my WALTHOUR family

In Pittsburg [sic], (Pennsylvania,) about the year 1786, one evening just at twilight, there was found sitting in a porch, an Indian with a light pole in his hand. He spoke in broken English to the person of the house who first came out, and asked for milk. The person (a girl) ran in and returning with others of the family, they came to see what it was that had something like the appearance of a human skeleton. He was to the last degree emaciated, with scarcely the semblance of flesh upon his bones. One of his limbs had been wounded, and it had been on one foot, and by the help of the pole that he had made his way to this place. Being questioned, he appeared too weak to give an account of himself, but asked for milk, which was given him, and word sent to the commanding officers of the garrison at that place, (Gen. William Irwin,) who sent a guard and had him taken to the garrison. After having had food, and being now able to give an account himself, he was questioned by the interpreter, Joseph Nicholal. He related that he had been on Beaver river trapping, and had a difference with a Mingo Indian, who had shot him in the leg, because he had said he wished to come to the white people.

Being told that this was not credible, but that he must tell the truth, and that in so doing he would fare the better, he gave the following account, to wit: That he was one of a party which had struck the settlement in the last moon, attacked a fort, killed some and took some prisoners. (This appeared to be a fort known by the name of Waltour's Fort, by the account of which he gave, which is at the distance of twenty-three miles from the town, on the Pennsylvania road, towards Philadelphia, and within eight miles of what is now Greensburg.) He stated that it was there he received his wound.

The fact was that the old man, Waltour, his daughter and two sons, were at work in the field, having guns at some distance, which they seized on the appearance of the Indians, and made towards the fort. -- This was one of those stockades or block-houses to which a few families of the neighborhood collected in times of danger, and going to their fields in the day, returned at night to this place of security. These persons in the field were pursued by the Indians, and the young woman taken. The old man with his sons kept up a fire as they retreated, and had got the distance of about a hundred and fifty yards from the fort, when the old man fell. An Indian had got upon him and was about to take his scalp, when one in the fort directing his rifle, fired upon the Indian, who gave a horrid yell and made off, limping on one foot. This was in fact the very Indian, as it now appeared, that had come to town. He confessed the fact, and said, that on the party with which he was, being pursued, he had hid himself in the bushes, a few yards from the path along which the people from the fort came in pursuit of them.

After the mischief was done, a party of our people had pursued the Indians to the Allegheny river, tracing their course, and had found the body of the young woman whom they had taken prisoner, but had tomahawked and left. The Indian, as we have said, continuing his story to the interpreter, gave us to understand that he lay three days without moving from the place where he first three himself into the bushes, until a pursuit might be over, lest he should be tracked; that after this, he had got along on his hands and feet, until he found this pole in the marsh, which he had used to assist him, and in the meantime, had lived on berries and roots; that he had come to post some distance, and thought of giving himself up, and lay all day on a hill above the place, thinking whether he would or not; but, seeing that they were all militia men and no regulars, he did not venture. (The Indians well know the distinction between regulars and militia, and from these last they expect no quarter.)

The post of which he spoke, was about twelve miles from Pittsburg [sic], on the Pennsylvania road, at the crossings of what is called Turtle creek. It was not thirty-eight days since the affair of Waltour's Fort, and during that time this miserable creature had subsisted on plants and roots, and had made his way on foot by the help of the pole. According to his account, he had first attempted a course to his own country, by crossing the Allegheny river, a considerable distance above the town, but strength failing to accomplish this, he had wished to gain the garrison where the regular troops were, having been at this place before the war, and in fact he was now known to some of the garrison by the name of Davy. I saw the creature in the garrison, after his confession some days, and was struck with his endeavors to conciliate good will by smiling, and affecting placability and a friendly disposition.

The question was what to do with him From the mode of war carried on by the savages, they are not entitled to the laws of nations. -- But are we not bound by the laws of nature, to spare those that are in our power; and does not our right to put to death cease, when an enemy ceases to have it in his power to injure us. This diable boitieux, or devil on two sticks, as they may be called, his leg and his pole, would not seem to be likely to come to war again.

In the meantime the widow of the man who had been killed at Waltour's Fort, and the mother of the young woman who had been taken prisoner, and found tomahawked, accompanied by a deputation of the people of the settlement, came to the garrison, and addressing themselves to the commanding officer, demanded that the Indian should be delivered up, that it might be done with him as the widow and mother, and relations of the deceased should think proper. After much deliberation, the country being greatly dissatisfied that he was spared, and much clamor prevailing through the settlement, it was thought advisable to let them take him, and he was accordingly delivered up to the militia of the party which came to demand him. He was put upon a horse and carried off with a view to take him to the spot where the first mischief had been done, (Waltour's Fort.) But as they were carrying him along, his leg, the fracture of which by this time was almost healed, (the Surgeon of the garrison having attended to it,) was broken again by a fall from the horse, which had happened some way in carrying him.

The intention of the people was to summon a jury of the country and try him, at least for the sake of form, but as they alleged, in order to ascertain whether he was the identical Indian that had been of the party at Waltour's Fort, though it is not very probable that he would have an impartial trial, there having been considerable prejudice against him. the circumstance of being an Indian would have been sufficient to condemn him. The idea was, in case of a verdict against him, which seemed morally certain, to execute him according to the Indian manner, by torture and burning. For the fate of Crawford, and others, was at this time in the minds of the people, and they thought retaliation a principal of natural justice.

But whilst the jury was collecting, sometime must elapse, that night at least, for he was brought to the fort or blockhouse in the evening. Accordingly a strong guard was appointed to take care of him, while in the meantime, one who had been deputed sheriff went to summon a jury, and others to collect wood and materials for the burning, and to fix upon the place, which was to be the identical spot where he had received his wound, while about to scalp the man whom he had shot in the field, just as he was raising the scalp halloo, twisting his hand in the hair of the head, and brandishing his scalping-knife. It is to be presumed, that the guard may be said to have been off their guard somewhat on account of the lameness of the prisoner, and the seeming impossibility that he could escape; but it so turned out that while engaged in conversation on the burning that was to take place, or by some other cause of inattention, he had been permitted to climb up at a remote corner of the blockhouse, get to the joists, from thence upon the wall-plate of the blockhouse, and from thence, as was supposed, to get down on the outside between the roof and the wall-plate, for the blockhouse was so constructed that the roof over jutted the wall of the blackhouse [sic], resting on the ends of the joists that protruded a foot or two beyond the wall, so that those within could fire down upon the Indians, who should approach the house to set fire to it or attempt the door. But towards morning the Indian was missed, and when the jury met, there was no Indian to be brought before them.

Search had been made by the guard every where; the jury joined in the search, and the militia went out in all directions, in order to track his course and regain the prisoner; but no discovery could be made, and the guard were much blamed for their want of vigilance, though some supposed that he had been let go from feelings of humanity, that they might not be under the necessity of burning him.

The search was abandoned; but three days after this, a lad looking for his horses, saw an Indian with a pole or long stick, just getting on one of them, by help of a log, or trunk of a fallen tree; he had made with a bridle of bark, as it appeared, which was on the horse's head, and with which, and his stick guiding the horse, he set off at a smart trot, in a direction towards the frontier of the settlement. They boy was afraid to discover himself, or reclaim his horse, but ran home and gave the alarm, on which a party, in the course of the day, was collected, and started in pursuit of the Indian: they tracked the horse until it was dark, and were obliged to lay by. In the morning, taking it again, they tracked the horse as before, but found the course varied, taking into branches of streams to prevent pursuit, and which greatly delayed them, requiring considerable time to trace the stream and find there the horse had taken the bank and come out, -- sometimes taking along hard ridges, though not directly in his course, where the tracks of the horse could not be seen. In this manner he had gotten on the Allegheny river, where they found the horse with the bark bridle, and where he appeared to have been left a short time before. The sweat was scarcely dry upon his sides: for the weather was warm, and he appeared to have been ridden hard; the distance he had come was about 90 miles. It was presumed the Indian had swam the river, into uninhabited, and what was then called Indian country, there it was unsafe for the small party that were in pursuit to follow.

After the war, I took some pains to inform myself whether he had made his way good to the Indian towns, the nearest of which was Sandusky, and the distance of about two hundred miles; but it appeared that after all his efforts he had been unsuccessful, and had not reached home. He had been drowned in the river, or famished in the woods, or his broken limbs had occasioned his death.

In like manner I have made inquiry respecting the Indian who had Dr. Knight in custody when he made his escape; for I had myself taken down, from the Doctor's own mouth, the narrative of his escape, and could not conceive, nor could the Doctor say, why it was that the gun, when he presented it to the Indian, and snapped it, did not go off. The Indian himself had been surprised at it, and did not recollect that he had plugged the touch-hole to keep it from the wet, nor did the Doctor discover this. The Indian, to excuse himself, had represented the Doctor as a man of great stature and strength; but the Indians laughed at him when they came to know, and were informed by some from the other town that had seen him sent on, that he was a man of small stature and of little strength. -- Border Life