The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1897-09-05

period found "A good homo with child
l,,sa couple OF tho settlement and ms III,
years passed gradually recovered from
The shock that had 90 ucariy upset IN,
reason. In time made something Of q
r,eori as an Indian huntrr. for
houpIoi tacm M othcr men dd Wild
and fcroclous boasts.
Fiuslly pcac' wap established and
was giad OF IT, for | was urai Of warfare
and found Il easier o, forget my wrongs
whcI not provoked by hearing Of similar
atrocities Rcaching manhood l con-
cludcd to strike out for myNlf and try
now fields, Five or six years later l
crossed the gIN0t river 10 Indiana ana
eventually drlftr,i to Bpookvillc, IN than
r,a,c, whrrc I purchased IA forty acre
trlc; situated " couple OF niles west or
town. and began clearing away the tim
bor, Istook lodsings al country tavern
IN that vicinity. managed by a widow
nain,.i Adnir.
one night not more than month after
ltul located there | was sitting In the
harroom OF th~ tavern converting with
two or thrcc other settlers whoa tall
Stcrn-looking old Indian entering. carry
INK a long rirc and good deal OF ma
tive dignity and. noddlns NJ my compan-
Ions, called for whisky. After repeating
he drink he Tocmed To relax his as
sun"d majesty and directly became so
loquacious as his thlckenlng palate ana
imperfect command OF English would
permit His talk soun drlrNnd TO war
topics. and he branchcd out boldly to
rccounung some OF his former exploits.
evening Dragging OF hh dcvlltrlcs among
the pioneers I learned from one OF the
men than he WIS the noted Delaware
chief, Ben Davis, AMI ghat he WIS In
the habit OF camping hllf mile or 80
from thu tavern while on his periodic
trips 10 Brookvlllc.
Finally he told story that made my
blood turn cold. n was u literal repro-
duction Of the tragedy OF my early life.
Tie had operated first In Kentucky. and
according TO his own account. had
'rossed the river TO escape ,he white
avengers who were ON his trail. As he
sloated over the killing OF my family.
detailing how he and his 'braves' had
'calp"d and then BURNED the victims I'm
heir own cabin. | could hardly restrain
NY fury But l managed to do so. re-
solving secretly to call him to account
u another time. had never told nv
story TO any OF the settlers, and now de-
.ermined not to do SCAT least untii /
lad squared accounts with the old saw
'ge. When he finished the slckening de-
ails OF the massacre, one or two OF the
'ettl@s cursed him rOundly. but he re-
nainod silent. He, then took another
rink and fert the tavern. ren certain
hiatt neither ne nor the white men had
loticod my agitation.
When all the settlers had deserte,i the
'arrOom. went TO my apartment, md.
laving carefully loaded my gun. quietly
Tipped out and struck Through the woods
n the direction Of the Indians camp
'he night was moonless and cloudless,
threatening rain. In fifteen or twenty
minutes l saw IA filckering light ahead
nd carefully picked my way toward 1t.
PRESENTLY I stood behind the huge poplar
lot more than twenty PAGES from the
Ire before which. seated on a log ana
aclng my direction, was the solitary
elic OF nearly perished race - Ben
Davis chief of the Delaware remnant.
/ had stolen up without arousIng him.
hough he was evidently ION guard" AT