Year: 1877

we are about to relate was located
in the now populous and peaceful State
of Ohio. At the time, however, when
these events transpired, the white
settlements were widely scattered, and
over the greater portion of that fertile
region, savage beasts and not less feroci-
Gus men held almost undisputed domin-
ion. But the fertility of the soil, salu-
brity of the climate, the number and
utility of its navigable streams, offered
many advantages to settlers, and the
hardy pioneers of less favored localities,
were not slow in availing themselves of
them.


But in addition to the hardships and
privations inseparable from the most fa-
vored condition of pioneer life, the early
settlers on the rich Ohio bottoms were
exposed to the hostility of the savages.
The isolated cabins were assaulted and
burned, and the luckless inmates butch
cred or carried into a woeful captivity.
Hundreds thus perished, but the stream
of immigration rolled on, with steadily
increasing volume, and the wider the
settlements spread, the more vengeful
and desperate became the savages, who
finally determined upon general war of
determination.


In the valley of Hockhocking, near
where the town of Lancaster now stands,
was an Indian village, which was select
ed as the base of operations against the
settlers. Here the painted warriors be-
gan to assemble in August, 1893, and for
several weeks the work of recruiting
went on, until the savage army was
swelled to such formidable proportions
as to menace the very existence of the
settlements. The whites were not slow
in realizing their danger. They saw
that fearful blow was impending, but
were ignorant of the exact point where
it was to fall They therefore determin-
ed to send out some trusty scouts to
watch the enemy and learn, if possible,
where the savage thunderbolts were to
descend. h


Robert McClelland and Arthur White,
two experienced hunters, thoroughly
skilled in the subtleties of Indian war
fare, fearless, cautious and clearheaded,
volunteered to perform that hazardous
duty, and in the afternoon of balmy
day in October they set out, amply arm
ed and fully provisioned, determined to
recOnnoitre the enemy's rendezous and
discover at what point the first blows
were to fall. iat+


They travelled many miles of wood
and prairie, and finally entered an ex-
tensive thicket of wild plum and hazel
brush, through which they forced their
way with great caution and finally
reached the summit of an elevation now
known as Mount Pleasant, This hill
or mountain abruptly terminated on the
west in q bold, almost perpendicular
cliff, some hundred feet above the sur
rounding plain, and was covered by a
short, stunted growth of hazel. The
scouts reached the top Of the cliff unob-
served, and from it they could look
down into the Indian encampment, and
observe every movement. They saw
and counted each new group as they
arrived, were witnesses of the sports,
observed their running matches, horse
racing, and tomahawk throwing, but
all this gave them no clew to the infor-
nation they so much desired.


Three or four days were spent in this
manner, and in the meantime the sup
ply of water in their canteens became
exhausted, and they supplied themselves
from the little pools of rain water which
collected in the depression of the rock