Wetzel, the Scout; or, The Captives of the Wilderness

by Edward Sylvester Ellis

When the last cabin had burned to the ground, the whites entered the corn-fields. A half hour later and not a stalk of corn was standing! Everything was destroyed upon which it was possible to lay their hands. Colonel Clark then gave orders to remain upon the ground until the afternoon, hoping that the Shawnees would still give battle. But it was useless; they had apparently lost the bravery for which they had become so distinguished, for they carefully avoided showing themselves.

Finally the rangers set out on their return homeward, burning and destroying everything along the way. While retreating, a few of the infuriated Shawnees followed them and managed to pick off several of their number from their hiding-places in the tree-tops and ledges. An attempt was made to draw them into ambush, which came uncomfortably nigh succeeding. So effectually was it arranged that the most cunning and experienced scouts did not discover it until almost upon it.

During the wars on the frontier, it was the invariable custom of the white forces in marching through the forest to keep their scouts constantly ranging the country for the double purpose of being warned of all ambushes and to gain a knowledge of the enemy’s movements. These scouts were often the salvation of the whites, and a few years later, when the great generals marched with their forces against the arrayed tribes of the West, they were enrolled and recognized as an indispensable part of the army. The brilliant and wonderful exploits of such men as Captain W. Wells, M’Arthur, Davis, M’Cleland, Beason, Williams, O’Bannion, M’Donald and others are found recorded in the history of our country.

Several skirmishes took place during the homeward march, and the rangers were constantly harassed by the Indian scouts following and lurking in the rear. Several hand-to-hand struggles took place between the whites and these scouts, and it was not until they were all within sight of their destination that the pests disappeared and our friends were allowed to proceed unmolested upon their way.

This chastisement of the Shawnees was most effectual and summary. Their depredations and outrages up to this point had increased frightfully, and scarce a day passed in which the report of a murder or a massacre did not reach the different settlements. The power of the settlers, through the blunder of Colonel Bowman, had been greatly underrated and scorned, and there were many chiefs who really believed that a vigorous, determined movement by the Shawnees alone would be sufficient to overwhelm every settlement along the Ohio river. But the expedition just returned had convinced them of their fatal mistake. They saw what a comparatively small force could do against all of their numbers, and they had sense enough to understand that nothing short of general combination of the rival tribes of the “dark and bloody ground” could offer any check to the approaching tide of civilization.

It was now the autumn of 1780. The great revolutionary struggle of the colonies was nearly terminated, and many were turning their attention toward the millions of acres of rich land beyond the Ohio. The advent of a foreign army had impoverished the country, and many a homestead had been razed to the earth and its wealth swept away for ever. Several new settlements had been implanted upon the river above, and the old ones, in spite of the disastrous circumstances by which they were surrounded, had continued to thrive and increase. It sometimes seems, when emigration commences to a new country like the West, at this time, that the settlers are without will of their own, but fulfilling destiny, for no combination of opposition, dangers and perils can check them. Rumors constantly reached the East of the horrid barbarities perpetrated, and of the numerous flat-boats that were decoyed into shore and their inmates slaughtered; and yet there was hardly a week in which some boat, freighted with its weak and defenceless load, did not launch upon the Ohio and turn their prow fearlessly forward.

Some of these were victims to the cruelty of the renegades and savages, but their places were filled by others as hopeful and eager as they had been.

And amid all these formidable circumstances there were meek and good men who hesitated not to brave all for the pleasure of their good Master. The Moravian missionaries had penetrated the wilderness, and the seed sown by them was already bearing good fruit. Numbers of Indians were converted to Christ, and withstood all the temptations of the chase and battle-field. They remained together and engaged in agriculture, and withdrew entirely from their rude and warlike brethren. It was a beautiful and instructive sight—the one small spot radiant with the smile of Heaven amid the mighty wilderness, made doubly dark and gloomy by the hand of man.

The faithful energetic followers of Wesley were already numbered among the pioneers. They were brave, resolute men, who could shoulder the rifle and lead to battle, swing the glittering ax in the forest, or point the way to heaven. Theirs was the religion for the time. Freed from the restraints and conventionalities of civilized life, it was from the heart. Its representatives were men whose words were plain to the uneducated backwoodsman, and who never set forth truth beyond their comprehension.

For a time after the expedition of Colonel Clark comparative peace reigned along the frontier. A number of flat-boats descended the river, and reported that they had not been disturbed during the passage. This made the settlers hopeful, and many began to believe war over. Numbers engaged in felling the trees around their settlements, and extending their boundaries; strong commodious cabins made their appearance; and some, more venturesome than their tired neighbors, erected their dwellings in the edge of the wood, beyond the immediate protection of the block-house, and here they removed with their families. Emigration received an impetus which otherwise would have required years.