The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1906-08-21
In THE DAYS OF THE PIONEERS.
Events in the Tusoarawas Valley One Hundred
Years Ago.
Smith,
BY Jacob Smith.
CHAPTER TX.

her breast, as speechless with horror
she beheld the bloody scalp of her
daughter, which warrior shook in
her face. She was Immediately seiz-
ed, bound and gagged, and with cum
ming craftiness the Indians awaited
the boys return. About an hour aft
erward they came back, and the saw
ages bound them together and drag
ging them and the mother, whose
arms they now unbound to enable her
to carry her babe into the forest.
almost crazed by what had oc.
CURED, the mother and children were
pushed and hauled through woods, un.
derbrush and streams the entire night
the Indians covering the trail with
with little loss of time.
Mrs. Beinhart becoming calmer as
the seriousness of the situation in
creased, encouraged the boys by word
and look as much as she could, al
though their captors threatened them
with raised tomahawks when they
attempted to converse.
"The poor woman knew well the
fate in store for her, that of becoming
the property Of some warrior, or
death at the stake. She knew that
no Indian would take the child, that
it would be killed; and she resolved
to die with it.
las dawn approached the child be-
came restless and began to cry. This
annoyed the savages, and finally one,
evidently the leader of the party,
suddenly snatched 1t from her arms,
and catching it by the heels, whirled
| it above him and dashed its head
against tree, scattering its brains
over the leaves and moss.
Quick as was the warrior, the
avenglng mother was as quick. She
sprang like tigress, jerked the knife
from his belt and even as the head of
her child crashed against the tree,
his own weapon was driven into his
heart, and withdrawn to meet the
next savage, who received an ugly
wound before the brave woman fell,
as she did, her head split to the chin
by his tomahawk.
The child was well avenged, for
the lamentations that followed show
ed the boys that a chief had been
slain.
Several of the Indians wished to
Kill the boys at once, but after a
parley these yielded, and the boys
knew that their escape from immedi-
ate death meant but a respite and
that the stake awaited them
During this time Beinhart and
Meyer had been making what head
way they could. 1t was a very diff
cult matter to follow the trail of the
Indians, which was so deftIy conceal
ed that only those most experienced
In woodcraft could follow at all.
After daybreak they made more
headway, and little before noon
came to the place where the bravo
woman and her child met their death.
There they lay. naked and scalped
upon the ground. Beinhart's compan-
ION shook with emtion almost as deem
as his own. 1t was some moments
before the men could control them
selves and then. with barred heads,
and eyes raised to heaven, Beinhart
called upon the Almighty to witness
his oath never to cease his efforts to
justly avenge that crime.
when they began to make prepar-
atoms for the burial of his wife and
babe Beinhart noticed small mound
some twenty yards away. His first
thought was that 1t contained the
body OF one of his boys; but on re-
Election he was convinced that the In
dians would not have buried any,
save one of their own members, and
that If either of the boys were killed
their bodies would be found above
| ground.
Feeling that 1t was in some way
connected with the death of his wife
Beinhart decided to open the mound
| even at the sacrifice of valuable time
Hartily throwing up the loosely pack
ed earth, they soon came upon the
body of the dead chief They noticed
that his death had been caused by a
stab, but they did not then guess the
truth. They wrapped the dead wo-
man and babe in the coverings of the
Indian, and leaving him naked upor
the ground, pressed on, with heavy but
determined hearts.
They continued on until night over.
took them, when Meyer gave out and
insisted upon resting until morning
Beinhart who had now been without
sleep for 40 hours, and had Travelled
more than 60 miles, refused, saying
that If Meyer could not accompany
him, he would go ON alone.
Agreeing with Meyer that he
would press on as far as the Tusca-
rawas river, Meyer agreed to meet