The Indian: On the Battle-Field and in the WigwamFrost, John
History
The Indian: On the Battle-Field and in the Wigwam
Frost, John
Indians of North America
This celebrated chief, in the war between England and France, was
engaged in the service of the latter. He once pointed out, to the writer
of this account, the spot where, with a party of Indians, he lay in
ambush--patiently waiting the approach of a guard that accompanied the
English teams, employed between the Falls of Niagara and the British
garrison; the fort had lately surrendered to Sir William Johnson. The
place selected for that purpose is now known by the name of the “Devil’s
Hole,” and is three and a half miles below the famous cataract, upon the
United States side. The mind can scarcely conceive a more dismal looking
den. A large ravine, occasioned by the falling in of the perpendicular
bank, made dark by the spreading branches of the birch and cedar, which
had taken root below, and the low murmurings of the rapids in the chasm,
added to the solemn thunder of the cataract itself, conspire to render
the scene truly awful. The English party were not aware of the dreadful
fate which awaited them. Unconscious of danger, the drivers were
gaily whistling to their dull ox-teams. On their arrival at this spot,
Farmer’s Brother and his band rushed from the thicket that had concealed
them, and commenced a horrid butchery. So unexpected was the attack, and
so completely were the English deprived of all presence of mind, but a
feeble resistance was made. The guard, the teamsters, the oxen, and the
wagons, were precipitated into the gulf. But two of them escaped; a Mr.
Steadman, who lived at Schlosser, above the falls, being mounted on a
fleet horse, made good his retreat; and one of the soldiers, who
was caught on the projecting root of a cedar, which sustained him
until--assured by the distant yells of the savages--they had left the
grounds. He then clambered up, and proceeded to Fort Niagara, with the
intelligence of this disaster. A small rivulet, which pours itself
down this precipice, was literally colored with the blood of the
vanquished--and has ever since borne the name of “The Bloody Run.”
In the war of the Revolution, Farmer’s Brother evinced his hostility to
the Americans upon every occasion that occurred; and with the same zeal,
he engaged in the late war against his former friends--the British.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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