The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1880-03-13
LITER ATURF.
Books.

! to Indian War, ana the carry NttltiutI, :" wy
i West with fun page illustrations. BN \. Mat
son, author Of Beyond the Atlantic Rcml-
| uiscruccs Of Bureau County," &c, Second
i Edition, Chicago: d. b, Cooke.
Two or three years ago We hat occasion To
notice the "NIcmuric, Of Shaubcna,' OF which
the first edition had then been issued, and we
are not surprised, from The character ol The
work that new edition has been called Tor.
While in the present most OF tn iormor ell
ton is retained, much interesting matter has
been added, and here and there portions Topped
off. on account of subsequent and more care
full investigation having cast Il shade of doubt
on the statements they contained. Mr.. Mat
SON. it is to be borne in mind, was personal
Ily acquaited with most of the actors IN the
interesting events he details and OF many an eye
witness, while as to the rest he has taken the
stories of eyc-wltncSses in almost every case,
and where as often happened, different wit
nesscS TO the same occurrences tod different
stories, he has critically compared them and
Iby cXtrancOus evidence rcCOHClcd the DIS
crepancics. Indeed, the book before us is
the result of forty years of diligcnt and almost
lceaseless labor, and considering the nature OF
the material the author had to deal with, his
narrative can confidently be relied upon as so
nearly the absolute truth that nearer ap-
proach in that direction can badly be hoped
| for
! While the present edition is IA decided inn
provement geographically on the former, we
are also pleased to observe that It Is purged OF
many errors in grammar and photography
Imainly the result of bad proof reading) that
we regretted to notice in the previous edition.
Among he new matter in the present edition
we find the following interesting "incident:'
In the summer of 1924, John Kinzie was on
| his way from st. LOUIS to Chicago with a
Mackinaw boat loaded with goods for the In
dian trade, and had proceededup the illinois
river as far rs the lower rapids when re-
markable incident occurred. Accompanying
| Kinzie as boatmcn were two young men, Ed
ward G. Ament and Theodore Beaubien, the
latter son of Col. }. b. Beaubien, an Indian
trader in Chicago. As klnzlc's boat was pro
ceeding slowly up the rapids OF the Illinois
river, opposite Starved Rock, the boatmen part
of time in the water pushing their craft for
ward against the swift current when they
Forqua, who wished to know where the boat
was going and of what It's cargo consisted.
After obtaining the necessary information For
qua returned to camp and informed his COM
rades of this discovery. The camp where the
halfbreed belonged was located at a spring
| by the bluff near the present site OF Utica. AT
this camp was white man, "a murderous out
law named Mason, with ten Indian warriors
as INSCRIPTIONS as himself Mason proposed
capturing KNEES boat numbering the crew,
and cuufscating the goods, and to this propo-
siton all of his comrades agreed except For.
IQua After consultation between Mason and
the Indians, it was decided to attack the boat
during the dead hour of night while the crew
were asleep, kill all on board, secure the goods
and burn the craft so destroy all evidences of
their crime.
Night coming on the boat was run ashore
in little bayou on the north side of the river
near Buffalo Rock and tied to Il tree. After a
hard days work the boamen retired to their
hunks ut an early hour, and were soon sound
asleep, unconscious of the danger that awaited
them.
A scout having been sent by Mason to watch
the boat, and seeing where 1t landed for the
night, and alter'doing SO he returned to the
camp with the required information.
At the Indian camp all was hustle and eX-
gagged in making the necessary preparations
for attacking the boat Knives were sharpeued, |
the pruning of their guns examined, and ev-
.crything made ready for the execution Of their
bloody work.
There was one link lacking IN the chain to
complete the arrangement of the murlerers |
and this absent link defeated their plans !
George Forqua was not "A murcrdcr at heart, |
and all the argument of his comrades could |
not induce him 10 take part with them. AL |
though he favored robbing the boat he op. |
posed killing the crew, and would not consent |
to stain his hands with human blood. Find |
ing himself overrued by his companions, he
decided on plan to thwart their designs and |
thereby save the lives of the boatmen.
At that time Shaubena with part of his |
band were encamped at spring near the
mouth of Fox river where they had been Il |
humber of days engaged in hunting and fish
ing. Soon after dark Forqua, without the
knowledge of his comrades, mounted his DO |
ny and put him in a gallop tor Shaubena's
camp. On arriving at camp he found the In
dians asleep in their hunks before the camp
fire, the night dark and rainy, the ponies loose
on the prairie and everything unfavorable for
Ferqua's mission. But on making his GRAND
known, Shaubena promised TO rescue the boat |
men, and set about making the necessary prep
arations rs no time was to be lost. Notwitn-
standing the rain and darkness, the chief and |
his braves caught and mounted their ponies
and piloted by FOrqua fastened to the rescue.
On arriving in the vicinity of the boat they
tied their ponies To trees, secreted themselves |
IN cluster of willows and here awaited the |
coming of the murdcrcrs.
The resculng party had scarcely time to hide |
themselves in their ambuscade when the AS
sassins came forward with great caution, Ma |
son, with his rife IN hand, leading the van,
followed by the Indians in single file. AS they
came near the boat, Shaubena sprang from his |
hdlngplace and caught Mason by the arm,
when the cowardly cutthroat shook all over
with fear while begging for his life. When
the Indians found themselves confronted by |