Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-01-23
HISTORY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.
From the First Settlement to the Close of
the Revolution.
From the Yorkville Enquirer Of 1875.
INSTALLMENT VII.

Governor Vests Second Term.
During the period Of Vests first
term several things worthy Of being
remembered took place. The colony
received reinforcements from Eng
land, from Barbados and from New
York. A town was laid out on Stono
creek, west Of Charles Town, and near
by it. The tract was to contain twen-
ty-five acres, five of which was to be
reserved for a church yard, and the
remainder to be used for planting lots.
In December, 1871, some additions to
the colony arrived from New York,
among the number Michael Smith,
man Of some Importance. On the goth
of the same month, the Grand Coun-
Gil appointed Stephen Bull and Thorn
as Gray to assist Smith in selecting
a place for a settlement. The Wando
river, by an order of the Grand Coun-
Gil, was examined with reference to
its adaptedness for making settle
ments.
Soon after a settlement was made
at Charles Town, a tribe of Indians,
called the Kussoes in conjunction
with other tribes living southwark
from the town, became troublesome.
From all that we can learn respect
ing them, they were greatly addicted
| to thieving The fields and no doubt
the private stores Of the colonists
were plundered by these untutored
savages. 1t is also clear that their
minds were infiamed by the Span
| iards.
From the first the Spanish colonies
bitterly opposed the English colony in
South Carolina. AS we have seen,
Sayle and his men had scarcely land
ed, when a Spanish vessel from st.
Augustine entered Stono inlet with
| hostile intentions. During the first
term Of Vests administration, in the
very infancy of the colony, they COM
menced intriguing with the Kussoes
for the purpose of making the In
dians enemies to the English. Not
that the Spanish were moved with
pity or compassion for the Indian;
not that they were grieved at heart
| because the Indian was about to be
driven from the hunting grounds of
his fathers and the graves of his sires.
Nothing of this kind moved the Span
| iards at st. Augustine to form a Sc
cret confederation with the Indians
for the destruction of the Ashley
| river colony.
No people ever treated another as
the Spaniards treated the aboriginal
inhabitants Of the New World. Ev-
cry cruelty that satanic hate could
devise was, without restraint, inflict-
ed upon them wherever they were
met Spain, wherever she attempted
to plant a colony. literally tortured
the Indians out of existence. 1t is
not claimed that the Ashley river col
ony treated the Indians in every re-
spect as a correct morality and an en-
| lightened civilization enjoined, but 1t
is evident from the time and all the
attending circumstances, that in the
| first difficulty which occurred be-
tween the English colony at Ashley
| river and the Indians, the latter were
to blame. No doubt there was live
| ly tradition of the cruelties practiced
by Velasques at st. Helena one hun
dred and fifty years previous to that
time. The Indian retained in his
memory, during life. the recollection
of either a favor granted or an in
jury done. Sons were taught to bear
eternal hatred to the enemies OF their
| fathers. The Indian could not dis
| tinguish between the guilty and the
innocent. Injured by one pale-face,
his wrath was Immediately kindled
against every white man. The French
| under Ribault, treated the Indians
kindly, and they never forgot 1t. We
may safely say that the Indians never
would have maltreated the white set
tiers had they not been first wronged
by the immigrants. No doubt there
were great differences in the moral
| character Of the various Indian tribes;
but, generally, they made greater
| mistakes in furnishing wrongs re
ceived, than in deciding as to what is
right and what is wrong in the in
| tercourse of one individual with an
| other. The first salutation the Pill
| grim fathers gave the Indians at
Plymouth Rock, was a shower Of
musket balls; at jamestown, in Vir-
ginia, they were cheated and swim
died: in the Albemarle and Claren-
don colonies in the present state OF
North Carolina, they were justly dealt
with; by the Spanish in Hispanola,
Peru and Mexico they were butchered
as only the vilest Of beasts are.
The tale Of these injuries, we may
we'll suppose, had spread from the
sunny plains of the south to the froz-
en- regions of the north. Warriors
would, no doubt, sit around the fire
of their wigwams and tell their chill
dren of the evils the tribes had suf-
| fered at the hands of the white men.
All the circumstances conspired to
beget hatred in the bosom of the In
dian for the white man. The fault
of the Indian was that he did
not discriminate between the in
nocent and the guilty. The fact that
the Spanish had injured the Indians,
was no reason why they should wreak
vengeance upon the English. Still,
we find that soon after the arrival of
the colony at Ashley river the Kus-
soes manifested a hostile disposition.
A constant guard had to be placed
around every plantation from the
very beginning This. to colony
weak in numbers and dependent in
part upon the product Of their fields
for bread became burdensome; and
even a guard did not prevent raids
from marauding parties.
Daily the Indians became more in
solent and hostile in their bearing
and actions. They would agree to
no fair terms upon which the colony
and tribe could live together as
neighbors in peace; but on the con-
trary threatened the lives Of peacea-
| hle and we NAV saw, defenSeleSS