Famous Indian Chiefs / Their Battles, Treaties, Sieges, and Struggles with the Whites for the Possession of America

by Charles H. L. Johnston

The natives wore no clothing and had their bodies painted with grotesque designs, and in various colors. They were armed with lances, tipped with beads of sharp flint and fish bones, or hardened at the end by being charred in a fire. Of iron and steel they apparently had no knowledge, for one venturesome brave seized one of the swords of the Spaniards and severely cut his own hand with it, which proved conclusively that they were not accustomed to this form of a weapon. With cries of pleasure they received the glass beads, pieces of lead, and other trinkets which Columbus and his men gave to them, and, in return, offered the Spaniards tame parrots, cavassa bread (of their own baking) and long rolls of cotton yarn. But these presents did not particularly interest the white adventurers, as they were not only in search of a route to India, but also for the shining and alluring particles of gold.

In their noses the Indians wore small, golden ornaments which were of far greater interests to the greedy invaders than were the tame parrots. So much so, indeed, that Columbus and his men immediately made inquiries regarding the source from which the natives secured such treasure. They were told that these articles came from the southwest, where lived a powerful Monarch who was accustomed to have his meals served upon dishes of fine, beaten gold. This stimulated the spirits of the invaders to penetrate into the unknown distance, for they were confident that they had reached the outlying islands of Asia and were near a famous deposit of riches of which other Spanish travellers had written.

The daring Columbus had reached San Salvador—a beautiful isle of the West Indies—which was surrounded by other fertile islands, covered with palms and luxurious foliage, from which came the chatter of parrots, the cries of tropical birds of brilliant plumage, and the sweet scent of flowers and of fruit. As the Indians were not molested they became more friendly, and it was easier to understand their signs and gesticulations. From these the Spaniards learned that they were in the midst of an archipelago—or collection of islands—and that there were more than a hundred of these, inhabited by people who were continually at war with one another—a state of affairs that exactly tallied with what Columbus had heard of the islands upon the coast of Asia. He was therefore convinced that he was in a land which had been previously explored by Spanish voyageurs, and that he had found what he had set out from Spain to discover—a new and more direct route from the mother country to the East Indies and the Chinese Empire.

Columbus weighed anchor and kept sailing from one island to another, hoping to find Cathay, or China. But temples, palaces, and cities did not appear. In their stead, frail houses of bark and of reeds, fields of corn and of grain, and simple-minded natives, came to the anxious visions of the explorers. The inhabitants of these sweet-scented isles could tell them nothing of the deposits of gold, or the palaces, for which Columbus was searching, so, day after day, he kept on his way, diligently scanning each new point of land, getting a little gold, here and there, from the Indians, and also some pearls, silver, and numerous skins of the beautiful birds of the country.

Finally the Spaniards became discouraged with their search for precious metals, and, after sailing to Cuba to explore the coast line, their most trustworthy vessel was wrecked by a sudden and unexpected gale. This did not dismay the gallant Columbus, although a few of his men lost heart, and, building a fortification of the wood from the vessel, he left a garrison to defend it, provisioned them for a year, while he began the long journey back to Spain. With him went a few of the native Indians, who were carried along to be shown to the people of the mother country and to prove that a new world had really been discovered, where dwelt another race. They reached Spain in safety, and thus—for the first time that has been recorded—an Indian from America was seen on the Continent of Europe.

In 1502 Sebastian Cabot, an English adventurer, captured three natives on the coast of Newfoundland, who were clothed in the skins of the beaver and the otter, and who subsisted upon raw flesh. These he took with him to England, presented them to King Henry the Seventh and to the members of his court, and, although they, at first, talked in a strange and uncouth tongue, they soon learned the language of their captors and discarded their native dress for that of the "palefaces." They were the first Indians ever seen in England, and what eventually became of them is not known. Their picturesque appearance created a great impression upon those who saw them and stimulated many a person of adventuresome temperament to sail towards America in search of fortune and of fame.

But the Spaniards and the Englishmen were not the only seafarers who were sufficiently brave and adventurous to cross the Atlantic in search of the unknown. In 1508 the French discovered the mouth of the Saint Lawrence—that mighty, Canadian watercourse—and several natives were seized and transported to France by the captain of the expedition, Thomas Aubert. A few years later—in 1524—John Verazzini (an Italian, sailing under the French flag), sailed along the coast and anchored in several places before he touched upon the Connecticut Coast, where twenty of his men went ashore in a small boat and walked about two miles into the interior. They saw a number of Indians who seemed terrified and fled before their advance, but they were anxious to transport some of the inhabitants to France, so captured an old woman who had hidden herself in some tall grass, with a child upon her back, and two little boys by her side. A young girl of about eighteen years of age was also near by, but when the sailors attempted to seize her she uttered such loud and piercing shrieks that they decided to leave her alone. The old woman also set up an awful wailing when they endeavored to carry her aboard their vessel, so they contented themselves with taking a small boy to their ship, who was carried to far distant France. America was called New France by Verazzini, who returned for further exploration, a short time afterwards, only to be killed—and some say eaten—by the Indians.

When Captain Hendrik Hudson—a hardy English adventurer—discovered and sailed up the river which bears his name in New York State, in the year 1609, he met various bands of Indians, both upon the waters of the mighty stream and on the shore. These, at first, were inclined to be friendly, but as his men treated them with distrust, and would not greet them in a hospitable and intimate manner, there were soon skirmishes with the hostiles. On September 8th, the savages came on board the vessel and brought tobacco and Indian corn to exchange for knives and beads. They offered no violence to the sailors for these were continually on their guard, expecting an attack. The ship's log gives an excellent account of what now occurred.