The Southern herald., 1897-10-29

relatives living in Georgia who can
tell.
In perUsing these ancient records ]
find that Gov. Troup, the noblest Roman
of them all, was a full-blooG iOusln 70
that famous Indian chieftain, Gen. VIII
liam Mcintosh, and that the generals
father was, as is usual, a Scotehman,
who took an Indian wife. Gov. Troup's
mother and McIntosh's father were
brother and sister. Mcintosh was
chief of the Creeks, and like Redge and
Boudinot, was assassinated for sign.
ing the treaty that ceded the Greek
lands to Georgia. l tell you. these
Seotehmen, or Scoteh-lrish. as George
Adair calls them, were en- the wild hunt
for Indian wives and they had the
pick and took the best of them. Even
0seeola was the son Of a Seotchman.
Maybe my friend George Adair has a
streak Of Injun blood in him, who
knows? If Evan Howell hasn't, then
all signs fail in the face.
1t is sad to realize that in few years
more not a man or roman will be left
who mingled with the aboriginal own
ers of Georgia soil-these Creeks and
Cherokees and Seminoles, who gave
kind welcome TO our ancestors, only to
be despoiled of their homes-not man
left to tell of their trials and triAula-
tions.
Big John Underwood, the Roman run
agee, who fed from the foul invader
and for lack of any better transpcrta-
tion drove steer in the shafts Of a
one-horse wagon, and for lack of har-
ness bored a hole through the dash
board and drew the steers tail through
and tied the end in a knot, used to tell
me many stories about the Indians.
for he lived among them away back
in the 30s. He, too, tried to marry an
Indian maiden, but he wasn't Scotch
man and couldn't shoot the crossbow
nor the long bow and so she wouldn't
have him, These Indians had great ad-
miration for the archer's skill. | re-
member visiting the wigwam of an old
Indian on Sawny's mountain, near Cum
ming, Ga. /, too, was then lad of 12
years and got the old mans grandsons
to shoot for me and my young cousins.
Splitting the upper end of small
stick that was about three feet long,
| inserted a silver quarter in the split
and stuck the other end in the ground.
At 80 yards the boys would hit the
quarter with an arrow almost every
time, and, of course, gave it to them.
How did they ever learn to do this?
l asked the old man. They begin, he
said, almost as soon as they can walk.
First they shoot at big tree, and then
a smaller one, and then a still smaller
one, and keep on from year to year
until they can knock out a squirrels
eye. In 1886 visited an uncle in Smith
county, Miss, and found a remnant of
the Chickasaws there. They were
friendly and kind and very expert in
killing deer by shining their eyes at
night. My cousins and l went with
them one night, but unhappily they
shined the eyes of yearling calf that
belonged to one Of the neighbors and
shot him. 1t mortified and troubled
them very much, but as they went hunt
ing on our account, we quieted their
fears by paying for the calf the next
day.
forgot to mention that Elias Boudi-
not, the philanthropist, wrote very
learned treatise to prove that the In
dians of North America all descended
from the lost tribes of Israel, and his
book made many converts to that be-
lief.
And now the sad news comes that
Gen. Avery is dead-my genial, loving
friend Of 40 years--a man whom ! al.
ways loved to meet whether was in
the Office or the counting-room or on
the sidewalk. How full of good, pleas
ant cheer he was. What kind greetings
he always gave. What thoughtful COM
ments on men and the events Of the
day. Georgia can i'll afford to lose such
men as Gen. Avery and Judge Clark,
but still the world moves on. "Close up,
close up!" is the word from the Great
Commander, and the gaps that death
makes in our ranks are closed and soon
forgotten.-Bill Arp, in Atlanta Consti.
tuition.