The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1896-08-05


Carolina-The Tragedy of Bloody Point,
That Wiped Out q Whole Tribe sf In
disns.
A new candidate for public favor is
Dawfuskie island, one of the islands
not far distant from Savannah and one
Of the most interesting historically
Dawfuskie is tho Indian name Of the
island 1t Is some six miles in length
and four miles in width, noted for its
fish, oysters and crabs and famous of
late years for its deer hunting. Tho In
dams were very partial to it-thnt is,
judging from tho mounds, tomahawks.
nrrowheads and other relics Of that
race which are still to be found ON the
island 1t is the southeasternmost point
Of South Carolina, and directly oppo-
site Tybee island, and In what was
formerly known as ST. Luke's parish,
Beaufort district, but now legally desig-
mated rs Yemassee township, Beaufort
county,
The island was at one time the pror>-
erty Of the Mongin family, who settled
1t about 1850, and up to tho beginning
of the late war 1t was divided into sew
eral plantations and had population,
In addition to the planters families, Of
about 1900 slaves Several places on
the island are still owned by the de-
scendants Of the Mongins, Bloody Point
by Mr. Mongin Stoddard and Melrose
by Mr.. Alfred II. Stoddard.
The following story Of Dawfuskie is.
land appeared in The Morning News of
Inn A -
history that can be found:
1.-THE massacre Of Bloody Point
though previous to the Revolutionary
war. is still interesting as relating to
the ancient history of st. Luke The
islands of Port Royal and St Helena
Were pretty thickly settled with white
population when Hilton Head, Dow
Dusky, Pinckney and the other neigh
boring islands were held in possession
by few isolated Indians or were alto
gether uninhabited. They formed kind
of neutral ground between the white
and red men. The Indians from Georgia
Were i'll the habit of making frequent
inroads upon tho white settlements
killing the inhabitants and carrying off
whatever plumber they could gather, to
their remoter homes in the farther south.
They formed large war parties and
would proceed as far north as Hilton
Head. Here they would sl,ul1 about till
fair chance offered, when they would
cross Broad river and ravagc the neigh
boring settlements; hence the name Of
Skulk creek (and not Skull, as is low
writtcn).
The Indians We're in the habit Of re-
( H. l.
vasions and wOuld clude pursuit among
its numerous hooks and windings. Upon
one Of these occasions. after having
committed number of murders and
having loaded their canoes with what
ever plumber they We're able to collect,
having secured Il quantity Of fire wa
ter" it is presumed, from the sequel,
| they passed through Skulk creek on
their return south without stopping in
their old haunts and never halted until
they reached Dow Dusky, where they
thought they would be beyond the reach
of the whites
A very strong and determined party
Of whites went i'll pursuit of them. On
reaching Hilton Head they learned from
q few Indians of friendly tribe that
their enemies had not halted, but had
proceeded on south Having induced
these friendly Indians to join them as
| guides they continued their pursuit
farther south. When they had gone on
as far as Dow Dusky, they discovered
from the smoke Of their camp that the
| Indians had halted at the southeast
| point of the island. The whites landed
on the northwest portion and marched
| toward their enemies. The Indians had
| put all their boats short distance
up what is now known as New river,
to avoid the surf which breaks upon
shc point. The Indians were at the ex.
treme point, enjoying themselves in an
unwonted round of conviviality and
| feasting. The whites approached eau
| tlously and stealthily, and, having got
| between the Indians and their boats,
| effectually cut off their retreat. A
| shower of bullets was the first intima-
ton they had of the presence of an en-
envy. They were shot down, bayoneted,
sabered and were finally driven into the
| sea.
THE surprise was complete; the mas
sacre was dreadful; the white sands
were crimsoned with blood. and the
earth was strswn with wounded, dying
and dead. A few, very few, escaped by
swimming. some to the opposite marsh.
and one swan entirely over to Tybee, a
distance of three miles From the dread
full carnage at this spot it received the
name of Bloody Point. which it retains
to this time, it being the extreme south.
eastern point of South Carolina After
this decisive victory the settlements to
the north of Broad river received nc
| further molestation from the southern