Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1899-11-23
number and scattered, came later t.
the fort, and all became quiet.

number and scattered, came later to
the fort, and all became quiet.
indians Capture Abbie.
After few days the confinement be-
came irksome. Nothing was seen or
heard of the Indians. The DAYS were
growing longer, and the April sun
warmer. Byrum must return to his
cabin and see the shape of things. His
little daughter, Abbie, IA years of age,
was allowed, not without hesitation, to
go with her father; and SO with his
trusty rifle, and accompanied by his
little girl, Byrum left the block house.
The day passed slowly and anxiously
with some who were left behind. Ev-
ening came, sunset and darkness, but
they had not returned. The tedious
hours of sleepless night passed and
the day dawned with no tidings. Day
after day followed until it became
painfully certain that Abbie and her
father had fallen into the hands of the
savages.
As the season advanced the settlers
gradually returned to their rude homes
and to their small clearings, and their
watching and work. Mrs. Byrum and
her four children returned to their ca
bin on Lyons run. There. were only
vague rumors as to the depredations
and wherea bouts of the murderous red
skins. Ever since the French and In
dian war they had been restless and
hostile, and now as the war for Inde-
pendence progressed they We're more
and more a terror, on all the fontier
settlements. They had many wrongs
TO revenge, and torture and massacre;
was the fate that usually befell their
captives. Mrs. Byrum well knew of
all this, for their New Jersey home
was not more than three days march
from the scene of the Wyoming mas
sacre which had occurred year earli-
err. But this was not time for weak
yielding TO misfortuns. Bravely the
wife took up the task of making a
home and caring for the children amid
the privations and dangers of the from
tier. Months passed and years passed
without word as to the fate of the
lost ones and all hope died away. The
young babe, carried by the mother,
fleeing to the fort, needed name, and
it was called Abbie in memory of the
lost sister.
But Abbie and her father were not
mastered. They reached the clearing.
and cabin safely and looked after what
needed attention and were ready to
start back. Abbie was carrying tea
kettle with some eggs which she had
gathered. Byrum turned aside to fix
up the fence when 10, five Indians, in;
war paint, armed with rifle and toma-
hawk, We're bearing down upon them.
Had Byrum been alone he would have
used his rifle and sold his life dearly.
But resistance would have meant GER
tain death to the child and probably to
both. He threw his gun upon the
ground and they were prisoners. This
was April Z, 1879. ;.
Resistance and flight We're alike inn
possible. Byrum's pocket knife was
taken and the shoes of both removed,
and the knife and shoes We're buried
under fallen tree. Note those shoes
well, for they will never be seen
again; but the silver shoe buckle and
the remainsHof the trusted knife will
be turned up by the plow,l underssery
different circumstances, hundred
years hence. The captives were shod
with moccasins and were soon on the
march through the forest-they knew
not whittier. The day was declining.
A boy about Abbies age, Joe Sampson,
was sighted in the distance. The saw
ages gave chase. He ran fieetly, but
alas! his foot struck an obstacle and
as he fell the Indians had him. He
pluckily told them ''if it had not been
for the grape vine you wouldn't have
caught me-" Encampment for the
might was made after tramp of four
miles on the bank Of the creek near
Newlinsburg. They had fresh beef for
the evening meal from cow.of Uncle
Benjamin Coe, which they had slaugh-
tered. A shake down of spruce bran
ches was arranged near. the camp fire
for the two children and Abbie and Joe
Sampson slept. But the blanket over
them was in the morning covered with
snow.
Long Journey.
A long northward journey was be-
fore them, to the land of the Senecas;
for the captors were pretty certain of
that tribe-the most numerous and the
most westerly of the six nations CON
shutting the Iroquois. The captives
must be painted and attired as Indians.
Byrum was tall and erect and of fine
figure. With blanket and moccasins
and painted face he would make, Ia
brave Seneca. Abbie, however, would
not submit. She could give up her
eggs and shoes, she would walk and