Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/38

 COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES stand-up fight, but would strike suddenly and retreat, yet there was not a drop o f cowardly blood in an Indian. When parties were sent out on a raid it w as customary to send as sup­ port in case o f reverses a band o f hunters, with squaws and camp equipage, to locate an ad­ vanced supply camp not fa r from the scene o f battle. From this center the hunters would go out after game and act as a rear guard, awaiting the retreat of the w ar party. The return of the successful warriors was the occasion o f much rejoicing and excitement. They came in with shouts o f victory, waving the bloody scalps and driving before them the captured victims that had been preserved for the sacrifice, their hands tied behind them and their faces blackened as a sign that they were to be burned at the stake. First the victims were made to run the gauntlet. Indians of all ages, squaws and children, stood in a long double line, between which the prisoner was compelled to run, sometimes blindfolded and bound. The savages were armed with any weapons that came to hand, slicks, clubs, switches, whips, knives and tomahawks, with which the unfortunate was struck and slashed, often to death. Sometimes sand was thrown in the c)'cs to impede progress. In most in­ stances the captive w as allowed to live long enough to be lashed to the stake and burned. T he hardy pioneers o f this country became inured to these acts o f rapine and reprisal and in many instances returned the debt with interest. It would be impossible to overdraw the horrible pictures o f death and torture (hat were the experiences o f many of the pioneer settlers o f this country. An Indian would not hesitate to dash out the brains o f a fam ily o f children in the presence of the father and mother, and then scalp the parents and burn the home. In return, there w as no quarter given the .savages when captured. No prison­ ers were taken by either side in the latter days of the w arfare between the whites and In­ dians. A good Indian w as usually a dead one. Chapter after chapter could be filled with the stories of the hardships and cruelties suffered by our forefathers, but space will not permit their repetition. It sometimes happened that prisoners were spared by the Indians through superstition or intent, and in these cases the captive was care­ fully guarded against escape while being In­ itiated into the life of the savage. Some of the captives married squaws, became satisfied with the mode o f life and remained with the Indians. Children sometimes were preserved from death and adopted into the tribe, in later

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years becoming as much attached to their foster parents a s if they had been bom into the life. These seldom were reclaimed to a life of civilization. Interpreters fo r the tribes were usually selected from these captives, and it w as often found they had grown to like the savage existence and attained positions o f trust and responsibility. H ow ever, some of the white men who voluntarily entered the Indian tribes bccim c more fiendish and inhuman than (he natives themselves. With the names of Butler and Brandt are associated all that (he human mind can conceive that w as cruel and devilish. They seemed to revel in carnage and blood. A s a contrast to this, instances are to be found where (he native sense o f honor of the Indian caused him to withhold his hand from the destruction o f those who had befriended him and to warn them of the attacks of other tribes. In this respect the Quakers were singularly exempt from attack and murder, through their fixed policy o f dealing in a ju st manner with the Indians. Few instances are recorded where a member of the Society of Friends suffered from the depredations of the savages, who had learned of their high sense o f humanity and justice. FRONTIER FORTS. COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES

T he treaty and purchase o f 1754 between the Penns and the representatives of the S ix Nations caused great dissatisfaction among the Shawanese, I^ law ares and Monsc)'s. who considered that they had been defrauded of their lands, which had been guaranteed to them by the IrOquois. T hey therefore pro­ ceeded to go on the w-arpath, and the settle­ ments were raided, the settlers scalped and their homes destroyed. T h is being brought to the attention of the proprietaries, preparations were made for the protection of the settlers, and Benjamin Franklin ordered the construction o f Fort Augusta, at what is now the site o f Sunbury. T his w as followed by the erection o f many other forts along the valleys of the North and W est Branches of the Susquehanna, v iz .; Fort Jenkins, in Briarcrcek township, Colum­ bia county; Fort Wheeler, on Fishing creek, about three miles above its m outh; Fort McQ ure. on (he Susquehanna within the limits of the present town o f Bloom sburg; Fort R ice, on the headwaters o f Chillisquaque creek, thirteen miles from Sunbur>’; Mont­ gomery’s Fort, twelve miles below Muncy on