Part 5 (2/2)

Subsequently, a young brave became enamoured with her and, as a consequence, two thousand dollars ransom were insisted upon for her, while only one thousand dollars were demanded for her sister. While on their march, they were allowed only one hours' intercourse with each other during the day, and a squaw took her place between them as they slept at night.--One of them was afterwards married to William Horn and now resides in Missouri, and the other was married to William Munson and resides on Indian Creek, near the place of the ma.s.sacre.--This account has been frequently given to the writer by different members of the family, and lately by Mrs. Scott, an aunt of the ladies, who at present lives in the town.

During the years 1837 and 1838, large forces of Irish laborers were employed upon the ca.n.a.l. Some time in the winter of these years, one of their characteristic feuds broke out between the Corkonians or Munster men and ”Far Downs” or Lienster men at the Sagg, on the upper portion of the work. This gradually spread itself downwards, until in May, a united effort was made on the part of the Corkonians, who were the stronger party, to drive the ”b.l.o.o.d.y Far Downs” from all jobs. A skirmish took place near Ma.r.s.eilles where the latter were worsted. The triumphant party, excited by victory and bad whisky, defying the civil authorities, destroying property, and abusing and maltreating every luckless county Longfort man who came in their way, continued down the line below Ottawa, to the job of Edward Sweeney, who was a Corkonian. Here they were reinforced by his entire force--about two hundred men--and marched, under his leaders.h.i.+p, to the extreme western end of the line, at Peru, whence they countermarched, having swept the line from end to end, of all obnoxious fellow laborers, and destroyed many of their shanties. The Sheriff, Alson Woodruff, summoned a posse to quell the disturbance. Word was sent to the Deputy at Peru, Zimri Lewis, late in the afternoon, to raise a party and form a junction with another from Ottawa on the next day. Lewis gathered what forces and arms could be raised in the town and neighborhood during the night, and was ready to march early in the morning. The rioters, some five hundred strong, bivouacked near the ”Carey Patch,” or ”Split Rock” just above the Pec.u.msogin. In the morning they moved up the line, renewing the excesses of the previous day. All were armed with guns, knives, scythes, picks, and whatever other weapons could be seized. Lewis' forces were joined at La Salle, which then was a mere cl.u.s.ter of laborers shanties, by a reinforcement of Americans and ”Far Downs” under the leaders.h.i.+p of that veteran contractor, William Byrne, Esq., who was himself a Lienster man, and whose employees were driven from their work. On the way, the Irish portion of the forces were with difficulty restrained from destroying the property and insulting the families of their enemies who were in the mob ahead.--Upon the ridge of table land, near Buffalo Rock, Woodruff, with his posse, met the tumultuous rabble. The former, tolerably well armed, were drawn up to prevent their further advance.--Woodruff ordered them to lay down their arms and submit to the civil authority, warrants having been issued for the arrest of the leaders. This order was answered by a charge from the mob which immediately produced a retreat of the posse. The forces of Lewis and Byrne were at first placed under the command of Capt. Ward B.

Burnett, the present Surveyor General of Kansas, but who soon relinquished the command to Lewis. They moved on rapidly to the place where the party was held, a short distance from which they overtook the enemy. Lewis repeated the demand before made by his superior, and was answered by defiance and their hostile demonstrations, upon which a well directed volley was poured into them, which was immediately followed by a cavalry charge of such of the forces as were mounted. The mob dispersed in every direction. Some threw themselves into the river whither they were pursued, and several were shot in the water. A large number were arrested and marched to Ottawa. Seven were killed, as known at the time, and three others were afterwards found in the gra.s.s and buried. Of the posse, now were killed, but Cornelius Lamb, a blacksmith, and John Bracken, a laborer, were severely wounded. This account of the matter can be substantiated by the testimony of many yet living in the vicinity who partic.i.p.ated in the affray, and particularly that by Lewis and Byrne, to whom the writer confidently appeals for the general truth of the statement.

On arriving at Ottawa, the prisoners were placed under guard, while their followers and a.s.sociates hung in groups about the outskirts of the town. Under the Const.i.tution and laws at that time, every Irishman, though he might not have been but six months from the bogs, was a voter.

Here, then, was a rich field opened for the demagogues, and the reader may be sure they did not neglect it. Here was democratic raw material which could not be permitted to run to waste.--Sympathizers were

”Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks In Vallombrosa.”

Gen. Fry and other aspiring gentlemen commenced harangues, but were speedily cut short by the ”boys” who insisted that this was not the entertainment to which they were invited.

The number of Irish, living along the lines of the ca.n.a.l and rail road, for many years, far outnumbered all other residents; but this was the only demonstration against the quiet of the community which, by concerted action, has taken place from that time to the present, if the riots on the Central Rail Road work, on the south bank of the river, be excepted. The excess and violence, in either case, must not be attributed to the Irish residents, as a cla.s.s. To the conservative influence of the more intelligent portion, rather than to any exhibition of physical power, is the community indebted for the general good order which has prevailed. The learned professions, merchants, farmers and mechanics are largely composed of their cla.s.s; and many, who came here as poor laborers, are now wealthy men, appreciating, in a degree equal to that of other citizens, the blessings of a government of laws. The writer is fully satisfied, by close observation, that the influence of the Catholic clergy has ever been on the side of order and submission to the laws.

Of the riots on the Central Rail Road the following account is presented.

In December, 1853, a force of about four hundred and fifty men was employed on the embankment and excavations on the south end of the Central Rail Road bridge at La Salle. A misunderstanding existed between the contractor, Albert Story, and the men about wages. The latter had been employed at one dollar and a quarter per day, but the contractor, being unwilling any longer to pay more than one dollar per day, so informed the men and appointed a day--the 15th--when he would pay such as chose to quit work. The men, on their part, alleged that they had been allured from the East by handbills circulated by Story and his a.s.sociates, announcing that one dollar and a quarter per day would be paid on the job; and that after they had expended all their means to reach the work, the promise was violated, and they were thrown out of employment, except at reduced wages, with families to provide for, at the commencement of winter.

On the day appointed the clerk commenced paying. Soon an error was found in the accounts which was announced to the men, and the business of paying was suspended. This incensed the men, who rushed into the office and declared they would help themselves to their pay. One of them struck Story in the face. During the scuffle, Col. Maynard, a Superintendent of the work and a resident of Chicago, left by the back way to find and take care of Mrs. Story and her children. While he was gone the a.s.sailants were forced from the room and the door refastened, when the crowd commenced with axes, picks and shovels to break down the door. One succeeded in entering, when Story, who was armed, asked his clerks whether it was best to shoot. They said, ”no, we had better be quiet.” Mr. Story, not knowing that Maynard had gone to take care of his wife and children, went by the back way to the house. Finding his wife gone, he started for the stable for a horse on which to leave the place.

The men, seeing him, rushed towards the stable, shouting ”kill him! kill him! kill him!” and with picks, shovels and stones brutally and almost instantly murdered him, one man striking him with a stone on the head after he was dead. It has been a.s.serted that Story did fire upon the crowd, wounding one man, but this did not clearly appear on the subsequent trials.

The news of the murder soon reached La Salle, and a telegraphic dispatch was sent to Ottawa for Sheriff Thorn, who arrived with a military force about 7 o'clock in the evening. These, with Mayor Campbell, of La Salle, and about one hundred citizens, started for the scene of the murder.--On arriving at the spot a number of individuals were discovered, scattered over the hills, some of whom were armed, though only a few a.s.sumed a threatening att.i.tude. Being fired upon they stopped, and one returned the fire, and received, in return, two b.a.l.l.s in his arm, and was then arrested. The Sheriff then visited the different shanties and arrested all, or nearly all, the men he could find, amounting to sixty or seventy, of which some thirty or forty were recognized as partic.i.p.ators in the row, though none were of the supposed ringleaders, but these were subsequently arrested. The Sheriff left a portion of his force as a permanent guard; and the work being prosecuted by other parties, the vicinity, through out the winter, bore resemblance to a regular military encampment.

Twelve were indicted as ringleaders in the affray, four of whom, Kren Brennan, James Terry, Michael Terry and Martin Ryan took a change of venue to Kane county, where they were convicted of murder, when a new trial was granted which resulted in a second conviction. By the clemency of Gov. Matteson their punishment was commuted to imprisonment in the penitentiary for life; and among the last of his official acts, a full pardon was granted. The executive interference caused great dissatisfaction, and upon the occasion of the Governor visiting La Salle, he was burnt in effigy. Six were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to the penitentiary for one year and served out the term. The other two were not found.

On the bluff, near the old fort, and afterwards at Manville Hollow, for many years, there lived an individual whose peculiarities were so strongly marked as to demand a notice in this work.--His name was John Myers, but more familiarly known, among the early settlers, as the ”stallion painter.” He was a fair specimen of the frontier man--a type of which is attempted to be described in this chapter. In fact, he served as a model for that description. But justice was not done to his moral qualities. His rough garb and uncouth manners concealed a n.o.ble and true heart. He was brave, impulsive and generous, and scorned and loathed subterfuge, evasion, and chicanery as only a n.o.ble and true heart can. He liked whisky, as all frontier men do, but he seldom lost his bodily or mental equilibrium.--He was never in a condition when all his native coolness and resources would not have been at command in an instant, had he been a.s.sailed by any of his old familiar foes, whether man or beast. He was never quarrelsome, even in his cups, but the wronged or weaker party in any conflict, was sure to find in him a champion as chivalrous as ever raised a s.h.i.+eld or poised a lance. His exhilaration was generally manifested in yells, such as no human throat ever uttered before. The most ambitious steam whistle might have been envious of his screams. These he called his blessings. He sometimes indulged in songs. Such unearthly notes were never heard out of Pandemonium.

He would have made the fortune of Spalding & Rogers by singing an accompaniment to the calliope. Many of the present citizens of Peru will recollect his vocal performances as he pursued his way homewards across the bottom above the town. On the occasion of the first opening of a court at Ottawa, he went up to witness that novel performance. Having imbibed a few draughts of whisky, and being rather unfamiliar with the etiquette and decorum of courts, he indulged in exercises not very gratifying to judicial dignity or favorable to the progress of business.--Being frequently reprimanded he became somewhat incensed, whereupon he gave vent to his indignation in one of the most remarkable efforts of the lungs that ever electrified a court of Justice. Judges, lawyers and spectators recoiled in dismay, and it is believed that the pins and tenons which confined the roof were seriously strained.

When first known to the writer, he was nearly eighty years of age, yet his step was firm and elastic, his eye bright and l.u.s.trous, in the corner of which there lurked an expression of humor and fun, his mind clear and vigorous, and his voice--well, we won't say anything more about that. Born upon the outskirts of civilization in Georgia, he had wandered along the streams and valleys of Tennessee, Kentucky and Southern Illinois, resting from time to time, until advancing settlements crowded him still further into the wilderness.--He was entirely unlettered, though he managed to sign his name, and, as is reported, sometimes to his disadvantage. Notwithstanding this he noticed all the fasts and holy days of the Episcopal Church, a circ.u.mstance which indicated his southern origin. His usual dress was a buckskin hunting s.h.i.+rt, breeches and moccasins. In this costume he appeared, by special invitation, at the first ball given in Peru. This was largely composed of ladies and gentlemen, fresh from the saloons and drawing rooms of the eastern cities. As may be supposed, the etiquette and toilets of the a.s.sembly produced no little astonishment in the mind of the rough old pioneer. The ladies eagerly sought his hand in the dance, but shrunk back in agony from its vice-like grasp.

Being once more cramped and annoyed by the influx of strangers he left this part of the country in 1839 or 1840, and took up his residence in Southern Missouri, near the Arkansas line. Years and infirmities soon pressed upon him, when he returned to the banks of the Illinois to die.

He was buried in the burying ground at Cedar point. The writer has refrained from a notice of his most distinguished exploits, as he finds it prepared to his hand, in a much better manner than he could hope to accomplish, in the September number of Putnam's Magazine. He would say that, in the main, it corresponds with the accounts he has received from the mouth of Mr. Myers himself, and from those who knew him at the time of the events related.

A party of eight or ten Indians, accompanied by Myers, had been out two or three days on a hunting excursion, and were returning, laden with the spoils of the chase, consisting of various kinds of wild fowls, squirrels, racc.o.o.ns, and buffalo skins. They had used up all their ammunition except a single charge, which was reserved in the rifle of the chief for any emergency or choice game which might present itself on the way home. A river lay in the way, which could be crossed only at one point, without subjecting them to an extra journey of some ten miles round. When they arrived at this point, they suddenly came to a huge panther, which had taken possession of the pa.s.s, and like a skilful general, confident of his strong position, seemed determined to hold it.

The party retreated a little and stood at bay for a while, and consulted what should be done. Various methods were attempted to decoy or frighten the creature from his position, but in vain. He growled defiance whenever they came in sight, as much as to say, ”If you want this stronghold come and take it.” The animal appeared to be very powerful and fierce. The trembling Indians hardly dared to come in sight of him, and all the reconnoitering had to be done by Myers. The majority were for retreating as fast as possible, and taking the long journey ten miles round for home, but Myers resolutely resisted. He urged the chief whose rifle was loaded, to march up to the panther, take good aim and shoot him down; promising that the rest of the party would back him up closely with their knives and tomahawks, in case of a mis-fire. But the chief refused; he knew too well the nature and power of the animal. The creature, he contended, was exceedingly hard to kill. Not one shot in twenty, however well aimed, would dispatch him; and if one shot failed, it was a sure death to the shooter, for the infuriated animal would spring upon him in an instant, and tear him to pieces. For similar reasons every Indian in the party declined to hazard a battle with the enemy in any shape.

At last Myers, in a burst of anger and impatience, called them all a set of cowards, and s.n.a.t.c.hing the loaded rifle from the hands of the chief, to the amazement of the whole party, marched deliberately towards the panther. The Indians kept at a cautious distance to watch the result of the fearful battle. Myers walked steadily up to within about two rods of the panther, keeping his eye fixed upon him, while the eyes of the panther flashed fire, and his heavy growl betokened at once the power and firmness of the animal. At about two rods distance, Myers leveled his rifle, took deliberate aim, and fired.--The shot inflicted a heavy wound, but not a fatal one; and the furious animal, maddened with the pain, made but two leaps before he reached his a.s.sailant. Myers met him with the b.u.t.t end of his rifle, and staggered him a little with two or three heavy blows, but the rifle broke, and the animal grappled him, apparently with his full power. The Indians at once gave Myers up for dead, and only thought of making a lively retreat for themselves.

Fearful was the struggle between Myers and the panther, but the animal had the best of it at first, for they soon came to the ground, and Myers underneath, suffering under the joint operation of sharp claws and teeth, applied by the most powerful muscles. In falling, however, Myers, whose right hand was at liberty, had drawn a long knife. As soon as they came to the ground, his right arm being free, he made a desperate plunge at the vitals of the animal, and, as good luck would have it, reached his heart.--The loud shrieks of the panther showed that it was his death wound. He quivered convulsively, shook his victim with a spasmodic leap and plunge, then loosened his hold, and fell powerless by his side.

Myers, whose wounds were severe but not mortal, rose to his feet, bleeding and much exhausted, but with life and strength to give a grand whoop, which conveyed the news of his victory, to his trembling Indian friends.

They now came up to him with shouting and joy, and so full of admiration that they were almost ready to wors.h.i.+p him. They dressed and bound up his wounds, and were now ready to pursue their way home without the least impediment. Before crossing the river, Myers cut off the head of the panther, which he took home with him, and fastened it up by the side of his cabin door, where it remained for years, a memorial of a deed that excited the admiration of the Indians in all that region. From that time forth they gave Myers that name, and always called him the Panther.

(The writer has before given the name by which all the old settlers will recognize him.)

Time rolled on, and the Panther continued to occupy his hut in the wilderness, on the banks of the Illinois River, a general favorite among the savages and exercising a great influence over them. At last the tide of white population again overtook him, and he found himself once more surrounded by white neighbors. Still, however, he seemed loth to forsake the n.o.ble Illinois, on whose banks he had been so long a fixture, and he held on, forming a sort of connecting line between the white settlers and the Indians.

At length hostilities broke out, which resulted in the memorable Black Hawk war, that spread desolation through that part of the country.--Parties of Indians committed the most wanton and cruel depredations, often murdering old friends and companions, with whom they had long held conversation. The white settlers, for some distance round, flocked to the cabin of the Panther for protection. His cabin was transformed into a sort of garrison, and was filled with more than an hundred men, women and children, who rested almost their only hope of safety on the prowess of the Panther, and his influence over the savages.

At this time a party of about nine hundred of the Iroquois were on the banks of the Illinois, about a mile from the garrison of Myers, and nearly opposite the present town of La Salle.--One day news was brought to the camp of Myers, that his brother-in-law and wife, and their three children, had been cruelly murdered by some of the Indians. The Panther heard the sad news in silence. The eyes of the people were upon him, to see what he would do. Presently they beheld him with a deliberate and determined air, putting himself in battle array. He girdled on his tomahawk and scalping knife, and shouldered his loaded rifle, and, at open mid-day, silently and alone, bent his steps towards the Indian encampment. With a fearless and firm tread, he marched quietly into the midst of the a.s.sembly, elevated his rifle at the head of the princ.i.p.al Chief present, and shot him dead on the spot.--He then deliberately severed the head from the trunk, and holding it up by the hair before the awe-struck mult.i.tude, he exclaimed, ”You have murdered my brother-in-law, his wife and little ones; and now I have murdered your Chief, I am now even with you. But now mind, every one of you that is found here to-morrow morning at sunrise, is a dead Indian!”

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