The Captivity of Jonathan Alder (1773-1849)
and his life with the Indians
In preparing his narrative, Mr. Alder overlooked many incidents of interest, and retained others of less value (as he supposes) to the reader; but which, at the time, made a deep impression upon his mind. He had so much to write, that he could not preserve exact chronological order being destitute of the means of keeping dates, which he fears, are not always reliable but contends, that he has given the incidents precisely as they occurred, to the best of his recollection.
He continues: "One incident that I remember and should have spoken of before, and which occurred before I had commenced to hunt, I will now relate. Sometimes one Indian, and sometimes another, would take me out hunting for a single day. One cold winter day, Big Turtle asked me to go with him hunting. We then lived near the Sandusky Plains. I got ready and started. We wandered about for some time, and finally he said we would cross the Plains. After we had crossed over a short distance, he killed a fine deer, skinned it and hung the meat up. We were then a good distance from camp, and it was too late to bring it in that day. The weather had been changing all day, so by that time it was very cold. In standing near when he skinned the deer, I became extremely cold. When he finished, we started for our hut, but had not gone far before he killed a large wild turkey, he gave it to me and told me to run and that would keep me warm, but presently we struck the prairie, and the difference in the temperature was so great that had I been half naked in the timber I would not have felt the cold so severely as I did, with all my clothes on, when we started across the plains. We had not gone more than a mile before I began to get very numb. I threw the turkey down, and had gone some distance before Big Turtle discovered it, and ran back past me to get it but before he got back, I had fallen down three or four times in the snow. When he came up to me, he discovered I was freezing. He took me by the hand and told me to run. He ran, holding me by the hand, carrying his gun and the turkey in the other. He encouraged me to hold out and help myself all I could. We had about two miles to go before we would reach timber; as soon as we got under the shelter of the timber, there seemed to be about as much difference in the temperature as if a warm blanket had been wrapped around me. Big Turtle never stopped, or let go of my hand, until we got into camp, and then was very careful not to let me get warm too rapidly. As soon as I had recovered sufficiently; they gave me something to eat, some warm drink, and then prepared my bed and put me in it. I soon fell asleep and did not awake until the next morning. The old folks were very careful afterwards not to let the Indians take me across the plains in the winter season, or take me away on very cold days. Freezing is like drowning, it is not a very painful death, I suppose. At first, I suffered very much from cold, but when I began to fall in the snow, I was very sleepy and had I been alone, I have no doubt I would have laid down and slept my last sleep. I cannot say that I suffered much pain, but yet, I was sure that all was not right.
"I was about twelve years old when an Indian came to me one day and said he had killed a buffalo and wanted help to carry in the meat. I had frequently gone out with them when they had killed large game, and they gave me the head to carry, which, by-the-way, is a very convenient thing to carry, when it has horns on; so I told them I wanted to go along, and carry the head, and laughed. They told me to come along. I had never been near a buffalo as yet and did not think about its large size. When we got to the game, I found the Indian had killed the largest bull buffalo I ever saw, and after the head was cut off, I was hardly able to raise it from the ground; they all laughed and said - �Carry it! Why don't you carry it?' I felt very much ashamed, and really did all I could to carry it, but that was impossible, so after some merriment at my expense, they carried it. But my inability to carry the huge monster's head, was quite an amusing scene for the Indians and boys, and for a long time, they plagued me about the affair. My mother always took my part, by saying: 'Poor fellow, he did all he could, and if he could not carry such a big load, you should not tease him about it.' After awhile. they got a joke on some other person, and the matter was forgotten at least it was never mentioned again, and I assure you I was not sorry, as I had become tired of hearing it laughed about among the boys.
"I do not remember having had any difficulty with any of the boys of the various tribes, except one, and during my trouble with him, came near losing my life. The boy was several years my junior, and of course, I was able, at all times to handle him. He was a bright boy, very brave and daring, yet he would sometimes work himself up to such a fury of passion that it was really frightful to see him. Sometimes we would be out in the woods together, and frequently, while rambling he would suddenly determine to have a sham fight. He would take his hunting knife and tomahawk, and run up to a rotten stump, which he would call a "Tomway, a Chippeway, or a Whiteman," and stick his knife, and fly back at some other object and so on, from one thing to another, lashing himself into such a rage that one would suppose him to be crazy! I always felt fearful that he would do himself or myself some harm, while in his mad fits, and was very careful to keep away from him until his rage cooled down. During one of these sprees he threw his knife at me with all his power. It stuck me on the heel and stuck fast. I drew it out and stuck it in the ground and broke it. The wound was a very severe one and lamed me for a long time. After I drew the knife out I endeavored to coax him to me to show him the extent of the injury. I intended to thrash him if I could get hold of him, but he was too sharp for me. However, before my foot got well he came to me very humbly, and asked my pardon, making promises of reform, and I agreed to drop the matter and be friends. After my foot got well, he was out hunting and met me, I being also out hunting. He appeared to be in no very good humor, perhaps caused by the ill success he had in hunting. He used some improper words towards me, to which I replied with some angry one. He immediately, and without the least warning, took his gun from his shoulder, pointed it right at my breast, within ten feet of me, and before I could prevent him, snapped it at me! Fortunately, it did not go off, though well loaded and primed. Before he could repeat the act, I got hold of the muzzle of his gun, and drew the ramrod, with which I whipped him until he begged me to stop. I related the circumstance to his mother, and said, if he ever attempted the like again, I would kill him. She replied, that she knew he was a bad boy, but she could not help it. I am sure she told him what I had said for he and I were on the best of terms afterwards, and had no further trouble until after he had reached manhood, when we made a party to go over into Kentucky to steal horses, to which I will refer in the proper place.
"The Indians are like other members of the human family. They have their times of sorrow and times of rejoicing; they have their family government, and rules for tribal government - this last government, however, relates to war and is mostly managed by different war-chiefs.
"The Indians have great feasts and dances either to commemorate some great event, or to give thanks for the favors of Providence in the ripening of crops or the abundance of game.
"The green corn dance is one of the greatest of Shawnee feasts. It is a yearly gathering and occurs as soon as the corn is in roasting ears, a meeting is called at which the chiefs and some of the head men attend. At this meeting the time is fixed and a place selected to have the meeting. The place is generally a shady one, close by some river or deep stream where good spring water is plenty arid easily obtained. The time is always about the full of the moon in August. As soon as the place is fixed, all go to work to prepare for the feast. Some clean up the grounds and erect stands, others go into training for the sports, others to prepare food and other necessaries, for a regular feast of several days. I have been to many of the corn dances, and perhaps it would be proper for me to give the history of one. I was about sixteen years of age, and arrangements had been made to meet on the banks of Mad River. Several days before the time set, the Indians, for many miles around, began to prepare for the great feast. On the first day they came in hundreds, bringing with them green corn, pumpkins, squashes, beans and everything that grew in the soil, together with dried venison, bear meat, bear oil, sugar and honey in abundance. Everything that was good to eat was plenty, so it could really be called a "feast of fat things." There were several thousand persons, large and small, of all ages; who participated in this great merry making feast. A stand had been erected near the river bank, from which there were speeches made, on various topics every day, always closing with thanks to the Great Spirit for the health of the people during the past year, as well as thanks for the abundance of crops and game. These devotional exercises; though differing very much from those of the whites, were none the less honest and sincere, and who can say they were not equally acceptable to the Giver of all Good? During the intermissions of speaking and thanks, there were singing and dancing, together with all manner of plays and games in all parts of the grounds. Old and young, male and female, indulged in the sports wrestling, canoe racing, jumping, and shooting with bow and arrow and guns composed the principal amusements. No religious restraints were laid on anyone; all the people had to do, was to eat and enjoy themselves in such manner as best pleased them; but, in all things, they were required to return thanks to the Great Spirit for his blessings and this great privilege. On such occasions, the dancers were selected and trained, and came out every day. They were the most active young men that could be found. There were from fifteen to twenty of them, and they generally trained for sometime before the feast, their names being kept private. They were stripped naked and their faces and bodies were so ingeniously painted and disguised that they presented a peculiar appearance, and for that reason attracted considerable attention,. They were always painted and trained by a committee who had them in charge. No other persons knew them. They were kept in a closed tent until they were ready to come out, when, at a given signal, they were observed running from some remote part of the grounds. One of the Indians, painted and disguised like the rest made music for them. As soon as they commenced singing and dancing, the whole crowd, of course, became very anxious to get close to the dancers, to observe them maneuvering, all of which was very exciting. They played and danced until the crowd gathered around them, then the musician would suddenly stop playing, duck his head low down towards the ground, and dart right into the crowd. As soon as the crowd saw him coming a way was made for him to pass, all the rest of the party followed him closely in single file, and thus they wriggled through the dense crowd of people with their heads so low they could not be seen by anyone, so that in a short time they were entirely lost to nearly all the people. Then, they suddenly appeared in an open space, and commenced dancing and singing again. As soon as the crowd gathered, the same performance was repeated, and so on, for an hour and a half, and then they slipped through the crowd and hid in a tent. There they washed and dressed and came out and mixed with the people, and but few recognized them. This is the usual exercise each day.
"On the last day of the Shawnee feast the prizes are distributed. In the morning, several hundred dollars worth of prizes consisting of dry goods, such as calicos, blankets, broadcloth�s, moccasins, etc. were brought on the stand. The usual manner was to place a strange man on the stand with a number of plugs of wood, say from four to six inches long, all marked, so as to designate the prize they drew. All persons old and young male and female, expecting to engage in the contest, placed him or herself where they thought best, and when all were ready, the stand-man took up one of the plugs of wood and made motions as if intending to throw it in a particular direction, then in another and another, and so on. All watched him and made slight motions in each direction. The stand-man, after making several feints in that manner, suddenly let slip with all his strength, and threw the plug as far as he could, in the direction least expected. Then such a running, scrambling, tumbling down and falling over each other very few ever witnessed. Whoever got the plug took it to the stand and claimed the prize, which was at once handed to him or her by a person appointed for that purpose. I got one of the plugs which drew me a pair of fine cloth pants. When the man was through throwing the plugs, he took a number of balls which he threw in the same manner. They drew the second and next highest grade of prizes. The last was a bow and quiver of arrows. These drew the highest prizes, which were a whole suit of clothes from head to foot, broadcloth, cambric, and moccasins richly ornamented. As in the others, there was no knowing which way the man would shoot the arrows, save one, and that was to be shot into the river, and was the last one. By the time the last arrow was to be shot there were at least thirty Indians down at the river, stripped and ready for the contest, who were to swarm out for the arrow. They were not permitted to go into the water until they saw the arrow start. As soon as it left the bow they all plunged into the stream. The arrow must have struck the water some four hundred yards from the stand. The trial was exciting and amusing. After swimming some distance a few of the contestants began to fall behind, and so on, the farther they went, the more they fell back, until at last it became apparent that the real contest was between two young men. They seemed to take the lead of all the others, and swam side by side so evenly that it was impossible to tell which was the foremost, but still they kept straight on for the arrow! The race of course, was not a swift one; for swimming in dead water is not like running on dry land; but the swimming was more exciting for the reason it took a longer time. The young men kept on side by side doing their best, but neither seemed to have the least advantage. The prize was worth at least fifty dollars, and each strained every nerve to over-reach his opponent. At last they got to the arrow and both got hold of it at the same time! In their struggle to get it from each other it was broken, so that each brought back half an arrow! When they came to the stand each presented his half of the arrow to the judges. Neither pressed his claim but only presented his piece. The judges, with very little trouble, soon decided to divide the prize between them as equally as possible, and the choice was decided throwing up a stick. Each took half and was satisfied. After a few remarks by one of the speakers and thanks to the Great Spirit the great feast was brought to a close and each person or family packed up his or their tents and other things and started for their home or village. The doings and occurrences at the feast furnished material for conversation in many a cabin and around many a campfire for many days afterwards; and doubtless the swimming race was spoken of around the campfires and corn dances long after the parties who competed for the prizes had gone to the far off hunting ground so much spoken of by the Indians."
To