Newspaper Page Text
Weekly Chronicle & Sentinel.
VOL. I.]
THE WASHINGTON IAN.
PUBLISHED BY JAMES MeCAFFERTY,
TWICE EVERY MONTH.
Office on Macintosh street —opposite the Post Office.
TERMS.
For a single copy, for one year, One Dollar ; for six
copies, to one address, Five Dollars ; for ten copies, to
one address, Eight Dollars—awl so in proportion.
QCf. Payment in all cases to lie made in advance.
«?- AH communications by mail, must be post p.yjo,
to receive attention.
List of Agents for tile Washingtonian.
(JQP— The following gentlemen are respectfully re
quested an,d fully authorised by us, to act as agents for
the Washitigtonian, in extending its circulation :
Clarksville— j Dr.W. J. Rusk,
) Lewis Levy.
Dalahnega—C. B. Leitner.
Covingion4-C. Pace.
Decatur —L. Willard.
Mhms —E. L. Newton.
Marietta— James F. Cooper.
Columbus —R. Boyd.
Saniersviltc— A. G. Ware.
Social Cirkle —J. L. Gresham.
Lincolnian —Henry J. Lang.
Crawfnriville —Rev. John W. Wilson.
Warrentoo —Kliphalei Hale.
Culbrcath’s— Rev. C. ollins,
Siiarla —N. C. Sayre.
McDonough— Wm. L. Gordon.
Cassville —Rev. Mr. Howard.
Rockbridge—John W. Fowler.
Old Church P O. J A Bell.
Hamburg, (.S C.)—C. H. Lindsey, P.M
Ba'-wcll C. H (S C.y-O. D. Allen.
Rock Mills, (S. C)—W. A. Lewis.
Richdaiuh. (,V. C.)—Bryan H. Koonc e
Tusktgee, (Ala.)— Rev. G. P. Sparks.
Richmond County Washington Total Ab
stinence Society.
OFFICERS.
Dr. Joseph A. Eve, President.
•Col. John Milledge,
Hawkin-s Huff, |
Dr. F. M. Robertson, }> Vice Presidents.
Dr. 1. P. Garvin,
J. W. Meredith, J
Wm. Haines. Jr. Secretary cp Treasurer .
MANAGERS.
James Harper, Wm. F. Pemberton,
John G. Dunlap, Wm. O Eve,
Jesse Walton, A. Phillips,
E. E. Scofield, Dr. Benjamin Douglass,
James Godby, J. L. Mimms.
From the Cold Water Magazine.
The Indian Payment.
"He was in form and mind a noble chief;
The unfortunate Nenah ventured her all
la this frail bark, and the wreck was total.”
Inftke fall of 181-, there was seen congregating
along the shores of Mackinaw, a flotilla ot birch
en canoes, laden with furs ami material for wig
wams, and so dexterously managed, as to resem
ble truly, so many “things of life,’’ under the
skilful guidance of the pi actised Chippewa. Be
neath the old fort, bristled with implements of
destruction, were seen squaws, Yankee traders,
and Canadian Fiench, busiiy engaged in the
erection ot booths, shanties, and wigwams, and
revelling in the anticipations of the profits and 111-
dulg ence of the following day
Here might be seen an old trapper, pr swarthy
■“ coureur du bois,” cautioning a credulous chief,
in his native tongue, to beware of the pale-faced
Yankees; the-e a regular Jonathan, through an
interpreter, eloquently urging upon the untutor
ed son ot the forest, that be. was the Indian’s
friend, that the old traders had too long imposed
upon them, and, as an earnest ot the truth of his
asseverations, as well as to secure him as a pur
chaser at his shanty, on the morrow, he stealthily
introduces through an aperture in the hack part
of his tent, the confiding savage to an acquain
tance with the whiskey bottle.
Amid the bustle and eagerness of preparation,
professions of friendship, and digusting fam’liar
jty, the day wore apace, and the unclouded sun
descending the blue vaulted heaven, sank gorge
ously behind the bastions and battlements ot that
old time-worn fortress, now slumbering in ruins,
and so beautifully described by a French writer,
as
“ Ayant I’air delabri, sans Fair antique.”
********
During the evening of that day. some of the
chiefs, by virtue ot their supp 'Sed influence, and
an emphatic promise to exert it on the morrow,
enjoyed some of the spirited hospitality of the
traders, and at ten o’clock amnnenced the “ med
icine dance,” most comfortably drunk A de
scription of this singular dance would he too long
for an insertion here; suffice it to say, that a dog
is sacrificed to “ Manitou,” or the Evil Spirit, to
appease his wrath, while it gratifies, after the cer-
TOTAL ABSTINENCE ADVOCATE.
AUGUSTA, G \. SATUKIMY. FEBRUARY 4. 1843
emony, the appetite of the dancers; and if all the ;
diseases unknown to them which may afflict the I
trihe, are not cured hy the hor.us pocus of tfceii j
“ medicine men” during that ceremony, why the j
Great Spirit has ordered it otherwise, From
these revels ami vanities, night stole in o morn- j
ing, and the great god of day wheeling up from
behind the islands of the Evil Spirit,* dispelling !
the gray vapors which coated densely Huron’s!
waves, smiled again in g. neral majesty upon the !
“Turtle’s B.ick.”t From the shanties were
seen suspended trinkets, blankets, red calicoes,
and. to a practised eye, certain slight elevations of
ground within, which might or might not contain
as many whiskey barrels. An officer, with a de
tachment of :i en from the fort, whose duty it was j
to sec that no intoxicating liquors were sold upon j
the ground, might be seen [xmipously peering in- 1
to the shanties for that purpose, but for the soul,
of him, he could see no more there than what was |
absolutely necessary for the comfort of an officer
and a gentleman. He considered it vulgar, per
ltajis, to suspect his friend of so flagiant a viola- j
tion of the la"’, and thereupon would institute no f
iniquity. The ailicles were of a coarse and j
worthless texture, and manufactured especially |
fur that market.
Tliegreat body of Indians were lounging a
bout, begging for rum, surveying the bright red;
colors w..ich litng out in gaudy profusion, and
waiting, as impatiently as their stoical character \
would permit, for the avowal of the occasion
which wasjust at hand, and which was to afford
them means to gratify their curiosity and depra-j
ved appetites.
Inquiries were rife for the whereabouts of the ;
primum mobile of the ceremony, who presently
made his appearance in the person of the Indian ;
Agent.
Surrounded by kegs of silver, our worthy cen- j
tre of attraction, Having appointed his tellers, ;
commenced with the principal chiefs, and proceed- j
ed, by a descending scale, to distribute to each of I
the tribe their respective quota of their annuity.
Around the place of payment could he seen a
horde of hungry expectants, whose morals pecu
liarly fitted them for the confines of civilization,
watching with an eagle’s eye each poor “ neci.ce,” t
as he received Ins snare of the proceeds—their
eager and practised eye followed him to the out
let of the enclosure, pounced upon him as the
hawk upon its intended victim, led him to his
magazine of worthless couriosities, and with the
dexterity of a magician, transferred the larger
portion of the poor Indian’s “ needful” into the:
purlieu of his own pocket. Every trader was now
on the qui vive to assure the confiding neckee |
that be was his best friend, and he no sooner con
vinced him of this important fact, than a down- 1
right robbery established the truth of his profess-,
ions.
If the poor Indian should cautiously insinuate j
that the supply was inadequate to the investment,
or that a very honest mistake existed as to the
amount paid out, the index of the right hand
mount ng instantly to the nasal organ, that ofthe
left elongating itself simultaneously in the direc
tion of a rum cask, and a | eculiarly knowing
squint ofthe left eye, was so cognoscible a pan
tomime to poor nechee, as to suppress all predato
ry imaginings, The |iayment being over, and
the soldiery having left, a scene was instantly
presented which beggars all graphic skill. With
the despatch and hurly-burly of a crew in a
squall, narrels were rolled from every tent, the
heads staved in, every species of portable vessel
inthecountry in active use; men, squaws, and
children, rushed with the eagerness of famisned
wolves, to glut their unnatural apuetiles. The
kegs of silver soon passed turough the Indian’s
hand into the pockets ofthe ruthless trailer, and
in the short space of an hour, three fourths ofthe
tribe were to be seen, some roiling on the ground
unable to rise, others yelling and whooping under
the influence ofthe maddening bowl, which lan-;
ned into flame tue slumbering embers of discor-1
dant feeiing, and planted the fatal knife in the]
bosom of some of its nelpless victims.
********
During the day I c uld not but observe a
young man whose manner and accent was evi
dently a title page to tne land of “ wooden nut
megs;” he had been rapidly di posing of his “no
tions” at a most enormous profit, but when he
arrived at the part of the performance which, to |
till up the measure of the trader’s character, it
was necessary to fill up the measure of the “li
quid tire,” 1 thought 1 perceive about him a con
scicnce-be-still sort of look, that was migi.tily at
conflict with the effects of early instruction, and
parental admonition. Having disposed of his
oewgaws, and Ins barrel of whiskey, at about six
times their original cost, he leaned against his
shanty, and, gazing upon the moral degradation
which surrounded him, apparently in deep]
* Manitou Island.
f Michilimackinaw is the ludian name lor the great
Turtle’s Back, which it resembles. '
OR,
thought, he exclaimed —“And this is an Indian
payment!” His memory, springing from the
warm toolings of his heart, flew to his native
home -recognised the moral and divine precepts
which he as wont to hear from maternal lips,
and for the moment he was sad—but he thought
again of his profits, an.i labored to reconcile of
fended sensibility with the custom of the country
Thus dors familiarity strip vice of her enormity ;
thus does baleful example breathe pestilence and
moral death.
On the following day the traders commenced
packing up what remnants of goods they had on
band, preparatory to a move; and really they
seemed to me, while walking about the ground,
still strewed with the apparently dead anil dying
Indians, like those ravenous t arpies who follow
in tlie wake o a victorious army, for the purpose
of plundering the dying soldiery.
At a little distance from the payment ground,
on a small eminence, stood a most interesting and
conspicuous group.
“ V\ hois that tall, well shaped Indian, with the
gaudy plumes waving above Ins high retiring
forehead,” said Major B.
“ l'lie four persons who compose that group,”
replied Lieutenant Wood, are so celebrated in
this section of the world, that 1 am not supprised
at their having attracted your curiosity. The
dignified, erect personage to whom you refer, is
the Chief of the Chipjiewa nation. The one with
whom lie is conversing is the famous -White Bear,
the orator, and a Chief among the Winncbagoes;
the interesting Nenah, the female' near him, is
his daughter, and supposed to be the most beau
tiful woman among all the Western tribes ol In
dians. She is said to be engaged to Tuthlumac
hec, the bold young Chippewa who stands near
her, and if you knew them you would agree with
me in the opinion, that Heaven has formed them
for each other.”
“ Dees he speak English'!” said Major B.
“ He speaks passably well, though he has nev
er before been in the white settlement ; the old
Chief, his father, though engaging a white teach
er to instruct him, has studiously, until this pay
ment, prevented him from any in.ercourse with
what he calls the corrupt pale faces."
“How is his mind V’ said the Major, as his
fine hazel eye seemed to impart new vivacity and
interest.
“ His mind,” said his friend, “ must possess
extra,ordinary powers, it we compare his rapid ad
vancement with the length of time employed in
the prosecution of his studies.”
Major 8., then on a visit to the “ Far West”
for the first time, was a wealthy and philanthro
pic citizen of Boston, and firod with the laudable
desire of rescuing a genius like that of Tuthla
ntachee’s, from moulding itself to the exigencies
of a hare subsistence in the lorest, resolved at
once to go to the old Chief, combat his prejudices,
point out the advantages of civilization, and pro
cure permission for the young Chief to accom
pany him to Boston; so, in company with the
Lieutenant and myself, he approached the vener
able Chief, and acquainted him witli his de.-igns.
The old man listened to the advantages set forth
in the education ot'hia son witii dignified compo
sure, while Nenah and Tuthlamachee grasped
each other’s hands, and appeared deeply agitated.
The Major having finished speasing, the weath
er-beaten old patriarch, el- quent in look and
attitude, drew closely round him his rich quill
embroidered robe, and pointing to the ground"
where lay, or were staggering about, hundreds
of ins once noble warriors, now self-debased and
senseless.
“Look,” said he, as a scowl sat upon his
hronsed visage, “look upon that scene; contem
plate those pool victims to the unnatural vices of
civilized cupidity They are human beings, with
features, mind, stature, and sympathies like your
own ; stamped witli the holy impress ot tile Invis
ibl One. Once fearle.-s in freedom, unl'urrowed
by cares, bold in the chase, and lettered by no
law, save that of honor, and the power of the
Great Spirit, they have yielded to the white man’s
artifice, their primitive character has been de
based, their limbs made bare and enervated, their
ha bits changed, their honors sullied, cheated of
their rightful dues, and their frit mis and relatives
hurried to a (reinature grave by that accursed
‘firewater,’ which lias swept, like the devasta
ting flames upon the prairie, over the poor Indi
an’s physical and moral nature. Oh! hiwthis
old heart bleeds, when 1 remember the bold elas- i
tic step, the proud high-hearing of Nature’s no- I
blcinen —once the undisputed owners of these ;
vast hunting grounds—once in numbers count
less as the leaves of yonder forest, now in the
autumn of iheir national existence, and f lAfalling
1 to the shades of their fathers towards the setting
sun;’ can you ” and a tear stole along the old
Chiefs furrowed cheek, “can you, 1 say, look
upon that scene, and ask me to submit this noble
staff ol my declining years to become another vic
tim to your refined and boasted culture 1 Oh no!
l«-t this star rise and fall in its natural bright
ness. ”
'• \ ou have drawn an exciting picture,” rejoin
ed the Major, “and have stamped it in many
parts, I con less, with too milch fidelity; but are
you not judging my countrymen generally, but a
tew unprincipled men, who live about the con
fines nl your territories, because they can live no
where else? ’
“ Why it is true,’’ said the Chief, that the mor
al sense sits more lightiy perhaps on this class of
people, than the great body of the pale faces; yet
during my visit to our great father, the President,
in which I attempted to studv your character, I
thought 1 perceived the same ‘ anoihally in na
ture,’ by which I mean those habits which are
most remote from the design of the Great Spirit,
in our conduct through life. 1 saw, even at the
Capitol, men standing behind a counter dealing
out this life destroying drink, and all classes <d"
persons, even your members ot Congress, eccour
aging the shameful practice both by example and
solicitation. Men would enter these houses like
rational beings, and come out like drivelling
idiots. ♦*♦****“
It is true,’ said the Major, “there are many
stains upon our nalional character, and you havo
mentioned the most objectionable ; but in my sec
tion ol the country these evils do not exist but
partially. Besides, by being educated there,
i ulhl&tnachec would be tree from vicious influ
ences. would study the better part of our lives,
and would be enabled to record the annals of
your nation, publish to the world a history of
your grievances, adorning its pages with your
many virtues and giving to posterity the means
of knowing you, and your warriors, intimately,
long after your have been gathered to the shades
of your fathers.”
This appeal to the old man’s vanity was one of
that species of argumentum ad hominem which
rarely ever fails of effecting its purpose. The old
man nlready saw himsclt breathing and speaking
upon the records of the distant future, and in that
thought, like Aaron’s rod, was merged all others.
So the old Etluaia, alter a short interview with
the orator of the Winnebagoes, reluctantly con
sented. It was an important step in the old
Chiefs life; poor Nenah’s heart trembled with
dark forebodings of the f iture. Tuthlamacheo
was in the April of his years ; tall commanding,
and of such a form as Angelo would have select
ed as a perfect model. His step was firm and
dignified; his wild dark eye lit up a countenance
which was ever and anon mantling with luxuri
ant thought. Like a limped brook in some se
questered glen, did his playful mind roll on in
sparkling purity and innocence; though suscep
tible of the tenderest humanities, his heart’s bright
joys had never until this moment, been darkened
by the gloomy shadows of coming events. This
interruption of the even tenor of his happiness
was the thought of a long, perhaps a final separa
tion from his beautiful Nenah The boat which
was to convey him to the land be knew not of, was
now in readiness—after taking leave of his
triends, he extended his hand mechanically to
Nenah, and tears pronounced the sad farewell,
l anded at Boston, Tuthlamachee was the ad
mired of every one; the Major occupied him in
showing him all the lions of that Athens of Amer
ica ; it was some weeks before his uncultivated
fi iend entered upon a course of studies. Having
commenced, however, the duties assigned hiir”,
his progress was extraordinary. Directing the
various powers ofia vigorous mind upon a single
subject, he obtained a mastery over it, almost
without an effort. Nature indeed, as if merciful
to his limited means of instruction in his forest
home in a freak of liberality, seemed disposed to
lavish upon him intuitive talents, which almost
set at defiance the necessity of education.
His rapid strides in the acquisition of knowl
edge, ma le bim an object of interest to all who
sought his acquaintance. During his leisure
hours, his society would be solicited at eating
houses, places of amusement, and the sparkling
wine would be offered as a token of respect;
months rolled n, and the pleasure of learning*
by evil communications, merged into those of dis
sipation and debauchery. By the liberality of
Major 8., he had whatever money he required,
and he found no scarcity of heartless parasites to
help him to employ it. On the morrow i.f such
debaucheries, with an aching beau and a long
ing heart, would he sigh for his own proud wood
lands. Often, in hiitei fancy, would he revisit
the flower enamelled hanks of those noble rivers
along which, Naiad-like, used to stroll the beau
tiful Nenah, and turn reluctantly to his weari
some duties. 1 have said that this wild Indian
girl was beautiful; she had, as Miss Edgeworth
I think, says ol her wild Irish girl, none of that
effulgent lumen purpureum which poets assign
to the bright emanations of divine beauty, Init
something indescribably primitive and beautifully
wld about her air and look in a word, there
was a fugitive and artless naivete playing about
[No. 17.