Page:Mennonite Handbook of Information 1925.djvu/83

 Some tribes did not give up without a struggle. Others remained with the whites until the last of their tribes had disappeared in death. Concerning these there remained to us the mournful and deeply pathetic stories of "The Last of the Mohicans," "The Eagle of the Mohawks" and the supremely tragic tale (related by Charles Sprague) of "The North American Indian."

The widespread bitterness that sprang up, and the strife and bloodshed that followed, was not confined to the actual aggressors, but vengeance fell upon the innocent as well as upon the leaguebreaker and hunting-ground intruder.

Under such circumstances the peace-loving Mennonites, many of whom were located along the border settlements at this time, became exposed to the savage fury of the Indians and along with that they were made to suffer the reproach and persecution of white men of other religious persuasions because they refused to assist them in wars of extermination on the Indian or to drive him away.

The unparalleled treachery and savage ferocity that was continued for years between white men and red men forms a chapter in American history that is awful and heart-rending to contemplate. The Indians continued to claim the country as their own hunting grounds. In face of all this, foot by foot and mile by mile, the pale-faces continued to' Encroach upon what they considered their rightful possessions.

For some time the Indians exacted by way of compensation the condition that when red men called at the home of a white man for something to