Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-07-16

ciates of Governor Calvert, in establishing the
| colony Of Maryland, at q later day. Fleet re-
manned with the Indians number of years.
learned their language and almost forgot his
| own.-was finally ransomed and returning to
England RECALLED the people with remarkable
stories about his captivity. He stated that he
had been within sight of the south seas, had
seen the Indians besprinke their paintings with
powder of gold. had seen rare precious stones
| among them and plenty of rich fur. He induced
| some London merchants to engage in the Po-
tomac Beaver trade, and on the 25th May. of 1882
| with pinnace Of twenty tons he reached the
Indian town of Potomac or ''POtawomeke"
On the LIST Of June he sent the pinnace back
| with a load Of corn and proceeded TO Piscataway
the residence of powerful chief and from
thence visited the Anacostans by whom he had
been captured several years before
| INGTeN.
On Tuesday, the 18th Of June he anchored
two leagues below the falls Of the Potomac. in
the vicinity of the present city Of Washington
OF this locality he wrote as follows: 'This place
| without all question is the most healthful and
pleasant place in all this country and most con-
| yenient for habitation; the air temperate in
summer and not violent in winter 1t abound
eth with all manner of fish. The Indians in one
night will catch 80 sturgeon in a place where
the river is not above twelve fathom broad and
as for deer buffaloes, beares and turkeys the
woods do swarm with them, and the soil is ex-
|
country is rocky and mountainous like Counida
The 9th of June manned my shalop and went
up with the food, the tide rising four feet at
this place; we had not rowed above three myles
but we might hear the falls to about six
myles distant, by which it appears that the river
Is separated with rocks, but only i'm that one
place far beyond is faire river"
PoPULOus INDIAN TOWNS IN THIS SECTION.
From this point Fleets brother, with two In
dams. went on journey in which they were
seven days going and five returning. In de-
scribing to Fleet the Indian towns which they
had seen, he says they all did affirm that in one
paiisade. and that being the last of thirty there
were three hundred houses and in every house
forty skins at least. in bundles and piles" The
Indians chose one hundred and ten of their
number to ascertain whether Fleets party were
| friends OF foes. and what their intentions were
These were laden with beaver to the extent of
| "4.OOO weight" and accompanied his brother
| about half way on his return, but being met
by the NacOstines, who told them that the whites
| intended to destroy them, they went back.
Fleet says by this invention Of deyils the life
of his brother was greatly endangered. On the
10th of July some Indians came to the river
| bank. and being treated kindly. went away and
| presently returned laden with beaver. They
| came from town called USserahak. where there
were seven thousand Indians These Indians
| were at war with the Nacostnes. who always
laid in wait for them, and interrupted their trips
down the river.
On the 18th of July he was visited by seven
| Iusty SayageS in strange attire. from another
place. Their language was naughty, and says
| Fleet, seemed to ask me what did there :"
They called themselves Mostikums but he after
| wards learned that they belonged to the Herec-
keenees. and lived three days journey beyond
| the Mostikums. ''These people" says Fleet,
delighted not in toys, but in useful commodi-
ties
He reported several populous places in the
vicinity OF the falls. governed by four kings,
| nad Nncf hmm
Shaunetowa and Usserahak, with upwards of
30 900 inhabitants.
| THE +. F. VS..
| Returning from this trip Fleet was appre-
hended off Piscataway by the Virginia authori-
ties for Illicit trading and taken to jamestown.
1t seems that he purchased immunity from pun
| ishment 10y a division of his profits with Coy
ernOr Harvey and others. Neill says the London
| merchants found the firginians of that day
slippery fellows. and We're ready to endorse the
sentiments of the Dutch Captain De Vries. who
had stopped at jamestown on his return from
| planting Dutch colony in Guiana, and had
been the guest of Governor Harvey. De Vries
said Of them: The English there are very hos
pitable, but they not proper persons to trade
with. You must lookout when you trade with
| them *** If they deceive anyone they account IT
among themselves roman action. They say IN
| trick
| SEEING FLEETS ADVENTUROUS CAREER.
Fleet is next heard from in connection with
the colonists under Calvert in 1854, on the lower
Potomac, with whom he remained for several
years. and among whom he was man of con-
siderable consequence. He however, became
inimical to the Marylanders, returned to Yir-
| GINA and was member of the legislature of
that province from Lancaster county, in the
| year 1862, and NELL says the old and hardy
pioneer may have last lived at Fleets Point on
! the Potomac.
LORD BALTINoREs COLONY.
| The next adventures to the shores Of the Po-
tomac were the band Of Maryland pilgrims. by
| whom the foundations of that state were laid
| who sought a retreat in the New World from a
land of persecution, and under whom. says Ban
| croft religious liberty obtained home, it s
| only home in the wide world"
On the 10th of June, 1852, Cecilius Calvert.
| Lord Baron, Of Baltimore. Roman Catholic
nobleman, obtained from the English King a
| charter giving him the territory extending from
| Watkins Point, on the eastern shore of the
| Chesapeake Bay. nOrthward to the 10th degree
| of north latitude, and from the ocean to the PO-
| tOmac river west. containing more than $780,
coo acres, to which region was given the name
of Maryland, in honor Of the Queen Henrietta
| Maria. This grant was claimed with apparent
| reason to include the whole peninsula between
| the Delaware and Chesapeake up to the 40th
degree oflatitude, which crosses the Delaware a
little above the city of Philadelphia, and embraces
| "a DcdWdIc part VI IcHHsS lfdIid Az
| tempts of the Marylanders to locate patents from
| Lord Baltimore on the Susquehanna, within the
present limits of the state Of Pennsylvania, were
resisted by the cOlonists of Pennsylvania, and
| led to what was called
THE CONOJACULAR WAR.
Jacobs, in his Life of Cresap" relates an
amusing incident of this war. Colonel Thomas
Cresap, the father of the subject of his sketch, a
man of herculean frame, obtained a Maryland
title to 500 acres of land near Wrights ferry OPP
pOsite where the town of Columbia now stands.
and removed to this place from Havre -de-Grace;
others set up claim to the land under Penn
sylvana title, and battle took place between
the cOntending factions at Peach Bottom, in
which the Pennies were defeated, some Of their
number being wounded. Receiving reinforce
ments, they renewed the attack and Cresap was
besieged in his own house. from which all efforts
failed to dlslodge him. Cresap sent his nine
year-Old son for assistance, but he was
| CAPTURED BY THE ENEMY
and brought into their camp. where, seeing their
powder in handkerchief he seized it and nearly
ucceeded in throwing it into the fire. The be-
siegers finally set fire to the roof of the house
and the Colonel was taken prisoner. They tied
| 10 han dc ho1 ind vyrfo or1 c;1o