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
In 1778, the family of Mr. Jonathan Slocum, near Wilkesbarre,
(Campbell’s Wyoming,) Pennsylvania, was attacked by Indians. Within the
house were two girls, aged nine and five years, a son of thirteen, a
little boy of two and a half, and their mother. The men were working in
the field, and two youths were in the porch grinding a knife. One of the
latter was shot and scalped with his own knife. The eldest sister seized
the little boy and ran with him towards the fort. The Indians took the
boy who had been turning the grindstone, young Slocum, and his sister
Frances, and prepared to depart. Little Slocum being lame, they set him
down, and proceeded on their way. One of the Indians threw the little
girl over his shoulder, and her weeping face was the last object of the
mother’s gaze.
About a month afterwards, the savages returned, murdered the aged
grandfather, shot a ball into the leg of the lame boy, and then plunging
into the woods were heard of no more. Years passed away; the mother
died of grief for her lost child. The two remaining brothers, grown to
manhood, resolved to ascertain the fate of their sister. They made every
inquiry, travelled through the west and into the Canadas, but all in
vain; and for fifty-eight years, the captive’s fate was unknown.
At length, in 1836, accident discovered what inquiry could not. The Hon.
G. W. Ewing, United States agent to Indian Territory, while travelling
on the banks of the Mississiniwa, lost his way and was benighted, and
compelled to take shelter in an Indian wigwam. The agent was kindly
received, and after supper, entered into conversation with the
hostess. He was soon surprised by observing that her hair was fine
and flaxen-colored, and that, under her dress, her skin appeared to be
white. Upon inquiry, she informed him that she was the daughter of white
parents, that her name was Slocum, that when five years old she had been
carried captive, by Indians, from a house on the Susquehanna. All else
was forgotten.
On reaching home, Ewing wrote an account of the affair, and sent it
to Lancaster for publication. Through neglect, however, it was not
published for two years afterwards; but it was then seen by Mr. Slocum,
of Wilkes-barre, the little boy who had been saved by the girl, sixty
years before. He immediately started for Indiana, accompanied by the
sister who had saved him, at the same time writing to his brother to
meet him at the wigwam. The incidents connected with this visit have
been preserved, and are interesting.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account