A Night With The Indians

: Far Past The Frontier

To shut out from his thoughts the horrid memory of the bloody scalp at

Big Buffalo's belt, Ree turned and busied himself with the fire, which

had burned quite low, and soon a roaring blaze was leaping skyward,

shedding good cheer around.



The woodsman still stood leaning on his rifle, a look of sadness on his

face such as was seldom seen there. If John had noticed this he might not

have asked in the tone i which he did:



"Well, whose scalp is it?"



"It ain't your'n, kitten, an' ye can be glad o' that."



"Shucks! How can you tell whose it might have been? How could anybody

tell?" asked the boy.



Tom made no reply, and Ree deftly changed the subject by saying that one

of them had better stand guard that night. He expected no trouble with

the Indians, but he was not willing to be caught napping by the unknown

foe whose work had now cost the life of their horse.



Tom was gloomy all the evening as they sat before the fire, but he told

the boys of the great chief of the Delaware's, Hopocon, or Capt. Pipe,

and reminded them that he was one of the Indians who were responsible for

the burning of Col. Crawford at the stake eight years earlier.



That and other stories of this noted chief made the boys curious to see

him, and anxious to put themselves on friendly terms with him. It was

decided that the next day they should visit the Delaware town and make

arrangements for securing land. Without a horse they could move their

goods only with great labor, and they were desirous of knowing just where

they were taking their property, therefore, before they undertook to move

it from their present camp.



"Guess I will stay an' watch here, whilst you youngsters go to see Capt.

Pipe," said Tom, as the subject was under discussion. "I might not be as

peaceful as a little lamb--plague take their greasy skins! Not if I

clapped my eyes on that Buffalo critter ag'in!"



"Look a-here, Tom," Ree answered, earnestly. "We boys are on a peaceable

mission and we don't want to get into trouble on your account. We know

that the horrible sight of that scalp, and your belief that you know from

where it came, has made you want revenge, but John and I have had no

special trouble with the Delawares and it would be very foolish, situated

as we are, for you or any of us to start a fight with them now."



"I see all that--I ain't so blind! But--" Tom did not finish the

sentence. Instead he began talking of other things and advised the boys

to take every precaution against being treacherously dealt with when they

should find Big Buffalo at his own home--the Delaware town.



It was a windy, cloudy morning that found Ree and John tramping through

the valleys and over the hills of a fine, thickly wooded country toward

the Indian village. Early in the afternoon they came to a sloping

hillside beyond which lay a swampy tract grown up to brush and rushes.

Close by was a beautiful little lake and at the opposite side the smoke

was rising from the town of the Delaware tribe of Indians.



As the boys approached the water, planning to walk around the lake, they

were discovered by three Indians in a canoe, which seemed almost to

spring out of the water, so quickly did it appear from around a bushy

point. The savages headed directly toward the boys, without a sound.



The lads laid down their rifles as a sign of friendliness, and in another

minute a swift stroke of a paddle grounded the Indians' craft upon the

beach. The Redskins bounded ashore and with some reluctance shook hands

with the boys.



Without loss of time Ree gave them to understand that he wished them to

inform their chief, Hopocon, or Capt. Pipe, that two young Palefaces were

waiting to call on him, and tell of their friendly wish to buy some land

of the Delawares, and that they would remain where they were while he

should send a canoe to carry them over.



None of the three Indians had been in the party of the previous day, but

they seemed readily to comprehend what was desired of them and turned to

go.



One of the Redskins, quite a young fellow, lingered behind. After the

other two had taken their places in the canoe he pushed it out into deep

water, then he made a running jump to leap, aboard. He might have done so

very nicely, had he not slipped just as he jumped. As it was, he went

sprawling in the water most ridiculously.



The other Indians grunted derisively. John laughed heartily and Ree

smiled, amused to see the proud young buck get just such a ducking as he

deserved for trying to "show off."



However, the lithe young fellow seized the canoe and was safely in it in

a very brief space of time. Soon it was far out on the lake, rocking and

dancing lightly as a feather on the fierce little waves, which a strong

wind was blowing up.



Ree and John made themselves comfortable on the grassy bank beside the

water, and waited. It seemed a long time until they saw a canoe coming

for them. The fact was, and the boys shrewdly surmised it, that Capt.

Pipe, or Hopocon, desirous of impressing the strangers with his

greatness, purposely kept them waiting awhile.



The canoe sent for the boys was manned by two of the Indians they first

met, and the lads were taken aboard. Although frail in appearance, the

light little craft was capable of carrying seven or eight persons. It was

made of the bark of a bitter-nut hickory, and was the first of the kind

in which the Connecticut lads had ever ridden. They quickly found that

they must aid in keeping the canoe balanced to prevent its upsetting, and

their efforts to do this, before they caught the knack of it, rather

amused the Indians.



In a short time, however, the canoe touched shore before the Indian town

and the Paleface visitors were conducted at once to the council house.

This was a long low building, its lower part being built of logs but its

sides and roof being of bark. It was open at one end, and at the other

end skins were hung up to shut out the wind. In the center of the rude

structure, whose floor was only the hard-trodden earth, was a fire, the

smoke escaping through a large hole in the roof.



All these things were observed by the boys in time, but first to attract

their notice as they entered, were the Indians, especially one of great

size--elderly and very dignified, seated on a bear skin spread over a mat

of bark. He shook hands with each as they stepped up, saying only "How."



Ree answered in the same fashion but John was so flustrated that he

stammered: "How do you do, sir?" in a manner which bored him a great

deal, as Ree jokingly recalled the circumstance long afterward.



But Capt. Pipe knew from the lad's tone that he spoke respectfully and it

pleased him. Other Indians seemed to feel the same, and the several minor

chiefs and medicine men who were present, shook hands with the boys with

a great show of dignity and formality. Then the young traders stated the

object of their visit and were shown to a seat opposite Capt Pipe and

pipes were brought out. They all smoked, the boys soon discovering that

it was not tobacco but "kinnikinick"--the inner bark of young willow

sprouts dried and pulverized--which was in the pipes.



Presently the great chief laid aside his pipe, a long-stemmed affair with

a curiously carved clay bowl, and all others immediately followed his

example. In another minute the speech-making began.



Capt. Pipe's was the first address, a brief preliminary statement. He

made a most imposing appearance as he stood very erect, his arms folded,

his head-dress of feathers reaching half way to the ground behind him,

the fringes of his shirt-like coat rustled by the movements of his body,

as he talked. Others followed, but the boys understood very little of

what was said. As Big Buffalo arose, however, there was a scowl on his

face which was far from pleasant. His gestures indicated hostility and

the Paleface lads knew that at heart he hated them. They wished Fishing

Bird were present to say a friendly word.



Capt. Pipe, himself, spoke a second time a little later, however, and

very earnestly Ree and John studied his grave and stern, but not unkind,

face, to learn how he felt toward them. They could scarcely believe that

he was the savage, who, only a few years before, had been a leading

spirit in the torture of Colonel Crawford.



Occasionally the chief used a few English words and the boys gathered

from the general trend of his remarks that they would be welcome if they

came only as traders; but that settlers were not welcome, and the Indians

wished no one to come among them who would clear land or do anything

which might lead to the establishing of a settlement of the whites in

their country. A reasonable number of hunters and traders might come and

go unmolested but there must be no building of permanent cabins; there

must be no different life than that led by the children of the

forest--the Indians themselves.



A long silence followed this address, and then Ree arose to speak. His

heart beat fast, and John trembled inwardly as his friend began. But

nervous as he was, there was no weakness in Ree's tones. He spoke slowly

and distinctly, using every sign which could be expressed by look or

gesture to make his meaning clear; and looking the Indians squarely in

the eyes they did not fail to understand as the boy thus told them in his

own way, that he and his friends hoped to live at peace with them; that

there was but a very small party of them, himself and one other, besides

a woodsman who was temporarily with them, and that they had journeyed to

that beautiful country of the Delawares to hunt and trade and make

themselves a home.



They had not been taught to live as the Indians lived, he said, and they

could not have a home without some cleared land about it for the crops

which they would need. For this land, Ree went on, they were willing to

pay a fair price, and they were desirous of selecting a location that

they might get their cabin built. The spot they had chosen was where the

course of the river had changed at some time, years before, leaving a

little clearing.



As Ree finished speaking he stepped up and laid his presents--two small

mirrors and a handsome hunting knife--before Capt. Pipe. John followed

his example in this, and there were grunts of approval from all the

Indians except Big Buffalo, as the boys sat down.



More speech-making followed, however, taking so much time that John

whispered: "If they don't stop soon, or ask us to stay all night, we will

have to climb a tree, somewhere."



At last a decision was reached that the boys were to have a piece of land

including the clearing to which Ree had referred, and as much of the

river valley and adjacent hillsides as they reasonably needed, in

exchange for articles to be selected from their stock of goods.



By close attention Ree had been able to understand the matter fairly

well, but as the talk of the Indians had seemed so monotonous, John had

let his thoughts run to other subjects. He had been wondering what had

become of the scalp they had seen at Big Buffalo's belt the day before,

and whether Tom Fish really knew the person whose death it signified; and

if so, who that person might be. He did not know then, all that he came

to know afterward.



With hand-shaking all around the council was concluded, and Capt. Pipe

conducted the boys to the feast which the squaws had been preparing.

There was broiled venison (without salt) and a sort of soup containing

broken corn and beans cooked together in a large kettle.



Nearly all of the Indians who had been in the council partook of these

dainties and many others did likewise. Ree and John ate heartily though

they did not exactly relish the lack of cleanliness displayed by the

savages in their manner of cooking, and in their eating.



The squaws and Indian boys and girls, and many a young brave for that

matter, watched the young Palefaces curiously, and their eyes followed

the lads closely as Capt. Pipe led them away to his own bark cabin. It

was then that John first saw Gentle Maiden, Capt. Pipe's daughter. She

was truly handsome for one of her race, but she stepped behind a screen

of skins and was gone before Ree had even noticed her.



The chief of the Delawares told the boys to make themselves comfortable,

and a squaw, who seemed to be his wife, spread skins for them to sit upon

or lie upon, as they chose. Capt. Pipe then gave his guests to understand

that they might come and go as they chose and remain with him as long as

they wished. He then withdrew and presently the boys did go for a stroll

about the queer town of the Indians. Fortunately they met Fishing Bird

and he walked all about with them then, leading the way to a fire before

which a game like dice was being played.



The seeds of wild plums, colored black on one side and scraped white on

the other, were shaken up in a box made of bark and thrown out upon a

smooth spot on the ground. The Indians endeavored to throw as many as

possible of the seeds with the white sides up, and he who did the best at

this, won the game. It seemed very dull amusement to John, but Ree

watched the game with much interest, until Fishing Bird beckoned him

away. And then something took place which made Ree quite certain that

this was the Indian whom he might have killed as they struggled alone in

the forest solitude only the second night previous.



It was a wrestling match which Fishing Bird proposed, and he called to a

strapping young savage and challenged him to undertake to put Ree down.

The brave smiled and stepped up willingly. Ree would have preferred that

such a contest had not been suggested, but as the young Indian looked at

him in a way which seemed to say, "It will not take me long to put you on

your back," he decided to throw the proud young redskin if he could.



With many manifestations of delight the Indians gathered around, as they

quickly learned what was taking place; for there was nothing in which the

forest rovers had a greater delight than trials of strength and

endurance.



Ree stipulated but one thing, as he threw off his coat and made ready,

this was that the wrestling should be "catch-as-catch-can."



Ready assent was given, a space was cleared and an Indian clapped his

hands as a signal for the contest to begin. Like a panther the young

brave sprang toward his sturdy white opponent to catch him "Indian hold."

But he reckoned without knowledge of his man. Ree had not forgotten the

teachings of Peter Piper, and so cleverly did he dodge, and so quickly

seize the Indian about the legs, that in a twinkling the proud buck was

stretched upon the earth.



There were expressions of wonderment from the Indians, but in a second

the vanquished redskin was on his feet, anxious for another trial.



John, with utter disregard of good manners, was laughing heartily over

his friend's success, and as Ree declined to wrestle any more, the Indian

turned to him, and somewhat fiercely demanded that he should try

conclusions with him.



John glanced at Ree and the latter nodded for him to go ahead. In another

minute then, a match, the closeness and desperation of which delighted

the savages beyond measure, was in progress.



Tightly clasping each other's arms, the contestants strained every muscle

and struggled back and forth and round and round--now slowly, now with

movements most rapid, neither gaining an advantage. Longer and longer the

contest continued in this way, and Ree saw that John was becoming worn

out. He must act quickly or succumb to the Indian's greater weight and

power of endurance.



"You can throw him if you only say to yourself that you must and that you

will, and then do it," Ree whispered, as John was pushed near him, and

his advice was taken.



With a show of strength which surprised them all, John forced his

opponent backward, and tried again to trip the fellow, but could not.

Then he allowed the savage to try to trip him, and seizing the

opportunity, gave the redskin so sudden and violent a pull that he was

taken off his feet and fell heavily, dragging John down with him. Both

the Indian's shoulders touched the ground, however, and with savage glee

the redskins acknowledged John to be the victor. To do them justice, they

seemed not at all put out that their man was defeated. Only one who was

present scowled. He was Big Buffalo, and with an ugly look he strode away

from the campfire's light.



Ree could not help but notice the savage fellow's hostile manner. "We

better watch out for him," he said to John as they discussed the incident

sometime later, when they had sought rest for the night on the skins in

Capt. Pipe's house.



"It makes me feel--well, not exactly comfortable, Ree," John answered.

"Here we are a hundred miles from civilization sleeping in the hut of one

of the bloodiest Indians of the Northwest Territory; Indians all around

us, and Goodness knows what else in the woods, on every side!"



"Why, John," said Ree, "I believe we are safer to-night than at any time

since we left Fort Pitt. Capt. Pipe may be a bad Indian, but he would

fight for us, if need be, while we are his guests. He might scalp us

to-morrow after we have said good-bye, but when we are in his house as

friends, we will be protected."