The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1947-12-18
The Governor Kills
His Indian


Limestone, now Maysville, Kentucky,
later governor of Ohio, out after
game.
Macarthur was watching a deer
lick in the Ohio hills near the mouth
of the Scioto River below where now
is Portsmouth. He had waited there
for an hour and nova deer was
coming. The hunter cooked his
muzzle-Ioader as the rustling through
the brush came nearer and intently
watched the vicinity of the lick.
Then" "injuns," two of them and
fully armed with rifle, tomahawk
and sealping knife! Young Macarthur,
barely Il steps away was in a tight
spot, The Indians were so near him
before he saw them that it was i'm
possible for the hunter to retreat
without being discovered.
Bold Plan
The boldest course, Macarthur
decided, would be the safest. He
would permit the savages to get as
near him SIS they would, then shoot
one of them and run his chances
single-hAn3ed with the other.
The Indians stopped on the bare
spot Of ground before the lick and
looked down into it for game. Ne
Arthur's rife cracked and one savage
fell into the water.
The future governor had expected
the surviving Indian to flee when his
companion was killed from ambush.
1t did not work out that way. The
live savage, loaded rifle ready, did
not move out of his tracks-just
peeked keenly around to ascertain
from where the shot had come.
Gun Empty
It took time to reload a muzzle-
loader-plenty of it, and the seconds
were precious to young Duncan Nc
Arthur. 1t would be suicide to
charge the armed Indian with his
own gun unloaded and on top of
that the savage was large, muscular
and apparently fearless.
Ohio's future executive got out of
there and he did it so abruptly and
speedily that it sounded like a drove
of deer in the underbrush.
| Macarthur only had run a few
steps before he got tangled in the
top of a fallen tree. During the
moment it required to get out of
that the Indians rifle ball whistled
past his ears Now, thought the
hunter, the savage's gun, as we'll as
his own, was empty and he would
fight it out hand to hand with the
red man. Just at that moment how
ever, several more Indians, yelling
savagely, came running to the spot.
White Man Flees
| Macarthur fled, the Indians in hot
pursuit, firing as they ran. One ball
went through his powder horn, shat
tering the side of it so that splinters
from the horn tore into the hunters
side. The blood gushed out and Nc
Arthur thought he was shot but kept
on running.
Never fast runner and never
very strong, Macarthur knew that
was no time for weakness-he just
flew, and after he had run over
several ridges, found that he had
outdistanced his pursuers. He made
for the bank of the Ohio River.
There, he knew, would be help.
That was in 1894 and Macarthur
was one of four scouts employed by
the government to spy on the hostile
Indians along the Ohio River. The
three others were Samuel Mcdowell,
Thomas Treacle and Nathaniel Beas-
ley, later canal commissioner and
maior-general of the militia.
Guard Packet Boat
That morning the four had guard
ed packet boat, which had return
ed to Maysville after being attacked
by Indians, as far as the mouth of
the Big Sandy River, then had
raised and stolen a big Indian bark
canoe they found sunk in a creek
mouth, and Davis, Beasley and Nc
Arthur fioated in it down river a
distance while Mcdowell rowed, in
the canoe they had trailed behind
the packet, back in Maysville to
warn the settlers of the presence of
Indians.
In the packet boat attack, John
Stout had been killed and the two
Colvin brothers, of the crew, severely
wounded. A fresh crew and the
four spies had been picked up at
Maysville.
The three men in the stolen canoe
had moved it against the shore and
Macarthur went into the hills to
hunt. Treaele and BeasIey foated a
mile downstream and also intended
hunting.
Reaches Ohio River
When the breathless Macarthur
reached the river bank he found
Beasley and Treacle in the canoe
padding against the current to keep
the boat in one spot and to be more ,
easily seen bv Macarthur. should he !