The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-02-20

ALeEpI sYs 6l TEpdaNE
JosksH aRkNT.

"A handsome lalGd le-aEed lndiah.i
swarthy 81 skin, but With the dress
and inanhet 81 d man 81 fashion
called ii Van cortlandt, manor house,
New York: one day "a The latter part-
6f the eighteenth centnry, He bad,
come toimeet his fprhier zoe; Col. Van
Cortland sot the Rsyoiutic nsry army.
Is not the firIt ithe ] nav been
IGNORED BY the sight 81 you he OBJ
served eouTteousiy Il saw you when
we amhushed your regiment TpOiht-
ed you out 10 o1e0t ny braves With
orders to kiii you. He fired and missed.
i wished al the time that / had done
the shooting myself But ID that case
Iwouid' have been robbed Of the pleas
ure Of this Interview, " 4 y I,
The speaker who thus mingled court.
llness and sayageB was Joseph Brant,
one OF the greatest Of Mohawk "a;
chems. His native name vas Thay.
en-da.negea tmeahlng +stFength''l, He
was the son OF aMohawk sub.chief
and was born On the Ohio river a.
'1742. His father died Hhenshe was q
child Joseph and pretty little sister
Molly were brought BY their lnotherto
the Mohawk valley in New York,
The eExesllspt Segtb,sg AtreeIslsR
Sir William Johnson-formeriy q
poor Irish boy and at that time one ok
the richest landowners in America
was master Of vast tracts Of Mohawk
valley territory and lived there Ike
q fepdal lord. HG was one of the few
coloniSts,whpm tt1etsreei 1rdquols con.
tedefacy loved and trusted. johnson
strengthened his hold over the Ind.
ans By marrying Molly Brant accord.
ing 70 1roauois csfsmoniRls and bx
educating her brother, Joseph. The
latter's schoolmaster once wrote Of
Brant: Joseph Is indeed'a an excellent
youth" M
The excellent youth" was destined
to become the seourge Of the whole
countryside. But IN his younger years
there was no hint Of this tendency. As
q youth he was already splendid
warrior and willy diplomat, 1t Is true;
but he also did mich missionary work
among the Indlaps and his influence
seemed an for good he fought gal.
lantly on the side Of the English col.
,onies in the French and Indian wars.
was later secretary to the Indian s.l.
peFintehdent aid ID 177s vent 70 Eng
land on a diplomatic errand. In Lon
don He was a universal faYorite and
,Ras, received with almost royal hon6rs.
! Then came the Revolution. The
English planned to stir up the murder
'ots ,IroqnoiS againstythe patriots. Sir
William johnson sturdIIy opposed 50
treaeherots and Ble6dt Il conffs.
Bat Johnson aisd n the very outset
o. the ReYclatiehb and bis sons, sided
BY Brant persuaded the Ifoquols
take the Marpath III behalf Of Crest
britain
Hrant-Yith the rank Of British
eelenel-led his fefoeioast braves up
and down the Mohawk IN a series Of
stSccious massaerss- at Cherry Val;
LEY Minislnk aid elsewhere In which
neither women nor children were
spared. Braat' adaitsrsi ciaim that
he was not responsible for the bleodi..;
estscf these crimes but that he was
unable to control bis men. ut is d
matter Of record. however. that he was
easily able to control them in all other
matters.) He commanded the indians
in the battle Of oriskaIy, August ),
.1TT9, where gallant General Herklmer
was slain and where Brant's ctaftinasa
lured the patriot militia Into q death
trap. The horrors Of the Wyoming
valley massacre have also-truthtnlly
or not-heel laid 10 the saehems DO.
count, Yet several instances are he:
corded where be went out Of HIS way
to save women, children and detensa-
less men Erons ele stake or the toIna-
hawk. He was an Odd mixture through
out tof savage apa nan OF cftfAtuf re-. ~
End Of a Strange Career.
When the Revolution was over
Braat threw all bis energies into the
tas Of calming the Indians and plae..
ing them on friendly terms With the
government. Crossing TO Canada he
secured 4 tract Of land as a home for
himself and his people. There for
years he ruled the aIoha@ks with Wis:
dom and justice. He returned to bis,
old plan doing afs work
among the saPages; tyohslating the
prayer book and part Of the sefiptures
into their language and baIEdlIig for
them the first church eye r erected III
Upper CahadS. :
In 1907, at the age OF sixty.dve, 10
seph Brant died at Wellington square.
Canada. Pretty Theodosisi daughter
Of Aaron Burr who once ntetlainsd
the sachemi during a visit 70 New
York, wrote thus quantity Of him:
After all, he was most Christian
and civilized guest III his mahners~
(Cepyflsht.)