Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1892-09-28
THE VICTIM.

plSantlc revolutions OF nlSUOTy SOlne-
times turn! How trivial the incl
dent that often changes the des-
TIMES of nations! How slight the
lever that overturns empires and
dynasties that have been centuries
in forming!
In the year ITO, man and his
wife, who were then in the prime
of life, emigrated to western Penn
sylvania, which, at that time, was
the extreme frontier of the colonies.
They were hardy, enterprising peo-
pie, and they instantly set to work
clearing off a patch of ground, and
erected a humble cabin. Indians,
jealous and treacherous, as they al
ways are, were around them, and
the pioneers could not avoid an oc-
casional thrill of alarm, us they re-
flected how utterly powerless they
were in the arms of these savages.
But there were other settlers around
them, and at that particular juno
ture, the aborigines were unusually
quiet. Besides this, the man and
his wife, taking lessons from the
Quakers in the eastern part of the
State, determined to buy the land
on which they proposed to settle,
and to treat all those Indians with
whom they came in contact, with
kindness and consideration.
On the first day that our friends
haulted upon their chosen home,
they were met by three brawny
Shawanoes. one of whom was Il
chief, who claimed the ownership
of the land. The settler paid a
blanket, knife, and number of
other trinkets for about five hun
dred acres-a price which, in those
times, was surely generous one.
Three days later he had the pleas
ure of paying two other Indians for
the same property, and about a
week later, five painted rascals called
on him, and inquired whether it was
convenient for him to ''settle that
little account" of debt for certain
tract of land upon which he had
squatted. 1t was true, the purchase
price was comparatively small, but if
matters progressed in this style, it
would not be long before the pio-
neer would be completely beggared.
He paid the unreasonable demand,
but with the inward resolve that it
should be the last.
Now, there was one intirmity
that fell to the lot of the settler
an infrmity which was peculiarly
unfortunate and dangerous to him
in the enterprise he had undertaken.
He had a violent temper, and when
excited he was like a man temper
arily insane. He gave way COM
pletely to it, never thinking of con-
sequences until it was too Late
When, therefore, about week
after their last visit, he was waited
upon by two savages, and earnestly
requested to remunerate them for
the land, he informed them, as well
as pantomime would allow, that he
should do no such thing; and when
they insisted upon it, he ordered
them to leave. His i'll humor was
increasing somewhat by the fact he
recognized these two aborigines as
members of the parties he had al
ready paid, and one of them actually |
had on blanket he had received |
from the white man.
The Indians left, for there was
something fearful in the rage of the
settler, and the two together burst
not confront it openly. The man
returned to his cabin somewhat |
alarmed and discouraged. He had
allowed himself to treat the Indians
rudely, enough to excite their exas-
peration, and no one could tell what |
the consequences might be. 1t was
true their demand was excessively |
but nothing was ever
gained by flying into passion, and
he never regretted the weakness of
his nature more than he did on this
occasion. He proposed to his wife
that they should return to where
more civilized customs prevailed,
even though the prospect Of amass-
ing a competency was far less. But
she persuaded him to remain where
they were. This portion of the
country was rapidly settling,
and the land they had already ac-