The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-07-20
THE INDIAN GALLONS
IN BERTHE COUNTY
(By FRANCIS ID. WINSTON,

was II /
nave the circumstance of the visi.
from my mother, then a girl of seven
years OF age. She amused her chill
dren with the narrative. have also |
talked with Jonathan S. Taylor, Clerk |
of the County Court of BERTHE in 1872
ana with whom the Indians nv
rnother-ln-law had business dealings
and before whom Longboard and Sac
carusa acknowledged a deed. Nv
mother said hat she was on the
perch at her home when these strange
people came up and asked for food.
Ihere were three men and one wom-
an who a a pappoose strapped to
her back. In broken English the men
made known their wants. AS fol-
lows: Bis baby hung" Which in
terpreted meant that the baby was
hungry and biscuit would be most
acceptable.
My grandmother brought out a
plate OF biscuit and the three men
eat all Of them and gave nothing to
the woman or the child. OF curse
my grandmother saw that they were
provided for substantially. These In
dams were ~Longboard and ~Saccarusa.
Chief. John and Mary, his wife, and
Juno COlumbo, their baby.
These Indians had come from New
York. They lie not inquire the way
to the former reservation. Without
guide or direction they went straight
to the settlement at Sapona town
where their tribe had lived some sew
enty years before. There they inspect
ed the Indian gallows. 1t is about
this most remarkable curiosity this
article is written. 1t stood near the
: center of the reservation. 1t was there
' the courts were held and the council
fires were lighted. This curiosity was
always pointed out to visitors to that
S part of the county. 1t consisted 81
: two giant oaks standing about thirty
I feet apart with a limb growing from
one of them to the other, making ;
t perfect crop-beam joining the two
S trees. This limb or crop-beam wa:
s about twenty-five feet from tn,
n ground. 1t had many large limb
e growing perpendicularly upon it
n When / last saw it this crop-bean
was at least fifteen inches in diameter
i 1t is plain that the top of one of tn
oaks must have been bent, clipped an
inserted into the body of the other
n split to receive it. SO exactly wa
O this done. and SO perfect was tn
growth, that with the closest in
ct spection it was impossible to deter
mine to which tree the crop-beam O
limb originally belonged. 1t was tn
is same size and the same shape at tn
is body of each tree. 1t appeared t
rs have grown out of each tree. 1 hav
h. several times visited the gallows an
n CdI clul1y cAdIIll11CO IL. several ycdl
IN 6 n of these trees was blown dow
ne in a violent storm. The other tire
Of stood for a few years with it's extend
- ed beam in the air. 1t looked like
r. limb of the standing tree with the en-
I'd broken off. 1t commenced at once
decay and was cut dow by the own
or of the land. Thus passed way thes
he Siamese Twins Of the forest. 1 ha,
no a handsome set of chairs made
Id the wood Of the last tree.
" When L~Ongboard and Saccaru:
RI were there in 1892 they cut into OF
Tn Of the trees and found certain mari
!. which they told the clerk of the cou
I'D recorded the fact that two men al
" one woman had been executed
hanging on h gallows. Around tn
of spot is entwined the romance Of II
"a. Indian Gallows which / am sure yo'
readers will enjoy. Many, ma,
Mt years g a band Of pilgrims b
RS adieu to the old world, fated to e
H. plore the dangers of a foreign sho
"a and to build in America a temple
n worship. Among them was a m
70 siOnary accompanied by his wife a.
daughter. His purpose was to CO
vert the Indians to Christianity.
the end of a rough voyage their sf
was wrecked off the North Carroll
yid coast at Cape Hatteras. A few
iv- them reached the land. Most
he them went inland and settled on t
on Albemarle Sound at the site Of EIDE
IN ton. The missionary and his fam
accepted an invitation Of the Tus<
rora Indians and settled with TT
led trlpe on the east odhk OIL tne hod
leir oke river III the present 1holan WOO
i've Oh beTtle county iney enteTeu d
lively on their missionary labors a
hat sought to convert the natives. 7
lac cnleI OF the iuscaToIas was oio AZ
va wan. He had two sons, half-brOth
" r@ nr +
his ana ROANOKE. Our I
Ices main rivers oear 'heir names. l
to missionary anu ms laHiils a'eu
ice. terms Oh crosse friendship anu II
fed macy with the 1hoians' put onlS {
,lso Of them, Roanoke, accepted the n
of teaching, and became convert
,ert Both Roanoke and Cashie Secre
and loved Elnora, the daughter of