Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1915-11-03
unlock the chain he would be dropped

| OF the men one by one. Every time
they dropped a man there arose a
hideous yell that, with the loss of their
companion and the prospect OF death
for themselves. froze the blood In the
pioneers veins. Efforts would have
been made to turn the boat so that
they would get the protection of the
salt kettles, but any man who attempt
ed to use an oar for the purpose must
stand up to be shot down.
solomon Spears and several others
were killed, and it looked as II the
whole party would fall before the red
men A man named Fosset, one of the
| two who had gone ashore had suffered
broken arm from a bullet. but had
retreated to the boat Not being able
! to hold a rifle. he busted himself by
| trying to loose the chain. Taking a
pole, he lay low In the bow and en-
deavored to force the hook out of the
| link with the poles end, but he only
drove 1t inward. Finally with short
projection caused 10y the cutting of
branch frog the pole he succeeded in
removing the hook from the link.
What must have been the feelings Of
those who yet lived on the boat to see
| the chain unwound from the tree and
rattle down the bank into the water.
Would the eddy have sufficient force
| to carry the boat out into the current?
Would the chain retard her sufficiently
| to prevent her moving? One of the
| men sprang to an oar which he could
work overhead without exposing him
self to the enemy's fire and succeeded
! In working the boat out into the current.
For the first time since the fight
began an hour before those who lived
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 a
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
rifle. assembled the bank. The Indians
fired volley ct them and fell back
into ravine. putting bullet into
Crepps' side and crushing Crisis heel.
Another man who had followed the
| two into the fight returned to the boat
and reported that he lied 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 a
l thicr Of. h.,f roalf0fp0 that tho India "a,
would find him there. he took on his
moccasins, bound them to his knees
and started to crawl eight miles to a
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 a mile an hour.
| One night-it was the second after
he commenced 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 a 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 it.
+ The horseman who had passed, hear
ing voice in the wood, either from
fear of an enemy or superstition hur-
ried on 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 few words. and yet it
must have beer 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