The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1894-05-23
A DEGRADED PEOPLE.
Tho Descendants Of Indian Shanks
in New York State.
I4ais-savases Who Live Apart from Nv
utzed People and ssbsist MLeAy
rpon the Fruits Of the
Hunt.

The little store at Slaybaek's settle
mont. in the wild region about the
I,s,5vvaters OF the Delaware river II
delaware and Sullivan counties mas
among is customers some who are IN
5oBbtedlv the queerest lot that ever
b,d occasion 70 trade at anybody s
e.,-e savs a Delhi N y correspond
srt II tic New York sun They are
-ace entirely 10 themselves and live IN
the wilderness far away from any otL1er
human habitati0n, Il their own hab4ta-
lions may be dirnified with the name o.
human. for they are the rucest Of hutss
bu;It of old tree-trunlEs- brush mua
and odds and ends Of slabs and other
rafnse lumber. None Of these huts are
more than eight feet high, and chm
news or windows are unknown TO them
There are about two hundred Of these
people. men. women and children, and
fhev are all related to one another-re-
lated in such a way that they are Of an
extremely low orSer Of physical and
raental development They are known
bv three family names-the Shanes'
the Washes and the Macartys-but
how they came by them no one knows
There origin was peculiar
More than a century ago, while
good many Indians still tarried on
their old hunting and fishing grounds
in the upper Delaware wilderness, a
family named shannon settled near
the headuaters OF the P0pacton branch
Of the Delaware They were father,
mother and three daughters The
mother died soon after they came into
the resion. The eldest daughter left
home and lived with an Indian hunter
known As Shanks. who had cabin IN
that vicinity. Some time after that
her father was found dead with bull
let through his brain. Who was his
murderer was never found out His
other two daughters Joined their sister
at the Indians cabin. and for several
wears the three women lived with the
hunter. leading the life Of savages-
Eaosl OF the sisters had nine children
by their Indian lord, and when he left
the region and went % Canada, never
10 return. they remained, and there
are people living in Delaware county
to-day who remember them a. old
women. begging and thieving about
the country. Their numerous progeny
intermarried and the present wretched
colony in the mountains beyond the
Slaviack settlement are descendants
OF thern 20 the third and fourth geneT-
alton.
No one ever knew one Of these peo-
pie 70 have money. They have no use
for money. They are expert fisher
men. trappers ard hunters. They
bring fish. game. furs, nuts and berries
into the Slaybacl1 store and trade them
for such things as they require, and
their wants are few. Tobacco, pork and
ammunition are the chief items in their
supplies They all chew and smoke, the
women and children as well as the men,
and the stronger the tobacco the bet
ter Il salts them. They are not given
much 10 strong drink but even under
the stimulation OF alcohol they are dull
and sullen- A peculiarity Of these
half-savagcs is their indisposition TO
talk. Whether they are communion
tive among themselves Is not known,
but with others they use no words be
youd what are necessary in their busi-
ness dealings. There are many mutes
among the children OF the present gen
Grafton and deformities are almost the
rule.
The moment a stranger approaches
any of the huts Of this colony, every
man. woman or child who may be in
sight instantly scurries away and dis
appears. but presently unkempt heads
win lee seen cautiously appearing at
chinl.s and cracks in the ramshackle
novels and wild eyes viii peer ont at
the Intruder. There are no useful do
nestle animals 10 be seen anywhere
about. but many wolfish-loolling dogs
as Wild and suspicious as their owners,
crowd and whine about the huts The
complexion Of this strange tribe is uni
forfnly muddy yellow in color. Il Is
a singular fact that, notwithstanding
the lack Of moral sense and responsi-
bility among those degraded people
they have apparently no inclination
for the commission Of crime against
the community at large. as the records
OF the courts for half century show.
They live absolutely by and 70 them
selves and neither care for nor know
anything beyond. the bare obtaining Of
a subsistence which at its best is but
scant.