Ticonderoga: A Story of Early Frontier Life in the Mohawk Valley

by G. P. R. James

At this time, while the confederacy of the five powerful nations remained entire, and a certain apprehensive sense of their danger from the encroachments of the Europeans was felt by all the Indian tribes, a degree of power and authority had fallen to the great chiefs which probably had not been attributed to them in earlier and more simple times. The great chief of the Mohawks called himself king, and in some degree exercised the authority of a monarch. Black Eagle, indeed, assumed no different title from the ordinary Indian appellation of sachem, but his great renown and his acknowledged wisdom had, perhaps, rendered his authority more generally reverenced than that of any other chief in the confederacy. The responsibility, therefore, weighed strongly upon him, and it was with feelings of deep gloom and depression that he entered the great Oneida village shortly before the hour of sunset. The women and children were assembled to see the warriors pass, excepting Otaitsa, who sat before the door of Black Eagle's great lodge, with her head bent down, under an oppressive sense of the difficulties and dangers of her coming task.

Black Eagle saw her well, and saw that she was moved by deep grief; but he gave no sign even of perceiving her, and moving slowly, and with an unchanged countenance, to the door, he seated himself by her side, while his warriors ranged themselves round, and the women and young people formed another circle beyond the first. It was done without concert and without intimation, but all knew that the chief would speak before they parted. Otaitsa remained silent, in the same position, out of reverence for her father, and, after a short pause, the voice of the Black Eagle was heard, saying: "My children, your father is grieved. Were he a woman, he would weep. The reproach of his people, and the evil conduct of his allies, would bring water into the eyes that never were moist. But there is a storm upon us, the heaviest storm that ever has fallen. The waters of our lake are troubled, and we have troubled them ourselves. We must have counsel. We must call the wisdom of many men to avert the storm. Let, then, three of my swiftest warriors speed away to the heads of the eight tribes, telling them to come hither before the west is dark to-morrow, bringing with them their wisest men. Then shall my children know my mind, and the Black Eagle shall have strength again."

He paused, and Otaitsa sprang upon her feet, believing that intelligence of what she had done had reached her father's ears. "Ere thou sendest for thy chiefs, hear thy daughter!"

Black Eagle was surprised, but no sign of it was apparent on his face. He slowly bowed his head, and the Blossom went on:

"Have I not been an obedient child to thee? Have I not loved thee, and followed thy slightest word? I am thy child altogether. Thou hast taken me often to the dwelling of the white man, because he is of my kindred. Thou hast often left me there whilst thou hast gone upon the warpath, or hunted in the mountains. Thou hast said, 'They are of our own blood. My wife, my beloved, was of high race amongst the paleface people of the east, the daughter of a great chief. I saved her in the day of battle, and she became mine; and true and faithful, loving and just, was the child of the white chief to the great sachem of the Oneidas. Shall I keep her daughter from all communication with her kindred?' Young was I, a mere child, when first thou tookest me there, and Edith was a sister, Walter a brother to me. They both loved me well, and I loved them; but my love for the brother grew stronger than for the sister, and his for me. We told our love to each other, and he said, 'When I am old enough to go upon the warpath I will ask the Black Eagle to give me Otaitsa, and the red chief and the white chief shall again be united, and the bonds between the Oneidas and the English people shall be strengthened;' and we dreamed a dream that all this would be true, and pledged ourselves to each other forever. Now, what have I done, my father? The brethren of the Snake, and the chief Apukwa, contrary to the customs of the Oneidas, seized upon my betrothed, carried off my husband captive four days after their brother was slain by a white man, but not by my Walter. It is not for me to know the laws of the Oneidas, or to speak of the traditions of our fathers, but in this, at least, I knew that they had done evil; they had taken an innocent man before they had sought for the guilty. I found the place where they had hid him. I climbed to the top of the rock above the chasm. I descended the face of the precipice. I tied two ropes to the trees for his escape. I loosened the thongs from his hands, and from his feet, and I said, 'This night thou shalt flee, my husband, and escape the wrath of thine enemies.' All this I did, and what is it? It may be against the law of the Oneidas, but it is the law of a woman's own heart, placed there by the Great Spirit. It is what my mother would have done for thee, my father, hadst thou been a captive in the hands of thine enemies. Had I not done it, I should not have been thy child, I should have been unworthy to call the Black Eagle father. The daughter of a chief must act as the daughter of a chief. The child of a great warrior must have no fear. If I am to die, I am ready."

She paused for a moment, and Black Eagle raised his head, which had been slightly bowed, and said, in a loud, clear voice: "Thou hast done well, my child. So let every Indian woman do for him to whom she is bound. The women of the children of the Stone are not as other women. Like the stone, they are firm; like the rock, they are lofty. They bear warriors for the nation. They teach them to do great deeds."

"Yet bear with me a little, my father," said Otaitsa, "and let thy daughter's fate be in thy hand before all the eyes here present. Apukwa and the brethren of the Snake had set a watch, and stole upon me and upon my white brother, and mocked thy daughter and her husband, and bound his hands and feet again, and said that he shall die!"

It is rare that an Indian interrupts the speech of anyone, but the heart of the chief had been altogether with Otaitsa's enterprise, and he now exclaimed, with great anxiety, "Then has he not escaped?"

"He has not," replied Otaitsa. "It went as I have said. Walter Prevost is still in the hands of the brethren of the Snake and of Apukwa, and he is not safe, my father, even until the nation shall have decided what shall be his fate. When the nation speaks," she continued, emboldened by her father's approbation, "then will Otaitsa live or die, for I tell thee, and I tell all the warriors here present, that if my husband is slain for no offence by the hand of an Oneida, the daughter of the chief dies, too!"

"Koui! koui!" murmured the chiefs, in a low, sad tone, as they gazed upon her, standing in her great beauty by her father's side, while the setting sun peeped out from beneath the edge of the snow cloud and cast a gleam of rosy light around her.