The Oglethorpe echo. (Crawford, Ga.) 1874-current, January 22, 1875, Image 1

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BY T. L. GANTT. OGLETHORPE ECHO PUBLISHED EVEBY IBIDAY MOBBING, BY T. L. GANTT, Editor and Proprietor. TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. Where paid strictly in advance $2 00 Where payment delayed 6 months 2 50 Where payment delayed 12 months... 3 00 CLUB RATES. Club of fi or less than 10, per copy 1 75 Club ef 10 or more, per copy 1 50 No attention will be paid to subscrip tieas from other counties unless accompanied by the money, with 20c. per annum additional fa pay postage, as the law requires that after January next postage must lie prepaid by the publisher, except to subscribers in the county whore the journal is published, in which in •tanco no postage is charged. pm- TIIE ABOVE TERMS WILL NOT BE DEVIATED FROM IN ANY CASE. :o: RATES OF ADVERTISING. Per Square (1 inch) first insertion $1 OO Per Square each subsequent insertion.. 75 Liberal contracts made with regular adver tisers, and for a longer period than 3 months. Local notices, 20c. per line first insertion, 16c. per line each subsequent insertion. GEORGIA RAILROAD SCHEDULE The following is the schedule on the Geor gia Railroad, with time of arrival at and de parture from every station on the Athens Branch: UP DAY PASSENGER TRAIN. Leuve Augusta at 8:45 a. m. Arrive at Union Point 12:27 p. m. Leave Union Point 12:52 p. m. Arrive at Atlanta 5:45 p. m. DOWN DAY PASSENGER TRAIN. I** ve Atlanta at 7:00 a. m. Arrive at Union Point 11:52 a. m. Leave Union Point 11:85 a. m. Arrive at Augusta 5:80 p. m. UP NIGHT PASSENGER TRAIN. Leave Augusta at, S;IS p. in. Arrive at Atlanta 0:25 a. m. Remains one minute at Union Point. ATHENS BRANCH TRAIN. DAY TRAIN. Time Stations. Arrive. Depart, bet. sta’s. A. M. Athens 8 45 25 Wintersvillc ..* 9 10 9 15 80 Crawford 9 45 9 50 25 Antioch 10 15 10 18 15 Mnxey’s 10 88 10 85 15 Woodville 10 50 10 55 20 Union Point 11 15 UP TRAIN. Union Point.. .P. M. 1 00 20 Woodville 1 20 1 25 15 Maxey’s 1 40 1 45 15 Antioch 2 00 2 05 25 Crawford 2 80 2 35 30 Wintersvillc 3 05 3 10 25 Athens 3 35 NIGHT TRAIN — Down. Athens a. in. 10 00 25 Wintersvillc 10 25 10 30 30 Crawford 11 00 11 05 25 Antioch 11 30 11 32 15 Maxev’s 11 47 *ll 49 15 Woodville 12 04 12 10 25 Union Point 12 35 a. m. Up Night Train. Union Point 3 55 25 Woodville 4 20 4 24 15 Maxey’s 4 39 4 41 15 Antioch 4 st> 4 58 25 Crawford 5 23 5 27 30 Wintersville 5 57 6 02 28 Athens (> 30 1 S *7 51 NOW IS THE TIME TO SUBSCRIBE * FOR The Oglethorpe Echo THE LI VEST, MOST WIDE-AWAKE, NEWSIEST, AND BEST TAMIL Y PAPER IX GEORGIA. j Cornice,# tie New'eartc Sjbscribe Terms, Positively Cash in Advance NO CREDIT SUBSCRIBERS Txkea under Any limimstanres % ®ljc #§ktl)orjK Cell)®. Written for the Echo.] Crawford. BY “FRANK.” Good neighbors, we are wide awake— “ Our village ” does not sleep; hile Time beats loud his onward march, I’m sure tre do not ereep. A few years back folks only called Our town a little station, M here Galloway gave his Iron horse His food and recreation. But presto! see what we are now— Behold the wond’rous sight! An embryo city springing up As flowers spring into light. We move along at rapid rate, Our Pace is not a snail’s, ’Though sometimes Cheney has bad luck Iu going out for quails. “Of many men of many minds” Our boyhood’s copy spoke, And when I say we have ’em here, Pray, do not think I joke. Of many sizes, too, we boast, From Stephen’s portly form To little lied and Pony boys, Who brave stern Winter's storm. In merchants, too, we are supplied M ith quite a noble band, And yet to have a city air We need a pea-nut stand. But who the vacant place will fill I’m sure I cannot say, Since \Y inter, with His howling blast, Might wait their wares away. M e have no lawyer here to cheat We’re prosperous I’m sure, With Vulcan’s forge, St. Crespin’s stone, And Guillen’s son to euro. We have no band with fife and drum, No troops with spear and lance, But we’ll not give our McMahan ’ For the one they have in France. \\ e Lave an auction sale as times, But thing* don’t seem to sell, For money is so hard to get •And bidders sometimes tell; Bui in the year of seventy-five Mav 1 1 . its favor errant Aim all around our village fair Pa; up their dues to Gantt. My Faith. A week oi siek-.es, a shortning breath, A gasp, a slum i. T> stillness, death. And then, Oh! then, ye winds that blow, 1 ell me where does the spirit go? And ye stars above like angels’ eyes, M here goes the soul when the body dies ? I he winds pass by and answer not, The stars refuse to point the spot, ’ And men still preach of Hell and Heaven W ho, if they’re saved, I’ll be forgiven! But it]) in the church-yard lieth those, M ho, could they speak would soon disclose M bother the spirit goes to Heaven or worse, Breathing a prayer or muttering a curse. As for me, I’ll never attempt to tell, Put take my chance. You might as well. An M. D. A Black Beast. It becomes our duty to chronicle the commission of a crime in our section so inhuman and revolting that civilization trembles at the mere mention of such an atrocity. Miss Margaret C. Kivenbark, Union Township, in this county, made an affidavit before Acting Justices of the Peace, S. 0. fillyaw and Rufus Gar riss, to the affect that on the night of the 24th day ot December last Liberty Boney, colored, at aud in the township of Holly, did, with force and arms,, break into the dwelling house of Mr. William J. Gurganus, where she was then stopping, and did there commit rape upon her. The particulars of this fiendish act, as we understand them, are peculiarly horrifying. It appears that Miss Rivenbark, who is a highly respectable young lady, aged about 20 years, visiting at the house" of Mr. Gurganus, and was there on the nig at in question. Liberty Boney, who is described as a coarse, vulgar negro, knocked at the door of Mr. Gurganus’ dwelling and demanded admittance. Not being admitted as quickly as possi ble, lie forced his way into the house and proceeded at once to accomplish his hellish purpose in the piesence of Mr. Gurganus, his wife and family, caution ing them that if they made any outcry he would kill them. Any resistance that Mr. Gurganus, who is a feeble man, could have made was rendered vain, and Limself paralyzed with fear by the pre sence of three armed negroes on the out side of the house, who it seemed accom panied Boney to the house and remained there for the purpose of aiding and abet ting him in the consummation of the crime. After accomplishing the deed Boney fled with his associates. —JYorth Caro!iua paper. Alas!—The Mississippi papers repre sent the negro race to be in a worse con dition than ever before ; thousands are without supplies of any kind, without necessary clothing, without money, and without credit, and those coming from Georgia and Alabama are also in a con dition oi great destitution. CRAWFORD, GEORGIA, FRIDAY MORNING, JANUARY 22, 1875. MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE %'ivid and Affecting Account of the Siege and Slaughter. From Cedar City the emigrants pro ceeded southwest to the Meadows, a dis tance of about forty miles. Camped at the Meadows they were quietly resting their cattle and gaining strength to cross the *descrt. Suddenly, unexpectly, at daybreak on Monday morning, Septem ber 7, 1857, they were attacked by Indi ans. At the very first fire seven were killed and fifteen wounded. Thoughtless of danger, totally unprepared, and, in fact, while most of them were yet asleep, thev fell helplessly before the bullets of their unseen foes. Had they possessed less bravery, less determination, they would all have been massacred on the spot. With a promptitude unparalleled in all the history of Indian warfare, these emi grants wheeled their wagons into an ob long corral, and with shovels and picks threw the earth from the center of the corral against the wagon-wheels. In an incredibly short time they had an excel lent barricade. An eye-witness says that it was done with such remarkable celerity that the plans of the painted assassins were completely frustated. The oiignal plan had been, as before stated, to attack them at Santa Clara canyon, but the Indians became too im patient. These “ Battle Axes of the Lord” had responded to the call of the Indian Agent, John D. Lee, and the libe ral promises they had received caused the prematuie attack. The large beards and the rich spoils, the blankets, clothing and uinkets, the guns, pistols and amunition, a portion of which was to be theirs, in duced them to make the attack at Cane topiing. I hey intended to kill as many as possible at the first fire, and then charge upon the remainder. The charge never was made. There were crack marksmen iu the train, and in a few mo ments there were THREE WOUNDED INDIANS. The redskins crept up close to the tiain, and lay concealed along the banks of the creek, in the hills, hollows and be hind the low sage brush. They never dreamed ot a repulse. Disconcerted by the prompt, decisive action of the emi grants, tney incautiously exposed their bodies. One account says they actually charged upon the guard, but at all events one was slightly wounded in the shoul der, and two were shot in the left thigh. I here was not an inch of difference in the location of the wounds of the last two. The bones were crushed to splin ters, and both Indians died. Prior to to their death they were conveyed to the Camp near Cedar, and Bishop Higbee annointed their wounds with consecrated oil. An Indian runner came into Cedar the first nigh, and reported the unsuccess ful assault. The Mormons immediate ly started to the Meadows to assist. Haight told a certain man that orders had come from headquarters to massacre the last damned one of them! Ihe man’s boy, now grow to middle age, overhead the remark, and is my au thority. The same person says he saw eight or ten men start out about 9 o’clock that night. They were armed with shot guns, Kentucky rifles, flint-locks, and eveiy imaginable fire-arm, and went un der military orders. Major John D. Lee had command of the forces which star ted from Cedar City, and, finding these inadequate, sent back to Cedar and M ashington for reinforcements. Sworn affidavits tell us that, when the auxiliaries had arrived, the eutire com mand were assembled about half a mile from the iutrenchments of the fated emi grants, and were there coolly informed that the whole company was to be killed and only the little children who were too ycung to remember anything were to be spared. But the order could not be immediate ly carried out because of the DETERMINED RESISTANCE of the emigrants. The meadows are a mile and a halt long, and a mile wide, but the mountains which form the high rim of the little basin, converge at the lower end, and form a wild, rugged can yon. Just at the mouth of this canvon is Cane Spring. Some confusion has arisen among authorities by confounding this Spring, two miles and a half south. There was but one attack, and that was made at this meadow spring, there called ‘ Cane,” because of the peculiar rush, re sembling cane-brake, which grew near its waters. My authority is the man who was owner of the ground, then and now. A mound some two hundred feet long, by one hundred wide, rose from the Meadows about thirty rods above the spring, and completely shut out the view. Low hills, with deep* a' i e , came down either side, and completely hemned in the party. Bullets from every side of this death-pen swept the inclosure and whistled through the wagon-covers. Such cattle as where iuside the corral were shot down, and the herds outside stam peded. Yet for seven or eigh days they bravely held out, and seemed to be masters of the situation. Water was their great need. A little, babbling brook murmur ed along not forty feet away, and the fine, clear spring was not more than two rods off, but yet they suffered indescriba bly from thirst. The Mormons were painted and dis guised, to appear like their savage allies. Not content with the superior advanta ges which nature had given to th-eir posi tion they threw up breastworks of stone on the adjacent hill sides. From behind these their rifles could sweep the little grassy plain below without a single por tion of their bodies exposed. Every at tempt to obtain water, either day or night, awakened a score of de idly reports from the cruel, concealed guns. It was sup posed at first that none but the men were in danger. A woman who had stepped outside the corral to milk a cow fell pierced with bullets. Two innocent little girls, clothed in pure white, were sent down to the spring. Hand in hand* tremblingly, these dear little rosebuds walked towards the spring. Their ten der little bodies were fairly riddled with bullets. THE OLD BREASTWORKS Still remain, in places, and no one can visit the spot without being surprised that the emigrants held out so long. Be hind the mound, and just beyond the low foot hills, are level flats concealed from the emigrants’ view. Here the Mormons and Indians were pitching horse-shoes and amusing themselves in various ways. The cowards well under stood that cruel, pitiless hunger and burning thirst were their powerful allies inside that corral. Wagon loads of pro vision were arriving from Cedar for the besiegers, and each day lessened the scanty stock of the emigrants. \\ ho can picture the torment of mind and body which these poor people suffered? In a bleak, desolate country, hundreds of miles fromliei p, surrounded by painted fiends and dying of thirst and starvation, how deep must have been the gloom. The besiegers found it impossible to take the train by storm, or by fair means. Evidently the poor victims had resolved to perish fighting, rather than deliver their wives and daughters into the hands of brutal villains. But lo ! an emigrant train is seen coming down the meadows, bearing a white .flag ! Ah ! what tu multuous hopes crowded the breasts of that famishing, perishing people. It is said they cried for joy, and danced and embraced each other, and gladly rushed out to meet their supposed friends. They were armed friends, too, as it soon turned out, for it was no less than John D. Lee and the officers of the Utah militia. How sweet it must have been, after those teri ble days and nights, to have seen the Stars and Stripes, * and feel that the militia of a Territory of the United States was come to the rescue. Brigham Young, the great Governor of Utah, was commander-in-chief of the military forces ; and how perfectly safe it was to accept shelter under his protecting arm! The Indians were-awed by the very pre sence of the Mormans, and had ceased firing. Surely the painted savages were perfectly controlled by their white superiors. How kindly and tenderly these officers talked! Lee is said to have wept like a child as he sympathized with their sufferings. How providential it was that such tender-hearted, Chris tian gentlemen should have learned of their dreadful situation and come to their aid ! A man so -eloquent, so smooth tongued as was good Mr. Lee! A man who was himself Indian Agent, and for whom the Indians had the most marked respect! A Major, too, in the militia ! LAY DOWN THEIR ARMS ? Certainly they would! If protection could so easily be guaranteed by these philantrophic gentlemen and their regi ment, what reason for letting the wives and little ones die of starvation ? Lee was two politic to make many promises at first. He must consult with the In dians. Having just arrived, he hud not had an opportunity of learning their terms or intentions. Accordingly he went back and pretended to hold a coun cil. Was there ever such base perfidy ? Were white men—prayerful, God-fear ing white men—ever guilty of such an unprinciqled treachery? Well might sucb a dastardly coward hide in achieken coop when the officers came to arrest him. Again he came, bearing once more that white flag—that pure symbol of peace and truth. An angel from fie*von would not have been a more blessed sight to to those tired, anxious, tearful eye. They had laid down their trusty rifles that had been their strong defence. Tak ing oft their belts, they delivered up their good revolvers aud faithful bowie knives. John D. Lee is as smooth a talker as I ever heard. While I listened to him last week in Beaver Jail, I kept thinking of how he talked those emigrants out of the intrenchments, from which powder and ball could not dislodge them. Only fifteen had been killed in eight days. The corral was a bulwark of safety, but the honeyed words of a white man won their hearts. A guard of soldiers, well armed, were drawn up to escort them in safety. The men marched out first, then the women, and lastly the children. Did nothing whisper to those brave hearts the horrible fate in store for them and their dear ones? Was there no pang of regret at stepping out of that strong fortification ? Certain ly not. There was the American flag, the dear old flag, and rallying ’neath its folds they felt that the strong arms of the Union enfolded them. And now, GOD HELP THEM! As I write the events of the massacre I shudder with horror. It is too terrible to believe or talk about, but seventeen years of silence and peace are quite as long as those scoundrels deserve, and 1 shall write every incident. I shall write each one without divesting it of a sngle hor - ror that it received as it came directly from the eye-witnesses. Suddenly, at a given signal, troops halted, and down the line passed the fatal order “ Fire !” It was given by John D. Lee, and was repeated by the under officers. The poor pitiful emigrants gave one agoniz ing shriek, and fell bleeding to the earth. The Indians lay ambushed near the spot, and joined in the slaughter when they saw the white men begin. Sworn state ments of participators say the militia fired volley after volley at the defense less, unmarried men, who had instrusted their lives to the militia’s keeping. It is the most heartless, cold-blooded deed that ever disgraced the page® of history. The cowardly assassins could not have performed one single act that would have added to the blackness of their perfidy. They feigned friendship and sympathy, they induced these brave men to lay aside every weapon, and then shot them down like dogs! The venerable gray-headed clegymen, the sturdy far mers, the stalwart young men and beard less youth, all were cut down, one by one, and above their dead bodies waved the stars and stripes ! But this was not all! The women were not all killed just yet I Many fell by their husbands and fathers and broth ers ; but others were not permitted to die yet! It was by a deliberate, predeter mined forethought that the women were separated from their husbands’ sides as they left tlio corral. Men that had pro ven themselves fiends had yet to prove themselves brutes. And they did so. On, God, had not the weary, terror stricken women and maidens suffered enough to have merited at least a speedy death ? It seems not. Their pure bo soms could not quiver ’neath the plunge of the cold steel-blade, nor their white throats crimson before the keen knife’s e Ige until they had suffered the torment of a thousand deaths at the hands of their brutal captors. Vt this was done in the.lattcr half of the nineteen century, and the cruel, heartless beast are living peacefully in the midst of the American nation. There were two or three sick women who were unable to walk out from the corral. Tney were driven up to the scene of the massacre, shot, strip ped of their clothing, and their bodies thrown from the wagon with the others. Some of the younger men refused to join ;n the dreadful work. Jim Pearce was shot by bis own father for protecting a girl who was crouching at his feet! The bullet cut a deep gash in his face, and the furrowed scar is there to-day. Lee is said to have shot a girl who was cling ing to his son. A score of heart-rend ing rumors are afloat about the deeds of that hour, but there Ls no proof adduced as yet, and enough can be; proven. One rumor, however, comes from a girl who lived in Lee’s own family for years. She told Mr. Beadle, the author of several valuable works, that one young woman drew a dagger to defend herself against John D. Lee, and he killed her on the pot. A HORRIBLE STORY is believed by several people in southern Utah with whom I give it for what it Ls worth: A young mother saw her hus band fall dead. He lay with his face up v.a and, snd the ].u pie life blood crimson ed his pallid cheeks. She sprang to his side just as a great, brutal ruffian at tempted to seize her. Layi.% her tiny VOL. I—NO. 16. babe on her husband’s breast, she drew a small dirk knife, and, like a tigress at bay, confronted the vile wretch. He re coiled in terror, but at the next instant a man stepped up behind the brave wo men and drove a knife through her body. W ituout a struggle she fell dead across uer husband’s feet. Picking up the dirk she had dropped, the fiend deliberately pined the little babe’s body to its father’s and laughed to watch its convulsive death-struggles. There, it is all over. The brawny muscled men lie stark and cold, and the sweet, saintly wives have finally passed beyond the reach of their tormentors; The orders were to kill all except those who were too young to remember. Bill Stewart and Joel White were “set apart ”to kill all the rest. My informant was first told the following by an Indian who witnessed the transaction, and after wards heard it from white men. The old Indians cried while telling it. My infor-' mant has testified to the fact that the statement is just as be received it. Ihe little boys and girls were too frightened, too horror-stricken, to do aught but fall at the feet of their butch ers and beg for mercy. Many a sweet little girl knelt before Bill Stewart/clasp ed bis knees with her tiny white arms, and with tears and tender pleadings be sought him not to take her life. Catch ing them by the hair of the head, he would hurl them to the ground, place his foot upon their little bodies and cut their throats! THE FIELD OF DEATH. A man who saw the field eight days after the massacre related to me the fol lowing : Men, women and children were strewn here and there, over the ground, or thrown into piles. Some were stab bed, others shot, and still others had their throats cut. The ghastly wounds show ed very plainly, for there was not a sin’l gle lag of clothing left on man, woman or child, except that a torn stocking leg clung to the ankle of one poor fellow. The wolves and ravens had lacerated every one of the corpses exeept one. There were 127 in all, and each bore the marks of wolves’ teeth, except just one. It was the body of a handsome well-formed lady, with a beautiful face and long flowing hair. A single bullet had pierced her side and stilled the beat ings of Irer heart. It seemed as if the gaunt, merciless wolves had deemed her too noble and queen-like for their fangs to mar. Most of the bodies had been thrown into three piles, distant from each other about two rods and a half. Old and young, matron and maid, white-haired men and tiny, suckling babes, boys aud girlSj all were thrown indiscriminately together. One young woman lay in the sage brush, or sag, 175 yards southwest from the main body. She was badly mutilated by the wild beasts, but it was plainly to be seen that her head had been cut off. There were no scalp marks. Indians would certainly have taken scalps or burned • bodies, if savage revenge had been the only thought. The closest ex amination was made, and not the slight est traces of the scalping-knife could bo discovered. Two months afterward a single Mor mon, all honor to the man, gathered up the bonc*3 and placed them in the very hollow the emigrants had dug inside the c >rral. He acted upon bis own respon sibility, and went alone and unaided. He did the very best he could ; but the task was horribly disagreeable, and the covering of earth which he placed upon ’ the bodies was necessarily light. The ravenous wild beasts soon dug up the boues and they became scattered all over the ground. The kind-hearted old Mor mon deserves none the less credit, and all good men will pray God to bless him for doing what he could for the bones of the murdered party. There has been much doubt as to the number of the slain. This man tells me that just one hundred and twenty-sev en skulls were foijnd. This does not include Aden’s nor the three killed on the desert. The total number of the-- emigrants massacred, so far as is known, :s one hundred and thirty-one. Two children are said to have been murder ed afterwards ; making one hundred and thirty-three. A Sleeping Dog. —A curious case of prolonged somnolence in an animal is at present interesting the medical frater nity of Paris. The object is a spaniel dog, wnich has lain in an unbroken slurn yer since the 11th of last November. He fell asleep after a day of unusual excite ment and fadgue, having been out hunt in' with his master, and all attempts since to waken him have failed. He is nourished by means of enemas. There is but one black man in tb# II ouse —and he is Blue.