The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-02-02

of the rout. He was himself one of the
few who lost neither courage nor gen.
crosby in the Polrtusl
Among his fellow packers were his
uncle and young man named Bonham,
who was his close and dear friend. The
uncle was shot in the wrist, the ball
lodging near the shoulder, out he es-
capped Bonham, just before the retreat
began, was shot through both hips, so
that he could not walk. Young Van
Cleve got him horse, on which ne was
with difficulty mounted; then, as the
flight began, Bonham babe Van Cleve
look to his safety as he was on foot, and
the two separated. Bonham rode until
the pursuit had almost ceased; then,
weak and crippled, he was thrown off his
horse and slain. Meanwhile Van Cleve
ran steadily on foot. BY the time he had
gone two miles most of the mounted men
had passed him. A boy, on the point of
falling from exhaustion, now begged his
help, and the kind-hearted backwoods-
man seized the lad and pulled him along
nearly two miles further, when he him.
self became so worn that he nearly fell.
There were still two horses in the rear,
one carrying three men and one two;
and behind the latter Van C1eve, sum-
moning his strength, threw the boy, who
escaped. Nor did Van Cleve's pity for
his fellows cease with this, for he
stopped to tie his handkerchief around
a
exertions gave him a cramp in both
thighs, so that he could barely walk, and
in consequence the strong and active
passed him, until he was within one
hundred yards of the river, where the
Indians were tomahawking the old and
wounded men. So close were they that
for moment his heart sunk in despair.
but he threw off his shoes, the touch of
the cold ground seemed to revive him,
and he again began to trot forward. He
got round a bend in the road, passing
half dozen other fugitives, and long
afterwards he told how we'll he remem-
bered thinking that it would be some
time before they would all be massacred
ard his own turn came. However, at
this point the pursuit ceased, and few
miles further on he had gained the mid
die of the flying troops, and, like them,
came to walk He fell in with queer
group, consisting of the sole remaining
officer of the artillery. an infantry cor
pOral. and a woman called Red-headed
Nance. The latter two were crying. the
corporal for the loss OF his wife, the
woman for the loss of her child. The
worn-out officer hung on the corporal's
arm, while Van Cleve carried his fusee
in this sociable way arrived at Fort JEFF
ferson little after sunset"
INDIAN TREACHERY.
In the late winter of 1871 the hitherto
friendly Delawares, who hunted or
traded along the western frontiers of
Pennsylvania and Virginia proper, took
this manner of showing that they had
joined the open foes of the Americans.
a big band of warriors spread up and
down the Allegheny for about forty
miles, and on the 9Th of February at
tackled all the outlying settlements The
Indians who delivered this attack had
long been on intimate terms with the
Allegheny settlers, who were accustomed
to see them in and about their houses.
and as the savages acted with seeming
friendship to the last moment, they were
able to take the settlers completely un-
awares, so that no effective resistance
was made. Some settlers were killed
and some captured. Among the cap
tives was a lad named John Brickell,
who, though at first maltreated and
forced to run the gauntlet, was afterward
adopted into the tribe. and was not re-
leased until after Waynes victory. After
his adoption he conceived a great lik-
ing for his captors. admiring their many
good qualities, especially their courage
and their kindness to their children.
Long afterwards he wrote down his ex-
periences, which possess a certain value
as giving from the Indian standpoint an
account OF some of the incidents of the
forest warfare OF the day.
The warriors who had engaged in this
raid on their former friends, the settlers
along the Allegheny, retreated two or
three days journey into the wilderness
to an appointed place, where they found
their families. One Of the Girtys was
with the Indians No sooner had the last
Of the warriors come in, with their scalps
and prisoners. including the boy Brickell,
than ten of their number deliberately
started back to Pittsburg. to pass them