August 18, 2025 • 26 mins
In 1755, twelve-year-old Mary Jemison was captured by Native Americans, marking the beginning of a remarkable journey that would define her life. This compelling narrative recounts the tragic murder of her father and family, her profound struggles, and the complexities of her marriages to two Native men. Mary’s account reveals the harsh realities she faced, the brutalities of the French and Revolutionary Wars, and the historical truths that have long remained untold. Join us as we explore her extraordinary story, as narrated by James Seaver.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter eleven of A Narrative of the Life of Missus
Mary Jemison. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Hilara. A Narrative
(00:22):
of the Life of Missus Mary Jemison by James E.
Sever Chapter eleven. In the month of November eighteen eleven,
my husband Hiokatu, who had been sick four years of
the consumption, died at the advanced age of one hundred
and three years as nearly as the time could be estimated.
(00:44):
He was the last that remained to me of our
family connection, or rather of my old friends with whom
I was adopted, except a part of one family which
now lives at Tonawanta. Hyokatu was buried decently and had
all the insignia of a veteran warrior buried with him,
consisting of a war club, tomahawk and scalping knife, a
(01:08):
power of flask flint, a piece of spunk, a small
cake and a cup, and in his best clothing. Hyokatu
was an old man when I first saw him, but
he was by no means enervated. During the term of
nearly fifty years that I lived with him, I received,
according to Indian customs, all the kindness and attention that
(01:31):
was my due as his wife. Although war was his
trade from his youth till old age and decrepitude stopped
his career, he uniformly treated me with tenderness and never
offered an insult. I have frequently heard him repeat the
history of his life from his childhood and when he
came to that part which related to his actions, his bravery,
(01:53):
and his valor in war. When he spoke of the ambush,
the combat, the spoiling of his enemies, and the sacrifice
of the victims, his nerves seemed strung with youthful ardor
the warmth of the able warrior, seemed to animate his
frame and to produce the heated gestures which he had
practiced in middle age. He was a man of tender
(02:16):
feelings to his friends, ready and willing to assist them
in distress. Yet as a warrior, his cruelties to his
enemies perhaps were unparalleled. And will not admit a word
of palliation. Hiokatu was born in one of the tribes
of the six nations that inhabited the banks of the Susquehanna,
or rather he belonged to a tribe of the Senecas
(02:38):
that made, at the time of the Great Indian Treaty
a part of those nations. He was own cousin to
Farmer's brother, a chief who has been justly celebrated for
his worth. Their mothers were sisters, and it was through
the influence of Farmer's brother that I became Hukatu's wife.
In early life, Hyokarta who showed signs of thirst for
(03:01):
blood by attending only to the art of war in
the use of the tomahawk and scalping knife, and in
practicing cruelties upon everything that chanced to fall into his
hands which was susceptible to pain. In that way, he
learned to use his implements of war effectually, and at
the same time blunted all those fine feelings and tender
(03:22):
sympathies that are naturally excited by hearing or seeing a
fellow being in distress. He could inflict the most excruciating
tortures upon his enemies, and prided himself upon his fortitude
in having performed the most barbarous ceremonies and tortures without
the least degree of pity or remorse, thus qualified. When
(03:45):
very young, he was initiated into scenes of carnage by
being engaged in the wars that prevailed amongst the Indian tribes.
In the year seventeen thirty one, he was appointed a
runner to assist in collecting an army to go against
the torpas Cherokees and other southern Indians. A large army
(04:05):
was collected, and after a long and fatiguing march, met
its enemies in what was then called the low, dark
and Bloody Lands, near the mouth of Red River in
what is now called the state of Kentucky. Footnote. Those
powerful armies met near the place that is now called Clarksville,
(04:25):
which is situated at the fork where Red River joins
the Cumberland, a few miles above the line between Kentucky
and Tennessee end footnote the Cootapes footnote. The author acknowledges
himself unacquainted from Indian history with the nation of this name,
But as ninety years have elapsed since the date of
(04:45):
this occurrence, it is highly probable that such a nation
did exist, and that it was absolutely exterminated at that
eventful period. End footnote and their associates had by some
means been a prize of their approach, and lay in
ambush to take them at once when they should come
within their reach and destroy the whole army. The Northern Indians,
(05:10):
with their usual sagacity, discovered the situation of their enemies,
rushed upon the ambuscade and massacred a thousand and two
hundred on the spot. The battle continued for two days
and two nights, with the utmost severity, in which the
Northern Indians were victorious and so far succeeded in destroying
the catopies that they at that time ceased to be
(05:33):
a nation. The victors suffered an immense loss in killed,
but gained the hunting ground, which was their grand object,
though the Cherokees would not give it up in a
treaty or consent to make peace. Bows and arrows at
that time were in general use, though a few guns
were employed. From that time he was engaged in a
(05:54):
number of battles in which Indians only were engaged, and
that made fighting his business till the commencement of the
French War. In those battles he took a number of
Indian prisoners whom he killed by tying them to trees
and then setting small Indian boys to shooting at them
with arrows till death finished the misery of the sufferers,
(06:14):
a process that frequently took two days for its completion.
During the French War, he was in every battle that
was fought on the Susquehanna and Ohio rivers, and was
so fortunate as never to have been taken prisoner. At
Bradock's with defeat, he took two white prisoners and burnt
them alive in a fire of his own kindling. In
(06:35):
seventeen seventy seven, he was in the battle at Fort
Feland in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The fort contained a great
number of women and children and was defended only by
a small garrison. The force that went against it consisted
of a hundred British regulars commanded by a Colonel MacDonald,
and three hundred Indians under Hiokatu. After a short but
(07:00):
bloody engagement, the fort was surrendered. The women and children
were sent under an escort to the next fort below,
and the men and boys taken off by a party
of British to the General Indian encampment. As soon as
the fort had capitulated and the firing had ceased. Hu Katu,
with the help of a few Indians, tomahawked every wounded
(07:22):
American while earnestly begging with uplifted hands for quarters. So
Mausaca was but just finished when Captain's Doughty and Boone
arrived with the reinforcement to assist the garrison. On their
arriving in sight of the fort, they saw that it
had surrendered and that an Indian was holding the flag.
(07:42):
This so much inflamed Captain Doughty that he left his command,
stepped forward and shot the Indian at the first fire.
Another took the flag and had no sooner got it
erected than Doughty dropped him as he had the first.
A third presumed to hold it, who was also caught
down by Doughty. Hyokatu, exasperated at the sight of such bravery,
(08:05):
sallied out with a party of his Indians and killed
Captain's Doughty, Boon, and fourteen men at the first fire.
The remainder of the two companies escaped by taking to flight,
and soon arrived at the fort, which they had left
but a few hours before in an expedition that went
out against Cherry Valley and the neighboring settlements. Captain David,
(08:28):
a Mohawk Indian, was first and Hiokatu the second in command.
The force consisted of several hundred Indians who were determined
on mischief and the destruction of the whites. A continued
series of wantonness and barbarity characterized their career, for they
plundered and burned everything that came in their way, and
(08:49):
killed a number of persons, among whom were several infants,
whom Hyokato butchered or dashed upon stones with his own hands.
Besides the instances which have been mentioned, he was in
a number of parties during the Revolutionary War, where he
ever acted a conspicuous part. The Indians, having removed the
(09:09):
seat of their depredations and war to the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky,
and the neighboring territories, assembled a large force at Upper Sandusky,
their place of general rendezvous. From whence they went out
to the various places which they designed to sacrifice. Tired
of the desolating scenes that were so often witnessed, and
(09:29):
feeling a confidence that the savages might be subdued, and
an end put to their crimes, the American government raised
a regiment consisting of three hundred volunteers for the purpose
of dislodging them from their cantonment and preventing further barbarities.
Colonel William Crawford and Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson, men who
(09:51):
had been thoroughly tried and approved, were commissioned by General
Washington to take the command of a service that seemed
all important to the welfare of the country. In the
month of July seventeen eighty two. Well armed and provided
with a sufficient quantity of provision, this regiment made an
expeditious march through the wilderness to Upper Sandusky, where, as
(10:13):
had been anticipated, they found the Indians assembled in full
force at their encampment, prepared to receive an attack. As
Colonel Crawford and his brave band advanced, and when they
had got within a short distance from the town, they
were met by a white man with a flag of
crews from the Indians, who proposed to Colonel Crawford that
(10:34):
if he would surrender himself and his men to the Indians,
their lives should be spared, but if they persisted in
their undertaking and attacked the town, they should all be
massacred to a man. Crawford, while hearing the proposition, attentively
surveyed its bearer and recognized in his features one of
(10:55):
his former schoolmates and companions with whom he was perfectly acquainted,
by the name of Simon Gerty. Gerty, but a short
time before this, had been a soldier in the American
Army in the same regiment with Crawford. But on the
account of his not having received the promotion that he expected,
he became disaffected, swore an eternal war with his countrymen,
(11:18):
fled to the Indians, and joined them as a leader
well qualified to conduct them to where they could satiate
their thirst for blood upon the innocent, unoffending, and defenseless settlers.
Crawford sternly inquired of the traitor if his name was
not Simon Girty, and, being answered in the affirmative, he
informed him that he despised the offer which he had made,
(11:41):
and that he would not surrender his army unless he
should be compelled to do so by a superior force.
Gerty returned, and Crawford immediately commenced an engagement that lasted
till night without the appearance of victory on either side.
When the firing ceased and the combatants on both sides
retired to take refreshment and to rest through the night,
(12:04):
Crawford encamped in the woods near half a mile from
the town, where after the sentinels were placed and each
had taken his ration, they slept on their arms that
they might be instantly ready in case they should be attacked.
The stillness of death hovered over their little army, and
sleep relieved the whole except the wakeful sentinels, who vigilantly
(12:25):
attended to their duty. But what was their surprise when
they found late in the night that they were surrounded
by the Indians on every side except a narrow space
between them and the town. Every man was under arms,
and the officers instantly consulted each other on the best
method of escaping, for they saw that a fight would
be useless and that a surrender would be death. Crawford
(12:48):
proposed to retreat through the ranks of the enemy in
an opposite direction from the town, as being the most
sure course to take left in Colonel Williamson advised to
march directly through the town, where there appeared to be
no Indians and the fires were yet burning. There was
no time or place for debates. Colonel Crawford, with sixty
followers retreated on the route that he had proposed by
(13:11):
attempting to rush through the enemy, but they had no
sooner got amongst the Indians than every man was killed
or taken prisoner. Amongst the prisoners were Colonel Crawford and
doctor Knight, surgeon of the regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Williamson, with
the remainder of the regiment, together with the wounded, set
out at the same time that Crawford did, went through
(13:33):
the town without losing a man, and by the help
of good guides, arrived at their homes in safety. The
next day. After the engagement, the Indians disposed of all
their prisoners to the different tribes, except Colonel Crawford and
doctor Knight, but those unfortunate men were reserved for a
more cruel lestony. A council was immediately held on Sandusky Plains,
(13:57):
consisting of all the chiefs and warriors, ranged in their
customary order in a circular form, and Crawford and Knight
were brought forward and seated in the center of the circle.
The council being opened, the chiefs began to examine Crawford
on various subjects relative to the war. At length, they
inquired who conducted the military operations of the American Army
(14:19):
on the Ohio and Susquehanna rivers during the year before,
and who had led that army against them with so
much skill and so uniformed success. Crawford, very honestly and
without suspecting any harm from his reply, promptly answered that
he was the man who had led his countrymen to victory,
who had driven the enemy from the settlements, and by
(14:40):
that means had procured a great degree of happiness to
many of his fellow citizens. Upon hearing this, a chief
who had lost a son in the year before in
a battle where Colonel Crawford commanded, left his station in
the council, stepped to Crawford, blacked his face, and at
the same time told him that the next day he
(15:01):
should be burnt. The council was immediately dissolved on its
hearing the sentence from the chief, and the prisoners were
taken off the ground and kept in custody through the night.
Crawford now viewed his faith as sealed, and despairing of
ever returning to his home, or his country only dreaded
the tediousness of death as commonly inflicted by the savages,
(15:22):
and earnestly hoped that he might be dispatched at a
single blow. Early the next morning, the Indians assembled at
the place of execution, and Crawford was led to the
post the goal of savage torture to which he was fastened.
The post was a stick of timber placed firmly in
the ground, having an arm framed in at the top
(15:44):
and extending some six or eight feet from it, like
the arm of a sign post. A pile of wood
containing about two cords lay a few feet from the
place where he stood, which he was informed was to
be kindled into a fire that would burn him alive,
as men he had been burnt on the same spot,
who had been much less deserving than himself. Gerty stood
(16:05):
and supposedly looked on the preparations that were making for
the funeral of one of his former playmates, a hero
by whose side he had fought, of a man whose
valor had won laurels, which, if he could have returned,
would have been strewed upon his grave by his grateful countrymen.
Dreading the agony that he saw he was about to feel.
Crawford used every argument which his perilous situation could suggest
(16:30):
to prevail upon Gerty to ransom him at any price
and deliver him, as it was in his power, from
the savages and their torments. Gerty heard his prayers and expostulations,
and saw his tears with indifference, and finally told the
forsaken victim that he would not procure him a moment's respite,
nor offered him the most trifling assistance. The colonel was
(16:54):
then bound, stripped, naked, and tied by his wrists to
the arm which extended horizontally from the post, in such
a manner that his arms were extended over his head,
with his feet just standing upon the ground. This being done,
the savages placed the wood in a circle around him
at the distance of a hue heat, in order that
(17:15):
his misery might be protracted to the greatest length, and
then kindled it in a number of places. At the
same time the flames arose, and the scorching heat became
almost insupportable. Again, he prayed to Gerty, in all the
anguish of his dorment, to rescue him from the fire,
or to shoot him dead upon the spot a demonaic
(17:36):
smile suffused the countenance of gerty, while he calmly replied
to the dying suppliant that he had no pity for
his sufferings, but that he was then satisfying that spirit
of revenge which for a long time he had hoped
to have an opportunity to wreck upon him. Nature. Now
almost exhausted from the intensity of the heat, he settled
(17:58):
down a little when a squat war through coals of
fire and embers upon him, which made him groan most piteously,
while the whole camp rung with exaltation. During the execution,
they manifested all the ecstasy of a complete triumph. Poor
Crawford soon died and was entirely consumed. Thus ended the
(18:20):
life of a patriot and hero who had been an
intimate with General Washington, and who shared in an eminent
degree the confidence of that great good man to whom,
in the time of revolutionary perils the sons of legitimate
freedom looked with a degree of faith in his mental
resources unequaled in the history of the world. That tragedy
(18:43):
being ended, doctor Knight was informed that on the next
day he should be burned in the same manner that
his comrade Crawford had been at Lower Sandusky. Theorkatu, who
out had been a leading chief in the battle with
and in the execution of Crawford. Pain did Doctor Knight's
face black and then bound and gave him up to
(19:04):
two able bodied Indians to conduct to the place of execution.
They set off with him immediately and traveled till towards evening,
when they halted to encamped till morning. The afternoon had
been very rainy, and the storm still continued, which rendered
it very difficult for the Indians to kindle a fire night.
Observing the difficulty under which they labored made them to
(19:27):
understand by science that if they were unbind him, he
would assist them. They accordingly unbound him, and he soon
succeeded in making a fire by the application of small
dry stuff, which he was at considerable trouble to procure.
While the Indians were warming themselves, the doctor continued to
(19:47):
gather wood to last through the night, and in doing
this he found a club, which he placed in a
situation from whence he could take it conveniently whenever an
opportunity should present itself in which which he could use
it effectually. The Indians continued warming till at length the
doctors saw that they had placed themselves in a favorable
(20:08):
position for the execution of a design. When stimulated by
the love of life, he cautiously took his club and
at two blows knocked them both down. Determined to finish
the work of death which he had so well begun,
he drew one of their scalping knives, with which he
beheaded and scraped them both. He then took a rifle, tomahawk,
(20:30):
and some ammunition, and directed his course for home, where
he arrived without having experienced any difficulty on his journey.
The next morning, the Indians took the track of their
victim and his attendants to go to Lower Sandusky and
there execute the sentence which they had pronounced upon him.
But what was their surprise and disappointment when they arrived
(20:53):
at the place of encampment, where they found their trusty
friends cat and decapitated, and that their pre prisoner had
made his escape. Chagrined beyond measure, they immediately separated and
went in every direction in pursuit of their prey. But
after having spent a number of days unsuccessfully, they gave
(21:14):
up their chase and returned to their encampment. Footnote. I
have understood from unauthenticated sources, however, that soon after the
Revolutionary War, doctor Knight published a pamphlet containing an account
of the Battle at Sandusky and of his own sufferings.
My information on this subject was derived from a different
(21:34):
quarter the subject of this narrative. In giving the account
of her last husband, Hiokato referred us to mister George Jemison, who,
as it will be noticed, lived on her land a
number of years, and who had frequently heard the old
chief relate the story of his life, particularly that part
which related to his military career. Mister Jemison, on being
(21:56):
inquired off, gave the foregoing account, partly from his own
personal knowledge, and the remainder from the account given by Hiokato.
Mister Jamieson was in the battle, was personally acquainted with
Colonel Crawford, and one that escaped with Lieutenant Colonel Williamson.
We have no doubt of the truth of the statement,
and have therefore inserted the whole account as an addition
(22:19):
to the historical facts which are daily coming into a
state of preservation in relation to the American Revolution. Author
end footnote. In the time of the French War. In
an engagement that took place on the Ohio River, Heokarto
took a British colonel by the name of Simon Canton,
whom he carried to the Indian encampment. A council was
(22:41):
held and the colonel was sentenced to suffer death by
being tied on a wild colt with his face towards
its sail, and then having the colt turned loose to
run where it pleased. He was accordingly tied on, and
the colt let loose, agreeable to the sentence, the run
two days, and then returned with its rider yet alive.
(23:04):
The Indians, thinking that he would never die in that way,
took him off and made him run the gauntlet three times,
but in the last race a squad knocked him down
and he was supposed to have been dead. He however,
recovered and was sold for fifty dollars to a Frenchman,
who sent him as a prisoner to Detroit. On the
(23:25):
return of the Frenchman to Detroit, the colonel besought him
to ransom him and give or set him at liberty.
With so much warmth, and promised with so much solemnity
to reward him as one of the best of benefactors
if he would let him go. That the Frenchman took
his word and sent him home to his family. The
(23:45):
colonel remembered his promise and in a short time sent
his deliverer one hundred and fifty dollars as a reward
for his generosity. Since the commencement of the Revolutionary War,
the Okatu has been in seventeen campaigns, four of which
were in the Cherokee War. He was so great an
enemy to the Cherokees, and so fully determined upon their subjugation,
(24:08):
that on his march to their country, he raised his
own army for those four campaigns and commanded it, and
also superintended its subsistence. In one of those campaigns, which
continued two whole years without intermission, he attacked his enemies
on the mobile, drove them to the country of the
Creek Nation, where he continued to harass them till, being
(24:32):
tired of war, he returned to his family. He brought
home a great number of scalps which he had taken
from the enemy, and ever seemed to possess an unconquerable
will that the Cherokees might be utterly destroyed. Towards the
close of his last fighting in that country, he took
two squaws, whom he sold on his way home for
(24:52):
money to defray the expense of his journey. Hukatu was
about six feet four or five inches high, large boned,
and rather inclined to leanness. He was very stout and
active for a man of his size, for it was
said by himself and others that he had never found
an Indian who could keep up with him on a
(25:13):
race or throw him at wrestling. His eye was quick
and penetrating, and his voice was of that harsh and
powerful kind which amongst Indians always commands attention. His health
had been uniformly good. He never was confined by sickness
till he was attacked with the consumption four years before
(25:33):
his death. And although he had from his earliest days
been injured to almost constant fatigue and exposure to every
inclemency of the weather in the open air, he seemed
to lose the vigor of the prime of life only
by the natural decay occasioned by old age. End of
chapter eleven, recording by Hilara
Chapter eleven of A Narrative of the Life of Missus
Mary Jemison. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings
are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer,
please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Hilara. A Narrative
(00:22):
of the Life of Missus Mary Jemison by James E.
Sever Chapter eleven. In the month of November eighteen eleven,
my husband Hiokatu, who had been sick four years of
the consumption, died at the advanced age of one hundred
and three years as nearly as the time could be estimated.
(00:44):
He was the last that remained to me of our
family connection, or rather of my old friends with whom
I was adopted, except a part of one family which
now lives at Tonawanta. Hyokatu was buried decently and had
all the insignia of a veteran warrior buried with him,
consisting of a war club, tomahawk and scalping knife, a
(01:08):
power of flask flint, a piece of spunk, a small
cake and a cup, and in his best clothing. Hyokatu
was an old man when I first saw him, but
he was by no means enervated. During the term of
nearly fifty years that I lived with him, I received,
according to Indian customs, all the kindness and attention that
(01:31):
was my due as his wife. Although war was his
trade from his youth till old age and decrepitude stopped
his career, he uniformly treated me with tenderness and never
offered an insult. I have frequently heard him repeat the
history of his life from his childhood and when he
came to that part which related to his actions, his bravery,
(01:53):
and his valor in war. When he spoke of the ambush,
the combat, the spoiling of his enemies, and the sacrifice
of the victims, his nerves seemed strung with youthful ardor
the warmth of the able warrior, seemed to animate his
frame and to produce the heated gestures which he had
practiced in middle age. He was a man of tender
(02:16):
feelings to his friends, ready and willing to assist them
in distress. Yet as a warrior, his cruelties to his
enemies perhaps were unparalleled. And will not admit a word
of palliation. Hiokatu was born in one of the tribes
of the six nations that inhabited the banks of the Susquehanna,
or rather he belonged to a tribe of the Senecas
(02:38):
that made, at the time of the Great Indian Treaty
a part of those nations. He was own cousin to
Farmer's brother, a chief who has been justly celebrated for
his worth. Their mothers were sisters, and it was through
the influence of Farmer's brother that I became Hukatu's wife.
In early life, Hyokarta who showed signs of thirst for
(03:01):
blood by attending only to the art of war in
the use of the tomahawk and scalping knife, and in
practicing cruelties upon everything that chanced to fall into his
hands which was susceptible to pain. In that way, he
learned to use his implements of war effectually, and at
the same time blunted all those fine feelings and tender
(03:22):
sympathies that are naturally excited by hearing or seeing a
fellow being in distress. He could inflict the most excruciating
tortures upon his enemies, and prided himself upon his fortitude
in having performed the most barbarous ceremonies and tortures without
the least degree of pity or remorse, thus qualified. When
(03:45):
very young, he was initiated into scenes of carnage by
being engaged in the wars that prevailed amongst the Indian tribes.
In the year seventeen thirty one, he was appointed a
runner to assist in collecting an army to go against
the torpas Cherokees and other southern Indians. A large army
(04:05):
was collected, and after a long and fatiguing march, met
its enemies in what was then called the low, dark
and Bloody Lands, near the mouth of Red River in
what is now called the state of Kentucky. Footnote. Those
powerful armies met near the place that is now called Clarksville,
(04:25):
which is situated at the fork where Red River joins
the Cumberland, a few miles above the line between Kentucky
and Tennessee end footnote the Cootapes footnote. The author acknowledges
himself unacquainted from Indian history with the nation of this name,
But as ninety years have elapsed since the date of
(04:45):
this occurrence, it is highly probable that such a nation
did exist, and that it was absolutely exterminated at that
eventful period. End footnote and their associates had by some
means been a prize of their approach, and lay in
ambush to take them at once when they should come
within their reach and destroy the whole army. The Northern Indians,
(05:10):
with their usual sagacity, discovered the situation of their enemies,
rushed upon the ambuscade and massacred a thousand and two
hundred on the spot. The battle continued for two days
and two nights, with the utmost severity, in which the
Northern Indians were victorious and so far succeeded in destroying
the catopies that they at that time ceased to be
(05:33):
a nation. The victors suffered an immense loss in killed,
but gained the hunting ground, which was their grand object,
though the Cherokees would not give it up in a
treaty or consent to make peace. Bows and arrows at
that time were in general use, though a few guns
were employed. From that time he was engaged in a
(05:54):
number of battles in which Indians only were engaged, and
that made fighting his business till the commencement of the
French War. In those battles he took a number of
Indian prisoners whom he killed by tying them to trees
and then setting small Indian boys to shooting at them
with arrows till death finished the misery of the sufferers,
(06:14):
a process that frequently took two days for its completion.
During the French War, he was in every battle that
was fought on the Susquehanna and Ohio rivers, and was
so fortunate as never to have been taken prisoner. At
Bradock's with defeat, he took two white prisoners and burnt
them alive in a fire of his own kindling. In
(06:35):
seventeen seventy seven, he was in the battle at Fort
Feland in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. The fort contained a great
number of women and children and was defended only by
a small garrison. The force that went against it consisted
of a hundred British regulars commanded by a Colonel MacDonald,
and three hundred Indians under Hiokatu. After a short but
(07:00):
bloody engagement, the fort was surrendered. The women and children
were sent under an escort to the next fort below,
and the men and boys taken off by a party
of British to the General Indian encampment. As soon as
the fort had capitulated and the firing had ceased. Hu Katu,
with the help of a few Indians, tomahawked every wounded
(07:22):
American while earnestly begging with uplifted hands for quarters. So
Mausaca was but just finished when Captain's Doughty and Boone
arrived with the reinforcement to assist the garrison. On their
arriving in sight of the fort, they saw that it
had surrendered and that an Indian was holding the flag.
(07:42):
This so much inflamed Captain Doughty that he left his command,
stepped forward and shot the Indian at the first fire.
Another took the flag and had no sooner got it
erected than Doughty dropped him as he had the first.
A third presumed to hold it, who was also caught
down by Doughty. Hyokatu, exasperated at the sight of such bravery,
(08:05):
sallied out with a party of his Indians and killed
Captain's Doughty, Boon, and fourteen men at the first fire.
The remainder of the two companies escaped by taking to flight,
and soon arrived at the fort, which they had left
but a few hours before in an expedition that went
out against Cherry Valley and the neighboring settlements. Captain David,
(08:28):
a Mohawk Indian, was first and Hiokatu the second in command.
The force consisted of several hundred Indians who were determined
on mischief and the destruction of the whites. A continued
series of wantonness and barbarity characterized their career, for they
plundered and burned everything that came in their way, and
(08:49):
killed a number of persons, among whom were several infants,
whom Hyokato butchered or dashed upon stones with his own hands.
Besides the instances which have been mentioned, he was in
a number of parties during the Revolutionary War, where he
ever acted a conspicuous part. The Indians, having removed the
(09:09):
seat of their depredations and war to the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky,
and the neighboring territories, assembled a large force at Upper Sandusky,
their place of general rendezvous. From whence they went out
to the various places which they designed to sacrifice. Tired
of the desolating scenes that were so often witnessed, and
(09:29):
feeling a confidence that the savages might be subdued, and
an end put to their crimes, the American government raised
a regiment consisting of three hundred volunteers for the purpose
of dislodging them from their cantonment and preventing further barbarities.
Colonel William Crawford and Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson, men who
(09:51):
had been thoroughly tried and approved, were commissioned by General
Washington to take the command of a service that seemed
all important to the welfare of the country. In the
month of July seventeen eighty two. Well armed and provided
with a sufficient quantity of provision, this regiment made an
expeditious march through the wilderness to Upper Sandusky, where, as
(10:13):
had been anticipated, they found the Indians assembled in full
force at their encampment, prepared to receive an attack. As
Colonel Crawford and his brave band advanced, and when they
had got within a short distance from the town, they
were met by a white man with a flag of
crews from the Indians, who proposed to Colonel Crawford that
(10:34):
if he would surrender himself and his men to the Indians,
their lives should be spared, but if they persisted in
their undertaking and attacked the town, they should all be
massacred to a man. Crawford, while hearing the proposition, attentively
surveyed its bearer and recognized in his features one of
(10:55):
his former schoolmates and companions with whom he was perfectly acquainted,
by the name of Simon Gerty. Gerty, but a short
time before this, had been a soldier in the American
Army in the same regiment with Crawford. But on the
account of his not having received the promotion that he expected,
he became disaffected, swore an eternal war with his countrymen,
(11:18):
fled to the Indians, and joined them as a leader
well qualified to conduct them to where they could satiate
their thirst for blood upon the innocent, unoffending, and defenseless settlers.
Crawford sternly inquired of the traitor if his name was
not Simon Girty, and, being answered in the affirmative, he
informed him that he despised the offer which he had made,
(11:41):
and that he would not surrender his army unless he
should be compelled to do so by a superior force.
Gerty returned, and Crawford immediately commenced an engagement that lasted
till night without the appearance of victory on either side.
When the firing ceased and the combatants on both sides
retired to take refreshment and to rest through the night,
(12:04):
Crawford encamped in the woods near half a mile from
the town, where after the sentinels were placed and each
had taken his ration, they slept on their arms that
they might be instantly ready in case they should be attacked.
The stillness of death hovered over their little army, and
sleep relieved the whole except the wakeful sentinels, who vigilantly
(12:25):
attended to their duty. But what was their surprise when
they found late in the night that they were surrounded
by the Indians on every side except a narrow space
between them and the town. Every man was under arms,
and the officers instantly consulted each other on the best
method of escaping, for they saw that a fight would
be useless and that a surrender would be death. Crawford
(12:48):
proposed to retreat through the ranks of the enemy in
an opposite direction from the town, as being the most
sure course to take left in Colonel Williamson advised to
march directly through the town, where there appeared to be
no Indians and the fires were yet burning. There was
no time or place for debates. Colonel Crawford, with sixty
followers retreated on the route that he had proposed by
(13:11):
attempting to rush through the enemy, but they had no
sooner got amongst the Indians than every man was killed
or taken prisoner. Amongst the prisoners were Colonel Crawford and
doctor Knight, surgeon of the regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Williamson, with
the remainder of the regiment, together with the wounded, set
out at the same time that Crawford did, went through
(13:33):
the town without losing a man, and by the help
of good guides, arrived at their homes in safety. The
next day. After the engagement, the Indians disposed of all
their prisoners to the different tribes, except Colonel Crawford and
doctor Knight, but those unfortunate men were reserved for a
more cruel lestony. A council was immediately held on Sandusky Plains,
(13:57):
consisting of all the chiefs and warriors, ranged in their
customary order in a circular form, and Crawford and Knight
were brought forward and seated in the center of the circle.
The council being opened, the chiefs began to examine Crawford
on various subjects relative to the war. At length, they
inquired who conducted the military operations of the American Army
(14:19):
on the Ohio and Susquehanna rivers during the year before,
and who had led that army against them with so
much skill and so uniformed success. Crawford, very honestly and
without suspecting any harm from his reply, promptly answered that
he was the man who had led his countrymen to victory,
who had driven the enemy from the settlements, and by
(14:40):
that means had procured a great degree of happiness to
many of his fellow citizens. Upon hearing this, a chief
who had lost a son in the year before in
a battle where Colonel Crawford commanded, left his station in
the council, stepped to Crawford, blacked his face, and at
the same time told him that the next day he
(15:01):
should be burnt. The council was immediately dissolved on its
hearing the sentence from the chief, and the prisoners were
taken off the ground and kept in custody through the night.
Crawford now viewed his faith as sealed, and despairing of
ever returning to his home, or his country only dreaded
the tediousness of death as commonly inflicted by the savages,
(15:22):
and earnestly hoped that he might be dispatched at a
single blow. Early the next morning, the Indians assembled at
the place of execution, and Crawford was led to the
post the goal of savage torture to which he was fastened.
The post was a stick of timber placed firmly in
the ground, having an arm framed in at the top
(15:44):
and extending some six or eight feet from it, like
the arm of a sign post. A pile of wood
containing about two cords lay a few feet from the
place where he stood, which he was informed was to
be kindled into a fire that would burn him alive,
as men he had been burnt on the same spot,
who had been much less deserving than himself. Gerty stood
(16:05):
and supposedly looked on the preparations that were making for
the funeral of one of his former playmates, a hero
by whose side he had fought, of a man whose
valor had won laurels, which, if he could have returned,
would have been strewed upon his grave by his grateful countrymen.
Dreading the agony that he saw he was about to feel.
Crawford used every argument which his perilous situation could suggest
(16:30):
to prevail upon Gerty to ransom him at any price
and deliver him, as it was in his power, from
the savages and their torments. Gerty heard his prayers and expostulations,
and saw his tears with indifference, and finally told the
forsaken victim that he would not procure him a moment's respite,
nor offered him the most trifling assistance. The colonel was
(16:54):
then bound, stripped, naked, and tied by his wrists to
the arm which extended horizontally from the post, in such
a manner that his arms were extended over his head,
with his feet just standing upon the ground. This being done,
the savages placed the wood in a circle around him
at the distance of a hue heat, in order that
(17:15):
his misery might be protracted to the greatest length, and
then kindled it in a number of places. At the
same time the flames arose, and the scorching heat became
almost insupportable. Again, he prayed to Gerty, in all the
anguish of his dorment, to rescue him from the fire,
or to shoot him dead upon the spot a demonaic
(17:36):
smile suffused the countenance of gerty, while he calmly replied
to the dying suppliant that he had no pity for
his sufferings, but that he was then satisfying that spirit
of revenge which for a long time he had hoped
to have an opportunity to wreck upon him. Nature. Now
almost exhausted from the intensity of the heat, he settled
(17:58):
down a little when a squat war through coals of
fire and embers upon him, which made him groan most piteously,
while the whole camp rung with exaltation. During the execution,
they manifested all the ecstasy of a complete triumph. Poor
Crawford soon died and was entirely consumed. Thus ended the
(18:20):
life of a patriot and hero who had been an
intimate with General Washington, and who shared in an eminent
degree the confidence of that great good man to whom,
in the time of revolutionary perils the sons of legitimate
freedom looked with a degree of faith in his mental
resources unequaled in the history of the world. That tragedy
(18:43):
being ended, doctor Knight was informed that on the next
day he should be burned in the same manner that
his comrade Crawford had been at Lower Sandusky. Theorkatu, who
out had been a leading chief in the battle with
and in the execution of Crawford. Pain did Doctor Knight's
face black and then bound and gave him up to
(19:04):
two able bodied Indians to conduct to the place of execution.
They set off with him immediately and traveled till towards evening,
when they halted to encamped till morning. The afternoon had
been very rainy, and the storm still continued, which rendered
it very difficult for the Indians to kindle a fire night.
Observing the difficulty under which they labored made them to
(19:27):
understand by science that if they were unbind him, he
would assist them. They accordingly unbound him, and he soon
succeeded in making a fire by the application of small
dry stuff, which he was at considerable trouble to procure.
While the Indians were warming themselves, the doctor continued to
(19:47):
gather wood to last through the night, and in doing
this he found a club, which he placed in a
situation from whence he could take it conveniently whenever an
opportunity should present itself in which which he could use
it effectually. The Indians continued warming till at length the
doctors saw that they had placed themselves in a favorable
(20:08):
position for the execution of a design. When stimulated by
the love of life, he cautiously took his club and
at two blows knocked them both down. Determined to finish
the work of death which he had so well begun,
he drew one of their scalping knives, with which he
beheaded and scraped them both. He then took a rifle, tomahawk,
(20:30):
and some ammunition, and directed his course for home, where
he arrived without having experienced any difficulty on his journey.
The next morning, the Indians took the track of their
victim and his attendants to go to Lower Sandusky and
there execute the sentence which they had pronounced upon him.
But what was their surprise and disappointment when they arrived
(20:53):
at the place of encampment, where they found their trusty
friends cat and decapitated, and that their pre prisoner had
made his escape. Chagrined beyond measure, they immediately separated and
went in every direction in pursuit of their prey. But
after having spent a number of days unsuccessfully, they gave
(21:14):
up their chase and returned to their encampment. Footnote. I
have understood from unauthenticated sources, however, that soon after the
Revolutionary War, doctor Knight published a pamphlet containing an account
of the Battle at Sandusky and of his own sufferings.
My information on this subject was derived from a different
(21:34):
quarter the subject of this narrative. In giving the account
of her last husband, Hiokato referred us to mister George Jemison, who,
as it will be noticed, lived on her land a
number of years, and who had frequently heard the old
chief relate the story of his life, particularly that part
which related to his military career. Mister Jemison, on being
(21:56):
inquired off, gave the foregoing account, partly from his own
personal knowledge, and the remainder from the account given by Hiokato.
Mister Jamieson was in the battle, was personally acquainted with
Colonel Crawford, and one that escaped with Lieutenant Colonel Williamson.
We have no doubt of the truth of the statement,
and have therefore inserted the whole account as an addition
(22:19):
to the historical facts which are daily coming into a
state of preservation in relation to the American Revolution. Author
end footnote. In the time of the French War. In
an engagement that took place on the Ohio River, Heokarto
took a British colonel by the name of Simon Canton,
whom he carried to the Indian encampment. A council was
(22:41):
held and the colonel was sentenced to suffer death by
being tied on a wild colt with his face towards
its sail, and then having the colt turned loose to
run where it pleased. He was accordingly tied on, and
the colt let loose, agreeable to the sentence, the run
two days, and then returned with its rider yet alive.
(23:04):
The Indians, thinking that he would never die in that way,
took him off and made him run the gauntlet three times,
but in the last race a squad knocked him down
and he was supposed to have been dead. He however,
recovered and was sold for fifty dollars to a Frenchman,
who sent him as a prisoner to Detroit. On the
(23:25):
return of the Frenchman to Detroit, the colonel besought him
to ransom him and give or set him at liberty.
With so much warmth, and promised with so much solemnity
to reward him as one of the best of benefactors
if he would let him go. That the Frenchman took
his word and sent him home to his family. The
(23:45):
colonel remembered his promise and in a short time sent
his deliverer one hundred and fifty dollars as a reward
for his generosity. Since the commencement of the Revolutionary War,
the Okatu has been in seventeen campaigns, four of which
were in the Cherokee War. He was so great an
enemy to the Cherokees, and so fully determined upon their subjugation,
(24:08):
that on his march to their country, he raised his
own army for those four campaigns and commanded it, and
also superintended its subsistence. In one of those campaigns, which
continued two whole years without intermission, he attacked his enemies
on the mobile, drove them to the country of the
Creek Nation, where he continued to harass them till, being
(24:32):
tired of war, he returned to his family. He brought
home a great number of scalps which he had taken
from the enemy, and ever seemed to possess an unconquerable
will that the Cherokees might be utterly destroyed. Towards the
close of his last fighting in that country, he took
two squaws, whom he sold on his way home for
(24:52):
money to defray the expense of his journey. Hukatu was
about six feet four or five inches high, large boned,
and rather inclined to leanness. He was very stout and
active for a man of his size, for it was
said by himself and others that he had never found
an Indian who could keep up with him on a
(25:13):
race or throw him at wrestling. His eye was quick
and penetrating, and his voice was of that harsh and
powerful kind which amongst Indians always commands attention. His health
had been uniformly good. He never was confined by sickness
till he was attacked with the consumption four years before
(25:33):
his death. And although he had from his earliest days
been injured to almost constant fatigue and exposure to every
inclemency of the weather in the open air, he seemed
to lose the vigor of the prime of life only
by the natural decay occasioned by old age. End of
chapter eleven, recording by Hilara
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