Connecticut western news., 1883-09-12
CAPTURED BY INDIANS,
THE EARLY INDIAN WARS.

Stories of marvellous and ingenious escapes were the romance of the colonies, and such adventures date back to the earliest Indian war in Virginia, where 8 man and his wife, who had been spared in the wholesale slaughter, found their opportunity while the Indians were dancing for joy over the acquisition of 8 white mans boat that had drifted ashore. These captives got into a canoe, and soon afterward surprised their friends into the settlements, who had believed them to be dead. Very like this was the escape of Anthony Bracket and his wife in Maine. They were left to fol- low on after their captors, who were eager to reach plundering party in time to share in the spoil. Brackets wife found broken bark canoe, which she mended with a needle and thread; the whole family then put to sea i'll this rickety craft, and at length reached Black Point, where they got on board a vessel A little lad of eleven years named Flames, taken in Philips war, made his way thirty miles or more to the settle menis. Two sons of the famous Hannah Bradley effected an ingenious escape lying all the first day in hollow log and using their provisions to make friends with the dogs that had tracked them. They journeyed in extreme peril and suffering for nine days, and one of them fell down with exhaustion just as they were entering 8 white settlement. A young girl in Massachusetts, after three weeks of captivity, make bridle of bark, and catching horse, rode all night through the woods to Concord. Mrs. Dean, taken at Oyster River in 1894, was left, with her daughter, in charge of an old Indian while the rest finished their work of destruction. The old fellow asked his prisoner what would cure a pain in his head. She recom- mended him to drink some rum taken from her house. This put him to sleep, and the woman and child got away. Another down-east captive, with the fit ting name of Ioogood, while his captol during an attack on a settlement was disentangling piece of string with whicl to tie him, jerked the Indians gun iron under his arm, and leveling 1t at hi head got safely away.
 Escaping captives endured great hard ships. One Bard, taken in Pennsylvania lived nine days on few buds and fou snakes. Mrs. Inglis, captured in tn valley of Virginia, escaped ill compan, with German woman from place ia down the Ohio River After narrowl avoiding discovery and reeapture, the succeeded in ascending the south ban. of the Ohio for some hundreds of miles When within few days travel of settle ments, they were SO reduced by famin that the German woman, enraged tha she had been persuaded to desert tn Indian hesh-pots, and crazed wit hunger, made an unsuccessful attac tions.
 The most famous of all the escapes New England captives was that of Har nah Duston, Mary Neff, and 8 boy Samuel Leonardson. These three wer carried off with many others, in 1897. i the attack on Haverhill, Mrs. Duston infant child having been killed by tb Indians. When the captors had separ, ted, the party to whom the two wome and the boy were assigned encamped c an island in the Merrimac River. 4 midnight, the captives secured batche and killed ten Indians-two men, tv women, and six children-one favori boy, whom they meant to spare, and ol badly wounded woman, escaping. Aft they had left the camp, the fugitives T membered that nobody in the settl ments would believe, without evidenc that they had performed so redonbtat an action; they therefore returned al scalped the Indians, after which tn scuttled all the canoes on the island b one, and ill this escaped down the Mt rimac, and finally reached Haverhi This was such an exploit as made t
 actors immediately famous in that bloc
 time. The Massachusetts General Co1
 gave Mrs. Duston twenty-five poun.
 and granted half that amount to each
 her companions. The story of their d