The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts — John Shaqi
The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous CataractsHolley, George W. (George Washington)
History
The Falls of Niagara and Other Famous Cataracts
Holley, George W. (George Washington)
Niagara Falls (N.Y. and Ont.) -- Description and Travel; Niagara River (N.Y. and Ont.) -- History; Waterfalls
The great Indian chief and orator, Red Jacket, occasionally visited
Judge and General Porter--the latter then living at Black Rock. Judge
Porter told this anecdote of the chief: He visited the Falls while the
mechanics were stretching the timbers across the rapids for the second
bridge. He sat for a long time on a pile of plank, watching their
operations. His mind seemed to be busy both with the past and the
present, reflecting upon the vast territory his race once possessed, and
intensely conscious of the fact that it was theirs no longer. Apparently
mortified, and vexed that its paleface owners should so successfully
develop and improve it, he rose from his seat, and, uttering the
well-known Indian guttural "Ugh, ugh!" he exclaimed: "D----n Yankee!
d----n Yankee!" Then, gathering his blanket-cloak around him, with his
usual dignity and downcast eyes, he slowly walked away, and never
returned to the spot.
Before parting with the distinguished chief, we will repeat after
General Porter two other anecdotes characteristic of him. He lived not
far from Buffalo, on the Seneca Reservation, and frequently visited the
late General Wadsworth, at Geneseo. Indeed, his visits grew to be
somewhat perplexing, for the great chief must be entertained personally
by the host of the establishment.
Of course he was a "teetotaler"--only in one way. When he got a glass of
good liquor he drank the whole of it. He was very fond of the rich
apple-juice of the Geneseo orchards. Having repeated his visits to
General Wadsworth, at one time, with rather inconvenient frequency, and
coming one day when the General saw that he had been drinking pretty
freely somewhere else, his host concluded he would not offer him the
usual refreshments. In due time, therefore, Red Jacket rose and excused
himself. As he was leaving the room the orator said, "General, hear!"
"Well, what, Red Jacket?" To which he replied with great gravity:
"General, when I get home to my people, and they ask me how your cider
tasted, what shall I tell them?" Of course he got the cider.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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