Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/409

 ��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��While urging his horse to advance, a wolf that had separated itself from the rest, suddenly sprang at the horse or dog from the roadside. The frightened animal sprang so quickl}- to one side that Guthrie was unhoi'sed, and falling upon the ground was immediately attacked b}' the wolf Without a doubt, he would have been torn in pieces instantly, but his faithful dog, which had before shown signs of fear, now came to his I'escue, attacking the wolf with great ferocity, compelling the latter to release his hold of Guthrie and defend himself All this occurred in a moment's time, and Mr Guthrie had just time to swing himself into a tree when the remainder of the pack surrounded his faithful dog, which was getting the better of wolf number one. Other wolves came up and attacked the dog, which was thus compelled to release the first one. As soon as released, it sprang up and ran away, followed by the dog and the entire pack. Mr. Guthrie improved this opportunity to descend from the tree and make his escape. He reached home in safety, and soon after his dog also arrived in good con- dition. No wonder that the pioneers consid- ered their dogs invaluable, as in hundreds of cases they saved their masters' lives, and were always ready at any time to risk their own for that purpose.

The wolves were only troublesome and somewhat dangerous when the settlements were few and far between. They especially loved young pigs, and would kill them in prefer- ence to the older hogs. At first it was almost impossible to keep hogs or sheep. The settlers were in the habit of keeping as many males as possible among the swine, as these, when they grew up, would defend the younger and weaker animals. Wolves were rarely able to make a successful raid on a farm- er's hogs when there were several old males in the herd. At one time, when the Guthries were haul- ing in ha}', a wolf chased a pig from among the drove in the wood, pursuing it into the meadow

��near where they were at work. The wolf in this race was closely followed by the drove of hogs, including several old males. So closely was his wolfship pressed, that he was compelled to mount a hay-cock to save himself, and, in this position, was surrounded by the infuriated hogs. Suddenly one of the larger hogs rushed upon the heap of hay, upsetting it, and dislodg- ing the wolf, which was seized as soon as it touched the ground, and was literally torn in pieces.

The pioneers were in the habit of erecting a pen for their sheep near the house. It was very high, and into it the sheep were driven ever}' night for safet}'. Wolves, however, driven by hunger, would sometimes succeed in getting into this pen and killing the sheep. On such occasions, they always so gorged themselves with mutton that they could not get out of the pen, and were compelled to remain and settle with the proprietor of the yard in the morning. The result of this settlement may be imagined.

One of the earl}' settlers, Thomas Dickei'son, was a blacksmith, and. in addition to his labors on his land, worked at the trade. He located his shop on a trail leading from the head-waters of the Black Fork to those of the Huron River. He was probably the first blacksmith in the township, and much of his work was making knives and tomahawks for his Indian friends, repairing their guns, etc.

The Stoner family was somewhat noted among the pioneers. Two sisters of Mrs. Stoner had been taken prisoners l\v the Indians when quite young and grew up among them, one of them marrying a half-breed by the name of Williams, by whom she had two children, the oldest of which subsequently mai-ried an Indian who was well known among all the early settlers as Johnny Cake. Mrs. Williams was so badly treated that she finally made her escape and returned to her father.

The Foulks family, who settled near the site of Rome (one of whom became the proprietor

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