Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1886-04-09

ana suppOslnB IiV"i t"O i'P"i' W
the gun which he shot, that he was
either killed or engaged in conflict
with the Indians, FASTENED to the
spot. On seeing him, Adam called
out to him to "kill the big Indian
on shore But Andrews gun,
like that of the Indians, was
empty. The contest was now be-
tween the white man and the In
dian, who should load and fire
first. Very fortunately for Poe,
the Indian, in loading, drew the
ramrod from the thimbles of the
stock of the gun with so much
violence, that it slipped out of his
hand and fell a little distance from
him. lie quickly caught 1t up,and
rammed down his bullet. This de-
lay gave Poe the advantage. lie
shot the Indian as he was raising
his gun to take aim at him.
AS soon as Andrew had shot the
Indian, he jumped INTO the river to
assist his wounded brother to
shore but Adam, thinking more
of the honor of carrying the scalp
Of the big Indian home as trophy
of victory than OF his own safety,
urged Andrew to 60 back and pre-
vent the struggling savage from
rolling himself into the river and
escaping. Andrews sOlicitude for
the life Of his brother prevented
him from complying with this re-
quest.
In the mean time, the Indian,
Jealous of the honor Of his scalp
even in the agonies Of death, sue
ceeded in reaching the river and
getting into the current, so that
his body was never obtained.
An unfortunate occurrence took
place during this conflict. Just as
Andrew arrived at the top of the
bank for the relief of his brother,
one Of the party who had followed
close behind him, seeing Adam IN
the river, and mistaking him for =
wounded Indian, shot at him and
wounded him in the shoulder. He
however recovered from his wounds.
During the contest between Adam
Poe and the Indians, the party,
had overtaken the remaining six
of them. A desperate conflict
ensued, in which five OF the In
dians were killed. Our loss was
three men killed and Adam Poe
severely wounded.
Thus ended this Spartan conflict,
with the loss of three valiant men
on our part, and with that of the
whole Indian party excepting one
warrior. Never on any occasion
was there a greater display OF
desperate bravery, and seldom did
a conflict take place, which, in the
issue, proved fatal to so great a
proportion of those engaged in it.
The fatal result of this little
campaign, on the side OF the In
dians, OccasiOncd universal
mourning among the Wyandot
nation. The big Indian and his
four brothers, all of whom were
killed at the same place, were
amongst the most distinguished
chiefs and warriors of their nation.
The big Indian was magnani-
nous as well as brave. lie, more
than any other individual, contrib
uted, by his example and influence,
to the good character of the Wyan-
dots for lenity towards their prison
ers. He would not suffer them to
be killed or i'll treated. This
mercy to captives was an honorable
distinction in the character OF the
Wyaudots, and was well under
stood by our first settlers, who, in
case of captivity, thought 1t a
fort unate circumstance to fall into
their hands.
1t is csnsoling to the historian
to find instances of those endOw-
ments of mind which constitute
human greatness even among
savages. The original stamina Of
those endowments, or what Is call
ed genius, are but thinll scattered
over the earth, and there can be
little doubt but that the lower
grades of society possess their
equal proportion of the bases OF
moral greatness, or IN other words,
that there is as much of ndtire
genius, in proportion to numbers,
amongst savages, as there is
amongst civilized people. The
difference between these two ex-
tremes of society is merely the
difference of education. This view
of human nature, philosophically
correct, is well calculated to in
crease the benevolence of even the
good Samaritan himself, and en-
courage his endeayOrs for the in.
struction of the most ignorant,
and the reformation Of the most
barbarOus.
Had the abOriginals of our coun.
try been possessed of science to
enable them to commit to the
faithful page of history the events
of their intercourse with us since
the discovery and settlement of
their native land by the Europeans,
what would be the contents of this
history Not such as it is from the
] n. - L.atA.,,...