr's wife had recovered sufficiently
to return, the winter commenced in
earnest; the river became frozen over.
and they were forced to remain.
The winter passed far more pleas
antly than they anticipated. and
thereafter the only visits made to
Kaskaskia were for a fresh stock of
goods and to dispose of their peltries.
Before this year, however, which |
failed to mention in its proper place,
a great difficulty occurred between
the settlers and the Indians, which
resulted in the massacre of every man
Of the party except Demonbreun and
one companion. They escaped by be-
ing out hunting at the time of the at
tack. Finding, on their return. their
fellows all murdered and their stores
plundered, they betook themselves to
the forest and made their way through
by land, and with their sad tale of
woe safely arrived in their native
town, after incredible hardships and
privations. But it took them three
months to accomplish the journey, for
no turnpikes or blazed pathway lent
its inviting way to the faded travellers.
Their way was through dense, un-
broken forests, impeded by cane.
tangled vines and fallen timber that
obstructed every foot of the trip.
After the birth of Billy, as he was
called, they remained all the ear.
Occasional difficulties occurred with
the Indians, but none serious. A man
named lie Fevre, a bold, restless hun
ter, was disposed to make trouble. but
usually left home for his fights. He
soon became known to the Indians as
a man to be dreaded. He would leave
Bluff" for weeks at a time. and
when he returned many scalps hung
from his belt. The Indians watched
him closely and sought to kill him.
but he was fortunate in evading them
for several years. One morning, how
ever, when a little boy, the father of
W. X. Demonbreun, of Edgefeld.
went to the pasture to drive up the
cows, ne found the dead body of LIE
Feyre lying by a log within a few steps
of Wilson's Spring, and the absence of.
his scalp told the tale. Retribution
had at last Oyertaken him.
To diversity the tedium of frontier
life, the traders established a race
track that began near the Judges
Spring and ended at Browns Landing.
near the work house In a visit 10
their old home, years afterwards. a
sudden accession Of cold overlook
them and they came near freezing to
death. One Of the men killed a bear,
and stripping off its smoking hide,
wrapped Mrs. Demonbreun up in il.
The next morning it was frozen
around her and could only be hacked
of, they being without fire. The pov-
ernor did all the d%octoring of the
A three-cornered file and a
hammer served him to pull teeth. If
any took collie a heated board was used
n