The Seneca Chief Hiokatoo, “Most Cruel
Human Being,” Died November
20, 1811
The second husband of Mary Jemison, the celebrated Indian captive known as “The White Woman of the Genesee” was Chief Hiokatoo, who she describes as the most cruel human being of whom we have any authentic record.
When Mary Jemison was an old woman she related the thrilling narrative of her long life among the Indians. Nothing told by the venerable captive was more thrilling than the life of Hiokatoo, also known as Gardow.
She says: “He was an old man when I first saw him, but he was by no means enervated. During the nearly fifty years that I lived with him, I received, according to Indian customs, all the kindness and attention that was my due as his wife. Although war was his trade from youth till old age and decrepitude[decrepitude] stopped his career, he uniformly treated me with tenderness, and never offered an insult.
“I have frequently heard him repeat the history of his life from his childhood; and when he came to that part which related to his actions, his bravery and his valor in war; when he spoke of the ambush, the combat, the spoiling of his enemies and the sacrifice of the victims, his nerves seemed strung with youthful ardor. The warmth of the able warrior seemed to animate his frame and to produce the heated gestures he had practiced in middle age. He was a man of tender feelings to his friends, ready and willing to assist them in distress. Yet, as a warrior, his cruelties to his enemies perhaps were unparalleled, and will not admit of a word of palliation.
“Hiokatoo was born in one of the tribes of the Six Nations that inhabited the banks of the West Branch of the Susquehanna, in Pennsylvania. He belonged to a tribe of the Seneca nation. He was a cousin to Farmer’s Brother, a chief who has been justly celebrated for his worth. Their mothers were sisters, and it was through the influence of Farmer’s Brother that I became the wife of Hiokatoo.
“In early life Hiokatoo showed signs of thirst for blood by attending only to the art of war, in the use of the tomahawk and scalping knife and in practicing cruelties upon everything that chanced to fall into his hands which was susceptible of pain. In that way he learned to use his implements of war effectually and at the same time blunted all those fine feelings and tender sympathies that are naturally excited by seeing or hearing a fellow being in distress.
“He could inflict the most excruciating tortures upon his enemies and prided himself upon his fortitude in having performed the most barbarous ceremonies and tortures without the least degree of pity or remorse. Thus qualified, when very young he was initiated into scenes of carnage by being engaged in the wars that prevailed among the Indian tribes.”
In 1731 he was appointed a runner and assisted in collecting an army to go against the Catawba, Cherokee and other Southern Indians. In one great battle of this war the Northern Indians ambushed their enemies and in two days massacred 1200 of their Southern enemies.