Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1915-09-28

could spare a moment to count the
dead and wounded. Five Of the party
were killed outright and four wound
ed. Solomon Spears was MORALLY
wounded. He urged the survivors to
pull the boat to the opposite side Of
the river and flee for their lives.
But the current carried them to q
position farther downstream where
they would again be within range Of
the Indians rifles. Running down the
bank, yelling as only savages could
yell, they again attacked the whites.
Two Of the men who had been spared
to fight, Crepps and Crist, each selling
a rife, assembled the bank. The Indians
fired volley at them and fell back
into a ravine, putting a bullet into
Crops side and crushing Crisis heel.
Another man who had followed the
two into the fight returned to the boat
and reported that he had left his COM
panions on the shore powerless to get
away.
Taking advantage of the retirement
of the Indians, the few remaining
aboard the boat pulled her again out
into the middle Of the river.
With the boat full Of dead and
wounded, with only one or two able to
man the oars, the chance Of escape
was still small. But fortunately they
were in the current, and the Indians,
either satisfied with their work or not
caring further to expose themselves,
permitted them to drift away, and they
reached point Of safety.
The settlers, having been reused by
the story Of the massacre, went at
once to the scene of the final encounter
to rescue the two men who had fallen.
Crepps was found to be MORALLY
wounded. He was brought away. but
died during his removal. CRISIS efforts
to save himself were thrilling. Not
being able to touch his wounded heel
to the ground, he crawled into
thicket; but, realizing that the Indians
would find him there, he took off his
moccasins, bound them to his knees
and started to crawl eight miles to
salt lick. For three days he had not
tasted food. Weakened by hunger,
suffering excruciating pain from his
shattered heel, his progress was neces-
sarily very slow, being not more than
half mile an hour.
One night-it was the second after
he commented his tortoise journey
while lying near trail he heard the
sound Of horses hoofs. He called for
help, whereupon the sounds were
heard going away from him. This
was naturally bitter disappointment.
Crist lay where he was, intending to re-
sumo his journey in the morning, hop
ing against hope that he would retain
the strength to finish 1t.
The horseman who had passed, hear
ing n voice in the wood, either from
fear Of an enemy or superstition hur-
ried OH and, riding to settlement, re-
ported his experience. The settlers
realizing that some white man might
be needing assistance, formed posse
and rode out to where the voice was
heard. There they found Crist ex-
hausted and brought him in.
The story Of the woman Of the party
Is given in n few words, and yet 1t
must have been Il long and narrowing
one. She was carried to Canada and
ransomed by trader. In this SEN
tence her story is summarized. What
she suffered during that long journey
of hundreds of miles and how her cap
tors treated her are among the dread
stories Of that thrilling period. Taken
to Canada and ransomed by trader
there is scarcely enough Of 1t for an
epitaph on tombstone. And yet ~ho
knows but that In some old trunk, In
a. dingy garnet, yellow manuscript
lies hidden which now and again
through successive generations some
descendant Of that woman may take
out, peruse and put back to be read
later on by some other Of her progeny?
II In the story Of these flatboatmen
we are impressed with their hardi-
hood one other item arrests our atten-
ton. 1t Is that twelve white men and
one white woman defended themselves
against 120 Indians for an hour, the
enemy being above them on the bank
and protected by trees, and that the
whites succeeded in loosening Sheir
boat and pulling 1t out into the stream.
Later these same Indians, or large
part of them. were put to flight by two
white men.