Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-12-01
The Last Red Man Killed in Eastern
Ohio by a Pioneer.
HUFPSHATRED OF THE ABORIGIEE
His Bride Goes Out to Meet Him and
is Killed and Scalped.
ARUNEIEG FIGHT FOR OVER $50 MILES

had painted with the glories of sunset. The
speaker was chance companion whose age
and manifest feebleness had recommended
him to the unoccupied seat in my buggy.
And the courtesy he repaid me by telling
me tales of the early settlement of the rs
gion Che was one of the pioneers himself),
as my horse rapidly carried us toward our
destination. His dialect was distinct
though not very pronounced. twas neither
Yankee, Southern, nor the modern Wild
West but the Western dialect of 80 years
ago, that in this retired hill district has still
clung to many of the inhabitants. Readily
Ineligible it has charm not easily repre-
sented by the side of those modern linguistic
monstrosities, the negro and Western dialects
as they appear in the magazines
"The grave is down in yonder holler. /
guess could point 1t out to you if we 'uz
down there. I've heerd old Johnney Nc
Coy tell how, when he was boy, he started
to dig the redskin up. 'Twere along in the
afternoon. The grave showed signs of
havin' been turned up before. an Johnney
worked away 'thout payin' much 'tention to
the shadders a crawlin out longer and
longer till at last it gan to grow mighty
dusky. Then Johnney gan to feel kind o.
skeert an to think about ghosts an Injuns.
The darker it got, the harder he thought
about 'em. He kept getting 'fraider and
'fraider an his teeth commenced to rattle
together while the dirt seemed heavier n
lead to throw outer that hole All at
once he looked up and thought he
saw a great big Injun with a toma-
hawk a standin' right over him. And he
jest throwed his mattock an : shovel
an streaked out over the hills fer home. He
dasn't look behind him, an every minute
he expected to feel that Injun twistin' of
his scalp lock. Never went back arter his
diggin' tools, but somebody else come along
l guess and filled in the hole he made, an
kept 'em for the pains.
What d he want t open the grave for?
I dunno, indeed. 'Spose it 'uz Jest boys
devilishness. Mayhap he wanted to see
what a dead redskin looked like. But un-
less an Injun hide II turn water better'n a
white mans he would MT ha' found more'n
a few mouldy bones. 1t 'uz years then
senee he'd been buried, an there want no
trouble of maxim q coffin. But the lad
learned lesson of lettin' dead folks rest in
peace.
NO INQUEST NEEDED.
"'Bout the Injun an who killed him?
Well, nobody ever took any trouble to find
out the deceast's relatives. He 'uz jest
common, everyday Injun, reckon. But
the man at killed him was old Joe HUFF.
the greatest Injun fighter as ever tramped
through the timber O. this section of coun-
try. 1 reckon he killed more o. 'em than
could find a livin' it three counties. He
never told me himself, but I used to hear
'em tell how he got SO severe against 'em.
HE 'uz ingaged to be married. The day
for the traddin' xroc sat Toa ba g4orfad
SOS to get there the day before. The girl,
she lived with her folks down along the
river some 'er' near Steubenville is now.
She was expectin' him, and had started out
to meet him when he went to cross the river
Not thinkin' of Injuns or anything of the
sort, she got too far away from the house,
an party of 'em that 'uz lvin' around in
the woods an high grass -waitin' to commit
some devilment intercepted her. They
weren't the capsherin' kind, but Jest coolly
tomahawked an scalped her in plain sight
o. the house and of Joe, who was on the
other side of the river an too fur away to
do any good 18th his gun. He follered up
the murderous gang and killed four out O.
six OF 'em-brought back the four scalps, as
well as the girls, but that couldn't bring
her back to life.
"Well, that made him bitter as pizen
'gainst the whole race O. redskins an he Killed
'em every chance he got Jest as he would
q eopperhead snake. An he got a right
smart lot o. chances too, for he hunted all
over Western Pennsylvania and Eastern
Ohio and he knew the country like astudent
knows his bookt.
"The Injuns chased him once for 15O
miles thought catchin' him. 1t uz
when Washington sent old Wayne out
West to look after a gineral risin' of the
Injuns in Ohio. Joe, always anxious for a
chance to fight 'em. offered himself as a
scout. Wayne sent him and another scout,
Dickerson by name, out as spies to
q place near Upper Sandusky, where
the Injuns, the Miaml's, think they were.
had town. They stained themselves cop
per colored an put on Injun dress; it wasn't
so very different from their own, but thev'd
killed so many it was easy to find the real
InjuA togs
A RISKY DODGE.
"Well, the y went into that camp O. red |
skins an walked around an talked with |
'em, found out how many braves an how |
many squaws there was an where they were
goin' to attack-got all the information they |
wanted, an if il hadn't a-been for one little |
hing they s-got of, reckon, without any
trouble. But Joe Huff haad pair o. blue |
eyes and-well there's no such thing as a
Dlue-eyed Injun. They're always gray or
black eyed. Joe hadn't been there but
few hours till he noticed 'em a-squintIn'
at his eyes. And he told his mate
.hey'd got to cut an run for it eff they didn't
want to fgger as the center of attraction at
-oastin' bee.
''They got off by startin' west without
tractin' much attention, and then circled
ha hooE oocf krox
lied about 20 miles, and were sittin' down
/ tryin' to chew some dried strips O. smoked
7enison, as hunters always those times car
led strung round their neck. They didn't
lare risk shootin' any fresh meat. When
III at once, dog put his feet up on log a
ew rods away and shifted at 'em, Joe
picked up his gun carelessly and looked
through the sights. No, you hold on.
There'll be something else there to shoot in
minute whispered Dickerson. Sure
nough. big Injun peeped over the log an
.ot the load from Joe's gun sol he never
,new what hurt him. Well, the Injuns
lad big party, an they 'uz q huntin'
hose two scouts in airnest, so there was no
toppin' to scalp their game or anything else.
they didn't even stop to sleep, but pushed
n shootin' one Of their pursuers every
ow an then jest to break the monotony of
be trip. But the Injuns didn't give up the
hase till they reached the blockhouse at
Iarietta, on the Ohio river. disremember
xactly how long it took 'em, About 36
ours, guess. Not slow gait. And they
ardlv had time to drink water, much less
) cook their string venison. Still it wasn't
n eclipse race, for the Injuns were close
nto their trail all the time.
swell, arter that little war uz over an
lad Anthony had gin the Indians a first
lass old-fashioned lesson, the business of
coutin' didn't amount to Is much as it had
sed to. Old Josie took q claim about
lille or SO down the creek, did q little bit o.
armin' now an then, when the speerit
.a...d hin, hr,t tho 49, &c h;n &;...o l.. |