The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-04-24

line OF Chlefs-and am left behind to Ii,
Tor you. While in my veins course I'll
{, best blood of the great Suns of the Natche
VIII desert my tribe, and forfeit all f,
s nm truly love; and now in proof of VIII
lsay, come to you to warn you of mo
Q terrible plot for the destruction of vol
. colony. Nay, do not laugh, this is no id
, dream of mine, and if you will only hee
: my warning, all may yet be safe. You al
well aware that Col. Chepar has demande
of my tribe the grounds and beautift
White Apple Village, but it will never b
his-so says the Great Sun, so says all til
Natchez; and since the day when the dc
mand was made, large councils have bee
held throughout the tribe, and it has bee
decided to massacre the colonists, but nc
give up the Village. They also. have dc
cided not to divulge the secret to til
squaws for fear it would reach the ears O
the French, but my mother fearing some
thlng was going wrong, took my brothe
OIL one side this morning, and coaXed hin
to confide in her, under the promise O
secrecy, when he divulged the plot, witt
all their plans. My mother knowing tn,
love feel for you, acquainted me, and
hastened hither through the rain, to say,
you. Could do less%'
"But how, Winena, do they propose tc
make the attack? l can hardly credit the
belief you entertain; beside, the Suns al
seem so friendly to us-and only last night
three or four were in the Colonel's quarters
drinking brandy with. him, and all got
drunk together"
sit makes no difference if they We're,
they know dissimulation well," she re
Piled, 'and it is part of their plan to
evade any and all suspicion by appearing
on the most friendly terms but be not de-
ceived by their pretended friendship, for
they have already sent messengers to all
the other tribes to assist them, and each
Sun and Chief throughout the land has been
provided with II bundle of sticks, each one
containing the same number. which is de-
posted in their temples, and every day one
stick is to be removed from the bundle, and
on the day the last stick is drawn, the at
tack will be made simultaneously through
out the settlements and upon the fort ; so,
as you value your life and the lives of your
countrymen, as you regard me, and the
love entertain for you, as well as our hap
piness hereafter, let not my warning be in
vain. Send the women and children down
the river; put the fort in better state of
defense; call all the men in from the plan
nd b,;, IL i
that Of tho .."~-:~~.. - -~~l-1
to the hunting grounds with my father"
Il will mention the matter to Col. Chepar
my little girl, and thank you
kindly for the information, but | hope your
fears are unfOunded; however, we will try
and prepare for the emergency. But it is !
growing late and you have to go, so give me
a kissa Iwillvisit Chepar's quarters and |
tell him of the plot"
# Il
Two days subsequent to the interview re-
lated above, Winena again came to the fort,
and urged the necessity for preparing for
III attack, and on this occasion had an in
,erview with Chepar, who only laughed at
Ter story, and sent her out of the fort with
he injunction to come there no more with
Ter lies and scare-crow stories, and made
lis brags that his soldiers could whip the
.ntire Natchez tribe. She returned to her
lone almost disheartened, for her lover,
Maj. De ROuche, seemed to disregard her
but she did not wholly despair of
aving them yet. Some time during the
al al,n IN ha |
emple, and removed three of the sticks
rom the signal bundle, which she knew
would hasten on the attack three days be-
ore the arrival of the cOnfederates from
he other tribes, hoping thereby in depriv-
ng her own tribe of the strength they re-
ed on, that the garrison would be able to
the attack. 1t was the best she
ould dc; ; her warnings had been unheed-
d, and she had been roughly ordered from '
ne fort by the commandant of the garrison {
ne was trying to save. :
The sun went down on the 2Sth Novem-
er, 1929, in sea of crimson. Everything e
as quiet in and about Fort ROsalie, save '
ow and then the sound of mirth and u
ughter coming from the commandments
uarters. Two or three Chiefs of the y
atchez were his guests, and as they be- Il
lme heated with brandy their carousal v
ecame more and more noisy, though t
iught but good feeling seemed to prevail,
Id they broke up at late hour-Chepar e
go to bed, and the chiefs to retire out Z
de the stockade. Thus the night passed,
it'll just before day, the sentinels were
artled by the sharp report of firearms I'M
II the bluff. This was the signal for the
tack, which was almost simultaneous L
roughout the settlement. The war II
hoop of the savages now filed the air, ~
e long roll of the drum beat to quarters p
e sleeping garrison inside the fort. The IN
of the women and children, the \
oans of the wounded and dying, com I'll
ngled with the roar of musketry and az OF
lery from the fort, and the rifles Of the u
lnters made night indeed bideous. Then, a.
light the scene of slaughter, and add to tI
horrOrs-already too horrible to real 81
the Indians set fire to the houses, gI
len a conflagratiOn ensued, such as the M
ant colony Hau never steh VI hhoNh' "
d, when daylight appeared, more than & as
o hundred Frenchmen lay dead upon the 81
ne of the affray. Maj. De Rouche was IT,
md with tomahawk buried in his skull, tic
ide the fort, while three dead braves lay m
,und him, killed by his own hand. The or
.risOn were all massaered-nOt a soul "a
ed to tell the tale. Col. Chepar ledfrom ~, @
tort in the commencement Of the ac-
n and took refuge in a garden, conceal m;
himself under some shrubbery, from Ci
ence-On being discovered, soon after Al
was dragged out, and consid-
NJ shooting too good for him, he was % o.
t to death with clubs by the squaws Of IN IN
tribe. Two men, carpenter and no
or, together with ninety-twO women, ~,
y-five children, and all the negroes were
tured. ,
lie fort and houses, also two boats just fri,
wed from New Orleans, laden in part lee
h liquors. were plundered, and long z.
ne Of carousal and debauchery followed, ed
inE which the most revolving atrocities at